Page 34 of Sinner's Vows

“I am now,” I say, with a little nod to the guard dogs farther afield.

“Good,” he says with a smirk. “Those ones aren’t for you. I mean pets. We have a mutt here who’s more coyote slash wolf than dog.”

“Wolf?”

“We’re not sure. We down-sell him as coyote, but he’s a bit big. He’s also old, and to be honest, for most of his life, he’s been misunderstood.”

“Misunderstood?”

“People are petrified of him, and well, it gets him all worked up, which in turns makes people more terrified of him. It’s a vicious circle.”

“You’re telling me I’m about to meet a vicious wolf-dog monster who isn’t vicious at all?”

“Exactly.” He leans in and whispers close to my ear. “Don’t show fear, and you’ll be fine.”

I steel myself, reading the subtext right there.Don’t show fear here, not to him either.

Dominic opens the front door, and a massive ball of fur gets up from where he was lying on the thick Persian carpet, wags his tail, and comes up to him with a few keen steps. It’s an old dog, and his eyes looks glazed over with cataracts, but the wayhe homes in on me shows every other faculty is in full working order.

“Play nice, Bruno,” Dominic says as he drops to his haunches.

He is literally cuddling the beast, giving the monster dog time to sniff my hand while he holds him in check. The jaws and teeth on that thing are straight out of Little Red Riding Hood. The fangs…I see where he comes from with the notion of this thing having some wolf in him.

“This is Ariana,” Dominic croons in Bruno’s ear as he rubs his back and sides. “She’s going to stay for a while. Be gentle with her, you hear? She’s had a rough time.”

His words hit me full in the chest.

This man.

Goddammit.

I blink at the sudden swell of tears. Since when have I become so freaking weepy? This morning with Gigi and now with him. Always with him, showing me a side to men I’ve never seen before. Has my little pond been so small all these years? Filled with nasty big carps nobody wants to get close to? Probably. That’s what I got for choosing my own path after that one night with Franco.

Once Bruno had sniffed every finger, Dominic gives a little. The dog by instinct homes in on my wound, and when Dominic tugs him back in warning, I reach out and caress my hand over his head. Bruno blinks up at me, gives a pant that looks like a smile, and my heart melts. Misunderstood, indeed.

“That’s it,” Dominic says as he stands. “He’s given you the seal of approval.”

“And what does that mean in this place?”

He quirks his brow. “Clearly, you are a Scalera in one way or another.”

“Ha.” If only I can fool the world this easily.

“Come along. There’s a room ready for you.” He indicates with his hand the direction I should take, forcing me to walk in front. After this morning, I won’t trust me either.

I might have been dog-approved, but fear sprouts in my stomach. What if he drags me down to the basement? I have no choice, so I start to walk towards a corridor but glance around quickly to take in, orientating myself.

A gorgeous wooden staircase curves elegantly up to the second floor straight from the double-volume foyer, making a bold statement: here be money. Lots and lots of it. Two corridors split off on the ground floor, and then at the back of the foyer are also two doors. Beautiful modern art hang on all the surfaces, but there are no portraits or any photos to give me clues who this house belongs to. It’s perfectly anonymous.

I feel Dominic’s eyes on me, studying my every move. If I’m not careful, little things would give me away.

“It’s a beautiful home,” I say to distract him.

He doesn’t respond, and we walk in silence, Bruno tagging along. We walk past closed door after closed door, and at the end of the corridor, Dominic stops me with a hand on my shoulder.

“You’re in here.”

He opens the door, and I stare into a beautiful bright room with big sash windows that look out onto the garden. No dungeon. No darkness. No death.

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