Page 60 of Dominated

“Yes,” he replied, “I do.”

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.

That he had the audacity to be this egotistical.

That he thought so little of me. That I would think so little of myself that I would be able to ignore everything he’d done and just forgive him.

Fuck that.

This bastard was still standing in my apartment as if he deserved to be here.

As if he hadn’t just shattered me.

Destroyed me.

Ruined me.

And ended me.

Breath shot through my lips as I yelled, “Why? And why do you think I would want to have anything to do with you?”

“Because I can’t change the past and what’s already been done. Because I care about you, Pepper, and you care about me.” He held me tighter, his fingers bearing down, as though the pressure would change my opinion. “Because you’ve thought about me nonstop since the moment I left. That my return has made you happier than you’ve been in years.” He paused. “Tell me I’m wrong.”

“Fuck you.” I seethed. “I don’t even know who you are. Where you live. What you like.” I pointed at the floor even though my private room wasn’t underneath us. “Is denial even your thing, or did you do it because you knew it was mine?”

“Pepper …”

“Answer me. The least you can do is give me a little bit of truth.”

“You want the truth?” He crossed his arms over his chest. “I didn’t even know what denial was until I met you. But as soon as you became my mark, I spent hours researching, learning everything I could to please you. To get you to notice me. To earn your attention.”

I shouldn’t be shocked to hear this.

This was what I’d expected, wasn’t it?

But he was so good, so knowledgeable.

It killed me that he wasn’t the expert I’d thought. That I’d put so much trust in this man.

“Bale—”

“And you know what I learned?” he cut me off, and his hands moved so fast that I couldn’t stop them before they landed on the sides of my neck. “That I fucking love it. There is nothing better in this world than pleasing you.”

“Don’t touch me.” I backed up. “You lost that right.”

“You want to know what I like? That’s easy. I’m a simple man, Pepper. Good food, incredible wine, an aged scotch—it all makes me extremely happy. I like quietness and rain, especially the nights when all I can hear are the drops hitting. I like every second I’ve spent with you.” His hands clenched at his sides. “No, I take that back. I’ve loved those seconds.” Suddenly, he was close to me again, the warmth of his palms on my shoulders. “As for my home, I don’t have one. I wander from job to job and stay in hotels. I don’t need a home. I never had one growing up, so I don’t know what one feels like.” The back of his fingers grazed my cheek, softly rubbing across it, like he was soothing a sting.

Every detail he’d provided on his Lush application was a lie.

The paper version of Bale was the opposite of the man I was looking at now.

“How am I supposed to believe anything you say?”

“Because I haven’t lied to you—on your application, yes.” As he stalled, I almost felt like he was inside my head, reading each point I was thinking about. “But everything I’ve said since I met you was the truth.”

“Then, explain something to me.” I moved his hand off my face. “Why did you drug Jacob and send him off to the West Coast to get into my private room? And why did you take me to his house and fuck me, only to leave me the next morning? You could have had any woman in Lush that evening. Why did you devise such an intricate plan?”

“Because I couldn’t leave Miami without touching you.”

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