Page 104 of Between Love and Loathing
I frowned at him, not understanding. I’d seen how he looked at his ex, how he’d smiled at them all, and then came back with less emotion in his eyes, like he was tired.
His hand dragged across the necklace that wasn’t his. It was simple and elegant and had no personal touch. Perfect for the night. “Why not the cupcake I gave you?”
“I figured this was better for tonight. Tonight’s not about my bakery.”
He hummed and then he flipped it over. The pendant was not something I had really even looked at, but then he whispered out, “Congrats from Valentino?”
“Huh?” I glanced down but couldn’t see it. Its length was much too short, but I felt how his grip tightened on the chain around my neck, saw the fire in his eyes as I glanced up at him.
“A gift from him?” We were still moving together across the dance floor, but the stare between us was so charged, I didn’t know if anyone else was still on the dance floor, in the room, in the whole resort.
All I saw was him. Dominic Hardy, larger than life, so overpowering that I’d forgotten about anything else. I’d lost my concern for lupus, ignored my mother and sister, snuffed out my worry of offending him or anyone else with my opinions, and began to implement what I wanted everywhere. He’d given me the confidence, the fight, the drive to own it.
I stepped with him across that dance floor, meeting his moves match for match, sway for sway, twist and turn for twist and turn. “It’s just a necklace, Dominic.”
“Do you think I want to see another man’s jewelry on you? And soon do you think it will be just a coffee? Just a date? Just a fling?”
I narrowed my eyes as we stopped, his hand low on my back like he was about to dip me. “Are you jealous when you know this is about to end? When you goaded me into doing this for that very reason?”
He didn’t answer me, just bent his knee and dropped me faster than most lead dancers would. I gasped at the feeling of my body falling along with my heart, with all the butterflies, with all the feelings I had for him flying around. No part of me was safe from him anymore, either, because when he yanked me up, his mouth took what he knew was his.
That kiss was searing, possessive, and territorial, and I clung to the lapels of his suit jacket, trying not to be conquered by the man who had knocked down every barrier I’d built. I melted into him without putting up a fight for my heart. It was his already. I wasn’t his little fighter anymore. I was willing instead. “I’ll always be jealous of another man’s jewelry onmyneck. It’s mine, Clara. We haven’t broken up yet.”
“Dominic—”
“If it’s not gone by the time we’re home tonight, I’m ripping it off you, cupcake. And I’ll deliver it back to him myself.”
The music ended with his words, but we stayed in the middle of the dance floor, staring at one another for far too long. His statement felt like it held weight, like we should talk through it, like maybe we were going to figure it all out, but then the press walked up.
Not just one of them… all of them.
“Natya just gave us the exclusive.”
“You took on building this resort after you lost her.”
“You wanted a baby, right, and couldn’t have one together?”
“Was that why you put your heart and soul into creating this masterpiece?”
The press wasn’t supposed to be this aggressive as they stuck a mic in his face while Natya stood behind them smiling. She crossed her arms and flicked her gaze at me before lifting a brow while the vultures continued.
“Would you consider IVF with your soul mate? Adopting?”
“Natya said a baby with you is all she wants.”
They were just words. Words supposedly couldn’t break you. Sticks and stones, right? Yet, words ate at your heart, they bled-out your soul, sliced at your mentality if you let them. Words.
I think they broke what was left of Dominic and me right there in the cool breeze of that summer night. When he didn’t answer, when his stare turned violent and vicious, the paparazzi knew they’d overstepped. They backed away fast, but Natya didn’t.
She walked right up to him and whispered for only us both to hear, “I can make it seem like we had a miscarriage too. Just because it isn’t true doesn’t mean they won’t believe it.”
Her eyes were wild and full of vengeance and jealousy. She wanted him, and she wanted to prove she could get him by any means necessary. “You loved me, don’t you remember? I ruined you, sure, but I put you back together. Remember that. And then, just because you found out I told you a little lie, you were more than happy to abandon me. I didn’t deserve it. Not when we had everything together. We can try to work this out, or I can tell them just that.”
“Natya—” Dominic warned.
“No. Don’tNatyame. You haven’t answered my calls, Dom. I don’t deserve that. I loved you. And I’ll tell them that over and over again.”
“We’ll talk later. Just handle the press.” Dominic’s jaw ticked. “You know how to do it right, Natya.”
