Closer.
And suddenly I see the driver.
Dominic.
He’s staring straight at me through the windshield of his car. His face is filled with confusion, shock, recognition. Like he can’t believe what he’s seeing. Like he can’t believe who I’m sitting beside. For a split second, time freezes. Then he jerks his wheel violently. His car swerves to the side of the road.
Lucien startles beside me.
“Fuck—what the fuck was that?”
My heart slams against my ribs. In the rearview mirror I see Dominic’s car spin around. Tires screech against the asphalt as he makes a hard U-turn. Panic shoots through my chest.
“It’s Dominic,” I say breathlessly. “He saw us.”
CHAPTER 22
Truth
Lucien’s grip on the steering wheel tightens the moment I say Dominic’s name. I see it in his face immediately. The anger. His jaw sets hard, the muscle along it tightening as he glances at the rearview mirror. Dominic’s car is right behind us now. Too close. The headlights flood the back of Lucien’s car, bright and blinding. Then the horn blares.
Once.
Twice.
Again.
Loud, aggressive, demanding.
My stomach twists as I look back. Dominic is practically riding our bumper now. The road around us has gone eerily quiet. The city lights are far behind us now, swallowed by the dark stretch of highway cutting through the cliffs. Tall trees line the road like silent watchers, their branches swaying slowly in the wind. The darkness feels thick and heavy. Like the night itself is holding its breath, waiting.
Another angry blast of Dominic’s horn echoes through the road. Lucien exhales sharply through his nose.
“Mother fucker,” he mutters.
He slows the car. For a second, I think he’s going to keep driving. But then the car drifts toward the shoulder of the road. Gravel crunches under the tires as he pulls over. Dominic’s car swerves around usimmediately. His tires screech violently against the pavement as he cuts in front of us and slams to a stop. Now both cars sit facing each other on the dark roadside. Both headlights on. Blinding white beams crash into each other, turning the space between the cars into a harsh wash of light. For a moment I can’t see anything, just silhouettes.
Then Dominic’s car door swings open. His figure steps out into the headlights.
Lucien curses under his breath.
“Sera,” he says quickly, turning toward me. “I need to talk to him—” But before he can finish, I open the door. The cold night air rushes in as I step out of the car. Behind me I hear Lucien groan in frustration. “God damn it, Sera!” His fist slams into the steering wheel. The sharp thud echoes through the car as I close the door behind me. The cold night air hits my face as I step away from the car.
For a moment everything feels frozen. Two cars, two sets of headlights cutting through the darkness. Three people in the middle of a road that suddenly feels too quiet. Dominic steps closer, the light from the headlights catching his face. “Era, what the fuck?” His voice isn’t angry at first. It’s confused, worried. Like he’s trying to understand what he’s looking at. “Who the fuck are you with?”
I open my mouth to answer. But before I can say anything, Lucien’s car door slams shut behind me. The sound echoes sharply across the empty road. Dominic’s head snaps up, his eyes move past me. And the moment he sees Lucien, something in his face changes. The confusion disappears instantly. His jaw tightens. The muscles in his neck flex. Anger rises across his face like a storm rolling in, dark and sudden. He takes another step forward, his eyes locked on Lucien now. For a second he just stares. Like he’s trying to process the impossible. Then the realization hits him.
“Why the fuck are you with my wife, Lucien?!”
My head starts spinning.
For a moment the world around me blurs. The headlights, the dark road, the sound of the ocean somewhere beyond the cliffs. One thought crashes into the next.
How does Dominic know Lucien?
My eyes move between them.
Dominic.
