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I shook my head. "Yeah, but my stuff tends to hurt the people I love and care about.”
I put my hand to my forehead, pressing into it.
"Are you feeling okay?" he asked.
"No, I'm starting to get a headache."
"Where do you want to go?" he asked. "My place or yours?"
"Let's go to my place," I said.
"Okay. Come on."
He brought the peanuts with us, and I took a few more sips of the mulled wine, but I wasn’t in the mood for the latter anymore.
Once we were inside the car, he immediately turned up the heat. I wanted to curl into a tight ball and just sink into myself, but I didn't want to be rude to Dom.
We didn't speak at all on the drive home or on the way up to my condo. Once inside, he made me hot tea. I curled up on the couch with the cup he gave me and drank it immediately.
"You don't want a sip?”
He sat next to me, watching me intently. "No, I'm good. I just want to make sure you're okay too. Do you want to talk about it?"
I shook my head. "I don't know what to say."
I wanted to keep him safe, but I didn't think I could. I wanted to be alone, with my thoughts, yet I didn't want to push him away. He’d told me many times that he wanted us to fight through things together, but I wasn't sure I knew how to do that. That's why when we went to bed, I pretended to be asleep when he came out of the shower.
Ever since Dom and I got together, my insomnia seemed to have disappeared. But I was awake for most of that night.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Reese
The next morning, Dom left early for a meeting. I woke up with renewed energy and a plan.
I kept replaying in my mind the evening Malcolm came to the hotel. He'd called me a coward. And I had been a coward for these past few years. Every time he wanted to meet me, there was someone from my family with me. The truth was, I couldn't bear the idea of being alone with him. He was always more vicious if it was just the two of us. Even when only Francesca was around, he didn't dare talk to me the way he did when he thought no one else could hear him.
But today, that was going to change.
I didn't want to call him because I wasn’t ready to hear his voice yet, so I shot him a message.
Reese: I want to talk to you and Francesca.
Malcolm: Where?
Reese: Give me your address.
I wouldn't have the meeting in a public place. If there was going to be a scene, no one else would witness it. I was done with these two.
The last time I'd been alone with them in the same room was when I caught them having sex. It had been an awful evening. In the span of fifteen seconds, my life fell apart, and my heart cracked in two. It hadn't healed until I met Dom.
I was astounded when he texted me the address. They were living in a nice neighborhood. Why would he need money then? I called a car and Ubered there—I didn't want to drive myself because once I was done with them, I knew I wouldn’t feel like driving.
I looked around when I stepped out of the car. The house they lived in was relatively small, but the rent still had to be enormous based on this location.
I walked up to the front door, knocking twice. It swung open immediately, Malcolm obviously having been waiting for me. Francesca was farther inside the room. I stepped in and felt the tension in the air. No one said anything at all.
"Well, I'm here," I said when it became apparent that neither of them was going to speak. "I thought that after hounding me for so long, you'd have something to say when I finally saw you on my own."
