One Week

Chloe called an emergency family meeting the next morning.

I walked into the main living room and found her standing in the center of the rug, phone still in her hand, face glowing.

Dominic sat in the armchair near the window. Julian leaned against the fireplace with his arms crossed. Both of them looked at her like they already knew something was coming.

“I have news,” Chloe said.

Dominic’s voice was calm. “What kind of news?”

She took a breath and smiled so wide it almost hurt to look at. “I’m engaged.”

The room went completely still.

Julian was the first to speak. “To who?”

“Marcus. We’ve been talking for months. He asked last night. I said yes.” She held up her hand. A simple diamond caught the light.

Dominic stood slowly. “Chloe.”

“I know it’s fast,” she said, still smiling. “But it feels right. And I want the wedding here. At the estate. In one week.”

My stomach dropped.

Dominic’s face didn’t change, but something in his eyes went cold. “One week.”

“Yes. Small. Just family and close friends. I already talked to the planner. She can make it work.” Chloe turned to me. “Naomi, you’re my maid of honor. Please say yes.”

I opened my mouth. Nothing came out at first. “Of course,” I managed. “Of course I will.”

Julian pushed off the fireplace. “This is sudden even for you, Chloe.”

“I don’t care.” She looked at her father. “Dad, please. I want this. I want it here. With the people I love.”

Dominic was quiet for a long time. Then he nodded once. “Alright.”

Chloe squealed and threw her arms around him. He hugged her back, but his eyes found mine over her shoulder. The look in them was pure tension.

The next few hours turned into chaos. Chloe dragged me upstairs to start talking dresses and flowers and timelines. Julian disappeared somewhere with a bottle of something. Dominic went into his study and closed the door.

Around mid-afternoon I slipped outside to get air. I found Dominic standing by the pool again, phone pressed to his ear. He ended the call when he saw me.

“One week,” he said.

“I know.”

“The house is going to be full of people. Planners. Florists. Caterers. My brother is already sniffing around.”

I wrapped my arms around myself. “We’ll be careful.”

He stepped closer. “Careful isn’t going to be enough. Not with this many eyes.”

“What do you want me to do?”

“I want you to remember what’s at stake.” His voice was low and rough. “Chloe. The custody case. Everything.”

“I haven’t forgotten.”

He looked at me like he wanted to say more. Instead he just shook his head and walked back toward the house.

That evening Chloe insisted on a celebration dinner. She invited two of her closest friends. The dining room felt too loud and too bright. Julian sat next to me and kept making comments that only I seemed to catch.

“Maid of honor,” he said quietly while Chloe was laughing with her friends. “That’s a big job. Lots of late nights planning. Lots of reasons to be alone with the father of the bride.”

I kept my eyes on my plate. “Stop.”

“Just saying. Secrets have a way of coming out when the pressure’s high.”

Dominic’s voice cut across the table. “Julian. Enough.”

Julian raised his glass in a mock toast. “Just making conversation, brother.”

After dinner I helped clear the table while Chloe and her friends went to the living room to look at venue photos. Julian wandered off. Dominic stayed in the kitchen with me.

We worked in silence until the last plate was in the dishwasher.

He closed it and turned. “This wedding is going to put us under a microscope.”

“I know.”

“If anyone sees something—”

“They won’t.”

He moved closer. Close enough that I had to tip my head back to meet his eyes.

“I meant what I said about not touching you again,” he said. “But every time I look at you I forget why.”

My pulse hammered in my throat. “Then stop looking.”

“I can’t.”

The confession hung between us, heavy and dangerous.

From the living room Chloe called my name.

Dominic stepped back instantly. By the time she appeared in the doorway, he was already pouring himself a glass of water like nothing had happened.

“Naomi, come look at these centerpiece ideas,” she said. “You’re better at this than I am.”

I followed her out of the kitchen. Behind me I felt Dominic’s eyes on my back the entire way.

Later that night, after Chloe’s friends left and the house finally went quiet, I was in the guest house trying to sleep when my phone buzzed.

A text from an unknown number.

Meet me by the pool. Now.

I knew who it was.

I pulled on a hoodie and stepped outside. The night was cool. Dominic stood near the deep end, hands in his pockets, waiting.

I walked up to him. “This is a bad idea.”

“I know.”

“Then why am I here?”

He looked at me for a long time. The only light came from the soft underwater lamps, turning his face half gold, half shadow.

“Because I can’t do this,” he said. “I can’t watch you walk around this house for the next seven days pretending you’re just my daughter’s friend. Not after what happened. Not with Julian watching. Not with Chloe planning a wedding under the same roof.”

My voice came out smaller than I wanted. “What are you saying?”

He stepped closer until there was almost no space left between us.

“I’m saying the rules I made don’t work anymore.” His hand came up and brushed a strand of hair from my face. The touch was light, but it felt like a brand. “And I’m starting to stop caring about the consequences.”

Somewhere in the main house a light flicked on in an upstairs window.

We both froze.

Dominic’s hand dropped. His eyes stayed locked on mine.

“Go back inside,” he said, voice rough. “Before someone sees us.”

I turned and walked away on unsteady legs.

I didn’t look back.

But I felt him watching me the entire way to the guest-house door.

And I knew, with a certainty that scared me, that whatever line we’d been trying to hold was already gone.