hapter 135
Chapter 135
“Can I…change the music?” I asked Julian as I adjusted the blanket around my legs.
We were in the living room him typing something while listening to music. Ljust stared. Tired and confused. I felt better
music. though. Less Shakey.
But the song made me feel depressed.
He raised an eyebrow. “You don’t like jazz now?”
“It’s making me feel like I’m stuck in an elevator,” I muttered, reaching for the remote with a weak laugh.
Julian chuckled but handed it over. “Pick something dramatic and sad. Might as well match the energy in this house”
I was just about to switch it when the door opened.
I froze.
Julian straightened.
Dominic stepped in.
He was back.
But he wasn’t him.
The version of him I remembered the one who touched my face like I was something he wanted to protect, who whispered I’ve got you into my hair wasn’t here.
This Dominic was cold.
Suit crisp and ironed. Jaw sharp. Eyes unreadable.
He didn’t even glance at Julian. Just walked in like he owned the silence.
Julian stood. “I’ll give you two a minute.”
“Don’t,” I said, too quickly. My voice came out quieter than I meant it to.
But Julian was already out the door, and the soft click behind him made the room feel ten degrees colder.
Dominic didn’t speak.
He just stood there for a moment, staring at me, like he was trying to decide whether I was still his or already gone.
“You’re back,” I finally said, trying to keep my voice steady.
“I am,” he replied simply.
I swallowed, shifting slightly in the bed. “You could’ve called.”
He raised a brow, stepping closer. “Would that have made a difference?”
“I don’t know,” I admitted.
He stopped at the edge of the bed, gaze lowering to my hands folded tightly in my lap–then rising back to my face. “You look better.”
“I feel better,” I said. “Physically, anyway.”
His eyes narrowed slightly. “And the rest?”
I exhaled, bitter. “That’s complicated.”
He nodded once, slow. “Good. Because I need to know exactly how complicated.”
Then, without warning, he sat beside me. Close. Too close.
I turned my head. “What are you doing?”
“Looking for the truth,” he said.
“By… sitting really close to me?” I said, sarcasm biting through my nerves.
His hand moved to my thigh, resting lightly on top of the blanket.
I stiffened.
“Dominic,” I warned.
“I want to know if it’s still there,” he said softly.
“If what’s still there?” I whispered, even though I already knew.
He leaned in, his breath brushing my jaw. “The part of you that wants me.”
I turned my head sharply. “That’s not fair.”
Chapter 13s
4 don’t care about four His fingers curled duply present by MAHAK ME everything that used to happen sfier this love, the touch) 1xx
My heart was hammering
Because the worst part?
It was still there
That pull That heat That shameful, reckless ache that lived some
“You think thetrayed you, and now you’re what? Testing mari sapped Tregs anyway? thar e what this is?”
Tm seeing if what you told me was a le, he said it what we had was just soother fun tooche
I flinched. “That’s cruci”
His voice lowered, rougher now “You kissed him, Ana!
“And you’ve done worse to me, thissed “Don’t pretend We you’re some woke cow for locked me away You lied to me. You used my body to distract me from the truth more tarnes than 1 can cove**
“You didn’t say no,” he said coldly
“And you didn’t listen, i snapped.
He stared at me, unmoved. “Say it now”
I blinked.
“If you don’t want me” he said, eyes locked on mine, “say it now. And I’ll leave. I get it i messed up but I never cheated Or kissed another woman when with you.”
I opened my mouth.
But nothing came out,
Because I didn’t know what I wanted.
I hated him for treating me like this but he said nothing but the truth. I bit my lips as I stared into his eyes.
Lwanted to grab his face and scream into his mouth. I hated how broken I was around him. How he could burn me and still be the only warmth I reached for.
“I can’t say it,” I whispered finally. “Because I don’t know what’s real anymore?
His fingers moved, slipping beneath the blanket, slow, testing his palm warming the skin of my thigh.
And still, I didn’t stop him.
“I hate you,” I breathed.
“Liar,” he whispered. “You crave me.”
I turned my face away, hating the heat rising in my cheeks. “You’re a hypocrite”
Dominic leaned in again, his mouth brushing the edge of my ear, voice dark and sure. “You’ll choose me, Aria. You won’t
have a choice.”
I pushed his hand away, not as hard as I should have, and looked him in the eye.
“Why did you have to go back to the old you?” I asked, voice breaking. “I thought this back and forth was over.”
Dominic’s lips twitched not with warmth, not with regret, but something bitter. Like he wanted to laugh..
Not the good kind. The kind that cuts deeper than silence.
“funny you’re mentioning it now…do you think it’s important?” he said simply, as if that explained everything. As if that excused all the things he was about to do next.
And maybe to him, it did.
“Dominic…”
He stood, straightening his jacket like this was a business meeting and not the unraveling of something that once meant everything. “You’re fine now,” he said, voice too calm. “Your scans are clear. You’re healing. I also have seen what I wanted and you’re right there is no need for back and forth.”
He turned toward the door.
“So maybe it’s time we go our separate ways.”
The words didn’t land right. I blinked, confused. “Wait–what?”
He looked over his shoulder, and that look–God, that look wasn’t cruel, wasn’t angry. It was worse.
2/3
Chapter 135
It was indifferent.
“You said you wanted freedom,” he said flatly. “You can have it. Do whatever you want. Go wherever you want. Without me
in it.”
His voice was void of feeling, like he was discussing weather. Like none of it hurt.
My throat tightened. “Why are you doing this?”
“I’m giving you exactly what you asked for.”
“No, you’re pushing me away.”
He walked to the door, fingers brushing the handle. “so what? You don’t think you can do it alone?”
That hit harder than I wanted it to.
He opened the door. “Goodbye, Aria.”
And then he was gone.
Just like that.
The door clicked shut behind him, and the room fell into a silence so loud it was almost deafening.
I stared at the empty space he left behind, chest rising too fast, eyes burning.
This wasn’t strength. This wasn’t victory.
This was heartbreak.
No matter how I tried to tell myself that he hurt me, to hate him, it never still stop the laughter, the moments, the sex, and now leaving those behind…I couldn’t..
He’d left me alone.
Not just physically.
But really alone.
No promises. No warmth. No illusions of something we could maybe fix.
Just me.
And I didn’t know what to do with that.
Not when I still loved him.
Not when I didn’t know who I was without him. I would return to struggling and living a life of a stripper?
What would I do with this freedom…
when all I wanted was him?
When he had done one thing to me…make me crave him and nothing else even when I tried to…be stubborn.
The realization was slow…but now…without lying to myself I knew…that I…was no one. Just an empty space without Dominic in my life.
And my stubbornness of not knowing that pushed him away.
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