I wait for him to continue, but he doesn't give me an explanation.
Huffing, I thread my fingers through my hair as I think over my options.
"You realise I don't actually need your permission, right? I'm just here to find out if there's a chance of us causing trouble in each other's plans, or if I can do things my way and get it over and done with easily."
Gulping, I nod.
"Do it." Wiping my palms along my legs, I force myself to breathe deep. "Go ahead. Do what you need to do. I'll talk to Alicia, and I'll also talk to Brody, make sure there's no repercussions."
He shoots me a toothy smile.
"There wouldn't be any repercussions, Dom." He moves towards my office door, pulling it open slightly, but pausing before he leaves. "Just to be clear, this is the last time I'm coming out of retirement to help clean up one of your problems, so try to keep out of trouble from now on, yeah?"
"Easier said than done," I mutter, watching as he leaves.
Chapter Forty-Seven
Alicia
Kaleb practically skips down the stairs, a cunning smile on his face, his eyes alight with joy, and his body more relaxed than before he went up there earlier.
"He's creepy when he's happy," Rory whispers beside me as we watch him move around the room towards Sophia.
He leans down, placing a kiss against her forehead and pressing his hand against her stomach.
"I'm popping out for a bit. Have an errand to run," he says, kissing her again before standing up straight and strolling across the room. "I'll be back in an hour."
He walks out of the room, stepping back into the doorway a moment later, a thoughtful look on his face.
"Actually, maybe two hours."
Winking at Sophia, he disappears again, and shortly after, the elevator spurs to life.
I glance over at Sophia, who's also sitting there looking bewildered.
"What was that about?" Jess asks from beside me.
Sophia frowns and shakes her head.
"I don't know, but that was weird," she says. "Very weird… he has hardly left my side throughout this whole pregnancy. Not without a good reason, anyway."
A creak on the stairs sounds from behind us, and we all turn around to face Dom. He slowly makes his way down the steps, his murky eyes locked onto mine.
The look on his face has me shooting to my feet, moving around the sofa, and walking over to meet him at the bottom of the stairs.
"What's wrong?"
His hands cup my jaw, thumbs stroking my cheeks.
"We need to talk," he says, eyes still locked onto mine.
"What's going on, Dom?" Sophia calls from over my shoulder.
He glances past me, shakes his head at his sister, and then moves his focus back to mine.
"Can we go upstairs and talk?"
"Did you find him?" I ask, eyes darting between his, holding my breath as I wait for his answer.
