Chapter 9 - The Question He Was Afraid to Ask
By spring, Dominic's mansion no longer looked like Dominic's mansion.
There were crayons in the library.
A plastic unicorn in his bathtub.
Tiny shoes beside his expensive Italian ones.
Mr. Buttons regularly attended business meetings.
Nobody questioned it.
Sophie had transformed the estate by simply existing inside it.
She transformed Dominic too.
He smiled now.
Not often.
But enough.
One Saturday morning, I found him teaching Sophie how to plant tomatoes.
“You're doing it wrong,” she informed him.
Dominic looked offended.
“I own three agricultural companies.”
“Still wrong.”
I leaned against the doorway.
“She's got you there.”
He looked at me.
There was dirt on his cheek.
I loved him so much it frightened me.
My memories had continued returning.
Not all of them.
Enough.
I remembered my father.
I remembered teenage Dominic.
I remembered the crash.
I remembered Hale.
But those memories no longer controlled me.
For the first time, I understood something important.
Remembering Elena didn't erase Claire.
I was both.
And neither.
I was simply me.
That evening, Dominic asked me to meet him in the main corridor.
The same corridor where Sophie had first approached him.
He stood beneath the chandelier.
No suit.
No guards.
Just Dominic.
Sophie stood beside him wearing a suspicious smile.
“What are you two doing?”
“Nothing,” Sophie said.
Dominic looked nervous.
I'd seen him face armed men with less fear.
He reached into his pocket.
“Oh, no.”
His eyebrows rose.
“No?”
“I mean—don't kneel.”
“Why?”
“Because if you pull out a ring, I'm going to panic.”
He slowly removed his hand.
Empty.
I blinked.
Sophie giggled.
Dominic smiled.
“I wasn't going to ask you to marry me.”
“Oh.”
Why did that disappoint me?
He stepped closer.
“I was going to ask you to stay.”
“I already live here.”
“Not because you're in danger. Not because Sophie needs security. Not because Elena loved me.”
His voice softened.
“Stay because Claire does.”
My throat tightened.
“That wasn't the question I expected.”
“I know.”
“Then what was Sophie smiling about?”
Sophie pulled something from behind her back.
Mr. Buttons.
Around the rabbit's neck was a ring.
I stared at Dominic.
“You liar.”
“I adapted.”
He removed the ring.
Then he did kneel.
Sophie immediately knelt beside him.
I laughed.
Dominic took my hand.
“Eleven years ago, I thought losing you was the worst thing that could happen to me.”
His voice broke slightly.
“I was wrong.”
He looked at Sophie.
“The worst thing would have been never finding you both again.”
Tears filled my eyes.
“I can't promise you a simple life.”
“Clearly.”
“I can't promise I'll never make mistakes.”
“You definitely will.”
Sophie whispered loudly, “Mommy.”
“Sorry.”
Dominic smiled.
“But I can promise you'll never have to wonder whether you're loved.”
He opened the ring box.
“Claire Bennett, Elena Moretti, whichever name you choose tomorrow—will you marry me?”
I looked at Sophie.
She nodded violently.
“Yes.”
Dominic blinked.
“Yes?”
“Yes.”
Sophie screamed.
Dominic stood and kissed me.
Our daughter wrapped herself around both our legs.
And for a moment, the three of us simply held one another.
Then Sophie pulled on Dominic's pants.
“Daddy?”
“Yes?”
“Do I get a ring?”
Dominic stared at her.
I laughed so hard I nearly dropped mine.
He crouched.
“You get something better.”
“What?”
“My last name.”
Sophie considered that.
“Can I still have a ring?”
Dominic sighed.
“Yes.”
She smiled.
“Pink.”
“Of course.”
Later that night, after Sophie slept, Dominic and I stood on the balcony.
“Mrs. Valenti?” he tested.
“Don't push your luck.”
He laughed.
Then his phone rang.
Marco.
Dominic listened.
His expression changed.
“What?”
He ended the call.
I knew that face.
“What happened?”
“They found something in Hale's old clinic.”
“What?”
Dominic looked at me.
“A letter.”
“From whom?”
“Your father.”
My heart stopped.
“He wrote it the day before he died.”
May you like
Dominic swallowed.
“And it was addressed to me.”
