119 No Mood for Acting

- DOMINIK -

Vanessa doesn't say anything the whole way to the club, and a chasm has opened in my chest that is entirely new. It's an ache that I don't remember ever feeling before—not even when my parents died. That pain was different than this one. 

When we park, I dread that we will have to go inside and act like we are nothing to one another. It will only reinforce this real distance that has been created.

"Vanessa, what did Ivan say?" I try. 

She is reaching for the door handle and stops. A shuddering breath is released from her lungs like she has been holding it in all this time. 

"He said that you have slept with every bottle girl here. And they all want you so badly that I would need as much protection from them as the cartel."