Total pages in book: 67
Estimated words: 65054 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 325(@200wpm)___ 260(@250wpm)___ 217(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 65054 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 325(@200wpm)___ 260(@250wpm)___ 217(@300wpm)
I take a deep breath and look at him. He’s smiling at me, looking way too amused for someone who’s causing me so many problems.
“Did that answer your question?” I ask petulantly.
“I think so, yes,” he says charmingly, leaning down to place a soft kiss on my lips.
There it is again. That easy intimacy. Somehow, in the last few days, we’ve started to be more couple-y. I suppose I’m due for something good after the mess my life has been for the last few weeks. And if my dad isn’t talking to me, why wouldn’t I get closer to Dominic? He’s the father of my child. He’s my family now, as strange as that sounds.
When I’m alone in my bed, though, I start crying again. This entire life is just a fantasy. I’m living in someone else’s house, being driven around in someone else’s car. This is a fragile ecosystem that could fracture at any time.
All I have to see is one wrong thing. I can conceptualize how dangerous Dominic is. I’ve seen him get mad. I’ve seen the evidence of his enemies trashing my things. How would I react, though, if I actually saw him kill a man?
There’s no way of knowing how that would change us. It would probably send me running back to the father who currently wants nothing to do with me. I truly don’t even want to think about that possibility.
Then I start to think about his safety. His business is ruined and he sounds like he really doesn’t want to open it back up, which I hate. Worse, though, are the dangers that are still lurking. If there truly is someone in Dominic’s circle that’s leaking information to his enemies, my father isn’t safe.
I sit up in bed, my heart pounding and head spinning. I can’t do this. I can’t spend the rest of my life terrified for him. He said I was dead to him. How could he be so callous? The pain of it forces me out of bed, and I go down to the second floor to get a glass of water.
I still feel restless, though, so I end up aimlessly wandering around. Dominic’s office is on the second floor, as well as a game room, a private library, and an indoor pool.
I walk into the pool area and sit down, deciding to stick my feet in. The water is cold, and it helps clear my head. I kick my feet back and forth, feeling the water splash out and hit my pajama shorts. I’ve only been there a few minutes when I hear the door slide open.
“Sofia? What are you doing in here?”
I look up to see Chiara standing there, watching me curiously.
“I couldn’t sleep.” I shrug.
“You know our parents had this pool installed when I turned five? All because I wanted to learn how to swim.”
“That’s pretty excessive,” I say.
“No worse than when they bought me an entire stable when I asked for a pony.”
“Wow.” I shake my head. “We had very different childhoods.”
“My family is like that,” she says. “You ask for an inch, and they’ll go a whole mile. Whether you want them to or not. Your baby is going to be really lucky to have that kind of love in their life.”
I look up at her sharply.
“Dominic told me. He’s never had an assistant last longer than a month, and he’s certainly never brought one home. I knew the night he brought you here that he was in love with you, and I finally got him to admit you were pregnant yesterday.”
My cheeks flame, and I’m sure they must be bright red. I’m grateful that the only light is coming from the pool lights.
“I don’t know about love,” I scoff.
“Trust me,” she says conspiratorially. “He has it bad for you. How could he not? I’ve known you for two weeks and I already love you like a sister. That was the one thing my parents were never able to give me.”
I lean over and give her a quick hug. That’s exactly what I needed to hear right now.
“Dominic also told me about your dad,” she says, squeezing me tighter. “I don’t know him, but I know that no good parent can cut their child out forever. Just have faith, Sofia. He’s going to come around. He has to.”
I nod and pull away, wiping away yet another round of tears.
“Thank you,” I tell her. “I already love you like a sister, too.”
“Good,” she smiles. “Because I have a lot of thoughts about my niece or nephew’s nursery.”
I feel better after that. The next day genuinely feels like a good one, which I didn’t think I was capable of anymore. Until my phone chimes and I look down to see a text from an unknown number.
Curious, I open it, and immediately wish that I hadn’t. It’s video footage of my father. He’s outside of a grocery store, carrying a few bags and completely unaware he’s being filmed. The angle is clearly not from a security camera. Someone took this with their phone.