Chapter 17 Dominic’s Silence

Chapter 17 Dominic’s Silence


"I can’t lose this job, Eli," Steven said, his voice shaking.

"Lose your job? Is that all you care about?" I asked, stunned.

"Of course not, but I have responsibilities," He shot back. "And not only that, my life will be ruined. Alpha Malik might spare you, but me… he won’t. He’ll kill me."

"He’s not going to do anything like that."

"You don’t know him. He’s insane. Why do you think he keeps that locked room far away from everyone? No one gets in. For all I know, he’ll lock me in there—or worse, use me for whatever ritual he does in there."

One thing about Steven is that he panics too easily. 

"Are you even listening to yourself? That’s not going to happen." I said 

"You don’t know that, Eli." He paced, running a hand through his hair. "Please… talk to Dominic, I’m sure he’ll listen to you. You’re the only one who can stop him from making this public."

My brows furrowed. "Now you want me to talk to him? After warning me to stay away from him?"

"What else do you want me to do?"

"I don’t know, maybe you should have thought about locking that door Steven. If you had locked it, none of this would have happened."

"It’s too late now, just talk to him please." He pleaded 

I couldn’t help but roll my eyes "Fine. I’ll talk to him. Just stop panicking," I said, though inside I was fighting to hold myself together.

I could already feel the weight of Malik’s wrath pressing down, but I had to stay calm for Steven’s sake. If we both broke, there’d be no getting through this. 

I turned to leave, but Steven’s voice caught me mid-step. I glanced back.

"You can do this," He said, almost to himself. "You can convince him that whatever he saw wasn’t real."

I gave a small, reluctant nod. "Yeah, sure."

I walked out of the library and asked a maid where Dominic was. She told me he was in the garden, so I headed there immediately.

The walk to the garden felt endless, each step sinking deeper into my fear. I wasn’t just scared, I was terrified of what he might say or do. 

I’m so glad Malik isn’t home because I can’t handle him being around Dominic today. 

When I reached the garden, I found him sitting among the flowers, his expression unreadable so I couldn’t tell what he was thinking.

As I glanced back, I noticed Steven at the library window. He gave me a thumbs up, still looking panicked.

I sighed heavily as I lowered my eyes and moved toward Dominic.

Here goes nothing. 

Dominic noticed me, smiled faintly, and shifted to make space. "Hello, Luna," He said casually 

"Hey," I murmured, sitting beside him. 

For a while, we sat in silence, staring at the flowers. 

I wanted to talk to him about it but I don't know how. I don't even know if he's thinking about what I'm thinking. I know he saw me and Steven but maybe he didn't really notice that much, maybe he just thought we were reading and he left because he didn't want to disturb us.

As I thought about it, I realized I was only deceiving myself. He definitely saw us and if I'm not careful, Malik will know about it soon.

A heavy sigh escaped my mouth. 

I have to make things right. 

I scrambled my head to think of how to start the conversation. After a moment of thinking, I decided to go with the first thing in my head "Umm… about the library—"

He cut me off. "What’s your favorite flower, Luna?"

I hesitated. "Uh… lilies."

"Lilies," He repeated, almost thoughtfully. "They’re nice. But you know…" He hesitated, then glanced at me. His voice suddenly turned serious "Keeping secrets is bad, Luna." 

My heart dropped. I couldn’t say anything. 

He went on, his voice quiet but sharp. "You might think you’re careful, but secrets don’t stay buried. They rot their way to the surface especially when Malik is involved."

The way he said it chilled me. Now I was even more terrified than before. 

"Malik hates betrayal," Dominic continued. "He never forgives it. If he finds out about this…" He trailed off with a sigh.

"Are you going to tell him?" I asked, my heart slamming against my ribs.

"I should," He admitted. His eyes locked on mine. "But I don’t want him to hurt you. Because he will, Luna—in the most horrendous way imaginable."

I swallowed hard.

He leaned back, his gaze steady. "I won’t say a thing. But you owe me one,"

"Thank you, but what exactly do you want from me?" I asked.

He paused for a moment before answering. "For now, nothing." The words sounded both comforting and suspicious at the same time.

"But you are not going to tell him, right?" I asked again.

"Of course not. But do not let it happen again. Whatever is going on, end it," He said firmly.

I nodded. "I will. Thank you."

He smirked, though not as kindly as usual "I am guessing he was your boyfriend before marrying Malik."

"Yes. It is over now. I promise," I said. Yet deep inside I knew it was not over. Steven and I loved each other too much. We could not simply end it because of one mistake. We only needed to be more careful, that was all.

Dominic gave a slow nod.

Silence stretched between us until I finally spoke the question that had been pressing on my mind. "Why are you helping me?" 

"I am not helping you," He said calmly. "I am only saving you parts of the pain that is coming your way."

My brows knit together. "What do you mean?"

"There is a lot about Malik that you do not know, Luna. Knowing the truth alone is punishment enough, worse than anything he might do to you if he finds out about your affair." He said, without any other word, he stood up and walked away. 

I have no idea what he means by that but his words scared me and I couldn’t help but wonder what truth Malik is hiding.