DOM: Alliance Series Book Three, page 33
But before I can pull her in for another kiss, my phone starts to ring.
And when I answer it, the plans change.
After we drop Val off in Chicago, I’m going to Costa Rica. Because that’s where Casey is.
CHAPTER 73
Val
My lips still tingle from Dominic’s goodbye kiss as I walk up the stairs toward our bedroom.
I hate that he’s gone again. But at least I can do this next part with privacy.
Just breathe.
My feet take me through the bedroom, into the bathroom.
I’ve already decided that I’m going to do this. Because I need to know. So I don’t hesitate. I walk straight to the cabinet next to my sink and open it, taking out the leather bag.
My fingers shake a little as I unzip the top and pull out the slender box.
It’s just a moment. One moment in time.
“You can do this,” I say, trying to convince myself that I’m not terrified.
I read the instructions on the side of the box. Then I read them three more times.
I’ve never had to take an at-home test before. I’ve never had so much as a pregnancy scare before. But now… Well, now I can’t imagine having done this before today. Like some of the other broke girls I went to college with, taking these tests in their early twenties. I don’t know how they survived the stress. At least I’m more financially secure than I ever could have dreamed of. And I’m with someone I’m pretty sure I’m in love with. And he comes with a big family that would certainly be involved in our child’s life.
But even with all that, I’m still terrified.
And even though I want a family more than anything, I don’t know if having the baby is the right choice.
It’s too soon.
This life is too dangerous.
People are actively trying to kill my husband.
We need round-the-clock security.
And yet…
I rip the box open and take out one of the two sealed tests within.
Reading the box one more time, I set it down and tear open the packaging around the testing stick.
It looks just like it does on TV. Exactly like the picture on the box.
“Just pee on the stick for five seconds. Set the stick on the counter. Wait.”
Worried I might accidentally pee on my hand, I decide I don’t want to have to deal with pulling my pants back up, so I shove them and my underwear off. Then I walk to the little toilet room with nothing but my shirt on and leave the door open.
I purposefully didn’t go to the bathroom after we landed, and now I really have to pee, so even though I’m freaking out, I sit with my legs spread wide and immediately start to go.
And I pee on the stick.
Five seconds feels like forever. But I can’t really stop going once I start, so now I’m just sitting here, holding the peed-on test in front of me while I finish.
It’s going to be fine.
It will all be fine.
I repeat that mantra to myself as I fumble with the toilet paper one handed and then walk bare assed back to the sink.
I’m careful to set the test away from the edge of the counter so I don’t accidentally bump it, then wash my hands. Twice. Then I set my phone alarm for the correct amount of time, according to the test box, and go into the closet.
Dressed in my comfort outfit—sweatpants and Dom’s Yale sweatshirt—I pace into the bedroom.
These are the longest minutes I’ve ever lived. But I can’t just stand there and watch the test. I have to wait it out.
I’m turning, ready to pace the other way, when my eye catches on something glittering in the sun.
Is that…?
My breath catches as I move toward the chair in the corner of the room. Because sitting on the seat is the bowl. My bowl. The one I bought at the Christmas market.
It takes me two tries to swallow as I lift it into my hands.
Using my fingertip, I trace the upper lip of the brightly painted bowl, spinning it slowly, feeling the perfectly smooth surface all the way around.
I bite down on my lower lip to keep it from trembling.
The chipped part, the piece I broke when I fell, has been filled. With hundreds of tiny diamonds. And sealed with something clear and smooth. So when you close your eyes, you can’t even tell where it is.
I hug the bowl to my chest.
Dominic fixed it for me.
He fixed what was broken and made it better.
I am so fucking in love with this man.
When my phone timer goes off, I set the bowl back where I found it and slowly walk back into the bathroom.
Standing two steps away from the counter, I press my palms to my cheeks.
My stomach is rolling.
My heart is thudding.
And I don’t even know what answer I’m hoping for anymore.
I can do this.
I can do anything.
I step closer and look at the test.
CHAPTER 74
Dom
Me: Landed. Make sure you order dinner. And don’t leave for anything.
Angel: I won’t.
Angel: I mean I won’t leave.
Angel: I will order dinner.
Angel: I already did.
Angel: Glad you made it.
Angel: Please be safe.
I smile to myself.
Me: Never change, Valentine.
Me: Morning, Shorty. I won’t have great service today. I’ll send another number for you to save. It’s satellite.
Me: *sends new contact number*
Me: I’ll still be able to check my phone occasionally, but call that number if you need something urgent.
Angel: Okay. My work is closed until New Year’s, so I’ll just be here eating takeout and watching TV. Don’t worry about me.
Me: If I can’t reach out and touch you, I’ll worry about you.
Me: Tell me something good.
Angel: I ordered groceries this morning and have been baking Christmas cookies.
A pained scream rips through the air as I smile down at my phone.
Me: I think I need proof of this.
Angel: *sends photo of sink full of dirty mixing bowls*
Me: I want your pretty face in the picture, Angel.
Angel: *sends selfie with her hair up in a bun and a bit of flour on her cheek*
I save the photo to my phone, then save it as my background image.
Me: I’m looking forward to eating your cookie.
Angel: I want you to know how hard I’m rolling my eyes.
I roll onto my back and groan. The mattress in this place is shit.
As I’m reaching for my phone, it buzzes with an incoming text.
Angel: I miss you.
Warmth floods my heart, and I hold the phone against my chest, letting my eyes close.
I’m ready to go home and be done with this.
Me: I miss you, too.
Angel: Happy Christmas Eve.
Me: I’ll be home tomorrow morning. You’ll never spend Christmas Day alone again.
Me: Angel, we’re running a little late. I’m sending a car to pick you up so you can meet me at the airport. It’s about an hour from home, but it’ll put us on the right side of town to head to my mom’s house.
My fingers drum on the armrest.
I don’t want to go to my mom’s for our family Christmas. I want to go straight home and bury myself inside my wife.
But this holiday has only ever been bad for her, and I need to change that.
She never mentioned her early childhood, before her father died. But based on everything she’s told me about her mom, I can’t imagine she did a real great job of playing Santa to little Valentine.
My Valentine.
I’m going to throw the biggest fucking Valentine’s Day party she’s ever seen.
And if she’s not pregnant by then, I’m going to stuff her so full she’ll have fucking twins.
Angel: Who will all be there?
Angel: I only have one present for your mom.
Angel: And it’s not wrapped because your stupid bachelor ass doesn’t have wrapping paper.
Angel: And I don’t even know if she’ll like it.
I grin at her name-calling.
Me: Valentine.
Me: She just wants us. Leave the gift at home.
Angel: I can’t show up empty-handed.
Me: We’ll have her over. Now go get dressed. I want you ready with a kiss for me when I land.
CHAPTER 75
Val
I drum my fingers on the center console.
Dominic was supposed to land ten minutes ago, but this snow is slowing him down. And from this spot, parked with the back of the SUV to the back of the airplane hangar, I can’t see anything.
Well, other than the two men standing outside the vehicle with visible holsters at their sides.
They both drove me here, but when they parked, they got out and told me to get in the passenger seat. Apparently Dom will be driving us to his mom’s house. Guess it figures that all these guys have families they’d like to be with, too.
I fiddle with the edges of my oversized red flannel button-down.
This is my Christmas outfit.
It’s not fancy, but I wore it last year when I left the house to go get takeout, and I want to wear it this year and fill it with good memories.
It’s stupid.
They’re just clothes.
But looking at my light-wash jeans, I second-guess every item I’m wearing.
Dom is going to step off that plane in an all-black suit. And next to him, I’ll look like a country bumpkin in my jeans, leather ankle boots, black turtleneck sweater, and my oversized, unbuttoned flannel shirt. My ring and bracelet are the only expensive things on my body.
I close my eyes and inhale slowly.
Last night, I was digging through the boxes I have yet to unpack in our closet, and I came across the suit jacket I kept after my first meeting with Dom. It was no longer bundled up like a baby, and it’s been too long, so it didn’t smell like him anymore, but I still brought it to bed and slept with it like a security blanket.
I miss him.
I picture Dominic.
Not his fancy clothes. Not his aura of intimidation.
I just picture him. The man. My husband.
His short hair that feels so soft under my palm.
His bright blue eyes that see more than I want them to but exactly what I need them to.
His strong body, capable of so much damage but so unwilling to inflict it on me.
I picture him.
And our future together.
The family we could have one day.
I picture him with me. Years from now.
I picture us. And I smile.
Because he’s the future I want. And the future I need.
Grasping the calmness I’ve been searching for since Dominic left, I open my eyes.
And I see him.
He’s striding toward me, the fat snowflakes softening the intensity of his gaze.
And just like that, my body is on fire.
Dom says something to dismiss the men, and they walk away, but my eyes stay on him as he comes around to my door.
He pulls it open. But he doesn’t pull me out. He doesn’t even undo my seat belt. He just climbs into the vehicle. There is nowhere near enough space for his bulk, but he crams in anyway. Covering my body with his. Gripping my neck in one hand. Grabbing my hip with the other. Slamming his lips against mine.
One of his legs is still outside the car, but it feels like he’s touching me everywhere. It feels like he’s inside me.
And then his tongue is there, demanding entrance, and I let him in.
I suck him in and moan for more.
He rocks against my leg, and I can feel his hard length straining for more.
“Dominic,” I gasp.
“Angel.” He kisses me again. “My Valentine.” Another kiss. “Wife.”
My lips smile against his. “Welcome home, Husband.”
He smiles back. “Merry Christmas.”
“It’s starting to feel like it.” I shift my leg.
Dom groans and pulls back. “I want nothing more than to fuck you in the back seat. But I promised myself we’d have a family holiday.”
His words hit me right in the center of the chest. “I would like that.”
He presses his forehead against mine for one long breath before he climbs back out.
“Alright. Then let’s go have a family holiday.” His tone is salty, and I can’t help my laugh when he slams the door and circles around the hood.
The engine has been running this whole time, keeping the heat on. So Dom just buckles his seat belt, then puts it in drive, and we pull away from the little airport.
“This isn’t the same airport we used when we went to Colorado.” I point out the obvious as we turn out of the main gates onto the quiet street.
“We keep our locations random, not using the same airport two times in a row. But it’s just a precaution. All my flights and planes are registered under real names that have nothing to do with me.”
There’s a blacked-out SUV that matches ours right in front of us and a pair of those all-black cars about a hundred yards ahead of them.
“Are these guys going to your mom’s too?” I gesture out the windshield. “I thought it was just us?”
The airfield stretches out on our right, on my side. And on Dom’s side is some sort of industrial complex. Large, low buildings that look unoccupied for the holiday. We must’ve been the only people at the airport because the roads are empty.
“They’ll drive with us there, then break off.”
I’ve gotten so used to having someone drive us around that it feels weird to be alone in a vehicle with Dominic. And I hate that it makes me feel a little nervous to not have extra security on hand. Apparently I’ve gotten too used to the chauffeured, bodyguard lifestyle.
The brake lights of the two cars illuminate in the snow as they approach a stop sign.
I almost snicker at them stopping. Bunch of law-breaking gangsters stopping for street signs when no one is around.
To hide my smile, I look out my window.
The ground drops down about ten feet into a ditch, and I can see the top curve of a large culvert running beneath the road.
I’m suddenly reminded of a time when I was a kid; I wandered into a small one next to a park, and a toad jumped onto my foot.
It scared the crap out of me, but it’s a fun memory. A happy one.
I want more of those.
Bracing myself to talk to Dominic, telling myself to be brave, I turn to my husband.
And our world explodes.
CHAPTER 76
Dom
Everything rolls.
Upside down. Right side up. Upside down.
The crunching glass and bending metal sound quiet. Too quiet. Muted compared to the explosion that went off under the road.
The vehicle stops, the passenger side crunching against the ground a dozen yards away from where we started.
I don’t wait.
Don’t check for wounds.
I just grip the handle above my driver-side door with my left hand and undo my seat belt with my right while bracing my knee against the center console so I don’t crash down on top of Val.
“Valentine!” I shout.
My voice echoes in the small space, and I have to blink to clear my vision.
She’s slumped against her door, the muddy ground of the drainage ditch pressed against her window.
Keeping hold of the handle, I swing my legs free and stretch down until I’m standing on her doorframe, my back to the windshield, covering my wife.
“Val!” I shout louder, panic infusing my voice.
And then she moves.
Her hand lifts.
“I-I’m okay,” she croaks, but I hear it.
She’s not okay.
Only, there’s no time to do this right.
“Come on, Angel.” It’s hard to maneuver in a vehicle tipped on its side, but I manage to crouch down and undo the belt that saved her life. “We gotta move.”
My hands reach her shoulders just as the automatic gunfire starts.
The sound of heavy metal slamming into the underside of our SUV peppers the air.
Valentine scrambles up, and I stay crouched over her as she climbs between the seats toward the back.
A round hits the windshield. Followed by a dozen more.
I had enough time to see the vehicle in front of us get totally fucked up in the explosion before we rolled off the road. They’re out of the game. And I have no idea what condition the other two cars are in.
And if you don’t know, you have to assume they’re out.
So it’s just me.
Just me and my fucking wife.
I keep my hands on Valentine as I help her climb through the wreckage past the second row of seats.
The windshield spiderwebs behind us.
Bulletproof glass is only good for so many rounds.
It’s meant to get you through the shit, not to hunker down in the middle of it.
