Dominic was already waiting outside her building when she pulled up.

No words.

Just a look that said he knew.

She stepped out of the car, hands in her coat pockets, storm barely contained beneath her skin.

“You knew,” she said.

He nodded. “Yes.”

“Seven years ago. That hotel contract. My first big break. You handed it to me.”

“I cleared the path.”

“No—you rewrote it. You cut a deal with Hale. You rigged the start of my career like I was too weak to earn it.”

“That’s not what I thought.”

“But it’s what you did.”

Dominic took a step forward. “I knew how much that pitch meant to you. I knew Hale was going to crush it with corporate lobbying. I couldn’t watch that happen.”

“So you sacrificed your bid and handed it to me like a consolation prize.”

“No.” His voice was low, strained. “I sacrificed my ego so you could build something that wasn’t poisoned by men like him.”

Aria flinched.

She didn’t want it to make sense.

Because if it made sense, she’d have to feel everything she didn’t want to feel.

“How many other pieces of my life did you steer without telling me?”

“None,” he said. “Just that one.”

“Why didn’t you ever say anything?”

“Because you were finally winning. And I wasn’t going to stain it with my name.”

Aria’s hands clenched. “That project built the foundation for Vale. The investors, the press, the credibility—it all started with a lie.”

“It started with love.” Dominic’s voice cracked. “Not control. Not manipulation. I saw a world where you never got a shot because someone like Hale slammed the door. I didn’t want that world.”

Aria looked at him, eyes full of fury—and grief.

“You didn’t trust me to fight my own fight. You gave me armor when I needed a sword.”

A long silence.

Then Dominic said something he hadn’t said—not like this—since the beginning.

“I’m sorry.”

She closed her eyes. Let the wind hit her face. Let the ache press against her ribs.

“I don’t know if I can forgive you,” she whispered.

“I don’t expect you to,” he said. “But I’ll wait.”

She looked up. “For what?”

“For the day you realize you’ve always been the storm. I was just trying to make sure the world didn’t drown before it saw you.”

He didn’t try to follow when she turned and walked away.