8
Chapter Eight
My in charge, in control Dom is waging an internal war with himself. He doesn’t trust me but he trusts Shadow. My betrayal doesn’t make sense to him but my love for him doesn’t make sense to him either. He knows there’s more to the story but neither of us knows where to start to rectify that. I have really fucked this up.
“What do you want to know, Dominic? I’ll answer any and every question you have.”
The fire rages in his eyes and I fear what will come next. “Did he have you at any time after I made you mine?”
“No. Not even once,” I reply. “He planned to the night I went to his house, but that was against my will and I got away.”
He nods, temporarily satisfied with that answer. “When did you tell him you wouldn’t help him anymore?”
“After our San Diego trip,” I say and his suspicion shines in his eyes so I elaborate. “He had described you as a cold, unfeeling Sir when he sent me to you. He told me horror stories about you and Carol Ann. When I saw firsthand that you were the exact opposite, I knew he either lied or he was completely wrong about you. Either way, I said I wouldn’t help hurt you.”
“He sent you to me?”
“Yes. When he rescued me from that abandoned building, he asked me a lot of the standard questions you’d ask to learn about someone. I didn’t realize it at the time, but he’s been grooming me since then. He decided I needed to go to college and major in international business and management. He paid for it all–my dorm, classes, and books.
“After I graduated, I already had a good job with the company I interned with all through college. He said that was a good stepping stone but I needed to aim higher. When this position came open with your company, he pushed me to apply for it. He said he knew I’d get it because I’d remind you so much of Carol Ann, you wouldn’t be able to resist me.”
Dominic instantly jerked back from me, as if he had been burned. The horrified look on his face melted into anger. “You don’t remind me anything about her. That’s not a good or bad thing. It’s just that the two of you are really nothing alike. For him to even suggest that is more than disturbing.”
Shrugging one shoulder, I respond, “I don’t put much stock in anything he has ever said now. I’ve discovered it was all lies and abuse.”
“Yet, you thought he had something that proved that I killed her,” Dominic narrows his eyes, silently questioning whether or not I believed Harrison.
“I thought he had made up something that would hurt you,” I clarify. “Since the day I met you, I haven’t believed you were capable of killing her.”
“So the day we saw him at the restaurant…” his voice trails off as his memory of that evening takes over.
“He followed us there. I had no idea he planned to start anything with you. But, if you remember, I took my stand beside you. That was my way of letting him know that I wasn’t helping him with anything, even though I’d already told him as much.”
“So that’s why he looked at you and licked his lips,” Dominic realizes.
“He only did that to rile you up. It had nothing to do with his feelings toward me.”
Dominic turns and walks across his office to the floor-to-ceiling windows. He props his arm up on the window, his elbow bent and his forehead resting on his forearm. I can still see his face in the reflection. He’s torn and he’s running through everything in his mind.
He shocks me when he speaks, “Do you understand my predicament here? Youadmittedlyworked withHarry Dick-managainst me. There’s a potential lawsuit pending, demanding millions of dollars to keep my private life out of the press. Then, you say you’re not part of that and that you haven’t been helping him this whole time.
“What the fuck am I supposed to believe? You?Harry Dick-man? Those are my fucking choices?You were his fucking sub!”He yells, the anger returning to him and the feeling of defeat returns to me.
He turns to me in my silence. His eyes are tormented and I don’t know how to fix this. I know I have to somehow–there’s just too much to lose.
“Is there anything else I need to know right now?”
I shake my head‘no.’ He needs to resolve his feelings for me without the added weight of a baby on the way. When he’s decided once and for all, I’ll tell him. If I tell him before then, I’ll never know if he really chose me or if his sense of duty forced him to be with me for our baby’s sake.
“You sure about that, Sophia?” he challenges.
“I’m sure, Dominic,” I say with confidence. This is the only thing Iamsure of.
“Why didn’t you tell me any of this sooner?” His voice is both pained and angered.
“I wanted to, Dominic. I started to so many times, but it was never the right time. There’s no such thing as a right time. I just kept trying to protect you the way you protected me. I didn’t want to lose you.
“But, the day the lawsuit papers were served, that’s why I had walked to your office. I’d just hung up from another fight with Harrison. He threatened to tell you and I said I was going to tell you first. I had no idea about those papers, but when I heard the conversation, I knew he’d beaten me to the punch.
