Where We Began

by Nora Flite

  Then I see another face—Dominic's uncle. Vahn and Kara look nothing alike. But as different as they are, they're watching Dominic and me with the exact same expression.

  Disgust.

  - Chapter 27 -

  Laiken

  It's late when the party ends. That's how I know it went well.

  I linger, observing from the sidelines as several men shake Silas's hand before they exit. Yes, this definitely went the way I'd hoped.

  I'm buzzing with relief. But that starts to fade the longer I wait around in the ballroom. I'd hoped that Dominic would find me here. He'd said he wanted to, and I'm eager for more of the wicked pleasure he can give me. It will definitely let me ride my high in the right way.

  Eventually, I'm alone. The room is empty, my heels echoing as I circle the dirty tables. The maids will clean this all away tomorrow. It will be like the event never happened.

  Not for me, though.

  Even if the party went well... I can't forget that Kara was here. I didn't see her leave, I don't know who she came with. Without the party or Dominic to distract me, my mind starts a mile run of paranoia.

  Why was she here tonight? To mess with me, like a cruel joke? Is she going to come back? Will I not see her again until I escape, and even then, do I have to save her too? Silas must have her on lock down somewhere else. That makes sense. He told me he had the rest of my family.

  But then, did he bring her here? Does Dominic really not know? I want to believe him, but I already know he has secrets. This could be another one. I'm all fucked up with anxiety. After taking another circle of the room, I give the pinecones a regretful glance, then leave.

  Dominic slipped out when I was talking to someone else. I'd thought he'd return before the party ended. Now, I'm worried something happened to him. Maybe he felt ill, I think, wandering the hallway towards my room. He could have gone to lie down. I pull up short, thinking of what he said before. About taking me to his room.

  Pivoting, I change directions. My speed quickens as I traverse the quiet halls. The lights are low, but I can see fine. Not that I need to; I know this house exceptionally well. I definitely know the way to Dominic's room.

  The closer I get, the faster my heart ripples. It's like someone tossed a stone into the puddle inside of my chest. For years, when I'd come this way, sadness would claw and attack me. It hurt so much to know his room was sitting empty.

  Now... now, I'll get to open that door and see him inside. See his huge body filling the room, luxuriate in his sheets as he holds me down on the silk, kissing me until I sob. I'm nearly to the door when I notice there's a thin rod of light spilling from it onto the red carpet. I realize he's got to be inside, just seconds before I here someone talking. The tone rises then falls, and my stomach drops as I swear I'm hearing two people.

  I get near the door's crack. Through it, I see the side of Dominic's head. Glorious relief somersaults through me. I imagined a second voice. Was he talking to himself? I decide it doesn't matter—I can't wait to surprise him. I reach for the knob, preparing to let myself in.

  “Don't lecture me,” Kara says, moving into view. Her eyes are closed, but not in a peaceful way. Her features are strained and tight. “I know I came off as cold. How else was I supposed to be, though?”

  My heart slams into my ribs with escalating tempo. Why are they talking alone?

  Why are they talking at all?

  “She's been wishing she could see you again for years, Kara. This wasn't the reunion she wanted.”

  “It's not the one I wanted, either,” she seethes. Her eyes fly open, centering on him. “You know you have to end this. You can't put her in danger like you are. Dominic—”

  “You don't get to tell me what happens next,” he says. From my slim view of the scene I can see the vein in his neck; he's furious. “My promise to you had nothing to do with what happens between me and her.”

  “Fuck, you're so selfish.” She puts her hand on his forearm, a pleading touch, a familiar touch.

  As my world splits open, dripping me into the void, I realize something that should be impossible. A fact they both kept hidden from me.

  Dominic and my sister know each other.

  - Chapter 28 -

  Laiken

  I want to run. I want to vomit. If I turn around, abandoning this scene, I can do both without either of them knowing. They would keep their secrets, and I'd be left to wonder how their relationship started. Was it like how we began - Dominic and I?

  Running is easy and I'm amazing at it. But the confusion in my heart grabs hold of my legs and shoves me forward. That first, stiff step is the hardest. The rest are a breeze.

  Dominic and Kara look up in surprise. “Laiken?” he asks. “What are you doing here?”

  “That question belongs to me,” I say, snapping my eyes between the two of them. The distress in my voice reaches his ears and he manages to look worried. I expected guilt. He should be scrambling to explain what the hell is going on.

  Kara turns towards me. She's still wearing that beautiful gown, and I think how unfair that is—how she can be so gorgeous while owning such ugly lies. “I'm guessing you want to talk,” she says.

  “You're going to talk, I'm going to listen.”

  My sister breathes out in exasperation. “Dominic, leave us alone.”

  “No, I want him to stay.”

  “Well I don't want him around me or you,” she hisses. Her eyes flash to him, like she can command him to go without him fighting back. I'm stunned when he inclines his head, walking around me towards the door.

  I twist, grabbing his wrist as he passes. “You don't need to go.”

  He frowns gently. “I do.” With a simple sway of his massive shoulder, he breaks my grip and leaves the room. I'm shut inside with Kara; it's the first time we've been alone together in six years. Since the day we made our promise.

  She folds her arms, cupping her elbows. “Want to sit, or stand?”

  “Don't act so casual!” I shout, marching closer to her. “I want to know how you and Dominic could possibly know each other. How is that—just how? When?”

  Kara is emotionless. I don't know how she's capable of it. I'm losing my mind. “Really. That's what you want to know? Not what that piece of shit is hiding from you?”

  I let my mouth gape. There's no way she knows what Dominic refuses to tell me. But the gleam in her almond shaped eyes is sharp. “You're talking like you want me to hate him.”

  “I'm stunned you don't already.”

  Bristling, I clench my fists. “Don't act like you know what I've gone through here. He never hurt me, he's the only one who's shown me any kindness.”

  “It's all an act, Laiken. He doesn't actually care about anyone. He isn't capable.”

  “You don't know him!”

  “I know him more than you!” The cool sheet of ice that was covering her emotions shatters. It's water now, impossible to pick back up. For a second, she doesn't look like my sister, but a vile creature with bared teeth and gums. “Listen to me. That man is responsible for terrible things. I thought I wouldn't have to tell you, I was sure someone else already had! But now, after seeing the pathetic way he's drawn you to him, it's obvious you don't know what he really is.”

  I'm shaking where I stand. This isn't the first time someone has spoken about Dominic like he's a literal demon walking the earth. But it's different when she says it. “Then tell me,” I say, trying to sound as confident as I want to feel. “Whatever you know about him, I want to hear it. It won't change my opinion on him one bit.”

  Kara angles her head lower. She's staring at me through her fringe of lashes. Those bitter blue eyes used to shine with joy, especially when they were locked on me. This girl who would lie awake with me at night, our beds pressed together, whispering secrets that I was eager to hear, is about to give me one that feels like a curse.

  “You think he's just rough around the edges. That military school made him big and hard and serious?” H
er lips keep moving, unable to stop the landslide behind her teeth. “Laiken... he's more than some intimidating meat-head with tattoos. That man killed his own flesh and blood. He murdered his cousin.”

  My heart parades until I expect it to collapse. I didn't hear her correctly, I couldn't have. “He didn't,” I whisper, my reply hollow in my ears. “He wouldn't.”

  Kara's eyebrows lift a hair, her pink lips pushing outward. This is what pity looks like. She realizes that Dominic's hooks are so deep in my heart that I want to deny what she tells me because it will taint me.

  It will taint him.

  Also, if what she says is true, my life is going to change.

  “Dominic killed Bernard,” she says. “Murdered him while they were alone on a ski trip.”

  Bernard. I haven't heard that name in years. “How can you know this?” I ask, reeling.

  Her soft features are marred by a sorrow I can't fully grasp. Her fingers come up, brushing through her hair, moving further like she's brushing the phantoms of longer pieces. “Because Dominic was the only one with him that night.” Then her anger returns ten-fold. “He denied it just enough to not get arrested, but he told his uncle he was responsible. He got away, free as a bird, while Bernard...” she trails off.

  I reach for her, wanting to hug her and heal her pain. Her eyes go dull, unfocused, as she leans forward towards my touch like she has so many times when we were kids. At the last second she stops herself. I don't think there's room in me for more pain, but she proves me wrong. “Kara, what am I supposed to do?”

  “Are you joking?” she hisses. “Laiken! He's a MURDERER! The only thing you should do is keep away from him. Nothing about him is good. It's all tricks and lies. All of it.”

  I struggle to shout that she's wrong but my tongue is stiff as cement. I knew when Dominic came back into my world that something was different, something wrong, and twisted, and awful. He couldn't hide it. It winked at me from his black eyes... it simmered in his calculating, precise threats.

  He was capable of dragging me back to this house when I tried to run.

  He was capable of threatening me, terrifying me, interrogating me.

  Again and again, he's told me lies.

  I dig down, aching for a way to prove she's wrong but I can't find anything. Kara's words have struck my heart into silence.

  These past few days with Dominic, I'd carved away the layers that hid his tender soul. I felt the warmth that burned between us even during a raging storm. I began to believe he was capable of loving me. None of that matters now.

  Maybe some people are strong enough to love a killer.

  But I'm not.

  To Be Continued

  Click here to get Where We Ended (Where We Began Duet Book 2)

  Laiken has finally heard the dark rumors about me.

  Everyone who hears runs away. But she can't.

  She's trapped here, in my house—with me.

  Each minute we're together I'm driven to swallow her up. To see if the electricity that moves between us will grow or vanish. I thought we were falling in love.

  Now, I'm sure that she hates my very existence.

  But when she glares at me... I see a flicker of desire in her blue eyes.

  The way she fixates on my mouth reminds me of how filthy we've been.

  How filthy we could be.

  My father has warned me to stay away from her. He knows she's become my weakness.

  All my life, I just wanted to be the perfect soldier for him.

  To do everything he asked so he'd be proud.

  I thought I could.

  She's doing her best to prove me wrong.

  ~ABOUT THE AUTHOR~

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  A USA Today Bestselling Author, Nora Flite lives in SoCal where the weather is warm and she doesn't have to shovel snow—something she never grew to love in her tiny home state of Rhode Island.

  All of her romances involve passionate, filthy, and slightly obsessive heroes—because those are clearly the best kind! She's always been a writer, and you'll probably have to pry her keyboard/pen/magical future writing device out of her cold, dead fingers before she'll stop.

  She loves when people say hello! If you see her in the wild, walk up and start chatting. Or hey, just email her— noraflite@gmail.com

  www.NoraFlite.com

  -Nora Flite