Dinner came and went, and through it all, Eden expected him to say something to her; for him to refute or condemn any of the things his brother had spoken. But he remained infuriatingly quiet completely disregarding her presence despite the fact that she was sitting right next to him. Though her attention was intermittently diverted by the gentleman to her left who wished to engage her in conversation, Eden ultimately found herself staring at Dominic’s profile throughout the evening, wondering not for the first time exactly who he was. She knew this man, knew the lengths of his cruelty, knew the ruthless determination that coursed through his veins when he desired something and did everything within his power to obtain it, regardless of who he hurt in the process. Eden knew of his insurmountable wealth, knew the sort of power that came hand in hand with that wealth and how expertly Dominic wielded it for his own selfish means.
His immorality was infamous; having witnessed it firsthand, she knew how limitless it could be. She knew that he was gorgeous as sin and knew that despite how much she denied it, she was incredibly attracted to him, inexplicably drawn to the seductive darkness that lay prevalent in him. It was a darkness that both repelled and intrigued her, and it was for this reason that Eden would never openly admit it to anyone else; even now, internally conceding to the notion, made her question the state of her mind. There were things she thought she knew of this man, things that were intrinsically true, things that she’d learned in the five years of their ill-fated marriage, but really Eden knew nothing about Dominic Armstrong. They’d been virtual strangers to each other when they’d married and continued to be so now, stuck in a limbo of their own making.
Lucas’s words rang in her mind, the things he’d said of Dominic’s biological mother…had she really been a prostitute? And even more startling was the question of whether she’d really sold her son to the Armstrong’s. How much of what Lucas had said had been truth, and how much had been simply Lucas’s own failings heaped upon his half-brother? A part of Eden wanted answers, wanted to find Lucas and have him divulge every sordid secret of Dominic’s past. But she knew embarking on that path, opening that Pandora’s Box would inevitably suck her into a reality she didn’t want any part of. To know was to care and caring about Dominic Armstrong wasn’t in her MO.
Chapter Thirteen
“Did you know Lucas was going to be there?” Eden found herself asking on the quiet, tension filled ride back to the mansion a while later. In fact, she hadn’t meant to say anything at all and inwardly cursed her wayward mouth, hating that she’d goaded herself to filling the deafening silence. Seated once more across from him, she was privy to his facial expressions for only the briefest of moments before he schooled them back to granite, closing her off like he was always did. Withdrawn and mired in silent introspection, he appeared unaware of her presence in the car, and for once Eden wanted to know what he was thinking, wanted insight into that detached expression that shadowed his rawboned features. If they were to have any sort of peace in the ensuing six months of this contract, then they would need to come to some common ground. Never mind that her curiosity was highly piqued now, her mind refusing to ruminate on anything other than what Lucas had told her. It changed nothing of course, but Eden wanted to know what had happened. How that little boy Lucas had described ended up being this brutally contemptuous man who relished controlling every aspect of her life.
Dominic settled narrowed eyes on her beautiful face to find her luminous golden stare focused on him and quickly realized that she was trying to read him, glean secrets he was nowhere ready to share. Never having been the object of sympathy, Dominic’s pride resented the notion that he was the subject of her pity. He wanted nothing more from her than what she could do for him in the bedroom. He wanted her pliant and supple body writhing beneath him as he rode them both to delirium, and in return, Dominic could shower her with jewels and every materialistic thing she could possibly desire. That was all he was equipped to give her, all he could provide. Anything else…there was nothing else. Lucas’s words dragged on with fervor, reminding Dominic of a dismal childhood that had been filled with more fear and agony than any child should ever experience.
It had taken a great exercise in restraint not to violently hurt his younger brother and even still, Dominic was filled with the undeniable urge for vengeance—the inescapable emotion that came so naturally to him—to retaliate in the worst possible way and make his brother pay for divulging secrets that Dominic himself had vowed would never see the light of day. From the very moment he’d come into his inheritance, he’d gone to great lengths to see that his past with Sheila Swanson was eradicated, not only to insure that no one ever learned the extent of his mother’s abuse, but to also exorcise himself from that upbringing. He’d worked tirelessly to forget, to bury and remember only when they manifested themselves in his dreams. Those memories, his demons and the shame they brought, were solely for him to contend with, but one careless, or rather deliberate slip of the tongue from a brother who would sooner see him hang, had left Dominic utterly exposed, vulnerable to the one person who had the means to use it against him if she wanted. It unsettled him that she was privy to this information, that along with her already low opinion of him, she now had knowledge of this, too. That unwelcome reminder dragged contempt and savage hatred to the surface, and it burned with acidic rage, wanting him to unleash it.
“What the hell were you doing with my brother?” he queried in a voice edged with unveiled savagery. “Convening on how to take down a mutual enemy? Or scheduling that long overdue rendezvous for the next time you decide to run?”
Taken aback by the unprovoked attack, Eden stared bemusedly at him, astonished at the thunderous expression of anger that clouded his features. She didn’t know why she was so surprised. Dominic didn’t need any particular reason to be malicious; he wasn’t at all content unless he was being a complete dick at some point. “Yes, of course because you think me so incapable of having a conversation with any man, least of all your brother without it involving sex. I am amazed of how very little you think of me,” she shot back with biting sarcasm.
“I did not enjoy seeing you with him,” he groused darkly, showing very little sign of contrition. “And it would appall you to learn just how much you consume my thoughts.” He shot her a look so raw and primitive that she wanted to open the car door and flee. But imprisoned as she was inside the confines of the limousine, Eden could only avert her gaze and silently sustain the palpable heat of what that look implied.
“I wasn’t putting him on my ‘who wants to fuck Eden schedule’. Lucas was saving my ass from his snake of a mother and her pit of vipers. He took me to the bar and—”
“And told you an origin story.” His mouth twisted. “It’s one Lucas is very fond of telling.”
“So you tell it,” she invited softly, running her tongue across her lips in nervous habit. “What Lucas said—”
“Bears no relevance to our contract, therefore, it is not your concern,” he said flatly, his stony expression putting an end to her line of questioning. The limo came to a stop at exactly that moment, and he descended without a word. That he could dismiss her so abruptly, so callously and reduce her to nothing more than the contract that they’d both signed was telling of the endless dynamic of their relationship. In a sense, it was sobering for him to do this, to keep her at arm’s length, so that she remembered exactly where she fit in his life and what role she was designated to play. And she’d forgotten that, hadn’t she? For one ephemeral moment she’d wanted to know a little bit about the man she had married, the man who had fathered her child. She’d felt moved to feel something for him, and he’d ungraciously tossed it back in her face. Well, now that Eden was cured of her momentary lapse of insanity, she was once again focused on her goal: the divorce.
Once she’d showered and dressed, she set Liam inside his crib and returned to her bed, collapsing on the yielding mattress with a big sigh. It didn’t take long for sleep to weigh her eyes down and slacken her body, and while she tried not to think about Dominic and the shadowy details of his past, Eden slept fitfully while plagued with dreams of a little boy who looked like her Liam and some unknown specter trying to take him from her.
It was odd that they would both come to the same unspoken truce in the ensuing weeks, where they tried not to antagonize each other, yet worked seamlessly towards a mutual purpose: Liam. Liam was their common ground, and Dominic demanded to be involved in every aspect of Liam’s life. From mundane monthly doctor appointments to giving, sometimes unwelcomed input, as to what his child would be wearing. If Eden was annoyed by his highhanded intrusiveness, she kept it to herself. She did however execute his requirements of her with quiet resolve, playing the hostess to his rare and illustrious parties, where she laughed easily and charmed his guests into enjoying themselves.
The parties were very exclusive, very private, attended solely by the city’s elite and held almost always on Dominic’s yacht. They were daunting of course, and faced with these affluent people who were worldlier and far more educated than she could be, Eden relied solely on her intuition and charm to get her through it. It wasn’t anything new to her. She’d done this before, had been paraded around these people more times than she could count. But there was a glaring difference now than before—Dominic’s attentiveness—his undeniable presence by her side when they attended these events. For one thing, he’d called her “his wife” more times than she could ever remember him saying. There was not only a quiet possession there, but it was said with the authority of a man who understood the significance of the word. There were no piercing glances of reproach or even a hint of that air of entitlement when he introduced her to his guests. For once, Dominic Armstrong did not outright demean his wife or make her feel completely inferior to him. And for all of Eden’s confidence and façade of indifference, Dominic’s mannerisms disconcerted her. She didn’t know what to think or how to react to this side of him, so she said nothing, choosing to ignore the conflicting emotions this sudden change produced.