Tainted Hearts

6 | The Offer

✧

DOMINIC

Dominic never imagined watching a woman he genuinely cared for leave him at the restaurant would sting this much. He filled Claudia with angst and loathing and wanted to pursue her quickly. The strangest part was that he didn't even think about the idiotic contract he had created earlier. He was trying to figure out how to make it up to her.

Claudia was special. She was an angel. She differed from other women. When he proposed, her expression penetrated him. Everything could have gone differently. Scratch that. He could have explained it better. To help her understand, Dominic knew he should have told her what was bothering him and been more honest about his father.

Claudia's lovely body walked through the restaurant without glancing back. Her confidence was captivating. How she could just leave him like that sparked his interest. He understood the risks. But, what the heck? He needed to find the woman who had won his heart. She owned him.

Dominic jumped quickly from his seat. He grabbed the server by the sleeve as he walked by and said, "My wife and I will be right back. Don't clean our table."

Did I just call Claudia my wife?

That thought just tickled his stomach. He'd told her he didn't want anything more than a fake fiancée, and here he was, referring to her as something different. His head became dizzy just thinking about it.

Dominic was on his way out to rectify the situation, as he didn't want to lose the one good thing in his life. He could see Claudia walk straight out of the door, so he needed to pick up the pace and let his feet guide him toward heaven. He was putting her on a pedestal, but that was where she belonged, and he was going to do everything in his power to keep her in his life.

The chilly air startled Dominic, who was aware of how close she wanted to be to the bus stop. "Claudia. Please listen." He probably should have declared that as a question instead of a statement.

She turned around and glared. Her eyes would have been crimson if he had looked closely. From the woman who sat across from him in a restaurant, it was very different. Even though it was evening, Dominic felt like the sun was burning the back of his body. Claudia had never been so upset. Let alone a madwoman. "Listen to you? You want to use me to get something for yourself? No thanks."

"No, that's not what's happening." Dominic cleared his throat to catch his breath.

"You were about to pay me to pretend to be your fiancée. After everything we've gone through, it may not seem like much, but I thought it was genuine. Then you go and do this. How am I supposed to agree to that?"

Dominic wanted to move their conversation to somewhere private, but Claudia spoke so quickly that it was hard to pull her away from the crowd.

The shock wouldn't find him if someone filmed them fighting on a busy New York sidewalk and someone downloaded it to the internet later. He wasn't bothered how other people viewed; talking things out with Claudia was more important.

"I want to know everything, Mr. Beretta."

"Oh, so we're now referring to ourselves by our surnames?"

When the light above her beautiful head started to shine, Claudia crossed her arms. He just wanted to hold her all night and run his fingers through her hair. But right now, he had to focus on the current discussion at hand.

"I apologize, Dia. Before I said anything, I knew I had made a big mistake by presenting the offer so quickly. Please listen to me."

Claudia gave him a low growl as she stared into his eyes and told him, "The next bus comes in two minutes. Use them well."