Total pages in book: 102
Estimated words: 100225 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 501(@200wpm)___ 401(@250wpm)___ 334(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 100225 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 501(@200wpm)___ 401(@250wpm)___ 334(@300wpm)
When I look over at him, I’m immediately brought back to earth. He seems a million miles away. I don’t know what’s going on with him, but it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that he’s really upset—no matter how he’s trying to disguise it with me. “You’ve been busy today,” I murmur.
“You have no idea,” he responds, sounding cynical. That snaps my attention back to the present, and I remember how we parted this morning.
“What happened after I went back into the auditorium?” I ask carefully before taking a bite of my pizza. I need to get him to open up to me. I don’t want Dom holding everything inside. That’s not a healthy relationship. Truth be told, I’m desperate to make this work between us. I’ve been in love with Dom since I was a kid. It is becoming clearer and clearer that those feelings were still alive deep down inside of me. I just chose to ignore them. I don’t want to do that anymore.
“King apparently had permission to be here. Dad knew.”
I frown. “That’s good, right?”
“I guess, I wouldn’t know. You’ll have to ask your brother or someone else. Apparently, I wasn’t deemed worthy of the information.”
“Excuse me?”
He takes a big tug of his beer and puts the bottle back down on the small table we’re sitting at. The kitchen is big. It could handle a bigger table. Honestly, the whole place is nice, but I’m going to look at it all better later. If Dom is here and he wants me here, I’ll stay.
“There’s shit going on and apparently, Dad didn’t feel he should trust me with the information yet. He doesn’t trust my judgment.”
“Because of T and Gabby?”
“Got it in one.”
I reach out to hold his hand. “I’m sorry, Dom. I love your father, but he’s wrong about this.”
He squeezes my hand. “You stopped calling him your uncle,” he says quietly.
“It sounds weird now since we are well, whatever we are.” He frowns at me, and I know he’s about to start in on another lecture, but I hold up my hand. “I’m with you, Dom. I want what is between us. I’d just rather not put labels on it. I don’t want you to feel pressured into having a relationship with me because of who my father is or because of Breaker.”
“Breaker is all for what’s between us, Thea. As for the rest of the shit, I don’t give a fuck about Dad or the club. I’m all in with us and you’re what matters most. Fuck, you’re the only thing that’s important to me.”
Before I can acknowledge exactly what he just said—how monumental it is or what it means to me—I lose my breath. “Dom, where is your cut?”
“Thea—”
“You’re never without it. It’s a piece of you. You always have it on unless we’re going to bed. What exactly is going on?” He rubs the back of his neck in a way I’ve seen him do a million times. What worries me is that he usually only does it when he’s worried or upset. I reach out and put my hand over the one he has lying on the table. I squeeze it gently. “Talk to me, honey.”
He looks up and gives me a ghost of a smile, and it’s then that he stops hiding. I know because I can clearly see the misery on his face. My man is devastated and seeing it up close makes my eyes sting with unshed tears. I can’t give into them right now. Dom needs me, and it would hurt him even more to see me cry.
“I told Dad I was leaving the club. I’m turning my cut in tomorrow. I’d have just given it to him today, but I have a few things I need in my room there.”
“Fuck. Dom, honey, if this is about me—”
“It’s not about you. Even if it was, I’d still choose you. I want you to know that. You’re the only woman in my life I have ever said that about, and I need you to know it’s true.”
“We can talk about that later, honey. We’re solid. I need to understand what’s going on here. If it’s not me, then what—”
“It’s me, Thea. It has nothing to do with you and everything to do with me. Dad looks at me and he sees a man who chose a bitch over his own brother. He sees someone who put a woman who didn’t deserve it before a brother of the club.”
“That’s bull—”
“He’s right, sweetheart. I did all of that. Fuck, I had feelings for you, and I allowed a promise I made to a woman when we were kids to ignore that. I felt I owed her because I took her virginity—even while I watched her change from the girl I fell in love with. I hate what I did to T. It eats me up inside, but even though I’m responsible for it, I at least have the excuse that Gabby promised T knew she was in love with someone else and was just trying to help him get over everything.”