Dominic #2
“Are you insane?” I yell, a bit too loudly, because half of the tables turn around and give me a dirty look, which I return.
Fuck ’em. If they wanted silence, they should’ve stayed at home.
Jerking my hand away from Angel’s, I lean close.
“There’s a million dollars on the line. You can’t seriously think I’m going to drop a goldmine like this just because you look at me like that. ”
“Like what?” she asks, arching an eyebrow.
“Like all you have to do is give me bedroom eyes, and I’ll fall at your feet. Maybe that tactic works for you most of the time, but I assure you, I’m not like most of the men you date.”
First, Angel’s jaw ticks, then her teeth grind together as if she’s sawing razors. But it’s her eyes that warn me of the impending explosion. The muted green darkens as the storm rolls in. An unforgiving, catastrophic, bitch of a storm intent on leveling anything in its path.
She raises her middle finger, the chair scraping across the concrete slab as she shoves it back. “Fuck you.” Without another word, she stomps off, finger still in the air, and disappears inside the main part of the café.
“Goddamn it!” Jerking my wallet out of my pants, I grab a handful of bills and throw them on the table before taking off after her. Angel couldn’t have had more than a thirty second head start, but I’ll give it to her, the girl is fast.
After all-but-running out the front door, I find her standing next to the passenger’s side of my rental car, with her back toward me. I smile knowing she has her arms crossed over her chest, cursing my name because she stomped her ass all the way out here only to realize I’m her ride home.
“You’re wrong,” she says quietly.
Taking a risk, I move closer until I’m a few inches behind her. “Angel…”
“I don’t date.” She spins around, her simmering gaze dipping from my eyes to my chest. “You were wrong about me back then, and you’re wrong about me now.”
What do I say to that? That I’m sorry? Because I’m not.
I’m sorry she got buried in the avalanche I created, but I’m not sorry I sent a sexual terrorist to jail. A man who preyed on the fresh-faced innocent girls who came to Hollywood with stars in their eyes. He deserved everything he got.
But Jade Saxton? She deserved better.
“Angel, I’m…” The word sorry is right there on my lips, but instead of saying it, I slam them against hers before either of us can react.
Angel’s muffled protest is trapped between our mouths, and her palms fly to my chest as if to push me away.
Only she doesn’t. Her fingers curl into my shirt, those sharp nails digging into my skin.
My control breaks. I take, sliding my tongue into her mouth without the slightest restraint. My hand dives into her hair, twisting it around my fingers. We kiss harder, ignoring the fact we’re in a public parking lot. And when she moans into my mouth, I fucking lose it and push her against the car.
“Stop.” Angel breaks the kiss, her chest rising and falling with labored breaths as she pulls away. Her fingers press against her swollen lips as if they will somehow erase the feel of mine.
They won’t.
Because like it or not, this town sucks my dick. When I want something, I get it. I wanted out of this shithole of a mess, so I made her an offer that would make history.
But now...
We’re going to rewrite it.
But Angel has to be handled carefully, so I play the apologetic asshole role with gusto. Stepping back, I rake a hand through my hair. “That was out of line.”
She crosses her arms over her chest. “You think?”
Sighing, I press my thumb against my temple. “Look, I didn’t mean to imply you use men to get what you want. What I meant to say was that you have a way about you, Angel. A very alluring way that naturally makes men want to do whatever you want.”
“Really? Because I want to be left alone, but you can’t seem to naturally grasp that.”
“What do you have to lose?” I ask, throwing out a final Hail Mary. “A shitty apartment and a shitty job?”
For some reason, that seems to get to her, and she relaxes the grip her arms have on her chest. “What’s in it for you? And be straight with me this time. No more of this half-answer crap. I want the truth.”
“A story.”
Angel raises her eyebrows and glares at me.
I roll my eyes. “And money. Look, I don’t care how much a man has, five-hundred-k is five-hundred-k.” It’s the truth, something I didn’t mean to throw out there, but my master plan is going down in flames pretty fast.
“That’s another half-answer,” she accuses, and then twists around to walk away, but I catch her arm and spin her back around.
“Fine, you want the truth? You don’t get to where I am in life and not step on a lot of toes along the way, sweetheart.
Some were by accident, and others were very much on purpose.
Somebody didn’t like what he saw in the mirror I shoved in front of his face and decided to take it out on my ass.
” I almost tell her about the lawsuit but pull back at the last minute.
“BTN is operating in the red, and if I don’t get some cash flow soon, I’m going to lose everything. ”
An awkward second of silence quickly turns into five. Then ten. Just as I’m about to do something drastic like speak the name of a man who should never be used as a bargaining tool, she sighs.
“Fine.”
Wait, what?
“Fine?”
“I know I’ll live to regret this, but I can’t argue that half a million would change my life. Not to mention Violet’s. With that kind of money—” Stopping mid-sentence, she shakes her head. “It’s not important, facts are facts. I’d be saving her, too.”
“So, that’s a yes, then?” I ask, slowly. “You’ll do it?”
“Yes. Provided you guarantee the DNA test will prove I’m Alexandra Romanov, you’ve got a deal.” Nodding, she spins around and taps on the car window. “Now, let’s go.”
“Where?”
“To the G-Spot so I can say goodbye to Violet. I don’t have much to pack, so that shouldn’t take long. On our way to LA, you can start teaching me everything I need to know about Alexandra Romanov. One thing you’ll learn is I do nothing half-assed, Mr. McCallum.”