Chapter 22 #2
I yelp when he slaps my ass and am too stunned to stop him turning me and walking me to the house. Eli is leaning against the wall watching, as we go past him, he smirks at Mace. Dominic. I’d rather refer to him like that from now on. Unless he pisses me off, then he becomes the Prez again.
Somewhere between our last encounter and right now, they’ve talked. That can only be a good thing for me, right? Despite that thought, I cross my arms and give them both a glare.
“Do you want to tell me why you kidnapped me?”
“Hardly kidnapping when you climbed on my bike,” Dominic tosses his bike keys and walks through to the kitchen.
“When I willingly came with you it was because I thought you had something to tell me, something to do with what we’re working on, like Liz calling,” I look at Eli. “Or you’ve found out what happened to Marshall,” I nod in Dominic’s direction. “Something tells me that isn’t what this is about.”
Today has taken a real turn, and it’s odd as hell because everything bad that happened on the case this morning was orchestrated by me.
Isn’t this what I wanted, these two men to get along, to make our situation a little easier?
The way they’re both looking at me when Mace comes back into the living area makes me shudder. They don’t have the same thing on their mind as me, if I’m not mistaken this is them working together, against me.
Dominic holds out the coffee mug for me to take which would be really great and it smells delicious, but I ignore it, for now.
“We do have something to tell you,” Dominic says.
“But we need to ask you something first, sweetheart.”
Him softening it with that term of endearment isn’t going to work.
“A couple of weeks ago, at the compound, Rosa alluded to the fact you needed protection.”
They are not going there.
“Today we found out what that was about.” Dominic folds his arms over his chest, making his biceps bulge. “Why didn’t you tell us?”
“Tell you what?” I shrug defensively.
It’s safe to assume they know everything. Especially if my mother was the one who spoke to them. My heart sinks thinking about her. I’ve avoided her ever since that day and that isn’t normal. All she is doing is looking out for me and I’ve stayed away, haven’t bothered calling her.
I didn’t even know she’d gone to New York with Waverley. I miss my mom. Then I remember she sicced these two on me.
“He was waiting for you outside your office,” Eli says, reading my hesitation.
“Who?”
“You know who,” he takes a step toward me. “The asshole who scared you.”
“He didn’t scare me. I can handle myself. And I made a mistake pressing that damn SOS app.”
I shake my head. That was always gonna come back and bite me in the ass, I never thought it would be in this way. My head catches up to Eli’s words.
“What do you mean he was waiting for me?”
“The night I came to get you, when King asked me to bring you to the compound. There was a guy in a car outside. He’d been there since before I got there. He was waiting for someone.”
“You don’t even know who he is.”
“Vance Roderick,” Dominic says, walking to the couch and sitting down. “Millionaire property tycoon, richer than God, has connections out of his ass. The kind that can get him out of rape and assault charges.”
“The guy your firm is representing.”
“Okay, maybe you know who he is,” I try not to sound too much like a sulking child. “I doubt he was waiting for me.”
“I might have thought the same thing, before I knew who he was and what he’d done. And that by the time we came back downstairs, he was gone.”
“Coincidence.”
“Cassie.”
That tone of voice shouldn’t make my insides quiver. I’m mad at them. I’m mad at mom for telling them, at Vance for being a colossal prick if he was waiting outside for me that night and, most of all, I’m mad at myself.
For years, I’ve fought for my independence, wanted to prove to everyone I’m good at what I do while being more than that at the same time. I’ve built walls around me that no one has ever penetrated, and I was good with that.
I really was. And I still believe I can protect myself. Mom and dad taught me how. They also taught me when it was time to ask for help, but I’ve never taken it. Till I hit that damn SOS.
“He isn’t going to do anything to me, I’m his lawyer. He needs me to win his case.”
“Do you really want to do that?” Eli asks. His insinuation is clear, they’ve looked into everything and don’t like what they’ve learned. “There is nothing more dangerous than a powerful man, Cassie.”
“Then you’ve never met a pissed off woman, Eli.”
“I’ve come across one or two,” he says with a tilt of his head, taking some of the animosity out of the room. “There’s nothing wrong with accepting help.”
“And there’s nothing wrong with taking control of your own destiny and doing it your damn self. You think I don’t know what I’m doing, that I’m a damsel in distress who is going to let an asshole get the better of me. Or I’m happily defending that sick, demented fucking prick.”
They exchange a glance.
“That’s right, I don’t need either of you, or my mom, or anyone else at the club to tell me the difference between right and wrong. And as of this morning, a plan I kicked into action three days ago started and Vance doesn’t stand a fucking chance.”
“What exactly does that mean?” Eli asks.
“It means I was never going to let him get away with what he did but I played it smart, I worked behind the scenes to make sure he can’t pay his way out.” With a little help, but they don’t need to hear that right now. I’m too busy having my moment. “Sit your ass down,” I tell Eli.
He smirks but does as I ask, taking a seat on the couch beside Dominic.
They listen as I explain what I’ve done and how Vance is going to get everything he deserves and they look impressed, begrudgingly, but it doesn’t last long.
Because they’re assholes and they see passed the victory I’ll earn for Cara.
“The criminal case has been dropped but in the court of public opinion, Cara will be the one who wins and Mia won’t let that be kept silent.”
“Desperate men do desperate things.”
Dominic’s voice rings out in the silence following my declaration I’ve beaten Vance. I don’t like the insinuation or where I now suspect this is going.
“Which means from now on,” Eli gets up and walks toward me. “You don’t go anywhere without one of us.”
“Welcome to your new home,” Dominic adds with a stupid ass grin I want to smack off his ridiculously handsome face.