Marrying My Best Friend's Sister: A Billionaire Enemies to Lovers MC Romance (Secret Love) by Nikki Bloom (free ebook novel .txt) 📗

He took another step closer. “Tell me.” His eyes were so dark and intent, I was both scared and turned on, as well as really annoyed with him for doubting me.

I cleared my throat. “Roman Alexander.”

He reared back, eyes widening. “Excuse me?”

“Yesterday at lunchtime, I was shopping, and he approached me.”

Dom dropped his head, shaking it slightly before looking back at me. “And what exactly did he want?”

“He wanted me to give an interview stating that our marriage is fake.”

Dom made a sound deep in his throat, before turning away. “And? Are you going to?”

The depth of outrage I felt at that question could not be expressed in words. I reached out with my clenched fist and pummeled his back. He jerked in surprise before turning around and trying to capture my fists.

“Hey! What are you doing?”

I was so mad at him I couldn’t speak. Instead I kicked him in the shins. Even as I did it, I realized that what I felt was a quandary yesterday not felt pretty much straight forward. Whether it was because we were married, or the sex, or just my own dumb feelings, I felt too much loyalty to Dom already to betray him.

Even without that, I wasn’t really the person to take money to sell someone out. Not even my worst enemy, let alone my husband.

He got hold of my wrists and held them in one hand. “What the hell is wrong with you?”

“How can you say that to me?” I couldn’t stop the lone tear that rolled down my face.

He blinked at me, then blinked again. “How could you do that to me?”

“I didn’t.”

“But you were thinking about it.”

“No.”

“Then what was that talk you were having with Chaz?”

“It was… I just…” Words honestly failed me. My eyes fell on his watch which clearly showed that I had thirty minutes to get to work. “I can’t talk about this now. I have to go.”

He let go of my wrists, his face closing up. “Fine. I’m going. See ya.” He pushed past me and walked out, anger in every step. I opened my mouth to call after him but closed it again. There was nothing I could say that would pacify him and I didn’t have the energy for it anyway. Quickly grabbing the bag he’d brought, I rushed to the bedroom to get changed.

Dom had thoughtfully provided not just one of my new dresses but also underwear and a bag of toiletries. I got changed and left, trying to get my head straight. I arrived at work with ten minutes to spare since I’d skipped breakfast. I hurried over to the lab to pick up some papers for reference should anyone have any queries, then went down to the conference room where the meeting would occur. Both Danna and I would be informed of the outcome of the meeting via email, but sometimes they wanted clarifications on something or another.

It was down to the wire, just the two of us remaining after two years of longlists and shortlists. My hands were shaking and I didn’t know if it was the adrenaline of the moment or my fight with Dom.

My phone dinged just as the clock struck eight and I dug it out of my pocket.

Good luck today.

I stared at the text, blinking my eyes to get the moisture out. Despite our misunderstandings, Dom had bothered to let me know he was rooting for me. I resolved there and then to go back home and fix this; whatever this misunderstanding was.

Hitting reply, I texted a thanks together with a smiling emoji before slipping my phone back in my pocket. I sat up straighter, feeling more optimistic about everything all of a sudden.

Locking the door behind me, I leaned on it and closed my eyes. I breathed in and out, fighting the tears. I knew it had been a long shot, but somehow, I had thought it would work. Danna had taken the opportunity to crow of course, the things she’d said… I worked hard not to believe it, but it was hard.

‘I saw your hubby last night at the Red Lounge. He seemed really interested in me. Looks like I got the grant and your husband. How does it feel?’

I tried to thrust the words away, but they seemed to burn deeper and deeper into my skin. If Dom had thought I betrayed him, could he have…? Just the thought of it was a burning stake to my heart.

I’d begged off the rest of the day, unable to work. Everyone thought it was because I’d lost the grant and nobody tried to stop me. I went back to Brooklyn because I needed to fall apart in privacy and peace. I needed to think about what it meant if Dom had betrayed me with…that woman, and what I would do about it.

Suddenly there was a loud banging on the door, hard enough to cause me to shudder against it. I furrowed my brow in annoyance, straightening up in anger, so I could turn around and unlatch the door.

“What do you-” I began to say before a huge fist hurtled towards me and punched me in the jaw. I stumbled backwards in shock, for a moment lost in déjà vu. It wasn’t the first time I’d been sucker punched after all. That was one of Eugene’s favorite moves.

I opened my mouth to scream for help, but he punched me again and I went down.

19

Domenic

I buried myself in work, even avoiding Morgan as I tried to get some equilibrium. Every time I thought I’d managed, Nico’s stammering words would come back to me and I was back at square one. I’d managed to go so many years without letting anyone close enough to hurt me. It hadn’t even been a choice, just something that happened naturally.

Nico slipped through my barriers so effortlessly that I didn’t even notice. My body did not recognize her as a threat, which was extremely stupid of