I took a deep breath and accepted my feelings. I wasn’t going to leave his side again. I couldn’t. I needed him in my life, just as he needed me, and if that meant having to deal with drugs and other shit, it was a price I was willing to pay. He was worth it.
Chapter 3
When we were both dressed again, we sat down at my small table for a cup of coffee.
“What do we do now?” I asked.
He drank a sip before answering. “We can’t go back to my house. They know where we live. It’s not safe there.”
“But what else? You can’t mean to stay here, in this room. I mean, it’s nice, but not nearly big enough for one person, let alone two.”
“I know, but I’ve got a temporary solution for this whole situation.”
I raised my eyebrows. “Oh, really? What?”
His eyes narrowed. “You’ll see.”
I blew the steam off my coffee, thinking about what he meant with that.
“I just don’t understand how they could’ve known. I didn’t give them anything.”
I swallowed down the hot coffee, and as the liquid heated my throat, I realized the truth. I knew why they’d found out where we lived. It was my fault. The only person who could’ve known was Daisy. I told her where we lived and she came over. She was the only one who could’ve told them.
I gulped down more coffee and put my cup back down. I couldn’t look him in the eye, knowing what I had done. I didn’t know why I didn’t think of it sooner. Maybe a part of me wanted to forget about it. Deny it, for the sake of my sanity. But I couldn’t hide it any longer.
“Julie, what’s wrong?” He bent his head to look into my eyes, but I averted them. His hand reached for mine, but I slipped out from under his touch.
“Tell me what’s wrong,” he said.
I pursed my lips and started biting them. Frowning, I fought back the tears. I thought I could trust that woman, but in the end she was the one who betrayed me.
“Julie, if you don’t tell me I will punish you.” His voice sounded insisted and demanding.
I swallowed back the fear. I knew I’d given away the fact that I knew something. “I know how they found out.”
Now he was the one frowning. “What? How? When?”
“Do you remember the woman who spoke to me in the club? At the play party? She said she would help me with the submissive things, and I thought I could trust her.”
Dominic’s hand drew back from the table. I didn’t dare look at him, while I confessed.
“I invited her over …” I whispered.
A tear trickled down my face.
Dominic’s mouth dropped open. His hand curled up into a fist, and he stomped on the table. I jolted up in my seat from the sudden bang.
“You did what?” he snapped.
“I’m sorry,” I said, whimpering.
“You let someone into my house without my permission?” he said, his teeth grinding.
“Yes, and I’m sorry, Dominic. I really am. I was so afraid to tell you, but now I realize it’s part of the problem.” I tried to look him in the eye, but the flame burning inside them scared me.
“Damn right it is.” He leaned back in his chair and folded his arm together. Snorting, he closed his eyes to think.
After a while, Dominic opened his mouth again. “Are you sure that’s how they found out?”
I nodded.
“Ah, Jesus Christ …” he ran his fingers through his hair and blinked a couple of times, processing the information. “If that’s true, then that means the play party is infiltrated.”
“It could be … I don’t know. I have no proof she is involved, only this very suspicious coincidence.”
“Shit! I was the one who brought you there,” he said. I could see his eyes starting to water. He blamed himself even more now.
“We couldn’t have known,” I said, trying to calm him down.
“How did you two talk? I mean, if you invited her without me knowing, you must’ve had contact somehow.”
Immediately realizing I might have more information, I took my phone from my purse. “She gave me her number.”
I scrolled through the numbers, but Dominic snatched the phone from my hand. He pressed a button and held the phone against his ear. He was calling her. My heart was racing, bile rising up in my throat at the mere thought.
After a while, he put it back down and pressed the button again. “The line’s cut off.”
I snorted. “Of course, how convenient.”
“Got anything else?”
“No, not that I can think of. Her name was Daisy, she wore a mask during the play party and had long, blonde, curly hair. Not much else I can remember. It’s not like I was actually friends with her, although she insisted we were.”