17
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
We’reboth quiet as I drive us to my house that is as far away from the crowded Dallas suburbs as I could find but still within a reasonable distance to my office. Sophia picks up my free hand and examines my knuckles. They’re an angry shade of red and slightly swollen from pounding Harrison into the ground. She gently strokes my hand with hers, careful to not further aggravate the slight injuries I sustained from his face repeatedly slamming into my fist.
She examines my hand thoroughly, moving it gingerly as if she thinks she can hurt me. I can’t help but smile at her as she bites her lip at the corner of her mouth, furrows her brow, and genuinely looks concerned for my wellbeing.
“Does it hurt?” her small voice breaks the silence.
“No, just a little sore but nothing major,” I reply and wrap my hand around hers to show her that I’m fine.
“You were so fast. One second, you were walking off to get the car and the next second you had him on the ground. I don’t even know how you moved that fast,” the awe and shock is thick in her voice.
“To tell you the truth, I don’t remember how that happened, either. I guess the old adage of ‘seeing red’ and not remembering anything after that is true,” I shrug with my reply. I don’t want to get into the details of this in the car. There’s no good place to do it, but there are bad places to discuss it. In the car, while I’m driving at night, is one of those bad places.
“Have you ever done that before?” she asks, and I hear the trepidation in her voice. I know now where her mind automatically went.
“No, Sophia, I haven’t. You never have to worry about that with me. Ever,” I promise her again. Seeing me in that fit of rage must have scared her and brought back that seed of doubt. That actually makes my plan for tonight even more important to carry out. I have to prove to her that she can trust me, regardless of the circumstances.
Harrison deserved what he got and more. I would still be there pounding the shit out of his face if they hadn’t stopped me.
Sophia is quiet—tooquiet. She’s now gnawing on her thumbnail and staring out the side window. In deep thought, she has mentally left me here in the car while she’s off reliving some terrible situation. I gently squeeze her hand and bring it over to my lap, resting it on my leg. This gets her attention and her eyes drift to meet mine. She stops chewing on her nail, finally conscious of her nervousness, and drops her hand.
“Do you trust me, Sophia?” I say, knowing that we’re now within a couple of minutes of my house. “Or did my outburst back there make you doubt me again?”
Her eyes soften as she tilts her head, “I don’t doubt you, Dom. Of course I still trust you.”
“Good. We’re about to pull into my driveway. This is another big step for us, Sophia. You’re ready for this and I’m ready for this, but we have to be together in your mind, too,” I begin.
“Together?” she asks for clarification.
“On the same page, love. You need toknowthat there is nothing I will do to you that you won’t enjoy or that you don’t want me to do,” I explain. “You can’t doubt that.”
She nods and shifts in her seat to face me just as I turn onto my street. My house is at the end of a cul-de-sac, set on a sprawling estate with no close neighbors. “I don’t doubt anything about you, Dom. I promise,” she replies so sweetly.
We approach the gated entrance to my driveway and she glances over her shoulder when she feels the car slowing. Seeing the wide, brick gates on either side of my driveway, coupled with the tall brick fence and lantern posts that line my yard along the front, her jaw drops open and her eyes fly open wide. “Where are we?” she gasps.
“Home,” I reply nonchalantly.
“This is where you live?” she asks, looking around even though there’s really nothing to see here except the landscaping beds my gardener created.
Continuing slowly down my driveway, she’s still trying hard to see even though it’s pitch black outside. My headlights are the only illumination until we round the curve and my house comes into view. The landscaping spotlights are lit up, showcasing various aspects the house. It’s a fairly large house, considering only my house staff and I live here, but it gives me the space I need for the playroom, my office, overnight guests, parties, and anything else I could possibly need.
Stopping in the circular drive in the front of the house, one of my staff, Lewis, meets us at the car to open the door for Sophia. Lewis then takes the car to park it in the garage as I escort Sophia inside. She’s awestruck as we enter the front door. Walking slowly, she’s trying to absorb every detail. Instantly remembering the apartment she lived in when I first met her, I feel a twinge of humility at how blatantly I’ve taken this house and its luxuries for granted.
“Thisis your house?” she asks disbelievingly.
At first, I’m almost embarrassed at her reaction, but I know how hard I’ve worked at building my company. Just getting it off the ground was a major ordeal in itself. I’ve worked long, hard hours to achieve my success and I’m not ashamed of that at all. There were days, and long nights, that I questioned whether this was the right business for me to go into. The software giants just kept growing exponentially while I struggled to make ends meet. When I developed my current bestselling software, then customized it for commercial use, I knew I’d found my niche. It took a lot of my own blood, sweat, and tears to get here, but I’m here and I’m damn proud of the company I’ve built from nothing.
“This is home,” I reply and look at our surroundings, trying to see it through her eyes.
The mixture of light and dark wood in the flooring gives it a warm ambiance as we enter the wide, open foyer. Rather than take her on a tour, like a tour guide, I decide to tell her where everything is located. Then, she can take her time exploring and getting used to where everything is so that she won’t feel as much like a guest when she’s here. I want her to be comfortable and love it here as much as I do.
“Directly ahead to the left are the stairs that lead upstairs to all of the bedrooms. The first floor has a media room, a formal living room, a formal dining room, a library, my office, and the kitchen. Off the back of the kitchen is the patio area with a full outdoor kitchen and lighted, heated pool and hot tub combination. Just before you reach the kitchen, there’s a door that leads downstairs to Tucker’s apartment.
“The upstairs bedrooms are all master bedroom suites. Each bedroom has its own separate sitting area and full bath, complete with a garden tub and walk-in tiled shower. The upstairs patio extends the full length of the house and every bedroom has double French doors to access it. They all overlook the pool area that is lit up at night and the fountains jet streams of water in a choreographed pattern.
“The room at the end of the hall is the playroom. I designed the layout and have everything in there that we could possibly need.”
