Sinfully Yours StepDaddy

Chapter.14

Dinner was silent.

Aria sat across from her mother, pushing food around her plate without eating. Dominic sat at the head of the table, expression carefully neutral, but the muscle in his jaw kept flexing. Her mother ate slowly, deliberately, and looked at each of them in turn like she was gathering evidence.

When the plates were finally cleared she set her napkin down and spoke.

“We’re going to talk now. No more delays. No more polite answers.”

Neither Aria nor Dominic moved.

Her mother leaned back in her chair, arms folded. “I’ve been home less than a week and the two of you have been acting like strangers who share a secret. Late nights. Closed doors. Looks that last too long. Whispered conversations that stop the second I walk into a room. I’m not imagining it.”

Dominic’s voice stayed even. “You’re reading too much into normal adjustment. Aria’s been through a breakup. I’ve been buried in work.”

“Don’t.” Her mother’s tone sharpened. “Don’t insult me with that. I know my husband. I know my daughter. Something is going on between the two of you, and I want the truth.”

The air in the kitchen turned heavy. Aria’s pulse hammered in her throat. She kept her eyes on the table, afraid that if she looked at Dominic her face would give everything away.

Her mother continued, quieter now but more dangerous. “I’ve heard movement in the hallway after midnight. I’ve noticed the way you watch her when you think I’m not looking, Dominic. And Aria… you’ve been walking around this house like you’re carrying something you can’t put down. So I’ll ask one more time. What is happening?”

Silence stretched.

Dominic’s hand tightened around his water glass. Aria could feel the weight of the choice pressing on both of them — keep lying and risk her mother digging harder, or start telling a truth that would blow everything apart.

Her mother stood. The scrape of the chair was loud in the quiet room.

“I’m going to give you both a few minutes to decide how honest you want to be,” she said. “When I come back, I expect real answers. Not more excuses.”

She walked out of the kitchen and up the stairs. The master bedroom door closed with a firm click.

Aria and Dominic were left alone at the table.

For a long moment neither of them spoke. Then Dominic looked at her, eyes dark with conflict and something fiercer.

“She’s not going to let this go,” he said under his breath.

Aria’s voice came out barely above a whisper. “What do we do?”

He reached across the table and covered her hand with his, the first open touch they had risked in front of the empty doorway.

“I don’t know,” he admitted. “But I’m done pretending I don’t want you. Whatever happens next… I’m not walking away from this.”

Footsteps sounded on the stairs again.

Her mother was coming back down.

Dominic’s fingers tightened around Aria’s for one more second before he slowly pulled his hand away. Both of them turned toward the doorway as her mother’s silhouette appeared, expression set

and ready for the truth.