Two Can Play (Celeste and Dominic) novel Chapter 259

Chapter 259

I directed the driver to take to Helix so she could gather some of her belongings. When we arrived, she turned to me.

“Would you like to come up with me?

“I would be honored.”

The fact that she asked me to walk into Helix with her sent a jolt of excitement through my chest. It meant she no longer cared what people thought, no longer worried about the whispers and the rumors. We walked through the doors with our fingers intertwined, and although the lab had closed for the day, a handful of employees still lingered. Their eyes followed us, their voices dropped to murmurs, their heads tilted toward one another as they exchanged knowing glances.

Celeste did not spare them a single glance. She moved through the space like their whispers were nothing more than the buzzing of flies too insignificant to’swat. I realized then that this was not new to her, that her staff had been gossiping about her long before today, and she had simply learned to exist above it.

“I need to speak with Pat first,” she said.

She knocked on Pat’s door and found it empty. She pulled out her phone and dialed.

“I am still in my office,” Pat’s voice came through the speaker.

I waited in the corridor while Celeste disappeared into Pat’s office, her hand brushing mine before she slipped through the doorway. A few minutes passed, and then the door swung open and she gestured for me to enter.

“Dominic, this is Pat.” She gestured between us, even though we’d met before. “Pat, this is Dominic Ford. The man I am dating. I am moving in with him.”

Pat’s face registered a flicker of shock that she quickly masked. I could see the remnants of tears on her cheeks, the redness around her eyes, the slight puffiness of her features. But she managed a smile, though it wobbled at the edges.

“I would like a word with Dominic in private, if you do not mind.”

I nodded. “I will marry Celeste. She will bear my name if she wants it. And I will spend every day of our life together trying to be the best husband this world has ever seen.”

A smile broke across Pat’s face, genuine and warm, reaching her eyes and softening the tension in her jaw. “Thank you. A man like you would not lie about such things. I believe you. I wish you both all the happiness in the world. As long as you make her happy, I will be content. I will be grateful to you for the rest of my life.”

Celeste emerged a few minutes later with a bag slung over her shoulder. I took it from her without a word, holding it in one hand while the other found hers. We said our goodbyes and walked out, and I could feel the cameras flashing from across the street,

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could hear the clicking of shutters, could sense the vultures circling. I ignored them. The cat was already out of the bag, and I had no intention of stuffing it back in.