Chapter 29

Chloe

All of this is so incredibly fucked. I'm beyond exhausted just talking about all of it, and we still have nothing to go on.

The Crimson Cobras. Ethan. I just wanted a quiet little life teaching.

And, of course, I've dragged Dom into all of this.

I look up at him as Cam scans us both with his intense stare. I feel like he's looking for any cracks in the surface that give away something beneath whenever he's eyeing me.

Sure, he's a nice enough guy, but damn, Cam is intimidating.

"I'm sorry, Dom." I struggle to keep looking into his gorgeous hazel eyes. "This is not what I wanted. I didn't think it could ever be this big."

"I know. How could you?" The corners of his mouth turn down as he shakes his head. "But now that you do, can you please take the advice? From a bona fide lawyer, no less."

I chuckle with little humor and look back to Cam. "Never thought I'd need one of you guys before."

"Most people who employ lawyers don't."

"And yet…" I stand from the couch, Dom following me. "Yes. I'll listen. Lay low and all that. But please, let me know what's going on. Being kept in the dark stinks."

Dom glares at me playfully, reminding me how I was doing the exact thing to him.

"Yes, yes. I won't keep anything from you, either."

He pulls me into his arms, kissing the top of my forehead. "Good. It's settled, then."

I turn to Cameron. "With that in mind, I have another interview for the teaching position coming up. Will all this shit with the drugs ruin that for me?"

He shakes his head. "No. The case has been dropped, and there will be nothing on your background check to pull up."

I sigh, the exhale long and one I didn't know I needed so badly. "Thank you, Cameron. Truly."

"It's what I do." He smiles.

Dom adjusts, sliding his hand to the small of my back as he faces his friend. "Not the only thing. You wrangle the Shaws pretty damn well, too. Would you do me a solid and get everyone to swing by for dinner tonight?"

Cameron raises a brow at him. "Really?"

He smiles down at me. "I think it's time to meet the fam. How 'bout it?"

Meeting Dom's brothers seems like such a normal part of dating that I'm actually taken aback for a moment.

God, are we dating? It's not like being cooped up like this has left us with much time or desire to have the relationship talk .

Then I can't help but smile. Dom wants me to meet the most important people in his life.

"It sounds amazing."

"Well, damn. All right, then. I'll make the calls. You should do your best to send a text yourself, Dom."

I laugh at the way Cameron eyes Dom hard. He knows better than I do how much Dom loves any form of communication.

"Yeah, yeah. I'll text."

Cameron nods, but he oozes sarcasm. "Sure."

Heading for the door, Dom's buddy smiles wide and nods his head. "I'll see you later, then. It's about damn time you finally introduced your girl to the guys."

Dom rolls his eyes. "I was dreading Luke's reaction."

Cameron waves a hand over his shoulder without looking back. "Understandable. See you later."

When the penthouse is quiet, Dom pulls me into his arms again.

"No more secrets."

I nod. "No more secrets. I promise."

"Good." He kisses me briefly, and I want so much more, to lose myself with him again. "And you should know, dinner's going to be…interesting."

I cock my head. "Interesting?"

"Let's just say, I haven't brought anyone around to meet the family before. My brothers will be…curious. And they'll probably be less than subtle about it."

With a laugh, I lay my head on his chest. "Well, thanks for the heads-up. I'm sure it will be fine."

"You say that now."

I just giggle as Dom panics over nothing.

It's dinner with his brothers, not the Spanish Inquisition. I was a teacher, anyway. I can handle a few questions.

The floodgates open for the incoming six-foot-plus intimidating men when Dom lets his brothers in.

I'm frozen in awe as they file in after Cameron. Then I'm surprised as a young woman also enters.

She's nearly identical to Cam, except clearly female, and I assume it has to be his sister.

"Kayleigh!" Dom comes up and gives her a huge hug. "I didn't think you'd be swinging by."

The beautiful woman, probably in her midtwenties, smiles brightly, and I'm caught by the intense glow of her light brown eyes.

"I had the night off, and Cam said you were hosting dinner. I'm not passing that up."

"I just hope he really means hosting. Cooking is not Dom's thing."

One of Dom's brothers pushes up to him, knocking him in the shoulder with his elbow. I have to assume it's Luke.

Dom said Luke is the youngest of them all, and whenever he talked about him, Dom couldn't stop rolling his eyes.

At once, the youngest brother catches a glimpse of me, and he ducks under Dom's arm to scoot right over to my side.

"Damn, Chloe. You grew up well."

Luke's bright hazel eyes reflect so much light they actually sparkle, and his sandy locks are styled into something you'd see on a celebrity—perfectly tousled.

"Um, thank you." I'm not sure how to respond to that, and I instinctively look toward Dom with a crooked smile.

He hurries over, practically picking up his brother and moving him away from me.

"That's enough, Luke."

Luke scoffs, putting his hand to his chest melodramatically.

"Like I'd steal your girl." He winks at me. "Even if I could."

I can't help but laugh. The young confidence and don't give a fuck attitude is objectively funny, especially when compared to Dom.

"I will end you." Dom glares, but then another massive figure comes up behind him.

Clapping his hands down on both their shoulders is who I have to assume is the eldest, Jay. He rolls his eyes as he pulls them apart.

"You've been here less than five minutes, Luke. Fantastic first impression you're making."

I put a hand over my mouth to hide the giggle.

"I always make a fantastic impression, you old stick-in-the-mud. Or was it up your ass? I can't remember."

I can't hold back the bark of laughter at that one, and Luke chuckles to himself as he walks over to Dom's fridge and snags himself a drink.

Dom is at my side, shaking his head. "I did warn you, right?"

"You did." I smile. "But it's fine."

I look up at Jay, who is still standing in front of us. His eyes squint ever so slightly as he stares at me, and I feel like a bug under a microscope.

"Hello." I offer my hand. "I'm Chloe."

For a moment, the eldest Shaw just tightens his jaw, and I worry that Dom is going to actually throw a punch this time.

Dom chooses to clear his throat instead.

"Jay." He takes my hand for a firm shake, just one quick up and down, and then walks off toward Luke.

Looking back at Dom, I shrug. "Did I do something wrong?"

He pulls me into his side, ushering us over to the infrequently used dining table we'll actually be sitting at tonight.

"No, that's just Jay. He's…a little closed off."

"Coming from you, that's saying something." I grin tightly.

Dom scoffs at me, his eyes finding the floor. "Exactly."

"Chloe!"

Anthony files in after the Shaw procession, and I run over to him. We hug like we haven't seen each other in years, which is silly, considering I see him at the club all the time.

"Oh, I'm so glad you could make it." I smile as Anthony steps back and offers Dom a brotherly hug of his own. "It won't be Gran's cooking, but I think Dom has Thai food coming."

Suddenly, I'm yanked around, and Cameron's sister, Kayleigh, is right there. Her smile is beaming, and she takes my hand, excitedly shaking it.

"You are stunning! I'm Kayleigh, Cam's sister, but you probably guessed that. You must be Chloe. Cam told me that Dom snagged himself a babe, but damn, I'm impressed, even for him."

Just as swiftly as his sister, Cameron sneaks up behind her and pulls her back a step or two. "I did not say that. I said Dom finally seems to have found someone to kick his ass into shape."

The dynamic quickly has me laughing again once the surprise wears off, and I nod at Cameron.

"Oh, did you now? Well, I have to agree." I look back at Kayleigh, who's nudging her brother in the side. "And it's lovely to meet you. And I guess, thank you."

Kayleigh's bubbly personality doesn't fade for even a moment as she pulls me to sit down next to her. "You are so welcome. I'm a makeup artist and stylist, so I love a good face. Yours is damn good."

"Oh!" The extroverted allure of Kayleigh clicks as I imagine her building someone up and making them feel great about their looks. "That's amazing. I'm a teacher. Well, I'm trying to be a teacher again. Right now, I'm just working at Dom's club."

"So I've heard. I bet he loves seeing you in those hot pants." Kayleigh winks at me.

"Oh, um…" My words drift off as I look over at Dom. He's glaring at Kayleigh, but I can see the amusement behind his eyes.

Jay and Luke find their way over to the table, and as Luke plops down in his chair, he nods at Dom.

"So, food? I'm not seeing a table full of goodies, and I'm praying to whoever will listen that you didn't cook."

"I should've, just so I could force you to eat it." Dom smirks. "But no, it should be here in?—"

Ding-dong.

"Speak of the devil."

Dom gets up and goes to his penthouse door. There, one of the guys from the front desk is standing with several bags of food.

Helping him get them to the table, Dom thanks the man and sends him off with a tip he attempts to hide with a handshake.

It's too bad for him that the front desk worker has a terrible poker face. Still, I'm glad to see that Dom is so generous to his staff.

"Fucking hell, Dom. How much did you order?" Luke laughs.

Cameron rolls his eyes at him. "Dude, you know how much we can eat. I'm concerned there won't be any left for the girls."

There's a strange thrill that skitters down my spine as I hear Cameron say "the girls." It's been a while since I felt like I was part of a big family.

It's…nice.

Looking over to Anthony, we mirror each other's smiles. I'm starting to realize why he liked hanging out with this bunch of idiots so much.

"Just eat, Luke. So, Chloe—" Jay looks to me as he takes a bag and begins to hand out the contents "—you're Anthony's sister."

There isn't really a question there, so I don't know what to say. Fumbling, I reach for the beer Dom brought me and take a sip.

"I've told you about her before, Jay," Anthony speaks up while I swallow down the drink—and the lump in my throat. "Could you please relax for, like, five whole seconds?"

"You've been gone a while, huh? Why's that?" Jay completely ignores Anthony, and I'm reminded of how Dom described him as the big bad boss man.

"I went to school in the city. I was teaching there." I look over at Dom, who silently nods; this is Jay opening the floor to the Ethan discussion. "That's where I got involved with Ethan. He's the problem."

A hush falls over the table, and I briefly meet Anthony's eyes. I've clued him in to a bit of this via text, but this is the first time he's hearing me actually talk about it.

"I see." Jay looks over, and again, I feel trapped beneath the weight of his stare. "You intended to have him chase after you? Is that what you wanted?"

My stomach clenches hard, and there's a sting behind my eyes. For once, I don't try to mask my feelings.

If I'm right, that's exactly what Jay is reading right now.

"No. This—" my voice catches "—isn't what I wanted at all. I want him gone. I want to live in peace. Hopefully…"

I hesitate. Can I really just say all this shit in front of people I just met?

Trust, however, is the entire point of this.

"Hopefully, we can get this sorted, and I can figure out where Dom and I want to go after that."

Beneath the table, I feel a solid hold on my knee, and the grounding presence of Dom at my side calms my frayed nerves.

"Good." Jay's expression goes from completely unreadable to a wide grin. "Do you like pad Thai?"

The table erupts into a chorus of relieved laughter, and Jay rolls his eyes. I feel the tension ease, and everyone seems to relax a little into their chairs.

"Apparently, I passed inspection," I whisper to Dom.

He kisses my forehead before handing me the container of takeout. "You did."

Patriarch-approved, the rest of the evening is a much-needed break from all the doom and gloom. I'm warmed from the inside out as the brothers and friends welcome me into their tight-knit family.

A family. It's been a minute.

I look over at Dom, squeezing his hand. "Thank you."