Page 176 of Shattered Silence Duet

Tucker wraps his arms around me and thrusts into me twicemore before releasing his load in my ass. Ben pushes up into me one final time before he lets go as well. They all tremble around me, before we finally collapse in a heap on the bed.

Chapter 38

Dom

Istroll back and forth along the hall nervously, wondering why I’m so worried about knocking on her door. Of course, I know what has me hesitating, I’m terrified of her reaction. Atlas has managed to fix things with her, so I’m hopeful. But the difference is I’m the leader of our team. It was me who told the twins, and everyone, to get close to her for the sake of the mission.

Even though I did have feelings for her at the time, it doesn’t excuse what I did. Everything she had been mad about, was and is, completely valid and I don’t know what to say to make things better. I’d be one thing if I just thought I needed to explain my side of the story, but that isn’t the case. She knew exactly what I’d done the second she saw our case laid out in front of her. She knew I had asked them to get close to her, to find out what she knows.

It was a terrible thing to do to her and I have no excuse for it. It’s the reason I’ve been letting the others fix things with her first, I didn’t want her conversation with me to go bad and to have it taint her opinion on all of them. When I asked Gideon to take her out next, he made some excuse and told me to talk to her first. I really need to figure out what’s going on with him. But first, I need to apologize to Mina.

I turn to face her door and stand up straight, taking a deepbreath as I roll my shoulders back, then I knock twice and wait. My heart beats fast as I wait for her to answer.

The door creaks open and she looks up at me in surprise. “Dom? Is everything okay?” she asks, looking around to see if anyone else is out here with me.

“Can we talk for a few minutes?”

“Oh, sure. Do you want to come in?” I nod and she leads me into her room.

I close the door behind me and gesture to her window seat. “Shall we take a seat there?” She nods and heads over, taking a seat in the corner. I stop and detour to her bed, grabbing her pink fuzzy blanket and her two stuffed animals. I place the blanket over her legs and pass her the stuffies.

“Dom? You’re scaring me a little. Are you about to give me some bad news or something?” she asks, looking at me with trepidation. “Has something happened?”

“No, nothing like that. I just want you to be as comfortable as possible while I talk to you.”

“About what?” she asks, biting her lip nervously.

“About what I did, what I made the others do, when we met you.”

“Oh.” My eyes meet her beautiful green ones and I can see a wave of emotions go through her, too many to name.

I nod and turn to look out the window. The trees are all shedding their fall leaves now, but some still cling to the branches, making it look a little magical out there.

“The seasons are changing quickly now,” I comment as I watch a few more leaves fall to the ground.

“You know, when I was about twelve years old, my family moved to a new house that backs onto a forest, like this one. My parents told me about a trail out back that did a mile loop through the forest. I decided to run it every day for some fresh air and exercise. I took that same path every day for two years.

“It wasn’t the best path, full of fallen logs and narrow stretches, often scratching me up, but I didn’t miss a day ofrunning unless I was sick. It got me in good shape for a fourteen year old.

“One day in the fall, on a day like today, I saw a giant buck walk across the path up ahead of me. When I got to where the deer had been, I decided to see if I could get a good look at it again and take a photo. I crept through the woods quietly, and after about thirty feet, I stumbled on another trail. I decided to see where it led and ended up at the most beautiful lake I’d ever seen. It was probably more of a large pond, really. But it was stunning. The deer was there drinking from the water peacefully.

“I decided to continue on the path and it wound the whole way around the lake. The path was clear and wide open and gave me an unobstructed view of the lake. I started taking that trail daily after that. Almost every day, I saw some sort of wildlife. I was also able to increase my speeds thanks to the even terrain and low risk of injury.

“The point is, I hadn’t gone out there looking for a different path, but I was distracted and ended up finding something so much better.” I turn to look at her and see her watching me intently. “Kitten, I might’ve started this journey for the wrong reasons, but finding you… that was my destination.”

She reaches forward and takes my hand in hers, giving me a tight-lipped smile.

“Mina, I’m so sorry for what I did and what I made the others do. I have no excuse, no reason for why I did it that you don’t already know. I was caught up in the case and didn’t stop to think about what us getting to know you under false pretenses would look like to you. I honestly didn’t even consider we’d done anything wrong until you figured it out.

“I don’t know if I was blinded by the case, or by you, but it doesn’t matter, it was wrong. I just hope you don’t hold it against the others, they care about you and it would crush them if you left them.”

I pull the large envelope out from where it’s tucked in the backof my pants, set it down in the space between us, and pull my hand back quickly, trying to hide how much I‘m shaking right now.

“This is for you. I want you to be safe and happy here, you deserve it. I need you to know you have a home here, if you want it. I want you to have everything you want.”

She stares at the envelope as I lick my lips nervously, wondering if I’ve said everything I need to. Finally, she reaches forward and picks it up, pulling the paper out as her eyes dance around the page. She flips to the next page and her eyes scan it before she flips to the next one.

Finally, her eyes meet mine and she frowns. “Dom, what is this?”