I opened my eyes slowly and the first thing I registered was that I was alone on the couch, a blanket tucked around me that hadn't been there last night. The heater was still running. The rain had slowed to a steady drizzle against the windows. I sat up and looked around. No Dominic. He must have gone back home. I remembered falling asleep against his shoulder. Remembered the warmth of his arm around me and the steady rise and fall of his chest. I pushed the memory away quickly and reached for my phone. I would call a cab. Get home. Figure out what came next.

I was still staring at the screen trying to make my brain work when the suite door opened and Dominic walked in carrying two bags. I stared at him. He set the bags on the counter without making a big deal of it. "There's a pharmacy and a small shop about ten minutes from here. Go freshen up. I've ordered breakfast. I'll drive you home after I shower." I opened my mouth. Closed it. "You didn't have to do that." "I know." He said it simply, without looking for gratitude, and something about that made my throat tighten in a way I wasn't ready for. "Thank you," I managed.

He nodded toward the bags. "Go ahead." ___ The toiletries were exactly what I needed. I stood under the hot shower for a long time and let the water run over me and tried very hard not to think about anything at all. I failed completely. Julian's face kept coming back to me. The way he had looked at Sera. The way he had reached for her like she was his and had always been his. The way he had laughed while I stood in the rain, about twenty feet away and watched everything I thought I had turn to nothing. I pressed my forehead against the cold tile and breathed through it.

When I finally got out, I reached for the clothes Dominic had bought. I held them up and blinked. The shorts were tiny. The top was fitted and small across the chest. I tried both on and looked down at myself and almost laughed, which surprised me because I hadn't thought I had any laughter left in me. My legs went on forever. The shorts barely covered my thighs and the top sat snug in ways it clearly wasn't designed to sit on my frame. I walked out anyway. I was going straight home. It didn't matter. Dominic was at the counter pouring water when I came out.

He turned and his eyes moved over me once, quickly, the way you do when you're trying not to be obvious about it. He looked away. "They were the only options available," he said, his voice perfectly even. "It's fine," I said. "I'm going home anyway." A dry look crossed his face, almost amused but not quite. "I bought them based on Sera's size." The name landed between us like a stone dropping into still water. We both felt it. "Of course you did," I said quietly. He cleared his throat and gestured toward the table where breakfast was laid out. "Eat. I already had mine.

I'll be quick." He disappeared into the bedroom and I sat down at the table. - I pushed the food around my plate more than I ate it. My mind kept dragging me back to the resort garden. Julian's hands. Sera's laugh. The rain. The way she had leaned against that tree like she owned the world and everything in it, including my husband. I put my fork down and stared at the window. They were still there right now. In this same resort. Two wings away. Warm and together and completely unbothered while I sat here in borrowed clothes that were two sizes too small trying to figure out how to breathe.

The bedroom door opened. I turned and immediately wished I hadn't. Dominic walked out in nothing but a white towel slung low around his waist. He had clearly forgotten his shirt. He crossed toward the couch where it was draped over the armrest, completely unselfconscious, water still on his skin from the shower. I had not planned to look. I looked. Eight. I counted without meaning to. Eight defined ridges of muscle across his abdomen, the kind that didn't come from a gym membership but from actual discipline.