Incipient A Dark Paranormal Romance - Bianca Scardoni Page 0,54

knot.

“To fuck with your head, obviously,” he said, looking as though he were growing angrier by the second. His gaze drifted back to the hallway as his jaw muscle ticked furiously. “He has some nerve showing up at my house.”

“He has something planned.” I could feel it in my bones.

“Good,” said Trace as he stormed out of the living room. “That makes two of us.”

20. UNINVITED

Trace was at the front door in a matter of seconds. It didn’t matter how quickly I dashed after him or how hard I’d tried to claw at the back of his shirt, there was no stopping his advance. He was a relentless tornado on a set path and there was nothing I could do or say that was going to derail him from his target.

He swung open the front door and I hid in the shadows behind him like a coward, bile rising at the back of my throat as numbness spread through my limbs.

“What the fuck do you want?” roared Trace, his back muscles rigid with tension.

The sound of a tongue clicking in disapproval sent prickles all over my skin. I didn’t even need to see the dark angel’s face to know it was Dominic. I’d know that sound anywhere.

“Is that any way to answer the door, Romeo? Where have your manners gone?”

“I said, what the fuck do you want?” repeated Trace, taking a step toward the threshold as he flattened his palm against the door jamb.

“If you must know, I’m looking for my sweetheart,” answered Dominic, his voice deceptively sweet. “I was told I could find her here.”

A snarl spilled into his voice. “Told by who?”

“Well, now, that’s for me to know, isn’t it?” Dominic snickered darkly but there was nothing humorous or nice about it. “See, we had a date she and I, but she never showed up.”

“That right?” asked Trace, his back muscles flexing through his shirt as he shifted on his feet. “Maybe you should take the hint then?”

“Maybe,” mused Dominic. “Or maybe she’d like to tell me that herself. Angel? What do you say?”

My veins turned to ice as my feet solidified into the foyer tile. He knew I was standing right there, cowering behind the door like a chicken. He knew because our connection went both ways, and while a part of me was screaming that I needed to step forward; to show him I wasn’t afraid of facing him, I couldn’t seem to get my feet to cooperate.

“She’s busy, but I can take a message,” said Trace when I didn’t bother to step forward.

“This isn’t really a message kind of situation. It’s more of a tête-à-tête conversation. Perhaps I’ll just have to catch up with her some other time and place. I’ll be happy to make the arrangements.”

His underhanded threat snapped me out of my frozen stupor.

What the hell was I doing? I was playing right into his hand, that’s what—boldening him like the prey to his predator, feeding his inner demon, which was precisely the thing that was not going to get him to turn his emotions back on.

Gabriel’s words came back to me like a glass of ice water to the face. I needed to make him feel again, and I needed to use every emotion possible against him. Fear. Anger. Love.

Jealousy…

A plan sprang to mind. I squared my shoulders and stepped up beside Trace, wrapping my arm around his waist and letting his own arm fall down around my shoulder “What are you doing here, Dominic? I’m busy.”

Dominic’s inky gaze immediately dropped to where my arm had gone before pivoting back to my eyes. “Well, isn’t this nice and cozy.”

I fixed my expression into one of boredom.

“Would you mind excusing us?” he asked Trace though his eyes never strayed from mine.

“He doesn’t need to go anywhere,” I answered boldly. “Anything you need to say to me you can say in front of Trace.”

“I see.” A flicker of something flashed in his dark eyes, but it was gone before I could make it out. “You never showed up for our date.”

“Oh, right, our date. Gosh, I’m really sorry about that. It must have completely slipped my mind,” I said coyly while making sure to let him know that his compulsion had failed. Obviously, that wasn’t entirely true, but he didn’t need to know about the hell I’d gone through to get on the other side of it. I was keeping that part to myself.

“It slipped your mind?” he repeated, tossing the word around his