Clearing his throat to make his presence known, Dom walked in and stood by my chair. He leaned down and kissed my forehead, then both eyelids. He placed one soft kiss on my nose before landing a steamy kiss on my lips. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw my mom smile.
“Are you okay, baby?” he whispered.
“Yeah. We were just talking about Dad. How did your meeting go?”
“Good. Baby, can I talk to you for a minute?”
“Yeah, sure. Mom, will you be okay?” She nodded and I stood up. I saw Dom shooting a text to Grace, telling her to meet us in the waiting lounge.
“Dom,” my mom piped up. “Is Locke here?”
“Yeah, he is. I will send him in.”
“Thank you, sweetie.”
“Be back soon, Momma. Okay?” An unsettled feeling coursed through my body. I grabbed his elbow on the way out the door. “What aren’t you telling me?”
He led me toward the waiting room. “Let’s wait for Grace. Then I’ll tell you everything.”
We made it to the lounge just as Grace walked up with the same terrified look in her eyes I’d seen that first day in the hospital all those weeks ago. Reaching for her hand, I tried to reassure her with a squeeze and a slight smile.
Dom motioned us to sit on the couch and he knelt in front of us. “Okay, so here’s what we know. We’re still looking into it, but we think this might have been planned.” We both gasped but he went on. “There might be a chance that the accident was a hit on your dad. Unfortunately, it looks like your mom was just collateral damage.”
Reeling from what Dom just told us, numbness creeped into my body. I shook, unable to comprehend what Dom had said. I heard people talking in the hall, but everything was muffled. I fell forward as gravity grabbed me hard and fast.
“Shit, baby! I got you.” Dom’s voice startled me out of my trance. He grabbed my chin and demanded I look at him. I could tell by the worry in his eyes he saw the fear in mine. “Baby, I swear I’ll protect you with everything I have and everything I am. Do you trust me?”
As my strength came back, I rose to my feet. “Always.” I leaned up on my tip toes and gripped the collar of this cut. Pressing my forehead to his, I closed my eyes. I took a deep inhale of his scent, letting it run through my veins, calming as it travelled through my body. Opening my eyes, I looked into his. “I will always trust that you will protect me.” I kissed him fiercely, putting everything I had into a single kiss, trying to convey all my love and trust for him.
We only pulled away when we heard Grace clearing her throat. She fanned herself with her hand. “I mean, damn that’s hot!” she said on a laugh.
“We better get back before Mom starts wondering where we are and worries.” I grimaced.
“Yeah, she thinks I was just getting something to drink,” Grace said as we turned and walked back toward the room.
We skidded to a halt when we saw the doctor leaving her room.
Dom caught the doctor by the arm. “Hey, Doc, is everything okay?”
“Yes. I was just doing my rounds.” He explained. He looked at me. “Your mother is doing very well. Healing quite nicely. If she keeps up her progress, she can go home in a day or so. As long as she has someone with her. She still requires a good amount of rest. The fractures to her ribs and the concussion will take some time to heal completely.”
Sticking out his hand, Dom shook the doctor’s. “Thank you so much, Doc.”
We headed back in to give my mom the good news. We’d save the bad for later.
Cara
The words rattling around in my head that Sal was dead flooded me with relief and sadness. Years of secrets that had beat me down and made me feel like I was drowning. I needed to talk to Locke. He needed to know.
If anything had happened to me, he needed to know and she would need him. A knock caused me to jerk, pulling the line in my arm and sending a twinge of pain through me.
“You wanted to see me?” Locke asked, the ghost of our past haunting his eyes.
“Yes,” I said, barely above a whisper.
“Listen, Cara, I won’t say anything about us to Jules. If that’s what you are worried about. I would never. You just lost your husband. I’m only here to protect you and the rest of the girls.”
“Stop!” I said, mustering all the courage I could find.
“I need to tell you something, and I need you to do something for me,” I told him, trying to prop myself up in the bed.
Reaching for my hand, he wrapped his fingers around mine. “Cara, what’s wrong? His voice was rough and low.
“Matthew, I am so sorry.” I wiped the tears from my eyes.
“You’re scaring me, Cara. What is it?” He demanded.
“I’m sorry I never told you. I’m sorry I lied to you. I was so scared about everything that had happened all those years ago.”
“Cara, that doesn’t matter, sweetie. That was a long time ago.” The softness returned to his voice.
“No! You don’t get it. I lied. I lied to you then, and I’m lying to you now!” I rushed out.
“I don’t understand.” He leaned back.
Taking a deep breath, I dove in. “When I left you nineteen years ago, I wasn’t alone.”
“Okay.” He released my hand, looking nervous. “Cara, we can talk about this later. I need to go talk to Dom.”
“Do me a favor.” I knew he wasn’t understanding me, but I was so tired and I just wanted to sleep. I’d have to tell him later.
“Go to my house. In the closet
