Dominic gave a solemn nod. “Do you remember the case I spoke of before? The one involving a string of thefts across Mayfair?”
“You mean the young woman who posed as a lady and was stealing from townhouses?”
“Yes, precisely,” he replied. “She was sentenced to be transported, but she didn’t survive the journey. Died aboard the ship before reaching the colonies.”
“And the footman?”
“He was her brother,” Dominic said, his voice heavy. “He blamed me for her death, but he could not reach me. So he targeted the person he thought would hurt me the most.”
She drew in a sharp breath. “Me.”
“He believed by taking your life, he would exact his revenge. That somehow your blood would balance the scales.”
Her hands trembled slightly at her sides. “How could someone carry so much hate?”
“I ask myself that every day.” Dominic’s posture shifted, his expression growing more solemn. “I meant it, what I said. I’ll always protect you. You’ll never need to fear for your safety.”
“But I do fear, especially if we’re no longer married. If the annulment goes through, what’s to stop my brother from taking me back? From controlling me again?”
A shadow passed through his eyes. “I would never allow that.”
“But you won’t always be there to stop him,” she responded.
He ran a hand through his hair, his frustration evident. “Do you even want to be married to me?” he asked suddenly, almost as if he didn’t want to hear the answer.
Yes. With her whole, foolish heart.
But she didn’t dare overwhelm him with the depth of her feelings. Not yet. “I do,” she replied. “I always have.”
Dominic turned his face away. “Your life wouldn’t be easy if you stayed with me. I’m not… I’m not an easy man. I have darkness in me. I fear you’d grow to resent it. Resent me.”
She reached for his hand, gently entwining her fingers with his. “I could never resent you.”
He flinched slightly, a wounded look crossing his features. “You say that now, but what about in a few years? When the weight of everything I carry becomes yours as well? I couldn’t bear to see you unhappy because of me.”
She waited until he met her gaze before speaking. “I wish you could see yourself through my eyes, Dominic. Then you’d understand just how deeply I care for you. You call yourself broken, but I don’t see that. And even if you were—truly shattered—I’d help you gather each and every piece. I would never walk away from you.”
His throat bobbed as he swallowed, clearly moved. “I don’t know if I could do that to you—tie you to a man like me.”
“You wouldn’t be doing anythingtome,” she said, lifting her hand to cup his cheek. Her thumb brushed across his jagged scar. “You’d be letting me choose you. And I already have.”
“Thea…” His voice cracked slightly as he said her name. “I just… I need you to be certain.”
“I am certain,” she whispered. “Utterly.”
He studied her face, as though searching for a crack in her resolve. “How do you know? After everything?”
She smiled. “It is simple,” she replied. “I care for you, and I will wait for you. Because, in my heart, I know you are worth it.”
Dominic’s eyes drifted to her lips. The air between them changed, charged and trembling with what might come next. She could feel it—he wanted to kiss her. But still, she held back. She wouldn’t press him. So, she remained still, letting the silence speak what words could not.
And hoped, with all her heart, that one day he would choose her, too.
The chime of the dinner bell rang faintly in the distance, breaking the spell that had come over them.
Dominic cleared his throat, the sound low and rough as he met her eyes. “Shall we adjourn for dinner?”
It was the last thing she wanted. Her hand still rested lightly on his cheek, her heart still caught in the hope that he might finally close the distance between them. But instead, she nodded and slowly lowered her hand.
