Chapter 10 - The Unlocked Door
The rain had stopped by the time Harper returned to the Gold Coast estate at midnight.
The house was quiet, lit only by the warm, glowing wall sconces. Harper walked up the grand staircase, her emerald dress rustling softly against the carpet. Her heart was beating fast, not with fear, but with a deep, consuming anticipation.
She walked past her own suite in the East Wing and continued down the hallway toward the Master Suite in the West Wing.
She pushed the heavy oak door open.
Dominic was standing by the fireplace, dressed in a sharp black suit, a glass of bourbon in his hand. The bandages under his shirt were gone; his posture was straight, powerful, and commanding once again.
When he turned and saw her standing in the doorway, wearing his family's diamonds and glowing with victory, his glass stopped halfway to his lips.
"It's done," Harper said softly, walking into the room. "Frankie was arrested twenty minutes ago. The DeLuca family is finished."
Dominic set his glass down on the mantelpiece. He didn't say anything about the ports, the money, or the feds. He simply looked at her, his steel-grey eyes burning with a dark, intense emotion that made the air in the room feel thick and heavy.
"I heard," Dominic said quietly. "Marco called me from the floor. He said you brought the entire room to its knees."
"I did what Mrs. Moretti was supposed to do," she replied, stopping three feet away from him.
Dominic walked forward, closing the distance between them. He reached out, his warm, strong hands coming up to rest on her waist, pulling her softly against his chest.
"You aren't playing a role anymore, Harper," he whispered, his voice dark and rough with raw emotion. "You never were. The contract... the two years... the money... it was all an excuse."
Harper looked up into his eyes, her breath catching. "An excuse for what?"
"An excuse to keep you," Dominic confessed, his forehead resting gently against hers. "From the second I saw you standing in the Lexington Grill, facing down Paul DeLuca with dirt on your apron and fire in your eyes, I knew I was never going to let another man touch you. I didn't buy you, Harper. You conquered me."
Harper felt tears prick her eyes, but a radiant, breathtaking smile broke across her face. She raised her hands, framing his hard jaw, her fingers tracing the pale scar over his eyebrow.
"The contract ends tonight, Dominic," she whispered against his lips.
"Does it?" he murmured, his hands tightening possessively around her waist, pulling her wide hips flush against his.
"Yes," Harper said, leaning up on her toes. "Because I don't want five million dollars. And I don't want a key to my own wing."
Dominic’s breath hitched, his grey eyes flaring with pure, untamed fire. "What do you want, Mrs. Moretti?"
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"I want my husband," she whispered.
Dominic let out a low, victorious growl, capturing her lips in a deep, fierce, wildly passionate kiss that swept away the last shadows of their pasts. He lifted her easily into his arms, carrying her toward the grand bed, leaving the contract, the danger, and the world behind them forever.
