Page 103 of The Scandal You Started
“What?” Dominic grumbled.
Beast snorted over him and thumped his jaw on Dominic’s head. The broomstick stabbed the palms of his hands, and Dominic whipped up straight.
“Let me sulk in peace, you damned beast,” he snapped, waving an irritable hand around.
The horse flicked his head up with a huff, and if Dominic hadn’t known any better, he would have said Beast was laughing at his suffering.
He swung away. “Oh yes, mock me, why don’t you? You are undoubtedly on her side after all.” He began sweeping the pile of hay he’d disturbed, all while muttering under his breath. “Damned beautiful, stubborn, delightful, wicked, infuriating witch that she is.”
Beast’s hooves rustled through the hay in his stall as he snorted again.
“What?” Dominic threw over his shoulder. “Was my description inaccurate? How else am I to describe a woman who kisses me as if she wishes to drink my soul but refuses to marry me? She cares for me, yet she will not allow me to make her mine!”
The last scruff of the brush against the ground was still lingering in the air when someone cleared their throat behind him.
Dominic froze going into his next sweep. Cold prickles of shock crystallised across his back, before he flew around towards the opening of the stables.
Declan Griffin stood in the threshold and pinched the dent in what Dominic had learned was a cowboy hat as he adjusted it atop his head.
Fuck.
Dread climbed the pipeline of Dominic’s throat as he swallowed.
Had the older man possibly heard…
“I just came to check how you were getting on,” Declan said, striding towards him. “But it looks like I caught you in the middle of an intense conversation with Beast.”
He’d heard.
Dominic steeled his spine and attempted to offer the man a smile. “Not at all. I was merely telling Beast stories of my life as marquess.”
Declan searched his face the way a father did, knowing his son was lying. “Really? I thought your story was about Rayna?”
No, no, no, no,Dominic’s heart roared.
He’d promised Rayna. He’d sworn to her no one else would know about their relationship. He couldn’t let Declan know the truth. He didn’t want to break her trust.
“Why would you think that?” He dropped his attention to the hay and began sweeping the last of it into the growing pile. “I did not mention her name.”
“You didn’t have to.”
His movements slowed to a stop, and he lifted his head. The older man was focused on stroking Beast’s neck as Dominic figured out what to say.
“No such thing between her and me exists. We are merely…friends.” The word tasted awful in his mouth, but he said it as naturally as he could manage.
Except Declan’s mouth spread into a grin. “Very well then.”
The man turned back to Beast and caressed the horse as if the atmosphere wasn’t clammy with the obviousness of Dominic’s lie. But as he was deciding what move to make next that would guarantee him secrecy, Declan started speaking again.
“You know, Rayna was about a week old when I first held her in my arms. I remember it well, because it felt rather similar to holding my own daughter for the first time.”
The man lowered his hand as Beast shuffled back from the stall door. “She, George, and Benedict have been the closest of friends since.” He grinned to himself. “It would probably take me weeks to recount all the trouble those three used to get into when they were together, especially when we moved here—Winnie, the kids, and I. George and Rayna used to spend a lot of time with us growing up, so they have, in effect, become an extension of our family even before Victor adopted them.”
The man’s smile faded as a protective hardness collapsed over his hazel irises. “And family is the most important thing to me. There isn’t a person or arulethat could ever make me even consider betraying her, Victor, or anyone else. Nor would I allow anyone to hurt them either.”
Declan held his stare for a few quiet, meaningful seconds, and a comforting certainty withered away all of Dominic’s concern.
Declan Griffin could be trusted.There was no doubt about that.
