Page 58 of Sinner's Vows

“And Bruno is here, too,” she says. “You’ve met the brute?”

“Yes,” I say with a small smile. “We’re good.”

“Since he’s still busy, I’m going to prepare breakfast.” She lets the statement hang.

I can either wait here for Dominic or go crack some eggs and help in the kitchen.

“I want to dip my feet in the water,” I say, feeling a bit like a girl again. It’s not often—no, it’s actuallyneverthat I get to experience life at this level of luxury.

“That’s fine.” Her gaze jumps to a guard who is standing just outside with an automatic rifle, and when she squeezes my hand in warning, there’s no need to verbalize the message.

Don’t try pull off any shit, sweetheart.

I watch for a second as she walks away, Bruno now following in her wake, clearly knowing who is going to feed him. I spot another guard who has positioned himself right at the sliding door between the gym and the swimming pool. Code Red. Dominic said this isn’t all for me, but goodness, it’s a lot.

With a shrug, I pad over to the pool where I sit down on the edge and lower my feet into the water. It’s fresh but not cold, and now I want to strip and get into the pool with Dominic. I don’t have a swimsuit, and I’m in my new pajamas with no underwear. There isn’t a chance in hell I’m getting naked with him.

On the far side, he does that underwater turning thing and freestyles it back in my direction, totally oblivious I’m even here. I’m sitting by the corner of the pool, on the side of his lane, giving him space. He’s wearing swimming goggles, and with graceful strokes, glides through the water at speed.

He’s clearly an excellent swimmer, and I can see why, what with those shoulder and back muscles. He is so efficient with the movements, it’s almost soundless. Each time an arm comes up and pierces back into the water, muscles strained and bulging, his skin shimmers as water sluices off, making magic with the tattoos on his arms. I’d love to have a closer look at them, but so far, he’s hardly given me a chance.

As he comes closer to where my legs are hanging in the water, my pulse skips several beats, and the urge to tuck my feet away bubbles up. Soon, he’s going to be right here, and I bet by now he’s seen me. He slows down as he nears the edge, and before I can pull out, he’s brushed my foot with a warm hand, giving me a squeeze as he rises out of the water.

I suck my lip as he stands, the water running off to his waist, where he’s still covered in the shallow end of the pool.

“Hey,” he says as he pulls off his goggles, chest heaving. “You’re supposed to be sleeping in.”

When Dominic looks after a woman, he looks after a woman.God, he is sweet. And he did take care of me last night, in a way I never thought possible for a man. There’s a reason I slept so well. He was there.

As he rakes his hair from his brow and wipes the water off his face, I take in every inch I can. He’s right here, so close andnaked from the waist up. His body is majestic, toned, strong, years of weightlifting defining every muscle individually. The morning sun beams down through the glass ceiling, and the water droplets on his skin almost magnify his body. With his arms raised in motion and his side facing me, I get to see his smoother inner arms, tattooed lats, his side, the shape of his obliques as they trail down into that V no woman can resist.

I double-take. And double-take again, sure the water is messing with my head. But then, my mind flashes back to how he dimmed the lights, how he turned just so when he changed his shirt yesterday. How he was overly conscious of his body, even though he has nothing to hide.

Except he does. It hits me, and blood seems to seep from me in shock, cold fingers of horror scratching down my spine.Experience.

He’s been too focused on his exercise, maybe too taken off-guard to find me here, he didn’t think of hiding his scars from me.

I bite back tears, resisting the urge to reach out for him in a soft touch I’ve only learned about yesterday. A touch he taught me without being aware he did. This man?—

“Dominic?” I drag in a ragged breath, but there’s no way I have control over my voice now. “Who did this to you?”

31

DOMINIC

Fuck.

I close my eyes, as if it could help. Making as if she were never here. Making as if these scars wouldn’t be there when I open my eyes.

I didn’t think. I didn’t have time to think. She isn’t supposed to be here. She’s supposed to be in my bed, sleeping, and not distracting me at all.

And yet, it’s all she’s been doing.

But now… This was the last thing I wanted her to see. Not with those cuts and burns on her beautiful, flawless skin.

Ariana is sitting here in a soft pink robe, staring at me as if I’m straight from some Halloween make-up freak show.

“How?” Her voice breaks, and my heart goes out to her. “How are they all on one side?” she manages to whisper, her eyes brimming with tears when I finally have the guts to look into them.

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