Page 62 of A Billionaire Dom

Linsey

I’d been staringat my wall for the past forty minutes and still couldn’t quite believe it. Everything I’d dug up, put together like a puzzle, and it made a compelling picture. It wasn’t one hundred percent complete, and if I’d planned to send it to the cops right now, they’d have to fill in a few blanks to keep it from being circumstantial.

Except I wasn’t sending anything to anyone.

I was still trying to wrap my head around it, honestly. It was absolutely insane, but it made sense in its own way. In fact, based on what I’d learned of Jude Holden, it made more sense than anything else.

My stomach growled, and I suddenly realized that I hadn’t eaten anything even though I’d been up all night. Leaving my bedroom, I went to the kitchen and re-heated the pizza Kasey had brought home last night. I also took the last beer and wrotebeeron the grocery list. I leaned against the counter and polished off my drink and the pizza, not even really tasting any of it. My mind was still on the wall in my bedroom.

The knock at the door startled me out of my head, and I considered not even acknowledging it, but Kasey had ordered a new game, and if it got swiped because I didn’t answer the door, I’d have one pissed off gamer on my hands.

I’d once made the mistake of saying something about how anyone who spent hours in front of a screen could eventually beat a video game. She’d challenged me to compete against her in a brand-new game after giving me a week to practice on other games. She’d then proceeded to kick my ass until I’d come away with a bruised ego and a new respect for gaming.

With that thought in mind, I went over to the door.

Except, it wasn’t a delivery person.

It was Davin.

“What do you want?” The question was harsh, but I refused to feel guilty about it.

“I want to talk to you. Face-to-face.”

He didn’t sound angry, but I knew better than to assume he’d go away if I told him I didn’t want to talk. He was stubborn and determined, not the sort of person who gave up easily.

I opened the door and stepped aside. “Let’s get this over with.”

I fully expected him to go off on me again, but instead, the moment I closed the door, the first words out of his mouth surprised me.

“Tell me what you found out about my grandfather.”

I stared at him. “What?”

“I want to know what you found out that made you say Grandad wasn’t who I thought he was.”

I felt like I had a short-circuit in my brain. “You came back here to demand I tell you something you didn’t even want to hear about before?”

“I want to understand what made you say it.” He stuck his hands in his pockets and began to pace. “What made you do what you did.”

“All right,” I agreed. If I was going to do this, I was going to do it right. Just because I didn’t like to admit when I was wrong didn’t mean I wouldn’t do it…when it was appropriate. “But first, you need to understand that I’m not going to apologize for going where the information took me. I am sorry that I hid it from you, but it was never about getting dirt on your family or using you for anything. I should have talked to you about it when I realized what we had wasn’t a one-off.”

His expression softened. “I’m sorry I made assumptions and didn’t let you explain.”

“I wasn’t exactly the most receptive person when we talked,” I admitted. “I should have given you the benefit of the doubt.”

An awkward silence settled between us, and I had no idea what to say next. Kasey had been right that I cared about Davin, but I didn’t know what to do with it.

Davin rubbed the back of his neck. “Look, I’m not any good at this.”

“Any good at what?” I asked.

“This.” He motioned between us. “The reason I reacted the way I did…it had more to do with how I…feelthan it did with you asking questions about my family.”

The air rushed from my lungs. “Me too.” The two words dropped from my mouth unbidden.

He froze. “You too?”

“I’m not any good at this, either.” I took a step toward him, my heart in my throat. “I was hurt that you thought you needed to hire a PI to look into me because your opinion of me mattered.Matters.”

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