Chapter 21 UNINVITED
Ava's POV
Victoria stood in the doorway holding a key
"Surprised?" She walked in without waiting for an invitation and tossed the key onto the entrance table. "Dominic gave me a key years ago. Guess he never asked for it back."
I stood up from the couch, my heart racing. "You can't just walk in here."
"Can't I?" She looked around the penthouse.
"I've been here a thousand times, darling. I know this place better than you ever will."
She walked to the bar and poured herself a drink, completely at ease.
"What do you want, Victoria?"
"To talk. Woman to woman." She took a sip and studied me over the rim of her glass.
"You seem like a nice girl. A little naive, maybe, but nice."
"I'm not interested in whatever game you're playing." I said to hwe
"Game?" She laughed and set her glass down. "This isn't a game, sweetheart. This is me trying to save you from making the same mistakes I did."
"I didn't ask for your help." I saud
"No, but you need it." She moved closer and I fought the urge to step back.
"Let me guess. He's intense, possessive, makes you feel like you're the only woman in the world. The sex is incredible. He's generous with money but stingy with real information about himself."
Every word hit too close to home and she saw it on my face.
"I've been exactly where you are." Her voice softened slightly.
"I thought I was special too. Thought I could be the one to make Dominic Hayes commit to something real."
"You were engaged to him." I said.
"I had a ring, yes. But I never really had him." She picked up her drink again.
"He keeps parts of himself locked away where no one can reach them. Trust me, I tried for a year to get past those walls."
"Why are you telling me this?" I asked, not completely sure what she has to gain from telling me.
"Because when he's done with you, and he will be done with you, you're going to need someone who understands what you went through." She finished her drink.
"I'm offering to be that person."
"How generous."
"Mock me if you want, but you'll remember this conversation when he breaks your heart." She walked to the door and paused.
"Oh, and one more thing. That contract you signed? I helped draft the first version of it. For the woman before you."
My blood went cold. "What?"
"You're not the first arrangement, Ava. You're just the latest." She opened the door.
"See you at the office tomorrow. Dominic wants you there full time now. Didn't he tell you?"
She left and I stood there feeling like the floor had dropped out from under me. Not the first?
I pulled out my phone and called Maya.
"Please tell me you can meet me right now."
"What's wrong? You sound like you're about to murder someone."
"I just found out some things about Dominic and I need to talk before I do something stupid." I said, already moving towards the door.
"Coffee shop in twenty minutes. The good one, not that place you went to this morning." She responded.
I texted Adrian that I was leaving to meet Maya and he could either drive me or follow me in a cab. Either way, I was going.
Three minutes later there was a knock on the door.
"Miss Scott, I'll drive you." Adrian's voice came through.
The coffee shop was crowded with the after-work rush but Maya had already claimed a corner table. She took one look at my face and ordered us both the largest size they had.
"Okay, spill everything." She said as soon as we had settled.
I told her about Victoria showing up with a key, about what she'd said, about the contract being used before.
"So he's done this before. The whole arrangement thing." Maya stirred her coffee even though she took it black.
"With other women."
"Apparently." My hands were shaking.
"And Victoria helped write the contract. She knew exactly what she was talking about because she's seen it all before."
"That manipulative bitch." Maya's eyes flashed. "She's playing you, Ava. Can't you see that? She wants Dominic back and you're in her way."
"But what if she's telling the truth? What if I'm just another in a long line of women he pays to keep around until he gets bored?"
"Then you walk away. Take your money, make sure your mom is taken care of, and walk away." Maya reached across and grabbed my hand.
"But I don't think that's what this is." She added
"How do you know?" I asked her
"Because I've seen how he looks at you. That man at the bar the other night? He was ready to tear that place apart when he saw you dancing with someone else. That's not how you look at a temporary arrangement." Maya assured me.
"Or maybe he's just possessive of his things."
"You're not a thing, Ava. Stop letting these people make you feel like you are."
We sat there drinking our coffee while I tried to figure out what I was going to do. My phone buzzed with a text from Dominic asking where I am.
I told him I was with Maya onlu for him to tell me come back and that we needed to talk
"Your first day at Hayes International is tomorrow. I want you working with me." He said through the text and ishowed Maya the texts.
"Working with him? Like an actual job?" She asked
"I guess? He never mentioned it, but I heard Victoria did this morning" I replied.
"Girl, that man doesn't tell you anything until he's already decided for you." Maya shook her head. "You need to set some boundaries before this gets even more out of control."
"How do I set boundaries with someone who thinks he owns me?"
"By reminding him that he doesn't." Maya pulled out her phone.
"Ryan asked about you again. Third time today. You want his number?"
"Maya..."
"I'm serious. You need options, Ava. Right now Dominic controls everything in your life. Your money, your housing, your mother's medical care. That's not healthy." She argued.
"I know it's not healthy. But what am I supposed to do? Walk away and watch my mom die?" I asked.
"No, but you can at least have a backup plan. Someone who's interested in you for you, not because you signed a piece of paper." She said and I just had to take Ryan's number even though I didn't know what I was going to do with it.
When Adrian drove me back to the penthouse, Dominic was waiting in the living room with Chinese takeout spread across the coffee table.
"I didn't know what you'd want so I got everything." He gestured to the boxes.
I sat down across from him, not next to him like I usually would have and he noticed.
"What did Victoria say to you?" He asked.
"How did you know she came here?"
"Building security called when someone used a key that wasn't supposed to work anymore. I had them check the footage." He handed me a plate.
"I'm having her key deactivated tonight."
"She said I'm not the first. That you've done this arrangement thing with other women." I said as soon as he was done talking
He set his own plate down without taking any food.
"She's not wrong."
The honesty surprised me, he was so blunt.
"How many?" I asked.
"Does it matter?"
"Yes, it matters! I need to know if I'm just one in a long line of women you pay to keep around until you get bored!"
"You're not." His voice was firm.
"The others were different."
"How?" I asked
"Because I feel things with you that I didn't feel with them." He moved around the table to sit next to me. "Because when you're not here, I can't focus on anything else. Because the thought of you leaving makes me..." He stopped himself.
"Makes you what?" I siad
"Violent." He said it like he was confessing something shameful.
"Makes me want to destroy anything that tries to take you away from me."
"That's not healthy, Dominic." I told him with a stern face so he'd know I'm quite serious.
He avoided what I said and reminded me about working with him as he wanted to keep me always by his side
"As your employee or as your mistress?" I asked the very question that bothered.e.
"As whatever you want to be. We'll figure out the details tomorrow." He stood up.
"Eat something. You barely touched your coffee." He said and went to the room.
I went to the guest room some minutes after and locked the door behind me, then sat on the bed staring at my phone. Ryan's number was still there and he had already texted. My phone buzzed and it was an email.
I opened my email and found a message from an address I didn't recognize. No subject line to, it was just an attachment.
I downloaded it and It was a photo of Dominic with another woman, both of them laughing at some fancy restaurant. She was beautiful, dark-skinned, and elegant. And she was wearing a ring exactly like the one Victoria had described.
The date stamp on the photo was from six months ago, about six months before he met me.
There was a second photo. Same woman, different setting. This time they were on a yacht, and the picture shows them kissing.
There was also a fourth attachment, but this one wasn't a photo. It was a death certificate that says:
Sarah Chen. Age 28. Cause of death: Accidental overdose.
Date of death: Three months ago.
One month before Dominic walked into Club Obsidian and offered me fifty thousand dollars for one night.
I stared at the screen, my heart pounding in my ears. Who as Sarah Chen?
There was a fifth attachment, but this one a news article saying
""Heiress Found Dead in Manhattan Penthouse. Boyfriend Questioned and Released."
I clicked on it and started reading, and I almost passed out.
Sarah Chen had been the daughter of a tech billionaire. She'd been dating Dominic Hayes for eight months and she'd died in his penthouse.
The same penthouse I was sleeping in right now.
The article mentioned that Dominic had been questioned by police but released due to lack of evidence. The official cause of death was accidental overdose, but Sarah's family had hired private investigators and the investigations were still happening.
What the hell was going on?