Page 89 of Between Love & Ruin

“I was too busy trying to wrap my head around her words,” I say. “But no amount of overthinking made her words make sense. I didn’t know you before we came to NYC. We never met, so how could I ruin your life?”

He lets me continue whatever was bothering me since yesterday, patiently listening to my rant.

“I was going to let it go before, but I just couldn’t stop thinking about it. Aisha said I should probably talk to you if it was bothering me this much. I don’t want what people say to get in the way of our relationship. It might sound selfish, but I’m finally so happy and content with my life, and I’m terrified of losing it.”

He kisses me softly on my lips, gentle enough to calm me down.

“You don’t have to worry about losing me, Sienna,” he says, looking straight into my eyes so that I understand each and every one of his words. The number of times he reassures me is insane. But what’s even more insane is that he never makes me feel like I am overreacting or being too much. He handles my chaos like it’s his own.

And that’s exactly what makes me fall for him every single day.

“If I was given a chance to live my life the way I lived in the past, the troubles I went through, and all the pain and failures, in the guarantee that I get to spend the rest of my life with you, trust me, I would do it again in a heartbeat. I mean it when I say that I was just existing before I met you. You are the reason I started living.”

My bottom lip quivers, and I hate myself for being such a baby, but I can’t help it. His words always manage to touch the most isolated corners of my heart.

“Listen to me carefully,” he says, grabbing my chin. “I love you. I choose you, and you could never ruin me, baby. Hell, if you would, I would still love it. You could put a bullet through my head and I would still be madly in love with you. I will deal with what Myra said. I will deal with every single thing in the world as long as you stay with me.”

I run my finger across his cheek, tracing his soft skin.

“God, I am so lucky to have you, Dominic,” I say with a smile. “You have no idea what you mean to me. And I would do my life all over again too, only if you would meet me at the end of it. In this life. And the next one too.”

He crashes his lips on mine then, and all of my doubts and anxieties melt away the moment his tongue touches mine.

Because I know that whatever happens, whoever tries to hurt our relationship would never succeed. Because I have a man who is hopelessly in love with me and would quite literally do anything to make sure I stay with him.

* * *

“Send Myra to my office,” Dominic orders the receptionist as we enter his office. He makes sure to hold my hand in his, despite me tugging at it so that he lets me go. When I told him we don’t need to do this in the car, he said, and I quote, “People need to know we are together and that I belong with you.”

I didn’t know he had this dramatic side to him before.

“You really don’t have to do this?” I tell him, tugging on my hands so that he lets me free.

“Why not? People should know I am with you,” he says, and I roll my eyes.

“Oh, they already do,” I snap at him. “I think even people who shouldn’t know about it do. Because it’s all everyone is talking about everywhere.”

“So?”

He shrugged casually as if it didn’t bother him. He is used to being talked about, but I am not, and the way these tabloids have been writing about me definitely annoys me.

There’s a reason why I have stayed away from the spotlight. My family thrives under it, but I despise the attention. That’s exactly why I moved away from my aunt and uncle’s home and shifted to Chicago.

I don’t even understand why people have so much interest in someone’s personal life. The parasocial relationship people have formed nowadays is so scary.

And what pisses me off even more is how all the “friends” I had from college and through Mark have been sending me these articles calling me names and photos of me and Dominic asking me for an explanation as if I owe them anything.

They never cared about me, never helped me when I was at a crossroads regarding anything. They always sided with Mark and made me feel like I was in the wrong. That my feelings were invalid. That my need for wanting more from a relationship was wrong.

And now they want to know if I am dating their “favorite” media mogul? Shameless.

I know half of this curiosity comes from Mark, and I know the more I delay going back home, the tougher it will get for me to pack up my leftovers.

But leaving Dominic here is tough, and I think I am more afraid of leaving my happy little bubble with him than anything else.

“You are annoying,” I tell him truthfully. “You are used to people talking about you, but I am not.”

“I may be annoying, but you still love me,” he says with a cheeky smile, removing his coat and draping it on the back of his seat in his office.