I grunted and kept going until her breaths were sobs into my shoulder as the forceful tingle at the back of my spine hit and I spilled inside of her.
“Dom,” she sighed and pressed her mouth to mine in a kiss nearly as ravenous as the last. “I want to be yours in all of those ways, too.”
55
Epilogue
Leonie
Seven months later
Dom had been grinning since he woke me at 6 am. He crept around his apartment we now both called home and popped his head around doorways to grin at me before scampering off with little laughs.
Only I saw this weird side of him.
But he was ecstatic today.
And annoying.
Rocco groaned as I smiled to myself when Dom peered into the kitchen for a second, made eye contact with me and then sang as he walked away, “The death trap is going, going… gone!”
“Not yet,” I called after him. “I can still change my mind!”
“No, you cannot,” Roc argued on my laptop screen. “Every time I drive behind you in that thing, my heart is racing. It needs one of those ejector seats.”
I raised and lowered a shoulder. “It’s done me well.”
“It will be the death of you, Leonie.”
“I have a fancy new car to get today,” I moaned. I was grateful I could afford a brand-new car, but it felt like the end of an era.
Dom came back into the kitchen, placing my trainers by my feet. “Sorry, Roc, we’ve got to go and put the death trap in a museum.”
He laughed through the screen. “Let me know if you’re not going to make it back in time and I’ll grab your mum.”
“Thanks, Roc,” I said, grabbing my car keys off the side for the last time. “Let me know how thatother thinggoes.”
He gave a knowing nod and disconnected.
I slid my shoes on, using Dom’s outstretched arm for support and ignored his cocked brow.
“Well? What is thisother thing?”
“Issy,” I admitted, avoiding eye contact. This topic would only dampen his mood. “He’s going to try and persuade her to come to our housewarming.”
Dom made a drama of glancing left and right. “Well, good luck to him.”
She hadn’t spoken to me in person since that night in Ivan’s kitchen when two bodies hit the ground. All of my texts were ignored and then my number was blocked. She refused to see Dom if I was there, but they met for coffee weekly in Osburn during his lunch break.
When she saw Dom, she forbade my name.
Whether it was leaving her, being with Dom, or the fact I had kept that we were related a secret for months, I wasn’t sure. She could take her pick.
Gone for months, I’d had anger to keep myself together. I’dheld her accountable like Dom and everyone else.
But every day without fail, I found something I wanted to tell her about. Whether it was sending her a funny video or a memory of something stupid.
And not being able to stung my eyes on the best of days.