Page 71 of Vicious Vows

I smiled sweetly at him as I took a sip of the juice sitting in front of me. "Yes I did, I made sure to appreciate them against my fingertips as I threw every last scrap into the fireplace."

His face fell as I placed my drink down.

"You burned them?" He asked in shock.

"Of course I did. Don't tell me you thought I'd cherish anything that you gave me after you had me strung up and beat like an animal. Did you think it would be that easy?" I chuckled and shook my head.

I watched, ready to take the brunt of his anger. The emotions that flitted over his face nearly had me bursting out in laughter. I'd truly stumped him.

"You're right. I guess I shouldn't have thought it would be that easy. That's just fine with me. I'm not worried about a few pieces of clothing or jewelry. All I care about is that you're here. Everything else I can deal with." He shrugged.

He can deal with it? That wasn't what I expected to hear. In fact, it wasn't what I wanted at all. I didn't want him to be okay with the fact that I didn't want anything to do with him. He should be furious, at least a bit perturbed.

"I don't want you to care about me being here. I want you to let me go." I slammed my hand down on the table causing a few food items to fall off my plate.

"And I want you," he replied, not giving any criteria for what he wanted me for.

"I have nothing for you."

"You have everything for me." Dominic grabs his drink and stands from the table making sure to keep me in his gaze.

I clamped my mouth shut as I watched him walk out of the room, leaving me even more confused than I'd been when I sat down.

The way he looked at me as if he meant it. He looked at me as if I were everything he wanted and nothing he'd ever let go. Before I was just a pawn in his game, just another woman for him to exude his power over but that last look he just shot in my direction let me know that this was something more to him. The idea both scared and excited me.

I intended to keep things strictly business between Dominic and I but it seems he wants to make things personal. Things were about to get a lot more interesting.

* * *

Dominic stayed near me all day long.

He didn't say a word to me but it seemed like every time I reached for something or opened my mouth to ask for anything he was right there to give it to me. He was waiting on me hand and foot without actually admitting to it.

It pissed me off mostly because I didn't want anything from him but I wasn't dumb enough to continue to turn down items that I needed to survive. Water was a necessity.

After nearly eight hours trying to ignore Dominic, I couldn't take it anymore.

"What do you think this is going to prove? You think just because you're being nice to me now I'm not going to remember how you nearly beat me to a pulp over something I didn't do?" I snarled at him and he squinted his eyes in my direction.

His jaw clenched hard as he kept me in his gaze but he didn't respond right away. Instead, he took a deep breath as if he were thinking about what he wanted to say to me. Testing out the words in his mind before he let them out of his mouth.

"I didn't know at the time that you weren't responsible. I told you not to try and leave and you ran away. I found you protecting your sister and when I tried to intervene you pulled a gun on me. I'd like to think both of our emotions were running high at the time."

"You think that gives you an excuse?" I snapped.

"No, I'm not excusing my behavior." He cleared his throat hard and fisted his hands at his sides, "I'm sorry, Faye. You're right to be angry with me. I've never had to think about the consequences of my actions before. Never had to worry about anyone else besides myself. I should've taken the time to make sure my accusations were correct before I doled out the punishment. I'm doing what I can now to make up for it."

My jaw dropped to my chest.

Did he just apologize to me?

An official apology, not just random gifts and inferred words but an actual sorry.

I shook off the shock and crossed my arms over my chest. "It doesn't matter what you say to me, Dominic. I'll never forget what you've done to me. How you have me here like an animal. I'm stuck in this situation with you but that doesn't mean we have to be friends. I'm just your captive anyway." I shrugged and tried to turn away from him.

Before I can take a step away, Dominic wraps an arm around my waist and pulls me back against his body. His hard cock pressed into the flesh of my ass and his warm breath tickled the shell of my ear.

"Just my captive? No, you're not just my captive and you know it. You're my wife Faye. As your husband, it's my job to make sure that I make amends for my misconceptions. I intend to thaw out this cold exterior, and when it's all over I'll have you moaning and begging for my cock again."

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