He ran a hand over the fuzz of hair on his head. He cleared his throat, never looking at her. “Ready to go?”
Pain like a heavy weight settled over her chest making it difficult to breathe. Dom had sent someone to get her. He hadn’t come for her himself. That hurt worse than she would have thought and she found herself blinking to keep tears from falling.
“Yeah,” she said, her voice hoarse.
He cut the ropes from her, held his hand out to help her up. “Think you can run?”
She nodded. “Who are you?” One of his brothers she hadn’t met.
He dark grey eyes flicked over her face for a moment. “Grayson.”
“He sent you to get me.” She knew this yet found herself saying the words aloud anyway. Why did it hurt so badly? She deserved this. She knew that. That didn’t help to alleviate the pain though.
“Yeah, come on now.”
She ran a few feet behind him. Branches slapped her face, she stumbled when her foot stuck in mud, and she fell three times landing harder each time. At the last fall, she didn’t bother getting up. Tears flowed silently down her dirty cheeks.
Grayson grabbed her hand and tugged. “Come on, we’re close to the road now.”
She pulled her hand back, curling it protectively around her chest. “Just leave me here.” He hates me. That one horrifying thought would not get out of her head. Dom hated her. “Why does he even want me to come back?” To hurt or humiliate her?
“He wants you to come back because he loves you.”
She looked up at the ragged, tired looking man who so much resembled Dom. “Did he say that?”
He shook his head—negative. “No, but I know it when I see it. Doesn’t matter what you did, or how bad you fucked up. None of that shit matters because he’ll still feel about you how he does. Nothing you could do could make that go away.”
Her tears stopped. “But I cost him the election.”
He shook his head. “He lost because he didn’t move fast enough with the times, but Zeke did. And he lost because the media spun wild with a story that had nothing to do with him or why he’d do well to serve the people. It’s all shit.”
“Is that what he thinks?” She found herself moving, coming to a stand, a newfound hope growing.
“No.”
She blinked. “But you just said...”
“Yeah, I know what I said.” He pulled a pack of smokes out of his jacket and lit one up. The red glow at the tip was bright in the night light. “What I said was true too but that’s not how he sees it right now. Right now he’s pissed off, really pissed off, and hurting. He’s gonna need to take some time to lick his wounds then the logic will kick over and he’ll analyze it down to what I said. Got that?”
She’d hurt him. He was angry with her. Did that make her eager to want to race back and see him—no. But she had to fix this, had to do the right thing.
She straightened her shoulders, wiped those tears away, and nodded. No more of that. From here on out she had to stay strong so she could get through this not for her but for Dom too. “All right, let’s go.”
Within minutes they arrived at the side of the road and that quickly her bravado faltered.
Dom stood there, leaning back against an SUV wearing the fiercest scowl she’d ever seen. He glanced up at their arrival and she froze, not at the scowl or the barely restrained violence in his stance, but at the cold anger in his eyes. The look he gave her actually made her shiver, then his eyes were off her, and pretending she didn’t exist.
Grayson slowed his steps, walking much more cautiously than he had been. “Didn’t know you were coming.”
“Changed my mind,” Dom said.
Grayson grunted.
Without sparing her a glance, Dom climbed into the passenger seat. Grayson looked back at her, and then jerked his head towards the car signaling her to get in. For a moment after Grayson took the driver’s seat, she stood there by herself within feet of the man she was supposed to be mated to right now.
She tried to take hold of her feelings. They were running too loose and wild for her tastes. She took a deep breath and let it out then repeated the process until the numb-like cold passed. It never passed completely but enough that she resigned herself for what came next and got in that car.
She wouldn’t realize until later how bad things could get.
Chapter 27
She knew when Grayson didn’t take the exit that would go to the estate that they weren’t going there. When they arrived at Dominic’s house she felt a mixture of relief that any possible fighting they might do wouldn’t be in the same house with his mother and any brothers. She also felt terror that they might be alone.
Without a word to his brother Dominic went into the house leaving her to mutter a quick goodbye to Grayson and follow him.
The lights weren’t turned on. She stood in the foyer feeling lost and out of place with no idea where to go or what to do.
“Dom?” she called out.
He didn’t answer, but she heard something shuffling around upstairs. She followed the noise, her steps heavy and slow. She headed for his bedroom where a light spilled out from the cracked door. She stopped in front it, raised her hand to knock, and then lowered it feeling silly.
“Dom?” she tried again.
A big shadow filled the doorway and then the door swung open. Dominic stood there, staring down at her as if he didn’t know her. She sucked in a breath at the sharp pain that look caused.
“I’m so sorry.” The words came. “I’m so sorry about everything. I fucked everything up because I was stupid and impulsive. I know I can never give you that election back, but I’ll do anything you want to help make it right. You want me gone forever just say the words, you want me to go to the media and tell them I’m a lying whore to save your face I’ll do it. Tell me what to do and I’ll do it.”
He stared down at her, silent as a statue.
The pain in her chest grew worse. “Please, won’t you talk to me?”
“What I want,” he said, words slow and very quiet, “is for you to go to sleep in the spare bedroom down the hall.” He closed the door in her face.
Felicity blinked several times as she tried to comprehend how the door got to be closed in her face. She tried to decide how rude he’d been and how necessary that was to the situation. When she’d figured out that indeed it had been pretty rude but she probably deserved it she then thought about leaving. If he brought her all the way up here to ignore her then she’d be better off leaving.
Blowing out a hot breath, Felicity stopped thinking and acted. She banged her fist on his bedroom door in the way police did when they knocked.
The door swung open a few seconds later. Dom glowered down at her only this time his jaw was steadily grinding. He didn’t say a word, merely lifted a questioning brow.
“I want to talk about this now.”
“Go to bed.”
“Then I’m sleeping with you.”
He jerked back, unexpected. “You really don’t want to be around me right now, Felicity.”
She narrowed her eyes. “Does that mean that you don’t want to be around me because that’s what it sounds like?”
“Yeah,” he said flat out.
Now her jaw grinded. “Listen, if you brought me here to be an asshole then forget it. I’m leaving.”
She started down the hallway, but a hand curled around her arm, snapped her back around so she faced him. “You’re not leaving.”