Page 79 of The Scandal You Started
But there was only so much battling Dominic could do before the wounds rendered him unable to fight any longer.
If Rayna was set on drawing a line between them, if she cared more for her job than she did for him, if she didn’t wish to be his, then he couldn’t go about trying to convince her any longer.
He wanted her to want him willingly.
But she wasn’t willing. At least, she didn’t want to be. And he no longer saw how he could persuade her to be.
“Say it,” he prompted. “Refuse me.”
Her lips parted. “I…”
“Say you do not want me.”
“I don’t…”
She stopped. Gritted her teeth. Curled her hands into fists. And Dominic braced himself for the blow she was soon to land.
“I don’t want you.”
It was quiet, but it was definite.
It was the end.
With an agonising burn in his chest, he flashed her a ghost of a smile. “Then that settles that.” He stepped back. “I shan’t bother you further.”
And he left with what frayed pieces of his heart were still intact.
Chapter 25
Rayna
It was for the best.
He’d understand soon why I did it.
Rejecting him was the right thing to do.
Rayna kept telling herself these things over and over again, hoping the lie she’d told Dominic would soon feel like the truth. But no matter how angry she got with herself, no matter how many disastrous endings she came up with had she not rejectedhim, the heavy feeling that she’d done the wrong thing pressed down on her stomach constantly.
She’d hurt him. Badly. Enough to make him give up.
That was what she’d wanted. But now that she’d achieved it, she hated it.
She hated how differently he was treating her.
His silence around her. His downcast gaze. The lack of sneaky touches when he helped her with chores. His absence the moment he no longer needed to be in her presence.
Only on Tuesday through to Thursday, when they’d been at the museum, working on the letters with Cassie, Matt, and Hania, had he seemed more like himself.With them.Not her.
Rayna told herself it was because she wasn’t used to him acting like so, that was why it bothered her. She told herself she’d eventually be fine with it and wouldn’t care soon. But all the while, the churning discomfort in her belly began feeling more like anxiety.
I don’t like this. I hate it. This isn’t what I wanted.
But it was what she would have to accept. She had to…didn’t she?
What he’d offered her—no consequences, no one discovering them, nothing but a temporary secret—that was too good to be true, wasn’t it?
It didn’t matter anymore, though. She’d pushed him away, so now she’d never find out.
