The Sacrificial Lamb (24 page)

It didn’t take long for her to reach climax, as tightly wound as she was. Trying to keep quiet as the spasms rocked her body proved to be more difficult than she thought. The last thing Alex needed was for Domenic to have any idea of what was going on in here. It wasn’t lost on her that she had chosen to masturbate, even though the man she had just fantasized about was in the next room. And would likely have been a willing participant if given the chance.

Once composed, she got out of the shower, wrapped up her hair in a towel, and donned the bathrobe hanging on the door. Stepping out into the larger room, she noticed Domenic was in the chair reading. He glanced up and gave her a lopsided grin as she went past, heading to her bedroom. Alex managed to waste a few more minutes as she put on some clothes and towel-dried her hair. She was excited to see Domenic again and nervous at the same time. It seemed as if no matter what they did, it always ended the same way. One of these days, she might not have the will to pull away.

Taking a deep breath, she pulled open her bedroom door and headed into the kitchen for more water. Alex stayed there, taking a few deep swallows. Unable to avoid the inevitable, she went into the living room.

“Feel better now?” Domenic asked. It was an innocent question, but her face flamed regardless.

“Yeah, thanks,” she mumbled, unable to look him in the eye. She would die of embarrassment if he ever knew what she had done.

“So, what would you like to do for the rest of the evening?”

Good Lord, if only he knew the answer to that question. Instead of telling him, however, she suggested another game of Scrabble. It was the most innocent activity they’d taken part in since they got here.

“You have to give me a chance to break the tie,” she said, smiling. So far they had each won the same amount of games after that first tied game.

“Good luck with that,” he retorted playfully.

They played till dinner, laughing and having fun. The sexual tension was never completely gone, but at least it had abated somewhat. Alex was able to enjoy their time together without worrying about her waning willpower. Occasionally she caught Domenic’s eye, and her stomach would explode into tiny butterflies, but she did her best to ignore it.

After dinner, she’d had enough Scrabble, and didn’t feel like reading. She watched Domenic as he flipped through the pages of the book in his hands. She was really curious about how he ended up in the mob but wasn’t sure if he would be okay with her questioning him about it. After a few more minutes, she decided to bite the bullet.

“Can I ask you a personal question?”

That got Domenic’s attention. “That depends. How personal?”

“Relax, it’s not like I want to know when you lost your virginity or anything…”

“Thirteen.”

“Really?” she said, agog. “Well, that’s, uh…
really?”

“Yes, really,” he said, chuckling. “Is that young to you?”

“How old was she?” Alex asked, all of a sudden incredibly curious.

“Seventeen,” he said smugly.

“Really?”

“I looked older for my age.”

“I guess so,” she grumbled under her breath, feeling a little spark of jealousy.

“Why? How old were you?”

“
Not
thirteen,” Alex said primly, and Domenic sniggered in amusement.

“You don’t want to tell me?”

She squirmed, trying to figure out how he had turned the tables on her. “Fine! I was nineteen.”

“Really?”

“No, I’m lying,” she said, piqued that he looked so surprised. “Why, does that seem old to you?” she challenged.

“I’m just trying to figure out how you escaped the clutches of all the rabid teenage boys.” Domenic looked honestly confused, and she was flattered at his comment.

“Well that’s easy enough. There were no rabid teenage boys chasing me.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“Why would I lie about that? Don’t forget—I was the sheriff’s daughter.”

“Boys in your town must have been real pussies. I would have risked it.”

Domenic gave her the same burning look as before, and her heart skipped a beat. Alex finally remembered she needed air and took a ragged breath.

“Um, thank you,” she said, embarrassed. “Anyway, that wasn’t what I wanted to ask you.”

“Sorry about that,” he replied, lips quirking up. Alex realized he’d been trying to distract her, and she had most definitely fallen for it.

“You said you’d let me know more about…your job,” she said, giving him a sidelong glance.

“I did,” Domenic replied evenly. “But before we start, I reserve the right to veto any questions I don’t want to answer.”

“That’s fair.”

“What do you want to know?” Domenic sat back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest. Alex knew he wasn’t looking forward to this conversation, but since he had promised her answers, she thought it was fair he keep his end of the bargain.

“Why?” she asked simply.

Domenic’s brows drew together. “What do you mean, why? That’s kind of broad, isn’t it?”

“I just don’t get it,” she said. “You graduated from an Ivy League school. Why this? Out of all the things you could have done in your life, why did you join the mob?”

“Ah, Alex…what do you want me to say? What do you want to hear?”

“The truth.”

“The truth? You want to hear that my father was the head of the most notorious mob family in Chicago, and now, by rights I’m in line to take over?”

She looked at him speechless. She’d thought he was just an underling, not the prince awaiting his rightful place at the throne.

“So, that’s what you meant by saying this was a legacy?”

“Yes,” he said bitterly. “This wasn’t my life’s ambition, Alex. I did this for reasons you will never understand.”

“Make me understand, Domenic.”

He looked at her with a pained expression, and her heart went out to him. He seemed so conflicted, and she didn’t expect him to continue answering her questions.

“I don’t know if I can,” he replied, sadness infusing his words.

“You can trust me,” she implored.

“Right now, you’re probably the only person I trust.” Domenic ran a hand over his face and took a deep breath. “Do you remember when I told you my father died?” She nodded solemnly. “He was murdered by Carlo and his brothers.”

“Your boss?” Alex said, shocked at this admission.

“The very same.”

“But, how could you work for the man who killed your father!”

“Because he wasn’t going to live for long!” Domenic growled at her. She sank back into the couch at the look of unbridled hate on his face.

“You were going to kill him,” she whispered.

“That was my original plan.”

“Before you met me.”

“Yes.”

Alex sat in silence for a moment, chewing over the information Domenic had just given her. He had thrown away a prosperous life over a vendetta. She wasn’t sure what to make of it and was dismayed that he had allowed his life to be ruined for the sake of retaliation.

“So, all of this was about revenge?”

“That man killed my father right in front of me,” he said harshly. “Because of that, my mother died of heartbreak! And if that wasn’t bad enough, then he started threatening Bianca! What did you expect me to do? He wasn’t going to stop until I had nothing left. Nothing! Do you hear me?”

“Oh, Domenic.” Eyes filling with tears over his pain, Alex did understand. She understood too well that he thought there was no other way to live, unless he eradicated the source of all his misery.

Domenic bent over in his chair, holding his head in his hands. Rising from the couch, Alex went to him. She sat on the arm of the chair and stroked his back. “I’m sorry,” she said gently. “I’m so sorry.”

With some coaxing, he turned to her and wrapped his arms around her waist. Alex cradled his head against her breast and ran her fingers through his hair, murmuring to him. She was glad to be the one doing the comforting this time, but also sad about Domenic’s tragic confession. He remained still in her arms, clutching her to him.

Domenic’s ear was pressed over her beating heart, and she was starting to realize the futility of what she had been doing. Whether she succumbed to temptation or not, her heart was in peril of being irrevocably lost to this man.

He had done it. Domenic had finally told Alex why he had joined the Liseni and about his plan to assassinate Carlo. And even though she still didn’t know the entirety of the situation, it was enough. Domenic wasn’t sure what he had expected from her. Perhaps that she would be so disgusted with him, she’d want nothing more to do with him. A very small part of him wanted that reaction from her. Needed it.

What he hadn’t expected was for her to hold him in her arms as he fell apart. How long had it been since someone had comforted him? Surely not since his mother was alive and not in the last ten years. Yet here he was, with his arms around Alex, listening to her heart beating and her soothing words as she calmed him.

That was when it hit him. He loved Alex.

Somewhere in all this craziness, Domenic had fallen in love with this woman. How it had happened over a span of two weeks, he wasn’t sure. But it had happened.

And that was when the second realization struck. He would have to leave her.

At the end of it all, she would be delivered her to her father, and everything they shared would be forgotten. Well, forgotten by her anyway. Domenic would never forget. If someone had told him he would fall in love for the first time with a Liseni captive, he would have laughed at the absurdity of it all. It seemed like something you would find in a book or perhaps a movie. Not real life. Not
his
life.

It was suffocating. The thought of not being with Alex when they left here was too much for him to take. He had to escape. Had to get out of her intoxicating presence before he threw himself on the floor at her feet and begged she never leave him.

He managed to extricate himself from her soft embrace, and after making an excuse, left the cabin.

Seeing Alex’s stricken face almost changed his mind, but with a firm resolve he dashed out the door. Domenic was sprinting across the long grass and into the forest before he could talk himself out of this foolishness. He ran until his lungs felt like they would burst. Leaning against a tree, he drew long, ragged breaths and listened to the thundering beat of his heart in his ears. Gradually it slowed to a regular pace, but his mind was still in turmoil.

Why now? After spending so much time closed off to everyone, how had Alex clawed her way in? He should have known from the moment he laid eyes on her that she would be trouble. Now he was paying the price for not following his instincts. Domenic could never have let harm come to her, but he should have just handed her off. Instead he’d brought her to a secluded cabin in the woods. What a stroke of genius.

Domenic pushed his hair out of his face, running his fingers through the tangled mass. He needed a game plan. A way to get through this next week without becoming even more entangled with Alex. He had to push her away so she would stop looking at him the way she did now. The look that had shot straight through him and laid him bare. He may as well just open up his chest and hand her his still beating heart.

Taking his time, he picked his way back toward the cabin, glancing up between the branches so he could navigate his way using the stars. Looking up at the shining points of light reminded him of Alex and the night they went stargazing. Would it be possible for him to look up into the night sky now without seeing her face? He doubted it.

Domenic wandered around aimlessly, keeping within easy distance of the cabin. Alex was safe inside, but leaving her unprotected made him uneasy. He headed to the back of the cabin and watched for her bedroom light to turn on. It did, and shortly after it was turned off, plunging the room into darkness. Sitting by a tree, Domenic waited for an hour after she had gone to sleep. He figured it would be safe to return now without the threat of seeing her.

Making his way to the front of the cabin, he crept inside. As suspected, Alex wasn’t up waiting for him. Domenic wanted to feel relieved, but he didn’t. Instead he felt empty and lonely. He walked to her door, splayed his hands against it, and leaned his forehead against the smooth surface.