“Sophia, I need to explain my reaction to this letter before you get upset over it,” I begin. “All I could think of was that this part of the letter has been in Harrison’s hands for the past two years. All this time that I’ve questioned my worth as a Dom, questioned what I could’ve done for Carol Ann, and even that Harrison blamed me for her death. He could’ve spared me all of that.”
“Let. Me. Read. It,” she challenges.
Staring down at the letter for a minute, I know this will not go over well. I’m torn between what’s right and what’s best–they’re not always the same thing. What’s right is not keeping Sophia in the dark. What’s best is that she regains her health to protect herself and the baby. Before I change my mind, she pulls the letter through my fingers and begins to read it.
I know the very second she reaches the last line of the letter. Her mouth drops open, her hand quickly covers it, and her eyes squint to mere slits as the pain stabs through her heart. Her shoulders slump and the wounded look on her face kills me. The paper floats to the floor as she uses both hands to cover her face and her body shakes from her sobs.
Placing my hands on her arms, I begin to pull her into my embrace but she extends her arm, pushing against my chest to keep me at bay. “Sophia, baby, I know what you’re thinking. This letter was a complete shock to me, though. I had almost two years of purehellbefore I found you. He tried to fuck that up, too. Hedeservesto pay.”
“It’s selfish of me, but I can’t say I’m not jealous of what you had with her. I can’t even explain what I feel right now. I’m ashamed that I’m jealous over someone you loved in the past, knowing she’s gone. It comes down to this, really,” she takes a deep breath, “It just seems like she was better for you than I am.”
“I loveyou, Sophia, more than I’ve ever loved anyone. It was a shock to find out she was pregnant when she died after all this time and it’s wrong that he knew all along. A baby I never knew about was buried with her, but never mourned or even recognized. These are the things I’m battling. But, no matter what, I never want to make you feel like you aren’t the most important person in my life.Youare the only one who has ever called me Dom.”
She sniffles, wipes her face off with her hands, and gives me a rueful smile. “These pregnancy hormones are really doing a number on me, Dom. You may have to be more patient with me than ever,” she says on shaky breath. “That was definitely a shock to me, too. It hurts, I won’t lie, but I have to consider howyoumust feel. Finding out this way and after all this time must be just terrible.
I open my arms and she willingly walks into them. Those walls she put up are coming down and we are growing stronger together. The realist in me can’t help but think,what’s next?
Even though I know there are a million files I need to comb through to figure out what was left in my office, I put it off for another day. Even though every ounce of me wants to leave, hunt Harrison to the far corners of the earth, and beat the ever-loving shit out of him, I wait it out. Even though I want to comb through every detail of this letter until I figure out what the hell is going on, I push it aside. For the rest of the night, my only priority is to ensure Sophia knowssheis my priority in every way.
“I have an idea. Let’s just spend some time together doing nothing. We can watch TV or we can put a movie in to watch, make some popcorn, and lay around on the couch,” I offer. She doesn’t look pleased.
“Dom,” she narrows her eyes at me, “a huge weight has just been dropped on your shoulders. Another maddening piece of the puzzle has just been revealed and it makes even less sense than everything else we know. Someone just broke into your office and left something–there’s no telling what that was! But you just want to veg out on the couch and watch movies?”
“Your needs come first with me, Sophia. I want nothing more than to hold you in my arms, shower you with love, and give you all my affection. You’re the one I want to spend my life with,My Angel, and you’re the one who matters the most to me.”
“Everything won’t just go away, you know?”
“You’re right, it won’t. It’ll still be there for us to deal with tomorrow. Even if we stress over it all night, it’ll still be waiting for us tomorrow. I think we’ve both had enough for today and we just need time to decompress.”
“A few minutes ago you were ready to go hunt him down and kill him. What’s changed?”
“My priority.”
Sophia
Dominic and I are stretched out on the couch with a movie playing in the Blu-ray player. The extra wide couch gives us both room to lie down–Dominic is on his side and I’m on my back next to him. His hand is under my shirt and he has been gently stroking my stomach the last couple of hours. He suddenly pushes himself up and hovers above me, with his arms framing my face and caging me beneath him.
“You are so beautiful, Sophia,” he says tenderly before lowering his head to kiss me. His full lips brush against mine before I feel his tongue against the crease in my lips. Opening my mouth, I give him full access to plunder my mouth with his soft caress. My Dom is the best kisser, melting me where I lie and making me instantly wet for him.
Pulling away from me, his sexy smirk tells me he knows that he’s already primed me for whatever he has in mind. Sliding down my body, he skims his mouth across my shirt and I can feel his hot breath through the thin fabric. My hands instinctively rise to run my fingers through his hair. Using one hand to hold his weight, the other lifts my shirt and pushes it up to expose my stomach.
Settling between my legs, Dom splays his hands out across my belly and places loving kisses across my skin. Just the feel of his lips on my skin causes chills to rush across my skin and the need to feel him inside me becomes overwhelming. His warm tongue bathes my quickly heating skin and I moan in pleasure. He unzips my pants and pulls them down off my hips.
Then he completely stills.
Opening my eyes, I see him staring at the area around my navel. His hands frame it and he kisses it softly. He whispers something against my skin but I can’t make out the words. As I raise my head to ask him, I realize that he’s whispering to the baby, carrying on a full conversation without me. I can’t help but smile at him and wonder what they’re talking about.
The words of Carol Ann’s letter return with a vengeance. Dom must be so distraught about what he just found out, but he’s focused on me now.Does this help him work through it? Or does it remind him even more of what he lost?It’s not that I’m exactly jealous of her or the baby she carried. Looking at all the ways that Harrison has hurt him is bad enough. Knowing that I helped bring that pain to Dom kills me.
“What are you two talking about down there?” I ask playfully.
Dom lifts his eyes up at me, mischief shining brightly in them, “That’s for us to know and you to find out.”
“That’s not playing well with others, Daddy,” I jokingly reply. The look of complete shock on his face surprises me. “What?”
“I’m going to be aDaddy,” he says slowly, as if he has only just realized this in spite of already knowing I’m pregnant. “We’re going to have a miniature version of you running around, calling me Daddy, and I’ll be wrapped around her little finger.”
“It could be a miniature version ofyourunning around, calling you Daddy, and I’ll be wrapped aroundhislittle finger,” I point out.
