33

DOMINIC
What the fuck is wrong with me?
Anger burns through my body at the speed of light.
I don’t think I have ever been as pissed off with myself as I am right now. I’m fuming. Carelessness isnotwhat I’m known for, this is not what I’m trained to do.
I’ve spent my entire life three steps ahead of everyone else. Never distracted.
Not until Isabella came along anyway.
Because of that oversight, I nearly died and put Isabella in danger.
I can’t let that shit happen again.
Fucking Henry.
My fists curl up in pure, unbridled rage.
I should have known bumping into Henry wasn’t just a coincidence.
It never is.
When I get out of here, I’m going to kill him.
If I let my eyes fall closed now, I can imagine what it would be like to get my hands around that asshole’s throat, to choke the life right out of him.
What the hell is his problem?
“Oh, you’re awake again.”
Isabella’s sunshine voice breaks through my thoughts, her bright eyed and chipper attitude filling up the room, making it feel a million times warmer.
How is she still this happy after everything we just went through?
“Let me take a look at your injury,” she continues, completely ignoring my silence. “Sit up, so I can have a proper look at your wound. Maybe I can redress it.”
Silently, I do exactly what she asks for. I hold up my t-shirt and let her hands explore my skin.
I keep my eyes fixed on her while she carefully peels back my band aid to clean the wound. This takes me back to the times we shared in the health clinic, when she didn’t know who I was, and life felt a lot simpler.
“It isn’t looking too bad now,” Isabella tells me with a sweet smile. “Thank goodness, I’ve been worried about you, but I think you’re going to be okay.”
“Good job you’re here to care for me.”
“This is a nice place. I like it. But there’s a lot going on around here. It definitely isn’t as private as the cabin in the woods. Are you sure this is a safe house?”
“It’s not my first choice,” I admit. “Obviously that’s the cabin. But I’m thinking we can blend in more here. We shouldn’t get ambushed again.”
A dark shadow crosses her face at the mention of the ambush, which I completely understand. It was a horrible time-no one should have to go through anything like that. In trying to protect her, I only ended up putting her in the line of danger.
I can’t keep this up.
We Shouldn’t keep doing this.
But as I try to imagine getting through every single day without her there, I can’t do it.
Yep, it’s official. I’mwaytoo attached to Isabella.
“So we can walk around here then?” she asks as she finishes up. “Because I could use a little walk, when you’re feeling up to it.”
I nod, trying to rise to my feet, even if it isn’t the easiest thing to do. I have a lot of making up to do, and I want to start now.
I need to let Isabella see that she’s safe here.
“Yeah, let’s go for a walk now. I can show you the area.”
I reach out for her hand, but she doesn’t immediately take it.
Something has definitely shifted in the air between us.
I can’t blame Isabella for that, but I do want to get things back to where they were.
As I finally get hold of her hand, I can’t help but notice that her nails have been chewed right down.
Shit, I’ve made her more anxious than I thought possible.
“Wait… your monitor?” I ask as I look at her ankle.
She extends her leg, no ankle monitor in sight. “I had some time on my hands and a screwdriver from the kitchen draw.”
I want to apologize for practically keeping her prisoner with it, but there’s no point in wallowing in that right now. I did what I thought was best at the time. I wanted to keep her safe.
Then I failed.
I can’t let that get to me, though.
Determined, and with my head held high, we head outside the home.
It’s been such a long time since I’ve been here, in a gated posh community like this. It takes me a couple of moments to realize that the crowd here are very posh.
Stuck up.
If we’re going to fit in, we need to look like it.
“Actually, let’s go back inside,” I say, pulling Isabella in with me. “We need to dress up, to fit in if we don’t want to draw attention to ourselves. The people here… they will look for anyexcuse to look down on someone. We don’t want that… we don’t want anyone to be looking at us.”
“Oh, right, of course.”
Isabella glances down at herself, noting how messy we both look.
“Yeah, we probably should. Do you have anything for me?”
I nod, not really going into any details, but I know Justine left a lot here during the brief period we lived here.
It might be weird for Isabella to wear my ex-wife’s clothing.
But this is what we need to do.
I take Isabella up the stairs and find some nice things for us both to wear.
Yeah, it’s weird. All of this is strange.
But I have to think about this practically. I have to make sure we don’t have anyone looking down on us. That’s the most important thing here.
“Okay, so how do I look?”
Isabella spins around in a tight fitting dress. I don’t actually remember Justine wearing that, which makes it a little easier on my heart.
“You look great.” I can’t stop myself from grinning ear to ear. “Perfect. You’ll fit in fine.”
She runs her hand down my now suited arm. “Yeah, you don’t look too bad yourself. Let’s take a walk now so I can get to know this new area. It’s very different to where we were before.”
I don’t know if we’re ever going to talk about what happened at the cabin. I don’t know if I want to, and it certainly doesn’t look like she does.
I guess we just need to focus on the future for the minute.
On what happens next.
“Are you sure about this?”Isabella asks me as she nestles in beside me. “Can we really just go out for a meal like this? Like everything is normal?”
“This is an on site restaurant. There won’t be anyone in here who doesn’t have the gate code.” I grin at her. “Don’t you think that we deserve to have a night out? I have to repay you anyway. You kept me alive when anyone else could have just left me.”
But as she holds me tighter, I already know that there’s no way she would have left me behind.
That feels great.
Being in the military was all about never leaving anyone behind, that’s how we all ended up with such great bonds.
But I haven’t felt that in a very long time.
We head to our seats at a very cool table with a booth, candles flickering between us, and roses all over the place.
I want Isabella to feel special, to feel loved. I want her to know how important she is to me.
“Hey there.”
But if I think this is going to be a special romantic moment with justus, then I’m wrong.
The woman on the table beside us leans across and smiles.
“You guys look so in love. Like you’re on your honeymoon or something, is that right?”
I catch Isabella’s eye and watch as she almost laughs.
“How could you tell?” Isabella calls out gleefully while she slings her arm over my shoulder. “We just eloped and had thebesttime. It was wonderful.”
“Aww, well you guys look so cute.”
Her husband nods beside her. I can tell that she’s the chatty one, and he just goes along with what she says.
Opposites attract.
Seeing it work in real life is special.
It makes me wonder about me and Isabella…
Even if I shouldn’t because this is so much more than opposites attract here.
“You do look so in love.”
Isabella smiles at me and leans in closer. Before I can even think about what to say next, her lips are on mine.
I guess we’re taking this ‘faking it’ to a brand new level.
Although nothing about this kiss feels fake. It’s the realest kiss I think we’ve ever shared, and the fact that we have an audience only solidifies that.
She doesn’t let me go for a beat too long, and I can’t seem to pull back either.
Fuck, this feels nice.
“Yeah,” Isabella murmurs when she finally breaks the kiss. “We’re so in love.”
“Well, we will leave you to it then. We don’t want to get in the way of your honeymoon.” The woman grins at us. “But good luck with the future. Not that I think you need it.”
Isabella giggles.
The sound is so infectious that I start laughing too.
Maybe this was a bit of a crazy idea, but it’s a lot of fun too.
Everything with Isabella is a good time… I can’t remember the last time I smiled this much.
If only this could be real life.
If only…
“What was that about?” I mutter once the couple have moved out of earshot. “We’re on our honeymoon, huh? Is that why you kissed me?”
Isabella smiles at me, a blissful, peaceful smile that suggests she doesn’t want to be questioned. Then she leans in and kisses me once more. Her plump lips feel perfect against mine.
That might not answer my question with words, but I definitely feel like it gives me something. It lets me know that she’s swimming in this mess as well.
“So, where did we get married?”
“We eloped, duh.” She chuckles. “We’re impulsive so we went to Vegas. We got married in the chapel and then won a thousand dollars on the slot machines.”
“Oh, that can’t be your dream wedding. A Las Vegas Chapel, really?”
Isabella laces her fingers through mine. “I’ve never really been a ‘dream wedding’ kinda girl. I would much rather have a dream marriage with the man of my dreams.”
“Oh, and in this fantasy, I’m The man of your dreams? Interesting. I never would have guessed.”
She gives me a pointed look, before resting her head on my shoulder and nestling in closer to me, holding me tight.
I don’t know what she’s trying to tell me, but right at this moment, it feels like she’s letting me know that I Am The man of her dreams. And not just in the fantasy.
Oh God, here we are again, sinking deeper into a dangerous territory of feelings that we’re not going to be able to extract ourselves from with ease.
What the hell are we going to do?