Page 49 of Beauty and the Billionaire

Inside, there was a stack of papers. The first one had a short profile of Julian Hale, his photo, basic information, and abrief description of his background. It was followed by pages of descriptions of his activities, invoices, and travel logs. There was information about Julian’s wife, Helen, and his daughter, May, although without their pictures. And, at the very end, there were photographs that made my heart sink into the pit of my stomach.

“No,” I whispered. It felt as though someone had ripped everything that was good right out of my soul. Dominic’s cruel delight and his clear intent made me grieve for something I hadn’t even lost. But I understood it. I understood what sort of victory these photographs were for Dominic.

In Boulder, Colorado, in a suburb with a lane of small houses with small front yards, there was a white-painted home with a tiny porch. The door was centered in the middle of the front of the house, just a few short feet away from the three little steps leading to it. And in the door stood a curly-haired blond man with an upturned nose and a Cupid’s bow, the corners of his lips lifted in a semi-permanent smile. His eyes were mossy green, and his limbs were long, but he was clearly fit even with the knitted sweater that was a size too big for him.

Photo after photo, I looked at the back of Julian Hale coming up to the porch and taking the man into his arms, pulling him into a passionate, hungry embrace, and kissing him on the lips.

Then, I realized that Dominic was speaking. “…after you found the trail, making it easier for Larry to focus on a place. It was just a matter of time before Hale went there again. A family man like that having a male lover? Oh, it’s perfect.”

“Dominic, you can’t,” I whispered hurriedly.

My lover went on as if I hadn’t spoken. “To cheat on your wife, however terrible, passes among these people just fine. There isn’t an investor in the city that hasn’t done it. But to lie and scheme and have a man you visit every three weeks? That’s some serious embarrassment.”

“You can’t,” I said louder.

Dominic stopped talking abruptly. “Why can’t I?”

“B-because,” I stammered.

“Because?” Dominic’s expression was heated, but it lacked all the warmth that had been drawing me in since our first trip to the city.

A shiver ran down my arms. “It’s wrong.”

Dominic measured me, his gaze softening only a little before he looked away, and warmth abandoned his eyes. “Right and wrong are hardly absolutes, Zain.” His voice was deep and dark. “And Julian Hale is a hypocrite who deserves every ounce of what he gets.”

“But you can’t out him,” I said. “You can’t do that.”

“What’s stopping me?” he demanded irritably, getting up and pacing to the fireplace and then returning to the window to stare out at the flurry of snowflakes. I had never seen him so upset, and the man who stood there with his muscles stiff and his back straight terrified me more than I cared to admit.

I got up a moment later and crossed only half the space between us, switching my tactic on the go. “You’re better than this,” I said. “I know you, Dominic. You’re not the kind of man who would do this and just go on living with yourself.”

“Do you really think so?” he asked, incredulous.

“I know so,” I said urgently. “You can act tough, but you’re not fooling me. You’re not a bad guy.”

His eyes flashed with cold fury. “How does it make me a bad guy to give Julian Hale the very thing he had been giving me for years, Zain?”

“You don’t know what’s making him hide,” I pleaded. Couldn’t he see? How could I trust a man so willing to leave one of his tribe to the wolves? Couldn’t he see that I struggled to come out just as much?

“Don’t try to stop me,” Dominic said flatly, although his voice quivered at the last word. He cleared his throat shortly. “Just this once, Zain, don’t meddle in the way I do business.”

“This isn’t business,” I protested loudly. “This is revenge, and it’s heartless, Dominic. It’s cruel.”

“So it is,” he said in a clipped voice. He turned on his heels to face me. “And I won’t let you stand in my way.”

“Don’t,” I warned him. “Because you won’t see me in the way if you try. I won’t be here for this.” It wasn’t a threat by the time I finished. It was a surrender in the face of mounting disappointment.

“You would leave over some pathetic hypocrite bully? Fine.” It was a hateful growl, the sort I had expected from him in our first encounter.

“I would leave over your choice of who you want to be,” I whispered, devastation taking hold of my soul. I could see no exit, no way to end this while saving both our faces and hearts.

“I am not a man who reacts well to ultimatums, Zain.” Dominic’s features tightened so much that his face displayed no human emotion whatsoever. “Not even from you.”

“It’s not an ultimatum,” I whispered over the knot that thickened in my throat. I stared at him in disbelief. How had it come to this so quickly and easily? “I’m asking you not to be cruel.”

“Call it what you will,” Dominic said. “It hardly matters to me.”

“I can’t be with someone who acts so tough that he’ll risk everything for the sake of revenge, Dominic,” I said.

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