Chapter 198: Give them a minute. Maybe two.

Elena Steel had made a career out of control.

She had been trained to be decisive, to read a room, to dismantle threats before they even became threats.

She was calculated, disciplined, unreadable.

And yet—

As she walked through the dimly lit halls of Apex, every step carrying her closer to Dominic Hale, she felt anything but in control.

She had been holding this secret for years.

Had told herself it was better that way.

But now?

Now that the truth was out, now that she had looked into Dominic’s eyes and seen the way everything shifted inside him—

She wasn’t so sure anymore.

And that?

That was dangerous.

By the time Elena found him, Dominic had already given up on pretending to do anything else.

He was sitting in the Apex observation lounge, one of the few places where the entire city could be seen from above, a drink in hand, his mind anywhere but here.

When she stepped inside, he didn’t turn.

Didn’t flinch.

Didn’t acknowledge her immediately.

Because the moment he did, this conversation would start.

And once it started, there would be no stopping it.

Finally—

"You came looking for me," Dominic murmured, his voice low, steady despite the storm inside him.

Elena exhaled, stepping further in.

"You knew I would."

Dominic huffed a quiet laugh. "Yeah. I did."

She took a slow breath, watching the way his shoulders were tense, his grip on the glass just a little too tight.

"Say it," she said. "Whatever you’ve been holding back."

Dominic finally turned his head, locking eyes with her.

And just like that, the air shifted.

Because neither of them had ever been good at holding back from each other.

Not before.

And not now.

"You should have told me," Dominic muttered, his voice sharper now, the control slipping.

Elena crossed her arms. "I know."

Dominic scoffed. "That’s it? You know?"

Elena exhaled.

"You think I didn’t want to?" she asked. "You think I wanted to walk away, to—"

"You did walk away," Dominic cut in, his voice dark with something bitter, something raw.

Elena’s jaw tightened.

"And if I hadn’t?" she countered. "You’d be dead, Dominic."

Dominic’s eyes flashed.

"You don’t know that."

Elena took a step closer.

"Yes, I do," she said, and this time, her voice wasn’t steady. "Because the people who gave me that choice? They don’t bluff."

Dominic stood now, the chair scraping slightly against the floor.

"Who?" he demanded.

Elena stayed silent.

Because that?

That was the one thing she wasn’t ready to give him.

Dominic’s jaw clenched. "You’re still keeping secrets?"

Elena inhaled sharply.

"This one," she admitted. "Yeah."

Dominic laughed, but it wasn’t amused.

"Of course you are."

A beat.

Then—

"You never trusted me, did you?" he muttered.

Elena’s breath caught.

And that?

That was what broke her.

Because it wasn’t true.

It had never been true.

And she was so damn tired of pretending it was.

"You think I didn’t trust you?" she murmured, shaking her head.

Dominic didn’t move.

Didn’t answer.

Because the weight of everything she hadn’t said yet was pressing between them, thick and heavy, impossible to ignore.

So she took another step.

And another.

Until they were so close she could see the way his breathing had changed.

Until the only thing between them was this unbearable, suffocating silence.

"You were the only thing I trusted," she whispered.

Dominic stilled.

Elena let out a slow breath.

"And that’s why I had to go."

For a moment—just a moment—neither of them moved.

Neither of them spoke.

Because this wasn’t just an argument.

This was a war.

And one of them was about to lose.

James, Liam, Zayn, and Damon sat in the adjacent lounge, pretending to care about something other than what was happening down the hall.

Seraphina, however, had stopped pretending.

"They’re fighting," she muttered.

Liam scoffed. "Obviously."

James leaned back. "Give them a minute. Maybe two."

Zayn smirked. "And if it goes nuclear?"

Damon took a slow sip of his drink. "Then we get popcorn."

Seraphina shot him a look. "You are no help."

Damon smirked. "I’m the best kind of help."

Liam grinned. "I say we let them work it out the old-fashioned way."

Seraphina sighed. "You mean by beating the shit out of each other?"

Zayn nodded. "Exactly."

James shrugged. "Or, you know, the other way."

Seraphina rolled her eyes.

Because, honestly?

Either option was equally likely.

Elena’s words were still hanging between them.

"You were the only thing I trusted."

And Dominic?

Dominic didn’t know how to process that.

Because for so long, he had believed something entirely different.

And now?

Now, for the first time in years—

He wasn’t sure if he could keep fighting her.

Or if he even wanted to.

So instead of speaking—

Instead of demanding more answers, more truths, more things he wasn’t sure he was ready to hear—

He did the only thing that made sense.

He closed the gap between them.

One step.

Then another.

Until his fingers were on her jaw, tilting her face up, forcing her to meet his gaze.

Until her breath caught, until her hands curled into fists at her sides, like she was trying to resist something she had already lost.

Until the weight of everything unsaid, everything unspoken, everything unfinished became too much.

And then—

Then, he kissed her.

Not soft.

Not hesitant.

Not careful.

But like he had spent years waiting for this.

Because he had.

And the moment Elena kissed him back—

Hard, desperate, like she was just as angry, just as lost, just as undone by this as he was—

Dominic knew one thing for certain.

This?

This wasn’t over.

Not even close.