Chapter 32

Dominick

"I told you, the sake and sushi thing is tonight. I thought it would be fun to go together. Take a break from all the Ethan drama."

Chloe's stressed expression lightens, and I watch happily as a smile spreads across her face.

"Really? Oh, Dom, thank you." She sighs, nodding before she lays her head against my chest. "I need a break. And I adore sushi."

"Perfect." I smooth my thumb down her cheek as she looks back up at me, and the doorbell rings. "Ah, right on time."

I head to the front to answer it, with Chloe right on my heels.

"Why exactly is the doorbell ringing if we're about to go out somewhere?"

Hesitating just a moment before I open up, I give Chloe a smirk. "I wonder."

"You tease."

She playfully glares at me, but it's quickly swept away when I unlock the door and greet Kayleigh. Cam's sister squeals happily as she rushes forward to give Chloe a hug.

"Kayleigh?!"

Chloe stumbles back a little as she's nearly tackled, but she recovers, smiling at our friend.

"It's me! And I have come to transform all this—" Kayleigh gestures at Chloe's current attire of a black tee and sweats "—into something magnificent!"

As Kayleigh presses inside, I see the dress bag slung over her arm and the huge train case she has, no doubt holding all her makeup supplies.

"Dom, what did you do?"

I smile at Chloe, shutting the door and walking her over toward Kayleigh, who's taking her stuff to the master bedroom.

"I called in a favor. Kayleigh sounded excited about it anyway."

As Chloe and I come to stand behind Kayleigh, she drops her case and the dress bag on the bed. Cam's sister spins around and grins like it's her birthday.

"Excited? I'm ecstatic! I can't wait to play with this beautiful canvas."

"I'm sorry. What's happening?" Chloe raises her brows, looking between Kayleigh and me.

"I'm hair and makeup, silly!" She grabs Chloe by the shoulders and sits her down on the edge of the bed. "You can't exactly go to a swanky event wearing that, now can you?"

Looking over Kayleigh's shoulder, Chloe eyes me with a soft grin. "Thank you."

My heart squeezes as I see the genuine gratitude on her face, and all I can manage is a nod. Seeing Chloe so happy hits me right in the chest.

Ding-dong.

"Um—" I look toward the hall "—I'm not expecting anyone else."

"I called Anthony. I'm not letting Chloe walk next to you in last year's tux. He's bringing something over."

Kayleigh nods, gesturing toward the door as she plays with Chloe's hair. I squint at her, trying to muster up a glare, but I'm too happy about everything to pull it off.

She smirks. "Go on. Shoo. We have work to do."

Raising my hands in surrender, I head for my door to apparently get equally decked out. "All right, all right. I'm going."

I smile back at Chloe.

"See you in a bit, babe."

Chloe shrugs as Kayleigh starts holding her hair up at odd angles. "See ya."

Anthony is already dressed to the nines, so he helps me to slip into the tux Kayleigh had him bring, securing my cuff links and straightening my tie.

"You clean up well, Dom."

He smiles at me, but I can sense a tightness behind his words.

"Thanks." I take a step back, leaning against the dresser in the guest room. "What is it?"

Anthony cocks a brow. "What is what?"

I shake my head, raising a brow right back at him. "Don't what me. I can see you want to say something. Just out with it, already."

There's a pause, and then Anthony huffs out a breath, sitting on the edge of the bed and crossing one ankle over the other.

"I'm her brother, Dom."

With a nod, I sigh. "I was wondering when we'd get here."

"Yeah." He mirrors the nod, crossing his arms. "Don't hurt her. Got it?"

We're both well aware that I could kick Anthony's ass in a heartbeat. Still, I see the intensity behind his eyes, and I know if I did do anything to hurt Chloe, he'd find a way to make me regret it.

"Got it." I lock eyes with him, not wavering for a second. "I won't let anything happen to her, either."

The "Ethan dilemma" goes without saying, and Anthony chews on his lip for a moment.

"We need to catch that fucker. He hurt her. He's still hurting her, and I hate that we're just sitting here with our thumbs up our asses."

Standing up, I walk to the small, attached bathroom and take a look in the mirror, swiping a hand through my hair.

"I have Cam looking through everything. I swear we'll catch him." I turn around to face Anthony again. "And when we do, we'll both get our licks in on him, yeah?"

Anthony nods determinedly, coming over toward me and reaching out for my hand. As we shake, there's an intensity to our grip—an unspoken promise to be fulfilled.

"Damn right, Dom."

After a beat, the tension eases off, and Anthony cracks a smile. "I can't wait for Chloe to get a look at you. You pull off a suit well."

"I just want her to have fun. She deserves a break with everything going on, and I may have done something to ensure this one is right up her alley."

"Oh, yeah?" Anthony smirks. "And what's that?"

"Let's just say the local theater group is especially grateful for their most recent donation, and they're doing me a favor."

With a laugh, we head back out for the kitchen to wait for the star of the show to get finished with Kayleigh.

"What'd you have to promise Kayleigh to get her to do Chloe's makeup and stuff?" Anthony snags two beers from the fridge, handing one to me.

"Honestly, nothing. She was glad to help. Something about getting a break from being cooped up with Cam was payment enough."

"Ha, that sounds like her." Anthony clinks his bottle against mine. "Well, here's to a much-deserved night off that's free of surprises."

I exhale a short laugh. "I'll drink to that, man."