Page 41 of Twisted Knight

Chapter Nine

INDIA

I looked dreamily at all the tubs of ice cream in the freezer, thanking whichever god for Luca’s housekeeper skills.

I had the condo all to myself tonight. Jude was out with Luca’s cousin, Enzo. Luca decided to spend the night at the hospital, unable to leave his family’s side, and Dom texted me an hour ago saying he had plans for the evening and not to wait for him.

I grabbed the sharing tub of ice cream… ‘Sharing.’ What a joke! I never shared ice cream.

I removed the cover, grabbed a big spoon, and stabbed it in the choco-mint goodness.

I needed to indulge tonight for so many reasons. One because seeing Luca holding his children with such care, looking at Cassie with so much love and adoration made my ovaries scream with envy. It was strange that a big, scary man like Luca turned out to be Prince Charming disguised as a beast and not the other way around, which was unfortunately more common. Cassie had no chance resisting it.

Would Dom be like that too?I shook my head. I needed to stop focusing on Dom and my attraction to him, but I knew he was a good man, no matter what his job was. Mafia didn’t mean monster.

A shiver ran down my spine at the thought of the man I met in the waiting room… Maybe he was one. His coldness, his lack of emotion hidden under his perfect beautiful veneer had given me chills. He reminded me of my case study on serial killers.

I growled.Sure, be an idiot, India, thinking about serial killers when you’re alone in one of the biggest cities in the world…

I put a spoonful of ice cream in my mouth just as my phone started to vibrate to an unknown number. I just stared at it until it stopped ringing. I knew who it was… Jake. I finally decided to block his number. I was tired of it all, but he now called me with a lot of different numbers. The next step was to change my number, but it was such a hassle to do from the US. I had been so clear though, after what he did to me, after the police got involved. How could he ever think I would speak to him again? I touched my eye socket and winced at the phantom pain. No, never again.

Three years we'd been together, two of them were mostly in pain and abuse, both physically and mentally. I was ashamed sometimes, ashamed to have fallen for all his tricks, his beautiful words. I was supposed to be smarter than that; I was a psychologist! I’d seen this situation through my patients’ eyes so many times before. I knew the signs. I’d seen the red flags—his desire to control me, his constant putting me down—but my need to be loved had been so strong. I put all that aside thinking it was just a different kind of love. But it wasn't. It had been a narcissistic, egotistical evil man wanting to own me. I was lucky I realized it just in time. So many other poor women didn’t.

I exited the kitchen with my gigantic tub of ice cream and froze when the door of the condo opened to reveal Dom.

“I thought you were coming back late,” I accused him, mortified at him seeing me in this state.

He raised his eyebrows in surprise.

I wriggled my feet, looking down at my oversized gray sweatpants and ugly, well-worn orange ‘University of Calgary’ t-shirt. If I’d known there was a chance he could be back before I went to bed…

I reached up and touched the bird’s nest-looking bun on top of my head.Lord help me.

“Sorry?” He looked me up and down, from my bare feet to the hideous hairdo.

God, did I remove the spot patch I’d put on my chin earlier?

“No, it’s just—you caught me off guard. You said you would be home really late.” I brought my hand up to my chin as discreetly as possible and felt the piece of plastic on it. I wished for the floor to just swallow me whole.

He buried his hands in his pants pockets, still studying me with a half smile, obviously enjoying both my discomfort and disheveled state.Asshole.

He nodded. “I did say that, but it turned out I was not interested in the evening plans anymore.”

“I see. So you’d rather spend your evening with this mess.” I pointed at myself.

His grin widened. “Hot mess.”

I rolled my eyes but I couldn't help the wave of pleasure at his words even if I knew he was joking. No one could find me attractive like this.

“Was I interrupting a hot date or something?” he asked, walking into the room, removing his jacket, and putting it on the back of a dining table chair.

“Yep, I was about to spend my evening with Chris Hemsworth.”

“Sorry to interrupt the moment.” He looked around. “Where’s the kid?”

“With your cousin Enzo? There’s a chess tournament in town for the next two nights. I cleared it with Luca before letting him go.”

He cocked his head to the side. “Not as interesting as a date with Chris Evans.”

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