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“Like I said.” I roll away from him, giving him my back. “To what end?”
“Val—”
I cut him off. “Is there any chance you’ll let me sleep in another room?”
“No.” His answer is swift.
I nod against the pillow. It’s what I expected. “Then please turn off the ceiling lights and shut the fuck up so I can sleep.”
His steps are quiet, but I hear them as he circles around the foot of the bed toward me.
My eyes are still open, but I don’t move my gaze from straight ahead.
Dom’s hips are right in front of me, but then he turns and reaches for something on the nightstand. “There’s a button here. Press it once to turn them on and off. Hold it down to adjust the brightness. There’s also a gun in this drawer.” I hear him tap the wood. “But you need my palm to unlock it. Because this used to be my side of the bed.”Used to be.“And I’llshut the fuck upin a moment. But understand that you’re the only person who can get away with talking to me like that. And only in private.” He crouches before me, his chest completely bare. “I’m not sure what I’d do as punishment if you did it in public. But I’m pretty sureyouwouldn’t enjoy it.”
I close my eyes, ignoring him.
“Get some sleep.” Warm lips press against my forehead. “We have a big day tomorrow.”
I hold as still as possible until I hear him rounding the bed again.
When I hear the bathroom door shut, I let the last tear of the night slip from my eye and soak into the pillow.
How was I so wrong about everything?
It’s nearly comical. All my mom’s lectures growing up. How men will only want to use me. How I’m too stupid to understand them. How I’ll end up ruined and alone. I really should have paid attention.
Wallowing in regrets, listening for Dom to return to bed, I finally slip into the escape of sleep.
CHAPTER21
Dom
I takemy time getting ready for bed. I won’t let Valentine have her own room. She’ll eventually accept her place here, but giving her distance now would do more harm than good.
It’s that same reasoning that makes me step out of my closet in nothing but my boxers. I can’t let her get used to me sleeping in clothes when this is what I like to wear.
By the time I open the bathroom door and reenter the bedroom, Val’s breathing has evened out in sleep.
Good.
Right on time, my phone flashes with a notification, letting me know he’s here.
I grab a handful of cash out of the nightstand nearest me, then make sure to shut the door quietly when I leave the bedroom.
I’m at the top of the stairs when my men let Doc in, but I wait until I’m stopped before him to speak. “Appreciate the quick delivery.”
I called him when Valentine first went up to our room.
The man in his seventies lifts a shoulder. “It’s all stuff I had on hand.”
Having no pockets, still wearing only my boxers, I hand him over the stack of hundreds so I can take the items he has for me.
“These should look exactly like the ones she has.” Doc places a stack of foil rectangles, each containing twenty-eight little pills in neat rows, in my hand. “Just make sure you pop out the right amount before you swap them for the current one.”
I nod.
Doc digs into his satchel for the second item, withdrawing a capped syringe. “This is the other thing.”
