Chapter 144
Ellie POV
The drive to Dominic’s parents’ mansion is quiet in the worst possible way.
Sarah had left me in Dominc’s hands, bless her, not because she wanted to but bause I begged her.
Besides, he was the only person I felt like myself arond.
Still the car was heavy. Dominic keeps his eyes out the window, jaw locked. He doesn’t ask me what’s happening, which I appreciate, but he does seem aloof.
I poke him.
He look at me.
“What’d…you get from the market?” I gesture to the bags. Just trying to make conversation really.
He looks down at them. Like he forgot he even had them. “Oh, uh,” He shrugs. “Some jerky.”
My brow raises. “Just meat?”
He hesitates and nods.
I smirk. “Right…because I don’t see any pudding in there.”
He sighs, folding his arms and looks backout the window. “It was on sale.”
“Hehe” I grin. “Okay, tough guy.”
“You’re way to smiley,” He says, “more then you have been in weeks. I thought this was an emergency?”
I nod, “It is…but I only feel like myself around you, plus teasing you is easier then thinking bout the conversaton to come.”
That made him stiffen. “Yeah, no kidding.”
By the time we pull up, my stomach is already twisting.
Dominic helps me out of the car, then leads me down marble floors and vaulted ceilings and the unmistakable feeling that I’ve stepped back into a place I’ve already denouced.
It felt nearly…shameful to be here again. About to ask for a favor after everything. Maybe I should have kept my mouth shut the night of the gala.
Dominic slows as we reach the office door.
It’s subtle. Just a half-step hesitation.
“What’s wrong?” I ask, my voice tighter than I want it to be.
He doesn’t look at me. “Nothing.”
It’s a lie. We both know it.
He knocks anyway.
“Come in,” his father calls.
The office smells like leather and old books and authority. Dominic’s father looks up from behind his desk and smiles, actually smiles, when he sees us standing there together.
I was expecting much, much worse.
1/2
d
+30 Bonus
“Well,” he says mildly, eyes flicking between us. “You two together. This is promising.”
“It’s business,” Dominic cuts in immediately. “Ellie asked to see you.”
The smile disappears.
His father straightens, expression sharpening like a blade being turned in the light. “If Ellie has business with me,” he says coolly, “then it should be discussed privately.”
My chest tightens.
“I’m not leaving,” Dominic says.
Comments
ប
Support
Share
