Page 59 of Deceitful Oath

“Is it a safe situation?”

She snorts, wrinkling her eyebrows. “It’s definitely aweirdsituation.”

“Weirder than that time you accidentally moved into a convent?”

“That was so long ago,” she laughs, shaking her head. “I never should have told you that story. But no, this is just a strange living arrangement.”

I listen and nod, making all the appropriate facial expressions as she describes Mancini’s safe house in the suburbs. The only thing I can really focus on is that I made her laugh again.Even though she hates me, she granted me a smile.

When she’s finished, I force my face into a look of concern.

“That sounds pretty sketchy honestly,” I muse, keeping my tone light. “Seen anything dangerous or illegal going on?”

“Nope,” she shakes her head. “It doesn’t matter anyway. I just got hired for an amazing job! And they provide a relocation stipend, but since I’m local, it’ll just pad out my paycheck so I’ll be able to afford an apartment as nice as yours…one day.”

She cracks a smile again and the heavens open up. I may not be a religious man, but I know a religious experience when I see one. My body melts at the sight of her face, so beautifully transformed by that beaming smile.

I congratulate her and she thanks me, beginning to gather her things.Fuck, she’s leaving. I can’t let her leave.

“Lux, I…”

She pauses, glancing up at me. When I don’t continue, she smiles politely and rises from the table.

“This was nice. I hope you have…”

“Wait, I want to explain what happened,” I start, but she waves me off, shooting me a tight little smile.

“Water under the bridge, Dominic.”

“No, honestly,” I say, my fingers lightly circling her wrist and pulling her closer. She looks down, shocked at the contact. “I was falling in…”

“Stop,” she threatens, her voice heavy with emotion. “Whatever you were about to say…don’t. I don’t want to hearexcuses about how it got too real and too deep, and you were afraid of getting your heart broken.”

She pauses, glancing up at the ceiling as if searching for inner strength. “You made your decision. Don’t start dragging up emotions that don’t matter anymore.”

I sit there, dumbfounded, watching her walk out of the coffee shop.

Out of my life.

Again.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Lux

I force myself to strut down the block with the confidence of a woman who’s completely in control of her life. The woman I was an hour ago, heading to a job interview that would change everything andnotthinking about the man who broke her heart.

As soon as I turn the corner, I duck into an alley and slump against the brick wall. I search my purse for a stray cigarette and come up with nothing.Fucking Dominic.

How dare he show up on the first day of the rest of my new life and try to dredge up the hurt again?

I shut my eyes as his face flashes in my mind. The face he made before he almost told me that he was falling in…

Stop.

I shake the nerves out of my hands and pull in a deep breath. Not wanting to brave the cross-town bus, I step out of the alley and hail a taxi with my last couple of dollars.

Enzo told me he’d be depositing the relocation advance into my account tomorrow so I can start apartment hunting.It’s fine.

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