My Dark Romeo

Dallas “prance[s] around the house” feeling pleased with herself for tricking Romeo and potentially getting pregnant (221). A few hours later, Frankie calls. The sisters chat about romance, marriage, and sex. Dallas doesn’t let on about what’s really happening in her relationship because she wants to protect Frankie.

Afterward, Dallas finds Romeo in his study. He asks about the books he gave her. Dallas is shocked to learn that he put finance dust jackets over her favorite romance novels. She didn’t look inside the covers and burned them. Unfazed, Romeo reveals another surprise for Dallas. She can choose between Georgetown and Johns Hopkins to finish her degree. She dropped out of Emory, and he wants to fund her education. Dallas scoffs, insisting she’s disinterested in finishing college. Instead, she’s going to continue giving to charities she cares about behind the scenes.

Dallas falls into a new routine at home. She gets to know Hettie, continues investing in her charities, cares for her rose, and reads countless books. Meanwhile, she and Romeo continue having sexual encounters but don’t have penetrative sex. During one encounter, Dallas notices a petal fell off her rose.

One day, Shepherd stops over to see Dallas. Dallas is still angry with him for marrying her off to Romeo. She stands up to him, accusing him of sheltering and controlling her all her life. Then Romeo enters and makes Shepherd leave. Afterward, Dallas stands near Romeo, realizing she’s changed. She invites him to her room, but he insists they’re not in love even if they don’t hate each other anymore.

Dallas takes a bath and stews over what Romeo said. When she gets out, she realizes she has her period. Devastated, she crawls into bed. She tries to cry but, as usual, can’t summon any tears. When Romeo enters, Dallas gets angry, revealing that she’s menstruating but still wants to have a child. When he leaves, she realizes she lost her one chance to have a baby.

Romeo invites Dallas to attend a work demonstration with him but warns her not to dress provocatively. Defying his orders, she shows up in a revealing, fitted dress. Romeo pulls her aside and chastises her for showing up in an exposing outfit, calling her sexually derogatory names.

Afterward, Romeo’s colleagues and employees stage the HMWWV3 demonstration, during which Dallas’s dress rips, exposing her backside. All the men stare and leer, making lewd comments. Then, when Romeo is out of sight, Senior makes unwanted advances on Dallas, touching her lower back in a way that makes her uncomfortable. Suddenly, she realizes that Senior must’ve done the same thing with Morgan. When Romeo resurfaces, he sees Senior with Dallas and is livid. Overwhelmed, Dallas apologizes.

Romeo broods over what happened at the demonstration. He knows Dallas isn’t the same as Morgan but is furious with Senior. He also regrets speaking to Dallas the way he did. Cara interrupts his thoughts, reminding Romeo that Dallas isn’t Morgan.

Romeo gives a speech at a press conference. He reveals that Licht Holdings is responsible for disposing of toxic chemicals in Newsham, Georgia’s water. He scolds the company and promises that Costa Industries would never do the same. Afterward, Licht Holdings’ stock tanks, but Romeo doesn’t feel happy.

Dallas closes herself in the bathroom when Romeo returns home from the press conference. He begs her to open up, apologizing for mistreating her and for Senior’s behavior. He confirms Dallas’s suspicions about Morgan and Senior, reminding her of his plan to destroy Senior. Dallas argues that love is more powerful than hate and lets him in. Dallas promises never to betray him and asks him to explain his past to her.

Dallas and Romeo curl up together while Romeo tells his story. He and Morgan met in the Hamptons one summer when Romeo was in his early twenties. Morgan was an au pair, but she and Romeo fell for each other. When Senior discovered their relationship, he warned Romeo about getting involved with a woman who was lower class than him. He said Romeo could have sexual relations with her but needed a wife “with an influential last name” (263). Romeo defied him and proposed to Morgan. She quickly adapted to life as a trophy wife. Over time, however, their relationship grew strained. Morgan resented Romeo for being consumed with school and business. He soon discovered she was having sex with Senior and working with Madison, who’d offered to pay her if she told him Romeo’s secrets. Afterward, Romeo exiled her to Norway. He tells Dallas his story is evidence that broken hearts can’t heal. Dallas argues otherwise, but Romeo insists he’ll never fall in love with her despite how deserving of love she is.

Romeo and his friends jokingly text about marriage and relationships.

A week later, Romeo invites Dallas to dinner with his colleague, Tom, and his wife, Casey. They also bring their child, Freida. Throughout the dinner, Romeo realizes he’s more interested in what Dallas is saying and doing than in his business conversation with Tom. Suddenly, a group of robbers bursts into the restaurant and demands that everyone give them their phones, wallets, money, and jewelry, or they’ll shoot them all. Dallas stands up to the one gunman, refusing to give up her grandmother’s earrings. Romeo lunges in front of her to protect her; a bullet grazes his arm. The police arrive, and the tension dissipates. Dallas begs Romeo to go to the hospital, but he refuses.

Back at home, Romeo stitches up his wound on his own. Dallas barges in, demanding to know why Romeo saved her. Then they have unprotected sex on the bathroom floor. Afterward, Dallas promises Romeo she’s going to soften him. Romeo admits she might be able to and silently wishes he could “give her a child without giving her [his] heart” (284).