***
Dominic
“What the fuck do you want?” I snarl into the phone Marco hands me.
“Have you fucked her yet?”
“Jesus, you dare ask me that? She’s mine now. She is none of your concern. My Don or not.”
“Good, you haven’t fucked her. The day after your wedding I want her sheets presented.”
“You’ve lost your damn mind. I won’t allow—”
“It is my right as her father that you display them and confirm my honor.”
“Fuck you,” I growl. Thank fuck he’s not in front of me right now. “You were a shitty father. You dumped a small child in a country where she didn’t even speak the language and ignored her for almost a fucking decade. There is no honor in what you did to her.”
“I kept her pure for you. Why the hell do you think you were allowed not to marry?”
I’m shaking my head, no, no fucking way. “She was a child when I made that deal.”
“Exactly, I knew it would be many years before you would change your mind. She had to grow up first. Why do you think I didn’t send for you to New York?” The smug bastard chuckles.
“I did not think she was ready for you yet. Regina had some growing up to do. She was a timid little mouse when she came to New York. Tony said you would reject her, that she needed to be stronger, have more fire in her for you to want her.”
There is no thought behind the punch I send into the wall in front of me. Plaster gives way, at a cost to my knuckles. Motherfucker, the pain helps to keep me from losing my shit.
“The sheets will be presented at the breakfast after your wedding night. If there is nothing on them, you will be the one shamed for it.” The fucker hangs up on me.
Rage sends a wash of red i
n front of my eyes until I am blind with it. All these years Johnny played me, moved Regina and me around on a board we didn’t know we were on. I warned her she was playing checkers when Johnny was playing chess, without ever realizing the same thing was being done to me.
Sonofabitch.
13
Regina
I’m floating at the edge of sleep when the sound of my bedroom door opening sends my eyes flying open. Mary is carrying a breakfast tray with eggs, toast, bacon, a small carafe of what smells like coffee and two small pots of cream and sugar. She sets it at the edge of the bed with a smile.
“I purchased some basic toiletries for you. Please let me know if you require different brands and what else you need. I’ll make sure it’s here when you and Dominic are back from going shopping and seeing the wedding planner. You have a half hour to eat and get ready. He’ll be in his office when you’re ready.”
“Shopping?”
A small nod. “Dominic thinks your clothing should get an update.” Another smile and she’s gone.
Update? I sigh as she closes the door behind her. Looking around the room, I can see she’s been in here since I fell asleep, picking up after me. A glance at the small alarm clock on the bedside table tells me it’s one thirty. Weird, after a single night of staying up with Dominic I hadn’t been able to fall asleep at my usual time of midnight.
I’m a night owl, but for some reason I hadn’t been able to fall asleep until I heard Dominic come back this morning. Only minutes after I heard the beep from the elevator and Dominic walking down the hallway toward his room, I finally relaxed and fell asleep.
Why did I think of it that way—relax? Shouldn’t it have been the other way around? Especially after seeing the damage Dominic did to the wall as he talked to Johnny. I had jumped, hearing the crash, yet was too afraid to find out what it was. Once I knew Dominic had left to go down to his club, I crept out of my room to find Marco on the phone in front of the hole, talking to someone about coming to repair it.
First the blood on his sleeve, and now the hole in the wall. Shouldn’t I be afraid of him? At the confirmation of the violence within him, the dark side the three-piece suits, blue eyes, and dimples distracted the casual observer from seeing? I flop back on the bed. I should be, but I’m not. I am so fucked.
I need to get away from him, today. It has to be today, any longer and... I squeeze my eyes shut. I might never want to leave. What’s the matter with me? Rolling over, I bury my face into the pillow and scream in frustration. I feel like I’m going crazy. Knowing I shouldn’t want Dominic Sabatini doesn’t mean a damn thing, because I want him so badly it’s starting to scare me a little.
No, I force myself off the bed. Today I’m going to find a way to get away from him.