Page 11 of Darkest Retribution

Confusion flickers across his face, and he releases my hands. “Ashley texted you.”

“What?”Shit.I was so focused on getting home that I forgot to check my phone before I left work.

“If I let you up, are you going to try to kill me again?”

“Of course not! I didn’t realize it was you.”

He narrows his eyes, and I almost shove him off me out of pure spite. But then he moves, and my head hits the tiled floor, and I realize his hand was underneath it the entire time.

“What the fuck did you do that for?”

“What?”

“With your hand. Underneath my head.”

“My apologies. Next time I throw you to the floor after youfucking attack me,I’ll gladly give you a concussion.”

Huffing, I sit up. “Listen, grumpy, I didn’t ask you to do that.”

“Well, I—” He cuts himself off. Then, after closing his eyes and taking a deep breath, he says, “Ashley’s mom fell while she was showering before bed. She didn’t want to leave Rosie alone, and she couldn’t get ahold of you since you can’t have your phone on you at the club. She said you’ve mentioned me a few times, so she asked me to watch Rosie.”

Oh my god. He just did me the biggest favor ever, and I almost strangled him.

“I... Fuck. I’m sorry, Dom. I told her to call the club if something like this happened.”

“It’s not a big deal.” He stands and offers me his hand. It’s warm and big and slightly calloused. After he pulls me to my feet, it takes us both a second longer than it should to pull away. “I’d rather watch Rosie than have her be here alone.”

I’m not sure what to say to that. He has no reason to take an interest in Rosie’s wellbeing, but this isn’t the first time he has. He’s always willing to play with her whenever she asks, and the man actually showed up to her birthday party even though he didn’t have to. And now this.

In another lifetime, I’d probably kiss Dominic right now. But I already did that once, and it was a terrible mistake. I’m not going to let myself fall for someone. Not when I won’t be around for much longer.

Dom watches me for a second before massaging his throat.

Fuck, I hope I didn’t hurt him.

“I slept in the guest room for a while, but Rosie woke up. She was hungry, and then she was excited that I was here and got all wound up. She just got back to sleep about an hour ago.”

“Oh my god, I’m so sorry, Dom. And really, thank you. I know she can be a lot to handle.”

“No, it’s fine. But, uh...” He laughs sheepishly, and my god, isn’t that cute, a man as put-together as Dominic acting all nervous. “I may have fed her ice cream.”

“Don’t worry about it. One late-night bowl of ice cream won’t kill her.” I try to smile, but my legs are killing me. Hell, my whole body aches. I lean against the counter to try to take some of my weight off my feet, but it barely helps.

“You look like you’re in pain.” Dominic’s features morph into an expression of worry. He steps forward, reaching out, before letting his hand fall to the side.

“Just a long shift.”

Not really.But this isn’t the time to explain to my neighbor that I have some type of undiagnosed chronic illness that leaves me exhausted and in pain most of the time.

Rocking back on his heels, he says, “Right. Uh, does Rosie know? About what you... do?”

I freeze.Shit.Ashley told him that I’m a stripper.

It’s not that I’m ashamed of it. But a lot of people get weird about sex workers looking after kids. It’s stupid, but it’s one of the reasons I don’t like telling people if I don’t have to.

“She’s too young to talk about that kind of stuff,” I say. My voice comes out all tense. “I’ll tell her eventually.”

“Yeah, that makes sense.” He clears his throat. “Sorry if I wasn’t supposed to know.”

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