Page 30 of Where He Ended
“I couldn't sleep,” I say. “I don't know how you did it. I'm envious that you could, even if it did give you nightmares. I tried and tried and I just couldn't. I guess I thought the only thing that would make me feel comfortable was you, so maybe, if you were awake, I could come in here and we could talk and . . .” I trail off, unable to finish.
He pulls me into the bed with him, sliding the blankets on top of us. He spoons me from behind, and I tuck against him perfectly. I breathe a little quicker, expecting him to yank my pants down and shove his rigid dick inside of me.
But he doesn't.
He just lies there, holding me as our bodies expand together like we're sharing one set of lungs. It's so peaceful that I forget all about what we were just doing and how worried I was that we'd be so loud others would hear us. Being in his arms like this, I'm invincible.
“You really feel like your father didn't protect you?” he asks suddenly.
I open my mouth then close it. I let myself speak without thinking before. I want to take my time, now. “It's not even a question. He let your mother take me away from him and everyone else without putting up a fight. He made me stay here in this cage for six years, telling me that he'd eventually help me escape. And then, when it looked like it was finally going to happen, he took all that money and left me and Kara behind.” I laugh sadly, choking on the noise, barely holding back tears. “It sounds like textbook abandonment to me.”
Dominic squeezes me to him, his hand running gently up and down my forearm. “There's something I need to tell you,” he says. “And knowing how you feel about your father makes it a little easier.”
I turn in his arms, staring at him. “What is it?”
His eyebrows are furrowed tight. “My parents have a proposition for us. They want me to take you to where your father was living while working for us. They think there might be some clues to his whereabouts, ones only you'd notice.”
Studying his face, I try to keep my suspicions at bay. “This plan sounds like it helps your parents, not me.”
“If we find Joseph, they've promised to let you and your sister leave here.” The knob on his throat bounces as he swallows. “You could be free.”
I'm so stunned that I can't talk. My mind twists and turns, trying to spot all the negatives I have to be missing. If this is his parents’ plan, then there must be more to it. I don't trust them at all. But their motives have been the same since the start, finding my father. That's all. Would they really let my sister and me go if they were to find him?
And can I actually be okay with that?
“You're thinking about saying no, aren't you?” he asks.
I stare at him intensely. “I don't know what I'm thinking. As upset as I am with my father, handing him over to your parents is pure betrayal. I don't know if I can be okay with that, even if itdoesset me and Kara free.”
“You don't have to do anything,” he says seriously. His hand moves down, wrapping around mine so that we're holding hands between us. He implores me with his burning stare. “But I have to be honest with you about how worried I am. This is probably the only way to guarantee that nothing happens to you or your sister. I've thought about all the ways to help you escape,” he admits. My heart leaps at that. “What my parents did to you is unforgivable. I'm also terrified it's not the worst thing they'll try to do. If I managed to slip you and Kara off the estate, my parents have access to so many ways to find you. You'd spend the rest of your life looking over your shoulder. I don't think you'd ever rest. You wouldn't really be free, the leash would only be invisible.”
“But putting my dad back into your parents’ hands, I could never live with myself.”
“I was worried you'd say that,” he sighs. “I got my hopes up a little bit when you were talking about him negatively. But you love him, he still has a hold on you.” His eyes darken. “I understand that better than you realize.”
I sit up, looking down at him. “What hold does your father have over you?”
His mouth crinkles on the edges, like he's not sure if he should frown or scowl or show no expression at all. “Right now the only hold he has on me is you. And he knows it. Until he and my mother agree to leave you out of this, I'll never be confident enough to cut myself off from them. And until they find your father and get back the money he stole, they'll never rest.”
“Then we're trapped,” I say, laughing cynically. “Unless . . .” I run it through my head a few different ways before I speak. “I definitely don't want to betray my dad. But if what your parents really want at this point is the money, couldn't we find my dad without them knowing, then encourage him to hand the money back so that me, and my sister,andyou could all get away from this?”
Dominic covers his mouth, his forehead grooved as he thinks. “It's a long shot. Finding him opens up a direct path to my parents finding him, too. But if we're careful, it could work.” He straightens up, gazing at me with wide, galaxy-black eyes. “How are you so fucking beautiful, and also so fucking clever?”
My face grows warm. He leans towards me, tangling his fingers in my hair and giving me a fierce kiss, then a second, then a third. Between each one he says a single word:
“Mine. Mine.Mine.”
I know he's right.
