Page 39 of Dominance

“Dad, I just think that Adriano and I should have an opportunity to try this out a little bit. Trial run, you know? To see how it goes. And more than that, I need my own space. I can’t live at your house forever.”

“The compound is huge, Gloria. You can have as much space as you need.”

“As long as it’s in your house? That’s not my space.”

Adriano’s eyes flick toward me at this statement.

Yeah, yeah.

Neither is his apartment. Yet.

Biting the inside of my lips I beg him with my eyes not to say anything.

Dom’s several steps closer, glowering down at me, his eyes darting back and forth like he’s trying to concoct some legitimate reason for telling me no. Or he’s trying to figure out what the ploy is, how I’m trying to screw him over.

Paranoid much?

“You should have at least come to me first, Gloria.”

Okay. Time to bust out bitch-mode aka behave just like my father.

“That’s precisely the point I’m making. I am a grown woman and I need the freedom to come and go as I please.”

“And with what security?”

“Post them out front, post them across the street, or don’t! Adriano is perfectly capable of keeping his lover safe, or do you not trust your second in command?”

Adriano raises his eyebrows at this, squaring his shoulders and having my back despite the fact that I just played him so hard a minute ago.

Definitely going to owe him one.

“I can’t believe the audacity…” His muttering, growling, rant takes over as he turns and walks a lap around the huge apartment’s living area.

That’s when it really clicks.

And my mistake in how I handled this.

Dom doesn’t like any idea he didn’t come up with, so I need to spin it in a way that makes him feel like it was his plan all along. Live and learn how to be a manipulative psychopath, I guess.

Following him, I put enough distance between Adriano and us to pretend at privacy and reach out, taking his arm and turning the lean, tense man around. His eyes lock onto mine and I can see the suspicion there, the distrust.

“I’m sorry I pulled this on you. But I think it’s for the best.” I try to console him, to smooth it over, play the role of sweet daughter. “Are you really going to tell me no, Dad?”

“What do you know of what is best?” he sneers. “How am I supposed to trust you if you won’t follow my orders, or check in with me?”

“For every decision? Am I supposed to ask for permission when I go to the bathroom?” I laugh, trying to lighten the mood.

Wrong. Move.

His lips twitch, disgusted with my words. “Joke all you want. Iownyou.”

And there it is. Plain and sharp as a blade.

What he really thinks.

Rage roils up in my chest, threatening to make me cry, to overwhelm my thoughts. But I snatch it, use it and throw it back in his face.

“You know what? If you’re gonna use me as a bargaining chip, the least you can do is let me have some sayin the matter. I’ve done everything you’ve asked, so?—”

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