Chapter 15

Elliot signed the divorce papers.

All assets transferred to me—including the company under his name.

He slid the agreement across to me.

"I'm doing this because I want to. Not because of Kingsley."

Even though this was exactly what I'd wanted, I asked him, before signing: "This is everything you built. Are you sure?"

Elliot held my gaze for a moment, then smiled—quiet, a little sad. "Honestly—in the long run, it probably won't amount to much for you anyway."

I went still for a beat. "What about Natasha—"

"Don't." His voice went sharp. He set the pen down. "We ended it a long time ago. That night you called me from campus, crying—I ended it then."

I looked at him. Then I lowered my head and signed without hesitation.

Walking out of the registry office, I got a call from Dominic. I listened, nodded. "All right. I'll be done in a minute—I'll grab a cab over."

Elliot was behind me. "He didn't come?"

"He had something to handle."

I went down the steps.

"I'll drive you."

"No."

We went our separate ways—each getting into a cab—and somehow ended up stepping out at the same address.

Dominic was waiting outside my building with a moving crew and a real estate agent, making quite an entrance.

The moment Elliot stepped out of his cab, Dominic pointed at him and said something to the people beside him.

"He can go up with you. Movers move. Photographer photographs."

Elliot's expression curdled. He looked at me. "You're selling the apartment?"

"Yes," I said.

Dominic came over and took my hand, drawing me close against him.

"Goodbye, Mr. Bramwell."

Elliot stood there, mouth opening and closing. Nothing came out.

Dominic walked me to his car.

"Where should my things go?"

He seemed to have had an answer ready.

"End of the hall, second floor, on the right."

His place?

I cleared my throat. "What's in that room?"

He didn't answer directly.

"The view is wide open."

I blinked. Looked away. Out the window, as the city moved past.

My heart picked up.

I found out soon enough. The room at the end of the hall, second floor on the right—was the master bedroom of the Kingsley residence.

I was set down into soft covers, and Dominic leaned over me.

One hand closed around my wrist. The other worked the hem of my shirt free from my skirt.

My face was burning. I turned my head away, too embarrassed to look.

"Dominic—"

His voice had a smile woven through the low notes.

"Calling for me? I'm a little busy."

I bit my lip. My whole body trembled slightly. I tried to push back with my knee, but he anticipated it and moved aside.

He stopped, rose up, and looked down at me for a long moment, gaze going deep, his voice turning rough.

"When I first saw you—walking in like that, composed, cool, stunning—and you told me your husband was cheating on you, like something out of a film—do you know what I thought?"

He smiled, satisfied.

"I forgave Natasha in about one second."

I looked up at him. "So you were planning this from the very beginning?"

He brought his mouth close to my ear. "Half of me was."

"And the other half?"

"Hesitation. I assumed any man who'd ignore someone like you must have serious leverage. That would've made things complicated."

I smiled and looked away.

He caught my chin, turned me back. His thumb dragged slow across my lower lip.

"You—you've smudged my lipstick."

"It looks better."

He held my gaze steadily, something shifting in his eyes, then leaned down to my ear. His voice had a hook in its ending.

"Fair warning—I'm not an upstanding man in bed."

My eyes went wide. "You—"

But the sound barely formed before his kiss pressed it back down.

I was taken over by him entirely, my body responding without asking permission. New sensations rose and carried everything else away. I forgot almost everything. Only his name remained.

Saying it, again and again.

Dominic...