Page 123 of Dominance

“I’ve been awake the entire time,” he murmurs, his groggy slur giving him away.

“Liar.” I burrow my chin into his pec, making him jerk. “Oh my gosh…you’re ticklish!”

“No idea what you’re talking about. Diamantes aren’t ticklish.”

“Right, because you’re stone cold…”

“Actuallyrock solidis more accurate. Like a diamond. Get it?”

“Wow!” I burst out laughing, flopping back. “Your bad jokes defy logic.”

“Defy geo-logic?”

“Getting worse …”

“It’s literally my name,” he pretends to be offended.

“Or did you mean it’sminerallyyour name?” I make a face.

“Nowthatwas fucking terrible!”

“Orewas it?”

“Now you’re just metalling.”

“Don’t you mean meddling?”

His eyes twinkle as he watches me, his face relaxed. Gentle.

A faint shadow passes behind them, though, and I lean in, cupping his face. “What is it?”

“Just reminds me of the twins. The way they bicker.”

“My sister and I do the same. It’s just mostly over the phone since I can’t see her.” I sigh, joining in the faint melancholy of our sibling troubles.

Ugh. I miss her so much.

“I can’t believe you kept that from me,” Adriano muses, staring up at the ceiling.

“Because you’ve been sooo forthcoming with me?”

“No, I mean it’s impressive. It was difficult for me to track down any hint of it.”

“Not difficult enough, unfortunately. But I guess I’ve spent so long trying to keep her location a secret from everyone, it was second nature to never speak of it.”

“Why did you keep her hidden? Before Dom, I mean?”

“Stepfather. Her dad. He left us with a mountain of debt. Our mother’s medical bills. I was worried that he would come around, threaten to take her. I might have had to fight him in court, but I was more worried that he would…use other means.”

“He wasn’t an above-board kind of guy, huh?”

“My mom had a type, I guess.”

Adri presses his lips together, looking away awkwardly.

“What are you trying to say?! Like mother, like daughter?” I swat his arm, glaring playfully.

“I have zero room to talk. My whole family is legally challenged. For decades? Centuries?”

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