Page 153 of Scorned Beauty

“You guys okay here?” Dom asked.

“We’re fine,” Carlotta said. “I was just apologizing to Sloane about my horrid treatment of her.”

“Good. Otherwise, you’ll have more than Lucy to contend with,” Dom said, his meaning clear. “Sera is going to make sure you two behave in front of Pop. I’ve already warned Lucy. United front. Pop needs this, okay?”

“You don’t have to tell me that,” Carlotta snapped.

Dom dragged me to his side. “Come on, let’s get back to the family.”

Hours later, we were in the hospital suite where the living room had a door to the patient's room. Carlotta and Lucy were with Paulie while I was studying his chart. Dom strode in. Grimsatisfaction was written all over his face and I wondered who else was dead. I was a bit worried that the police would pin Anton’s death on Dom but he assured me that Trevor had taken care of it. Whateveritencompassed.

“What?” I hugged the clipboard to my chest.

“The SUV that Anton drove is registered to Vivienne Tomlin. The police are paying her a visit now.”

When Dom’s expression didn’t change, it dawned on me. “You knew?”

“We’ve been watching her ever since Margo gave up the Tomlins. I doubt the congressman will make it alive to the trial. Despite the Zahkarovs’ cooperation in his arrest, Kirill isn’t the type to like loose ends. Neither do I and that’s why I kept tabs on Mrs. Tomlin and never relented in my search for Anton. Based on the financial records Trevor had unearthed, Vivienne had been using Anton to get rid of the congressman’s mistresses. When one of her vehicles was within two miles of the penthouse, it alerted me.”

“Is that how you arrived so fast?”

“Yeah.”

“You have me that locked down, huh?”

“Not enough,” Dom muttered. “Trevor’s scheduled final interviews for your security.”

I sighed. “I know.”

He brushed my cheek with the back of his fingers. “Thank you.”

“You’ve thanked me enough?—”

“Not about Pop,” he said gruffly. “I’m thanking you for not giving me a hard time about keeping you safe.”

“I’m not promising it won’t grate on me once I work at a hospital, but we’ll figure it out.”

He laughed briefly. “I wouldn’t expect anything less, Firecat.”

Epilogue

Three MonthsLater

Sloane

This was a bad idea.What was I thinking? I stared back at the lights of the log cabin. When Dom said he needed to take me to a remote area to fulfill my fantasies and I could scream to my heart’s content, I imagined a cabin in the woods. Not this palatial three-story log cabin in the middle of a peach orchard in Bumfuck Georgia.

I was panting hard, and it felt like I’d been running for a while. I didn’t have a phone. I was wearing a light jacket, T-shirt, sweatpants, and running shoes.

What if I got lost? I eyed the edge of the forest that loomed in front of the orchard.

Granted, I’d been implanted with a new tracker. Still, I depended solely on Dom to find me. Besides his phone, he was probably using night-vision goggles to track me. That stalker. He enjoyed this game as much as I did, if not a little more. The brisk December air inflated my lungs as I slowed my strides. It waswhy Dom picked the South for our little game where the average temperature was in the fifties at this time of the year. We were lucky because a cold front was rolling in later this week.

We celebrated Thanksgiving with the De Luccis and Rossis a week ago. A huge blended affair and it was a blast. Harriet was also invited. After this trip, the Christmas season would be in full swing. My mind was spinning at the number of invitations to parties and galas coming through Dom’s mailbox. Unlike last year, when we hid our clandestine affair, this time there would be no hiding, and I was going to be the woman by Dom’s side.

The past three months was a whirlwind of activities. After taking the NCLEX, I immersed myself in Dom’s world, but he’d also involved himself in mine, accompanying me in my visits to Harriet, and lending his support in facilitating background checks to the planned staff expansion at the Delphine Assisted Living Home.

I inhaled deeply and took a tentative step into the forest. Evergreens and pines stood as sentinels in between skeletons of trees. Dried leaves and fallen branches crunched beneath my feet.