Chapter 6

The ballroom went quiet when I walked in.

Not gradually.

Completely.

Three hundred people turned toward me.

The string quartet faltered before stopping altogether.

I stood at the entrance in my wedding dress, without my veil, with Daniel carrying my bouquet behind me like he'd been assigned the task against his will.

Which, technically, he had.

Whispers started immediately.

“Where's Ryan?”

“Wasn't the ceremony supposed to start?”

“Something happened.”

I ignored them.

I was looking for one man.

Dominic Sullivan.

I hadn't thought this through.

That became painfully obvious as I scanned tables filled with relatives, business associates, politicians, family friends and people I'd forgotten existed.

What was I going to say?

Hello, Dominic. We barely know each other, but my fiancé murdered me eight years from now. Would you mind taking his place?

Perfectly reasonable.

“Natalie.”

Grandpa came beside me.

“You don't have to do this.”

“I know.”

“If you're trying to prove something to Ryan—”

“I'm not.”

He studied me.

My grandfather had always been difficult to fool.

Even Ryan had been careful around him.

Perhaps that was why Grandpa had died so early.

The thought made my stomach tighten.

“Then why Sullivan?”

I looked at him.

“You trust him.”

Grandpa's eyebrows rose.

I knew he did.

Grandpa had known Dominic's father for more than thirty years. The two families weren't particularly close, but they'd done business together long before I was born.

Dominic was different.

When his father died, Dominic had taken over the Sullivan family's struggling investment company at twenty-six. Most people had expected him to destroy what was left of it.

Instead, he'd rebuilt it.

Grandpa had been one of the few people willing to do business with him in those early years.

Dominic never forgot it.

Neither did Grandpa.

I'd heard Grandpa praise very few businessmen in my life.

Dominic Sullivan was one of them.

He says what he means, does what he says, and pays what he owes.

Coming from my grandfather, that was practically a declaration of love.

More importantly, I'd never heard Grandpa say the same about Ryan.

I should have paid more attention to that.

“He's by the windows,” Grandpa said.

I followed his gaze.

And found him.

Dominic Sullivan stood near the back of the ballroom.

Black tuxedo.

White shirt.

No tie loosened, no champagne in his hand, no crowd gathered around him.

He was simply watching me.

I remembered him being handsome.

I hadn't remembered this.

At thirty-four, Dominic had the kind of face that didn't invite conversation. Dark hair. Strong features. Broad shoulders. An expression that gave absolutely nothing away.

Two men stood nearby speaking to him.

Dominic wasn't listening anymore.

His eyes were on me.

Something strange moved through my chest.

I had seen this man countless times in my first life.

At charity dinners.

Business events.

Once at a restaurant with Ryan.

Dominic had always been polite to me.

Distant.

Nothing more.

Yet now—

He was looking at me as if he'd been waiting.

“Nattie,” Daniel murmured.

“What?”

“It's not too late to reconsider whatever insane thing you're about to do.”

“Thank you.”

“That wasn't encouragement.”

I took my bouquet from him.

Then I walked.

Every step across that ballroom made the whispers louder.

People moved aside.

Dominic's companions noticed me approaching.

One said something to him.

Dominic didn't respond.

I stopped in front of him.

Up close, this felt significantly more ridiculous.

“Mr. Sullivan.”

His gaze moved over my face.

“Miss Bennett.”

His voice triggered a memory.

A rainy night.

Years from now.

Ryan pacing his study.

Dominic Sullivan is not a man you make an enemy of.

Interesting.

“I need to ask you something.”

One of the men beside him immediately found somewhere else to be.

The other followed.

Dominic glanced at my missing veil.

Then at the bouquet.

“The ceremony hasn't started.”

It wasn't a question.

“No.”

“Where's Coleman?”

“Hopefully leaving.”

For the first time, his expression changed.

Barely.

One eyebrow lifted.

“Hopefully?”

“I ended our engagement.”

The whispers around us intensified.

Dominic didn't look surprised.

That bothered me.

“You don't seem shocked.”

“Should I be?”

“My wedding is supposed to begin in approximately”—I glanced at the clock—“nine minutes.”

“Eight.”

I looked back at him.

“Excuse me?”

“The ceremony was scheduled for four.”

I checked the clock again.

Three fifty-two.

“Right.”

His mouth almost moved.

Was he trying not to smile?

This was absurd.

I was standing in front of one of the most powerful men in the country, wearing a wedding dress, discussing punctuality.

I should leave.

Cancel everything.

Go home with my family.

Spend the next several months figuring out how to save them.

That would be sensible.

Except Ryan expected me to crawl back.

The Colemans expected this scandal to frighten me into submission.

And somewhere beneath the revenge and rage was another truth.

I didn't want to run from my own wedding.

They had already stolen it from me once.

This time, I wanted to choose what happened next.

“Are you married?”

Dominic went completely still.

Someone behind me gasped.

“No.”

“Engaged?”

“No.”

“Girlfriend?”

His eyes narrowed slightly.

“No.”

Good.

I swallowed.

“Do you intend to get married?”

“That depends.”

“On?”

“The woman.”

My heart was beating much too quickly.

I tightened my fingers around the bouquet.

“I'm going to ask you something completely unreasonable.”

“I assumed as much.”

“You can say no.”

“I know.”

“And I won't hold it against you.”

“Natalie.”

The use of my first name stopped me.

It sounded different coming from him.

“You're stalling.”

I was.

I took a breath.

“Fine.”

Behind me, I could feel my entire family watching.

Probably the entire ballroom.

Tomorrow, this would be everywhere.

I no longer cared.

“Dominic Sullivan, will you marry me?”

Somewhere behind me, a glass shattered.

Dominic didn't move.

Didn't blink.

Didn't ask whether I'd lost my mind.

He just looked at me.

Five seconds.

Ten.

My confidence began to crack.

Of course he'd say no.

Why wouldn't he?

We weren't friends.

We weren't lovers.

We barely knew each other.

“I understand if—”

“Yes.”

I stopped.

“What?”

“Yes.”

I stared at him.

“You'll marry me?”

“I believe that was the question.”

“You don't want to think about it?”

“I already have.”

That made no sense.

“Dominic—”

He stepped closer.

Close enough that only I could hear his next words.

His eyes held mine.

There was something in them I couldn't understand.

Something almost familiar.

Then Dominic Sullivan smiled.

“I thought you'd never ask.”