Between Broken Hearts and a Divorce

Between Broken Hearts and a Divorce
Maggie’s Point of View

I stared at Dominic, trying to hold his gaze as my nose began to tingle; the tears were right there, ready to fall, but I held them back with everything I had.

I knew he wouldn’t forgive me; on some level, I’d always known it, but until I heard that word come out of his mouth… “divorce”… it still hadn’t fully sunk in.

Now it was; now it was there, between us, like a knife being plunged straight into my chest.

When I married Dominic, I made a deal with him. I asked that if one day I wanted to leave… if one day I could… he would let me go. He promised me that.

It felt like another life, another version of the two of us. From that moment on… we went through so much. We fell in love again, we built something, we experienced moments that, for brief and beautiful stretches of time, made me believe that this could be forever. We created another life together and then… The mafia, his enemies, the power—it all came back and swallowed us up again, and every choice I made from that point on… every single one… brought us to this point.

Divorce.

I never thought I’d hear that word coming from him, but he said it, and worse… he seemed ready to keep the promise he made to me.

He was letting me go.

The thing was… I wasn’t sure anymore if I wanted to go.

And the fact is, it didn’t matter; I couldn’t go back.

“I understand,” I said, nodding slightly, even as I felt my throat tighten.

“I’ll get dressed, then we can talk,” he said, taking a step back.

He walked past me, skirting my body at a minimal distance, heading toward another room I assumed was a walk-in closet. His hotel room was enormous, bigger than my entire apartment. Luxurious, cold, impersonal… even with his presence filling the space.

“Dominic,” I called before he walked through the door.

He stopped, but only turned his head over his shoulder, so I could see his profile.

“I would never have told you the truth about what happened,” I said, my voice firmer than I expected. “I would have lived a life with our children without you.” The words hurt as they came out, but they were true. “Because that was the price I had to pay for the choice I made,” I continued, feeling my chest tighten. “But you don’t know how happy I am…” My voice faltered for a second, but I continued. “How light my heart feels… beating the right way… knowing that you discovered the truth and found us.”

Silence fell between us; he didn’t answer. He stood still for a moment and then turned his face away again, opened the door, and went into the other room, closing it behind him.

Leaving me alone.

I let out a long sigh, letting my shoulders slump. What was I expecting? That we would just forget everything? That we would kiss… have sex… and somehow everything would go back to the way it was before? That love would be enough to erase everything I’d done?

I let out a small, humorless laugh, running my hand through my hair. I looked around the room, taking in the atmosphere, then walked over to a sofa that looked absurdly expensive, with an elegant vintage design, and sat down slowly. As soon as my body relaxed against the upholstery, I felt a gentle movement, and immediately brought my hand to my belly.

My baby.

An involuntary smile touched my lips.

“Mommy’s okay… everything’s going to be okay,” I murmured, caressing the curve beneath the fabric of my dress, but my chin trembled.

The lie caught in my throat, but before I could lose myself further in that moment, I heard the sound of the door opening and looked up to see Dominic walking out. Now fully dressed in sweatpants and a black cotton shirt that hugged his body in an almost infuriating way, and barefoot.

Simple, and yet… he was a sight to behold. My body reacted before my mind did; the heat rose, my body being the traitor that it was. My hormones weren’t helping at all—quite the opposite.

Dominic ran his hand through his still-damp hair as he approached, each movement calm and controlled; he sat down in an armchair facing me. The distance between us seemed greater than it actually was. He cleared his throat and let his gaze sweep over my body for a moment; it made my stomach churn.

“Are you okay?” he asked. For a second, I wondered if it was that obvious, if my state was written all over my face. My cheeks were hot and probably flushed. “I mean… is the baby okay? The pregnancy…”

Oh, right. It was about the baby.

Not about the fact that I was sitting there, fighting the irrational urge to cross that distance and grab a man who had just mentioned divorce.

I took a deep breath.

“Yes… everything’s fine,” I replied. “I went to an appointment a week ago. They did an ultrasound…” My voice trailed off as I remembered, so I pulled the bag that was still hanging from my arm and placed it on my lap, opened it, rummaging until I found one of the printed images, and when I found it, I carefully took it out and held it out toward him.

He looked at my hand for a moment, then at my face, and then took the paper. His fingers brushed lightly against mine. A shock—brief, but enough.

Dominic fell silent, his eyes fixed on the image, not blinking. Time seemed to stand still, then I heard a low sigh coming from him. He kept looking for a few more seconds before lifting his gaze back to me.

“Can I keep this?”

I nodded immediately.

“Of course.”

He held the picture more firmly, as if it were something too fragile to risk losing, then carefully placed it in his pants pocket.

“Do you know yet if it’s a boy or a girl?” he asked.

I shook my head.

“Not yet. He’s insisting on keeping it a surprise,” I said, trying to smile. “In every ultrasound, the baby is in a position the doctor can’t see.”

I forced a small smile, and Dominic nodded, clearing his throat again. He looked away for a second, as if gathering his thoughts.

“When you have another appointment… I want to be told,” he said. “I’ll do everything I can to be there with you.”

Guilt washed over me like a physical weight. He hadn’t been to any of Jamie’s appointments, and now… I was already in the final stretch of this pregnancy, and he hadn’t had that chance either.

“Okay,” I replied, more quietly. “As soon as I schedule it, I’ll let you know.”

He stared at me for a moment, but then looked away, as if he couldn’t bear it anymore, as if something inside him wouldn’t allow it. He still kept his gaze fixed on a point beyond me, as if I weren’t there, as if it were easier to face anything in that room than to look directly at me.

When he spoke, his voice came out completely cold.

“What role did Marco DeGrassi play in all of this?”

I let out a slow sigh, feeling the weight of that question settle in my chest. I had imagined this moment in so many different ways; I thought he’d let me speak, that I’d explain everything… from the beginning… every choice, every fear, every reason that had led me there, but no, Dominic didn’t want a conversation. He wanted answers, he wanted facts, he wanted to take everything apart piece by piece in his own way. 

An interrogation.

And as much as I wanted to, I wasn’t going to argue. If that’s what he needed… then that’s what I’d do.

“I went to him…” I began, keeping my voice as steady as possible. “I asked him to help me get out of Russia… in a way that you’d never come after me.” My hands pressed lightly against each other on my lap. “Marco isn’t a good person; I know that,” I continued. “I know he didn’t do it just because he wanted to help me. He had his own interests.” I took a deep breath. “But I can’t blame anyone for something that was my choice.”

Dominic kept staring at every other spot in the room, anything but me.

“So you asked him for help… and then you worked out the plan together?” His voice didn’t change its cold, controlled tone.

I swallowed hard before answering.

“I already had an idea of what to do,” I said. “I knew that just running away from you… leaving Russia… wouldn’t do any good.” I looked up, even though I knew he wasn’t looking at me. “You would come after me. After me and Jamie.” My voice faltered for a second, but I continued. “I knew you’d never give up on your son.”

That was when he turned his face toward me and looked at me, and in that instant… I wished he hadn’t done it, because his gaze… was sharp and icy. Just like the way he looked at his enemies.

“So the way to get rid of me was death.” The words cut through the air.

I held his gaze, even though every instinct inside me wanted to look away.

“I didn’t want to get rid of you, Dominic…” I said, feeling my voice falter. “I loved you… I still…”

“What was my mother’s role in this plan?” He cut me off before I could finish. As if the words I was about to say meant nothing and as if he didn’t want to hear them. “I know she was part of it too… with some kind of deal with you.”

I lowered my gaze to my hands, which were twisting in my lap, unable to stay still. I took a deep breath and looked up again.

“She wanted me out of her life,” I said. “Me and our son… from the very beginning.” The words felt heavier now. “She was with Vladimir. I saw the two of them kissing at that event… the same night you got shot.” I watched his reaction, a slight frown. He didn’t know, not completely. “I know you told me your mother wasn’t easily manipulated,” I continued. “That she knew when people were trying to manipulate her.” I shook my head slightly. “But it was happening, Dominic. Somehow, Vladimir had her wrapped around his finger. She believed she was helping you… that she was shaping you into what she wanted, even as Vladimir was doing everything he could to destroy you.” I paused for a second and took a breath. “So I made a deal with her.”

Silence fell between us again.

“What was that deal?” This time, his voice came closer.

I looked up; he was no longer sitting. Dominic had stood up and walked around the armchair. Now he was behind it, his hands gripping the backrest tightly, his knuckles white, his jaw clenched, and his eyes fixed on me.

Waiting, demanding the truth.

“She would investigate further what Vladimir was really planning… and, when she discovered the truth… and I knew she would discover it… she would get evidence to help you defeat him,” I said, feeling each word weigh heavier than the last. “And, in exchange… in exchange, I would leave your life forever with my son. I assured her we would never be in your life again.”

The silence that followed was brief and then exploded. In a quick, abrupt movement, Dominic grabbed the container of amber liquid on the table next to the armchair and hurled it against the wall. The glass shattered with a loud, sharp crack, scattering shards across the floor as the liquid pooled on the surface; I cringed in fright, my heart pounding in my chest.

“You really didn’t plan on coming back into my life, did you?” His voice was no longer cold. It was hot, sharp, laced with anger. “You were going to hide two children from me, Maggie,” he continued, each word heavy. “My children were going to grow up without a father, because of you.”

The tears finally escaped.

“It was the price I had to pay,” I replied, my voice faltering.

I stood up without thinking, my body moving on impulse, and walked over to him; my hands trembled as I took hold of his forearm.

“Dominic, look at me,” I pleaded, my voice low, almost a desperate whisper. He didn’t look up, continuing to stare at some point ahead, as if I weren’t there. “Please,” I insisted, feeling the desperation squeeze my chest. “Listen to me… let me really explain why I did what I did.” Nothing; he didn’t move, so I raised my hand, hesitating for a second, before touching his face.

I held it gently, on both sides, forcing him to look at me, and when those eyes finally met mine… I broke down.

“I love you,” I whispered, the words coming out through my tears. He stared at me without blinking; his gaze was no longer that absolute ice from before. There was a lot of pain, but there was also something else there. Something that made my heart tighten with a dangerous hope.

“Say it again,” he demanded, his voice thick and heavy.

“I love you,” I repeated, without hesitation this time. I took a deep breath, trying to keep my voice steady. “I loved you when I made the choice I made… I kept loving you while I lied… while I deceived you… and that love is still here, even after everything.”

I had barely finished speaking… when he pulled me toward him. His mouth found mine forcefully, without warning, without tenderness. The kiss was intense, laden with everything that had gone unsaid… with anger, pain, longing, need. I didn’t fight it; I responded in kind, losing myself in him, because I wanted it just as much as he did, because, for a moment, it seemed like everything was still there.

He pulled me back until my back hit the wall, his body pressed against mine, holding me there, as if he were afraid I’d disappear, then his hands roamed my body urgently, as if he needed to confirm I was real; the air grew heavy and hot, hard to breathe, but even with all that… my reason still existed, even if faint, even if struggling.

I grabbed his arm, stopping his movement before things went too far.

“As much as I want this…” I said, breathless, trying to regain control of my own voice, “we can’t… not like this… not before we talk.” I breathed with difficulty. “We can’t go on like this.”

He froze for a full second, his body motionless against mine, then, slowly, he pulled away. The space between us became cold again. His eyes met mine, still darkened, still heavy with what had just happened.

“You’re right,” he said, his voice still hoarse. “We can’t keep this up.” Then… something changed. His gaze hardened, went blank, and he looked away from me. “I think I already know everything I needed to know,” he continued, now distant. The words hit me like a blow. “You can go.”

I blinked, unable to process it.

“What?” My stomach dropped.

Was he… kicking me out? Just like that? As if that… as if none of it had ever happened? As if there was nothing left to say?

“I told you to leave.” He looked at me again.

And this time… there was no warmth there, no trace of what had existed seconds before, just the coldness of a Dominic I barely recognized.