Page 23 of Beauty and the Billionaire

“So they don’t know,” Dominic said softly. He shrugged. “Maybe that’s for the best.”

My eyebrows lifted in surprise. It wasn’t something I expected. These days, all anyone talked about was owning yourself and showing your true colors with pride. But not Dominic.

“You see…” A masochistic smile tugged the corners of his lips as if he looked forward to facing the memories that he had kept at bay for so long. It flickered on and off, leaving a confused expression on his face. “I came out to my parents. Just after my freshman year, I was dating this guy.” He snorted. “A stupid fling. He told me I needed to come out to my parents. He said I’d feel great, so I did. That was the last stupid mistake I ever made.”

My heart clenched.

“I know what you think,” he said in a low voice. “That I’m cold and cruel. Maybe I am, but I also made a vow to myself. I would never let them win. We’re all alone, Zain.” He swirled his drink and sloshed it into his mouth before getting up. It forced me to look up as he towered over me. “And if you give the bastards a chance, they’ll get you down in a heartbeat. The world is built by people like that.”

“What did they do?” I whispered.

“Do you need to know the details?” he asked, suggesting with his tone that I certainly didn’t. He pressed his fingertip against his temple. A small, white scar was there. “The corner of our table gave me that. Of course, it only succeeded after my old man’s fist met my jaw.”

My stomach turned to stone. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be,” Dominic said. “I should thank him, really.” There was a dark, morbid fascination in his eyes now. He rose slowly and met my gaze. “He freed me. He taught me my most valuable lesson.” I knew already what it was, but he took a step closer to me, making me look all the way up just to hold his gaze. “Never lean on anyone, Zain. They’ll break you like a twig as soon as that’s in their best interest. People are evil. Not because of some corruption in their souls or whatever poets would say, but because evil is profitable. Evil will always bring a better result. And if you’re good, if you follow the rule of law, if you give everyone the benefit of the doubt, they’ll use you up. They’ll spend every last bit of you and leave you with nothing.”

“You’re wrong,” I said, although I only had my childish optimism to support that claim.

“Am I?” He let out a dark chuckle. “Think of Julian, Nicholas, and Maxwell, then. They gave me hell for four years. Every day of every week of every month, they spread lies about me. They couldn’t stand me because they knew I got my scholarship through hard work while their dads paid for them. They knew they hadn’t earned it, so they bullied me. How’s that for the goodness of people’s hearts?”

“Not everyone is like that,” I said with much more fierceness in my tone than I had meant, my head shaking.

Dominic’s fingers pinched my chin and steadied my head. “We’re two sides of the same coin, Zain,” he said, gazing into my eyes. “I knew that the moment you walked into my study in thecity. I knew we were alike because you took a risk. You acted. You didn’t just let things happen to you. You fought back.”

I was still too stunned by the sensation of his fingers holding my chin. It was too close, too warm to ignore. His fingers were soft, but his grip was firm. I wondered what his fingertips would feel like over the rest of my body. Would I enjoy this determined pressure and the warmth of his flesh as much as I enjoyed this?

“That’s why you’re here,” Dominic said. His eyes were ablaze. Well, as much as an ice cube could be ablaze. They radiated something, but it wasn’t exactly cozy warmth. “I want you to have a better chance than I did. And when your job is done, all the doors in New York will be open to you. I guarantee you that. From one outcast to another.”

“I’m not an outcast,” I said.

“Is that so?”

“My parents love me,” I said, pulling my head back.

Dominic’s hand fell. “Would you put that to a test?”

“It’s not the same,” I said, but the tone of my voice betrayed all my doubts. “They wouldn’t…do that.”

“I thought the same thing,” Dominic said.

I stood up in fury, although I couldn’t tell you what I was furious at. It wasn’t fair what they had done to him, but… “You can’t hold on to that,” I said, almost pleading. “You can’t let that determine the rest of your life. It’s cowardly.”

“Why do you care?” he asked.

“Because I do,” I said, pulling away from him and stepping closer. “I saw those photos, Dominic. You were a happy child. You can’t let their cruelty dictate the way you live. You’re letting them win.”

His eyes narrowed. Of course. The only language he understood.

“If your father hit you because you’re gay, do you really think he wouldn’t be glad to know just how lonely and unhappy you are now?” I asked. “You lose. Again.”

He ground his teeth and tilted his head as if to allow me this little win. “What would you have me do?”

“I don’t know,” I said lamely. “Something. Something that brings down that wall you’ve built.”

He nodded slowly, carefully, and took a few steps back from me. He turned around, poured himself another drink, and took a mere lick of it before he looked at me over his shoulder. “I’ll wipe your father’s debt in the morning.”

“What?” I gasped.

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