She snuggled into the side of him more and he simply wrapped his arm around her.
“Good morning,” she whispered, and he leaned down, his nose in her hair, taking her in.
She had been his rock in this.
How was it that she had become the one for him to lean on, when just a year ago their roles had been reversed?
“You are so strong you know that,” he whispered and watched the blush hit her cheeks, just like it did anytime that he complemented her.
I need to do that more often.
“Why because I’m here?”
“No because of where you came from.”
“I’m here because I want to be. Because I love you. And Mark,” she whispered the last, “right next to you is exactly where I’m supposed to be.”
Her other hand came around and she laid it on his chest. That hole, the gaping hole that had dictated his whole life, held him a prisoner, was gone. All that was left was his heart, sitting in her palm, radiating her light.
Like she was there inside him.
“Besides, we hold each other up,” she said, and proceeded to practically drag him out the door, not letting him stall any longer.
She knew him too well.
Danny was at the stove cooking, when they walked in. He didn’t look up, just simply gestured to the pile of plates.
“You need to come around more often man,” Branson muttered from the table, where he was sitting with Rick and Dominic.
“Why because I can cook?” Danny said, grabbing a few more pieces of bacon out of the frying pan.
“Man, I can’t boil water,” Branson muttered right back, and Winter chuckled from beside him.
“Dominic,” Rick said quietly staring at Dominic, who was looking like a stone wall.
The tension in the room filled, as Dominic stood and walked to them. Winter wrapped her arms around him, and he pulled her further into him. Whether for her or for him, he didn’t know.
But he braced for what was coming.
“I owe you an apology.”
If he could have stumbled back in shock he would have, his mouth fell open. Dominic’s jaw ticked a sure sign that he wasn’t in the mood for anything.
Dominic had lived his whole life breathing for the Familia. Grown up with the knowledge that he would someday take over. Whether he was running the mafia or not, made no difference to the type of man he was.
He was controlling, a ruler, a king.
And when he wanted something, he got it.
Right then, he wanted Mark to take the apology and move on. It would be expected of him. Not only because he was family, but in the Familia the gesture of an apology was huge.
Huge.
But as he felt his little bird at his side, he knew that not everything could be fixed that easily.
“I accept. But I’m telling you now, Dominic,” he paused, Dominic’s eyes widening slightly. “I’m telling you now, she is my life.”
Nothing else was said.
