Page 48 of A Billionaire Dom

“The guy wanted to watch while I had sex with his wife.”

I nearly choked on my amazing pasta. I swallowed hard and reached for my water, my eyes watering. After I caught my breath, I managed to ask, “Was he serious?”

I wasn’t sure if Davin was amused by my reaction or my question.

“Dead serious. He flat-out said that I’d do whatever he told me to if I wanted his business.”

“What did you say?” I had no doubt that he’d sent them away, mostly because he’d said he’d lost the account but also because he wasn’t that sort of man.

“I told them I wasn’t for sale.” He smiled, and some of the shadows in his eyes left. “They stormed out.” His smile disappeared as quickly as it had come. “My dad wasn’t too happy about that.”

“Really? I’d think he’d be horrified that someone thought they could do that to any employee, let alone his son.”

Davin appeared to be choosing his words carefully as he ate in silence for a minute or so. “My father is…difficult.”

When he didn’t say anything else, I raised an eyebrow and made a ‘more’ motion with my fork.

He sighed. “My dad has very strict religious views, but he’s also pretty naïve about people who do a good job pretending to have similar values. Or at least talk a good game when they’re around him.”

“And that’s how that couple is?”

“I honestly don’t know what they’re like around Dad, but when he demanded to know what I refused to do to secure the account, I told him. He didn’t believe me.” Davin’s tone stayed casual, but I could hear the hurt under the frustration.

“I know a little something about disappointing parents,” I said wryly. “By that, I mean, parents who are disappointing.”

“All right,” he said. “Your turn.”

I shook my head. “You had a bad day. My issues are years in the past. I don’t need to vent about them.”

He reached out and squeezed my hand. “I’d rather learn more about you than rehashing something I’d prefer to forget.”

The sincerity was what got to me. He really wanted to know more about me.

“The short version is, my parents got drunk, and I was the result. Dad became a meth dealer and was in and out of jail until he blew himself up when I was nineteen.”

The shock on Davin’s face was preferable to the pity most people had when they heard about my childhood. I wasn’t looking for him to feel sorry for me. I’d come to terms with my life. At this point, talking about my parents was about as difficult as saying that I’d been born in Curtis, Nebraska.

“Mom preferred alcohol to meth, and I pretty much raised myself.” I took another bite of my pasta. “No brothers and sisters, at least, so when I left, I wasn’t leaving anyone behind.”

“That’s…” Davin shook his head. “Shit, Linsey. Here I am complaining about my dad–”

I held up my hand and shook my head. “Plenty of people had shittier childhoods than me. I survived, and I’m lucky that I don’t have to deal with my parents anymore. If you need someone to talk to about your dad, I’ll listen without telling you to be grateful he’s around.”

He leaned back in his chair, a strange expression on his face. “You’re nothing like anyone I’ve ever met, you know that?”

“Is that a good thing or a bad one?” I asked, stabbing the last of my steamed vegetables. I didn’t like how much I cared about the answer to that question, but I couldn’t help myself.

“A good one.” He smiled again. “A very good one.”

As I took in the way his eyes shone and how much I liked seeing him smile, how much I liked his voice…

Fuck.

I was in so deep.

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