Total pages in book: 48
Estimated words: 45202 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 226(@200wpm)___ 181(@250wpm)___ 151(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 45202 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 226(@200wpm)___ 181(@250wpm)___ 151(@300wpm)
She’s angry at me, and she’s practically trembling with it. “Dom, this has nothing to do with me. Just like the fact how over half your client list is women.”
I put my hands on the arms of her chair and look into her eyes. “I lied to you. All those years ago, when I told you I had slept with Rita, I lied to you.”
She’s staring at me, searching my eyes before she shakes her head. “It doesn’t matter, Dom. It’s the past.”
I move my hands from the armrests to her thighs, and she tenses under my palm. “It matters to me. I need you to know the truth.”
Her hands move to the armrests, and she clenches it so hard her knuckles turn white. “Why are you doing this? I don’t understand.”
I lean my head on her knee and suck in a deep breath. I need to be completely upfront with her, and it’s way past time that I came clean with her. “When I went to jail, I told you—”
She covers her ears with her hands and clenches her eyes closed. “Please, don’t do this, Dom. I can’t—”
I put my hands on her cheeks, and her eyes fly open. “Listen to me… just listen, and if you walk out of here and want nothing to do with me, I promise I’ll never bother you again.”
She nods her head, and I tuck her hair behind her ears. As she stares back at me, I sit back on my haunches, but I don’t go far. I put my hands on her knees. “When I was arrested, I knew everything we had was over. I knew that. I didn’t want it to be… hell, I would have given anything for us not to be over, but look, your family already didn’t want us together, I was bringing you down… I was doing everything I could to have a future you deserved, and I fucked it up. One night and I lost everything I wanted.”
“Dom…”
“No, I have to get this out. I knew if I pushed you away that you wouldn’t leave. I knew that you would wait for me, and I didn’t want you to ruin your future because of me… so I told you that I slept with Rita. I knew…” I let out a guttural groan and shake my head. “I knew that you would forgive me for the trouble I’d been in, but being unfaithful… I knew I couldn’t come back from that… I knew you wouldn’t forgive me.”
Her cheeks are flaming, and I can see the glare of distrust in her eyes. “Don’t lie to me, Dominic Evans. After everything you put me through, the last thing I need… the last thing I deserve is for you to lie to me.”
“I never slept with Rita. I haven’t slept with anyone since you, Luciana.”
She starts to laugh. “It’s been almost seventeen years. That’s bullshit, Dom.”
My face heats, but I’m determined to get it all out. “It’s the truth. I never slept with Rita, and after I got out of prison, I tried to move on, but I’m broken… I can’t… perform.”
Her eyes widen, and she repeats my words. “You can’t perform?”
I shake my head side to side. “No, I can’t. After two times… I gave up. I considered it my punishment for what I did to you.”
Her eyes are still wide, and she’s shaking her head. “This is crazy. Are you telling me…”
Her voice trails off, and I tell her the rest. “I haven’t been with anyone since I was with you, and up until a few days ago, I thought that I could never be with someone again.”
Her forehead creases. “A few days ago?”
I nod, hoping that I’m not fucking this up. “Yes. When I saw you standing on the side of the road, I got hard.” I suck in a deep breath and let it out slowly. “And every time I’ve seen you since… I’ve been hard. If I see you, smell you, hell, now even thinking of you, I’m hard.”
She’s not smiling; she’s just staring at me, and I release my hold on her, stand up, and take a step back. She has to see I’m not lying to her. Hell, if she looks down, she’ll see the attraction I feel for her. “I don’t expect anything from you. Hell, I don’t deserve to even breathe the same air as you, but it’s important to me that you know I never cheated on you.”
She still doesn’t say anything. I look out into the bay, and Rita is gone. A part of me wishes I’d brought her in here to tell Lucy the truth, but I know Lucy wouldn’t appreciate the drama. I cross my arms over my chest.
She wants to believe me, that much I can tell. But she shakes her head in denial. “Dom, I can’t do this. It’s the past, and none of this matters now.”