Uncle Dominic's Touch Read Online Free Page B

and knew how they would react. “Please, Uncle Dominic. Please don’t tell them.” She could see the war waging inside of him on what to do. He looked behind him at Jake for a suspended moment and then turned back to her.
    “The police need to be called, Chloe.” Dominic’s tone brokered no argument.
    Oh God. This night was getting worse. “Look, I know they should be called, but I don’t want to be dragged through this mess any more than I already have. You know as well as I that if the police arrest him there will be all sorts of legalities that involve me as well.” She took a step closer and wrapped her arms around his waist. She just wanted to be held. She wanted to forget about this night and move forward. “Please, Uncle Dominic. Please, can we forget about it?” All but pleading, she prayed he listened to her.
    Chloe kept her head down and when she felt Dominic’s hand on her shoulder, she lifted her head and stared at him. Neither of them spoke for several minutes.
    “They are going to wonder why he has a black eye and is leaving.” She could tell by the way he spoke that he wasn’t going to tell anyone. Maybe Jake did need to get arrested and maybe her parents did need to know, but she couldn’t go through that right now, didn’t even want to think about it.
    “He leaves in the morning.”
    “Believe me, he isn’t going to want to stay anyway.” They were silent for several minutes and didn’t advance toward the house. When Dominic finally breathed out and stepped back, he ran his hand through his cropped hair.
    “Okay, I won’t say anything, but I'm only doing this because you asked. This goes against my better judgment, but I don’t want to see you hurting any more than you already are.” Nodding, she wouldn’t have had it any other way. She would find something to tell her parents.
    “And, Chloe?”
    “Yes?”
    “If I find out he has put his hands on you again, I’ll hunt him down and kill him.”
    Shivering at the intensity of Dominic’s words, she knew he meant what he said.
     
     

 
    Chapter Five
     
    The following morning Jake had woke up on the lawn chair, half his face swollen. When Chloe had seen him she knew right away his memory of the night before was intact. She thought he might have looked regretful, even sorry, but a deep hatred had been reflected back at her. When her parents had seen what happened, he had at least been smart enough not to be honest about how he acquired the injury. When he had expressed his desire to go home, her parents had been more than willing to drive him back, most likely worrying a lawsuit would result from his injury.
    They hadn’t bothered asking her if she was okay with leaving, just told her to pack her bags and meet them in the front. She refused to go, didn’t want to be in the car with any of them. When she had told them this, they looked at her as if she had grown a second head. Of course they told her she would just be a burden to Clara and Dominic—that they didn’t want to have to watch over a kid .
    Thankfully, Uncle Dominic had been there, smoothing away their ruffled feathers and telling them there was no problem with her staying at the cottage. Without even a backward glance, they left.
    That had been several hours ago and still Chloe didn’t know how to feel. The whole situation was surreal. How could she ever find it in herself to trust another guy? Jake had turned into a monster in only one day. After two years of being with him, she had to find out the hard way who he truly was.
    What she needed to do was go for a run around the lake, clear her head and try and put things in perspective. She had too much anger and energy to just sit around and wallow. She also didn’t want to be around her Aunt Clara. It seemed Clara wasn’t too happy about Chloe staying. Although she hadn’t said as much, actions spoke louder than words.
    Changing into a set of running shoes, Chloe grabbed a few bottles of water and set off to get