Page 13 of Disavowed

He, on the other hand, didn’t give a shit who heard them. “Baby,” he said, laughing, “the more you wriggle, the more you turn me on. Or can’t you tell?” He glanced down between his legs.

Daisy froze, her hands still gripping his arms. “Let. Me. Go.” Her voice was rock solid, but her lips betrayed her by trembling, telling him she really was affected by him.

He needed to let her go, but he couldn’t. Every ounce of his being screamed with the need to claim her again. A truly stupid, incredibly bad idea. She wasn’t his and never could be. Where he was going—what he’d be doing—was too dangerous for anyone to be near him.

The adjacent door burst open and four women came into the room in a flurry of pink and white silk.

In a martial arts move he totally didn’t see coming, Daisy reared back her elbow and rammed the heel of her hand into his solar plexus, knocking the wind from his lungs.

He released his hold on her hips, and she landed solidly on her butt in a puddle of pink silk. She’d gotten him good, and it took a moment for his lungs to refill. When they did, he reached down to help her off the floor, but she batted his hands away.

“Don’t you dare touch me, you womanizing asshole.” The look she shot him made him feel every bit the dickhead he was. Her jaw was set in stone. She clenched her fists, as if readying to deck him, and her eyes still burned like hot coals.

The two women in the bridal party he didn’t know giggled and covered their mouths with their hands. Alex sent him an accusatory glare.

Only Cassie offered him a smile. “Sorry if we interrupted anything,” she said.

“You didn’t.” Daisy cleared her throat, then stood and smoothed out her skirt. “We’re done here,” she added, glaring at him one last time before sweeping past the other women and disappearing through the door.

Alex shook her head subtly in his direction, then turned to follow Daisy. “Let’s go, Emily. Moria.” She grabbed the other women’s hands and tugged them both back through the doorway.

Dom grimaced, then massaged his forehead. Great. Now his best friend’s wife-to-be was pissed at him, too.

The sound of the door closing had him looking up to see Cassie had remained behind. She looked stunning in the same pink silk dress the other bridesmaids wore. Her red hair shone brightly in the sunlight filtering through the windows, and her big green eyes held sincere warmth. He and Cassie had been partners for years before she left to move upstate and become a chef. She was one of the few people on the planet who knew him well, and one of a select few privy to his plans for the Pyramid.

“Tough day?” She drew him into a big hug.

“Fuck, yeah.” He held her close, appreciating her concern. “Something tells me it’s only just begun.”

When they came apart, she held his hand in hers. “When this is all over, you should talk to her.”

“About what?” He let out an exasperated breath. “She hates me, Cass. I hurt her, and I don’t think she’ll ever forgive me.”

Cassie leaned in, straightened his lapels, and readjusted his boutonniere. “Sure she will. As soon as you set her straight, she’ll forgive you, and you guys can start over.”

“I don’t think so.” He shook his head. “Even if I’m still breathing when this op is over, that’s not a place I can go again. I never should have slept with her. It was a mistake.”

“Why?” She raised her brows. “When we were partners I lost count of all the women you slept with, and never once did you regret it. Why was she a mistake?”

“Because I—” He compressed his lips and tilted his head to the ceiling. Because I loved Anika more than life itself, and when she died part of me died with her. It had been nearly fifteen years, but he still couldn’t imagine going through that kind of pain again. It would kill him as surely as if he held his gun to his head and pulled the trigger.

Looking over the top of Cassie’s head, he stared at the closed door through which Daisy had gone.

“You let her in and you didn’t expect that to happen.” She squeezed his hand, drawing his attention back to her. “That doesn’t mean she was a mistake. It means you guys connected. You got close.”

“Yeah, for about five hours. Then I bolted.” He snorted, still feeling disgust at how he’d left Daisy sleeping in her bed while he’d snuck out like the womanizing asshole she’d correctly labeled him. “Aside from sex, no one really gets close in so little time.”

“But it was more than just sex, wasn’t it?” She pointed a finger at him. “You told me and Gray that she rocked your world. Those were the exact words you used.”

Putting his fingers to his forehead, he tried massaging away the growing ache. He never should have told Cassie or Gray how he’d felt after that night at Daisy’s place, but he’d been so goddamn moved by what had happened between them that the words had flown from his mouth before he could stop them.

“It doesn’t matter.” He shook his head. “I’m damaged goods. I’ve been alone for so long now, I don’t think I can ever change.”

Cassie dropped her hands on his shoulders and shook him lightly. “Everyone can change. Sometimes it takes meeting the right person to push you in the direction you need—and want—to go.”

Unable to stand still, he paced in front of the stained-glass windows. “Since I got back stateside, I’ve never invited a woman to my apartment. I’ve always had sex at their place. You know why? So I could leave anytime I wanted. Sometimes after sex I’d grab my phone and pretend I’d gotten a work call so I could haul ass without having to sneak out. You know what kind of lowlife prick that makes me?”

Without waiting for a response, he continued to pace, around and around the little room, and with every circuit he smelled Daisy’s things. Her perfume. The flowers.