Chapter 13 #2
I’m damn curious who Leo is, and the Chicago Sentinel Agency too.
Is Leo the former coworker he keeps texting?
Was that agency his former employer? An ache forms in my throat, but I gulp it back.
Do I really know the man that I’ve been sleeping with?
That I thought I was in a relationship with?
If this thing with Callum hadn’t come up, would Dom ever have told me about his past and the people he knows?
Jesus, why can’t everything just go back to the way things were? Then I’m brought up short as I realize that I’m partially to blame—I’d been so happy to finally connect with someone, someone who accepted me as I am, with my insecurities, that I never even asked about his past before.
“I’m going to hang up, Mum. Call the cops like Dom said to do, then pack a bag. Call me when the security people pick you up, or before that if you get scared.”
“Alright, my boy. I love you,” she says and hangs up.
Callum clutches the phone to his chest. I try to release his hand, but his fingernails bite into my skin. “Please,” he whispers, I’m not exactly sure what he wants, but anxiety coats his plea. He glances down at our joined hands and gasps. “I’m sorry.
“You didn’t hurt me,” I admit, and bend slightly toward him. “Your mother will be safe. Dom’s on it. Okay?”
Callum calmly nods, but the desperation and tears in his eyes say otherwise. “Why is this happening to me, Pen?”
“I don’t know. But we’re doing our best to find out.” I call the singer over to me and transfer Callum’s hand from mine to Danny’s before I stride from the room to find Dom.
Who is nowhere in sight. Instead, I’m met with an odd scene.
Tobias is on the phone, talking very quietly, while the rest of the guys are scattered about the living room.
Everyone is silent and they seem to be on edge.
Fig glances at me, then points to the front door.
I give him a single nod and head out to find my partner on the other side of the door, texting.
“Who’s Leo?” I interrupt his texting.
This isn’t jealousy—not completely, anyway. But all of a sudden, people from his past are coming out of the woodwork and I don’t have a fucking clue who they are to Dom. Friends? An ex-lover? An old coworker?
I wait for a response, but Dom doesn’t answer, nor does he stop texting—which spurs my anger. With every second, the tension in my chest tightens and I’m getting a headache from how hard I’m grinding my teeth together.
“Damn it, Dom. Answer me,” I practically shout, not wanting to let this go until he tells me what I need to know.
He meets my eyes with a fiery glare, his nostrils flare and his body stiffens. “Can you give me a moment while I text the address to my friend, so he can pick up Callum’s mother?”
His tone is like a slap across the face. Remorse and regret swirl around me as I step back, spin around and head inside the house. His abrupt words and his tone of voice clearly leave no doubt that I’m not worth the time or the explanation.
It’s suddenly crystal clear that keeping me in the loop… of anything, is not a priority of his. And I’m also coming to realize that maybe Callum is right, and this throuple I wanted so badly is too good to be true.
I've poured my heart into the relationship I have with Dom, but I see now that the commitment has been lopsided. The realization that Dom doesn’t value our relationship with the same weight I do hurts more than I can explain.
It hits me that this imbalance is what’s been bothering me for a while, yet I’m still not ready to let go.
Even if it feels like I’m the only one making an effort.
The idea of walking away—of breaking up—tears at my soul, and in only the few seconds I’ve contemplated it, it’s already created a deep, aching loss that I can feel in my bones. I begin to panic.
I need space. I have to leave. Breathe in fresh air and clear my head before I say or do something I’ll regret.
“Pen, wait.” I hear Dom call my name, but I ignore him. I head straight to Tobias.
“I’m sorry but I need a day,” I say to my lead, who looks just as startled as his second standing next to him.
“Pen,” John begins to say, but I shake my head and return my attention to Tobias.
“I only need today and will be back here first thing in the morning.”
“What about Callum?” Tobias asks, then his eyes jump to someone behind me. Dom.
“You can’t leave. Callum needs us,” Dom insists as he grips my shoulder, trying to turn me around.
I yank out of his hold and do not look at nor respond to Dom. My focus remains on Tobias, silently pleading for time away from here. From Dominic Rossetti.
“Be back by eight a.m. tomorrow,” Tobias conveys with a frown.
“Thanks.” I turn, and John tosses me a set of keys.
“The Suburban in the driveway.”
“What the fuck,” Dom hisses. “Pen, where the hell are you going?”
I still don’t answer him, which gives me a perverse sense of satisfaction for doing the same shit to him that he has been doing to me. Now that I think about it, Dom has used this evasive tactic several times in our relationship.
As much as it is not like me to be petulant, Dom gives me no choice but to leave. I need to get away from him so I can think things through. Our relationship, and maybe even this job.
My silence doesn’t deter Dom, as he follows me. “For fucks sake, answer me, damnit.”
I open the driver’s side door, and climb in, but he blocks me from closing it.
“Move out of the way, Dom,” I demand, trying to keep the bud of emotion that’s stuck in the back of my throat from unfurling.
“Babe, talk to me—please.” The tone of his voice is gentle and pleading. But where was his willingness to communicate before? Now that I’m leaving, he wants to open his mouth and talk? I don’t think so.
“Now you want to talk to me? You know what? You’re a selfish bastard.
Taking and taking but never giving back.
You walk away from me without a single word.
Send and get text messages. Refuse to talk to me about any of it.
No, you had your chance—a lot of chances, actually, and I’m done waiting,” I spit out.
I’m too tightly wound to continue. I clamp my mouth shut before more hateful words come out. I start the SUV and buckle my seatbelt, avoiding his penetrating gaze.
Seconds pass before he finally steps back. “Alright. I’ll give you the space you need.”
I glare at him. He is giving me space? Ha!
I slam the driver’s door, put the vehicle into drive and the pedal to the floor before he’s even let go of the door.
I barrel down the driveway without looking back.
Because if I do, I won’t leave. I’ll be the same old Pen and give in to my desire to stay and talk to Dom.
And he’ll be the same old Dom with the same old half answers and nothing will have changed.