Page 77 of Worth the Vow

“Oh,” he laughs. “I wanted to be Luca. I wanted to play in the NHL. Then I saw a friend get his two front teeth knocked out in the fifth grade, and I promptly hung up my skates. I’d rather have all of my natural teeth than play hockey.”

“That’s fair. You have nice teeth.”

“Thanks. Grew them myself.”

I turn to him in shock. “Did you just — did you just make a joke?”

The devious smile that slowly covers his face is remarkable. “I’m not quite the bump-on-a-log that you think I am.”

“I never said that,” I lie. “Well, maybe something like that. Pretty sure I called you an asshat once or twice.”

Dominic stands, turning to show me his bare ass, and looks over his shoulder. “I might have nice teeth, but I have a phenomenal ass, and don’t you forget it.”

I can’t help the loud cackle that follows Dominic out of the bathroom. I have a feeling I’m going to experience a Dominic I’ve never seen before, and I’m pretty excited about it.

Dominic

I get two glorious weeks enjoying Kate before shit hits the fan. The air conditioning at the hotel malfunctioned. Granted, we don’t get incredibly hot at our elevation, but with four floors, the upper level rooms were stifling. After an entire day of troubleshooting, a technician discovered severed wires leading to the hotel. I immediately assumed it was someone lashing out, but the technician commented the wires weren’t severed perfectly. The remnants were jagged and mismatched. A look at security footage, and we found our culprit. Mason the marmot, proudly carrying a special edition Denver Wolves hat from when they won the Stanley Cup that he stole from Luca, looked right into the camera as he chewed on the wires. Then he just sauntered off as if nothing had happened. Why the town celebrates that little menace is beyond me.

Then the town mayor wanted to set up a meeting with my father and me to discuss some ideas for marketing the town to out-of-state tourists. Of course my father was on board, as he still likes to meddle as much as possible, but I shut it down. I told the mayor I was CEO of Everlasting Inn and Spa, not my father, and if he wanted to talk about marketing, he needed to do it with me, and only me. It still hurt when I walked in on my dad and the mayor having lunch a few days later to discuss marketing strategies. When my dad confidently strode into my office to tell me what I needed to do, I told him to get the hell out.

Worst of all, my brother Leo was injured while overseas.

We didn’t find out for almost two weeks after his injury. Leo remained guarded, giving us only a few details, but said he’d be fine. He was in a military hospital in Germany while recovering, and he’d let us know if or when he’d be home. As much as it was a relief to know he was safely in Germany, I felt like he wasn’t being fully honest with us. Why did he wait two weeks to tell us? He only said his convoy hit an IED, or an improvised explosive device, and that he was lucky. When we asked if anyone died, he shut down, said it was classified, and ended the call.

It’s honestly my own damn fault that I got comfortable, and with all the chaos in such a short time, I forgot that my wonderful ex-wife was roaming around, just waiting to fuck shit up.

Savannah showed up a few nights after learning about Leo’s injury to tell us the apartment she was renting had mysteriously burned down. We got a sob story about it, about how Savannah has no one, and her income is so low that she can’t afford a hotel. I can only assume Savannah has someone supplying her with money, housing, or drugs. Hell, maybe it’s all three. Regardless, Sienna gave me the puppy dog eyes, begging me to help her mom in any way. She said she’d sleep on the floor, or in Aspen’s room, and she’d give up her room for her mother.

A quick look at Everlasting’s reservations, and I’ve got Savannah booked for two weeks in the furthest room from my office. That woman is not staying in my house.

Savannah had the absolute audacity to look right at me and say, “I hope you’ll bring our children to visit, Dom. It’ll be like we’re a family again.”

I don’t think she expected Aspen to pipe up and shout, “At least Kate is married to Daddy now. She’s a screamer.”

Jesus. Kate gasped, and Savannah glared at us. Failing at hiding my smile, I addressed my youngest daughter. “It’s not nice to speak about someone like that.”

“What?” Aspen asked innocently, but I could see the wicked sparkle in her eyes. “Kate said you guys play Twister at night after we go to bed. She promised she’d let me play sometime soon. Can I stay up late to play it tonight?”

“I said no such thing,” Kate muttered after Savannah left. “That little girl is one hell of a good actress.”

Don’t I know it.

Which is why I’m now in my office, constantly hyper-aware of my surroundings, trying to keep the peace. What am I worried about? Savannah and Kate killing each other. Kate leaving me. Aspen killing Savannah. Sienna killing Aspen for killing Savannah. Honestly, the only one I’m not worried about is Carter, because he put on noise-canceling headphones the day Savannah showed up, and he’s rarely taken them off since. His only comment was how surprising it was that his mother had so much luggage.

Ironic that Savannah seemed to have all of her things cleared out of her apartment before the fire, isn’t it? I’ll circle back to that.

The day after Savannah began staying at Everlasting, I found her in my office. I’d just had lunch with Kate and the kids — Savannah has made absolutely no effort to cultivate a relationship with her youngest daughter, and Aspen clearly prefers Kate — and Savannah thought it was a perfect opportunity to reminisce about our past. Sitting in my chair behind my desk, she seemed irritated that I wanted her to move. Only then did she stand and drop her coat, revealing next to nothing on underneath.

“I just thought we could chat, Dom,” Savannah says seductively, standing before me in a too-tight silk tank top and booty shorts. Biting her lip, she twirls a lock of hair around her finger. The same finger comes to rest on my chest, her fake nail way too long and painted blood red. Perfect for the little viper she is.

“We have nothing to talk about that couldn’t be done over text, Savannah,” I state clearly.

“You hate texting. Besides,” she whispers, stepping closer to me. “I know you still want me. I can be quiet. She won’t ever know. I can make you feel good, honey. Bet you haven’t felt good in a long time.”

I step back, staring at her in shock. I guess I shouldn’t be this surprised at Savannah’s complete disrespect for my marriage, considering she certainly didn’t respect it when we were married, but I’m still appalled she so blatantly tries to seduce me. “I felt good this morning with my wife. Twice, in fact. Actually, let me change that. I felt great. Best I’ve ever felt. And you need to get the fuck out of here before I throw your ass out onto the street.”

Savannah pouts, pushing her chest out. “Don’t be a party pooper, Dominic. You can have your cake and eat it too. Why settle for one pussy when you can have two?”

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