Sweet Seduction Sacrifice (28 page)

Then because I'm me, Genevieve Cain the emotionally expressive waterworks, I cried, making sure it was quietly, whilst I hugged my body tight.

By the time my tears had dried, I was feeling worse than I did before I climbed into bed. Three hours sleep, four hours rest but wide awake mentally dissecting my disastrous life and then twenty minutes of hot and heavy with Dominic Anscombe doing nothing to relieve the exhaustion that hung like a black cloud over my head.

I hauled myself upright by gripping the bathroom vanity and stared mutely at myself in the mirror for a good minute. If I had thought there was reason for Dominic to look elsewhere before, my battered and bruised face staring out at me from the mirror with pale, washed out, tired-looking skin, sent the message home once and for all. I looked dreadful. I looked worse than dreadful, I looked pathetic.

I cringed and watched the blue-turning-a-sickly-green and yellow bruising ripple beneath my expression. I practised a few facial positions; bored, lethargic, happy, impassive, angry, laughy - but none of them seemed to make a difference. I sighed. And then for some inexplicable reason started to giggle. My life was an absolute debacle. I laughed harder. I laughed so hard I had to wrap an arm around my ribs to hold myself together and then with herculean effort I got myself under control.

OK, so life was not as I had planned it, but that was no reason to lose the plot completely. And, even though I knew I was a crier and I knew I was a pathetic wimp for taking Brett back four times, I also knew I would survive this. Because you do, don't you? You survive. You've got no choice, and looking at my miserable self in the mirror, I resolved to survive this with a sense of pride and dignity.

I brushed my teeth and showered and then dressed in killer black denim jeans and an even more killer black lacy singlet top that hugged my waist and skimmed low over my breasts, but not too low as to cause a car accident when I crossed the street. Then I tied my hair up in a high ponytail, attempted a little make-up that didn't so much as hide the bruises, but distract from them, and slipped on a simple gold pendant and matching gold bracelet on my wrist. It wasn't much, but the effort made me feel better. And then my sling-back black two inch high heels did the rest.

Feeling a million times better to face the day - and Dominic - I headed out to the voices I could hear out in the kitchen/dining room attached to the lounge. As I walked in the room all conversation stopped, as though
I
had been the topic of conversation and my appearance put paid to that. Feeling uncomfortable and a little unwanted - trashing my million times better feeling of moments before - I plastered a smile on my face and continued on into the kitchen where Katie was fussing at a bench and Dominic sat sipping coffee at the table.

"Hey," I said, unoriginally.

"Good morning," Katie trilled brightly. "Take a seat, I'll bring you some toast."

The table was set with jams, conserves, fresh fruit and a coffee plunger full of coffee, so I went to slip into a seat opposite Dominic, prepared to give breakfast a go. But in superhero speed, he stood, nabbed my wrist and pulled me round to his side, placing me firmly in the chair at his side. Then he sat, flashed me a disarming smile and picked his coffee up again to sip. It was then I noticed he was dressed for work; crisply ironed shirt, expensive suit and the subtle smell of his cologne. I forced my body not to sway closer to take a sniff.

"You came here in your suit last night?" I asked, surprised.

"No, I brought it with me. I knew I'd be heading to work from here and didn't want to waste time going home first."

Hmm. So no mad dash from the white monster house when he found me missing, he took time to pack a bag. I'm not sure how that made me feel.

"Katie's going to take you back to my place for the day," Dominic said, spreading jam on a slice of toast before him. I watched, unable to form an argument but wanting desperately to, while he finished that then poured a fresh cup of coffee, and then slid both in front of me to eat. "Eat," he instructed, picking up his own coffee cup again. "You can invite anyone over you'd like, make a day of it," he suggested, "I'm sure Kelly would love the opportunity to trash my place."

I raised my eyebrows at him, he raised his in return. The note, I was guessing.

I sighed. "What did the note say?"

"Oh, you'd like to talk about that now?" he asked, as Katie came and slipped into a seat on the other side of the table, pushing fresh toast towards her brother and swiping a slice for herself.

"Don't mind me, darlings" she said breezily, "I'm blocking you two as much as I can right now. Clearly seen and heard enough for one day."

Dominic frowned at her. I sniggered, I couldn't help it. He looked downright uncomfortable. I hadn't seen him uncomfortable before. Of course, that just brought his attention to me again. He leaned back in his chair, crossed his legs and let his eyes run over me from head to toe. As if he hadn't already done that when I walked in the room. I crossed my arms over my chest and stared back.

"Nice top," he said lazily. I uncrossed my arms. He just smiled. "The note," he started, "not one of your better moves, sweetheart. If you've got something to say to me, just come out and say it. From what I've seen so far, once you start talking, you can't seem to stop."

I gritted my teeth and purposely chose my words well. "What did the note say, Dominic?"

He reached inside his jacket and pulled it out, then slipped said note across the table between us. Even from where I was sitting I could make out Kelly's scrawl.
Gone. Don't come looking. You're a jerk.
She really did have a way with words. I blinked at it several times, then found my bottom lip firmly between my teeth. I didn't know what to say to that. Words failed me.

"So," Dominic said, voice low, "what shall we address first? Well, we've covered the
gone
bit, you left a safe house and jeopardised your own and Katie's wellbeing. I think I've managed to make you understand how ridiculous that was. That leaves two things to address. What about the
Don't come looking
part. Again, addressed. The house, inside and out, is under video surveillance as you now know. I watched you get in Katie's car and was advised she drove straight home from the GPS system at ASI." Katie's car had GPS in it? What was with these people? I glanced across the table at Katie, she was definitely ignoring us, pretending we weren't there. What she wasn't doing was looking appalled at the idea that her car had GPS tracking, kept an eye on by big brother ASI. "Also, as I have made it perfectly clear, I am not letting go, hence the coming looking, on my part." He paused to take a sip of coffee, his toast sat untouched. "That leaves
You're a jerk
and I think this is where you should take over."

Silence. Even Katie had stopped eating or drinking or even moving.

"I didn't write it," I said in self defence and then frowned. Now I was landing my best friend in hot water, just to avoid a conversation? I sighed and went to run a hand through my hair, realised it was tied up, so hauled the elastic band out and let it fall freely.
Then
I ran a hand through my hair. When I looked back at Dominic - having gained courage to do so, with the hand through hair moment - he was smiling at me. His gaze sweeping over my hair as it lay around my face.

"Better," he murmured, his eyes blazing the way they had in bed that morning. I let a little breath out on a huff of air. Even arguing with me, making his point in a lawyerly fashion, he can switch to hot-guy-lawyer in a flash.

"I don't want to talk about it," I found myself saying, surprised because I was still trying to decide what to say, but my mouth obviously had other ideas.

"Try," he shot back.

I glared at him, he stared impassively back. Iced-lawyer sat beside me again, hot-guy-lawyer had disappeared. We sat like that for several minutes, or at least it felt like it. We probably would have both stubbornly sat there for the rest of the day, but Katie had other ideas.

"For crying out loud!" she declared, hands going up in the air dramatically to emphasise she'd had enough of our to-ing and fro-ing. "Dominic," his gaze turned to hers as she said his name. "You've been taking mysterious phone calls," - oh hell no, she wasn't - "then disappearing, that has upset Genevieve."

"Katie!" I exclaimed frantically. Dominic had sat forward in his chair. "Please stop."

"No, darling. I'm sorry, but you'd just pussy foot around it and Dom would get mad and things would escalate. You have to understand, you're good together, I want this to work."

I stared at her dumbly for a split second, not daring to look at Dominic's face, then steeled my resolve.

"Well, I'm sorry to disappoint. But I don't." Then I got up out of my seat and ran from the room. Not exactly the exit I had been going for. It didn't scream sophisticated and controlled woman in their faces, but it was all I could manage on such short notice. I'd do sophisticated and controlled later, for now I needed a locked door and a tub of ice cream and to be left the hell alone.

The ice cream was a miss, and the locked door was debatable, the stool looked like it would topple if given a hard shove from the other side of the bathroom door, but I was thankfully alone. Of course, I'd overlooked the
other
door to the bathroom. I hadn't even registered it last time I was there. Katie's guest bedrooms both ran of a shared bathroom. And Dominic simply walked through the second bedroom and straight into my hell.

I swung around at the sound of the second door opening and just about jumped out of my skin. Dominic stood there, door closed at his back, taking up about a third of bathroom. He had a strange expression on his face, one I couldn’t decipher at first. He didn't look angry though, if I had to hazard a guess, I'd say he was relieved.

"So," he said softly. "That's why you're running."

He held my gaze, it was impossible to hang my head and hide like I wanted to, I was drawn to his blue-blue eyes like a magnet. Unable or unwilling to pull away without tremendous opposing force.

"This explains a lot," he went on. Then smiled,
that
smile. My heart thudded repeatedly in my chest. He took a step closer and I felt the door at my back pressing into my flesh. "I've got something I've been trying to sort for a few months now. Nick's been helping me. But, I promise, sweetheart, it has nothing to do with you or us, nor has it got any possibility of coming between us. It's my past. A mistake I'm trying to rectify, nothing more. But it's complicated and right now delicate. Until I get it sorted I'm not at liberty to say too much. You have to trust me."

I stared at him. His words just a jumble of sounds to my ears, even though I was trying desperately to make some sense of them all.

"Genevieve," -
that
voice - "please trust me. Can you do that?" He held his hand out to me, palm up in invitation.

Could I? He was saying exactly what I wanted to hear. That it was outside of what we could have, that it meant nothing. That it wouldn't affect us. But that wasn't the end of my dilemma, was it? In order to concentrate on sorting out Brett and his threat to Sweet Seduction, I needed to clear my head of the problems arising with Dominic. But, if those problems weren't what I thought, then that plan was moot. Or was it? ASI and Jason could come up empty handed and then where would I be? I'd have to face Brett and I knew what Brett would want in exchange for keeping Sweet Seduction safe.

I was so confused. I was so lost. I was thinking life wasn't fair.

"What is it?" Dominic said softly, from right in front of my face. I hadn't realised he'd moved, that he'd taken the steps necessary to place him in my space. "Talk to me, Genevieve. Tell me what's put that look on your face?"

I looked up at him, saw the concern. Saw just how much he actually cared. Saw how much he wanted to help, to be the one I turned to. It was all there.

"He'll take Sweet Seduction," I said, making complete sense to me, but obviously not to Dominic. He frowned in confusion down at me.

"Who, Elliott?" I nodded. "And that's why you won't take a risk with me?" I nodded again. "Because..." He paused, his frown deepened. "Genevieve," - not
that
voice - "just what do you plan to do if it comes to that?" His voice was ominously quiet.

"Whatever I need to do," I whispered, unsure why I was telling him this, clearly he wasn't going to like my plan.

"Such as?"

"I have to keep it safe. It's my dream. The only one I'll ever have. You don't understand, it's precious, I can't lose it. If I lose it, it'll be gone and I won't get another dream again."

"Says who?" he whispered back

"Says life," I answered on a similar quiet whisper.

"OK," he said, sounding like he was changing tack. "What do you think you will have to do to keep Brett from taking your dream?" Oh, maybe not on a different tack after all.

"Whatever he wants," I said softly and watched a muscle tick in his jaw. For a moment it was all I could see, my eyes didn't shift anywhere else.

Finally he talked again. "All right, in the meantime, what do you plan to do?"