Page 12 of Modern Romance September 2026 Books 5-8

I grab a cannoli. “It’s spooky how you seem to know exactly what I’m thinking.”

He grins. The sight would knock me off my feet if I hadn’t already been sitting. It transforms his whole face from dark and brooding to devastatingly charming.

“You should do that more.”

“What?”

“Smile.”

“I prefer to come across as ominous and menacing as possible.”

I can’t help but laugh. “Why?”

The smile disappears. His eyes grow distant as he turns and looks down the long corridor between our hotel and the next. “My life before John adopted us was hard.”

I remember the insinuations in the article about the boys’ past, including picking pockets on the streets of New York.

“Being big, I naturally fell into a protective role. Aiden and Cassian were my brothers, but I kept an eye on a few other kids, too.”

My throat tightens. “And by keep an eye on, you mean take care of them, don’t you?”

He looks out over the canals. “I wanted them to have someone to go to.” He shrugs. “Tactical advantage, too, when you have half a dozen kids working together to get food and money.”

I’m not buying that excuse for a second. But I’m not going to push, either, not when he’s sharing details of himself I imagine he hasn’t shared with many others. “But then you got adopted.”

“We did. I had some concerns, but it was too good of an opportunity. I finished high school, got a college degree because John wanted us to have an education, but it wasn’t my kind of environment. I joined the army after I graduated…” His voice fades for a moment. “I missed the action.”

I can see it now: a younger, leaner Dominic sitting in a classroom, pushing himself to succeed even as he struggled against the restraints of collegiate life.

“Did you find what you were looking for?”

I sense more than see the tension that grips him for a moment, then bleeds away just as quickly.

“I did. Aiden did me a favor investing the money John gave us when we graduated college. Gave me enough capital while I served to start Hawke Security after I got my discharge.” His smile flashes white in the dark, quick and sexy. “As much as I enjoyed the Rangers, I like giving the orders, not taking them.”

The man sitting across from me is so much more than the alpha asshole I had pegged him for. I knew most of these details about his young adult years. But what I didn’t have was the context, the way his voice warms any time he talks about John Hawke or the brotherly love when he speaks about Aiden or Cassian. Didn’t know about the other children he protected on the streets.

“And here you are,” I murmur.

“And here I am.”

Without turning his head, his eyes flick back to me. The air between us tenses, tightens. I remember I’m still holding the cannoli and look away first, biting into the delicious dessert. Cream and crispy pastry fill my mouth, providing a momentary but very much needed distraction. “This is phenomenal.”

A noise makes me look up and nearly choke. Dominic’s whiskey eyes are burning. “You have cream on the corner of your mouth.”

“Oh.”

I start to reach up, but Dominic leans forward and beats me to it. His thumb slides across my lip, lingers at the corner of my mouth. I resist the urge to open my lips and nip the pad of his finger. An urge I’ve never had before. But this man is bringing pieces of me to the surface I didn’t know existed.

Or pieces you wanted to pretend didn’t exist. Because it’s not just tonight that I’ve found Dominic attractive. No, it’s been every moment spent in his company ever since he walked into the palace. I’ve been suppressing it, ignoring it. But now I can’t pretend there isn’t something there, something dark and tempting that has me wanting to throw caution to the wind as the tension builds to a fever pitch.

Shaken, I lean back. Try to ignore the tightening in my chest, my thighs. “Thank you.”

He pushes back from the table and stands, unfolding himself inch by impressive inch until he’s towering over the table. “You’re welcome. Good night, Your Highness.”

I frown at the sudden formality in his tone, the coolness in the eyes that just moments before were blazing with an intensity that left me feeling scorched in the deepest parts of my body. “Is everything okay?”

“Yes. It’s late. You need sleep. So do I.”