“You must behungry after all of our bedroom acrobatics,My Angel,” Dominic says as he opens the refrigerator door. I should’ve fed you first but I couldn’t wait to have you myself.”
“I am getting hungry. It’s been hard to eat with all the morning sickness I’ve had. It hasn’t been just in the morning–it comes and goes at any time of the day,” I admit.
Dominic removes several items and busies himself at the stove. By the time he’s finished, I have a steaming bowl of vegetable soup and a grilled cheese sandwich placed in front of me. A very demanding Dom, and father-to-be, takes the seat beside me to ensure I eat it all.
“You’ve lost too much weight, Sophia,” he gently chastises, “and both of my babies needs nourishment.” He smiles warmly at me as he inclines his head to urge me to eat.
In between bites, we talk easily to catch up on the last couple of months. When I tell him all about my visit to the obstetrician, he has a sad look when he says he wishes he’d been there with me to see our baby. I jump up from the table and quickly trot to the foyer to retrieve my purse. Dom quickly trails behind me.
“I thought you were going to be sick again,” he says when he catches up. “What are you doing?”
I pull out the pictures of our little eight-week old blob and show him the details that the ultrasound technician pointed out to me. He looks at the images in awe at the tiny arms and legs that are distinguishable. “There’s a little life growing inside of you. That is so amazing,” his voice holds so much amazement. Then he looks up at me, back to serious mode, “Go eat. Now. My baby is hungry.”
I laugh and do as he says. That soup and sandwich combination is the best thing I’ve tasted in the last two months. Dom stares at the images as I eat, going back and forth between the printouts, and I watch him with a smile on my face. Having dreaded this conversation with him at first, I’m so relieved that he’s actually excited about having a baby with me.
“Dom,” I cautiously start, “I’ve been thinking.”
He looks up at me and narrows his eyes. “About?” He tilts his head to the side and eyes me carefully as he waits for the next revelation to come out of me.
“Instead of just quitting my job, I could work from home and just go into the office with you a couple of days a week. When I worked from the condo for those two weeks, it really seemed to work out well,” I explain and then hold my breath for his answer.
“Why do you want to keep working? I make more than enough to support us,” he inquires.
“I enjoy working. Solving puzzles, finding new ways to negotiate contracts with blowhards like Rich Daltry, and making friends in the company. I’m just not ready to give all of that up yet. But, I do agree that my health and the baby’s health need to come first.”
“I will agree to three days a week while you’re pregnant. Two days at home and one day in the office–as long as you’re eating and you’re both healthy. The first sign of any problem, you will quit working completely and have no stress on you,” he offers.
Knowing my Dom as well as I do, I know this is his final offer. He doesn’t negotiate like a normal contractor would. He’s a“take-it-or-leave-it”kind of man. In this case, if I pushed back on the number of days or the terms, I know I can kiss it all goodbye.
“You have yourself a deal, Mr. Powers,” I smile and extend my hand for a handshake to seal it.
He takes my hand, gives it a firm pump up and down, and then pulls me into his lap. “It’s that important to you?” he asks tenderly.
“It is, Dom. I know you can provide for us, but I love the sense of accomplishment I get from a job well done. It’s what drove me to finish school early, to get the best internships in college, and the best jobs after graduation. It’s what I know,” I explain.
“Fair enough,” he says, pushing my hair behind my ear, “as long as you’re healthy and happy. I want you to take this week off, though. I can feel your ribs and you’ve been through way too much. I’m not budging on this one, Sophia.”
“You won’t hear any argument from me. I’ll take this week off to rest and recuperate. Can you work from home this week? You’re the only reason I wanted to go back in the office anyway,” I confess.
“I do own the company,” he reasons. “I can work from home whenever I want.”
Dominic
“Are these the building plans for Quattro Amore?” I ask Shadow when he unrolls a set of building drawings on the formal dining table. He, Tucker, and I are reviewing our plans for covering the restaurant during Sophia’s dinner meeting with her brother this weekend.
“Yes, I want to show you our plan for securing the building. My men and I will be very busy, Dominic. While Sophia is inside the dining area, her safety will be entirely inyourhands,” Shadow explains, the gravity of the situation is aptly portrayed in his tone.
“Nothing will happen to her on my watch,” I vow.
“We’ll have communication devices so we’ll all be in constant communication, except Sophia. We’ll be able to hear her but she won’t hear us. If we see someone suspicious, we won’t have any way of alerting her. She’ll wear a camera so we’ll know where she is, we’ll see what she sees, and we’ll hear what she hears,” Tucker explains.
I don’t like this one fucking bit. She’s been so sick over the past week and has lost so much weight. She really doesn’t need this added stress on her of worrying about the true reason behind this meeting. I’m agreeing to this whole fucked up plan for two reasons–the off chance that her brother really does want to see her and make things right between them, or if it is a set up, we’ll put an end to it once and for all.
Gripping the table tightly with my arms straightened, I tell them both, “Let’s just get this done and over with. I’ve had enough of fucking around with this. The police have done absolutelyfucking nothingto find out who is behind the attempts on me. If her family is behind it in any way, Iwillfind out, and I will make them pay.”
“One step at a time,” Shadow absently replies, studying the building layout. “My team will cover every possible exit–four will walk the perimeter, two at the front door, two at the kitchen exit, two at the emergency exit, and one in each bathroom. I’ll be in the vehicle outside, monitoring all communications and video feeds. Tucker will have eyes onyouat all times.”
Right, Tucker will have eyes on me. My life has been the one on the line. But right now, it’s Sophia’s life that I’m concerned about. It must be written across my face because Shadow is carefully watching me, scraping his hand across his chin as he gives me a curious look.
