Dee always made Dom’s blood run hot, but in the past it’d been for entirely different reasons. Now, as he blinked back at her with an incredulous expression etched across his features, the only thing simmering in his veins was barely restrained irritation. What answer was he actually expecting? It’s not like she would’ve up and claimed she’d come back for him all these years later. He didn’t even want that. The way she remained so composed and emotionless ate away at him, though. From the look of it you wouldn’t even know they used to be anything to each other let alone a couple madly in love. Instead of the girl he remembered, the one ready and willing to raise her middle fingers high to the parents who tried to put her in a cage, she was like corporate Barbie… calmly going through the various details of her business endeavors like they were strangers discussing the weather. Dom was almost tempted to push her up against the exterior of Lenny’s and capture her mouth in a heated kiss - right there in front of the entire town - if only to see her flustered. It’d be a damn good change from the detachment he saw projected back at him in her eyes. “Sólo curiosidad … ¿Papá empujó ese palo hasta el culo esta vez o lo consiguió allí todo por su cuenta?” Even spoken in a language she probably wouldn’t understand it was still harsh and he knew it. As soon as the foreign words impulsively flew from his mouth, stemming from his frustration, he regretted it. A sound, half growl and half sigh, grated up his throat as the man lifted a hand to pinch the bridge of his nose between calloused fingers. He needed to reign it in— fast. Lashing out at a woman, no matter what his feelings toward her, was a habit he refused to pick up. “Leavin’ sure is your specialty, ain’t it? Glad to see some things never change, querida.” Even with the small term of endearment tacked onto the end his tone was anything but affectionate. With a bitter laugh he finally dropped his hand and took a step closer, head cocked to the side as he really looked at her. “How am I?” Two seconds away from hitting his own head against the bricks, for one thing. “I’m doin’ just fine, Dee. Made a real nice life for myself since you’ve been gone. I’d tell ya all ‘bout it but I doubt you have time to pencil me in between your lil multi-million dollar deals ‘n power lunches.” As a rough swallow traveled through him Dom met her gaze, brows furrowed with disappointment. “—Why bother askin’? You ‘n I both know we ain’t ever gonna be friends after the way you left and, from that blank look on your face, it’s pretty fuckin’ clear you don’t even care.”
Dee didn’t understand what he just said to her but it didn’t take a genius to see that he was pissed at her, and those words were not friendly or complementary in any sort of way. She didn’t want to fight back, though. If anything, she just wanted to put their past behind them and just try their best to move forward but he was right. They definitely weren’t going to be friends, not after the horrible thing she did to him, and she couldn’t blame him for that. “If you’re going to insult me, you might as well do it in English so you can get the satisfaction of seeing my reaction to your words,” Dee said, her tone icy. She didn’t want to fight fire with fire, though, and she knew she didn’t really have any right to get angry, not when she was the reason he was acting this way in the first place. She merely listened to what he had to say, but it was killing her not to say what she really felt. With the way she was raised and her occupation and her reputation, Dee couldn’t just show her reaction to certain situations freely. It had to be calculated because you never know just who might be watching and who would take your reaction as something that can be used against you, but she could still remember how carefree it had been with Dom, how there wasn’t a care in the world about consequences or worries about how other people would perceive them. It was just all fun, full of love and amusement and comfort and adventure and she longed to go back to those days because it’s been years since she’s had a semblance of that feeling again. It was only with his last words that her icy exterior was broken and her expression softened slightly. “Of course I care,” Dee whispered, looking him straight in the eyes for just a second before looking away. “I care. I fucking care, Dom.” No, she can’t give him power to hurt her, even though she deserved it. She can’t give him the chance to see her true feelings because from how angry he already was, he could very well use it against her. No, no, no. Dee refused to show how she was truly feeling, especially since it wouldn’t matter anyway. Dom would just continue hating her and there was nothing she could do about it, so she allowed herself that one moment of weakness before composing herself and standing just a little straighter. “But if you’d like to catch up, I’m sure I can pencil you in somewhere.” It was a half-assed attempt at a pretty bad joke, but she didn’t know how else to say that she did want to catch up with him, but at the risk of sounding like an idiot, playing it off as a cruel joke was the better option.
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