Chapter 14
Chapter Fourteen
Dom pulled the blanket she shared with Harvey tighter over her legs and took a handful of popcorn. “You keep saying the Marvel movies aren’t like real life, but I think you have some infiltrators, because Asgard in the movies? Sure looks a lot like Asgard in real life.”
Harvey chuckled, plopping some kernels into his mouth. “Fair enough. They are, indeed, quite similar. But as a disclaimer, our Loki is a standup guy. Nothing like Tom Hiddleston’s portrayal.”
She shrugged with a facetious grin. “I kind of like him as a trickster. It’s a little sexy. The broken, little-boy-lost, just-wants-Daddy-to-love-him gig is pretty hot.”
Harvey playfully chucked a piece of popcorn at her. “I’d like to say I see that, but I really don’t.”
They sat in her grandfather’s room at Remember Me, watching Marvel movies and spending time with her papa as she tried to relax and catch her breath after another long day of battle training.
All had been quiet, almost too quiet, leaving her rattled. So on her nightly visit to see her papa, Harvey had suggested dinner, a movie and some decompression.
They’d shared a meal of lemon chicken and potatoes with Stavros, who’d eaten every last bite, finishing it off with some baklava—all courtesy of Harvey’s cooking, with Arch and Tottington as his guides.
Darnell and Carl, with some clever foundation all over his body to disguise his pale green pallor, were hosting a game of bingo in the rec room, while the ladies of OOPS played along and kept the residents happily occupied.
Now, Stavros snored softly in his favorite chair, covered with a blanket her grandmother had made, while they sat on the couch across from him with MC in her lap.
Everyone was safe. All was well.
So why was her stomach in a knot?
“Listen, I know we said we were going to have a Fraggle Rock-free party tonight, but have you heard anything about finding this magic the giants…er, Jotnar want? Do we even know where to begin to look?”
The idea they could take MC from her incited her, frightened her, made her want to superglue him to her hand.
“Wanda talked to one of her clients, Robbie, I believe. A woman who became a witch under similar circumstances as you.”
“She was turned into a witch at a swap meet?”
Harvey laughed, tucking her closer. “No, but it was accidental just like you—sort of. Apparently, she’s quite the witch now. She’s assisting Wanda, and so is her coven, but they haven’t found anything that will help… Yet, anyway.”
“And Heimdall? The sorcerers in Asgard? Any help there?”
“Nothing. Which is what leads me to believe, the giants are bluffing.”
She wrinkled her nose, turning to look at his handsome face. “That serpent wasn’t bluffing. Ask my hamstrings. They still hurt and it’s been almost a week.”
“I’m trying to wrap my head around the idea they could get their hands on the kind of magic it would take to steal MC from you. They’re a bunch of lugs, Dom. Total morons.”
“You don’t need to have a high IQ to kick someone’s ass, Harvey. I mean, how long does this go on, how long do they keep coming for me and MC before I break?”
“I will not allow you to break, Dominique. We’ll fight as long and as hard as we must to ensure the safety of the world,” MC reminded her, his tone fierce.
Blowing out a breath, Dom shook her head. “I think I understand why your father headed for the hills. This waiting for the other shoe to drop is exhausting.”
Harvey moved a tendril of hair from her face, the gesture leaving her with that warm feeling in her belly. “It isn’t always like this, Dom. I promise you. As I said, before this happened, all—”
“Was quiet. I know, I know,” she said with resignation. “But there was still a threat of doom, always lurking in the background somewhere. It’s no way to live.”
Harvey nodded. “I agree. But whether you realize it or not, you’ve always lived with the threat of doom here, too. Nuclear bombs, terrorist attacks. It’s not much different. Yet, you still get up every day and live your life.”
“Well, sure, but I’m not responsible for making sure those things don’t happen. If you ignore the news, life is bliss.”
“It’s a heavy burden, and because of that, I’d almost—almost understand why my father ran away, if not for the fact that he left MC high and dry with me, someone who can’t utilize his strength. It’s like leaving the fate of the world in the hands of a toddler.”
Dom agreed, toying with the blanket in her lap. She didn’t want to insult Harvey, but he spoke the truth. “Yeah. I don’t get that at all. Has he ever left MC like this before?”
“For short periods of time, yes. But he always came back.”
MC barked a laugh. “Do you remember when he left me with Gunnar the stable boy?”
Harvey tipped his head back and laughed, too, revealing his tanned throat. “You mean Gunner the runner, don’t you?”
“Indeed! And a well-earned nickname, that. To think the poor sod thought I didn’t know he was responsible for impregnating Gunhild!
What a catastrophe. The two of them rutting like pigs in the barn while I attempted to block out their very exuberant dalliance, only for him to deny fathering the child.
Your father hunted Gunner down like a beast in the wild and forced him to step up to the plate.
Harvey, if we can say nothing else about Thor, we can at least give him credit for doing the right thing. ”
Harvey sighed. “I’m not saying he wasn’t a fair ruler, MC. I’m saying he’s a lazy one. You don’t leave a powerful tool such as yourself with just anyone, and Gunner comes about as close to ‘just anyone’ as…well…as anyone.”
Dom fought a smile. MC’s loyalty to Thor was deep, and she admired him for trying to point it out to Harvey every chance he could take. “So I guess this means we can’t hope your father will somehow reappear and take back his duties?”
There was always hope, right? It wasn’t that she wouldn’t fight this battle, if necessary. She was getting stronger every day, but she’d really rather let Thor have his job back—because this was exhausting.
“There’s always hope,” Harvey muttered. Then he tucked the blanket around her again. “Now what happened to no talk of Fraggle Rock tonight?”
Dom rolled her eyes. “That’s a lovely notion, but I’m not sure I can forget the giants want the world to end. It’s sort of like forgetting Christmas or your birthday, or, or…I dunno, really important stuff.”
“Again, a heavy burden, no doubt.
Then, for clarity, she asked once more, “Remind me again, why do the jerky giants want the world to end?”
Harvey’s lips thinned. “They want the world’s energy. They feed off it. It sustains them. Without it, they’ll eventually become extinct.”
Right. Bunch o’ leeches.
Tucking the blanket under her chin, Dom decided she liked the warm glow of sitting with Harvey on the couch and watching movies much more than she did talk of the end of the world.
“Okay. No more talk of giants and energy hogs or whatever. What’s next on our list of Marvel movies?”
Harvey looked at the list on his cell that Nina had sent him of the order of the Marvel movies. “I think we’re on Ant Man.”
She clapped her hands together. “Oh, yippee! I love Paul Rudd.”
Harvey dropped more popcorn into his mouth. “Now on Paul, I can agree.”
Dom put a hand on his. “Just one more thing before we close discussions on Fraggle Rock.”
Harvey wrapped her fingers in his big hand. “One more thing, and then we watch. Paul awaits.”
It was a question she’d been longing to ask, but afraid to mention.
Yet, she had to know. “How long do we keep you from your life before we decide the giants are dicks who are just wasting our time? You do have a business to run, Harvey. I feel like we’re all standing still. Me, the ladies, and most of all you.”
He stared at her, his gaze thoughtful, his eyes capturing hers. “I do have a business to run, but I also have some very trusted employees who are handling everything just fine without me. There’s nowhere I’d rather be than right here with you.”
She wasn’t usually very aggressive when it came to much, unless it meant fighting for her papa, or as it were lately, her life…but most especially not with men.
However, she liked Harvey. She liked him in her life. She liked having coffee with him every morning. She wanted to know if he liked her, too.
Now her gaze was thoughtful as she held his hand, feeling all the things. “What’s happening between us, Harvey? Where is all this headed? The hand-holding, dancing in the moonlight to ‘Moon River,’ coffee in the wee hours of the morning before everyone at the castle wakes up?”
Turning to her, Harvey cupped her chin with his warm hand. “Close your eyes, MC,” he ordered, then smiled at her. “I don’t know. But there’s one thing I do know.”
“And that is?” she whispered, her throat tight.
“I do know, I’d like to get to know you better. I’d like to take you to dinner without the threat of a serpent ruining it. I’d like to watch more movies with you. I’d like to have an argument with you—”
“An argument?”
He nodded. “Well, yeah. Because if we argue, we’ll learn how to make up—we’ll find the best way for us to come to a satisfying conclusion.
I’m a firm believer that every couple should experience the lows as much as the highs, so they can learn to navigate together with similar views for the outcome.
Situations that involve compromise, stress, conflict, communication. ”
Man, he was sexy. “I agree. I think it’s important to understand where the other person comes from, how they were raised is sometimes an indicator of things to come.”
He popped his lips. “I’d like to think, despite my father’s behavior, my mother and her second marriage have taught me how to do all of the above.”
“Oh, I’m not holding your father against you.
I just mean, my grandparents, my mother…
I had a pretty great childhood. It was stable and loving and above all, happy.
There was always music and laughter. I forget sometimes that other people didn’t always have that.
Despite all your mother and stepfather did to show you a healthy relationship, you have scars, Harvey. ”
He nodded. “I do, and I admit they shaped who I am. I fight with myself every day to keep from losing sight of the pratfalls. But what about you? You’re probably the healthiest, most emotionally stable person I’ve met in a long time. Yet, you grew up without a father, raised by a single mother.”
Dom grinned. “Don’t get me wrong, there were plenty of times I wished I had a father, but Papa filled in.”
“What happened with your father?”
“He died of a brain aneurysm when I was a toddler, but I always knew who he was. I always knew he loved me. There were tons of pictures of him with me, with us as a family, and my mother and grandparents never let me forget I was the apple of his eye.”
“And your mother? Toula, right? I saw the pictures of her on Stavros’s nightstand. You’re as beautiful as she was.”
Dom fought the rush of heat to her cheeks. “Breast cancer,” she said quietly.
The fight for her life had been a long, grueling one—one they’d lost—but the memory of her smiling, laughing, joyful mother had left an indelible imprint on her heart.
He caressed her cheek with his thumb. “I’m sorry, Dom. That’s rough.”
But she smiled. “No. I mean, yes, it was rough, but don’t be sorry. I’m not. I had a life full of all the things—all the good things. Family, friends, my life was amazing, and a lot of it was in part to how amazing my grandparents were. Especially my papa.”
Harvey leaned into her, making her breath catch in her throat. “I think I could learn a lot about family from you,” he murmured, right before he pressed his lips to hers.
“Shish kabob?” she heard, just as she’d settled her mouth against Harvey’s.
Putting a hand on his chest, she blinked. “Papa?” He hadn’t called her shish kabob in a very long time. Hopping up, she set MC on the couch and went to kneel in front of Stavros’s chair. “Did you just call me shish kabob, Papa?”
He chucked her under the chin with a gnarled hand. “That’s who you are, isn’t it?” he said, his Greek accent faint but still recognizable.
Tears rushed to her eyes as she bracketed his aging face with her hands, smiling at his twinkling eyes. “That’s who I am, for sure.”
She pressed a kiss to his cheek, inhaling the familiar scent of him before she wrapped her arms around him and hugged his fragile body, afraid not to say all the words she wanted him to hear before he forgot who she was again. So he knew how grateful she was for him and the life he’d given her.
“I love you, Papa. I love you so much. Thank you for being so good to me, for loving me. You’re the best.”
Briefly closing her eyes, she thanked the universe for this moment of clarity, the recognition she saw in his eyes when he looked at her.
Harvey had come to stand behind her, placing a hand on her shoulder in support. She sniffled, but she managed to get more words out. “This is Harvey, Papa. I have so much to tell you about what’s happening right now, and why he’s here.”
Stavros stuck his hand out to Harvey, clearly not interested in why he was there. “You like my girl?” he asked, with a wicked grin.
Harvey chuckled. “I do, sir. Very much. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
Then Stavros redirected his gaze at Dom. “Do you like him, too, Dommie?”
Swallowing hard, she fought more tears. The gift of his clarity was almost more than she could bear. “I do, Papa. Yes.”
He grinned, brushing his knuckles along her cheek. “That’s nice, my sweet girl. I want you to have something nice when I’m gone. It looks like you’ll be in good hands with him,” Stavros teased.
Just as she was about to protest him going anywhere, as she went to wrap her arms around him again—Stavros disappeared, leaving her to fall forward on the chair in an ungraceful face plant.
When she sat up, all that remained was his blanket and some crumbs from his baklava.
And she knew exactly what that meant.
It meant somebody had to die.