Page 47 of Defying Love

"Ocean Springs," I said, the name rolling off my tongue like a sacred incantation. "It's this small town by the sea. We can walk along the beach…"

Dominic remained motionless, his dark eyes a tempestuous sea as my vision for our future poured out of me. I studied him—this enigmatic man who held brutality and tenderness in equal measure. My fingers itched to trace the contours of his thoughts, to smooth away the furrows of his brow.

"Dom?"

Dominic's hand lifted, halting in midair before gently landing on mine. Warmth radiated from his palm, seeping into my skin, through my veins, like a promise of protection. His touch anchored me, a lifeline in the storm of uncertainty that swirled around us. His lips curved into a rare, unguarded smile, the kind that reached deep into his dark eyes and lit them with an ember of hope. “I want that life—the one you're dreaming of in Ocean Springs."

His thumb caressed the back of my hand, a soothing rhythm that spelled out his yearning for a future cleansed of the shadows that clung to his very name.

Dominic's voice was a low rumble against my temple. "I’ve already reached out to a real estate agent to get this house on the market. Between this house and our savings, we should be able to have a nice life.”

"Of course, what are we going to do for jobs?"

A smirk played at the corner of his mouth, a flicker of his old self-assurance. "I've got skills that can be… repurposed.”

"Imagine waking up to the sound of waves, not sirens.”

"Sounds perfect," Dominic conceded, his thumb brushing my cheekbone in a rare display of tenderness. "A fresh start. A real chance."

I traced the contour of Dominic's jawline, my fingertips grazing the stubble that shadowed his chin. The room was awash with the soft glow of twilight, shadows clinging to corners like whispered secrets. In the dim light, the sharp angles of Dominic's features seemed softened, more vulnerable, as if the encroaching night had peeled back a layer of his impenetrable facade.

"Dom," I murmured, my voice threading through the silence, "I never imagined life could twist and turn like this… bringing me to you."

Dominic's hand covered mine, stilling its motion against his face. His touch was a silent promise, an anchor in the tempest of the past. "We found light in each other, Alexa," he said, his voice a low rumble that resonated with the truth of his words. "That's what love does—it carves paths through the darkest of places."

My heart swelled, pushing against the confines of my chest with an intensity that left me breathless. As I gazed into Dominic's dark eyes, I saw reflected there not just the man hardened by a life preordained by blood and power, but also the kindred spirit who dreamed of escape, of redemption, of a life drenched in sunlight rather than stained by blood.

"Your world was a storm I never expected to weather," I confessed, my lips curving into a smile that quivered with the weight of my gratitude. "But here we are, on the brink of a new horizon."

Dominic's fingers threaded through my hair, a gesture that felt like coming home. "We'll build a sanctuary from the wreckage," he vowed. "A place where our demons can't reach us, where our shadows will dissolve under the warmth of the sun."

I leaned into him, my head resting against the broad expanse of his chest. I listened to the steady beat of his heart, a rhythm that spoke of resilience, of battles fought and won. It was a reminder that the scars they bore were not marks of defeat, but badges of survival.

Our love was an unlikely alchemy, transforming pain into hope, fear into courage. Together, we were architects of our own fate, sculpting a future from the ashes of our former lives. The thought sent a surge of joy through me, igniting a fire within that cast out the chill of uncertainty.

"Ocean Springs," I whispered, the name of the chosen sanctuary hanging in the air like a sacred incantation. "It sounds like a promise, doesn't it? A vow for something pure, something ours."

Dominic pulled me closer, his arms a fortress around me. "It is a promise," he affirmed. "Our promise."

Chapter Thirty-Six

Dominic

My fingers skimmed over the cold barrel of a gun, a relic from a life I was ready to bury. The weapon lay among other trinkets of power and peril on our bed—each object a chapter in the tumultuous history. With a decisive clack, the chamber closed, the sound echoing against the bare walls stripped of memories.

"Are you sure about this?" Alexa's voice, soft as the silk of her hair, brushed against the tension in the air.

"Positive." My reply was a gravelly whisper, my eyes not meeting hers as I wrapped the gun in a dark cloth. Shadows played across her face, the dim light of the room casting patterns that danced with the uncertainty that neither of us would ever voice.

Alexa reached for a stack of photographs, the edges worn, the colors faded. She lingered on an image of us at the carnival, back when laughter came easier and the darkness hadn't yet seeped into our smiles. She tucked the memory into a small cardboard box, her hand trembling slightly.

The space around us was filled with the rustle of packing paper and the soft thud of objects being placed into boxes. Each item was a deliberate step away from the past, a shedding of our old skins. I wrapped my father's watch, a symbol of inheritance and obligation, its ticking now silenced, encased in packing paper—a barrier between then and now.

"Once we're done here," I broke the silence, tone resolute, "we'll be free."

I paused, holding a photograph of myself as a boy, my father's heavy hand on my shoulder. A storm of emotions flickered through me as I placed it into a box marked personal. It was the last piece of a puzzle we were choosing to leave unfinished.

The finality of each sealed box punctuated the reality of the decision. We were leaving behind the opulence that cloaked treachery, the gilded cages of our former lives.

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