Chapter 44
Mila
“I still don’t understand why you have to go,” Lainey says as I fold my laundry and tuck it into the suitcase I’ve been living out of for the past week and a half.
“There’s nothing for me here,” I tell her, and she immediately pouts. I stop and stand up, taking my friend’s hands in mine. “I didn’t mean it like that,” I say.
“You can live with me. You and the baby. I can waitress, and you can work at the dance studio,” she says.
“I can’t work at the studio,” I tell her, tears stinging my eyes for the hundredth time today.
“Why not?” she asks.
“Because Dom owns the building. Which means he owns the studio. And considering he doesn’t want to have anything to do with me, I assume that means I no longer work at the studio,” I answer, going back to packing.
“So we can both waitress,” she says, but I shake my head. “He’s part of the Cockpit too. He’s everywhere here, Lainey.”
“So we go work somewhere else together. Alternating shifts. We can take care of the baby together,” she offers desperately, and I hug her.
“I love you,” I say. “But you’re not quitting your job at the Cockpit for me. You’ve finally moved up into a money making spot. You’re on your way to pushing Brynn fully to the sidelines. I’m pretty sure Niko wants her gone anyway after everything that happened.”
“I just don’t see why you have to go back to your hometown,” she says. “We’ve come so far together here. We can fix this.”
“I just…I don’t think we can,” I say, sitting down.
My heart hurts so bad, I’m out of breath just talking about the reality of it all.
“Everything is going against me, Lainey. All three jobs, waitressing, the studio, and housekeeping for Dom are gone since my life exploded. I just feel like going back to where I started, and starting over is my only choice right now.”
“Well, I hate it,” she says, blinking back tears. I have cried enough to run my tear ducts dry. I can feel a fresh wave coming now that my best friend in the whole world is falling apart.
God. Is there any part of my life that isn’t falling apart?
Suddenly, her phone buzzes, and she looks down at it with a look of confusion.
“Is everything okay?” I ask, wiping my cheeks.
“Yeah…it’s just…” she trails off, scrolling through whatever the text says. “It’s Niko. He’s being annoying,” she says, and she walks into the other room with her phone.
I sigh, looking around her cute, cluttered apartment, then down at my open suitcase and my things all over the floor.
The truth is, I don’t want to go. I want to pretend like nothing ever happened.
Like nothing is happening still. I want to go back to my studio, and I want to work with Lainey again.
I want to live with Dom and raise this baby with Dom and have the life I thought I was going to have before it all fell apart.
It’s obvious that my reality and my dreams are different, and I am just going to have to accept it.
Lainey comes back in, and her expression has changed. “What did he want?” I ask.
“To talk about the schedule. But he also said he needs you to stop in before you leave town. He has a paycheck for you.”
I tilt my head. “I don’t think he owes me another paycheck,” I say. “I picked up the last one weeks ago.”
“Well…he has one for you,” she says, shifting her weight. It’s something Lainey does when she’s nervous.
“Why did he text you and not me?” I ask.
“He was already texting me. Asking what I am doing today because he needs me to work. One of the girls called out. Amanda. Amanda called out, and he needs me to come in. I told him I am helping you pack, and I will come in after that.” Her words rattle off her tongue like train cars colliding into one another on a track.
I can’t help but feel like she’s up to something.
“I’ll just text him and tell him to mail it to my address. I doubt it’s more than a couple hundred anyways,” I say, pulling out my phone.
“No,” she says, and Lainey literally swipes my phone out of my hands. I stare up at her incredulously, and she shifts her weight again, this time while biting her lip. The girl is practically sweating, so now I know for a fact that something is up.
“Lainey, what’s going on?” I ask.
“I don’t know what you mean,” she lies. I give her a hard, unwavering look, strong enough to crack through whatever fib she’s telling.
“Fine,” she finally blurts out. “Niko and the girls at the Cockpit have a surprise for you.”
“What kind of surprise?” I ask.
“A party,” she says. “A going-away party. Because you’re leaving.”
I sigh.
“This is only going to make it harder,” I tell her.
“I know. But they’ve already got it all set up. They even closed off the ring for it. Canceled matches and everything.”
Canceling matches puts Niko out a fat chunk of change, and I realize then that I have to go. Even if saying goodbye to everything at the Cockpit is only going to make it harder. Still, I can’t say no.
“Alright,” I agree. “I’ll go to the Cockpit.”
Lainey smiles and hugs me, and my heart pounds painfully in my chest. I want this day to be over.
“Where is everyone?” I say as we walk into the bar. The room is empty. I am half expecting people to jump out and yell SURPRISE, but it’s a ghost town.
“They’re all in the ring room, I bet,” Lainey says, coaxing me that way, and I swallow back the nervous lump in my throat.
It’s one thing to come back here before leaving; it’s another to go into the ring room.
The place where it all started. My heart throbs as I think about that first night, taking in the room and all its chaos.
Seeing the two men sparring on the stage, only to realize that one of them was Dominic.
The way he looked at me when he grabbed me and threw himself between Rafe and me. His hard body, half naked, glistening with sweat. The hard look on his face as he protectively guarded me from Rafe.
Then there was the night we ran into each other, and even though he didn’t recognize me, we left together and had sex in his car. Every inch of this place is full of memories of Dom and me. Memories that were like dreams come true at the time, only to be shattered by the reality of life.
As we walk into the ring room, I take in the deepest breath I can manage, preparing myself to act surprised and happy. Not like I feel like I’m unraveling one thread at a time.
I force back tears, replacing my sorrow with a smile. But as soon as we walk into the room, my expression shifts to shock.
The lights are off, except for the one above the ring. Standing there on the stage are four ballet dancers.
“What’s going on?” I ask as music pours through the speakers.
“It’s the Aurora Ballet Collective…” I say, recognizing them immediately. They’re one of the most prestigious ballet companies in California.
“It is,” she says as they begin their dance. I’ve seen them before, as a child and when I was in high school. Of course the girls were different back then, but everything about it is still the same. I stand with my hands clasped and tears in my eyes for the next ten minutes, unable to say anything.
When their performance is over, I clap, my cheeks drenched with tears.
“Where is Niko?” I ask Lainey. “Was this his idea?”
“No,” she says, shaking her head.
“No?” I ask, looking over at her. “Was it yours? Lainey, how did you do it? Their performances are booked out for months.”
“It wasn’t me either,” she says, and I am completely lost.
A smile creeps across her face, and she lets out a giddy laugh. Her eyes glisten with tears, and that’s when I hear his voice.
“It was mine.”
I turn to see Dominic standing in the ring.
I don’t know where he came from, and I blink multiple times, thinking maybe I am seeing things.
But he’s really there, in black slacks and a burgundy fitted button-down.
His hands are in his pockets, and his thick dark hair is shiny in the overhead lighting.
His taunt jaw is lined with two weeks worth of salt and pepper.
His eyes are bright, like the color of the sky just after a storm.
I gasp, unable to speak. Lainey squeezes my hand and walks off. I don’t even see where she goes. I can’t see anything but Dominic standing alone on the stage as the dancers quietly exit.
“How did you do this?” I ask. “And why?”
“Because I love the way you light up when you watch dance. I love the way you look when you are dancing,” he says. I slowly make my way towards the ring so I can hear him better. He holds out a hand and helps me up. We stand together under the lights.
“I’m sorry,” I start to say, but he presses a finger over my lips to hush me.
“No. I’m sorry, Mila. I’m sorry I didn’t let you explain.
I’m sorry I only thought of my own fear and didn’t consider yours.
I’m sorry I asked you to play along with this whole charade.
I’m sorry I didn’t call it off when it was obvious it wasn’t fake anymore.
I’m sorry I didn’t listen when you tried to warn me about Rafe.
I’m sorry that I was anything but ecstatic when I found out you were pregnant.
Because that should have been my reaction to finding out that the woman I love is carrying my child. ”
I swallow hard, my chin quivering. “How do I know?” I ask.
“How do you know what?” Dominic echoes.
“How do I know that you’re not still just saying these things so that you can get your inheritance and make the bid for Golden Rule?” I ask.
“Rafe is out of the running,” he says. “They found out about the fight and don’t want anything to do with him.”
“How do I know you aren’t just trying to get your inheritance from your dad?” I ask. “Golden Rule or not, you still have no access to the money without a marriage license.”
“I already have the money,” he says.
I blink. “You have your inheritance?”
Dominic smiles, taking my hands in his. “I do. Every penny of it is in my account. And while that changes things in my life drastically, it doesn’t change one thing.”
“What’s that?” I ask, my heart pounding wildly in my chest.
“It doesn’t change the fact that none of this matters.
The job, the money, Rafe being out of my way, if I don’t have you,” he says.
“I’m sorry that I didn’t recognize you. My maid.
My waitress. The girl in the green dress who bewitched me.
But know this, Mila Rojas, every version of you did just that: bewitched me. Including the version you are now.”
“You mean the hot, blubbering, homeless, jobless mess?” I ask, only half joking.
Dominic pulls me against him. “No. The beautiful, talented, driven, stubborn, loving woman standing in front of me. The woman who is carrying my child. A child I want more than I’ve ever wanted anything.”
“Do you mean that?” I ask shakily.
“I do,” he smiles softly. “And I also mean this…”
Dominic drops to his knee, and my hand claps over my mouth as I half laugh and half sob.
“Mila Rojas, will you marry me? For real?”
The ring is his mother’s ring still, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. I nod and hold out my hand before answering. “Yes. Yes, I will.”
Dominic smiles and sniffs as he slips the ring back on my finger. Then he comes to his feet and pulls me into a kiss. I soften into him, and after a warm, sweet moment, he pulls back.
“Alright everyone,” he shouts, startling me a little. “She said yes!”
The lights come on and everyone we know, from Lainey to Niko to Andrew, along with people from his office and even his dad, appear; all clapping and cheering.
“Oh my god,” I laugh, leaning into him. “Did you plan all of this?”
“I did,” he says as he pulls me from the ring. Our friends all rush us, everyone wanting to see the ring again.
“I still wonder what he would have done if you’d said no,” Andrew laughs, clapping a hand over Dom’s shoulder.
“God, imagine how awkward that would have been,” Lainey says, hugging me.
“Imagine how much money I would have lost, closing this place down all evening for nothing,” Niko says, and everyone laughs.
“Well, it wasn’t for nothing,” I say, pulling away from Lainey to lace my arms around Dominic again. “Because I did say yes. And I’d say it a hundred more times.”
“Well, that settles it. Let’s have a party,” Niko says, and everyone cheers. Music comes through the speakers, and the ballet girls take the stage again. This time Amanda begins a modern dance routine as the bartenders pass out drinks to everyone.
Dominic looks down at me and I look up at him, holding each other in the middle of the bustling room.
“Do you mean it?” he asks. “Would you say yes again?”
“Again,” I smile, pressing my lips to his for a short kiss. “And again,” I plant another kiss. “And again,” I whisper before our lips lock. We melt into a kiss that blurs the edges of the room and muffles every sound around us until it’s only me and him.