Page 101 of Monster

He nudged me with his shoulder and nodded in its direction. I followed his gaze and paused, my breath catching at the sight and tears forming in my eyes.

“W-why?” I croaked, my breath catching.

My hands shook, and I pulled away from him, not wanting to know. Though it was probably too late, because in front of us, in the middle of the living room and taking center stage, was a gorgeous grand piano in a traditional mahogany coat.

I found the brand name right away. It was worth nearly six figures.

I shook my head.

He cupped my cheek just as the tears fell from my eyes and hit his thumb.

“This is for you. You probably miss playing, and after what those bastards did to your keyboard, I thought you would like it.” He frowned. “It wasn’t supposed to make you cry.”

“It’s beautiful,” I said. “But it’s too much.”

He relaxed and shot me his signature arrogant smile. “Not at all, wildcat.”

Again, I shook my head. “No. You don’t understand. This is wasted money on me.”

He scoffed at that. “No. It’s not. It’s worth every penny.”

Did he really not know?

Dominic didn’t seem like the kind of man to miss anything, but did he not really notice all the scars?

I looked down at my hands. He did, too.

His fingers gently moved over the biggest and ugliest one of all, on the outer side of my right palm.

I flinched, even though his touch didn’t hurt at all.

“You can still play,” he said matter-of-factly.

So he had noticed.

I swallowed. “Not as well. After my hands got… like this, I can’t play for long. Or smoothly.”

“What happened?” he asked darkly.

I was surprised he’d waited until now to ask me, the man who had no personal boundaries.

“Do I have to tell you now?”

He seemed to think about it, and something about my face must have told him to back off, because he shook his head. “Not now, but soon.”

I mutely nodded. I would take that. I didn’t want to spend such a wonderful morning talking about my ex.

I turned my gaze back to the piano.

“Is it really for me?” I whispered.

“I can’t play for shit, wildcat,” he said, making me laugh. “If not you, then who?”

My bottom lip trembled. “Thank you. It’s the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me.”

I felt him pause. Then his shoulders relaxed, and he wrapped his arms around me. “Well, that’s just sad, wildcat. We’re gonna have to change that, aren’t we?”

I didn’t say anything to that, but I wondered the entire day if he really meant what he said.

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