Chapter 3
“This is very intense.”
“I feel everything intensely where you are concerned.”
His next kiss was gentle.
“Only if you truly want this. There is no pressure, and there is no need to hurry. You determine the pace.”
Alora looked into his eyes and found sincerity beneath the possessiveness.
“I want it.”
Her voice became firm.
“With you. Only you.”
“Are you certain?”
“I have never been more certain.”
What followed was slow and deliberate.
Dominic treated every movement as a question rather than an entitlement. He asked repeatedly whether she was comfortable and whether she wanted to continue. He made it clear she could stop him at any point.
When pain came, Alora gripped his shoulders.
Dominic stopped at once.
“Do you want me to stop?”
His voice carried the strain of restraint, but she knew he would withdraw immediately if she asked.
“No.”
She held his face.
“Continue. I trust you.”
He remained careful, kissing every tear that escaped and speaking quietly until the pain diminished.
Afterward, they lay together with uneven breathing and racing hearts. Dominic held her against his chest as though nothing he had ever possessed carried equal value.
“Are you all right?”
“I am more than all right.”
She lifted her face.
“It was perfect. It was how it should have been.”
“You were perfect.”
He covered them and held her through the night.
Morning entered through the large windows.
Dominic woke before Alora and watched her sleep.
Peace rested across her face.
For the 1st time in years, something inside him felt quiet.
He understood the truth with sudden clarity.
He was completely in love with her.
“What?” Alora asked sleepily after hearing part of what he murmured.
“Nothing important.”
He pulled her closer.
“Good morning, mine.”
“Yours?”
“Forever.”
His expression became serious.
“You belong with me forever now.”
The possessiveness should have frightened her.
Instead, it made her feel wanted in a way she had never known.
“Forever, then.”
They sealed the promise with a slow kiss, unaware that it would be tested far sooner and more violently than either imagined.
Three weeks after the night in Dominic’s apartment, Alora moved through her days with a happiness she could not conceal.
Every hour with him seemed to confirm that she had found something real.
Ruby noticed.
“Who is he?” she asked while preparing Alora’s tea.
“Dominic Wolfe.”
Alora smiled involuntarily.
“He is perfect, Ruby. I have never felt like this.”
“That is not what I asked. What does he do?”
“Business. Import and export.”
“Import and export of what?”
“I do not know the details.”
Concern deepened in Ruby’s expression.
“He dislikes discussing work, but he is successful. He has an extraordinary apartment, and—”
Ruby interrupted by taking out her phone.
“What is his surname?”
“Wolfe. Why?”
Ruby searched.
Her face lost color.
She turned the screen toward Alora.
The headline identified Dominic Wolfe as the alleged leader of Boston’s most powerful criminal organization.
The photograph showed him leaving a building in 1 of his immaculate suits.
Below it was another image taken the previous week. Dominic stood with Alora outside a restaurant, his hand at her waist.
The caption referred to the mysterious companion of the Wolfe crime boss.
“This is a mistake,” Alora whispered.
“There are several photographs and articles.”
Ruby scrolled.
“It is him.”
Alora read about criminal organizations, territorial violence, suspected murders, and the long-standing power of the Wolfe family.
Memory rearranged itself around the information.
She remembered the gallery, the body, the gunshot, the men watching rooms, and Dominic’s refusal to answer questions.
“Oh, God.”
She looked at Ruby.
“He killed that man inside the gallery. I saw it.”
“What gallery?”
Alora could barely hear the question.
The man she loved was not an unusually private businessman.
He was the head of a violent criminal organization, and he had concealed the truth while allowing her to trust him completely.
Two hours later, she struck Dominic’s apartment door with furious force.
He opened it with the smile that normally weakened her.
The smile disappeared when she placed the article before him.
“You are a mob boss.”
“Yes.”
The calmness of the answer intensified her anger.
“Come inside. We need to speak.”
“Yes?”
She entered and turned toward him.
“That is your answer?”
“What do you want me to say?”
“The truth. You should have given it from the beginning.”
“I was protecting you.”
His jaw tightened.
“The less you knew, the safer you were.”
“You lied for weeks.”
“I did not give you false information.”
“You concealed the reality.”
Alora’s voice rose.
“That is still lying.”
“I am a criminal.”
Dominic’s tone sharpened.
“A killer. A monster. Say the words. I will not pretend to be something else.”
The silence between them became heavy.
Something in his eyes broke while he waited for the judgment.
“Do you want to leave?”
His voice became too controlled.
“I understand if you do. I will not stop you.”
“I need time.”
Alora could not determine what she wanted.
“I need to understand everything.”
“How much time?”
“I do not know.”
Her voice rose again.
“I do not know who you are.”
“You know exactly who I am.”
Dominic stepped toward her.
“I am the man who spent hours inside museums because you loved them. I cooked for you. I held you through nightmares concerning your family.”
He reached for her.
“I am the same man.”
“No.”
She moved away.
“The man I believed I knew did not kill people or lead an organization.”
The pain in his expression became unmistakable.
“Then go.”
His voice was low.
“If leaving is what you want, leave.”
Alora did.
She closed the door hard enough to shake a framed picture on the wall.
From the hallway, she heard an impact.
Inside, Dominic stared at the hole his fist had made in the plaster.
Jax appeared.
“I lost her.”
Dominic’s voice was empty.
“I lost her completely.”
For 2 days, Alora moved through work in a haze.
Ruby encouraged her to block Dominic and end the relationship, but Alora could not. Love remained despite fear and betrayal.
While she worked at the library, an elegant woman approached the desk.
She was tall, expensively dressed, and confident.
“Alora Bennett?”
“Yes.”
“My name is Serena Vaughn.”
Her smile did not reach her eyes.
“I am Dominic Wolfe’s former girlfriend. We need to speak.”
They went to a nearby café.
Serena stirred cappuccino with controlled movements.
“Did he tell you about me?”
“No.”
Another layer of betrayal seemed to settle over Alora.
“He never mentioned you.”
“Of course not. Dominic conceals important things from women he claims to love.”
Serena looked at her with calculated sympathy.
“I was you once—young, innocent, and completely in love.”
“What happened?”
“I saw who he truly was.”
Serena lowered her voice.
“He kills without hesitation and destroys lives without regret. If you stay, you will either become part of it or be destroyed by it.”
“Why are you telling me this?”
“I do not want you to become what I became.”
Serena reached across the table and covered Alora’s hand.
“Leave while you still possess your life and innocence.”
She stood, left money for the drinks, and walked away.
That evening, insistent knocking interrupted Alora’s unsuccessful attempt to watch television.
She opened the door.
Dominic stood in the hallway, soaked by rain. His normally controlled appearance had disappeared. His hair clung to his forehead, and desperation filled his eyes.
“Listen to me.”
He spoke before she could close the door.
“Give me 5 minutes.”
“Why should I?”
“Because I love you.”
It was the 1st time he said the words aloud.
“I failed by withholding the truth. Allow me to explain.”
His sincerity and pain made her step back.
Dominic entered and stood in the middle of her living room while water collected beneath him.
“I am who the articles describe.”
He did not soften the admission.
“I have done terrible things. I live inside violence.”
He looked directly at her.
“But I am different with you. You make me remember that goodness exists. You make me want to become better.”
“Serena told me—”
“Serena betrayed me.”
Old pain filled his voice.
“She arranged the ambush that killed Leo. Roman Cross paid her $2 million.”
Alora became still.
“She is not a victim. She is responsible for my brother’s death.”
“How do I know you are not lying again?”
Dominic removed his phone with hands that trembled slightly.
He showed her bank records documenting transfers into Serena’s accounts. There were intercepted conversations in which she planned with his enemies and surveillance photographs of her secret meetings.
“She sold my brother.”
Tears appeared in Dominic’s eyes.
“Leo died protecting me from the trap she helped arrange. I could not save him.”
“She killed him?”
“Yes.”
He wiped his face quickly.
“Now she is trying to take you because she knows you are the only good thing that has entered my life in years.”
“Your world frightens me.”
“I know.”
He approached slowly.
“I will never hurt you. I would die before allowing anyone else to harm you.”
“Do you truly love me?”
“Desperately.”
There was no hesitation.
“Obsessively, in every wrong and right sense of the word. I love you more than I believed I could love anyone after Leo.”
Alora began crying.
“I love you too.”
The admission escaped despite fear and reason.
“I still love you.”
Dominic pulled her into his arms.
“Do not leave me.”
His face pressed against her hair.
“I cannot lose you.”
“I am not leaving.”
She gripped his wet shirt.
“We will determine how to make this work.”
They remained together while rain continued beyond the windows, 2 wounded people from different worlds choosing love while danger gathered around them.
The following morning, Alora noticed a dark vehicle outside her apartment.
Two men sat inside and watched the building.
She called Dominic.
“There are men watching me.”
“It is necessary.”
His calm irritated her.
“I do not need bodyguards.”
“Serena knows who you are. She does not forgive.”
His voice became firmer.
“You are my only weakness. She will exploit that if possible.”
“Weakness?”
“The only one.”
“How long will they remain?”
“Until I end the situation with Serena and Roman Cross.”
Dominic explained that Jax would direct the protection team. The men were among his best and had orders to remain discreet.
“I hate this.”
“I know.”
His voice softened.
“I prefer that you hate me while alive rather than forgive me after death.”
Elsewhere in Boston, Roman Cross sat behind a mahogany desk while Serena entered his office.
“You were correct,” Roman said. “Dominic has a girlfriend. My men confirmed it.”
“He loves her.”
Serena sat across from him.
May you like
“I saw what happened when she left him. He was destroyed.”
“Then she is ideal leverage.”
Related Stories
