Owned by Dominic (Possessed 1)

I’m praying it’s you reading this and not that despicable man.

I am sorry, a stór, more than I will ever get to tell you.

I truly hope you find this letter before Bradshaw finds you, though.

After you went to boarding school, Brock got word to me about what happened with this Dominic fellow and the deal he made with Bradshaw. I can only hope he’s taking care of you in the way you rightly deserve.

Brock helped me find out everything I could about the young man as soon as I heard about your da’s plans. I wish I could have told you, but you were so young and didn’t need to have more to worry about. You needed to be the young woman you never got to be with Bradshaw and I.

I don’t have much time left, but please, a stór, trust your heart and believe in yourself. It will be the only way to get through everything you’ve yet to face. And please don’t be too angry at Brock. To this day, he has no idea he is your father. Only Bradshaw and I know.

I love you with my whole heart and soul, Deidre. Please, for me, live long and love hard.

Love, Mam.

She was speechless. Completely and utterly shocked. She always knew her fath–...Bradshaw hated her. He’d never hidden it, and now she finally understood why. The pain was no less real, though.

She was still confused. Where was her mam? And if Brock was her father, why would he try to kill her? That he would take an order like that from Bradshaw didn’t make sense. Unless he thought death was better than what Bradshaw had planned for her?

Tears ran hot down her cheeks, splashing the paper. She was so tired of trying to find something she’d never really had. Wanting to be happy, safe, and loved was all she ever wished for. It was an attainable goal, hard to reach, but she’d always held out hope that she would one day have it. How was she to proceed now, though? According to her mother, the danger was only beginning.

The screech of the front gate gripped her heart. She froze, afraid to move or breathe. Praying it was the neighbor’s, but knowing from years of listening to that sound followed by Bradshaw’s screams told her someone was there.

When she heard the front door groan and light footsteps tap up the stairs, her tears came faster, and her breathing grew heavier. She watched in horror as the bedroom door began to open slowly.

When a shadow fell across the room, she nearly screamed until she recognized the voice. A voice that brought her nothing but pleasure.

“Deidre?”

Dominic.

Fifteen

She couldn’t move. The look on his face was unreadable. His eyes reflected his pleasure upon seeing her in one piece, but the hard set of his jaw betrayed his anger at her swift betrayal. She’d left. She hadn’t trusted him enough not to abandon her.

It was all her fault, and she knew it. It was a hard pill to swallow.

“I am so sorry.” She cried into her knees. Feeling his eyes on her burned a hole in her so deep that she feared the heated flames would be real.

When the bed dipped, she looked up into his handsome face. Soft, sad green eyes spoke of the depth of his feelings for her—the good and the bad.

Bringing his hand up to her face, he glided his knuckles across her cheek and over her brow before descending into her hair. The grip he held on her nape had pain running along her skin where his fingers held her.

“Look at me, Deidre.” His demand held a note of steel. “Don’t. Ever. Fucking. Run. From. Me.” Each word was punctuated with a sharper grasp on her neck. “I will follow you to the ends of the earth and back, Princess, but never make me worry like that again.”

She could hear the hurt laced with the anger in his voice. “I swear.” She would do almost anything to have the happy light back in his eyes.

“Please, Dominic.” She wasn’t sure what she was asking for.

His eyes watched her for so long and with such intent that she almost didn’t think he was going to do or say anything, “What Princess? What do you need?”

“I...I don’t know.”

Pulling her into his arms, he let her cry for a few minutes before she finally gathered her resolve to show him the letter she’d just finished reading.

She watched as an intense range of emotions crossed his features the more he read, still unsure of how she felt about the new revelations. Knowing her mother had an affair didn’t bother her but learning that her real father tried to kill her, burned a hole in her already fragile heart.

Sure, according to her mam, he didn’t know the truth, and if Brock was in fact working for Bradshaw, then it would be something Bradshaw got a sick sense of glee from. But it hurt either way.