Chapter 111

Dominic POV

Dominic had been watching her for days.

Even after they’d returned from Mexico, Aurora seemed to still be carrying a weight in her eyes she didn’t bother to hide.

She was quiet in the mornings when they woke up with their limbs tangled together, absent in the afternoons when he’d wander out of his study to spend lunch with her, and distracted at night as she lay next to him, blankly staring up at the ceiling.

He never had to ask her why she was feeling this way, he already knew: it was Gianna. It was always Gianna.

Dominic knew she still blamed herself for their friendship crumbling, for leaving her behind as she stepped forward into a new direction in life. No matter how many times he reminded her that there was a chance Aurora would get her friend back, that it was only a matter of time, it wasn’t enough.

In Aurora’s mind, their friendship was over. Never to be rekindled again.

So he decided to try something else.

“Pack a bag,” he told her on Friday morning.

She looked up from her coffee, her plate of food still untouched sitting in front of her. With a brow raised, she asked, “for what?”

He didn’t bother elaborating. She’d only find a way to wiggle her way out of it in order to continue wallowing in bed. “Just do it.”

Thankfully, Aurora was never one to fight him when it came to these matters. Sure, she was a spitfire at times, but that was typically only when she felt backed into a corner.

Two hours later, they were driving in the city, pulling up to one of the most exclusive spas on the coast. A place where privacy was guaranteed and money bought more than treatments—it bought peace.

Aurora’s mouth fell open when she saw the grand entrance, the gilded lobby just beyond the glass doors and the valet waiting in a pressed black uniform, ready to take their car to a private lot.

He helped her out of the car, taking her hand in his own and looping the strap of their shared back over the other.

“What is this? You didn’t have to—”

“Yes,” Dominic interrupted her as he handed off the keys. “I did.”

The weekend was planned to be indulgent from the start. Starting off with warm stone massages, aromatherapy rooms, steam baths with views that overlooked the city skyline. Anything that would help ease the tension in her body that had become so familiar to see the past few weeks.

He watched her shoulders loosen as the day progressed, her eyes soften once life outside of the marbled walls slowly drifted from view and finally, finally her laugh started to come easier.

It relieved Dominic to no end. Much more than he thought it would, honestly.

He cared deeply for Aurora. Loved her.

He would do anything to keep her safe and happy—a stark difference for months ago but one he leaned into wholeheartedly. Dominic was determined to make this time around different. He wanted their lives moving forward to be easy, leaving the drama in the past so they could focus on what was to come.

And that was a promise he intended to keep not only to her but himself too.

It wasn’t until the second day into their weekend that they met a couple.

They’d been led into a shared mineral pool room—one of those high, domed ceiling rooms with filtered light spilling through stained glass panels surrounding the water—another couple already lounging with glasses of cucumber water in hand.

They looked like money. Old money. The kind Dominic recognized immediately because of his whole upbringing. They were wid-thirties, both tall and well-kept with polished beauty that came from generations of never having to spend a single day worrying about bills.

Dominic had dealt with people like them before, had grown up surrounded by adults like them all his life. He saw nothing special to them.

Aurora, on the other hand, took to them immediately.

Within minutes she was laughing with the wife, Elise, about how hard it was to get the spa’s hair treatments without booking months in advance unless resorting to practical bribery with the staff. The husband, Grant, chimed in occasionally, though his attention seemed fixed on keeping Elise entertained as he wore a soft smile.

Dominic stayed polite but reserved for the most part. He answered when spoken to, offered a polite smile here and there, but mostly observed. He didn’t sense any hidden motives from either of them, not in the way he was used to when dealing with his family’s contacts and enemies.

There were no carefully aimed questions that prodded for their information, no flicker of recognition in their eyes that suggested they knew who he, or Aurora for that matter, really was.

They seemed perfectly normal. Averagely, so.

Still, he kept his guard up.

He could never fully trust anyone outside of his small circle, and that was for a reason.

Later that evening, as they were all leaving the mineral pools to head to their rooms to change for dinner, Elise stopped them in the lobby.

“You two should come to dinner with us,” she said warmly, placing a hand gently on Aurora’s arm. “There’s a restaurant across the street with this amazing private room. They have a great wine list too. If you’re up for it. I’ve had a blast chatting with you.”

Aurora looked up at Dominic, her expression hopeful.

Oh, how could he deny her? Especially when she gave him eyes like that?

He gave the smallest nod. “All right. We’ll meet you in thirty.”

“Excellent!” Elise grinned.

Half an hour later, he and Aurora walked hand-in-hand across the street, freshly washed and dressed.

The restaurant was, as Elise promised, was elegant without being stuffy. Candlelit tables, the murmur of soft jazz in the background, and a quiet din of conversation that didn’t feel too overwhelming to step into. They were seated in a corner booth away from the main crowd, their menus embossed in gold leaf.

Conversation between them all flowed easily, just as much as it did back at the spa.

“I’m in private acquisitions,” he said smoothly when Grant asked him point-blank what he did for a living.

It wasn’t entirely a lie, just… edited down to be consumable. Aurora, though, surprised him when she was asked the same thing.

When Elise asked her what she did, she didn’t deflect or give a practiced, polished answer. “I’m… not really doing anything right now. I just moved out from my parents’ place not long ago. It’s been… weird. I feel like I’m trying to figure out who I am without them.”

Dominic’s eyes flicked to her.

He wasn’t sure whether to be impressed by her honesty or unsettled by it. Aurora rarely spoke so openly with strangers like that. At least not in front of him.

Elise seemed charmed by the confession, though. She launched into a few stories about her own early twenties, how she’d studied abroad in Florence and how she’d almost stayed there to pursue art history before her family called her home before meeting Grant on a week-long trip back home to visit family for the holidays.

“You should go back to school. Even if you don’t know what for yet. Sometimes you have to throw yourself into something just to see if it sticks. I always tell people who don’t know what they want out of life to do it. Life’s too short to second guess a good education, right?” She smiled again.

Aurora listened intently, nodding along while Elise spoke, a small smile tugging at her lips.

The rest of the meal went by in a blur of wine and carefully curated dishes. Dominic kept half an ear on the conversation, half on the room around them out of old habit.

When the check came, Grant tried to insist on paying for it, but Dominic waved it off without hesitation and slapped down his black card before the other man could.

They parted ways in front of the restaurant, exchanging polite goodbyes before they headed their separate ways. Back at the spa, Dominic escorted Aurora upstairs to their suite.

The city lights glittered beyond the balcony windows, casting the room in a soft glow. They shed their formal clothes in quiet routine and eventually settled into the bed’s crisp sheets.

It was only after they’d lain in comfortable silence for a few minutes that she spoke again.

“Dominic?”

He turned his head toward her. “Yes?”

“Would it be… silly… if I went back to school? After we get married?”

The question caught him off guard.

He studied her face, the way she was watching him carefully, like she was afraid he would shut the door in her face before she could make an argument to keep it open.

“Why?” he asked.

“I don’t know,” she said softly. “I guess… to have something that’s mine. Something I earned and accomplished all by myself. I don’t want to be just…”

She trailed off.

“Be just what?” he asked, just as softly.

“Not just being someone’s wife,” she murmured.

Dominic frowned slightly.

He didn’t understand.

Why would she want to waste time chasing some degree she’d never use? It wasn’t like she’d ever have to work a day in her life. Not while he was around, at least.

“You don’t need to,” he said after a moment. “You’ll never have to work. There’s no point in wasting time on something that won’t matter in the long run.”

She grew quiet at that.

Before he could say anything else, she rolled onto her side, facing away from him and pulled the blanket up to her shoulder.

“I’m tired… Let’s get some sleep.”

Dominic stared at her back for a long time, listening to the slow, steady sound of her breathing as it eventually evened out.

What had he done wrong?