Total pages in book: 103
Estimated words: 98469 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 492(@200wpm)___ 394(@250wpm)___ 328(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 98469 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 492(@200wpm)___ 394(@250wpm)___ 328(@300wpm)
Since I can’t get into the terminal without having a ticket, I book one that’s leaving in a few hours and then go through security.
When I get to the right terminal, I go in search of her. It’s been weeks, so she might even be on a different route, but I won’t know unless I try.
“Excuse me,” I say to the woman standing at the counter. “I was wondering if you know where I can find Peyton. She works for this airline. Red hair, green eyes. We’re friends, and I’m hoping to get in touch with her.”
She looks at me in confusion, but her coworker next to her says, “I know her.”
I recognize her from the flight to the DR.
“I’m Ericka.” She extends her hand. “Peyton and I used to be on the same crew.”
Shit. “Used to be?”
“She quit. A couple of weeks ago. Something about her mom being sick and her needing to stay close to home.” She frowns sympathetically. “Sorry.”
“Any chance you have her number?”
“I do.”
“You’re just going to give it to him?” the other woman says.
“I know who he is.” Then, to me, she says, “Peyton spent that night with you in the Dominican Republic, and then you left her without a word.”
Fuck.
“It’s not like that,” I say. “It’s actually why I was hoping to get her number. I wanted to explain.”
“Tell you what …”
“Dominick.”
“Dominick,” Ericka says with a smile. “You give me your number, and I’ll pass it along. If she wants to talk to you, she’ll call.”
The woman next to her grins smugly, and I internally roll my eyes.
“Fine.” I sigh.
I rattle off my number, and she types it into her phone, then hits Send.
Almost instantly, her phone dings with a text.
“What did she say?”
“She wants to know if I’m with you.” She types something back, and a few seconds later, it goes off again.
“Sorry,” she says. “She said not to give you her number and asked that you please leave her alone.”
Fuckin’ A. Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.
“I know she’s probably pissed about how things ended, but if you can call her so I can talk to her, I can explain what happened.”
Ericka sighs. “Fine.”
She hits Call, and the phone rings several times before Peyton’s voice comes through the speaker.
“Ericka!” Peyton hisses. “Please tell me you didn’t give him my number.”
“She didn’t,” I say, plucking the phone out of Ericka’s hand and taking it off speaker.
“Dominick,” Peyton breathes, and with my name on her lips, somehow, all the stress from the past several weeks evaporates.
“I need to talk to you,” I tell her. “I need to explain.”
“No, you don’t,” she says, her tone devoid of all emotion. “There’s nothing to say. I need you to leave me alone.”
“I know I fucked up, but—”
“I’ve moved on.”
“If you could just—” Wait, what the fuck did she just say? “What?” I ask because there’s no way I heard her right.
“I’ve moved on,” she repeats. “I met someone else, and I need you to please leave me alone.”
Well, fuck …
“Okay,” I tell her since there’s nothing else to say. “But—”
I pull the phone from my ear, and the display is showing.
She hung up on me.
“Sorry,” Ericka says, reaching over and taking her phone from my hand. “I tried.”
The entire way back to my car, I replay Peyton’s words.
She’s moved on.
She met someone else.
She needs me to leave her alone.
My phone buzzes in my pocket, and I pull it out, answering it without checking who it is.
“It’s done,” Matteo says, getting straight to the point.
“Thanks.”
“But there was a little problem. Apparently, there was some miscommunication with the building security, and a woman made it up the elevator and onto the floor where your office is located. I don’t know who she was looking for, but after a few minutes, when Janet didn’t appear, she left.”
“Is it possible she heard anything?”
“I’m not sure.”
“Find out who she was and make sure she doesn’t know anything.”
“And if she does?”
“Then, we’ll take it from there. Let’s hope she doesn’t. I’m on my way home from the airport now, so if you need anything, let me know.”
“That was a quick trip.”
“She’s moved on.”
Matteo is silent for several seconds before he says, “Maybe it’s for the best.”
“Yeah,” I agree, even though it feels like it really fucking isn’t.
“I was thinking about hitting up Kings Point tonight. You down?”
Kings Point is a club downtown. Because cell phones aren’t allowed inside—a rule that doesn’t apply to us since we own the club—it’s where the elite go to drink, party, and oftentimes fuck, knowing anything that goes on there stays within those walls.
“Yeah,” I tell him. “It’s time to move on.”
The same way she did.
12
Dominick
Four and a Half Years Later
“Anthony’s been approved to bid at the city auction.” Lorenzo walks into my office and has a seat. “The little fucking snake is going to be a problem.”