Page 119 of The Obsession
I’m not even sure where he’s taking me. Home, outside … somewhere quieter? Either way, I don’t fight him. What’s the point? I won’t win against this man-giant, so I hang limply like a rag doll.
I hear Dominic grunt, and from my upside-down view, I catch the legs of a man in black trousers stepping asidebefore my kidnapper shoves through a door and heads down a long corridor. The music and noise from the club fade with every step he takes.
He stops abruptly at a large metal door, punching in a code before swinging it open. The second the cool night air hits my bare legs, I know he’s taken me outside.
I lift my head enough to glance around. It’s dark, but a distant streetlight spills enough glow to make out the narrow brick walls around us—an alleyway.
Dominic takes a few more steps, putting distance between us and the street, before he finally slides me down the hard, muscled front of his body and sets me on my feet.
Both of his hands remain on my hips, keeping our bodies plastered together. I tilt my head back, staring up at him, but neither of us speaks. The hurt and confusion I see on his face, though, is palpable.
“Why are you here?” I ask.
He clears his throat, his fingers digging deeper into my flesh, but he doesn’t answer straight away. It’s like he’s choosing his words carefully, turning them over in his head before deciding which ones I’m allowed to hear. “The truth?”
“No, lie to me,” I retort.
“The thought of you going home with another man tonight made me insane. Like something went nuclear in my head, and knocked me so far out of my depth I couldn’t think straight.”
My eyes narrow as I let his words sink in. “So you don’t want me, but don’t want anyone else to have me either? That’s unfair, don’t you think?”
He rears back slightly, the lines carving deeper into his forehead. “I’ve never claimed I didn’t want you, Emily.”
“Not with your words, but your actions last night said enough.”
He releases his grip on one of my hips and drags a handdown his face. “I thought I was doing the right thing by you last night when I walked away.”
I gasp, taking a step back. “The right thing by me? How? Do you realise how much that hurt me?” My voice wavers despite my efforts to keep it steady. “Does the thought of me touching you disgust you that much?” I ask as tears burn the back of my eyes.
Before I can retreat another step, his hands are back on me, pulling my body flush against his.
“I didn’t end things last night because I didn’t want you.” His knuckle gently skims down the side of my face as if to solidify his words. “Walking away from you was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. I want you, cupcake. Fuck do I want you, don’t ever doubt that. But as soon as I saw the marks I left, it reminded me of the things your ex did. It was like ice-cold water being thrown over me. I brought you to my house to keep you safe, to give you time to heal, and in that moment, I felt like him … like the biggest piece of shit imaginable.”
“Those marks were done in the heat of passion, Dom, not out of anger, not out of anything meant to hurt me. You need to understand that. You aren’t him. You’ve never scared me the way he did. I feel safe with you. Safer than I’ve felt in my life.”
“You’ll always be safe with me.”
“I know,” I say. “Until I came to live with you and Peach, I felt broken. You gave me a place where I finally feel like I belong. A home and a family. I’ve been acting like I’m okay for far too long, but in reality, I was drowning in my own mind.”
He turns his face away, looking off into the distance, so I reach up and gently cup his cheeks, bringing his gaze back to me. I want him to hear my words because I’m speaking from the heart.
“I used to wake up every morning, trying to convincemyself that things would get better, but they never did. Not when my mum remarried. Not after I reconnected with Mick. Not even when I left Queensland and my handsy stepfather?—”
“I’ll kill that cunt if I ever have the displeasure of meeting him.”
“No, you won’t,” I counter.
He arches a challenging eyebrow. “Wanna make a bet?”
“You won’t because if you did, it would hurt my mother. And, for some unknown reason, she loves him, and hurting her would hurt me.”
He throws back his head and groans. “Fine, but I’m at least going to break a finger or two.”
I let out a small laugh. “I can live with that.”
“Consider it done.”
“You’re the best thing that has ever happened to me, Dominic Rizzo, and I don’t want you to ever doubt that.”
