Maid for the Billionaire(29)

―Is it going that badly?‖ she asked against the silk of his shirt.

Dominic returned her hug, sighing into her hair. ―The negotiations? No, I‘m not worried about those. When it comes to business, I‘ve got the Midas touch. It‘s just everywhere else that I fail.‖

Abby raised her head and simply waited, glad that she had held her tongue. He was opening up to her in a way she hadn‘t dared dream he would. She knew this probably wasn‘t forever, but she also knew it would certainly come to an abrupt end as soon as she shared her news.

Dominic stared at the wall behind her as if meeting her eyes was too difficult of a task as he admitted, ―Nicole claims she has a plan to break my father‘s will, but she won‘t say what it is.

She says she‘d rather lose it all than let me help her.‖

―She sounds a lot like you.‖ Abby shared her realization softly, instantly finding those dark gray eyes riveted to hers. She raised a hand to smooth the tension that was evident in his jaw.

―She‘s proud, Dominic, and she‘s hurting. What would you have done if the roles were reversed?‖

A hint of a sad smile pursed his lips. ―I would have thrown the offer back in my face and started my own company.‖

―Like you did with your father?‖ she asked.

Dominic tensed beneath her. ―This is not the same at all. I am nothing like my father.‖

―I know that, Dominic,‖ she whispered even though she really didn‘t know much about it at all. She wondered what his father had done to earn such complete revulsion from his only son.

She felt anger rippling through his muscles and knew that she had stumbled upon an old, yet still raw, emotional scar. ―Tell me,‖ she urged softly.

Dominic took a deep breath and pulled her close against him again. He didn‘t say anything at first. There was an intimacy in their quiet, shared breathing that most would associate with the afterglow of sex when lovers let each other in. Abby had never felt such a bond before, not even during relationships that had spanned several years. It shook her to the core that she could feel so connected to a man she‘d known less than a week.

When he finally spoke, his voice was oddly hollow, as if he was trying to distance himself even as he shared the story. ―I didn‘t know my father very well. He worked all the time. I mean, all the time. He kept us – me, Nicole, and our mother – in a mansion in the Hamptons. I say kept because that‘s how it felt there. No one spoke or moved in that house without his permission.

Except Thomas when he would visit. He was the only one who ever questioned my father‘s decisions. I think they went to school together as children and Thomas never let my father‘s success intimidate him.‖

―And you admired him.‖ She stated the obvious, wanting him to know that she understood.

Dominic made a sound of disgust deep within his chest. ―I did until he left, just like everyone else did, when my mother disappeared.‖

―Disappeared?‖ A shiver of fear ran down Abby‘s back.

―Yes, the formal investigation determined that she deserted our family. The police said there had been a note explaining that she wasn‘t happy and asking for no one to look for her, but I never believed that she would have left without saying goodbye to me or Nicole. I never saw the note. I doubt there ever was one. ‖ Dominic rubbed his hand absently up and down Abby‘s arm.

―Your father didn‘t look for her?‖ Abby could not even imagine the pain of not knowing. It was bad enough to have lost her mother to death, but to spend a lifetime wondering if something had happened to her or if she simply had run away would surely be harder to bear.

His hand stilled. ―He said she‘d live a lot longer if he never found her. I believed him. He had a vicious temper. But I couldn‘t accept that she didn‘t want to be with us and no matter what my father said, I had to find her. Eventually my father tossed down an ultimatum, give up my search or lose my inheritance. I walked out of his house that night.‖

The last of Abby‘s doubts about Dominic‘s character splintered and fell to the wayside.

Mrs. Duhamel was so right in warning her not to judge him on his tough exterior. He‘d left behind everything to search for the mother he‘d loved. That kind of devotion was rare. ―Where did you go?‖ Abby asked, driven by the need to know the rest of the story.

―I stayed with friends for a few days, but that option dissolved when news spread of the change in my financial situation. My father hoped to break me by removing my options, but his interference only made me more determined to find out what had happened.‖

―And Thomas wouldn‘t help you,‖ she guessed. Abby imagined a much younger version of the proud man before her turning to the one male figure in his life he trusted, only to be abandoned by him also. The image was heart wrenching.

A ragged, shudder tore through the man beneath her, bringing tears of empathy to Abby‘s eyes. His voice held little emotion as he said, ―I begged him to help me, but he said some things were better off left alone. Maybe he was afraid of my father after all or maybe there was no profit in remaining too close during such a scandal. I don‘t know. Before seeing him at the reading of the will, I hadn‘t spoken to him since I left my father‘s house.‖

―You never found your mother? I can‘t believe your father was never forced to produce proof that she was alive.‖

Dominic‘s face twisted with disdain. ―Money made him untouchable. At least that‘s what he believed, but I was bringing him down. If he hadn‘t died, I would have gotten the truth out of him.‖