44. The past

CHAPTER FOURTY FOUR

Nicole’s POV

“You promised him a divorce Nicole,” the voice on the other end of the line spoke clearly annoyed.

“I swear it was just a heat of the moment. I’m not going to give him a divorce, I promise. Just give me my son back,” tears flowed down my cheeks.

“You better keep your end of the bargain Nicole and by the way, I don’t have your son but someone else must have him,”

I had no time to gasp before the line went dead. Gripping on my hair, I let the tears continue flowing down on my cheeks. Should I call the cops? But if I do then it won’t be just my life danger, but also my son’s and Dominic’s. It was impossible to believe that even after all Dominic had put me through, I was here fighting for every breathe he took.

“Nicole,” I looked up to meet Dominic’s gaze.

“He was crying so I picked him up. You were not around,” he spoke quietly.

Picking my son from Dominic I clutched him in arms, relief waving through me.

“I’m so sorry baby. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have left. I shouldn’t have gone out. I can’t lose you. I can’t,” I felt Dominic’s hand on my shoulder.

“He is fine Nicole. Stop worrying,” he massaged my shoulder and instantly I relaxed, leaning against his chest with my eyes closed.

“I think I should get back to my room,” he spoke as he placed a kiss on my hair. I had no idea why he did that but the tingles running through me were indescribable.

“Please stay Dominic, at least until I fall asleep,” I had no idea why asked.

“J-Just forget it,” I added the moment I noticed the strange expression on his face.

“I’ll stay Nicole,” he stated with a small encouraging smile on his rather attractive lips. I shook my thoughts, reminding myself that it was time I began forgetting just how addictive and kissable his lips were.

“Aren’t you going to put him in the crib?’ he asked puzzled as I lay my son next to me.

“Not tonight,” I replied while patting the space next to the baby for him to lie down.

A few minutes trickled by and none of us bothered to open our lips. In truth I was still angry at him but tonight I couldn’t ignore just how I safe I felt around him. Trust me, I hadn’t felt this safe ever since my son was born.

“What is his name?” he whispered.

“Travis,” I replied.

“How old is he? Two years and four months,” I replied.

‘So what is the deal with you and William? “

“Nothing, “I ignored the knotting in my stomach.

“They have a lounge on your balcony. Let’s try it out,” I looked at him in disbelief. Just because we are talking without disagreeing, it doesn’t mean we were friends but still I needed to relax my mind. A few minutes would probably not hurt anyone and maybe I could cherish this feeling of safety and normality even just for a few minutes.

“Of course,” I slid off the bed making sure the door was locked up from inside before joining Dominic. We looked at the city sprawled before us with its beautiful lights.

“William didn’t just break my heart. He broke my soul too,” I stated. Maybe it was the silence that propelled me to suddenly open my heart but I just knew I wanted to let off the burden of pain I had been holding inside me for years.

“What did he do to you?”

“My boyfriend had dumped me and taken my best friend to prom. I was only seventeen and in my junior year high school and then I met William, the popular football jock in his senior year. We began dating and I fell deeply in love with him. My parents, friends and even Julian warned me about him but I wouldn’t listen. Then one night things got heated up and one thing led to another. A few weeks later I discovered I was pregnant. He wouldn’t understand and instead he tried to make me have an abortion but I was adamant. One night he sneaked into my room and forced the abortion pills down my throat. I can still relive that night every single second of my life. My parents took me to the hospital but it was too late and I lost the baby. I reported him to the police but his parents were rich so they made the case go away. I fucking hated William after that and no matter how many therapies I underwent I still got the nightmares. It was always the same night name with William grabbing my baby and I would be screaming for him to leave my baby,” I sobbed as Dominic held me into him arms.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t know,” he asserted in a small voice.

“It wasn’t your fault Dominic. I was young and stupid. I don’t know what made me think one of the school’s most popular guys would actually love me,” I chuckled through my tears.

“No. you weren’t stupid Nicole. You were in love and love makes people think that even the impossible is very much possible. Like how I thought that maybe in the long run you would fall in love with me too. You made me go soft Nicole. You brought out the fact that I have a heart despite the cold exterior I let everyone see. I almost believed that someone could actually love me,” he smiled.

“Anna loves you,”

“Yeah, I wish I had met her early in my life,” he admitted gazing into the distance.

“You want to know what happened? Why I was at the correctional facility?” he suddenly poised the question completely catching me off guard.

“Dominic don’t tell me just because I shared my past with you,”

“No Nicole. I want you to know. I should have actually told you all this years ago,” he said with a reassuring smile on his lips.