Maid for the Billionaire(56)

Dominic face whitened with anger. "I didn't want his legacy. I walked away from him after you left. You could have come to me then. You could have given a note to one of the investigators I sent looking for you. Why didn't you come to me? I could have protected you."

His mother paled also. Her thin shoulders shook with emotion. "At first you were too young, Dominic. Your father would have crushed you as he crushed me. He was a vengeful man. Then, later, when your company took off…"

"Yes?" he ground out. "Why didn't you come then?"

"You were on the news, taking over company after company…" her voice trailed away.

Dominic simply stood in silent accusation of her.

She continued in a tormented whisper, "…so much like your father. I was afraid to come to you. I didn't know if you could forgive me and I still feared what your father would do if he found out I was alive."

Dominic railed against this. His hands tightened into fists at his sides. "So now that he is dead you think you can simply jump up and announce that it was all a trick, a ruse? Why did you come here today?"

Abby moved to stand beside Dominic. She took one of his fisted hands in both of hers, simply holding onto him. Let me in, she thought fervently. Don't block me out.

Dominic had said that he was ready to share his life with someone, to be a real partner. Abby felt the sting of uncertainty in the face of that declaration being tested so soon. What would she do if he announced that this was none of her business? Extreme circumstances didn't often bring out the best in people and what could be more extreme than a mother Dominic had mourned the death of simply stepping off a helicopter?

What am I doing? He doesn't need to prove anything to me. He loves me.

If he needed to handle this confrontation alone, she would support that decision. She loosened her hold on his hand in preparation of doing just that.

Instantly, Dominic's fingers uncurled and wove with hers. He pulled her ever so slightly closer to him. She gave him a reassuring squeeze that was returned without hesitation. For just a second, he looked away from his mother to gaze gratefully down at her.

Abby fell in love with him all over again. This was the gentle man he didn't like to admit he was and the reason she believed he really would have left his company and started over for her.

Dominic's mother's tearful voice drew their attention again. "I know what I did was wrong, Dominic. I was weak. I was scared. I wish I could go back and undo the whole thing. But when I heard about you and Abby, I knew I had to tell you why I left before you ended up repeating your father's mistakes."

"I don't need your help. I'm not my father," Dominic growled, his anger increasing at the mention of Abby.

Jake stepped closer and interceded. "Dom, listen to what she's saying. She came here for you. She's knows that what she did was wrong, but she's asking you to forgive her. Can you honestly look at her and say that you've never done anything that you were ashamed of? Are you living a life without regrets, Dom?"

Dominic's hand clenched Abby's painfully. He glared at Jake. "God, I hate that you know me so well." He looked across at his mother, seeing her as a person for the first time and grudgingly admitted, "The truth is that I'm no better than you, Mother. I left Nicole. For the same reasons that you left me—except perhaps more out of anger than fear, but I honestly thought that she'd fare better in the gilded cage than fighting him from the gutter as I intended to."

Thomas put a supportive arm around Dominic's mother's waist. He clearly thought that Dominic could be handling the situation better, but was willing to let the scene play out as long as no intentional hurt was done to the woman beside him.

"Can you ever forgive me, Dominic?" Dominic's mother asked softly.

Silence hung heavy in the warm Mediterranean air.

Abby wedged herself under Dominic's arm and lightly touched his tense jaw with her hand. "I would give anything, Dominic, for one more day with my mother. You're being given a second chance to have a family. Please take it."

Dominic looked down with all of his love for her evident in his expression. "I already found my family." He hugged her into his chest.

Mrs. Duhamel blew her nose into a tissue and scolded, "Dominic, you tell your mother right now that you have forgiven her. There will be plenty of time to hug Abby after you marry her."

Everyone looked at Mrs. Duhamel in surprise as she continued to address Dominic in a stern tone that was almost comical. "You know I'm right. You're usually a good boy, but you tend to lose your head around Abby and there is no need to let your mother continue to suffer while you moon over her."