Two Can Play (Celeste and Dominic) novel Chapter 189

Chapter 189

My heart dropped into my stomach. I was certain she was going to end everything between us, that she had come here to tell me that the affair was over, that she could not do this anymore, that Juliar had somehow convinced her to go back to him. I braced myself for the blow, prepared myself to hear words that would shatter the fragile world we had built together.

And then she swept me off my feet. She said she wanted to be with me.

My heart almost exploded in my chest. It felt like a dream, like something my mind had conjured up because I wanted it so badly. I did not realize that a single sentence from Celeste could make me so happy, could fill me with so much warmth that I thought I might burst from it. I closed the distance between us and kissed her, pouring everything I felt into that kiss, all the longing and the hope and the desperate need for her to know that she was everything to me.

But then the doorbell rang.

And my grandmother, in all her stubborn, meddling glory, stood at my doorstep with a young girl I had only seen in photographs. Imelda. The girl I had agreed to marry before I ever knew what it felt like to love someone like Celeste. I had completely forgotten about her existence.

Imelda ran toward me, this girl I had never met, throwing her arms around me and hugging me like I was her long-lost lover. I pushed her backward immediately, my hands firm on her shoulders, my eyes finding my grandmother’s face with an anger I could not hide. She was young, probably twenty or twenty-one, with wide eyes and a nervous smile that made her look even younger than she was.

“Why would you say that to Celeste?” I asked, turning to glare at my grandmother, blinking at her so she would get the memo and take back her words. “Why would you tell her I have a fiancée?”

My grandmother’s expression hardened instead, her eyes narrowing as she looked at me. “Dominic, don’t tell me you are now in the habit of picking up girls. Remember, now that your identity has been revealed, every gold digger out there will want to sink their claws into you. You need to be wary.”

“Enough!” I snapped, the word cutting through the air like a blade.

Imelda flinched, staring at me with a pitiful expression that made my stomach turn. “Why are you shouting at Grandma and me, Dominic?”

“Granny, I arranged for you to stay somewhere else,” I said, trying to keep my voice steady. “But you had to show up here anyway and…”

Celeste cut me off before I could finish, her voice quiet and controlled in a way that terrified me more than any outburst ever could have. “Dominic, it’s fine. I will just leave.”

She walked over to her purse, picked it up, and began walking toward the door.

I stood there, frozen, staring at her retreating figure in shock. No. No, no, no, I could not let this happen. Not now, not after she had finally said the words I had been dreaming of hearing.

“Celeste,” I called out, my voice rough

you.”

She stared at me for a long moment, her eyes searching mine. She looked down at my hand holding hers, then back toward my grandmother, then back at me. And finally, she nodded. “Fine. I will stay.”

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