Page 45 of Beautiful Desire

What the hell crawled up his ass?

Clenching my teeth, I ignore him and give Fabi’s hand a gentle squeeze. “I’ll see you later. Bye, Fab.”

I turn and walk out of the office, closing the door behind me, my mood now soured from the tone in which Dom spoke to me in front of Fabi. Taking a seat at my desk, I get back to work, hoping to see as little of him as possible for the rest of the day, like I did this morning.

* * *

The rest of the afternoon goes by fairly quickly. Thankfully, Dom has been in meetings the rest of the day, so I haven’t seen him since I dropped off his lunch to him.

Clicking send on the email I’ve just finished, I rest my elbows on my desk and rub at my temples, trying to help this worsening headache. I don’t know if it’s lack of sleep, staring at a computer screen again for eight hours a day, or both that’s causing this throbbing pain. I make a mental note to bring my blue light glasses with me to work tomorrow.

As I reach for my phone to set a reminder about my glasses, it vibrates, and I see Gia’s name flashing across the screen.

“Hey, G,” I say as I yawn. My eyes droop, and I blink a few times to keep them open.

“Hey, Elle. You okay? You don’t sound good.”

“I’m fine. Just a little tired, and I have a headache. What’s up?”

“Nothing. Just checking in on you.”

I can sense her concerned tone through the phone. I’d be exactly the same if the roles were reversed. I mean, given everything that happened between Dom and me, her concern is warranted.

“First your husband, and now you? Like I told Fabi earlier, I’m fine.”

“You saw Fabi?” she asks, confusion evident in her voice.

“Yeah, at work. He was in Dom’s office when I dropped off his lunch,” I tell her.

“Oh, that’s strange. He never said he was going to your office today.”

“I’m sure it’s nothing. He said it was last-minute. How are the kids?” Not wanting G to worry or get Fabi in the doghouse, I steer the conversation in a direction I know she’d be all too happy to talk about.

“Oh, they’re great. It was such a beautiful day today. Maria and I took them outside to eat lunch and crawl around in the grass. The fresh air tuckered them out, because they were out like a light for their afternoon nap. Maria, too,” she says with a chuckle as we both start to laugh.

Sobering, I let my mask fall and my vulnerability show for a minute.

“I miss you guys,” I say in a low voice.

My shoulders sag, and I can feel my face drop. I put on a strong façade and a brave face and tell everyone I’m fine, because I am. But at the same time, I’m not. I’m just not ready to talk about what happened, especially now that D is back. Hecan’tknow.

“I know. We miss you too. But we’ll see you soon, right?” Gia says cheerily into the phone.

“Yep, see you soon.” Checking the time on my computer, I realize it’s later than I thought. “Shit, G. I’ve gotta go. I have a couple of things I have to do before I leave.”

“Okay. I need to check on the kids and Maria. Love you, bitch.”

“Love you, bitch,” I say before ending the call and getting back to work.

* * *

I’ve lost track of time after I buried myself in work replying to emails, and I don’t realize two hours have gone by. Taking out my cell, I shoot Gia a text.

Me

I’m so sorry. I’m just finishing up at the office.

Gia

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