Chapter 9 - Dominic Asked Me to Leave Boston With Him—But I Had Finally Found the Home I Had Spent My Life Searching For
The next year was peaceful.
For the first time in my life, I wasn't running from anything.
I changed my name legally.
Ana Costa Reed.
I kept Anna as part of me.
Not because it was false.
Because it represented the woman I had become.
Dominic recovered fully.
His company was restructured.
The legitimate businesses remained.
The criminal network disappeared.
The trust my grandmother created protected thousands of employees.
My mother moved into a house near mine.
My grandmother visited every Sunday.
I returned to nursing.
But I also became part of Dominic's foundation.
We built a program for foster children aging out of the system.
I knew what it meant to leave a home with one bag and nowhere to go.
One afternoon, Dominic found me reading to a group of children.
He watched from the doorway.
Afterward, he waited outside.
“You still read aloud.”
“Always.”
“You read to me.”
“You needed it.”
“So did you.”
I smiled.
“Yes.”
He took my hand.
“I want to ask you something.”
“What?”
“Come with me.”
“Where?”
“London.”
“For how long?”
“However long you want.”
I looked at him.
“Why?”
“Because I want a life where the first thing I see in the morning is you.”
My heart stopped.
He pulled out a ring.
Simple.
Elegant.
No diamonds the size of rocks.
Just one stone.
“I don't want to control your life.”
“I know.”
“I don't want your answer because you feel obligated.”
“I don't.”
“I want you because you make me feel human.”
I laughed through tears.
“You were human before me.”
“Not really.”
I touched his cheek.
“Then yes.”
His eyes widened.
“Yes?”
“Yes.”
He kissed me.
My mother cried when we told her.
My grandmother pretended not to.
Paulie said it was about time.
Even Sarah demanded an invitation.
The wedding was held near the harbor.
Not in a mansion.
Not in a cathedral.
Outside.
Where the city could see the water.
I wore a simple dress.
Dominic wore a dark suit.
My mother walked me down the aisle.
I looked at her.
“You made it.”
She smiled.
“So did you.”
At the end of the ceremony, Dominic whispered:
“Stay.”
May you like
I smiled.
“Always.”
