Chapter 9 - The Family Nobody Planned
Dominic did not kiss Emily that night.
He wanted to.
That was precisely why he did not.
He had spent too much of his life turning desire into decisions before anyone else had time to speak.
Emily deserved better.
So did he.
Three weeks later, she kissed him.
It happened in the kitchen.
Maya had spilled flour everywhere.
Leo had somehow put pancake batter in his hair.
Leah was laughing so hard she could barely stand.
Dominic looked around his immaculate townhouse and realized it had never looked more like a home.
Emily was wiping flour from his black shirt.
“You're smiling.”
“Apparently.”
“You used to frighten people.”
“I still frighten people.”
“You currently have pancake batter on your ear.”
He reached for it.
Emily caught his wrist.
“Other side.”
He looked.
She laughed.
Then stopped.
They were very close.
“Emily.”
“Yes?”
“I don't want to make this complicated.”
“It already is.”
“Fair.”
“I also don't want you thinking—”
“That I'm Elena?”
He went silent.
Emily's expression softened.
“I don't.”
“You aren't.”
“I know.”
“I loved her.”
“I know.”
“I still do.”
“I know.”
He looked at her.
“How are you this calm?”
“I'm not.”
Then she kissed him.
Softly.
Briefly.
When she pulled away, Dominic looked stunned.
Emily smiled.
“That was less frightening than Cross.”
“Debatable.”
She laughed.
Then Leah screamed from the doorway.
“I KNEW IT.”
Emily jumped.
“Leah!”
Maya ran in.
“Kiss?”
“No,” Emily said immediately.
Leo clapped.
Dominic covered his face.
The children celebrated as though a national holiday had been declared.
Their relationship developed slowly.
Painfully slowly, according to Leah.
Emily kept her own house.
Dominic kept his.
They had dinners.
Family weekends.
Arguments.
One especially memorable fight concerned Dominic placing a security officer inside Leah's school as a substitute custodian.
“You did what?”
“He passed the background check.”
“You planted a spy in my daughter's school.”
“Security professional.”
“Dominic.”
“He also has custodial experience.”
“Get him out.”
He did.
Progress.
The criminal case against Cross concluded eleven months after the flight.
He was convicted on multiple federal charges.
Emily testified.
So did Gabriel.
Dominic provided company records.
Leah was not required to appear.
That mattered most.
After sentencing, Emily stood outside the courthouse.
“It’s over.”
Dominic shook his head.
“No.”
She looked at him.
“Not everything that happened becomes over because a judge says so.”
Emily understood.
“But it's finished enough.”
“Finished enough,” he agreed.
That summer, they traveled to Rome.
Not because they were running.
Because Leah wanted to see the place she had once believed would save her.
Celia met them at the airport.
Maya ran into her arms.
Dominic rented a villa outside the city.
No armored convoy.
Only two security officers.
Emily considered this growth.
They ate too much.
Leah learned several Italian phrases and used them incorrectly with enormous confidence.
Maya fed pigeons despite repeated warnings.
Leo followed her everywhere.
One evening Dominic found Leah sitting on a terrace.
“You okay?”
“Yes.”
“You're counting.”
She looked at her fingers.
She had not noticed.
“Sometimes I still do.”
“Six in, six out?”
She nodded.
Dominic sat beside her.
“I do too.”
“Really?”
“On bad nights.”
She smiled.
“Does it work?”
“Sometimes.”
They watched the city.
Then Leah said, “Are you going to marry Mom?”
Dominic sighed.
“You've waited almost a year to ask that again.”
“I've matured.”
“You're eleven.”
“Exactly.”
He laughed.
“I don't know.”
“Do you want to?”
“Yes.”
“Then why don't you?”
“Because wanting something doesn't mean you're entitled to it.”
Leah considered this.
“You really have changed.”
“So everyone keeps telling me.”
“Mom wants it too.”
“Did she tell you?”
“No.”
“Then stop conducting intelligence operations.”
Leah grinned.
Two months later, Dominic did ask.
Not in a restaurant.
Not before cameras.
Not with a giant diamond.
He asked in Emily's kitchen.
The same kitchen where Leah had discovered the first black disc.
The house had been repaired and secured.
But Emily had refused to replace the table.
“We don't let bad people decide which furniture we keep.”
Dominic liked that.
Emily was making coffee when he placed a small ring beside her hand.
She stared.
“Dominic.”
“No speech.”
“That would be a first.”
“I had one.”
“What happened?”
“Leah edited it.”
Emily laughed.
“I decided that was humiliating.”
“Good decision.”
He took her hand.
“I loved Elena.”
Emily's eyes softened.
“I know.”
“I love Leo.”
“I know.”
“I love your girls.”
Tears appeared.
“And I love you.”
Emily stopped breathing.
“Not because you saved my son. Not because Elena chose you. Not because our families were thrown together.”
He squeezed her hand.
“I love you because when you enter a room, I don't feel like I need to control what happens next.”
Emily laughed through tears.
“That may be the most romantic thing a control freak has ever said.”
“Probably.”
“And if I say no?”
“I go home.”
“And tomorrow?”
“I still love you.”
She looked at the ring.
Then at him.
“Yes.”
Dominic froze.
Emily smiled.
“That's usually where you put the ring on.”
He did.
Then Leah exploded from behind the pantry door.
“Yes!”
Emily spun.
“LEAH!”
Maya and Leo ran in behind her.
Gabriel appeared with champagne.
Victor followed.
Emily stared.
“You said no audience!”
Dominic looked offended.
“I specifically ordered no audience.”
Gabriel shrugged.
“Leah compromised the operation.”
Dominic looked at the girl.
She smiled sweetly.
“Families aren't built only by blood.”
Dominic groaned.
“You're using Elena against me now?”
“Yep.”
Emily laughed.
Then something unexpected happened.
Maya walked toward Dominic.
She held up her arms.
“Daddy Dom.”
The room went silent.
Emily's eyes filled.
Dominic looked down.
Maya had never called him that.
He lifted her slowly.
“What did you say?”
She touched his face.
“Daddy Dom.”
Dominic closed his eyes.
For a second, grief and happiness occupied the same place.
Then Leo tugged Emily's dress.
“Mama Em.”
Emily began crying.
Leah immediately cried because everyone else was.
Gabriel opened the champagne.
Victor claimed he had allergies.
May you like
And in the middle of the kitchen where terror had once begun with a black disc beneath a table, four people who had lost pieces of their first families discovered that love had not asked them to erase anyone.
It had simply made room.
