I saw Dom at our table; his gaze followed Derek as he walked out the door. Then, as if sensing the shift in the air, his head snapped to me.
His blue eyes locked onto mine, and I saw it. The exact moment his expression darkened. His brows furrowed, lips pressing into a thin line.
My pulse kicked into overdrive. The server’s comment, Derek’s words. DominicRutherford. They all crashed together in my skull.
I walked straight towards the exit, ignoring the glances.
“Eunice!”
Footsteps followed.
But I didn’t stop.
I ran.
9
Dom
I WATCHED DEREK saunter out of the bar, and every muscle in my body turned to stone. Then I saw Eunice, pale as snow, moving through the dining area like she’d been gutted.
Two and two make four. Derek opened his fucking mouth.
She was headed for the door with a single-minded focus I recognized from my own worst moments. When the only thing that was keeping me upright was the promise of a locked door and privacy.
Not happening.
I was out of my seat before she cleared the first table, my chair scraping the floor loud enough to draw attention. A few heads turned, curious about the drama, but I didn’t give a shit about everyone. The only thing that mattered now was the woman trying to make herself invisible.
She was almost to the exit when I caught up, my longer stride eating up the distance faster than hers.
“Eunice.”
She didn’t stop. If anything, she moved faster.
My hand closed around her arm, not hard, but firm enough to stop her. “Let me explain.”
She tried to pull away, but I wasn’t letting go. Not when she was looking at me like I just ripped her heart out and stomped on it.
“Let me go.”
Still, I didn’t let go.
Instead, I stirred her as far away from the exit. Whatever the asshole said, whatever poison he poured in her ears, I was not letting it fester in public.
The cold air grew colder with each step. By the time we’d crossed the lot, the cold had teeth, biting exposed skin.
She finally stopped fighting me, but her whole body was rigid. Like she was bracing for impact. Like she was waiting for me to prove her right about every terrible thing she believed.
“He told you, didn’t he?” I asked, though I already knew the answer. Derek’s never been able to resist twisting the knife.
“That you’re the boss’s son?” Her laugh came out broken. “That you’ve been lying to me?” She looked at me with those eyes filled with hurt so deep it made my chest ache. “Yeah, he mentioned it.”
The pain in her voice made me want to hunt down every person who ever made her feel small and show them what happens when they mess with what’s mine.
“Good,” I said, stepping closer. “Then I don’t have to hide. Did he also mention that ‘Dominic Rutherford’ is a name I hate, but ‘Dom’ is the man who will burn down the world for you?”
But her mind was somewhere else. She was stuck in whatever story Derek spun, whatever narrative that painted me as the villain and her as the fool.
