Chapter Ten
This was stupid.
Emily looked over at the dinner table for the hundredth time. She had already sent his staff away for the evening. Not the soldiers; they were in their usual stations, ready for whatever threats would dare close in on Dom’s home.
She took a deep breath and tried not to think.
Dom had to deal with another of her father’s pain-in-the-ass revenge tactics. It would seem her father was happy to waste time by sending authorities or local servicemen to answer some stupid health inspection anonymous tip. Even though Dom didn’t show it, she knew it was starting to grate on his nerves.
She told her mother about it, which is also why she had taken the time to prepare this meal. Her husband loved steak and potatoes, along with peppercorn sauce, and that was exactly what she had made him.
All afternoon, she’d been in the kitchen, and she had even baked a cake. Alfie was more than happy to oblige her in preparing a meal for her husband, especially as she told him she needed to tell him something. Emily hoped the words didn’t get stuck in her throat.
She stood in the dining room, once again inspecting the table. The food was keeping warm in the oven. Everything already perfectly cooked.
Another deep breath was taken.
It’s going to be fine. I’m going to tell Dom I love him and I want to spend the rest of my life with him, and that is going to be okay. Of course it is. He can either reject me and laugh in my face, or he can fall in love with me. It will be fine.
Although, the very thought of rejection was the single most terrifying feeling she’d ever experienced, and there was not a lot she could do about it.
She didn’t want to go another day without him knowing, so putting herself out there was what she was going to do.
The moment she heard his car in the driveway, she rushed into the kitchen and grabbed their food. She got it to the table quickly, and her heart continued to race. She had to keep reminding herself it was going to be okay. Of course it was.
With their food at the table, she heard the door open.
“Emily?”
Dom asked.
“I’m in here,” she said.
The candles were lit. She did ask Alfie what he thought of rose petals, and his response was, they were overdone and she didn’t need them. So, she was left with just herself and a candlelit room.
Maybe this was a mistake.
“Emily?”
Dom asked.
She turned toward him, wearing the bright red dress he had bought for her. It had thin straps, and she had no choice but to wear a strapless bra with it. Like most of her clothes, it hugged the waist but flared out at the hips.
“I made us dinner,”
Emily said. “With Alfie’s help, so you don’t have to be afraid, and no, it’s not poisoned.”
She wanted to slap herself in the face. The way she was talking was going to make him so suspicious.
He raised his brow.
“Ignore me. I’m a little nervous.”
“What do you have to be nervous about?”
Dom asked, stepping into the room and cupping her cheek. He tilted her head back and then took possession of her lips in a kiss that stole her breath away.
“There’s something I want to talk to you about,”
she said. There, she had to start somewhere, and getting it out in the open was the only way.
“I want to talk to you about something as well.”
He pulled away from the kiss and there went the butterflies in her stomach. Was he going to divorce her? Had he gotten bored with her? Not once did she think he might actually love her as well. It wasn’t possible.
“You do?”
“Yes.”
Her hands felt clammy. “Uh, sit and enjoy.”
Dom kissed the top of her head. Was that an affectionate kiss, where he was going to send her on her merry way?
She felt so close to tears. This couldn’t be happening, could it?
Just … get it over with.
“Steak, potatoes, and peppercorn sauce. Emily, are you after my heart?” he asked.
There was a hint of a smile on his lips.
She sat down at the table, and the words seemed to be stuck in her throat. Did she want to tell him she loved him if there was a chance he was about to end their marriage? She didn’t know what he was going to talk to her about.
That fear began to work up her spine. She felt sick to her stomach and she couldn’t focus.
You want to tell him, otherwise, you are going to regret never telling him. Not telling him is being a lame doormat.
“Actually, I am,”
Emily said.
“What?”
Dom asked.
She took a deep breath and then reached out and touched his hand. “I know you didn’t plan any of this, and you were only returning a favor to my mom.”
She stopped. Each word she spoke didn’t exactly fill her with encouragement. It made her feel even sillier to have fallen in love with him. “But, Dom, I have fallen in love with you, and I know you probably don’t believe in love, and you think I’m lying but I’m not. I’m in love with you, and I want to spend my life with you. I want to have lots of babies, and I don’t even care that you kill people, or that you have women working for you, and you have good and bad businesses, and please stop me right now, because I can’t seem to stop talking, but I love you, and I have loved you for a long time, and I think it makes me a bit of a lame doormat, seeing as you were my kidnapper, although you did it to save me, and I can’t breathe.”
Dom got to his feet and cupped her cheek, tilting her head back, and she stared into his beautiful brown eyes. In that moment, she couldn’t help but think other people had looked into those eyes, and they had been the last thing they had seen before he killed them. And yet, she didn’t care. This was the man she loved. Lame doormat back in full swing.
“I love you,” Dom said.
Here came the rejection, and then Emily frowned, because that was not even close to a rejection.
She stared at Dom, a little perplexed. “Could you repeat that?”
“I love you, Emily. I did take you as a favor to your mother, and I kept you because I didn’t want anything bad to happen to you. I don’t know how you did it, but you somehow managed to get in here.”
He pressed a hand to his heart. “I don’t love, Emily. I’ve never loved anyone or anything in my life, but when it comes to you, you’re everything. You’re all I can think about. All I want. You’re my reason for getting up in the morning. When I do wake, and I see you, I know the day is going to be fucking great.”
Tears filled her eyes. “You love me?”
“Yes, I love you more than anything in the world. I know I’m not good for you. I know I’m everything you should hate and avoid, but I love you. I am going to take care of you, provide for you, put my babies inside you, and you’re going to want for nothing.”
Emily couldn’t believe it, and she stood and threw her arms around him. “What did you want to talk to me about? I thought you were going to reject me.”
“No, not at all. I was going to tell you tonight that I love you, and that I am going to do everything in my power to keep you safe.”
He held onto her tightly, and Emily knew no matter what, she was never going to let him go. She loved him so damn much.
And then, cutting through their moment was the unmistakable ring of his cell phone. Just recently, whenever that went off, it tended to make him growl and send him into a dark mood.
“Don’t answer it,”
Emily said.
“I’ve got to.”
He let her go, and she watched as he pulled out his cell phone, and there was a frown on his face. “It’s your mom.”
“Why is my mom calling?”
Emily gasped. “No, what if my dad … has hurt her?” She pressed her hands to her face, thinking of all the horrifying scenarios.
Dom had put his arm around her and pulled her in close. “I’ve got you.”
She felt tears fill her eyes, and then he answered the call.
“Nora?”
“Dom?”
“What’s the matter? What happened?”
“The cops are on the way.”
Emily frowned and looked up at her husband. She stayed silent.
“Cops, Nora, why?”
“I … I was done. I couldn’t stand Nigel doing this to the two of you. He has already ruined enough of my daughter’s life, so I decided to finally end it. Don’t worry, I am fine. I called him, and that was when I finally did it. I got him into a fight. I did it on purpose, and in doing so, he finally lost. I killed him. Nigel will not be a problem to you.”
“I’m on my way.”
“No,”
Nora said. “I don’t want you or my daughter involved. I know how to take care of this. He attacked me first. He wouldn’t let up. I have everything on film, and that is what I am going to give to the authorities. I have the proof of what he has been doing, and it is time to use it. Be with my daughter. Love my daughter, and take care of her. I’m prepared to do what is necessary.”
“Mommy?”
Emily said.
“Oh, honey, I should have known you would be listening.”
“Don’t do this,”
Emily said.
“It is time for me to take care of you and put this piece of shit to bed. I’ve done it. Now, for me, you are going to live your life. You’re going to love your husband, and this will fix itself. You will see.”
And with that, her mother hung up.
“What does this mean?”
Emily asked.
“It means that there is a chance your mother can plead self-defense, and if she is able to do that, she might not even serve any time. It depends what she has that will help her case.”
“Knowing my mom, she has a lot.”
She nibbled her lip, but she couldn’t be worried about her mother.
Staring at Dom, even though she was terrified, she was also anticipating. “You love me?”
“Yes, I love you.”
He reached out and stroked some hair off her face. “More than you will ever know.”
She couldn’t help but smile, even as there were tears in her eyes.
“I’m going to do everything in my power to keep you safe.”
“I know. You’ll do anything for me.”
And with that, he pressed his lips to hers. Emily didn’t know how it was possible, but she had finally found the place she called home.