Chapter Nine
Dominic
The lights switch on in Candace's apartment.
Good.She’s fucking back. It's about fucking time.
Gravel crunches under the soles of my shoes as I bolt to my feet, my binoculars in hand.
I hold up the binoculars, zooming in closer so I can see her better when she comes into view by the living room window.
How sad am I? And what the hell have I become?
After that fruitless conversation we had earlier, I came here.Like some dumb fucker, I came here to sit and wait for her to come back from her date.
It’s almost laughable and would be if it wasn’t fucking pitiful.
I figured out that the building to the left would allow me a better view of the other rooms in her apartment.My previous post just gave me access to her kitchen.
This spot here is still concealed and far enough away that she would never believe anyone could be watching her.
I thought I’d wait to see if she returned because the thought of her spending the night with Jacques Belmont riled me up the wrong fucking way.
Now she’s home, the thought hits me she could have still slept with him.Coming home, and getting back early doesn’t mean shit.My girl could have just been the first woman on his menu for the evening.I don't know the prick, but they're all the same.Money equals power and power is collateral, speaking any language you want.
Fuck.
The fucking thought makes me curse myself for not having Cory or someone follow her.
That would have been all I’d need to tick the box for the crazy stalker I’m fast becoming.
The other night when I thought of myself as a stalker, I didn’t actually mean it.I didn’t start this to be some fucked up, perverted ritual, but look at me.I feel like I’ve reached a new low.A new level of desperation I never thought a man like me could reach.I also doubt this was what Tristan meant by trying.
Usually, if I want something, I take it.It doesn't matter if it's a woman or a thing.
I’m the conqueror, pure and simple.
But there’s a chink in my armor.A chink that makes Candace Ricci the exception to every rule in the book no matter who the book belongs to or who wrote it with the accompanying rules.
The chink is this: my heart.
I can be a ruthless bastard when I want to be and be as merciless as my brothers but fuck, unlike them my heart is a force on its own.I try to control it with the appearance of nonchalance, but people aren’t stupid.
My father, for one, was not.
When Pa decided to hand over the business and retire, he gave his four sons a chance to be boss of the famiglia.Being the boss of the family isn’t about power or greed.It’s a balance of everything.
That's why Massimo was chosen.
Me on the other hand… no, and I was never cut up about it.I think my father saw qualities in each of us he never spoke of.
When it came to me, he knew my heart would be my blessing and my curse.
The heart is a powerful thing.Let the wrong people see it and it could ruin you.Allow yourself to feel it too much and it will overpower you.That means when you lose control of a situation, it makes you crazy.
That’s what happened to me.
My name is not one that is associated with weakness or helplessness.When I can't gain back control, I do dumb shit like what I'm doing now.