A Dominant Fallen (A Dominant Series Book 2)

A New Perspective

I
t’s a relatively unspectacular day. However, every day since she left me has been worse than the one before. It’s been four long months since she tore my heart out and left me to wither away. I’m in my office, peering blankly out over the bustling city, bathed in the early evening light. I’m pondering what I’d done wrong, which I seem to do a lot as of late, every fucking second of every fucking day to be exact.

It’s been torture. I’ve never felt such agony before, and I never want to again. It’s over for me. I’ve lost the love of my life, and I will never love again. I could never pervert what we had. No woman could ever compare to her.

I’ve been biding my time by working, exercising, tracking down Dante, or sitting outside her apartment like some psychotic stalker, watching the dark windows. I go over our last night together, the way she looked when she cowered from me, the sorrow on her face when she glanced back at me for the last time. I imagine all the ways I could get her back, make her forgive me, but nothing seems good enough, nothing’s worthy. I’m not worthy.

If the thought of her becomes too much to bear, and that’s often, I picture Dante and the horrific things I’ll do to him when I hunt him down. I will find him, and when I do, he’ll be fucking sorry. I’m thinking about my favorite form of torture when my desk phone goes off. I turn my chair back, take a deep breath, and run my hands through my unruly hair, attempting to put myself back together before answering.

“Yes?” I ask with a clipped tone.

“Mr. Hunt, there’s a gentleman waiting here to see you. He said his name is Chase Cahill, and he’s here regarding a common interest.”

Gabrielle.

“Send him in and hold my calls.”

“Yes, sir,” she replies shakily.

I hang up with an utterly ridiculous grin on my face, wiping it off when the doorknob turns. Chase walks into my office with a staid, rigid look on his face, though this isn’t because of me. This has pain and bewilderment mixed in.

“Mr. Cahill, what can I do for you?”

I rise and walkover to him, extending a hand. I don’t know why I’m being so goddamn friendly towards him. He’s able to be around her, and it kills me, not knowing what she’s doing or whom she’s with, but he was kind in informing me of the passing.

He takes my hand, giving it a firm shake, making eye contact.

“I need to talk to you.”

“Of course, take a seat, please.”

Calm down, Hunt, don’t want to seem too overzealous.

He walks over to a black leather chair in front of my desk and takes a seat. I go to my chair, easing back into it.

“How can I help you?” I ask, stolid, emanating a sense of control.

Better.

“Look, I don’t like you,” he states with a firm voice, “and you sure as shit don’t like me, but I feel you have a right to hear this.”

“Understood,” I assure. “What is it you need to tell me?”

He takes a deep breath then mumbles to himself, “Gabrielle is going to kill me…I’m here to inform you of what occurred that night at your home.”

“What about it?” I ask, inching forward in my seat.

“Gabrielle didn’t leave you because she couldn’t handle you or your relationship. She’s strong. As you know, she’s been through a lot of shit. I mean, fuck, she stayed with the cocksucker forever and look at the way he treated her…Dante threatened your life. He told her if she didn’t leave you, he would kill you like he killed Nicholas…”

“He did what?” I ask with a sickened tone.

Did I hear him correctly
?

“Yeah, apparently, he confessed while he was attacking her.”

“That’s why she left me?”

I feel so fucking stupid. How the hell did I ever think she would leave by choice?

“Yup, and from what she told me, it was pretty heinous. But, that’s her place to tell you…I’ll say this, man. When she told me, I didn’t know if I wanted to kill him or throw up,” he says, shaking his head with a disgusted look on his face, but then his thought seems to take a different direction, and he chuckles to himself. “To be honest, I’m surprised you believed her when she said she didn’t love you. I didn’t think you were that dumb. I was positive you’d figure it out and come after her. Why didn’t you?”

Are we seriously having this discussion? Am I seriously going to answer him?

“I wanted to go to her and demand that she be with me, demand that she give me another chance to prove myself to her. Don’t think it didn’t cross my mind on more than a few occasions…However, more than my love and my need to be with her, I respect her. I respected her choice to leave me. Besides, what’s the point in chasing after someone you believe doesn’t even love you?”

“I should’ve asked myself that question a long time ago,” he murmurs under his breath, and I actually feel for him. “Anyway, I thought you should know the truth, let you make up your own mind.”

“I appreciate it. Thank you, Chase…Where is she?” I ask, standing to grab my coat from the rack behind my desk.

“You may want to take a seat.”

I pause, leaving my coat on the rack, and slowly turn to peer at him for a moment, panic and anger seizing me. “Why…? What’s wrong?”

He thrusts a hand into his copper hair, sighing. “We don’t know where she is. We haven’t heard from her since the funeral a week ago.”

“What the fuck do you mean you don’t know where she is? You’re supposed to watch out for her. You fucking promised me you would,” I roar. “Unacceptable.”

“I know. I tried, but…” he trails off.

“What?” I ask, furious.

“I kissed her at the funeral, and she freaked out about it, amongst other things, but once again, she can tell you.”

“You did what?” I growl through gritted teeth. I’m seething.

“Oh, come on, man,” he says with an almost insulted look on his face. “You knew how I felt for her. Did you really think I wouldn’t try to get her back?”

Oddly enough, this calms me because I did know. This isn’t a surprise.

“What did she do?” My heart beats rapidly when I ask this.

“She kissed me before freaking and running out on everyone. She’s obviously still hung up on you.”