Chapter 4 - The Sound of Freedom
For twenty-four hours, the Vale mansion remained completely deserted.
Dominic spent the entire night and following day in intense, high-stakes negotiations in the private backrooms of the city’s power brokers. Using his vast legal holdings, economic leverage, and terrifying personal presence, he systematically exposed Julian Moretti’s illegal dealings to the council, turning the other crime bosses against the Moretti family without firing a single shot.
By 8:00 p.m. the following evening, the crisis was resolved. The Moretti family was forced to sign over their claims to Pier 42, and Julian was permanently exiled from the city’s business network.
It was a total, absolute victory.
Yet, as Dominic’s black sedan pulled up the long, winding driveway of his Lake Geneva estate, he felt no triumph.
He felt only an unbearable, hollow ache.
He stepped out of the car into the cool night air. Marcus followed him inside, carrying a folder of finalized agreements.
The grand front doors opened into the cavernous foyer.
The house was dark.
The house was cold.
The house was completely, utterly silent.
Dominic walked into the grand parlor. The floors were spotless. The furniture was aligned. The marble statues stood silently in their corners.
He stood in the center of the room, taking a deep breath.
This was what he had demanded for ten years. This was his rule. This was his fortress.
And suddenly, he hated it.
He hated the silence. He hated the cold marble. He hated the way his own footsteps sounded like a countdown to nothingness.
He realized with terrifying clarity that the silence was no longer a shield—it was a prison. And without Ruby’s voice, without her laughter, without her vibrant, warm presence taking up space in these quiet rooms, the mansion was just a giant, empty grave.
“Boss?” Marcus asked softly from the doorway, observing Dominic’s rigid, distraught posture. “Are you alright?”
Dominic turned around slowly. His dark eyes were filled with a sudden, fierce resolve.
“Where is she, Marcus?” Dominic asked, his voice shaking slightly.
Marcus blinked. “Miss Bennett? She’s at her home, boss. You told her not to come in today.”
“Get the car,” Dominic commanded, pulling his heavy dark coat back on.
“Boss, it’s nine o'clock at night,” Marcus said, astonished. “The council meeting just ended. You haven't slept in thirty-six hours.”
“I don't care if it’s three in the morning!” Dominic growled, stepping past Marcus toward the front door. “I am not spending another minute in this damn house without her!”
Twenty minutes later, Dominic’s black SUV pulled up outside a modest, charming two-story house in a quiet neighborhood twenty miles from his estate. Soft light glowed through the front windows, and faint, beautiful music drifted into the night air.
Dominic didn't wait for Marcus to open his door. He stepped out onto the sidewalk, walking up the front steps with heavy, rapid strides.
He knocked on the door—three sharp, heavy raps.
Inside, the music paused. Footsteps approached the door.
The door swung open.
Ruby stood in the doorway. She wore cozy navy pajamas, her long dark hair falling loosely over her shoulders, holding a wooden spoon in her right hand.
She stared at him, her eyes widening in absolute shock.
“Dominic?” she gasped. “What are you doing here? Is everything okay? Did Moretti—”
Before she could finish her sentence, Dominic stepped across the threshold, framed her face in his broad hands, and pulled her into a deep, fierce, and desperate kiss.
Ruby gasped against his lips, her wooden spoon dropping to the floor with a soft thud.
The kiss was hot, intense, and filled with a year’s worth of unexpressed longing. Dominic kissed her as if he were a drowning man who had finally broken the surface of the water, his fingers entangling in her soft dark hair, pulling her full, generous body tightly against his chest.
Ruby’s arms wrapped around his neck, her body melting completely into his heat. She kissed him back with equal passion, letting all her worry, all her care, and all her rising love pour into him.
When Dominic finally pulled back, resting his forehead against hers, both of them were breathing heavily, their chest heaving together in the narrow hallway.
“Dominic...” Ruby whispered, her cheeks flushed, her gray eyes shining with wonder.
“The house is too quiet, Ruby,” Dominic rasped, his voice thick with raw emotion, his dark eyes searching her face with absolute vulnerability. “I stood in that parlor tonight... and I couldn't breathe. I built a palace of silence because I was afraid of pain... but without you, that silence is killing me.”
Ruby looked up into his fierce, honest face, her heart overflowing with warmth.
“I am a dangerous man, Ruby,” Dominic continued, his hands trembling slightly against her cheeks. “I have dark business, heavy burdens, and a past that won't leave me alone. But if you will let me... I want to give you everything I own. I want your music, your laughter, your beautiful voice filling every single corner of my life.”
Ruby smiled—a radiant, beautiful smile that illuminated the dark hallway like the rising sun.
“You don't have to give me everything you own, Dominic,” Ruby whispered, reaching up to cover his hands with hers. “You just have to promise me one thing.”
“Anything,” Dominic promised instantly.
“No more rules about being quiet,” Ruby said softly, her eyes twinkling with mischievous warmth.
May you like
Dominic let out a low, breathless laugh—a sound so rare, so genuine, and so full of joy that even Marcus, standing near the car outside, smiled into the darkness.
“No more rules,” Dominic agreed, bending down to kiss her sweet lips once more. “Ever again.”
