Two Can Play (Celeste and Dominic) novel Chapter 650

CELESTE

I leaned against the doorframe and watched Dominic buckle his watch, already dressed, already moving like a man with a list of people to ruin.

"Stop staring at me like that," he said, without turning around.

"Like what?"

"Like I'm dessert and you've already eaten."

"You are dessert." I pushed off the doorframe. "I'm just pacing myself."

He laughed, crossed the room, and dropped a kiss on my forehead. "Hospital first. Then the station. I want the doctor to clear him this morning, and I want the police taking him away the second he's cleared. Julian is going to spend a very long time learning what consequences feel like."

"And I have my own plans for him."

"I know that look." He narrowed his eyes at me. "Should I be worried?"

"Delighted. You should be delighted."

"Just tell me you're not planning anything that ends with me bailing you out of jail."

"No promises."

I was still smiling when his phone rang. He glanced at the screen and put it on speaker so I could hear.

"Mr. Ford."

"It's from one of your bodyguards." Dominic told me as he stared at the screen.

"Good. Tell me." He said into the phone.

"Sir, I have some not so great news. I just made a call now and found out that the police released Mr. Fisher yesterday. They said he could leave as soon as the doctor cleared him."

My head snapped up as I intruded into the call. "Released? Released how? He was caught inside my mother's house, half naked, with both of us unconscious on the property."

"Yes, ma'am. But his lawyer presented documentation. The property has been legally transferred into Mr. Fisher's name. With him owning the house, the evidence isn't strong enough to establish assault. The case isn't closed. They'll keep investigating until they have more. But for now, they can't hold him."

I snatched the phone out of Dominic's hand. "Are you telling me that my mother's house was actually transferred into Julian's name?"

"Yes, ma'am. I looked into it myself. The house was sold by your brother, Felix, for the sum of five hundred thousand dollars. The paperwork is clean. Registered and filed."

The phone slipped from my fingers onto the bed, and I just stood there.

Felix.

Felix had sold our mother's house. Our mother's house, the one we'd bought her together, the one I'd sat in a hundred times while she lectured me about calling more often. He'd sold it out from under her and handed it to Julian. To Julian of all people.

He hadn't just betrayed me. He'd handed my enemy the keys to my mother's life, and he hadn't even thought about what it would do to her. Did he even remember she existed? Did he remember he had a mother at all?

"Celeste." Dominic's hands came down on my shoulders. "Hey. Look at me."

My eyes were burning. I could feel them going red, and I hated it.

"This is my fault." He tipped my chin up. "Last night, after everything, I should have made the arrangements myself. I had your bodyguards file the report, and the police treated it like a routine disturbance. I showered, I came to bed, I held you, and I never once imagined your own brother would sell your mother's house to Julian Fisher behind everyone's back."

"It's not your fault."

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