Page 66 of The Boy I Loved (Eternal Hell #1)

Dominic brushed the strands out of the way, peering down at me with haunted eyes. “I’m not going to force myself on you,” he told me, thumbing my lower lip with the pad of his finger. “I respect you too much for that.”

My heart swelled at his words, but I tamped it down as quickly as it had happened.

He respected me but not the other girls he’d assaulted?

He was raised better than to treat women the way he did.

I was being torn between what was wrong and what was right.

Everything I once believed was blurring, leading me astray .

If Clay had never gotten his hooks in Dominic, what would have happened then? Was he always destined to become this … this inhumane creature lying beside me, or would he have returned to the old him?

“I know what you’re thinking,” he continued when I didn’t respond.

I seriously doubted that.

“Stacy was going to be killed either way,” he explained. “If Tristan or Vincent had gotten ahold of her before I did, it would have been a hell of a lot more brutal.”

I scoffed. “Do you hear yourself right now?”

In what world was it okay to kill somebody without cause? Even if she would have died at the hands of someone else, did he truly believe that his actions were justifiable because he killed her quickly? I wasn’t sure I knew Dominic at all anymore.

“I’d never hurt you,” he added, like that was what I was thinking. It wasn’t. I cared less about myself than the girls being tortured and murdered around me.

I turned my head, taking a good look at him. Dark ink swirled around his neck, trickling down both arms. His black hair, combined with the new tattoos and devilish gleam in his eye, made him look much darker and unhinged. Was it bad that I thought he looked even sexier this way?

“Tell me you believe me,” he murmured, running his thumb over the curve of my jaw.

“I do. But it doesn’t make me feel any better.”

His eyebrows pinched in confusion as if he couldn’t process why it wouldn’t. After a few moments of silent contemplation, his brows smoothed back out with realization. “At least you still have that part of yourself,” he concluded.

This time it was my turn to be confused. “What?”

“You’ve always been empathetic, Hazel. But you can’t be that way in a place like this. ”

I opened my mouth to tell him to go shove it, that I didn’t need his goddamn concern.

But the door opened before I could get the words out.

My entire body locked up, fear weaving a web through my chest. If Tristan found me lying with Dominic like this, I wasn’t sure what he’d do.

Especially with the news about me choosing Mason was still so fresh.

Dominic’s gaze darted to the spot behind me, but he didn’t show an ounce of concern. “What do you want?” he asked in annoyance.

Footsteps sounded on the wooden floor, growing closer and closer with every ragged inhale I took.

“I’m surprised she’s even talking to you after the stunt you pulled,” Mason spoke, amusement evident in his tone. “It was creative by the way, so props for that.”

“What do you want?” Dominic asked again.

Mason blew out a frustrated breath. “You’re no fun.” The bed dipped behind me, and awareness prickled along my spine.

I was caged between two monsters with no way out.

I glanced over my shoulder, locking eyes with the second boy to storm into my room today. He was making himself comfortable, kicking his legs out and lying on his side to face me.

“Hi, Hazel.” He grinned, draping an arm over my waist. “We have a date in two days. Try not to get fucked too much before then. I’m not really a fan of worn-out pussy.”

“The fuck you do,” Dominic snarled, pulling me against his chest possessively.

So … Dominic didn’t know?

Confusion pulsed through me. How did Tristan know then?

Mason’s silence told me all I needed to know. He enjoyed pissing Dom off and he was relishing it. “Why so angry?” he taunted, the smirk evident in his tone.

Dominic was glaring daggers over my shoulder, his lips curled into a malicious snarl.

The two must have been in some kind of stare off, but I couldn’t see Mason to know for sure.

I already had one monster pissed at me over the whole porn ordeal; I didn’t need to add Dominic to that list, not when there were more important things to worry about—like Stacy and what Dom had done to her.

I refused to let her memory slip through the cracks, regardless of how common death was around here.

She might not have been the best person in the world, but she was still a human.

She still had feelings, a family, ambitions, and friends.

“Anyway…” Mason began, hopefully changing the subject. “That’s not actually why I came here. I knew you’d be in here. Clay wants you in the basement tonight with Nicholas and Cody.”

Dominic shoved Mason’s arm off my hip as if it had offended him before gritting his teeth. “Is that all?”

“Yep.”

I felt the boy behind me shift and the bed dipped again.

Glancing over my shoulder, I caught his lingering smirk before he headed for the door and slipped out of the room.

With him now gone, I felt like I could breathe a little bit easier.

Dom was a monster, but he was still someone I was much more comfortable around.

We sat in silence for a while, my body stiff as a board while thoughts and memories raced through my subconscious.

After a little while, Dominic released a loud sigh, his dark eyebrows tugging together. Something was weighing on him, but I didn’t care enough to ask about it, not right now at least. He didn’t deserve my sympathy or support.

“Don’t miss training again,” he said at last. “You don’t want to get Clay pissed at you.”

A retort was on the tip of my tongue, but I thought better of it and swallowed it down.

“You should also eat something,” he continued.

The thought of going to the cafeteria, knowing Stacy wouldn’t be eating with me, had my stomach curdling. Lauren was still in the basement, and she had different mealtimes than I did. Plus, I wasn’t as close to her as I’d started becoming with Stacy.

Dominic placed his lips against my forehead, his hot breath brushing against my skin. After a few moments, he pulled away and rose. It wasn’t until he’d left the room that I pinched my eyes shut again and released a loaded breath of my own.

He had another thing coming if he thought I was just going to forgive and forget.