Page 66 of Fitch

And now he was leaving me.

I shouldn’t have been surprised... It was never going to last forever. He was a successful lawyer, and I was a rent boy.

A prostitute.

He was everything, and I was nothing.

I needed to leave. I needed to get out of the car. I needed air.

I needed to not hear his goodbye.

The car slowed at a stop sign and I reached for the handle, but Dominic snatched my hand, his hold far too tight, his face a mask of anger... until he saw my tears.

Then it all changed.

He paled, his expression now sorrow and regret. “No,” he whispered.

But then the cab pulled up and Dominic threw some money at him and led me up to his front door. He unlocked it, got me inside and shut the door behind me, then pushed me up against it.

His hands cradled my face, he shook his head, panicked. “Why the tears? Why are you crying? Fitch, my god. I can’t stand it, tell me why?”

That, of course, made me fucking cry.

“Because you were mad at me, and you’re going to end this, and I don’t want to lose you?—”

He frowned. “What? No.”

“—you mean everything to me,” I said, snot-sobbing. “I never want to make you mad and you wouldn’t even look at me, and I was so stupid for thinking this could ever be more. I mean why would you ever...”

Dominic shook his head and pulled me into his arms, holding me so tight, my feet were almost off the floor. “No, Fitch. I’m not ending this. Why would you think that?”

He wasn’t?

“Because that’s what people do. They leave me. And you were mad at me. I dunno what I did. Because of who I am.” I couldn’t stop the tears now. I hadn’t let myself cry in so long, now that the dam had burst, I couldn’t stop. “I’m sorry,” I mumbled through my tears.

I was clinging to him like a lifeline. Like if he let me go, I’d possibly drown in my tears, drown in my heartbreak.

He picked me up, hoisting my legs around his waist and he carried me to the kitchen. He sat me on the kitchen counter, pulled me in close, and held me.

He rubbed my back and cradled the back of my head while I cried.

“I’m not leaving you,” he murmured. “I’m not ending this. I have no intention of ever ending this. I just found you.”

I was scared to let go of him. “But you were so mad.”

He chuckled. Actually fucking laughed.

I pulled back so I could see his face, so he could see mine. “Is this funny?” I said, pointing to my face. “I don’t cry, ever, and you made me cry, Dominic.”

His face softened and he cupped my cheeks, planting a soft kiss on my lips.

“I’m sorry,” he said, his forehead to mine. “I was mad... I was...” He groaned and leaned back. “At the whole situation. That you were out there, as bait. Anything could have happened to you. I had to sit in the car with Nolan and keep him calm when all I wanted to do was take you and leave. Then they had guns, and it could have ended so fucking bad. And you know what you said? The first thing you said when I reached you was that it was a rush.”

He raised his eyebrows at me, his expression stern. “A rush, Fitch. Like you hadn’t been almost killed. While I had to sit and watch from up the street.”

Oh.

“Oh,” I whispered.

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