He scoffs, throwing his hands up. Confirmation enough. “Sometimes I do. Other times I loathe their actions and hate them for doing them.”
“So why do you defend them?”
He goes to say something, but I beat him. “Would you defend a rapist? What about a whole community of Alphas who manipulate their wives, daughters, sisters, the weak and the voiceless to ensure subservience? Would you put your life on the line for people who control by intimidation and feeding malicious lies to their nearest and dearest? What about people who turn a blind eye to domestic violence?”
Dominic doesn’t answer and I don’t need to clarify who I am speaking about because it is as obvious as my name is Simona.
“The ‘good people’ I know are the vilest, most evil examples of humanity I have ever seen. They demand respect and hold positions of power, but they prey on the weak, and use their power to control, and coerce. Not everything is better in their world, only better for them. Those ‘good people’ will only look after other ‘good people’, leaving an entire part of our community alone, without money or shelter because they don’t bend to their will, or conform to their perceived ideals.They are racist, ableist, elitist and bigots, along with every other label you want to throw their way.” I take a breather, staring at him, challenging him to argue. My hand pushes against his chest, demanding he hears me. “I don’t care who you fight for in your career, Dominic, but you defend any of those ‘good people’ and I won’t stand by you. At least criminals have morals to live by, a code of conduct to adhere to. Sure, it’s all about money and power, but they are honest and don’t pretend they are anything but what they are.”
He is completely still when I finish.
Once upon a time I would have been scared shitless that perhaps I’d pushed him too far except I can feel the vibration of his relief, the surge of pure joy, through our bond. And then he smiles, like a starving man seeing food.
“You’re right,” he whispers, slowly closing the distance between us. His hands bury through my hair, and he holds my face. He isn’t gentle, but he is earnest and when he showers me in his designation, drowning me in his scent and sucking my bitten lip back between his teeth, I think I fall in love. “I don’t regret biting you at all. You are so fucking perfect,Amore Mio. But please let’s get some of the best scent blockers we can to hide our secret until you are ready to share our wonderful news.”
Hand on heart, all those huge overflowing emotions you see in the movies when the hero gets the girl race through me, making me tremble, laugh, and dissolve into loved up tears.
Chapter
Twenty-Seven
SIMONA
As Dominic’s driver takes us to the airport, we call Hendrix and Ryder.
His phone rings once before we’re connected. And without exaggeration, I feel the link between us engage as clearly as I hear our call connecting.
Maybe I’m being super sensitive, or perhaps I am nearer to my heat than I realise but on top of feeling the link, I’m overly emotional when I see them both. “Before anything, I am sorry. I’m sure Dominic will fill you in on the details of why we ended up staying at his office, and I’m okay with him telling you what I shared. What I am apologising for though is I said I would be there for dinner last night, maybe stay the night to see you in the morning, Ryder. I feel terrible. I said I would be there, and I wasn’t.”
Ryder leans in, a small smile on his face. “You don’t need to apologise, Sin.”
“I want to though. I want you to understand that’s who I am. When I make a promise, I like to keep it. When I can’t itmakes me feel awful. Other people might be able to brush those feelings aside, but they eat me alive.”
“Apology accepted then,” Hendrix says with a pointed stare which reads ‘do not feel bad, plus you apologised, I accepted. Get your butt back home to me’.
I get lost in Hendrix’s sincerity, and that strange, intensive place he takes me every time he looks my way. “Now I’m not sure when I’ll be able to again.”
“Why, sweetheart?” he asks.
My gaze falls away, and that’s only because of the surge of desire I’m struggling to contain. Dominic drops a hand on the top of my thigh and while it grounds me, it also adds fuel to the fire. I need to check my diary; I’m seriously second guessing when my heat is coming.
“Simona is going away with her girlfriends,” Dominic says, his voice and words keeping me in the present as opposed to counting days until I get to see Hendrix. No wait, it was my heat I was meant to be figuring out.
I glance at the screen quickly, and while they’re both listening intently, Ryder’s smirk is tinged in pure filth, while Hendrix doesn’t even bother to conceal his desire from his sparkling green eyes.
After shaking my head to contain my lusty haze, I turn to Dominic and latch on to his seriousness. “Can you repeat that, I was distracted?”
There’s another chuckle from Ryder, but Hendrix shows me he can do two things at once—listen and tease. “We’re making plans to keep you safe while you’re off with your girlfriends. Later, when you’re home, Dom will tell me why you have Kozantine Siderno getting territorial for your welfare. Although, if he is watching you, I feel slightly better.”
Dominic takes control and starts divvying up tasks to be completed in a short amount of time. “Hen, can you arrange ateam to meet Simona out there? I’d like a couple of people with her as personal detail from this point on.”
“Done. Any requests?” Hendrix’s stare is on Dominic, but I don’t feel left out of the conversation at all. I sit back and a part of my anxiety lessens knowing they will do everything to protect me from Brody.
Names get listed between the three of them and they sound like strangers until Hendrix offers Nigel.
“The doorman from Noire? I like him,” I say without feeling overly self-conscious of sounding like a dick.
And that says a lot about the company I am currently keeping. Normally, I would spend more time debating whether I should speak at all—conditioned by the founding family members who so often made me feel like a fool.
