The Sacrificial Lamb (25 page)

“I’m sorry,” he whispered. There was no noise from inside, so he turned and went to his own bedroom.

Domenic knew what he had to do. It wouldn’t be easy—in fact it would be one of the most difficult things he ever had to do in his life—but it was necessary. He would have to keep Alex at arm’s length the rest of the time they were together.

When Domenic had walked toward the door, Alex had seen his face for a moment, and he’d looked broken. What she would have given to be able to steal his pain away, but it was obvious he wasn’t going to let her do that. When the door shut behind him, she curled up in the spot he’d just vacated, wrapped her arms around herself, and began to cry.

Alex spent the next couple of hours beating herself up for pushing Domenic to tell her about his life. Even knowing that things from his past haunted him, she couldn’t leave well enough alone. It had been just like the other day when she’d kept at him about Bianca. Who was she to barge into his life and demand to know anything about what made him who he was? She was no one. She was nothing to him.

And yet if that were true, Domenic would have never said a word to her. He wouldn’t have let her see the demons riding him. He had said she was the one person in his life right now that he trusted, but then why had he left so suddenly? Alex felt like a giant hypocrite. Here she had been doing the exact same thing—running away—and now that she realized she didn’t want to run anymore, she was upset because he had taken a page from her book.

Staring at the door, Alex wondered if she should go after him. He couldn’t be very far because he wouldn’t have left her unprotected. Perhaps he’d gone to sit in his car for a while? Or maybe he was just standing outside like he’d been the last time he left the cabin? She waffled back and forth and even got up from the armchair a few times, but each time she sat back down, not wanting to risk pushing him further away.

When Domenic hadn’t returned, she shuffled to her room and crawled into bed. Alex tried to wait up for him, but she didn’t hear anything that indicated he had come back, so eventually she fell asleep.

When Alex woke up, she was still upset about the events of the night before. Briefly she wondered if Domenic had come back at all. She didn’t know what to do. Pretending to be brave, she got out of bed, pulled on some shorts, and walked out of her bedroom door. The living room was empty. So was the kitchen. There was a plate of food on the table, and she walked over to find a note written beside it in a tidy script.

Gone out for a bit
D

Gone out for a bit? Gone out where? They were in the middle of a damned forest—it wasn’t like he could go to the local mall! Alex was pretty pissed off. Domenic brought her out to buttfuck-nowhere and then left her stranded and alone? Stalking over to the door, she pulled it open and walked to the shed where he kept the Mercedes. Her heart was hammering in her chest as she yanked the doors open. If his car was gone, she would give herself permission to go into full panic mode.

The Mercedes was still there. She breathed a sigh of relief and closed the doors. Where could he have gone? They’d made some progress, and then he had hightailed it out of there. Her eyes began to prickle, and she lifted her face to the sun to keep the tears at bay. She refused to break down again. She was sick and tired of crying.

Alex went back inside to eat the food Domenic had prepared. It was cold and gummy, but even a gourmet meal wouldn’t have been enjoyable. All around the room were reminders of Domenic. This table where they sat to eat, his stupid note, the Scrabble game that was still strewn over the coffee table, the book he had been reading before he’d walked out on her. Alex threw away most of the food and washed her plate.

Dragging her feet, she lay down on the couch to read. Of course she couldn’t concentrate on the words on the page. Instead she just replayed their conversation over and over again. Despite the fact Alex had tried to comfort Domenic afterward, it seemed too little, too late. The damage had already been done, and any trust he may have had in her must have vanished.

No wonder he didn’t even want to be near her.

By the time Domenic returned, Alex had worked herself up to the point of hyperventilation. She had gotten up from the couch numerous times and looked out the window in search of him. She’d walked into the kitchen for food, looking through the refrigerator and cupboards over and over again only to decide she was too nervous to eat. Time crawled by as her agitation continued to grow. Alex had convinced herself Domenic would never come back. One morning she would get up and his car would be gone. Maybe he’d arrange for someone to come and get her. Just as she was about to freak out, he walked back into the cabin.

“Domenic!” Alex said in relief. She got up and went toward him, but he moved so the armchair was between them. “Where have you been?” she asked, barely concealing the hurt in her voice.

“I needed to scout the area,” he said coolly. “I wanted to make sure no one was in the forest or knew we were here.”

He removed his gun from the back of his pants, checked the magazine, and put on the safety. The sudden action made her jump. It had been days since he’d handled a weapon in front of her, and she’d gotten used to seeing him without it.

“Oh,” she said in a small voice. “How would you know if anyone had been here?”

“Simple tracking methods.”

“Like what?” She wanted desperately for him to talk to her like he had before.

“Look, I don’t have the time to describe it to you, Alex.”

“That’s funny,” she said, looking around the cabin in an exaggerated way. “I thought all we had was time?”

“Well, we don’t. I realized last night I’d been lax in my duties. Anyone could have snuck up on us the last few days, and I was too busy entertaining you to notice.”

Alex stared at him. Who was this man and what he had done with her Domenic?

“Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to check on the room downstairs. We’re going through provisions quicker than expected, and I have to make sure everything is ready for when I leave you alone.”

Turning on his heel, he walked to his bedroom, leaving her standing there. What had she done to make Domenic hate her so much? How had he turned into a complete stranger overnight?

Alex waited for Domenic to come out, but instead of sitting down in the living room, he went to the kitchen and started counting what was left of their food supply. His lips were compressed into a thin line, and he scribbled on a pad of paper. He didn’t look at her once, and she realized how much she was missing the warmth of his gaze and the easy smiles he had given her over the last few days.

Finally he was done and came to join Alex in the living room. Instead of talking to her, he picked up his book and started to read. She wanted to scream. She wanted to rant and rave and stomp her feet like a child. Alex didn’t want to be with this shell of the man she had started to care for. She wanted Domenic back.

The silence was too much. “When do you think you’ll have to leave?”

“In about three days.” Curt, cold, to the point. He made no eye contact.

“How long will you be gone?”

“Approximately an hour.”

“I’ve heard that before,” she said, trying at some levity. It fell flat.

“Well, hopefully, you decide to stay put and wait if I’m running late this time.”

“Domenic—”

“Alex, I’ve been up since the fucking crack of dawn, checking the woods around here,” he snapped. “I’m tired. I think I’ll go to my room for a bit.” Getting up, he went to his bedroom and shut the door with a heavy thud.

Wrapping her arms around her knees, Alex stared at his door and wished that she could turn back time.

E
VEN
T
HOUGH
D
OMENIC
had told Alex he was tired—and despite the fact he had barely gotten any sleep—he was keyed up. Stripping off his shirt, he got down on the floor and started to do pushups. His hands were balled into fists, knuckles digging into the wooden floor. He welcomed the pain while hoisting his body up and down relentlessly, punishing himself for being so stupid as to fall for Alex.

Domenic wasn’t sure how many pushups he’d done, but sweat was pouring off his body. His arms, chest, and legs were screaming for mercy. Still, none of it trumped the pain he was feeling from having to reject Alexis. Eventually she would figure out hers was just a passing infatuation due to their circumstances. Danger always had a way of heightening everything. She looked at him as a savior of sorts, her protector. She didn’t see the ruined man inside the shiny plated armor she had constructed around him. The scales would fall from her eyes soon enough, so it was better if he saved them both the resulting grief when that happened.

Just speeding up the process
, he told himself as his muscles strained and his arms threatened to collapse from under him. Domenic lowered himself, arms spread out, cheek pressed to the cool floor until he gathered the strength to pull himself up. The used towel from his morning shower was slung carelessly over a chair. Snagging it, he ran it across his chest. He stood up and made his way to the bed, still wiping the sweat off his body, face, and neck. Once he was more or less dry, he sprawled backward on the mattress. The sleepless night and all of his activity during the day caught up with him. His eyes started to drift closed, and he succumbed to his fatigue.

Two sea turtles were fucking on his bed. The male was disgusting as he grunted. The female looked…bored.

Domenic startled awake. He looked around his room and at the foot of his bed where the sea turtles had been fucking a moment ago. Of course there was nothing there.

Great, even the sea turtles around here are getting laid
, he thought blearily, rubbing his eyes. He sat up and stretched. There was a bit of an ache in his muscles, but it was nothing he hadn’t endured before. Looking at the clock on his bedside table, he realized it was almost time for dinner. His stomach growled in protest, and he remembered he hadn’t eaten anything since early that morning. It was impossible to hide in his room forever, no matter how much he wanted to.

He headed to the bathroom to take a shower and saw Alex in the kitchen making dinner. He washed up and went out to the main area of the cabin. Whatever Alex was cooking smelled fabulous, and his stomach emitted loud noises, letting him know it agreed with that conclusion.

Alex had her back to him as she prepared the food, so he got something to drink and then sat down at the table. She placed a plate of fried chicken, mashed potatoes, and corn in front of him. Domenic didn’t even want to guess at the trouble she’d gone to just to mash the potatoes since they had rudimentary supplies here.

“You didn’t have to go through all this trouble,” he said quietly.

“I know. I thought you’d be hungry since you haven’t eaten all day.” Her eyes were downcast, and Domenic felt a stab of guilt. Even after being mean to Alex and shutting her out, she had his best interests at heart. He wished she would just get mad at him and yell at him, so he could use her anger as a weapon to drive her further away. This act of contrition bullshit wasn’t fair—he didn’t know how to fight against it.

It didn’t help that this was the best food he’d eaten in a long while.
The way to a man’s heart is through his stomach,
he thought wryly. Domenic was starving and dug in heartily. Alex just sat across from him and picked at her food. The small pucker was between her eyes again.