She whispered the words but she may as well have screamed them.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Sutton
It’s almost comical that I would be in Las Vegas when Max Cruz breaks my heart asecondtime.
We’ve come full circle.
Maybe, someday, I’ll laugh about this with my grandkids.
Maybe, someday, I won’t feel like the only man I ever gave my heart to absolutelydestroyedit.
I’ve been in the bathroom for thirty minutes.
He stopped knocking ten minutes ago.
I can’t leave.
I definitely can’t face him.
My mind spins so quickly it’s difficult to settle on any one thought at a time. Every moment I spent with Dominus, every touch… every whispered secret…
My mouth opens on a silent sob. I press my fist to my chest, trying to get to that ache, that gaping fucking hole. It feels like my chest has been ripped open, my heart torn out, yet somehow, it’s still there to cause this agony. How can I feel empty and so full of pain all at once?
My god, what the hell just happened?
I can’t figure out if I’m more upset with him—or myself. Because the signs were there.
So many of them that I justignored. I’m such a fool!
I snort bitterly. Even Mo compared the sheer size of both men and I brushed it off as coincidence, acted like I hadn’t heard her.
Pretended I didn’t have a type when I very clearly do.
But it’s so much more than physical attributes. Dominusknewme. He knew what I wanted, what I needed…
He knew what made me tick, what my body wanted before I could put thoughts into words.
He knew me in ways only one other man seems to.
Because they were one in the same.
Dominus knew how to get me to come out of my shell because Max knows.
He knew how to get me to open up in ways I never had before because Max has always been able to disarm me like that.
And all the while, he waslyingto me!
He took my most private fantasies and weaponized them against me. He pretended to be a good man, weaseling his way into my life by day, while learning my innermost secrets at night.
Another silent sob bubbles up, but I stuff it down, pushing my fist against my chest as the pain multiples tenfold. Even justlast nighthe promised to be the man that I deserve, while knowing he lived this horrific lie.
He knocks on the door and I jump.
“Darlin’—”
I grit my teeth.
