Chapter 18
DOMINIC
Gunther had been the doorman of our condo for more years than I could remember. He was always cheerful, always ready with a joke. But when Trevor showed him the rat’s head he’d retrieved from the garbage, the smile slipped from his face and he looked terrified.
“Take that away, Mr Trevor,” he cried, covering his eyes.
“How did this get into my apartment, Gunther? Are there rats in the building?” I asked, and he shook his head.
“No, sir. We call exterminators every six months to inspect the building. She’s clean.”
“Then how did Sweetpea get hold of this creature? Does he go out to hunt? But how is he getting in and out of the building with all the windows closed?” I asked.
He looked around wildly and leaned closer to whisper.
“I can’t tell you anything more, sir. I’ve already said too much.”
“You’ve told us nothing, Gunther,” I said impatiently.
“Exactly. And that’s already too much.”
“That makes no sense,” complained Trevor.
“Look, Mr Carlisle, I’m sorry to say this because you’re an excellent employer. But only one male runs this building now, and it ain’t you,” he whispered before he scurried back behind his desk, muttering something under his breath.
“Trevor, this is getting out of hand,” I said grimly.
“I agree, boss. We need to do something about that feline. And I think I know the answer,” replied Trevor, refusing to tell me anything else as he hurried out of the building.
He was back within an hour, just as Rose and I were sitting down to breakfast.
“Hello, beautiful people,” he said cheerfully. “I believe I’ve found a solution to our troubles. Tell me, what do you think Sweetpea needs most right now?”
“Some understanding,” said Rose immediately. “And maybe a therapist. Do they have therapists for cats?”
“He needs a new mommy,” I said loudly, ignoring the glare she aimed at me. “One who knows how to raise a good kitty. Not one who condones his bad behaviour.”
“You’re both wrong,” declared Trevor. “Just like some other people I won’t name, Sweetpea needs a woman to love the grumpy out of him and keep him in line. I’ve got a solution for that. Presenting Sweetpea’s new girlfriend…Scary Mary!”
He reached into the big box he’d lugged into the house and pulled out a black cat with a white face and white stockings. I examined her critically before I turned to him.
“There’s literally nothing scary about her, Trevor. That has to be one of the sweetest cats I’ve ever seen.”
“I agree,” said Rose, taking the cat from Trevor and cuddling her gently. “She’s lovely, but Sweetpea is going to maul her to bits. He cannot tolerate other cats around him.”
“He can try,” said Trevor, with a snort. “Scary Mary looks very sweet, but she is, in fact, the scourge of the alpha male cat. She’s been rehomed twice because she has emasculated every male cat she’s met so far.”
Just then, Sweetpea wandered into the room, and he went on high alert as soon as he saw me carrying another cat.
He yowled angrily and came up on his haunches to yell at Scary Mary.
She stared back at him coolly, not moved in the slightest by his threats.
And before he could understand what was happening, she put out a paw and skippity-papped him right across the face.
I gasped in response, and Sweetpea looked shell-shocked. And that’s when I realised that Scary Mary was going to live up to her name.
It was as if that slap changed something vital in Sweetpea. He began to see Scary Mary as a superior creature - one worthy of his devotion, and became completely obsessed with her. Scary Mary, in turn, was completely obsessed with Dominic.
She followed him around all the time, crying like a baby when he went to work, curling up in his lap when he was in his study.
And she got furious with Sweetpea if he was mean to her Daddy.
Which meant he was forced to put up with Dominic if he wanted to please his lady love.
I almost cried the day he allowed Dom to brush his fur while he was brushing Scary Mary’s.
But all of this was complicating my future.
A few days after Scary Mary came into our lives, Trevor and I were at the weekly nail appointment he had set up for us, when he turned to me with a smug smile.
“I told you I’d fix your cat, and I fixed him good,” he crowed.
I shook my head.
“And what about when this all ends, Trev?”
“What do you mean?”
“Scary Mary is Dom’s cat now. She’s never going to come home with me when I leave, and Sweetpea is going to be heartbroken.”
“Why the hell do you have to leave, Rosie? You’ve finally got a shot at what you’ve always wanted - Dominic Carlisle.
The man is completely besotted with you.
And no, we all know this relationship is not fake anymore,” he said, rolling his eyes.
“You can’t hide your post-coital bliss from your best friend or the housekeeping staff who make your empty bed every day. ”
I sighed heavily and stared at the pretty swirls the stylist was making on my nails.
“We might be sleeping together, but the relationship is still fake, Trev. We’re not together in the real sense of the word. I think we’re just scratching a mutual itch.”
“That’s ridiculous, babe. The boss can’t take his eyes off you anytime you’re around him,” he argued. “He hasn’t taken this much time off since he first started working because he wants to spend all his time with you.”
“What are you talking about? He works from his study all day,” I replied.
“Babe, that is a miracle in itself. We’re talking about a man who used to be at his desk at nine am every single day, even if he was sick. Now he’d rather work from home, so he can make his own coffee while staring at you, and have a quickie before lunch.”
I was just taking a sip of herb tea when he said that, and at his words, I spewed the fragrant tea all over my poor manicurist.
“Have you been spying on us?” I asked in horror.
“Eww, no! But thank you for confirming my suspicions,” he said with an evil cackle.
“Trevor, be honest with me. It’s been almost ten days since Joe went into hiding. What’s going on with the cartel?” I asked desperately.
Dominic didn’t like to discuss it at all, and any free time we had, we spent…well…boinking. I thought we’d tire of each other after the first few times, but it felt like each time we made love, it only made us hungrier for each other. It was addictive.
Dom was a very generous lover, taking time to coax multiple orgasms out of me before taking his own pleasure.
I was deliriously happy because all my dreams were coming true.
Only I couldn’t shed the feeling that in Dom’s mind, this was only temporary, while I was falling deeply and irrevocably in love with him.
“Well, we’ve hit a bit of a block as far as the cartel is concerned. They refuse to call off the hit on you unless you return the stash,” he whispered, with one eye on the woman doing his pedicure.
“What hit?” I yelped in horror.
“Shush! Oh, lordy! I wasn’t supposed to talk about it,” he said, wincing. “The boss is going to skin me alive with his favourite butter knife.”
“I will stab you with this nail file if you don’t start talking now,” I threatened, and he let out a heavy sigh.
“Fine, but if your boyfriend gets mad at me, you have to save my life, or I’ll haunt you till the end of yours. Now, remember how they were after you because they thought you hid the stash for Joe?”
“Uh-huh, and they were threatening me to smoke him out of hiding,” I replied.
“Well, it looks like they’ve upped the stakes. They’ve put a hit out on you. And Logan is sure it’s just a scare tactic to get Joe to show his hand.”
“That’s stupid,” I said bluntly. “Because they are assuming that Joe actually cares for me, which is not true. He doesn’t give a flying fuck about me, or he wouldn’t have hidden the stash in my house at all.
And you know what? I’m done with this shit.
You and I are going to my house right now, and we’re finding that stash of snow. ”
“Look at you going all street on me,” he teased before his face turned serious again. “And no. Nuh-uh. Nyet. You’re not going anywhere near that cottage. I refuse to take you there. It’s not safe for you, babe.”
I knew that tone. Trevor wasn’t about to budge on his decision.
Well, I’d just have to go back home on my own.
Until we resolved this issue and I went back home, I was stuck in limbo.
I didn’t know if Dominic really wanted me for myself or if he was just using our forced proximity for physical release.
My gut told me there was a deep connection between us and that he wanted me as much as I wanted him, but my gut also told me Joe Cheney was a decent, if boring man, and I had been ready to marry him based on that feeling. So my unreliable gut and I weren’t on speaking terms right now.
Which meant that I had to rely on hard facts and evidence. If Dominic continued our relationship after I moved back home, it would prove that he wanted to be with me. If we went back to our previous status quo, then it meant this was just a fake relationship with benefits.
“Babe, look at me. I can see the wheels turning in your head, and I can only tell you one thing. Be open with the boss. Ask him where this relationship is going. Be an adult,” Trevor said sombrely, and I tried not to roll my eyes.
It was easy for him to say that, but Dom and I had paused our reality to make love to each other.
I’d ruin everything if I tried to change the terms of the agreement now.
I had to wait and see if his heart was involved or just his dick.
The trouble was that we had complicated things by bringing Scary Mary into the picture.
If we broke apart now, it wasn’t just my heartbreak on the line.
It was also Sweetpea’s. I couldn’t afford to let him get even more dependent on Scary Mary.
If this was just a fling, it had to end soon, before Sweetpea got too attached to Dom’s cat.
I went back to Dom’s apartment with Trevor because I didn’t want to tip him off, but I made my plans nonetheless. The next day, after Dom went to the office, I called a cab and set off for my cottage.
I was just unlocking the front door when my phone rang. To my horror, it was Dom.
“Hey, where are you?” I asked, hoping my voice didn’t sound too shrill.
“I’m still at work. I had a minute between meetings and thought I’d say hi,” he said softly, making my heart melt.
“Hi,” I replied, just as softly.
“Are you home?”
I looked around wildly, wondering what excuse I could give that would sound halfway plausible. I was a terrible liar, and I was worried he’d know I was lying.
“No, actually…I’m on my way to get a mani-pedi,” I squeaked.
“Oh, you should have called me before you left. I could have sent the car to take you there,” he said.
“No, I got a cab. It’s not too far, and I like going around on my own.”
I was aware I was babbling, and shut up abruptly.
“I miss you,” he said, sounding as if the words were torn from his chest.
I took a long, slow breath and tried not to sound too giddy.
“I miss you too,” I replied. “But I’ll see you when you get back from work. Want a slice of pie for dessert?”
“Only if it comes with your lasagna,” he returned.
“Of course,” I said with a little laugh. “Do you even have to ask?”
“Rosie, promise me you won’t make that lasagna for anyone else,” he ordered gruffly, and my heart took a flying leap around my chest.
That was my ‘marry-me lasagna’. And if he didn’t want me making it for anyone else, it could only mean one thing, right?
“Why do you like it so much?” I asked, realising that I had never asked him this before.
He sighed into the phone, and I curled up on my lumpy couch to talk to him. The search for the coke could wait. This was way more important.
“Because of what it stands for,” he said eventually.
“What do you mean?”
“Well, after my father died, our weekly dinner at your place was the highlight of our lives for many years. Your house was our safe space, where the rest of the world wouldn’t intrude. It was the only place my mother wasn’t fighting some kind of battle.”
“How come?” I asked softly.
“You were very young when my father died, so you might not know how it happened, Rosie. But he died in a car accident, and he wasn’t alone. He was driving his current mistress home that night when he swerved to avoid hitting a deer and drove into a tree.”
I gasped in shock because I hadn’t heard that part of the story.
“After he died, the media descended on us in full force, and it was a very traumatic period for my mother. On the one hand, she had to fight to retain control of the company, and on the other, her personal life was turning into a media circus, with mistresses crawling out of the woodwork and trying to stake a claim on some of our properties with fake papers. My mother was forced to accept the reality of her awful marriage even as she grieved the man she had loved despite all his faults. Aunt Polly was the one person who didn’t expect anything from us.
She just gave us her unconditional friendship and acceptance. ”
Tears sprang to my eyes as I remembered how fiercely loving my mother was, and how she had loved the Carlisles like her own family. Now I understood why Dom wanted to repay her love by protecting me. I couldn’t grudge him that, I realised. Some things were bigger than just my feelings.
“I wish I could hug you right now,” I whispered tearfully.
“You can hug me twice at night, I promise,” he said, with a laugh.
‘Only if your little princess allows it,” I reminded him.
Scary Mary had laid claim to Dom quite unequivocally.
She allowed me near him, but only on her terms. Luckily, she was starting to respond to Sweetpea’s slavish devotion, and more often than not, the two of them wandered off to one of the cat trees Dom had installed all over the apartment, as soon as Dom and I cuddled up together.
And he’d bought them spacious cat beds of their own, placed in one of the spare bedrooms that he now called the cats’ room.
Trevor had bought signs for the door with individual nameplates, even though I told him it was too early for my cat to have a room in Dom’s house.
“I’ve got to go now,” he said, and I resolved to find Joe’s stash as soon as I could so Dom and I could get on with the rest of our lives.