She straightened her shoulders, wiped those tears away, and nodded. No more of that. From here on out she had to stay strong so she could get through this not for her but for Dom too. “All right, let’s go.”

Within minutes they arrived at the side of the road and that quickly her bravado faltered.

Dom stood there, leaning back against an SUV wearing the fiercest scowl she’d ever seen. He glanced up at their arrival and she froze, not at the scowl or the barely restrained violence in his stance, but at the cold anger in his eyes. The look he gave her actually made her shiver, then his eyes were off her, and pretending she didn’t exist.

Grayson slowed his steps, walking much more cautiously than he had been. “Didn’t know you were coming.”

“Changed my mind,” Dom said.

Grayson grunted.

Without sparing her a glance, Dom climbed into the passenger seat. Grayson looked back at her, and then jerked his head towards the car signaling her to get in. For a moment after Grayson took the driver’s seat, she stood there by herself within feet of the man she was supposed to be mated to right now.

She tried to take hold of her feelings. They were running too loose and wild for her tastes. She took a deep breath and let it out then repeated the process until the numb-like cold passed. It never passed completely but enough that she resigned herself for what came next and got in that car.

She wouldn’t realize until later how bad things could get.

Chapter 27

She knew when Grayson didn’t take the exit that would go to the estate that they weren’t going there. When they arrived at Dominic’s house she felt a mixture of relief that any possible fighting they might do wouldn’t be in the same house with his mother and any brothers. She also felt terror that they might be alone.

Without a word to his brother Dominic went into the house leaving her to mutter a quick goodbye to Grayson and follow him.

The lights weren’t turned on. She stood in the foyer feeling lost and out of place with no idea where to go or what to do.

“Dom?” she called out.

He didn’t answer, but she heard something shuffling around upstairs. She followed the noise, her steps heavy and slow. She headed for his bedroom where a light spilled out from the cracked door. She stopped in front it, raised her hand to knock, and then lowered it feeling silly.

“Dom?” she tried again.

A big shadow filled the doorway and then the door swung open. Dominic stood there, staring down at her as if he didn’t know her. She sucked in a breath at the sharp pain that look caused.

“I’m so sorry.” The words came. “I’m so sorry about everything. I fucked everything up because I was stupid and impulsive. I know I can never give you that election back, but I’ll do anything you want to help make it right. You want me gone forever just say the words, you want me to go to the media and tell them I’m a lying whore to save your face I’ll do it. Tell me what to do and I’ll do it.”

He stared down at her, silent as a statue.

The pain in her chest grew worse. “Please, won’t you talk to me?”

“What I want,” he said, words slow and very quiet, “is for you to go to sleep in the spare bedroom down the hall.” He closed the door in her face.

Felicity blinked several times as she tried to comprehend how the door got to be closed in her face. She tried to decide how rude he’d been and how necessary that was to the situation. When she’d figured out that indeed it had been pretty rude but she probably deserved it she then thought about leaving. If he brought her all the way up here to ignore her then she’d be better off leaving.

Blowing out a hot breath, Felicity stopped thinking and acted. She banged her fist on his bedroom door in the way police did when they knocked.

The door swung open a few seconds later. Dom glowered down at her only this time his jaw was steadily grinding. He didn’t say a word, merely lifted a questioning brow.

“I want to talk about this now.”

“Go to bed.”

“Then I’m sleeping with you.”

He jerked back, unexpected. “You really don’t want to be around me right now, Felicity.”

She narrowed her eyes. “Does that mean that you don’t want to be around me because that’s what it sounds like?”

“Yeah,” he said flat out.

Now her jaw grinded. “Listen, if you brought me here to be an asshole then forget it. I’m leaving.”

She started down the hallway, but a hand curled around her arm, snapped her back around so she faced him. “You’re not leaving.”

“Then we talk about this right now. I said I’m sorry. I know that doesn’t sound like much and now I’m getting all worked up but I really am sorry, baby. I know I hurt you but it was all an accident. Just let me explain my side of the story, please?”

The hand around her arm curled tighter, enough to worry her, and then he jerked her into the room. The door slammed with a loud bang behind them. They were close now, his eyes were locked on hers; their chests close to touching.

“You want to talk about this right now?”

Felicity paused. At the scary look in his eyes she began rethinking her decision. “Okay, maybe it’s best if we wait until there’s been a little more time for everyone to cool off.”

“Oh, no, sweets. You want to do this now, let’s do this now.”

Why did he have to sound so scary?

“Here I was standing proud in front of my people, my family, my friends waiting for this one woman who’s ensnared me and she doesn’t show. Not only that, I get to stand there in front of all these people worrying about Helena, about the election, about Grayson’s health and a hundred other things that won’t leave me be no matter how hard I try, and then I hear a commotion.” He came towards her, bringing their bodies closer. “Right then, like a gunshot had just gone off, I knew. I knew you were running like a scared little mouse seeing a big hungry cat.”

“I don’t know about that description,” Felicity muttered.

“Oh, yeah, like a little frightened mouse. So I run after you. There’s Helena looking smug and righteous and you, the most beautiful woman in my world, climbing into his fucking car.”

He managed to compliment her and make her blood run cold all in the same sentence. “Dom, I’m sorry. I was scared.”

“You were scared,” he said flatly. “I get scared too. Felicity, doesn’t mean you can run away from it.”

Anger came to a slow boil. “Not everyone is like you, and I’m certainly not like you. Not everyone is as strong as you are. I was scared shitless. I had no one in that room but you. Not even my mother was there, was she? You know what, I don’t talk to her but it would have been nice to have my only family at my mating ceremony. How could I even been excited about the greatest day in my life when I knew I’d be fighting a battle the moment I stepped into that room?”

“Is that what this is about? Helena?” He slowly turned his head to look away, those big hands curling into tight fists, and then he turned back to her with that same level of patience. “I had her taken care of.”

“What the hell does that mean?”

“I had a financial trap set up for her. If she dared to try to challenge you, I’d ruin her. I know Helena and she loves nothing more than money. She wouldn’t have touched a hair on your head. I never would have let her touch you. How do you not know that?”

Felicity reeled, started pacing around the room as her voice grew louder. “What? But that’s illegal. If someone wants to challenge then they have the right to do that. You couldn’t threaten her like that.”

His eyes flared. “I can do anything I want and if it means protecting what’s mine then I’ll do anything.”

The fight went out of her, or at least, most of it. “Baby, why didn’t you tell me?”

“Tell you what exactly? I didn’t have a lot of time from the campaign ball, to dealing with the mess there, then work, and the ceremony the next night.”