Page 45 of The Scandal You Started
Throw in the fact he’d recently graduated as a doctor, and it was easy to see why he attracted men and women alike. Thankfully, his parents’ upbringing had kept his ego from inflating as a result. And when he needed to be brought back down, Rayna and George never failed to remind him of the sobbing, snot bubbles he’d blown all those years ago.
“You freaking cracked my neck, you idiot,” Rayna said, raising her hand to whack him.
He put his palms up to protect himself, still giggling. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry. You were standing with your back to me. I just had to.”
His blue irises danced as he stood there grinning, while Rayna reasoned with her annoyance.
“Hello,” he said with the quiet cheekiness of a brother who knew he was safe from harm now that he had the advantage of height and size.
Rayna’s lips edged into a smile as she sighed and shook her head. “Hello to you too, you dumbass.”
Benedict chuckled, then trapped her in a quick bear hug, nearly squeezing her up off the floor. “How are you? How was your holiday? I haven’t seen you since you came back, have I?”
“I’m good, it was great, and no, you haven’t. You were working the day we moved in. How have you been?”
“Yeah, good. Hospital shifts are still tough, but uh…” With an awkward scratch at his temple, Benedict bent towards Rayna. “Why’s he, uh…glaring at me?”
“Who?” Rayna said as she searched for the “he”in question and stilled when she found him.
Dominic.
And well…hewasglaring. Holding a glass of juice in each hand as Boris dropped his favourite chew toy at Dominic’s feet, hoping he’d play with him.
But Dominic didn’t look like he was in any mood to play with that dark scowl, his permanently shadowed jaw rocking from side to side as his eyes flicked between her and Benedict.
He didn’t seem angry exactly, not in the way he’d looked at Victor at least, but the deep twist between his brows seemed to crinkle between confusion, irritation, accusation, and betrayal as if she’d broken a sacred promise.
Which made no utter sense, unless...unless…
Was he fucking jealous? Again? Of Benedict? Seriously?
Chapter 14
Dominic
Dominic couldn’t explain why a swarm of restless, green wasps was crashing around inside him as he watched a young, pleasant-looking Benedict Griffin hug his fiery little Rayna.
Actually…it had a lot to do with the man beingyoungandpleasant-lookingin the refined way all the unmarried ladies of the ton would have swooned over. And Dominic wasn’t daft tothink he could compete in that department, even if they were of a similar height. Very little about his roughened face and bullish size was refined.
But Benedict was family to Rayna from what Dominic understood, so it shouldn’t have mattered the way he looked, nor the way he touched her with such ease and familiarity.
Maybe it was just the foreignness of it all, the open affection, the little clothing Rayna had on, but every second they touched twisted at the perverse possessiveness Dominic held for her.
He had no real reason to be jealous. Except…
I wish to hold her thus. I want her to welcome me in her arms too.
It was pathetic of him. But the whimpered voice echoed through his bones, making them near ache with yearning.
It was witchcraft. It had to be. She’d trapped him in her most powerful spell.
Did he want to break free? Neves, no. Not at all.
Thankfully, as the night went on, through dinner and post-dinner board games, Dominic’s jealousy lost all the wind behind its sails.
It became increasingly obvious that the dynamic between Rayna, Benedict, and George was that of troublesome siblings just like his own. They competitively argued over the property game they played, threatened each other with knives and fists, and then snickered and grumbled as they were scolded by Winnie, Declan, and Victor alike.
The exact relationship between Rayna and Victor, though, in fact, Rayna, Victor,andGeorge, was still unclear. But asking directly didn’t seem possible when every time Dominic hovered in Rayna’s vicinity, Victor’s hands closed around the closest sharp object with a bitter scowl.
