One Last Rainy Day: The Legacy of a Prince

Cecelia is the curious, kind, intelligent, and beautiful daughter of Roman Horner, the man Tobias and Dom believe is responsible for their parents’ deaths. Although she grew up outside Triple Falls, North Carolina, she returned when Roman offered to pay for her college and write her into his will if she completed a year of work at his factory. Cecelia is a static character, and her constancy and goodness are part of what make her so attractive to Dom. Of her, he says, “She’s a living breathing reminder for me that there is good left in the world” (249). She is open and artless, candid and loving, as well as generous. Cecelia is quite comfortable being emotionally vulnerable and wishes that Dom could be as open with her as she is with him. She always has the sense that he’s keeping her locked out of some very important part of himself, and she’s not wrong: He cannot tell her what he’s learned about the human trafficking ring because it would destroy her. She still sees the world as a fundamentally good place, despite her childhood poverty, her mother’s alcohol addiction, and her father’s extended absence from her life. Cecelia makes Dom feel that there is still some good left in the world, reassurance he desperately needs as he remains emotionally isolated from everyone in his life due to what he knows and must keep to himself.

Cecelia changes in small ways, including her willingness to enter into a polyamorous relationship with two men and opening her heart to Tobias after they are exiled to France, but she remains relatively unchanged in fundamentals. She becomes, as Tobias suggested to Dom about women years ago, a “sanctuary” for them. Embodying a traditional (and sexist) ideal of femininity just as Dom embodies a traditional ideal of masculinity, she is simultaneously innocent and sexual, loving and sensual—combining qualities that, within a patriarchal moral framework, are often thought to be at odds with one another. Cecelia also stands up for herself, walking away from Dom when he demeans her, insisting on ground rules for their relationship, and expressing her fury when Tobias has her drugged and tattooed without her consent. Cecelia may be beautiful and sweet, but she can also be tough, and this blend renders her more appealing to Dom, Sean, and Tobias.

Sean is Dom’s best friend, and he has been a constant in Dom’s life since they were kids. Early in the novel, Sean can tell that Dom is unhappy, and he calls out his friend’s odd and unhealthy behavior, saying, “Isolation isn’t always good in your case. My door is only feet away from yours” (6). He wants Dom to feel that he can confide in him, that he can trust him with anything, and he doesn’t understand why Dom is suddenly unwilling to do so. However, it’s because Dom knows his best friend so well that he knows he must keep Sean in the dark. He says, “Sean doesn’t have the kind of control needed to keep himself in check—not when it comes to this” (7). Dom knows that Sean is too empathic, too soft-hearted, to know what evidence Dom found on the human traffickers; it would destroy him to know what was happening and to have his hands tied, as Dom’s are. In addition to his candor and empathy, Sean is also incredibly loyal. Like Dom, he is exiled to France for 10 months, and he chooses the club over the woman he loves. Sean is also remarkably humble and accepting of Cecelia’s desire to have intimate, sexual relationships with both him and Dom. He never seems to feel threatened or crowded by the arrangement, even though he was dating Cecelia first.

After Dom dies, Sean feels lost. In the immediate aftermath, Sean is so beset by grief that he becomes almost inhuman. Denny sees the “blood lust in [Sean’s] expression as he presses his gun against the [Miami club member’s] throat in an effort to crush his windpipe” (401). Sean, who normally dislikes violence, is in such emotional pain that he wants to inflict the ultimate physical pain on a man he holds responsible for Dom’s death. Rage has taken over. But once the fighting stops and Tobias appears, carrying Dom’s body, “[a]n anguished mewl erupts from Sean before he hits his knees” (405). Denny’s description of the sound Sean emits makes Sean seem like a baby, or even an animal, something helpless and in so much pain. Sean’s resentment of Tobias is so significant that Tyler can sense it at Dom’s funeral. Even three months after Dom’s death, Sean continues to visit his grave to “convince [him]self that this is real. That [Dom] is gone” (416). He even finds a way to honor Dom by naming his first-born after him. Sean is the quintessential best friend: loyal, candid, uncompetitive, and loving.