“You don’t say.”
He chuckled. “Walked right into that one, didn’t I? Anyway, I was thinking about … well, about what happened with your old sorority this summer. You never told me.”
My spine went rigid, and I narrowed my eyes.Where was this coming from?
“You just happened to be wondering about that?”
“Yup,” he blinked innocently.
“Well, I don’t wanna talk about it.” My voice came out clipped.
“Mmm … thing is, I heard some funny stuff from Jax,” he said offhandedly.
Curiosity reared its head inside me, my pulse accelerating. Could Dom unknowingly have gathered some crucial information? I had to ask, for science.
“Like what?” I tried to sound as unimpressed as possible.
“We were just wondering how they afford all that shit they do. Like all those luxury trips, how half of these girls run around with designer shoes and handbags, even though half of them are scholarship students. Just thought it doesn’t make a lot of sense.” His gaze was fixed on me, intrigued, as though he wanted to climb into my head and unravel my every thought.
I froze. He wasfishing. This wasn’t idle gossip — he was testing me. Watching my reactions. My brain scrambled for footing while my heart dropped half a floor.
Was this about curiosity or something more?
I forced a shrug. “Yeah, to be honest, I was always kind of too busy to notice shit like that.”
Did heknowsomething? How much? Was he bluffing — or worse, trying to confirm something he already suspected? Was this another betrayal, waiting for me like a snake in the grass?
“Eh, it’s probably nothing,” he said with a shrug, brushing it off. “Just seemed weird, that’s all. But if you don’t wanna talk about it, I get it.”
“I don’t.” I emphasized, shaking my head.
“No worries, Darlin’. Now c’mere.” Dom crooked his finger, his smirk turning wicked, eyes gleaming with filthy promises.
***
Hot water pelted my back and shoulders, almost punishingly, and the thick, humid air filled the bathroom around me. My thoughts were racing, and I was in a full-blown spiral.
I wasn’t spiraling because of the possibility of him betraying my trust (again). I was spiraling because it made me realize how deep he’d gotten under my skin.
Closing my eyes, the hot water working to loosen my muscles, I tried to sort through my thoughts.
All this time, I thought the secrets were mine to carry. That the weight of what I knew, what I was still chasing down, was mine alone. I’d been so careful, trying to keep him at arm’s length.
Letting him in without really letting him in.
Fooling myself into thinking I was in control.
But he’d known. Or at least suspected. And he hadn’t told me. Which made me feel stupid. Exposed. And worse …vulnerable.
The very thing I swore I’d never be again, after the people I had trusted most, stabbed me in the back.
I was still picking up the pieces after the last time I had trusted all these people I shouldn’t have. After I got played like a dumb little pawn. After the girls I called sisters stole everything they could get their manicured hands on, with a fucking smile on their faces.
And now him. He hadn’t really hurt me — not yet. But he could.God, he could.
Because he was different. His initial lies of omission had already hurt, even though we’d barely known each other.
And that’s the most dangerous part — I don’t know how to protect myself from someone who’s already inside the walls I built specifically to keep him out.
