She flinches at the sound of it and her eyes snap to mine, wide and frightened.
“I… I…” she stammers, drawing in shaky breaths.
Her gaze drops back to the gun on the table. She pulls her hand away from it quickly.
I shudder on the inside. I wasn’t gone long. She came at the clubhouse earlier, already shaken. Crying. In the five months we’ve been together, I’ve never seen her like that. I calmed her down, then she asked for pancakes, but didn’t want to come downstairs to the kitchen.
Fuck. I didn’t even realize I’d left my gun behind. Why the fuck was she touching it like that? It looked wrong as fuck.
A smile curves her mouth, but it doesn’t look right. Her eyes aren’t smiling.
“I’m sorry, Dominic,” she says softly, tilting her head. “I was just curious.”
Her gaze flicks to the plate in my hand, and she steps toward me, that smile stretching wider.
“Thank you for the pancakes.”
I study her for a long moment, my heart still pounding. I’ll let her eat. Then I’m taking her for a ride to clear her head — and mine — and we’re going to talk.
…
That fucking memory almost makes me lose control of the bike. That was when she told me about some of her mother’spunishments. I was ready to kill the bitch, but she didn’t want that. Said it was too risky for her sister. So I started working on a plan, trying to get them both out of that house.
And then she ruined me. What a fucking idiot I was. She was nothing but lies soaked in honey, and I need to remember that.
The thought settles something inside me. I feel some of the control returning. Fuck, I hope it lasts.
I ride for a few more hours, clearing my head until sunrise.
When I finally step through the cabin’s front door, Adora’s already awake, having coffee in the kitchen.
I make a beeline for her, like a moth unable to resist the flame.
“Good morning, adorable,” I murmur, hiding the storm inside me behind a smile.
“What’s got you in such a good mood?” she whispers, smiling back.
I grab her waist, pull her closer, and grin.
“I’m free today. I was thinking I could make us some sandwiches, you take your book, I take mine, and we use that rowboat at the dock to read, swim, and sunbathe in the middle of the lake all day.” I peck her lips. “And maybe see how much we can rock the boat before we end up overboard.”
Her eyes light up. “Give me ten.”
Perfect. She's fucking perfect. I’m doomed.
11. Stuck
Adora
Five months. It’s been five months today since we got married.
My time’s up. And fuck, I don’t want it to be.
I’m lying in bed, unmoving, staring at the ceiling like it might give me the answers to the questions I’m too afraid to ask out loud.
Dominic isn’t back yet. Club business. He kissed me last night. Fucked me. Fed me. And, like always, threw one of his casual, barely-there threats over his shoulder before walking out the door.
Routine. Reassuring, in its own twisted way.
