Vivi perchedon the arm of Dom’s leather couch, her legs crossed at the ankle, staring at the door as if she could will it open through sheer force of concentration. The antique clock on his mantel ticked away seconds that felt like hours. She’d been here since ice queen Fiona kicked her out of the WSW war room.
Okay, that wasn’t fair. Fiona was just protecting the business. She wasn’t an operative. She legally had no clearance to stay.
So she’d come here instead, because she wanted to be the first thing Dom saw when he finally made it home.
She rose and paced the living room, fingertips trailing across surfaces that had grown as familiar to her as those in her own apartment. The coffee table where she’d set her sketchbook more mornings than not. The kitchen counter where they’d shared hurried breakfasts and midnight snacks. The hallway that led to his bedroom, where she’d slept more nights in the past weeks than she’d spent at her own place.
She was practically living here. Had been since they’d returned from Greece. Yet neither of them had acknowledged the arrangement as anything but temporary. Neither had mentioned her growing collection of clothes in his closet or herpreferred brand of coffee that had replaced his in the pantry. They’d been too busy with Sabin’s recovery, with the aftermath of everything Praetorian had done, to define what they were becoming.
Vivi checked her watch and peered through the front window blinds. Dusk had settled over Brooklyn, street lamps flickering to life one by one. The team should have landed hours ago.
Where was he?
She’d left her phone in her purse to avoid checking it obsessively. To resist the urge to call Daphne for updates every ten minutes. Still, the longer she waited, the harder it became to ignore the tight knot of anxiety in her chest. What if something had gone wrong in the final moments?
The sound of keys jangling at the front door pulled her from her thoughts. She straightened, brushing invisible wrinkles from her jeans, and resumed her perch on the arm of the couch. Casual. Unruffled. As if she hadn’t spent the day oscillating between fear and relief.
The door swung open, and Dom stepped inside, gun already drawn and aimed low. She’d startled him the same way three nights ago; he wasn’t taking chances. When his eyes found her, the tension in his shoulders eased, and he lowered the weapon.
“Breaking and entering?” he asked, voice rough with exhaustion as he closed the door behind him. “That’s a felony, Viv.”
“It’s not breaking if you have a key.” She rose, taking in his appearance. He looked utterly spent. Dark circles shadowed his eyes, and he held his left arm carefully against his side. “Is it done?”
Dom holstered his weapon and nodded. “Yeah. It’s done.”
Malcolm Raines was dead.
The man who had tortured her brother, who had nearly destroyed everything, was gone. She expected satisfaction—hadcounted on it—but what she felt was something else entirely. It was messier, more complicated. Relief, yes. But also a strange hollowness.
“How did you know I’d be back tonight?” he asked, shrugging off his jacket with a wince that he couldn’t quite hide.
“I didn’t.” She moved toward him then, close enough that she could smell the antiseptic soap he must have used to shower off the mission. “I’ve been here since you left.” She made a face. “Well, since Fiona told me, in no uncertain terms, I wasn’t allowed to be on the premises anymore.” She took his hand, needing the contact. “You should have told me you were going after him.”
“Would you have tried to stop me?”
“No.” She reached up and stroked the stubble that had grown in on his jaw in the last thirty-six hours. “I would have gone with you.”
“I didn’t want you anywhere near it.” Dom caught her hand, pressed it against his face. His skin felt hot against hers, feverish almost. “But your dad was there.”
Surprise jolted through her. “He was?”
“He’s the one who found Raines. Apparently, he still has connections.”
“He told me he was just consulting.” But, really, she shouldn’t be surprised. Her father had always operated in gray areas, even after his official retirement. “Is he okay?”
“He’s a force of nature, your dad.” He let go of her hand and moved to the living room, lowering himself to the couch with a sigh. “A terrifying force of nature. Remind me to never make him angry.”
“Aw, he’s a teddy bear.” She followed and settled beside him. Up close, the exhaustion in his face was even more pronounced. She resisted the urge to touch the dark shadows beneath his eyes, to smooth the lines of tension from his forehead.
Dom snorted. “Maybe to you. He told me he’d feed me to his pet alligator if I ever hurt you again.”
She laughed at that. “Boudreaux is three feet long and mostly toothless. I don’t think you have to worry about that.”
“He also asked me when I was going to marry you.”
Vivi froze. “He did what now?”
“Asked when I was going to marry you.” The corner of Dom’s mouth quirked up. “Right in the middle of tactical planning. In front of everyone.”