Love the Second Time Around Novel

Chapter 122 Acting Guilty

| checked my phone, almost dropping it when | saw who the sender was.

It was a text from Royce from my blind date.

| could not help but feel like | was cheating on him.

In his text, Royce mentioned that he had not contactedbecause he had been away on a business trip. He

followed that up with an invitation to chat the next day.

Chat? About what? Dominic's warning remained at the forefront of my mind. If he knew about Royce’s existence,

1 would be dead meat.

| stared at the doorway guiltily as if expecting Dominic to materialize at any moment. | tapped out a reply to

Royce hastily.

I'm sorry, but we shouldn't keep in touch anymore. I've got a boyfriend now.

After | sent out the text, | sighed in relief.

Royce merely replied, Alright.

Just then, footsteps sounded outside the bedroom. | quickly erased Royce’s conversation history and buried my

phone under my pillow. To complete my act of innocence, | pretended to be absorbed in drawing.

Dominic's senses were, however, razor-sharp.

The minute he got on the bed, he pulledinto his arms and gazed atinquisitively. “You seem nervous.

Feeling guilty about something?”

My heart was about to leap out of my throat at that point. Still, | thought | put on a rather convincing act of

nonchalance as | replied, “You're the one who is guilty.”

He began toying with a strand of my hair as he commented, “That'd better be the case. Liliana, you know the

consequences.”

My eyelids twitched before | could muster a brownnosing smile. “Of course not. There's nothing for you to

discover.”

Dominic pressedinto the bed and got down to business.

| did not know if the frequency of our lovemaking had made a difference, but | had grown more and more

sensitive to his touch. A few teases were all it took to turninto a quivering ball of lust.

At the stime, Dominic had becmore wicked in bed. He would teaseuntil | was burning with desire

and immediately stop his movements, waiting forto beg for relief.

I had tried a few times to resist begging him, but that only resulted in more punishing teases.

Since | could not outlast him, | learned my lesson and played along. It would eventually work out in my favor

anyway.

Dominic's energy was a thing of mystery to him. Even after making love through the wee hours of the night, |

was the one who felt utterly spent while he managed to get himself to work early every morning.

That afternoon, | had been shopping at a supermarket when Dominic called me. | almost screamed out of glee at

the news he told me. At last, he was no longer staying at my place.

Thank God! The heavens must've heard my prayers!

Every night Dominic spent in my house meant another day of walking around on sore legs. | had been dreaming

of the day he would finally leave.

| could finally sleep peacefully and alone tonight.

My shopping speed increased exponentially with my glee.

| even tossed sextra bags of snacks into my shopping cart for good measure. As | reveled in my mini-

celebration, | heard someone call my name.

Turning around, | realized that it was Royce. Wow, what a coincidence.

“Ms. Zanetti, | see you're doing grocery shopping as well.”

Royce did not seem stilted or awkward as he greeted me. | returned his greeting and replied, “Yes. I'm running

out of groceries.”

We fell into awkward silence soon after.

Royce broke the tension first by saying, “I'm busy, so I'll make a move. Enjoy your shopping.”

| nodded hastily and waved goodbye at him.

His departure filledwith relief. Dominic's constant threats were nothing if not effective at instilling fear in me.

Why am | worrying so much? | bumped into Royce out of coincidence, and Dominic’s not here either. | should

hurry hafter shopping.

Without Dominic around, | slept like a log.

His absence lasted about a week.

He must be busy with Camille; after all, she’s his fiancée. He should be spending more twith her after

rendezvousing with me. Though how he manages to keep the fiancée satisfied with a lover in tow, | will never

know.

Shannon cknocking bright and early on Sunday morning, draggingout of my bed.

| yawned in exhaustion, struggling to open my eyes after rushing a manuscript last night.

“Shannon, don’t disturb me. All | want is to veg out in bed. Go have fun yourself.”

“It’s so boring to go alone. You should cwith me! You can catch up on your sleep once we arrive,” Shannon

whined and shook my elbow.

| stopped her and wailed, “Stop shaking me. I'm so dizzy. Wait, why are you going there again?”

She giggled. “Do you remember the man | met on my blind date? He invitedalong, and | want you to go with

a,

My brain pounded as | stared at her. “Oh, do you like him? Are you trying to take things further?”

“Maybe, maybe not. Hey, you should invite Royce too. We're going to a resort anyway. The more, the merrier,

right? You can get to know him a little better as well.”

At the mention of Royce, | waved my arms in protest. “No thanks. Royce and | are old news.”

Confusion flashed through Shannon's features. “Why not? Didn't you get along well at the blind date?”

“We only talked once at the blind date; why would you call that getting along well?”

She seemed to have more questions, and | cut in hastily, “Stop digging into my business if you still want a

traveling partner to that resort or whatever it is.”

Shannon immediately lifted her arms in surrender and said, “Ok, | zip my lips.”

And that was how Shannon single-handedly destroyed my dream of sleeping in on the weekend.

| slept the entire journey to the resort, only waking up after Shannon pokedonce we arrived.

Stretching lazily, | asked, “How many people are there?”

“I didn’t ask, but there should be a small crowd.”

| could not help but roll my eyes at her. “How trusting of you. What if this was all a front for a trafficking

scheme?”

At my sarcasm, Shannon clung to my elbow and said, “Stop being so melotic; con, let's explore this

place.”

| allowed Shannon to draginto the resort. We had barely taken a few steps when | heard a familiar voice

behind me.