Total pages in book: 71
Estimated words: 69945 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 350(@200wpm)___ 280(@250wpm)___ 233(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 69945 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 350(@200wpm)___ 280(@250wpm)___ 233(@300wpm)
“When your family’s in this business, it’s the only way to live.”
I was sure he meant that literally. “Tell me what else she did to you?”
It was several moments before he looked at me. “I haven’t told anyone the whole story. Not Lucien, not X, not even my sons. No one.”
“Maybe it’d be easier to tell me because I’m not family. I’m not anyone special to you.”
He frowned. “You’re incredibly special.”
Fear raced through me. I wasn’t even sure what I was afraid of: What I was feeling? What he might mean by that? What he had to say about Lisa? All of it? “Thank you.”
He waved a hand as if dismissing my appreciation. “It’s simply a fact. And you are important.”
“Because I can testify? Because I’m a trustworthy witness?”
“You’re a hell of a lot more than that.”
The air felt heavy, thick. I could barely breathe. Finally, I managed to break the spell and look away. “You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.”
“You need to know, but whatever you think of me now, that’s likely to change.”
I frowned. “Is it? Will you change fundamentally? Will the person you are be any different?”
“Are you always this challenging?”
I gave him a coquettish smile. “I’m usually quite compliant. People are often amazed by how well I can do what I’m asked.”
“Hmm, maybe we can see about that later. I like that idea.”
He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and tensed. Was I ready for what he was going to tell me?
“On the rare occasions when I was home, Lisa kept her distance. She went out to a lot of meetings, but I assumed they were the standard fare of a rich wife—appointments at the salon, meetings for a charity board. I was wrong. So wrong. And I never thought to check up on her, never knew my worst enemy was right there in my own house.”
I reached out and took his hand. He squeezed my hand back but then let go. He didn’t know how to let anyone comfort him. I wanted to teach him how to stop pushing everyone away. He wasn’t really cold. He just retreated so far inside himself. To have your spouse betray you like that, even if it hadn’t been a marriage of love, would hurt anyone. And for it to happen to someone who prided himself on being aware of everything going on around him, ready to defend himself at any second…that had to be horrifying. No wonder he was like he was.
“At first, when I saw Lisa in the cabin she’d lured me to, I thought she was a victim, that my enemy kidnapped her to get to me. The truth was, he was already dead. He’d served his purpose, bankrolled her endeavors, and now she just needed to get rid of me so she’d be free.”
I sucked in my breath. “She…she killed him?”
Dom nodded. I could see his tension in the tightness of his jaw and the way he held himself. Was he reliving all of this in his mind? “You don’t have to tell me more.”
“Yes, I do. She shot me, then set the cabin on fire and left me for dead. But I managed to crawl out, to save myself—or what was left of me.”
“Dom, no. You are the same man you were.”
He shook his head. “I’ll never be whole again.”
“That’s not true. You are a whole man, and a good one.”
“No. I should have seen through her. If I hadn’t been wearing Kevlar, I wouldn’t have survived. Her first bullet knocked the breath out of me. I hit the floor and before I could get up, she shot me again in the leg.”
Now I was sure he was reliving every moment. His eyes were glazed, no longer seeing what was in the room.
“I reached for my gun, but she made clear the next bullet would go right through my head, so I stayed there. At that point, I figured I deserved to die. How could I have been so stupid? How could I not have seen her for who she truly was?”
Tears were running down my face. I couldn’t stand the thought of him lying there, injured and hating himself. I slipped off my chair and knelt in front of him. “I’m so sorry.”
He absently ran a hand through my hair as he kept talking.
“I heard someone enter through the door behind me. At the time, I assumed it was the man I’d been hunting, but it was some fool she’d seduced into helping her. He began pouring gasoline around me in a circle. Lisa grabbed the can from him and slung some on me.”
“No!” I shook my head, not sure I wanted to hear anymore.
“I can stop if you need me to.” He looked out the window and blew out a breath. “You’ve seen enough of me to know what happened.”