Chapter 302
Ellie’s POV
I turned slowly to look at Dominic.
“You hired a couples therapist?” I blurted out. “Since when?”
“Since this morning, when it had been all night and you didn’t come home,” Dominic replied easily. “I figured it might be beneficial for us to talk to someone. A person who’s unbiased and trained in this very thing.”
“I don’t need a therapist,” I muttered. I glanced at the woman. “No offense.”
Her smile was unwavering. “None taken. But just because you don’t need therapy doesn’t mean it wouldn’t be beneficial.” She tilted her head. “Dominic told me that you two have been having trust problems in your relationship.”
“That’s putting it lightly,” I replied.
Amy’s expression softened a little. “Would you like to take a seat? We can stop anytime you’d like if you get uncomfortable or feel it’s not helping.”
I sighed, shooting Dominic another look. With his hands in his pockets, he shrugged slightly, brows lifted, giving me the opportunity to accept or decline. I didn’t want to admit it, but I appreciated that.
“Alright,” I said after a moment, moving over to the sofa. I flopped down on the middle cushion. “Let’s do this.”
The therapist beamed and gestured for Dominic to sit beside me. He did, leaving just enough space so we didn’t touch, while she sat in the armchair across from us. She opened her notebook in her lap and looked between the two of us.
“So,” she said. “To start, why don’t you two tell me a bit about your relationship? How did you meet?”
“We’ve known each other pretty much since forever,” Dominic said.
Amy jotted something down. “And you’re fated?”
“Yes,” I grumbled.
She nodded, writing that down, too. “You don’t seem particularly thrilled about that, Ellie.”
“It’s complicated,” I said.
The therapist set her pen down on top of her notebook page. “That’s what we’re here for. To talk about the complicated things. Pausing, she added, “I heard rumors that there was an incident at your wedding. A stabbing. You held the knife. Would you say
that was where your trust issues started with one another?”
Dominic leaned back in the cushions. “On my end, no. But Ellie…” He looked at me. “You told me that night that you did it because of trauma. But you never explained anything else.”
“There’s nothing to explain,” I said.
“I think sticking a knife in my ribs is something to explain,” Dominic shot back.
I pursed my lips, but Amy cleared her throat, interjecting, “So. Ellie, you mentioned trauma to Dominic. But you never told him what that trauma was about?” I nodded, and she asked, “May I ask why?”
I hesitated, wondering how to go about this. For obvious reasons, I couldn’t explain the trauma of my past life, the assassin, or any of it. It wasn’t something I wanted to discuss right now. Or ever, for that matter. Especially not with a therapist I had only just met.
“Um. It’s personal,” I said.
The therapist jotted something down. “Is it perhaps something that you fear resulting in backlash if you open up about it?”
7.2
+30 Bonus
“Yeah.” I blinked, surprised by how spot on that was.
“Do you think it might make people angry?” she asked.
“Maybe,” I admitted. “Mostly, I think they’d just think I was crazy.”
“Crazy?” Dominic asked, turning to me. “Ellie, what could possibly have happened that you think I’d assume you’re crazy? You know I would never assume something like that about you.”
I just gave him a pointed look as if to say “really?”
“Dominic,” the therapist said, “perhaps, rather than assuming that Ellie is directly accusing you of thinking such a thing, you could try reassuring her.”
“I have reassured her. Many times. She won’t listen.”
“Is it that Ellie isn’t listening?” Amy asked. “Or is it that she doesn’t truly feel reassured? Your words might say one thing, but the way you behave might indicate something else.”
Dominic fell silent at that, looking down at his lap.
“Tell you what,” Amy said, licking her thumb and flipping through her notebook. “I’m going to give you two some homework to do tonight. A series of trust-building exercises that I hope will facilitate more of an open dialogue between you two during our next session.”
“Trust exercises?” I asked. “Seriously? Do we have to-”
“You don’t have to do anything.” Amy smiled as she tore a page out of her notebook and placed it on the coffee table. “But you never know. It could be fun.”
Dominic and I exchanged looks. I leaned over as he picked up the paper and studied it. There were three trust-building exercises listed on the page; the sort of thing involving holding hands and looking into each other’s eyes, talking about our dreams, and, of course, no trust-building homework would be complete without trust falls.
+30 Bonus
