Page 60 of Darkest Retribution

His eyes practically bug out of his head. “You fell?”

I nod. “Landed on a lower limb, though. Hurt like hell, but I didn’t break anything. It took a few minutes of clinging to that branch for dear life before I felt safe enough to move again.”

“Jesus, Jade. You could’ve hurt yourself so badly.”

“Yeah, well, I was a reckless teenager. After my mom died, I had to...”I had to prove myself to earn my father’s respect.“It doesn’t matter. Just normal kid shit.”

He looks like he wants me to keep going, but his phone buzzes on his desk. He grabs it, tapping a few times. “Fuck. Felix needs me in his office. Can you hang around for a few minutes? This shouldn’t take long.”

“Of course.”

He lets out a relieved breath, standing. His hands grip my waist as he dips his head down to kiss me. But he stops himself barely a half inch away from my lips. We stare at each other for a moment, too startled to move. Then he shifts, his lips brushing against my cheek. “I’ll be right back.”

I watch him go, doing my very best—and failing—to ignore the disappointment and self-loathing churning in my stomach. If he can’t kiss me, I understand that. This is hard enough on him as it is. But I can’t help but wonder what it would feel like again, having his lips against mine, moaning into his mouth—

Stay focused, Jade.

Turning to his desk, I check everything, memorizing the placement of his mouse, where the cursor is on the screen, and what windows are up. Then I open a new browser tab, heading for his email.

It’s not lost on me that he didn’t bother to shut off or even lock his computer before leaving. He trusts me—doesn’t expect me to do anything like this at all.

Somehow, out of all the terrible things I’ve done, this feels like one of the worst.

In his inbox, I waste no time, heading straight for the search bar. When I type in things like “reservation” or “hotel” or “stay,” I don’t get many results. The ones I do get aren’t in the right time frame.

Shit. I’m running out of time.

I click over to his trash folder, scanning the emails, looking for anything that could lead me to where they’re staying. When I see the subject line “Confirmed: Your Reservation at Schultz Resort,” I almost cry from relief.

Opening it, I soak up the details like a sponge. Florida. Miami. The address. Once I’m sure I have everything committed to memory, I exit out of the tab, placing the cursor and the mouse back the way they are.

As I sink into his desk chair, I repeat the information over and over again in my head. It’s either that or face up to what I’ve done—what I’m going to do.

Dominic doesn’t deserve this.

“You okay? You look sick.”

I jump. Dom is standing in the doorway, watching me with a worried expression.

“Yeah, I’m fine. I should get going.”

When I stand, Dom steps up to me, placing a hand on my back. I resist the urge to melt into him. We’re already walking a fine line by sleeping with each other. I can’t afford to slip up and let myself find a false sense of comfort in him.

Then why does it feel so natural to?

“Jade, you’re shaking.”

“Just hungry. Gotta get myself some lunch. I’ll see you later.”

With a quick kiss on his cheek, I rush out of his office. He calls after me, but he doesn’t follow. He doesn’t want people to know about us. It’s one thing for us to be together behind a closed door, but in the hallways where other people can see? He won’t risk it.

Little does he know, he’s already risked more than he ever wanted to.

Chapter fifteen

Dominic

Tenmonthsago

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