Silent Whisper Read Online Free Page B

I love you, isn’t it?” he asked, not waiting for my response. “But you have to know that my heart belongs to you, Karlie. You know that, right?”
    “Dominic . . ,” I stammered, totally floored by what he was saying.
    I had never suspected that he had fallen in love with me. Even though I knew that I had feelings of attachment for him, I hadn’t quite gotten to the point where I was ready to call it ‘love’. I had no experience with romantic love. I really had no use for it right now.
    “Karlie,” he said, his thumb rubbing my fingers, “I know that I don’t share a lot of things with you, baby, but that doesn’t mean it’s just about the sex with us. I don’t share things because it’s better for you that way. It’s…safer.”
    Now was the perfect opportunity to open that door with him. I realized that because it was the first time that I had seen any vulnerability in him and I needed to make use of it.
    “Don’t you see? That’s exactly why I feel so shut out of your life. I mean, I don’t even know what it is you do for a living. The few times when I’ve asked, you’ve simply told me that you’re involved in mergers and acquisitions. What the hell? I’m not stupid, you know. I’ve figured certain things out for myself, and well—you either trust me, or you don’t. I don’t want to stay with someone who says I have his heart, but shuts me out of everything else. I don’t know if you have children, or if your wife knows about me. What if she decides to have me hurt, or eliminated altogether? Don’t you think I’ve thought about that?”
    I was getting emotional now and he was clearly not comfortable with the conversation taking place in a public restaurant.
    He leaned in closer, his other hand brushing my blond hair back from my face. “Karlie, we’ll talk once we’re back at your place. I suppose I owe you some answers. Can we just finish with our dinner and then we’ll go home and we’ll talk, okay?”
    I nodded, tears starting to well up because he was being so sweet and so fucking sincere and in that moment I knew that I’d won over his trust. I knew that he had been totally honest about his feelings for me, and I also knew deep inside, that any information he gave up, I would store in my memory banks for future reference.
    “By the way, baby,” he said, giving me a smile, “When is your birthday?”
    “May fifteenth,” I replied. “Just a few weeks from now.”
    “We’ll have cause to celebrate soon,” he said, taking a sip of wine, and watching me carefully over the rim of his glass. “You’ll be twenty-one then and officially allowed to drink.”
    “Yeah, I know,” I replied softly, raising my wine glass to my lips and keeping my eyes locked with his.
    I didn’t grace him with a smile though because I knew Dominic by now. And he needed to know just how serious I was about him letting me in. It was my top priority at the moment.

c h a p t e r 4
    Once Dominic and I returned to my condo, he poured himself a shot of bourbon and took a seat on the sofa next to me; his right hand loosened his tie slowly. I knew he was trying to assemble his thoughts in order to speak to the issues I had raised during dinner.
    “Karlie,” he started, his voice not much more than a hoarse whisper, “My family’s business is extremely complex and diverse as you’ve probably already figured out. Our investments span domestic and international territories; and our market segments include both services and products.”
    He stopped talking and looked over at me as if he had finished with his summary of the ‘family business.’
    Not even.
    “That’s it?” I asked, blinking.
    “What more do you need to know?” he asked, not blinking.
    I turned around to face him squarely. “How about if you share some of the details about the products and services of your business segments?”
    “Why’s that so important to you?”
    I shrugged. “It’s like I said at the restaurant, I feel