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“Thanks.” Dom and I say at the same time.
I cast him a furtive glance, but he doesn’t look my way. This is the first time I’ve seen him since last night, and I haven’t even talked to him besides the text he sent me this morning to say he hoped I slept well. I bite back the bitter laugh creeping up my throat as I study his features, horrified amusement blooming in my chest at how far away this reality is from the optimism of his message.
Did he know our clock had run out when he sent it?
My blood freezes in my veins as I consider the possibility then push it away, so I can listen to what James is saying. “I want to give you and your teams bonuses for being so dedicated to my dream. We’ve had some bumps along the way—”He gives me and Dom knowing looks. “—but I couldn’t have done this without either of you.”
“That’s very kind of you, James. You can submit the bonus with your final payment to Studio Six.”
“Same for Archway.”
“Excellent. Now that we’ve got that out of the way, let’s talk about the opening. My event planner has advised me to keep the same date, so you still have a month left to send my assistant the…..”
Just like the first time we met in this office, James and Dom’s voices float around me while the sound of my heartbeat pounding in my ears drowns them out. I’m half-listening, but I still manage to catch all the pertinent details when I’m not obsessing over the absence of Dom’s eyes on my face.
Why won’t he look at me?
James turns his attention to me. “You okay, Sloane?”
I shift in my seat, stealing another look at Dom to see him typing a message on his phone. Those fingers that were just threaded through mine last night flying over his keyboard while the eyes I long to have on my face stay glued to the screen.
“Yes, just digesting the good news.”
James nods, practically glowing with excitement. “I’ll be honest, I didn’t know how things were going to pan out after that first meeting. When you stormed out of here like a bat out of hell, I thought this project was going to go to shit, but Nic assured me you guys could put your differences aside and, as always, he was right. You two seem more friendly than ever.”
My eyes go wide, stretching until they’re nearly the size of saucers. I had no idea Dom spent the moments after our first meeting assuring James we could get along. An awkward silence fills the space where my response is supposed to go, but I’m too busy hoping neither one of them can see the way his words slice into me.
Each one is like its own individual form of torture as it pierces my heart. Dom had faith in us before he knew the possibility of more existed, but why?
“We’ve come a long way,” Dom says as he pockets his phone. “But I’m sure Sloane will be back to plotting my murder in no time.”
“I think you’ll be safe out in California.”
“California?” The word pops out of my mouth so quickly it surprises me. I turn and see Dom finally looking at me. “What’s in California?”
“The Cerros Resort,” James says cheerfully. “Nic got the contract before he signed on with us. They’ve been waiting for him to wrap up here, so they can break ground.”
“Archway got the contract,” Dom corrects him; his tone is even despite the fact his eyes have gone a bit wild. Like someone’s just spilled his biggest, most important secret in front of the one person he didn’t want to know. “They can do the job without me.”
“But they don’t want to. It’s going to take at least two years to get it all done, and I doubt Adler is going to leave a project like that in the hands of one of your henchmen. I certainly wouldn’t.”
Two years. Dom has a signed contract that will require him to be in California for two years. All at once, the pieces start to click together. The secret project he won’t tell me anything about, the plans he won’t let me see, the increasingly frequent phone calls with Sebastian.
It all makes sense now.
He’s leaving, and he knew he was leaving when we started this. When he came to my home and begged for me. When he swore to take care of me and made me say I was his. When he held me in his arms and let me lay my soul at his feet.
When he made me fall in love with him in a million different moments that meant more to me than they ever did to him.
I dig my fingernails into the palm of my hand, pressing so hard I might draw blood. I have to get out of here. Both men look up when I shoot out of my seat.
“Sorry to cut this short, but I’m suddenly not feeling well. Good luck with California, Dominic.”
James nods and says something, but I can’t hear him over the sound of my heels slapping into the marble floor. The tears don’t come until I’m speeding out of the parking lot, and I let them fall freely while I wrap my mind around the mess I made.
Mal said working with Dom on this project wasn’t a big deal. She said it wasn’t the end of the world, but I knew that day. I knew with a certainty I couldn’t explain, that this collaboration was going to turn my whole life upside down, and I’ve never been more devastated at being right.
But devastated is the last thing I should be right now because I knew this was coming. Our ending was determined before we began. And of course, it sucks that we’re ahead of schedule, but there’s no arguing with the fact this is for the best. An unexpected way to expedite the process of recovering from a relationship with a man who’s in love with someone else.
