Page 22 of Sweetest Sin (Tempting Love #1)

Peyton

A twelve-hour flight, and Dominick has pretty much ignored me the entire time, aside from when he’s needed to order a drink and food.

He’s spent most of the flight working on his laptop, sitting beside a beautiful blonde woman, who’s spent the trip listening to music and binge-watching shows on her tablet.

I thought for sure that I was going to have to hide out for the flight back, but it’s like he doesn’t even know I exist.

Unfortunately, we’re taking a detour to Harbor Point to drop them off before we fly back to home base, which means we’ll be stuck spending the night in his city.

“We should go skiing this winter,” the woman says, looking up at Dominick from her phone. “Remember when we went a few years ago? We had so much fun.”

Dominick glances up at her and smiles, and my heart stops. I don’t know who this woman is, but I’ve learned Dominick’s smiles are few and far between, and for her to earn one must mean she’s important to him.

“Sure,” he says. “You plan it, and we’ll go.”

I shouldn’t care that he’s with someone. It means he’ll leave me alone, which is what I want … what I need . But I can’t help the anger spreading through my veins at the fact that he was literally flirting with me yesterday on his way to … what? Go pick this woman up and bring her back here?

She squeals and leans over to kiss his cheek, and before I can think about what I’m doing, I’m stalking toward them.

Dominick sees me coming first and raises a questioning brow. But the woman doesn’t notice me until I’m standing directly in her line of vision.

“Just so you know,” I tell her, “the guy you’re with was hitting on me in this same plane yesterday. So, you might want to be careful.”

The woman’s brows furrow in confusion for several seconds before she glances from me to Dominick and then proceeds to laugh. Like a full-blown belly laugh that ricochets throughout the plane.

“Oh my God, Dominick, you were hitting on the flight attendant?” She shakes her head. “Have you no boundaries? I would expect that from Matteo, but not you.”

Dominick rolls his eyes, and I stare at them, wondering why the hell the woman isn’t mad. I mean, she just learned that her … whatever he is to her was flirting with another woman.

“Well, anyway,” I say, “I just wanted you to be aware. Girl power and all that.”

I’m about to turn around to walk back to the front when she speaks, stopping me in my place.

“While I agree that flirting with the employees is in bad taste,” she says, side-eyeing Dominick, “my brother is free to flirt with whoever he wants.”

Brother …

Oh shit.

I glance at Dominick, who smirks.

I got it all wrong.

And I look stupid.

And sound like a jealous girlfriend.

“Right,” I murmur. “I’m just going to go …” I nod over my shoulder and then scurry away as the woman, who’s apparently related to Dominick, laughs.

Thankfully, the rest of the flight goes smoothly. After I told Sonia that I’d made an ass out of myself, she served them their drinks so I could hide out until we landed and Dominick and his sister got off the plane.

After we finish up our duties, Sonia and I head to the airport hotel since we’re stuck in Harbor Point until tomorrow morning.

I put in a notice with the company I work for that I’m able to work any route heading to Coral Bay in case there’s an opening, hoping to get home sooner, but nothing pops up.

So, after talking to Damien, telling him I love and miss him, I go to bed and set my alarm for six a.m.

I’m snuggling into my pillow, my eyes slowly closing, when there’s a knock on my door. Because I’m in a hotel and it’s late, it can only be one person …

“Peyton, open up.” Dominick’s masculine voice comes through the door.

I consider yelling at him to go away, but something tells me that a guy like him would only see that as a challenge.

He obviously went out of his way to find out where I was, and I doubt he’ll leave until he says whatever it is he needs to say.

Honestly, it’s better for him to talk to me here than follow me back home.

The last place I want this dangerous man is in Coral Bay.

“What?” I ask when I swing the door open.

Instead of answering, he strolls past me like he owns the place, not stopping until he’s in the middle of the tiny main area.

“You’re not surprised I found you,” he says, quirking a brow. “Does that mean you now know who I am?”

“Yes, I know exactly who you are,” I tell him, crossing my arms protectively over my chest. “And in case I didn’t make it clear, I want nothing to do with you.”

“Really?” He chuckles darkly, stepping toward me. “Because when you were accusing me of cheating on my sister , what you wanted seemed a bit fuzzy.”

“It was a mistake. What we had all those years ago was a onetime thing, and I would really appreciate it if you left.”

Dominick eyes me for several seconds, his gaze roaming over my face and down my body, and despite being fully clothed in my pajamas, I’ve never felt more exposed from a single look.

“Who’s Damien?” he asks.

I flinch at his out-of-left-field question and pray I school my features before he notices.

“He’s—”

“Don’t even think about saying he’s none of my business.”

Dammit.

“And don’t lie.”

Fuck.

I know about his reputation. And I would be stupid to lie to him and risk him finding out, but I don’t have a choice because the alternative is …

“He’s my boyfriend. And it’s serious.”

Dominick tilts his head, assessing me, and my heart pounds against my chest as I hope like hell he doesn’t see through my lie.

“You sure about that?” he asks me point-blank.

I don’t know why, but I have a horrible feeling he already knows the answer. Which means …

“Did you have me investigated?”

“What does it matter?” he asks. “If you’re telling the truth, then you have nothing to hide.”

He steps toward me, and I take a step back, hitting the wall behind me.

“Answer the fucking question,” he says, his tone reminding me of that day . Cold, menacing … deadly. “Who is Damien?”

Oh my God. He knows.

He wouldn’t keep asking if he didn’t. It’s like when I ask Damien about something he did that he shouldn’t have, wanting him to admit it for himself, even though I already know the answer.

I should tell the truth. But I can’t. Because doing so would mean putting Damien in danger, and I won’t do that. It’s my job to protect him.

“My boyfriend!”

“Dammit, Peyton!”

He raises his hand, and I cower before the blow can land. Only instead of hitting me, his hand lands on the wall next to me.

“Are you fucking serious? You think I would hit you?”

“I know what you’re capable of!” I yell. “You’ve killed people! Is it so far of a stretch to think you’d hurt me?”

He backs up slightly in shock at my accusation, and I use that as my chance to escape. Ducking under him, I run toward the door, but before I can get it open enough to get out, he slams it closed. The action sends my body into the door, and with his arms caging me in, I’m trapped.

“Please,” I beg, my entire body shaking, “don’t hit me!”

Images of my dad pushing my mom around hit me hard, and I close my eyes, praying Dominick doesn’t hurt me the way my dad hurt my mom.

“I’m not going to fucking hit you!” he barks, spinning me around so I’m forced to look at him. “Now, stop fucking lying to me. We both know who Damien is, and you’re going to fucking say it!”

“No,” I shout back, “I’m not! I want you to get the fuck out of my room and out of my life! I already told you?—”

Knock. Knock. Knock.

“This is security. We’ve had a noise complaint. Please open the door.”

I move to the side, but instead of Dominick opening the door, he glares at it for several seconds.

Finally, with an annoyed sigh, he takes a step back and opens the door. “Everything’s fine,” he tells the security guy. “I was just leaving.”

“Oh, I’m sorry, Mr. Antonov. I didn’t know you were here …”

Seriously? Does everybody but me know who this guy is?

“No worries,” he tells the gentleman.

I assume he’s going to leave without another word, but he turns around, his cold gray eyes meeting mine.

“This isn’t over, Peyton,” he warns, sending a chill up my spine.

Because I know his words aren’t empty, and it’s only a matter of time before he comes for me and forces the truth out of me, which is why I need to leave as soon as possible.

As if Dominick can hear my thoughts, he adds, “Before you think about leaving, I’ll be back in the morning. And you’d better fucking be here and be ready to speak honestly.”

He doesn’t wait for me to answer. He simply saunters away like he didn’t just threaten me.

Despite his menacing words, I know without a doubt, I will not be here in the morning.