Page 113 of Always You
She pulls away from our intertwined fingers, I dip my head down. “Look at me, Dominic,” she says in a demanding voice. She rubs her thumb on my cold cheek.
Diverting my eyes to meet her beautiful forest green ones. The crease on her forehead softens and I immediately relax.
“If you say you genuinely never suspected, and you had to find out by Liam, then I can’t fault you. You’re just as much a victim in this, Dominic. You’re a fool, Dominic. I would never look at you and see your mother.”
“Rachel,” I correct her.
“Rachel, I don’t see Rachel in you, Dominic, for her doing. I see a victim in all this. You should have been honest with me, no matter what you thought. Finding out from Samantha was a low blow, especially finding her like that,” she says, with a sensuous twist of her plump, pouty lips.
I have the urge to kiss her.
“You belittled me again, Dominic.” Her tone is soft.
Guilt rattles me. I did it, again, belittling her. “I’m sorry, so sorry I fucked up. Baby. God, Mila, I didn’t think Rachel would want to hurt you. Fucking hell. To think I could have lost you, Mila… Fuck, it—scared the shit out of me. It would have been my fault for not having Liam take Rachel immediately into custody. Life without you is unimaginable to me. It was my responsibility to protect you.” My hands shake. Exhaling.
“Dominic, I’ll admit I was furious you didn’t have her arrested sooner. But this is all over, and it wasn’t your fault. You couldn’t have known.”
“I went to the detention facility to talk to her. She asked to speak to me before she confessed to anything.”
She straightens herself up.
“Angel, first, I want to tell you I love you so much. These past weeks, I couldn’t function without you. Loving you is the happiest I’ve ever been. Without you, I’m empty inside.”
She stands from her seat next to me. She chews on her nails nervously. “Dominic, I love you too, so much. But you’re scaring the shit out of me. What did Rachel tell you?”
Fuck.
I’m rubbing the back of my neck, preparing myself for the blow; I’m about to tell her how fucked up it is. Instead, I watch her pace the living room in her fuzzy brown slippers. I glance around the house. It’s a beautiful, pretty, big house. It warms my heart that this is where Dante grew up during his first years. Rachel took it from me. She took so much from me and from Mila.
“Is this where you lived with Dante?” I ask.
“Yes, it’s a big house, lots of space.”
I nod. I’m glad they were taken care of.
“Baby, come sit here so I can tell you everything. There is so much to tell you. It’s not good.”
She bites her lip nervously. She watches me closely. “Ok, let me get wine. I feel I need something.”
“You have whiskey?” I ask.
“Yes, do you want ice with it?”
“No, it’s fine.”
She hands me my drink, her hand shaking, setting it on the coffee table. “What happened to your hand? It looks swollen?” Her beautiful eyes are filled with worry.
After all the shit I’ve done and put her through. She still worries. Still loves me.
“Punched a wall.”
She frowns. “Well, that’s smart.” She walks into the kitchen returns with a bag of peas placing it on my hand. She sits next to me.
I need her close to me when I tell her everything.
She sniffles on my shoulder as I tell her word-for-word what Rachel said, wiping her tears with my thumb.
“I’m s-sorry baby, I’m sorry I couldn’t protect you and your dad. I didn’t know—if only I would’ve picked up on something,” I croak feeling helpless.
