Closure

by A. P. Jensen

  “Stay with me, Juliet,” Dominick murmured into her hair.

  Juliet raised her head, clasped his face between her hands and met his eyes as she said, “I love you.”

  The hand on her back fisted in her shirt, but his expression was guarded. “You’ll stay with me?”

  She swallowed hard. “If you want me, I’ll stay.”

  “Then you’re staying,” he decreed.

  A weight she had been carrying fell away. Dominick looked at her not as a liability or something filthy and marked, but as something invaluable to him. Juliet set her lips on his and infused the kiss with all the emotions she couldn’t put into words. If there was one man on the planet she wanted, it was Dominick Bryson. Need collided with relief and love. Juliet undid his jeans, shifted her skirt and slid down easily on him. They both shuddered. His hands gripped her hips as she moved slowly, deliberately.

  Time stretched as she rode him slow and easy. It didn’t take long for Dominick to move beneath her, urging her to go faster. Driven by his rough commands, she sped up and rode him to the finish line. Their mingled groans filled the cab and she slumped over him, utterly boneless.

  “I love you,” he said.

  Juliet smiled against his shoulder. “I’ll never get tired of hearing that.”

  When he got his breath back, Dominick carried her into the house. He undressed them both, placed her in bed and wrapped himself around her. Even though she was so tired she felt nearly sick, she couldn’t go to sleep. She lay on her side facing Dominick. His large hand moved over her.

  “Brent said Gray’s gone,” she said quietly.

  Dominick’s hand paused and then resumed its progress. “I know.”

  “They gave me a large portion of Grant Shipping.”

  “I heard that too.”

  She stared at him as the events of the past twenty-four hours slid through her mind. “Callie called before I could leave.”

  His eyes darkened, but he didn’t comment.

  “I cut Dawn’s umbilical cord,” she said.

  “How was Callie during the delivery?”

  “She was a champ. I’m so proud of her.”

  Dominick watched her as his hand continued to move over her.

  “What do you want?” Dominick asked.

  She considered for several seconds. “I want to be happy.”

  “What makes you happy?”

  “You,” she whispered.

  “You have me. What else?”

  “I don’t know. I haven’t thought that far ahead.”

  “Think about it,” he advised and kissed her on the forehead. “Nothing’s holding you back now. Whatever you want, you can get.”

  “It can’t be that easy.”

  “You’ve fought so damn hard for everything you’ve had, you don’t recognize when God’s giving you a break, baby.”

  Juliet kissed him soft and sweet, drawing in the fact that she was in his arms. Her siblings knew the truth and didn’t hate her for her parentage. They went against Gray and gave her a large piece of their family legacy. Juliet swallowed tears as she relaxed, breathing in Dominick’s scent. She may never absolve herself of all guilt where Annie was concerned, but for the first time in a long time, she had something to look forward to—a future.

  Epilogue

  Six Months Later

  Juliet sat on the couch with Dawn on her lap and Jonah and Joe on either side of her. Her nephews took turns making outrageous faces at the baby who laughed delightedly. The normally prestigious interior of the Grant mansion was decorated for the holidays. The imposing staircases were decorated with more stockings than she could count. In the immediate vicinity Juliet counted five Christmas trees, each with a different theme. Adults and children mingled with plates of food. Christmas music played in the background, lightening her heart and making all of this seem like a dream come true.

  “Trina wants to try for another,” Brent said from his seat beside Jonah.

  Juliet’s eyes widened. “You’re going for a third?”

  Brent’s eyes were on Dawn as he said, “I think Dia and Junior would like another sibling.”

  “Then you should do it,” Juliet said decisively.

  “What about you?”

  Juliet was distracted by Maile who rudely snatched Dawn from her arms. Maile wore a dress that showed too much cleavage. Juliet was worried that Brent was going to kick her out when she arrived, but he seemed resigned to the fact that he couldn’t control her friend. Locals and close business acquaintances mingled together in a mixture of casual and formal attire. Jonah leapt off the couch when he heard they were going to start a game of football outside while Joe snuggled close and repositioned her arm around him.

  “What did you ask me?” Juliet asked.

  “Kids?” Brent prompted.

  “Whose kids?”

  “Yours.”

  Juliet blinked. “Me have kids?”

  “You’re living with Dominick,” Brent said coolly.

  “So?”

  “So, you both like kids.”

  “I like my nieces and nephews, but having my own is another story.”

  “Maybe you should talk to Dominick about it,” Brent said.

  Juliet gave him a severe look. “Are you trying to get big brotherly on me?”

  “I have fifteen years to make up for.”

  Juliet gave him an exaggerated, horrified look. “Oh, God, no!”

  Brent laughed and rose when he saw an acquaintance motion for him to join their group. He squeezed Juliet’s shoulder.

  “Just think about it,” he advised before he walked away.

  Juliet watched him go. It had taken months for her to feel comfortable around her family again, but through sheer stubbornness, they won. Brent forced her to attend weekly dinners at the Grant mansion. If she refused to answer his messages, he showed up at Dominick’s house with the whole family. She learned her lesson and hadn’t missed a dinner since. It became a Sunday ritual that she actually looked forward to. After Gray left, a lot of the bad memories associated with the mansion lost their potency. Although she couldn’t go into the room where Annie committed suicide, she couldn’t help but be happy here with her nieces and nephews filling the place with laughter and joy.

  Once all was revealed, Lee thanked Kai for all he’d done for Juliet. To her surprise, Brent considered Hunter family as well. Hunter was also expected to turn up to Sunday dinners when he could. He blamed Juliet for this, of course, but she saw a softer side of him when Dia hung on him as if he were the most harmless man alive. The locals weren’t sure what to make of Gray’s departure or the Grant siblings suddenly coming together after years of acting like distant acquaintances. Much to Juliet’s relief, the real story of Annie’s suicide stayed within the family. Any rumor or whisper among the community was squashed immediately by one of her brothers or Dominick.

  “Where’s Dawn?” Callie asked, appearing before Juliet.

  Callie bloomed after Gray left. Her divorce was final and her house with the white picket fence had been sold for a handsome amount. Juliet wasn’t sure how Brent managed it, but Freddy signed over sole custody of Dawn to Callie. At the moment Callie had two large, glittery poinsettias in her hair and her cheeks were rosy with happiness.

  “Maile took her somewhere,” Juliet said as she ran her fingers through Joe’s hair who had fallen asleep against her.

  “She takes her godmother duties so seriously,” Callie said and disappeared into the crowd.

  Juliet wanted to raid the dessert table again, but didn’t want to disturb Joe. She had become attached to her nieces and nephews. Well, she really didn’t have a choice. Every time she showed up, they mobbed her. During Thanksgiving, Juliet nearly had a heart attack when Moana announced that she was expecting. She had another niece or nephew on the way. Brent’s comment about kids had taken her completely off guard. She and Dominick were good—great, actually, but kids? Juliet’s chest tightened when she spotted him coming towards her.
He was the most determined and patient man alive. For the past six months Dominick stuck to her like glue. He didn’t allow her to second guess her decision to stay. He was so in tune with her that it scared her. Any hint of uncertainty he sensed, he instantly put to rest. There was no doubt in her mind that he loved her.

  “Hey, baby,” he said as he sat beside her. He held up a plate of assorted desserts.

  She snatched a caramel brownie. “You’re amazing, you know that?” she asked with her mouth full.

  “You’ve told me that many times and I never tire of hearing it,” he said as he draped his arm over her. “Happy?”

  It was a question he asked her often and since Gray’s departure, it was always the same. “Yes.”

  Brent asked Gray if he wanted to come home for the holidays. His condition, of course, was that Juliet not be in attendance. When Brent wouldn’t agree, Gray decided to stay in the Bahamas. Since Brent learned the extent of the damage Gray inflicted on Juliet and Callie, he took Gray as seriously as he did Freddy. With Brent and Scarlet at the helm of Grant Shipping, the company flourished. Callie still maintained that she didn’t want to work for them, which they took gracefully enough. They had two secretaries now at the home office and despite Juliet’s protests, she was now wealthy in her own right.

  “I have a lot to do tomorrow,” Dominick said.

  Juliet leaned against him and rubbed her hand over his scruffy jaw. “I know. You need to take a break once all these projects are finished.”

  “Where do you want to go?”

  “Go?”

  “We should take a vacation. You’ve been working as hard as me.”

  She had officially taken over Dominick’s office and he seemed to enjoy that fact. She knew the ins and outs of every project, big or small, and had everything organized to the tee. She had clients like Maile and Sumi on the side, which she enjoyed since she got out of the house and it wasn’t really work since it required so little for her to maintain. Dominick paid her, which she argued vehemently against, but he insisted. When she tried to help him pay the bills it resulted in their biggest fight to date. Dominick settled it by making love to her to the point of exhaustion.

  “You think you’re the one who owes me, but you’re wrong,” he muttered into her hair that night as she lay panting beneath him. “You make me happy and that’s worth any cost. You can’t buy happiness so me putting a roof over your head, of buying groceries and clothes is nothing. I never felt lonely until I woke up alone the day Callie gave birth. You make coming home something I look forward to. Let me do this for you.”

  She hadn’t argued with him since. He didn’t allow her to pay anything, though, so the money went into her account, which was accumulating nicely. She planned to use the money to buy Dominick the perfect gift, but hadn’t decided what that would be yet. But, now, maybe she could pay for a vacation.

  “Do you have anywhere you want to go?” she asked.

  He shrugged. “Don’t care as long as it’s just us.”

  She considered and then sat up straight, jostling Joe who didn’t wake. “What about your Dad’s cabin? Do you still have it?”

  He gave her a considering look. “I do,” he said slowly. “You want to go to Alaska?”

  “It’s where you’re from. I’d like to see that. You’ll go back different this time.”

  “Different?”

  “You won’t be alone,” she said and fumbled when she realized the way that sounded. “I mean, unless you don’t want to go there. We can go to Bali or something if you want.”

  Dominick cupped her face and kissed her. “You want to help me create new memories in Dad’s cabin. I think that’s a good idea. You know, I just realized I’m more like my dad than I realized.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “He couldn’t get over my mom. I’ll never get over you.”

  Juliet swallowed hard and buried her face against his neck, oblivious to the crowd milling feet from them. “You can’t say that kind of stuff to me.”

  “Why? It’s true.”

  Juliet stared into sea glass colored eyes that had become the foundation of her existence. “I love you.”

  “Good.” He shifted, pulled something out of his jacket and placed it in her hand. “Then marry me.”

  Juliet felt the velvet box. Her heart skipped a beat as she stared at him. “Marry?”

  “I fell in love with you the moment I saw you. Everything that’s happened since has only reinforced that you’re meant for me. I want you as bound to me as you are to your family.” He flicked open the box and pushed the ring on her finger without waiting for her agreement. “If you allowed it, I would have proposed the first week I met you. I don’t want to wait. You let me, the vacation we take in two months can be our honeymoon.”

  A single tear dripped down her cheek. The weight on her left finger felt foreign, but welcome. She wanted to belong somewhere, to someone. Not only did she have her family back, she had a man who wanted her. It was a miracle; a gift and she wouldn’t let it pass her by. Juliet couldn’t speak so she nodded. His eyes flashed as he sealed their promise with a kiss.

  They jolted apart when Maile screamed. Juliet found her jumping up and down, clapping her hands and getting everyone’s attention.

  “You said yes!” Maile screeched and picked up Juliet’s limp hand. “I helped pick it out. Isn’t it gorgeous?” she demanded of Brent who came to stand beside her.

  “It is,” Brent agreed and gave Dominick a hug. “Congratulations, you two.”

  Poor Joe had been awakened by Maile’s shouting. He curled into a ball with a grumpy expression and continued to snooze as Juliet was bombarded with good wishes.

  It wasn’t until they lay on a lounger on Dominick’s veranda looking up at the stars that Juliet realized how coming home for closure was the best thing she had ever done. Dominick lay beside her beneath the thick blanket, his arm holding her close against him. She wouldn’t change a moment of her past if it led her to this moment, with this man. The way she had been conceived and the parents she had been born to didn’t dictate who she was and what she chose to do with her life. She was her own person and thanks to Dominick, would flourish and move on. Her family wasn’t perfect and neither was she, but she had a life to live and love to give. She would get her happily ever after, Dominick would see to it.

  Author’s Note

  Hi All,

  I hope you enjoyed Closure. Please leave a review and recommend the book to a friend, it helps me out a lot!

  Closure has really been a labor of love for me. It was one of the most difficult stories I’ve written, so I’m happy to finally get it out into the world.

  I write contemporary romance, paranormal romance, and YA fantasy. I hope you’ll explore my catalogue, which is full of different genres and journeys. If you’re interested in signing up for my newsletter to receive news about future contemporary romances, click here.

  Thank you so much for your time!

  Sincerely,

  AP

  Books by A. P. Jensen

  Standalone Books:

  Emma’s Secret

  Can’t Let Go

  Closure

  White Mist Series:

  Hell on Heels Christmas

  The Songwriter

  Rock Star’s Ballad

  Unmemorable Series:

  Unmemorable

  Unleashed

  Cormac’s Pack:

  Lost in Wolf Dreams

  Cursed Ancients Series:

  Clutch of the Demon

  Birthright Series:

  Birthright

  Heart of Shadows

  About The Author

  A.P. loves to read, write, travel, watch movies, listen to old timer's talk about the good old days and daydream. She has two dogs who are world travelers and tolerate the long hours she spends in front of the computer.

  Follow A. P. Jensen

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