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So why was my first step to throw him the keys?
“Have you always been this miserable, or is it new?” Dominic glanced over for the fourth time in a city block. I couldn’t tell if he was trying to get a read on me or if his only goal was to irritate me, so I ignored him. Men like Dominic thrived on attention, and I didn’t have any to spare. All I cared about was the steady red dot we were following. Thank god for trackers.
We’ll need to get Dominic one soon, I thought. Especially if they start dating.
The idea soured my stomach even more, but I had to push it away. Mari was my best friend, and that was what she needed me to be. If she wanted a possessive boyfriend, I had no doubt Dominic was up to the task. It was how it had to be. It was what Antoni had wanted.
“She’s fine, man.”
I didn’t bother to correct him. Dominic had no clue what Mari was or wasn’t. He’d been fucking his way through the Chicago skyline while she’d been here, buried under the weight of family obligations. She’d rebuilt her empire on the ashes of her father’s and buried the bodies of the old guard with it. Bodies that included her beloved brother and now her favorite cousin. The ones who’d survived were either highly protected or the human equivalent of a cockroach.
And through it all, I’d been at her side.
Her confidant, her protector. Her partner in everything but sex. I kept her truths and held her heart so no one could destroy it. My blood was soaked into the ground at her feet, my name carved into the stone. I was the foundation that kept her steady. Dominic was ignorant to all of it, but he’d learn soon enough.
I ignored the part of me that whispered, Someday, he might.
Glancing at the dash told me we had at least twenty minutes until we found Mari. Time to use them wisely. “You could have come back at any time in the last ten years, but you didn’t. Why now?”
“It was time.” There was no squirming or wincing. Only the tightness of his shoulders told me he was uncomfortable. He was decent at hiding his feelings, but he’d need to get better.
My fingers tapped the armrest. “A decade is a long time, Dominic. Did you think that she’d still be here waiting for you to save her? The naïve girl you left died a long time ago.”
His humorless laugh filled the car. “Trust me, I know it.”
Suddenly, it made sense why he’d taken so long to come back.
“You’re a chickenshit.” His eyes narrowed, but he didn’t turn to me. He didn’t need to. I’d already seen the guilt he was all but drowning in. “You kept tabs on her while you were gone, hoping you’d be back in time to stake your claim. You didn’t expect her to take over, and when she did, you couldn’t handle her becoming a monster. So you kept away. Did insulating yourself from the truth help, or did the denial make reality more painful?”
Silence was his only answer, and damn, it was loud.
I couldn’t help myself. He’d been poking at me since he’d arrived, and now it was my turn to repay the favor. I leaned back, smirking. “Now that you’re back, what’s the plan? You going to swoop in like the gallant knight you think you are, or are you going to make her fall for you and hope you can stomach what she is?”
I could hear his teeth grinding, and a sick part of me was satisfied to know I could get to him just as easily as he got to me. He’d been an enemy for so long, I wasn’t sure how to put down the weapons, especially considering the prize we both coveted.
“I know who she is, Grey. I always have. She’s still the same girl I left behind.”
That time, I laughed. “No, she isn’t. Don’t let her fool you, Dominic. Mari’s had to be both God and the devil since she took over for Antoni. Even if she hides it, she’s had to learn to be ruthless. Don’t forget that.”
“You ever think that maybe she needs someone to remind her who she was? It didn’t have to end like this, Grey. She could’ve been anything.” I heard heartache in his voice, and I felt it echo in my chest. How long had I wished for a different life for her? One where she could choose her own path, her own partner. One where she could exist and enjoy whatever she wanted. I’d put those dreams away when Antoni died, packed them up and buried them with him. Knowing that Dominic still had them dug at me, and I couldn’t find it in me to poke at him.
“No, she couldn’t.” His eyes were burning with rage when they met mine, but I’d been in his shoes. I’d had to face the truth a long time ago. If he was going to stay, he had to do the same. “I know you wanted more for her, I did too, but if you can’t see that this was always where she was going to end up, you’re being intentionally obtuse. She was never meant to be a trophy wife—she was meant to rule. She’s good at it.”
“She’s tired.”
I huffed. “Of course she is. After everything she’s been through, I’d be tired too, but she’s done good in the city, Dominic. Seattle’s thriving, and she’s not going to let it go without a fight. Ruling is what she’s built for, and it’s what she wants.”
He shook his head, but it was more to himself than at me. Like he was sorting through his thoughts. “Is it what she needs, though?”
Part of me wanted to say yes, but the truth was, I didn’t know. I doubted even Mari did.
Dominic nodded like I’d answered. “She needs someone to remind her that she gets to be a woman and a ruler. She gets to have joy and power. Love and strength. This doesn’t have to be an either/or situation, Grey.”
It bothered me that he was right. I’d been so focused on getting him out of our lives that I didn’t consider what he brought to Mari’s. Thinking back, I could see it. The small changes since he’d come home. She smiled easier, slept easier too, though my habitual need to watch over her was something I kept to myself. She had a lightness that hadn’t been present in a long time. Not since Antoni died.
It killed me that I wasn’t the one who brought it out in her.
Silence swarmed the car until we stopped at a red.
