Page 14 of Monster
But then his father had been such a man, hadn’t he? His mother, as twisted and loveless as she’d been, had certainly not been the first. Just another on a long list of paid off names. Dominic had never been close to his father and while Gregory was instructed to mind his new wife and the impending family that would come, Dominic had been sent abroad to boarding school and had rarely seen his father. Growing up in his grandfather’s home, it’d been Winston and the mansion staff who’d welcomed him when he’d chosen to come home for the holidays. His grandfather had been the one to raise him, and even then, that relationship had been subpar at best. When Winston had finally passed, Dominic had finally been forced to go live with his biological father. But not before he’d discovered the truth about the things his grandfather had covered up for his son. In the documents he’d hidden in his safe behind the Degas in his office, there’d been documents detailing Gregory Armstrong’s felonies, countless as they’d been Dominic had been sick from learning the truth.
When he did finally meet his father, it’d been with a very low opinion of him, one that had only plummeted in the ensuing years. Gregory had been an ornery, egotistical brute who had not only relished pitting his two sons against each other, but had made it a point to completely disregard the increasingly repressible behavior of the youngest, while continuously lambasting the eldest. Dominic had always been the outcast, the black sheep…the bastard. He’d learned very early on to stop seeking validation from Gregory, who had seen him as nothing more than a constant reminder of his mistakes. Dominic was far past the age of begrudge his father or even the cards that fate had dealt him. But what did bother him more was the increasing concern that he’d somehow predisposed to behave as his father had. From the moment Dominic had made those discoveries, to his own gradual descent into immorality, the question of whether he was like his father had never been too far from his mind.
I hope you’re prepared to rape me, Dominic…
No. He certainly had not been prepared to force himself on her. God, but the avowal had shaken him to the core, and to think, it’d all began because she’d once again dared to defy him. He’d been punctual; arriving at the restaurant with renewed focus, Dominic had been ready and willing to return a morsel of what he’d taken from her. He had even foolishly asked his personal assistant to pick out something from Eden’s favorite jeweler. He had examined the diamond tennis bracelet with an appreciative eye on his ride over and had surmised that she would like it. Dominic had waited and waited and waited, his ire meanwhile had only grown increasingly worse as the restaurant staff and patrons alike subtly looked on, spectators to his humiliation. After two hours of waiting, he’d angrily marched out of the restaurant, practically scalding James’s ear off when he’d gotten him on the phone. It had been that same anger that had pushed him to act so irrationally. But then rationality always seemed to elude him when it came to Eden. She’d made a sport out of getting under his skin, he thought morosely.
“Another, sir?”
That question penetrated through his muddled brain, and he knew another shot would put him over the edge; another shot would serve no purpose but to have him embarrass himself further, and suffice it to say, Dominic had been humiliated quite enough this evening to last him a few years. Raising a hand to indicate that he’d had enough, he rose to his feet and was grateful that he only wavered a bit. James, trusty bodyguard that he was, would handle the tab. Dominic did not wait for him as he began a measured pace towards the private elevator. Luckily for him, there was no one in the immediate vicinityto witness his attempt at walking in a straight line. He was quite coherent, but he was more relaxed now. The demons had been quelled, resting once more in the shadowed recesses of Dominic’s mind. Closing his eyes, he leaned his head back against the metallic elevator wall behind him and exhaled deeply. What exactly was he going to do with his wife? And she was still his wife. Regardless of her immediate thoughts on the matter, Dominic had no intentions of granting the divorce. That was one thing he absolutely would not do; the why of it still managed to elude him, but he was adamant on the matter.
Upon entering the penthouse, Dominic was greeted with silence. The door closed with a hush snick behind him, and as he toed off his shoes, his gaze instantly searched for her. Some morbid part of him wondered if she was hiding among the shadows ready to spring out at him with a butcher knife. With a wry grin at the conjured image, he ambled further inside the expansive penthouse, making a beeline for the living room where he’d left her. And there she was. He stopped short at the sight of her, curled up on the leather couch. Dominic was momentarily arrested by the contradicting image she presented.
Huddled as she was in the fetal position, she looked like a little girl, with wisps of her hair skimming along her slumbering visage, and her mouth parted slightly, her innocence struck him. But that was where the similarity stopped. From where he stood, Dominic had a spectacular view of the sexy curve of her ass and how enticingly high her dress rode up. If he tilted his head just a bit to the right, he could see her panties and how it sweetly gloved her cunt. His cock did not thank him when he decided to forgo his teenage inclination and instead headed to his bedroom to grab a comforter.
Ah yes, she was the sweetest thing, lying there so openly, on impulse he crouched down to her level and reached a hand out to her face. God, he’d missed touching her. Just the feel of her smooth skin beneath his fingertips electrified him like nothing else. His caress was feather light, barely skimming the surface of her skin, but it was enough to send blood rushing between his legs. He needed to stop, Dominic knew that he should stop; he knew that at any moment she would wake and look at him with those stunning citrine eyes and there would be hell to pay. But Dominic was all too willing to pay the price for another second of this. He could blame his imprudence on the alcohol…he could blame the kiss on the alcohol, too. The instant his mouth fell on hers, Dominic knew it would not be enough because the soft beds of her lips compelled him to deepen the kiss. He instantly stopped himself. Rising, he raised a hand to his face in frustration. He needed a fucking shower!
* * *
Eden came awake with a jolt, puzzled for a moment as to where she was. It didn’t take too long for the memories to come crashing down on her, and she cradled her head in her hands when it began to pound.
“Here.” Startled, she whipped her head up and regretted it when she felt a twinge at the base of her skull. But she recovered quickly enough, concealing the pain long enough to look up at him. He donned only a pair of dark blue jeans, slung low to display his immaculate physique. His hair stuck out around his head, slightly damp as though he’d recently taken a shower. She didn’t even know he owned a pair of jeans, Eden thought inanely, all the while staring dimly at the black mug he held out to her. “It’s only coffee, light on the poison and heavy on the cream,” he said wryly, reading her like a book. When she still refused to accept the coffee mug, his impassive features turned into a scowl. “Suit yourself.”
“I want to go home,” she said petulantly, glaring at his retreating back. “You can’t hold me here against my will, Dominic. Besides, I have responsibilities back in Amesbury.”
“Last time I checked you didn’t have a job anymore,” he derided.
Eden’s eyes widened. “So you admit it? You’re the one who got me fired?” Sure she’d suspected it. But to have her suspicions realized was awful.
“Obviously it was not the right working environment for you if your bosses were stupid enough to believe that lie.”
Eden sprang to her feet. “What gives you the right to think you can just unravel everything I’ve worked so hard to accomplish? You had no right to interfere in my life!”
“I believe I had every right.” He strode towards her barefooted, his own coffee mug still in hand. He stopped a few feet away and Eden was internally glad for it. “As I have said before,” he continued, staring pointedly at her, making sure that she understood everything he was about to say, “you are my wife and your place is at my side. I’ve indulged your little escapade long enough. It is high time you returned home,” he finished cuttingly.
“My home is in Amesbury,” she gritted.
“I’ve instructed my men to escort Liam and Jenna to the mansion in Langston, along with some of your things. I will leave the rest for you to sort out before I put your condo on the market.”
“You did what?”
“You are no longer living in your condo in Amesbury. As of today, your home is at the mansion.”
* * *
It didn’t take long for it to dawn on Eden that she’d naively contributed in her own downfall. This had all been strategically connived from the start, and she had stupidly fallen into the well laid trap. There were no coincidences when it came to Dominic. He was painstakingly methodical about everything he did. He didn’t make a move unless he’d carefully considered all possibilities, weighing the consequences until it was within his favor, and only then would he act. So Eden understood that everything that had transpired so far had been his doing. But what truly bothered her in all this, what infuriated her most, was that she’d made the stupid mistake of sending those letters to Jenna with her name on them. One thoughtless mistake, and she’d given him the gun with which ’he now used to hold her hostage. That gradual realization was a bitter pill to swallow, and it didn’t go down easy at all. She leaned her head back against the headrest, the Rolls that had brought her to the penthouse the night before was now en-route to take her back to that place. Regardless of the manner in which she was returning to the mansion, Eden still felt like a prisoner being carted away to the penitentiary. She didn’t want to think about the memories that awaited her, or the degradation she’d faced in nearly every room of that gilt prison. The one comforting prospect in all this was that she was thankfully left to wallow in her humiliation alone. In his typical charming manner, after ordering Eden to the mansion, he’d informed her that he had business to see to, and she was not allowed to leave until he returned. Eden had tuned him out after he’d told her where Liam was.
The thought of seeing her baby boy again brought a smile to her face. Liam was her Achilles’ heel and that was the only reason she’d agreed to return to the mansion in the first place. He’d lured her with her son.
…he is my best arsenal against you…
The conversation in his office came back with a flash, taunting Eden with her failure. Liam was certainly his best defense against her, and for now, Eden would give Dominic that, she would allow him to believe that her resignation was permanent. With his ego being the size it was, stroking it further would only benefit her in the end.
When the car rolled up to the circular driveway, Eden did not wait for the driver to come open the door for her. She jumped out and made a dash up the three half-moon granite steps that led to the frosted glass entrance. Before she could reach for the brass doorknob, the door flew open and Eden was faced with Jenna’s grinning face. She didn’t even have time to collect herself when her best friend jumped into her arms and embraced Eden for all she was worth. It was silly that they were hugging like they hadn’t seen each other in years, rather than the day and a half it had been, but all the same it felt good to see a friendly and familiar face.
“I’m so happy to see you in one piece, Eden!” she breathed, taking a step back to look at Eden critically. “You are in one piece aren’t you?”
“Well, that depends on who ask. But I’m dealing, I guess.” Eden closed the door behind her as they stepped further into the mansion’s foyer, large as it was with its massive skylight just above. “Where’s Liam?”
