Two Can Play (Celeste and Dominic) novel Chapter 167

Chapter 167

“I am leaving,” I said.

“Julian,” Riley said, stepping between me and the door. “Listen to the doctor. Please. will go and meet Celeste. I will talk to her.

I stared at her. “What will you tell her?”

“I have my ways. I am going to have a sit down with her. Talk to her woman to woman. I will convince her. I promise you.”

I looked at her for a long moment, and I wanted to believe her, I really did, but I knew how Celeste felt about my mother and my sister. Riley was one of the last people Celeste would listen to. But I was too tired to argue, too drained to fight, so I just nodded and said, “Thank you, Riley.”

She squeezed my arm and left, and I sat there on the edge of the hospital bed, staring at the door, thinking about how Celeste’s relationship with my family was so damaged that sending Riley to speak on my behalf was like sending a lamb to negotiate with

a wolf.

But at least there was a point to what Riley said. Me going to Celeste right now, showing up at Helix while I was still weak and shaky, was not the best strategy. I needed to be smart about this. I needed a plan.

And then I thought about what Celeste had said, the way she had bragged that Dominic satisfied her so well, that Dominic was better than me in every way, and something clicked in my mind. An idea. A terrible, desperate, probably stupid idea.

I got off the bed and told the doctor I was leaving anyway. He tried to convince me otherwise but I refused to listen. I signed the discharge papers, ignored my mother’s calls as I walked past her in the waiting room, and went home.

I took a proper shower, letting the hot water beat against my skin until it was red and raw, scrubbing away the smell of the hospital. I dressed in my most expensive suit, my favorite black Armani. I checked myself in the mirror, adjusted my tie, and told myself that I was not going to lose. I could not afford to lose.

After that, I went out and had lunch at a restaurant I used to take Celeste to, the one with the outdoor seating and the fairy lights and the pasta she always said was the best she had ever had. I sat there alone, and I thought about her. About the way she used to laugh. The way she used to look at me like I was the only man in the world. The way she used to fall asleep on my chest during movies she had insisted on watching.

I missed her. God, I missed her so much it felt like someone was carving out my insides with a rusty spoon.

But I could not think about that now. I had a plan. And I had to see it through

I finished my lunch, paid the bill, and headed to Dominic’s office.

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