She’s right. They all are. Dom deserves to know. Even if it means adding gasoline to an already out-of-control fire.
Before the fight starts, the girls and I open the evening with an intro dance to get the room amped up. We don’t usually dance at the beginning, but the entire evening is hinged on Rafe and Dom’s fight. The more heated the room is, the more intense the fight will be.
I put all of my energy into the dance. Luckily, it’s always been something that grounds me; it’s an outlet for stress. But I still felt like I was going to throw up the entire time.
After we walk off the stage, I head towards the men’s locker room. Rafe is at the bar, so I don’t have to worry about running into him. I know Dom is in the locker room, so I walk inside, finding him alone in front of the mirror.
“Mila, what the hell are you–”
“Dominic,” I cut him off. “I need to talk to you.”
“Not now,” he says. “I have to get ready for the match.”
“It’s important,” I insist. I stand in front of him; he attempts to go around me, but I grab him by the wrist in a desperate plea. “Dominic. Please.”
“Are you pregnant?” he demands, and it’s like a punch to the face.
“What?” I ask.
“Are you fucking pregnant?” he booms.
“I…I was going to tell you,” I say.
“How far along are you?” he snaps, hovering over me like a brick wall.
“It would have happened that night in your car.”
“Jesus,” he rasps, raking his hand through his hair as he turns away for a moment. Then he comes back to me.
“I was going to tell you,” I repeat.
“Yeah?” he snaps. “When? When we got married? When you got your money and were far away enough that you could demand child support with no visitation?”
“I would never do that,” I tell him.
“But you would keep my child from me,” he says. Despite the anger flooding over me, I can hear the hurt in his voice.
“Dominic, I was going to tell you,” I say for the third time. “I just didn’t know when or how.”
The announcer’s voice booms over the speakers, followed by a roar from the room of men all ready to bet on Rafe and Dominic.Dom’s eyes rise over me and his shoulders square. Then he looks back down at me.
“Well if this was your idea of the right time, you were gravely mistaken,” he says before stalking out of the locker room.
My chin quivers as I try to hold it together. It wasn’t supposed to happen this way. None of it was. I press myself against the wall, needing a minute, and cover my face with my hands gently. I don’t want to mess up my makeup or my hair. I’m tempted to just tell the girls I can’t finish the routines tonight. I’m sure Brynn would love to take the lead back anyways.
I take a deep breath and shake out my hands in an attempt to gather myself. But just before I head to leave, the door swings open. I dart into one of the stalls and close the door. I hear Rafe and his friend talking. I step up on the toilet so they don’t know I am here.
“So let me get this straight,” his friend says. “Mila told Brynn she’s pregnant and the entire relationship with Dom is a sham all so he can get his inheritance and outbid you?”
“Yep,” he says, and my heart drops to the floor.
“And you told Enzo Wolfe…” he muses.
“I mean, I figured the man oughta know,” Rafe answers. “His son is lying to him after all.”
His friend chuckles. “So you’ve really turned things upside down. And now, as long as you kick his ass in the ring today, the deal with Golden Rule is yours too.”
“Oh believe me, I've got that in the bag,” Rafe says.
