‘Really?’ she asked, letting the last of her insecurities show.
‘Dieu, Alison. How could it not?’ he said. He stroked her cheek. ‘You’re so tough and smart and sweet. How could I not fall in love with you?’
‘You don’t have to say that to make me stay, Dominic,’ she said, wanting to take the words at face value, but knowing she couldn’t. Hadn’t her mother believed them for all the wrong reasons? At least she wasn’t going to make that mistake. ‘Love is a gift, not an obligation,’ she said, because she suspected he had no idea what love was. Who had ever loved him, but her? ‘It’s enough that you want to give this relationship a chance. A real chance. You don’t have to love me back. Not yet.’
‘That’s very generous of you,’ he said, but his lips curved in a rueful smile and she felt the bubble of hope break open inside her chest, spreading warmth and light where only minutes ago there had been despair. ‘Unfortunately, it’s too late for that,’ he whispered against her lips, the soft glow of happiness joined by the sharp pulse of heat. ‘Because I already do.’
* * *
Dominic let his mouth take hers, claiming his wife in a kiss that touched his very soul. He was still scared, still terrified really. He wasn’t convinced he was as worthy as she believed him to be. Was still sure he didn’t deserve her. But after almost losing her, he was damned if he would let that hold him back from claiming her ever again.
She was his wife now, in every sense of the word. Damn the contract, damn his father, damn the fear that had held him back from admitting how he really felt for so long.
Yes, it was a huge risk. But Alison Jones, his Cinderella bride, was worth every ounce of effort it was going to take for him to prove, to himself as much as her, that he deserved to be her husband.
EPILOGUE
Fifteen months later
‘SOCIAL MEDIA IS going mad, Ally. And listen to that applause. It’s another triumph for the Allycat brand.’ Megan De Rossi gave Ally a high-five as the last model strutted onto the catwalk and the wave of noise hit the backstage area. ‘Consider New York Fashion Week well and truly conquered,’ Megan added, tears forming in her eyes. ‘You did it—they adore you.’
‘We did it,’ Ally said, beaming back at her. ‘They adore us.’
All the hard work, the long hours, the endless worries about everything from a model’s sprained ankle yesterday to those first days over a year ago when Dominic had secured her partnership with the Dharavi Collective had paid off. It had been a long hard road to this point—and there would be more bumps along the way—but her brand was due to launch at the end of the month in Europe at Paris Fashion Week and she was already clothing A-list movie stars, Grammy-winning pop stars and a string of influential celebrity vloggers. And now this, another triumph in TriBeCa after that nail-biting baptism of fire a year ago now, when she’d done that first prelim show Dominic had pushed her into.
She could still remember the sweat and tears of
that first shaky step onto the fashion industry’s world stage. Her nerves had reached fever pitch that evening but she’d pushed through them, and Dominic had been beside her at every step. Offering not just support and encouragement, but also his strength and determination. And the rewards had been immense, not just in that first tentative triumph—although she hadn’t won a spot at New York Fashion Week that year, the exposure had started a word-of-mouth buzz about her designs that had led to orders and other opportunities—but also inside herself. Because after that night, she’d discovered that Dominic was right, that risk in business was the same as the risk she’d taken in her private life on him, on them... That risk wasn’t something to be afraid of, not if you embraced it and put your all into it, because with risk came rewards, rewards beyond her wildest dreams.
‘Come on, you need to take a bow,’ Rohana, who was here with some of the women from her collective, shouted above the applause as she and Megan linked arms with Ally to lead her onto the catwalk.
As her team roared their support from the wings, she walked down the narrow runway with the two women who had been an integral part of making her brand such a success.
The cheers reached epic proportions, camera phones flashing, the media spotlights trained on her as the crowd rose to their feet.
But as she waved, and smiled, and bowed, she scanned the crowd. She could see Dario, Megan’s husband, standing in the front row with their daughter Issy—who had been given special dispensation to attend the show without her brothers—and Katie, Megan’s sister, with her husband, Jared, who had their toddler daughter, Carmen, in his arms. But where was Dominic? She needed him here, because this was his triumph as much as hers.
‘Be still my beating heart,’ whispered Rohana. ‘Your man is a fine sight to see.’
It was all the warning she had before Dominic leapt up on stage.
He strode towards her—the dark blue business suit doing nothing to disguise the ripple of muscle in his big body. The crowd went wild, beginning a chant of ‘Kiss her’ as he approached—which had become a feature of all her shows since that sidewalk kiss all those months ago in Nolita had made them an Internet sensation.
How far we’ve come, she thought as he reached her. Gripping her round the waist, he swung her round in a circle, then put her down and cradled her face in his palms.
‘Congratulations, Allycat,’ he said, then his lips were on hers. The kiss was driven, hungry, joyous, igniting all the needs that would never die.
Her hands found his waist as she clung to him and kissed him back, her tongue tangling with his, and let the love pour through her.
This man, this marriage, meant everything to her. Without it, without him, without love, even wowing New York Fashion Week wouldn’t mean as much.
* * *
It was several hours later before they were finally alone together, in the limousine heading back to their Manhattan apartment. The apartment they rarely used since Dominic had made the decision to move permanently to London.
Ally clung to his hand, wishing she could just be beamed up now to their bedroom and they could finally celebrate the brand’s latest success in style.
‘Happy?’ he murmured as he pressed her fingers to his lips.