Page 109 of The Bonus

“I’m going to spend the night here.”

“What? I thought you were there to say goodbye.”

“I am.” I pause as I look over the lake. “It’s just…not as easy as I first thought.”

“Well…what should I do?” he asks.

“Just stay in the hotel and…” I shrug, “…I’ll come and get you in the morning.”

“Okay. Enjoy every second, okay?”

We are now counting the time with my children in seconds, I get a lump in my throat at the thought.

I hang up and turn back toward the house. Standing in the darkness, I can see Grace and Lucia washing the dishes as they chat away.

I’ve never felt so out of control of my life.

“Lucy, show Gabriel where my bedroom is, please?” Grace tells her.

“This way,” Lucia says, she takes my hand in hers as she leads me through the house.

“What cute little hands you have.” I smile.

She holds them both up for me to look at and I try to memorize every detail.

I feel sick to my stomach.

Why did I snap at Dominic?

I feel like shit about it, but he will not disrespect me. Not now, not ever.

No, I did the right thing.

We get to the top of the stairs. “And this is my room.” Lucia smiles proudly as she shows me her room. It’s pink and pretty and has big letters on the wall that spell out her name. Dolls and teddy bears are all perfectly sitting up against her pillow. “It’s very nice.”

“It is.” She smiles as she swings her arms.

My eyes linger up the hallway. “Where is Dominic’s room?”

“This way.” She skips past me out of the room and down the hall to his. “He’s in here.”

I stand at the doorway and watch him for a moment, he’s sitting on his bed and playing a video game. I look around his bedroom, it’s navy blue and boyish. Instead of dolls, there are Lego statues proudly displayed everywhere. “This is a nice room.”

He keeps playing his game, completely ignoring me.

“Dominic, don’t be rude,” Grace tells him from behind me. “Get off your game, please.”

He exhales heavily and puts the controller down.

“I said, it’s a nice room,” I repeat.

Dominic looks me dead in the eye without any emotion. “Is that all?”

He is like me.

I bite the inside of my cheek to stop myself from smirking. “I don’t want us to get off on the wrong foot,” I tell him.

He rolls his eyes and it’s like waving a red flag in front of a bull.

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