“He’ll wait in the lobby.”
“You can’t—”
“I can.” Dom leans closer. “You’re in my city now, remember? I can do whatever the fuck I want.”
“You…”
Dom shifts his body, and I can feel him.
I can feel him pressing between my legs.
My body doesn’t know that we don’t like him anymore.
I try to close my legs, but his hips are still between them, so I just end up tightening my thighs around him.
“Put me down,” I whisper.
“Not yet.” Dom brings his lips just inches from mine. “If I give you another ring, will you wear it? Or will you throw it out another window?”
I look down at the hand he’s using to hold my wrists and see the plain gold band on his finger.
He left it on.
And it fits him perfectly.
And he brought the rings with him.
Because he planned this.
I remember the look on his face earlier when I asked him if he was drunk, too, for our wedding night.
“Answer me, Val.”
An awful suspicion sneaks into my brain.
I meet his eye. “Did you drug me?”
He doesn’t so much as blink. “Will you wear the ring?”
Anger finally breaks through the hurt inside me.
“Did you fucking drug me?” I snap.
Dom stares back at me. “Yes.” Then his mouth cracks into a smile. “Will you throw the ring out a window?”
“Yes.” I bite my teeth together to keep from screaming.
The man just admitted to drugging me like it’s nothing.
“Alright, then.” Dom slides my body down his. “Let’s go upstairs.”
CHAPTER 20
Val
I’m not even surprised by the private elevator with only one button for the PH level. Figures.
The car ascends rapidly before opening into a small hallway on the top floor of the building. There’s only one door. But there is a second elevator, which must have access to another part of the building.
With little choice, I stand beside Dominic, who has my backpack slung over his shoulder, while he presses his whole hand to a black screen next to the door.
I briefly wonder if he uses Nero’s company for his security system when a heavy thunk announces the door unlocking.
I try to keep my expression unimpressed when we enter Dominic’s condo, but it’s hard.
The space is huge. Industrial looking, with concrete floors so dark they look black and exposed metal on ceilings that have to be thirty feet high. All of which is overshadowed by the wall of floor-to-ceiling windows on my left, running the length of the space.
On the far side of the great room is a hallway that runs along the wall of windows and disappears out of view. And next to that hallway is an exposed flight of stairs leading up to another hallway on the second level.
Night has fallen, and the city skyline beyond the glass is breathtaking. But I refuse to move closer to admire it.
I’m still staring, though, when a shadow moves on the other side of the glass, making me jump.
“Just one of my men,” Dom explains, seeing where I’m looking.
And I realize there’s a door hidden in the windows, meaning there’s some sort of outdoor patio space here at the tippy top of the building. Just the thought of being out there, that high up, makes me want to hurl.
When I tear my eyes away from the glass, I notice that we’re not alone in here either.
A man is sitting on one of the couches between us and the windows, and another man is standing in the kitchen directly in front of us. He’s on the other side of the large marble island, but I can still make out the gun on his hip.
It’s almost funny—the black shirts, black pants, and matching serious expressions… But this is my life, for now, so that makes it less amusing.
“So we share our home with your army?” I ask, making my tone as bland as possible.
“No one sleeps here but us,” Dom answers. “What would you like for dinner?”
The question is so bizarre I don’t answer right away.
“Valentine,” Dom prompts.
“I want to go to bed.”
“You need to eat.”
I fist my hands at my sides. “You need to let me go to bed.”
Dom moves closer, his chest nearly touching mine. “Or what?”
“Or… Or I’ll steal one of those guns off one of your guys and shoot you.”
I don’t think I could actually get a gun off someone, but if I did, I’d definitely shoot him.
The edge of his mouth pulls up. “Where would you shoot me, Shorty?”