Page 37 of Dominic

Chapter Nineteen

She decided notto tell Dominic about Gordon showing up at the gala, hoping her stepfather would soon grow tired of the game. And besides, there was nothing Gordon could tell Dominic that wouldn’t get him into even more trouble than her.

Although it would still mean the end of their relationship. Every time Cassandra saw Sarah and how the men in the family doted on her because of her pregnancy, Cassandra knew she would lose Dominic if he found out the truth about what had happened seven years ago.

So she would just never let him know. It wasn’t like Dominic had any plans to make their marriage a real one anyway. She would enjoy the time she had in the safety of his house, and his arms, for as long as it lasted. Would enjoy every night that he woke her in the middle of the night by sliding into her heat, and even when he paddled her while putting a conference call on mute.

A week after the gala, while Dominic was over at Roman and Sarah’s house, a package arrived for Cassandra. She came in from working in the garden to find a box from a local high-end lingerie boutique. She couldn’t keep the grin off her face as she washed her hands before opening the box. It wasn’t the first item Dominic had bought her from that store.

The black lacy teddy did not disappoint. She wondered if he’d get this one off her body in one piece or rip it like he had the last one.

Her heart fluttered when she saw the small envelope inside, the words “My Cassandra” written on the outside. Dominic had sent her a note with the gift. That was a first.

But she dropped it as though it burned her when she saw what was inside.

The teddy had been ordered by Dominic but the note was from Gordon.

A tiny USB drive was tucked into the corner of the envelope. The note merely read: Put on Rinaldi’s personal computer.

She stared at the device in horror. She knew exactly what it was; they’d used similar ones multiple times before when stealing from a mark electronically.

The drive would download computer mirroring software — spyware — and transmit the data to Gordon offsite. Gordon would be able to access Dominic’s finances, schedules, anything he kept electronically filed.

Cassandra took the USB drive and the envelope, balled it up and stuffed it under the mattress until she could take it to a public trash receptacle. She wouldn’t do it. She didn’t care what Gordon threatened to tell Dominic. She wouldn’t spy on him and give Gordon information that could be used against him.

She was waiting on the bed dressed only in the teddy when Dominic arrived home a few hours later. She gave him her most sexy smile, until she saw the bleeding gash on his forehead.

“Oh my God, what happened? Are you okay?” She rushed out of the bed to his side.

Dominic wrapped an arm around her. “I’m fine. Damn brakes on my car completely gave out. Fortunately I was able to manhandle it out of traffic. Still hit a street lamp though.”

He kissed her hair then let go of her to walk into the bathroom. She followed. “Your brakes just failed?”

He shrugged as he stripped his shirt off. “I’ve got the mechanics looking at it. I’m going to have somebody go over all the vehicles, make sure there aren’t any routine maintenance problems. If you had been driving that car…” He shook his head and wrapped an arm around her again. “I don’t think you would’ve been able to keep it from plowing into incoming traffic.”

Dominic’s brakes failing on the exact day she received the mirror USB from Gordon? Cassandra didn’t believe in that sort of coincidence. Gordon was sending her a message: Dominic wasn’t invincible.

“Hey.” He ran a finger down her cheek. “Don’t look so concerned. I know my line of work can bring out a certain type of danger, but I’m sure this is just a case of bad luck. And I’m fine. This cut looks worse than it actually is. I’m going to take a shower, then I’m going to take advantage of you in that teddy.”

He took off the rest of his clothes and turned on the water.

“I’ll give you a massage when you get out.” That would at least give her something to do with the panicked energy rolling through her.

“On second thought, I don’t think I can wait.” He wrapped and arm around her waist and pulled her into the shower, teddy and all.

His mouth dropped to her breasts. “I love the look of these pretty nipples when they’re encased in lace.” He nipped at one with his teeth while pinching the other between his finger and thumb.

Cassandra’s breath caught, but she wanted it harder, wanted him to chase away the thought of Gordon manipulating her. But if anything, Dominic just got gentler. His lips moved to her throat and instead of biting, he nuzzled. His hands, as they moved around from her breast to her back, was tender.

“I know I don’t like vanilla a lot, unless it comes to ice cream, but that’s what I want right now,” he said softly as he untied the halter top of the teddy and peeled it from her body, dropping the wet material to the ground. “The car was fishtailing out of control for a second, and I swear when that happened all I could think about was you. This. Us.”

It was the closest Dominic had ever come to any sort of declarations of feelings for her. She wrapped her arms around him.

“Are you sure you wouldn’t rather force me to suck you off after tying me spreadeagled over the coffee tableandplugging me with ginger lube?”She said it jokingly, but prayed he’d agree.

He chuckled. “Quite tempting indeed. But tonight, just you and me. No toys. No pain. Just us.”

She closed her eyes. She wanted this, God how she wanted this. Screw Gordon. She wasn’t going to let him take this from her. She reached up and ran her hands across Dominic’s shoulders and into his hair.

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