Claire expected Dominic to contact her the next morning.
He did not.
By noon, she had checked her phone nine times and resented herself each time.
Jenna noticed.
“You told him not to be controlling.”
“I didn’t tell him to disappear.”
“He’s respecting boundaries.”
“It’s irritating.”
Jenna smiled.
“So he fails by succeeding?”
“Stop talking.”
The women spent the morning by the pool.
Claire tried reading.
She managed twelve pages in ninety minutes.
Every time a shadow crossed her chair, some foolish part of her expected Dominic.
At one o’clock, a resort employee approached.
“Ms. Bennett?”
Claire sat up.
“Yes?”
The employee handed her a folded note.
No flowers.
No gift.
Just paper.
Claire opened it.
I was going to ask if you wanted lunch, but I wasn’t sure whether contacting you too soon would qualify as “managing.” If you’d like to see me, I’ll be at the marina café at 1:30. If not, enjoy your afternoon. No answer required.
—Dominic
Jenna read it over her shoulder.
“Oh, that’s annoyingly good.”
Claire folded the note.
“I’m not going.”
At 1:27, she entered the marina café.
Dominic was already there.
He stood when she approached.
“You came.”
“Don’t look so surprised.”
“I was prepared to eat alone.”
“Rich resort owner abandoned at lunch. Tragic.”
“I would have survived.”
Claire sat.
He waited before sitting.
She noticed.
Again.
“You do realize,” she said, “that being excessively polite can also look suspicious.”
“I’m beginning to understand there is no winning.”
“There isn’t.”
“Good. That simplifies things.”
They ordered sandwiches.
Dominic’s phone rang twice.
He ignored it.
The third time, Claire glanced at the screen.
MOM.
She laughed.
“You’d better answer.”
Dominic sighed.
“Yes, Ma?”
Claire heard Sofia’s voice immediately.
“Are you with the teacher?”
Dominic looked at Claire.
“No.”
Claire covered her mouth.
Sofia shouted, “Do not lie to your mother.”
Claire burst out laughing.
Dominic’s expression surrendered.
“She’s here.”
“Put me on speaker.”
“No.”
“Dominic.”
He ended the call.
Claire stared at him.
“You hung up on your mother.”
“She’ll call Ethan.”
His phone buzzed.
A message.
Ethan: Your mother says you are disrespectful.
Claire laughed harder.
For the first time, Dominic laughed with her fully.
Not the restrained half-smile she had seen before.
A real laugh.
It transformed him.
He looked younger.
Less dangerous.
Human.
Claire hated how attractive that was.
They talked for two hours.
Dominic asked about her school.
Claire told him about Jamal, a student who had pretended not to need glasses because his mother could not afford them.
She told him about a girl named Emma who wrote stories during math class.
She told him about broken air-conditioning, missing library books, and teachers buying classroom supplies with their own money.
Dominic listened closely.
Not politely.
Closely.
“What would actually help?” he asked.
Claire immediately became suspicious.
“With what?”
“The school.”
“No.”
“I asked a question.”
“And I know where it’s going.”
“Where?”
“You’re about to write a giant check.”
“I hadn’t decided giant.”
“Dominic.”
He leaned back.
“Fine.”
“I mean it. Don’t make me your charity project.”
“I wasn’t making you anything.”
“You heard my school has problems and immediately started calculating money.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because I can solve some of those problems.”
“That doesn’t mean you should.”
His expression changed.
“Explain.”
Claire appreciated that he did not become defensive.
“If you actually want to help, learn what they need. Talk to the principal. Talk to the district. Don’t show up with cameras and a giant novelty check.”
“I would rather walk into traffic than hold a novelty check.”
“That’s reassuring.”
“But point taken.”
She watched him.
“You’re used to solving things.”
“Yes.”
“With money.”
“Sometimes.”
“With orders.”
“Often.”
“With people doing what you say.”
A pause.
“Yes.”
Claire tapped one finger on the table.
“That would be difficult for me.”
Dominic understood immediately.
“I know.”
“Do you?”
“Yes.”
“My ex used to make decisions and call them favors.”
Dominic’s face went still.
Claire had not intended to tell him.
But now that the sentence was out, she continued.
“He chose vacations. Restaurants. Eventually clothes. If I disagreed, he made me feel ungrateful because he had spent money.”
Dominic’s jaw tightened.
“What was his name?”
Claire stared.
“No.”
“What?”
“That expression.”
“What expression?”
“The one where you mentally order Ethan to investigate him.”
Dominic looked away.
Claire pointed.
“You were absolutely doing it.”
“Maybe.”
“Dominic.”
“I said maybe.”
“No background check.”
He exhaled.
“Fine.”
“You want his name because you want information.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“So I know whether he’s still a threat.”
“He isn’t.”
“How do you know?”
“Because I said so.”
Dominic’s eyes met hers.
There it was.
The moment.
He could challenge her.
Demand details.
Insist he knew better.
Claire waited.
After several seconds, Dominic nodded.
“All right.”
That simple answer affected her more than it should have.
“Thank you.”
“I don’t like it.”
“You don’t have to.”
“I know.”
Another point.
Another rule.
Another problem.
Over the next four days, Claire and Dominic kept finding reasons to see each other.
At first, Jenna claimed these meetings were accidental.
Nobody believed her.
Dominic showed Claire the resort gardens because she mentioned loving hydrangeas.
Claire dragged him into a souvenir shop and made him wear a ridiculous straw hat.
He bought nothing.
She bought the hat and gave it to Sofia.
Sofia wore it to breakfast specifically to torment her son.
They walked along the beach at sunrise.
Dominic left his security detail far enough away that Claire almost forgot they existed.
Almost.
“What happens if you walk around alone?” she asked.
“Ethan develops high blood pressure.”
“I’m serious.”
“So am I.”
“Are you in danger?”
“Sometimes.”
“From what?”
Dominic looked toward the ocean.
“The past tends to object when you try to leave it.”
Claire did not like the answer.
“What does that mean?”
“It means some people benefited from the way my father operated.”
“And they don’t benefit now?”
“Not enough.”
“Could they hurt you?”
“Yes.”
The directness unsettled her.
“Could they hurt someone around you?”
Dominic was silent.
Claire stopped walking.
He turned.
“That’s a yes.”
“It’s possible.”
“So being with you could put someone in danger.”
“Yes.”
She hugged her arms around herself.
Dominic stayed several feet away.
“I won’t lie about that.”
“Most men warn women about emotional baggage.”
“I have unusually literal baggage.”
Claire almost smiled.
Almost.
“How do you live like this?”
“I’m trying to change it.”
“Trying?”
“I’ve spent eight years moving everything I can into legitimate businesses. But you don’t dissolve forty years of relationships by filing paperwork.”
Claire studied him.
“Why bother?”
“What?”
“Why not just become your father?”
Something dark passed through Dominic’s eyes.
“Because I watched him destroy every room he entered.”
The answer was quiet.
Personal.
“He loved my mother,” Dominic continued. “At least he called it love.”
Claire understood instantly.
“But he controlled her.”
“Yes.”
“He chose where she went. Who she saw. What she knew. He assigned men to protect her and never asked whether she wanted protection.”
Claire’s chest tightened.
“And you hated him for it.”
“Yes.”
“Yet you still became part of his world.”
Dominic’s gaze moved toward the horizon.
“When you grow up inside something, you don’t always know where the walls are.”
Claire knew exactly what he meant.
They kept walking.
That evening, Dominic took his mother into town for dinner.
Claire and her friends ate at an outdoor seafood restaurant several blocks from the resort.
It should have been ordinary.
For twenty minutes, it was.
Then Claire heard a familiar voice.
“You always did choose expensive places when somebody else was paying.”
Her body went rigid.
Jenna looked up.
A man stood beside the table.
Tall.
Clean-cut.
Perfectly fitted shirt.
The kind of handsome Claire had once mistaken for safety.
Andrew Pierce.
Her ex.
Claire’s stomach dropped.
“What are you doing here?”
Andrew smiled.
“Nice to see you too.”
Jenna’s expression turned cold.
“You need to leave.”
Andrew ignored her.
“I saw Claire in a photo somebody posted from the resort.”
Claire stood.
“You came to South Carolina because you saw a photograph?”
“I was already in Charleston for business.”
She did not believe him.
Andrew’s gaze traveled over her.
“You look good.”
“Leave.”
“Claire, come on.”
“No.”
He reached for her wrist.
Claire pulled away.
“Don’t touch me.”
People at nearby tables looked over.
Andrew lowered his voice.
“You’re making a scene.”
The phrase struck an old nerve.
He had used it before.
At restaurants.
At parties.
Whenever Claire resisted quietly enough for him to blame her.
But Claire was not the woman who had once whispered apologies to keep strangers comfortable.
“I said leave.”
Andrew’s smile hardened.
“Still dramatic.”
A man appeared behind him.
Not Dominic.
Ethan.
Andrew turned.
Ethan wore no expression at all.
“Sir.”
Andrew frowned.
“This doesn’t concern you.”
Ethan looked at Claire.
“Ms. Bennett?”
The question was clear.
Do you want help?
Claire nodded once.
“Yes.”
Only then did Ethan step between them.
“She asked you to leave.”
Andrew laughed.
“And who are you?”
“Someone listening to her.”
Andrew looked around Ethan toward Claire.
“This is ridiculous.”
Ethan remained calm.
“Probably. Still leaving.”
Andrew glanced toward the street, where two other men were standing.
His expression shifted.
He understood he was outnumbered.
“This isn’t over, Claire.”
Claire’s heart pounded.
But her voice remained steady.
“Yes, it is.”
Andrew left.
Jenna sat down slowly.
“Where did Ethan come from?”
Claire looked at him.
Ethan hesitated.
That hesitation answered.
“Dominic has people watching me.”
Ethan rubbed the back of his neck.
“Not exactly.”
“Exactly how not exactly?”
“I had someone nearby.”
“Why?”
“Security.”
“Whose decision?”
Ethan said nothing.
Claire’s blood ran cold.
“Dominic’s?”
“No.”
She blinked.
“No?”
“Mine.”
“Does he know?”
“No.”
“Why?”
Ethan exhaled.
“Because Dominic’s enemies know he’s been spending time with you.”
Claire stared.
“And rather than frighten you, I added low-profile security without telling him.”
“That is insane.”
“Yes.”
“Does Dominic do this to everyone?”
“No.”
That answer was worse.
Claire grabbed her purse.
“I’m going back to the hotel.”
Ethan nodded.
“I’ll arrange—”
“No.”
He stopped.
“I’ll take a taxi.”
“I can’t allow—”
Claire turned sharply.
“Do not finish that sentence.”
Ethan’s jaw tightened.
“You’re right.”
Jenna watched him, surprised.
Ethan nodded once.
“I can ask whether you want transportation.”
“No.”
“All right.”
Claire took a taxi.
When she reached the resort, Dominic was waiting in the lobby.
She knew instantly Ethan had called him.
Dominic crossed toward her.
“Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.”
“Did he hurt you?”
“No.”
“Did he threaten you?”
“No.”
“Claire—”
“Did you put security on me?”
Dominic stopped.
“No.”
She searched his face.
“Ethan did.”
“I know. He just told me.”
“And?”
“I told him he should have asked you.”
Claire had prepared for an argument.
It disappeared.
“You’re not defending him?”
“I understand why he did it.”
“That’s not what I asked.”
“No. I’m not defending the decision.”
Claire’s anger lost some of its fuel.
Dominic studied her face.
“Who was he?”
She hesitated.
Then said, “Andrew.”
Understanding hit.
“The ex.”
“Yes.”
Dominic’s entire body went still.
Claire saw it.
The darkness beneath the polished businessman.
“Don’t.”
“I haven’t done anything.”
“You’re thinking.”
“That is generally unavoidable.”
“No investigation.”
His jaw flexed.
“No.”
“No threats.”
“No.”
“No men visiting his hotel.”
Dominic looked offended.
“I understood the first time.”
“Did you?”
“Yes.”
Claire stared at him.
“Even if you think you’re protecting me?”
His answer came more slowly.
“Yes.”
She believed he meant it.
That frightened her in a different way.
Because if Dominic had argued, she could have dismissed him.
If he had behaved exactly like Andrew, she could have walked away.
Instead, he kept failing the superficial rules and passing the ones that mattered.
Rich, but uncomfortable discussing money.
Handsome, but seemingly unaware when women stared.
Terrifying reputation, but patient with waiters.
A man surrounded by security who had listened when she said no.
He was impossible.
Dominic stepped back.
“You should get some sleep.”
Claire nodded.
She turned toward the elevator.
“Claire.”
She looked back.
His face was calm.
His voice was not.
“If Andrew contacts you again, I won’t interfere unless you ask.”
She waited.
“But if you ask,” he continued, “I will help.”
Not I’ll handle it.
Not I’ll make him disappear.
I will help.
Claire looked at him for a long moment.
“Good night, Dominic.”
She entered the elevator.
As the doors closed, she saw Ethan approaching him from across the lobby.
Dominic turned.
His expression changed instantly.
Claire could not hear the words.
But Ethan looked as though he was receiving the lecture of his life.
And for reasons Claire could not explain, that made her smile.