Chapter 9 - The Life He ChoseKhloe woke beneath dust.
She couldn't hear.
Her vision blurred.
Then Dominic moved beside her.
Blood covered his forehead.
“Khloe.”
She couldn't hear the word, but she saw her name on his lips.
He pulled debris away from her legs.
Fire spread through the building.
“Can you stand?”
Sound slowly returned.
“I think so.”
Dominic lifted her.
She screamed.
Her ankle buckled.
Without hesitation, he picked her up.
“Put me down.”
“No.”
“Dominic—”
“Argue later.”
He carried her through smoke.
A ceiling beam collapsed behind them.
They reached the alley seconds before another explosion ripped through the building.
Dominic lowered her onto the pavement.
Then collapsed.
“Dominic?”
Blood spread across his shirt.
A piece of metal had entered his side.
“Dominic!”
The ambulance arrived six minutes later.
For Khloe, it felt like six years.
At Massachusetts General, surgeons operated for four hours.
Khloe waited with Elena, Anthony, and Matteo.
Nobody spoke much.
At 4:17 a.m., the surgeon appeared.
“He's stable.”
Khloe cried.
Not gracefully.
Not quietly.
She sobbed against Anthony Costello's shoulder until she couldn't breathe.
Dominic woke the next afternoon.
Khloe entered his room.
His first words were:
“You look terrible.”
She stared at him.
Then laughed and cried simultaneously.
“You got blown up.”
“So did you.”
“I have a sprained ankle.”
“I win.”
She carefully sat beside him.
“You scared me.”
His expression softened.
“Come here.”
She leaned toward him.
He kissed her forehead.
The bombing turned out to be Rourke's final insurance policy.
Federal investigators connected him to Lorenzo, Vincent, and Kensington.
The entire network collapsed.
Six months later, Senator Kensington was convicted on racketeering, conspiracy, bribery, and obstruction charges.
Vincent accepted a plea deal.
Lorenzo pleaded guilty to conspiracy related to both Bennett deaths.
Vivien testified against her father.
Afterward, she found Khloe outside the courthouse.
“I know you don't owe me anything.”
“No.”
“I wanted to apologize.”
Khloe waited.
Vivien looked down.
“What I did to you in that restaurant was cruel.”
“Yes.”
“I spent my whole life thinking cruelty was power.”
Khloe studied her.
“So did a lot of people.”
Vivien nodded.
“I hope someday you can forgive me.”
Khloe considered lying.
Instead she said, “Maybe someday.”
It was enough.
Dominic officially dissolved every illegal Costello operation.
The transition cost him nearly half his fortune.
He remained obscenely wealthy.
Khloe teased him about this.
“You keep saying you sacrificed everything.”
“I sacrificed forty-seven percent.”
“You still own three apartment towers.”
“Five.”
“Dominic.”
“Seven if we're counting Providence.”
She threw a napkin at him.
More importantly, Khloe changed too.
She didn't lose a dramatic amount of weight.
She didn't transform herself to become worthy of Dominic.
She didn't need to.
She started physical therapy for her knee.
Bought shoes that didn't hurt.
Left restaurant work.
And used part of the restitution from her parents' case to establish the Bennett Foundation, providing legal assistance to hospitality workers facing workplace abuse and wage theft.
The first office opened in Quincy.
On opening day, Dominic stood in the back.
Khloe gave a speech.
“My whole life, people told me power belonged to whoever had the most money, the smallest dress size, the biggest title, or the loudest voice.”
She looked toward Dominic.
“I learned they were wrong.”
The room became quiet.
“Power begins the moment you decide humiliation is no longer the price you will pay to belong.”
Applause filled the room.
Dominic looked absurdly proud.
Later that night they returned to his townhouse.
Khloe found dinner waiting.
Pasta.
Garlic bread.
Tiramisu.
She narrowed her eyes.
“You cooked?”
“No.”
“Thank God.”
Dominic looked offended.
“I can cook.”
“You once burned scrambled eggs.”
“The pan was defective.”
She laughed.
Then noticed a small velvet box beside her plate.
Her smile disappeared.
“Dominic.”
He didn't kneel.
That surprised her.
Instead he sat across from her.
“I've spent most of my life thinking love meant possession.”
Khloe said nothing.
“My family possessed businesses, neighborhoods, politicians, secrets. When I met you, my first instinct was the same.”
He looked embarrassed.
“I wanted to protect you by controlling everything around you.”
“You were terrible at it.”
“I know.”
He smiled.
“You taught me something better.”
“What?”
“That loving someone means choosing them without owning them.”
He opened the box.
A ring rested inside.
“So I'm not asking you to belong to me.”
Khloe’s eyes filled.
“I'm asking whether you'd let me belong beside you.”
She stared at him.
“You practiced that.”
“For two weeks.”
“It shows.”
His face fell.
She started laughing.
Then crying.
Then laughing again.
“Yes.”
Dominic blinked.
“Yes?”
“Yes, you idiot.”
He stood so quickly he knocked the chair backward.
Khloe wrapped her arms around his neck.
He kissed her.
Then she whispered:
“One condition.”
“Anything.”
“No garlic-butter sauce at the wedding.”
May you like
Dominic stared at her.
Then he laughed harder than she had ever heard.
