Page 22 of Texting the Possessive CEO
“Then you better work harder,” he grits out.
“This has to be enough for now,” I plead. “Don’t hurt her.”
“I like it when you beg,” he says, with another low, sick laugh. “For now. You’re right about that part. But the clock is ticking, bitch.”
He hangs up, finally letting me drop onto the couch and melt into it. Sobs wreck my body until my eyes sting and my chest is tight. Insanely, I wish Dom were here to wrap his powerful arms around me. I wish he were here to gently run his fingers behind my ear, like when he put on my necklace, sending reassuring tingles down my neck and through my body.
I take a hot shower, trying to force the agony from my thoughts. When I return, a towel wrapped around me, I see Dom has texted me.
Dominic Vale: Why didn’t you disclose that Aaron Pike was your uncle, Izzy?
I drop onto the couch, chewing the inside of my cheek. My previous message is still sitting unsent, the one where I reveal all. I quickly delete it. If Aaron didn’t have my Grandma as leverage… but he does, and I have to live in the real world.
Izzy: I’m sorry, sir. I should have said, but Aaron has never been a part of our family. He’s never wanted anything to do with us. I resent having any connection with him, honestly, because he’s so cruel. He’s not a good person. I know that.
Dom texts back right away.
Dominic Vale: I’ve seen his methods. All he cares about is the bottom line. He’s not afraid to break a few rules, or even bones, to get there.
Izzy: Bones??????
Dominic Vale: I’ve heard he might have connections. To drug dealers. To criminal elements.
Izzy: I’ve heard the same. Plus, Aaron has hinted at it a few times with me, as a way to bully me.
Dominic Vale: Hinted when? I thought you two had nothing to do with each other?
I walk into the bedroom and put on some PJs, wondering how to respond to this. I despise lying to him. But I’d despise the alternative far more.
Izzy: Since my grandma got sick, he’s been visiting her.
Technically, that is true, but it’s leaving a lot unsaid.
Dominic Vale: Perhaps he’s not as cold-hearted as he seems, but I hate the prick. Always have, and I can’t see it changing. So, you don’t have any loyalty to him, despite him being blood?
Izzy: No.
I tell him no, again, technically true.
Izzy: I don’t consider him part of my family. The only family I have is my grandmother, as far as I’m concerned.
Dominic Vale: Good.
Izzy: What about you?
Dominic Vale: My family history is complicated. My mother and father passed within a year of each other. This was when I was in my early twenties. Almost ten years ago now. Time goes too damn fast.
Izzy: I’m so sorry.
I’m relieved to move to another topic. But my gut is still a tight ball of tension. A voice yellstraitoron a loop in my mind.
Izzy: Do you mind me asking what happened?
Dominic Vale: Honestly? I think my mother died of heartbreak.
Izzy: What do you mean?
There’s a long wait for his next message. I imagine him in his luxurious apartment, perhaps with a glass of whiskey, dark eyes fixed on the amber liquid as he contemplates his past.
