I still can’t believe he’s gone.
“There’s nothing in the den,” Dominic’s voice floats through the open door. “I’ll check the library.”
I spend a few more minutes in the room reminiscing about Dad. The doctors said it was the stress of the job that induced a heart attack. Somehow I always doubted that, but science said otherwise.
Walking back into the hallway, I see Dominic come out of the library.
“Nothing.” He wipes his forehead with the back of his hand.
“I’m going to check upstairs.” I head to the curved banister.
“Wouldn’t it have been easier just to ask your mom where she put the chess set?” Dominic follows.
“And answer a million questions? No, thank you.” I reach the top of the stairs. “I’m going to check my parents’ room. You look in the guest rooms.”
I open the door, take a quick peek, and shut it. “It’s gone. Someone stole that chess set. And it can only be someone very close to us.” I take a long glance down the hallway to the ivory door at the end. “Let’s look in here.”
“Where?”
“My old bedroom.”
“Why would your mom put the chess set in there?” Dominic follows me.
“She wouldn’t, I just want to see the place again. I never go up here. Every time I come to visit I stay downstairs.”
I wrap my fingers around the knob and take a deep breath. This place is loaded with memories: the good, the bad, the ugly, and too many of them feature Dominic.
The door creaks when I push it open, and I feel like I’ve stepped back in time.
Pale lilac walls, a vanity table, and a purple canopy bed greet me. A perfect little museum of my childhood before the underworld swallowed me whole. Dad always said I was a princess and this room is fit for one.
“I forgot how innocent this room looks.” Dominic walks over to the window and pulls back the curtain. “Oh the old tree is still here. You didn’t cut it down. I remember what a pain it was climbing that thing every night. I still have the scars to prove it. I don’t know how your parents never found out.”
I sit on the edge of my bed, the old mattress groans under my weight. “Thank God there were no security cameras back in the day. I think my parents may have suspected, but they liked you.”
Dominic turns around and leans against the wall. “True. Until I became everything they hated.”
“My dad didn’t hate you. Neither did my mom. I mean you never came after us…”
“I would never hurt you, Cipi.”
We stare at each other. Butterflies flutter in my stomach. For a moment I have a flashback of him as a teenager climbing through my open window. Now here he stands before me. A man with a fitted jacket that highlights all his muscles and a grin that can make me melt.
Seeing him back in my old room stirs something in me.
Anger. Frustration. Longing. Desire.
All the raw emotions that only Dominic can ignite.
Dominic moves toward me.
Before I can process what’s happening, he leans down, and kisses me.
Again.
Fuck.
This shouldn’t be happening.
