Page 29 of Twisted Knight

If you can give it, you can take it.

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What I had not expected was standing in the feminine products aisle with big scary Dom standing beside me with his arms crossed, looking at the boxes in front of him with a sort of puzzlement.

“You can go, you know?” I gestured toward the end of the aisle. “I’m sure I can find your giant ass in this store once I’m done.”

He arched an eyebrow at me. “Giant ass?” He looked behind him. “Are you serious? My ass is basically made of perfect buns of steel, thank you very much! Squatting is a way of life.”

I shrugged. It was true though; his ass was lovely, and I couldn’t help but wonder if it was just as firm as it looked. Damn it, I was turning into a perv… No, it was my period; it was messing with my hormones and turning me into a horny teenager.

“No, I’m fascinated.” He pointed at the pink and purple box right in front of him. “Do you need them to go horseback riding? Or more to do yoga?” he asked, pointing to another box. “Or maybe you need them to be the businesswoman you are to attend business meetings,” he asked with laughter, pointing at a blue box with a woman in a pantsuit smiling while pointing at a chart.

I rolled my eyes. He was right; the boxes were absolutely ridiculous… “Marketing made by men, that’s what it is.” I muttered to him before reaching for a box on the bottom shelf. “I’d rather buy one that allows multitasking. I can do all of the activities and throw snitches in ditches as well.”

His eyes lit with humor as his lips tilted up in the corner in a half smile. He was warming up to me and I loved it.

“Good to know.” He looked down the aisle. “Do you need anything else while we’re here?”

I shook my head. “No, we’ll be in New York in just a few days. I’m sure I can get everything I need there.” I had to admit I was excited to go; it was a city I’d always dreamed of visiting but never had the chance.

“Um.” He rubbed at his neck, avoiding my eyes. He was not doing that often, but I already came to realize he did it when he was about to say something he knew I wouldn’t like.

“What?”

“It’s just New York; it's where we have our…offices,you know.”

“Okay?”

“And it’s not as safe as Riverside—much bigger, many enemies.”

“I see.” I tried not to sound or look disappointed. I came here for Cassie after all and to get away from Calgary for a while. I didn’t come to be a tourist.

He sighed. “I’ll be busy with work because Luca won’t have much time and—”

“It’s okay. Don’t worry about it. I’ll just stay in.” I shrugged. “I understand, really.”

Dom studied me silently, and somehow I got lost in his inquisitive brown eyes as if we were not in the middle of the hygiene aisle of the small local supermarket but under the stars somewhere, just the two of us.

“I’ll find a way; I'll take you around town,” he said, his voice a little breathless. He seemed rattled enough to let me hope that I had an effect on him too.

“Dom, I—” We were interrupted by my phone ringing. I got it out of my pocket, and everything stopped at the name flashing on my screen. ‘Jake,’ a name I thought and hoped I'd never see again.

Ice settled in the pit of my stomach as I kept staring at my screen, too shocked to even reject the call. Did he really think there was a chance of me ever picking up his call? Did he not know I had passed the point of ever caring, of ever forgiving?

I could feel my body ache where my bones had been broken. I slid my tongue out, subconsciously running it over my bottom lip where it had been split.

It could not be true, not now. The phone finally stopped ringing, and the name vanished from my screen, somehow easing the steel vise around my lungs.

“Who’s Jake?”

I jerked my head up, having forgotten for a second where I was and who I was with.

Dom was glowering down at the phone I was holding like it had personally offended him.My worst and most painful mistake. “No one.”

He looked up, his face softening almost immediately. “India…” He sighed wearily.

I shrugged and turned around, breaking eye contact. “We all have a past, don't we? We all have secrets.” And Lord knew he probably had a million of those.

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