Chasing Heartbreak (Dark Love #6) - Kat T. Masen Page 0,39
bar is located just near the main desk, small with dim lighting creating an intimate environment for patrons enjoying a drink. The walls are a deep red with velvet chairs in the same color scattered around the round tables inside. Toward the back corner is a booth where Dominic is sitting. His head is bowed, and the thick black mane of hair which is normally styled perfectly, looks messy and misplaced. The weight of his gaze is fixated on the tumbler in his hands. As I move closer, the amber liquid appears to be whisky—his choice of drink.
I slide into the booth, his head rising to meet my eyes, though without a greeting or even a welcoming smile. Sitting on the table is a glass of wine he pre-ordered. Raising the glass toward my lips, I drink the entire contents before even speaking.
“I never explained to you why I married Allegra.”
“You said you got scared,” I so easily remind him.
“Yes, I did, to an extent,” he admits with a hoarse voice. “About five years ago, I helped an old friend of mine who was in trouble financially. I was naïve to think loaning the money would’ve solved the problem. He owed the wrong people, and when they found out I had some tie to him, I was on their radar.”
I’d heard the story too often in the corporate world—corrupt dealings, hands in the black market, all sorts of trouble which is fatal to any reputable business.
Dominic runs his finger along the edge of the glass before continuing, “Allegra’s father offered me a lifeline… marry his daughter, and the problem will disappear.”
“So, your marriage is somewhat a business deal. Is that what you’re trying to tell me?”
He simply nods his head, keeping his words at bay. “Kate, I want you, but ending my marriage is complicated.”
“But where’s this coming from? I don’t understand, Dominic. You made it clear from the beginning that you didn’t do relationships. Period.”
“You don’t understand love?”
I never in my wildest dreams expected Dominic to say the four-letter word. When told in the right circumstances, this word can seal your future, fill it with joy and happiness. And then there are moments like now when a man carelessly uses the word like it means nothing.
Staring at the table, I have nothing positive to say right now. A sudden feeling of heaviness expands within me, causing my muscles to turn numb. I’m unable to smile, laugh, cry, or evoke any emotion besides shock.
Dominic places his hand on mine, a loving gesture, unlike his usually distant self. “I think about you all day and all night. When she’s lying beside me in bed, I picture it being you. It always comes back to you. I’ve never felt this way before. It’s driving me fucking crazy.”
The desperation in his tone is difficult to ignore, along with the heavy weight of his hand on mine.
“And then I see you with him? It kills me to see you with someone else. That’s when I realized I can’t do this anymore. I don’t want another man touching you. I want you to be all mine.”
I drag my hand back toward my lap, the hurt on his face evident.
“So, this is about Noah? Are you jealous? Let me guess. Your ego has taken a hit, so now you think that telling me you feel something is going to make me do what, exactly?”
“Not something, I love you, Kate,” he finally admits.
My skin begins to flush, and the room becomes incredibly hot all of a sudden. With my lips pulled back baring my teeth, I stand quickly, willing this conversation to end. “I need to go. This conversation is over. Sort out your marriage, Dominic, but don’t make decisions based on what you think you feel.”
I storm out of the bar, not turning around to watch him try to intimidate me, and through the lobby back onto the street. The threat of rain lingers in the air. I keep my head down, trying to shut out the noise on the solemn walk home. After several blocks, the pitter-patter of the rain begins to create a shield around me. The drops fall hard, soaking my hair and clothes while cooling my skin. The beads trickle down my face, washing away the uncertainty of my life, if only for a few moments.
In the space of a week, my simple life went from zero to a hundred.