Chapter 18 - Dominic’s Choice
Dominic changed his life slowly.
Not magically.
Not completely.
The world he occupied did not disappear because he fell in love.
But priorities changed.
Dangerous partnerships ended.
Legitimate businesses expanded.
Security became professional rather than personal.
Trust was earned through systems, not history.
And the mansion changed too.
Leo’s toys appeared in rooms where they previously would have been forbidden.
Music played in the kitchen.
Beatrice’s books filled shelves.
Her clothes occupied half Dominic’s closet and somehow three-quarters of every chair.
Then one evening Dominic brought her into the kitchen.
Beatrice stopped.
Candles.
Flowers.
Music.
“No.”
Dominic frowned.
“I haven’t done anything yet.”
“You’re doing the face.”
“What face?”
“The serious romantic face.”
“I have one?”
“Yes.”
“That’s inconvenient.”
She laughed.
He had stolen her line.
Dominic reached into his pocket.
Beatrice stopped laughing.
He lowered himself onto one knee.
For once the feared Dominic Russo looked nervous.
“Beatrice Gallagher.”
Her hands covered her mouth.
“You walked into this house to care for my son. Then you protected him when I couldn’t. You saw danger when I refused to see it. You challenged me when everyone else obeyed me.”
His voice tightened.
“And you taught this house how to feel alive again.”
Beatrice was crying.
Dominic opened the ring box.
“I don’t want to own you. I don’t want to rescue you. And I know better than to think you need either.”
She laughed through tears.
“I want to build something with you.”
He looked up.
“Will you marry me?”
Beatrice stared at him.
Then toward the doorway.
Leo was hiding badly behind it.
She could see half his head.
“Leo.”
He jumped out.
“I wasn’t listening!”
“Were you involved?”
Leo grinned.
“I picked the flowers.”
Beatrice looked back at Dominic.
The man she once feared.
The man who had watched her dance when she believed herself invisible.
The man who had learned that loving someone did not mean possessing them.
“Yes.”
Dominic stood.
“Yes?”
“Yes.”
He kissed her.
Leo cheered.
And somewhere in the kitchen, the music changed to the same song that had been playing the first night Dominic saw her dance.
Beatrice heard it.
So did he.
May you like
Neither said anything.
They did not have to.
