Page 61 of Graves

His smile falls instantly, pain and anger passing over his face. For a moment, I think he’s going to get up and storm away, but after a few seconds, he uncaps the tequila, pouring it into his glass before lifting the clear liquid to his lips. He tosses itback without a wince or a hint of a burn before he stares at me.

“Did your dad hurt you?” he asks.

A cold chill runs down my spine at the question. Fuck, I guess neither of us are pulling any punches here.

I debate on taking the shot, but if I do, we might both be drunk before we get anywhere tonight.

“No,” I answer shortly.

His eyes squint at that, but he doesn’t say anything, just nods.

“Do you think Zayden will ever kill me?” I ask.

He frowns at that, physically recoiling at the question as he opens his mouth to answer before he pauses.

“I hope not.”

My eyes bug out at that, and Dom doesn’t offer me any comforting words for several seconds before he speaks again.

“Zayden can’t do anything halfway. He hates big, he fights big, he obsesses big. It’s who he is. The only way I could see Zayden hurting you is the way a child hurts the new puppy they got for their birthday. He’ll love you so big, want nothing more than to hold you tight. Only if he’s not careful, it’ll be too tight, and he’ll snap your neck.”

Confliction courses through me at his words. Mainly because I don’t know what to do with them. Fear isn’t an emotion that pops to the surface, and that’s concerning for me. Disgust isn’t up there either, again concerning. Instead, Dom’s words just make sense. They confirmed everything that I suspected but didn’t know how to verbalize. Zayden is clearly obsessed with me. He even thinks he loves me, and consciously,I don’t think he would ever hurt me, but with all that obsession and all that “love,” there is a very real possibility that I won’t make it out of this alive.

“I’m not gonna let that happen,” Dominic continues, as if he can see my mind spiraling. “I’ll die before harm comes to you.”

My stomach flips at the ferocity in his words, the truth behind every syllable. He reaches out, cupping my hand in his and lifting it to his lips, pressing a quick kiss to it before squeezing.

We continue playing the game for what feels like hours. I start asking all the questions I know Dominic won’t answer, like what Zayden actually does for work, what else he does for work that he doesn’t tell me about, where Zayden went away to months ago, or where he is now. Each question was met with a shot that had the silent giant sinking deeper and deeper into the couch. Guess he can’t hold his liquor as much as he thought.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m three sheets to the wind myself. Dominic started getting really fine-tuned with his questions, asking if any boyfriends or kids in the foster homes ever hurt me. I chose not to answer instead of being honest because if I were honest, that would leave only a few more questions, and I don’t want him even close to that trail.

“Okay, okay, I gots one,” I slur with a giggle.

Dom chuckles and wipes his hand across his face like he can shake off the buzz he clearly has going on.

“Have you ever hads a th-hreesome,” I say, the words struggling to roll off my tongue as I begin giggling once more.

I watch as Dom licks his lips, sinking his teeth into his lower one with a salacious smirk.

“Dominic Graves!” I gasp as my words evolve into a fit of laughter once more.

He shrugs his shoulders.

“My brother and I are a good team.”

Heat rushes through me at his words.

“You had a threesome with Zayden and another woman?”

Dominic nods.

“Was it hot?” I ask, my pulse thundering and my panties soaking at the thought of it.

His eyes come to mine, heat flaring in the deep brown eyes.

“Very.”

The next words that slip out of my mouth are unexpected and completely unauthorized.

---