CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
NOAH
That son of a bitch left me on read? Wow. I knew he was a dick. When Dom didn’t reply, I tossed my phone onto my bed. Fuck him then.
I went to the mirror above my dresser, staring at my reflection. My gaze landed on the fingerprints around my throat from him choking me. In that moment, I thought for sure that was how I would die. Choked out by Dominik Taylor while he brutally fucked me.
Not that it would be a terrible way to go. Despite everything, I sure had enjoyed myself. Dom had this insatiably wild quality to him. Like his desire to kill me had manifested in every thrust. His efforts had left me raw and sore. I didn’t hate it.
Damon had been pissed when I came home bloody and bruised. He wanted to wage war on the Kings. Even though we were outnumbered, that didn’t seem to sway him. He’d decided this shit had gone far enough.
I made him promise me that he wouldn’t do anything. We weren’t taking any shots at the Kings. This was between Dom and me alone.
“You’re fucking obsessed with this guy,” Damon had said. “It makes me sick. Why him? Why any of them?”
I understood why he was so pissed off. This thing between Dom and me was spilling over onto our friends. I didn’t think either of us had meant for that to happen. The sooner we ended this the better for everyone.
Try as I might to calm him down, Damon had angrily stormed from the room.
Trying to give him some space, I retreated to my bedroom to ponder my retaliation.
I didn’t want to take my time. After what happened today, I knew that I needed to act fast. I didn’t trust myself not to end up on Dom’s cock again or have him end up on mine. This needed to end now.
I trailed a finger over my neck, tracing the outline of bruises in the shape of his fingers. Remembering how it felt to have him crushing my neck, choking off my airflow. The way my vision had started to darken as he pounded into me.
My cock grew hard at the memory. Damn him.
It seemed only fitting that I should go after Dom’s car in return. Not a car bomb though. That wasn’t my style. I would have to wait until tomorrow when he was in class. The campus parking lot was large and packed with cars. Nobody would be paying any attention to his at the time.
I spent the rest of the night formulating my plan. Analyzing my methods. By the time I went to bed, I was buzzing with anticipation. Dom’s death would make me the winner of this war.
I didn’t sleep much. After tossing and turning, I was awake before my alarm went off. When I went upstairs for coffee, Damon was already in the kitchen. Right away I sensed his mood. He was still pissed.
“This will all be over soon,” I assured him. “Trust me.”
His expression twisted into a mask of skepticism. “That’s the problem, Noah. I don’t trust you. Not when it comes to Dominik Taylor. Not anymore.”
I grabbed my favorite travel mug from the cupboard. After filling it with coffee, I poured in just the right amount of cream and sugar. “That’s fair. I guess I deserve that. I never intended for things to get so out of control with him. It just happened.”
Damon sipped plain black coffee from a mug, eyeing me over the rim. “Oh yeah? And I suppose fucking him just happened too? Is there something you’re not telling me? Are you dating him? Do you want to?”
I scoffed. “Now who’s crazy? Listen to yourself. I’m not really the dating type, and if I were, I sure as hell wouldn’t settle for Dom.”
Damon’s stare never wavered. He held eye contact even while sipping his coffee. “You’re a damn liar. You forget how well I know you.”
There was a dark side to my best friend. One that once triggered proved volatile. Even as fearless as I was, I knew better than to test him.
“I have to get to campus. I’ll catch up with you later.” I didn’t wait around to give him another chance to grill me further.
Damon hated the Kings. We both did. They’d killed two of our best friends. Kills that were justified, although that didn’t make them sting any less. I didn’t want to bring more trouble to our door. That’s why I was ending this shit today.
Getting through the morning proved to be a struggle. I waited until early afternoon so the parking lot would be full and it would be easier to go unnoticed. That’s when I made my way to Dom’s blacked out Audi.
It would’ve been much easier if I brought Damon along to keep watch. With the mood he was in this morning, he probably would have refused. Instead, I had to continuously glance around at my surroundings to make sure nobody saw me.
Since Dom’s car was a newer model with decent security, I needed to call a locksmith to get me into the vehicle.
Thankfully, it didn’t take the guy long to show up.
I made some bullshit excuse about locking myself out.
A smarter person would have questioned me.
It was growing increasingly more difficult to lock one’s self out of newer vehicles. Not impossible though.
He didn’t seem to give a shit. He was there to do a job, get paid, and leave. It didn’t take long for him to get the door open. I braced myself, worried an alarm would go off. When it didn’t, I breathed a sigh of relief.
After I paid the man and he left, I searched the inside of the car for the wheel lock key. I couldn’t easily remove the locking bolts on the tires without it. Since it would be dark by the time Dom got to his car, I hoped he didn’t notice that his tires had been tampered with.
By the time I was done fucking with them, they were loose enough to practically slide off on their own. Causing a car accident wasn’t new for me. I usually didn’t take this approach. Rather than run him off the road myself, I chose another route.
For good measure, I put a few small punctures in the tires as well. Enough to mess with the pressure. If I had more time, I would have gone as far as to cut his brakes. Since every now and then people crossed through the parking lot, I figured it was best not to hang around longer than necessary.
Because I needed to see how this played out, I didn’t go far.
I went to the rental car I’d picked up this morning.
Parked a few rows over. I needed something to get around since my car was totaled.
I’d purposely chosen a white soccer mom style SUV in order to easily blend in with traffic.
Hopefully Dom wouldn’t notice me following him. I would keep my distance.
I had to wait a while for Dom to emerge from the school. Every time I got too cold, I started my car, allowing the heat to run for several minutes. I didn’t want to miss a thing, which is why I stayed.
When at last I saw him ambling along through the parking lot, I sat up straighter. Eager now. This was going to be good.
Dom got into his car, completely oblivious to anything I’d done.
He started the engine, waiting a few minutes for it to warm up before backing out of his parking space.
I waited for him to exit the parking lot before following, needing to keep a safe distance between us.
I didn’t want him to spot me in his rearview mirror.
The drive was relatively uneventful. I kept waiting for something to happen. When it never did, I grew increasingly frustrated. We crossed through downtown. It didn’t seem that he was headed home. Maybe he had a stop to make first or a job for the Kings.
When we stopped at a red light, I made sure there were two or three cars between us. Thankfully, I never lost him anywhere along the way. I tapped my fingers impatiently on the wheel, hitting the gas as the light turned green.
“Come on for fuck’s sakes,” I muttered. “Show me something good.”
Dom turned down a side street with little traffic.
An area off downtown where plenty of criminal activity took place.
Drug dealers, prostitution, and everyday thieves.
He had to be here on business. Since there was very little traffic, I couldn’t put any vehicles between us now.
I did my best to hang back while keeping him in sight.
Right when I thought for sure nothing would happen, Dom’s back passenger tire flew off, rolling into the street. He fishtailed as he lost control of the car, sliding head on into a power pole.
Fuck, yes. Now that was satisfaction.
I pulled over down the street, watching his car in my mirrors, expecting him to get out. When he didn’t, I frowned. He hadn’t been going that fast. I’d hoped he would be on the highway when this happened. Maybe on the way to the church. My mistake. I’d been too eager.
Muttering obscenities to myself, I got out of my car and headed over to Dom’s. As I drew closer, I saw that he was slumped over the wheel. As if the damn airbags didn’t go off.
Pissed off with myself for even considering this, I opened the door to check on him. He surprised me with a fist in my face. I jerked back with a startled shout.
Dom got out of the car, grabbing the front of my hoodie. “Are you fucking serious, Noah? This is your big retaliation? That’s fucking pitiful.”
Despite his fake out, he did have a fresh lump forming over one eye. Not nearly good enough. He was right. This was far from my best attempt. Why did I go for the hurt when I should’ve made sure to go for the kill?
If I didn’t know myself so well, I would almost wonder if I’d done this on purpose. Luckily, I knew better than that.
“It was supposed to happen when you were on the highway.” I caught his wrist before he could hit me again. “Somewhere more dangerous.”
“Uh huh.” Dom wasn’t buying it. “I’m sure it had nothing to do with finding a way to get up close and personal with me again. Why don’t you just admit that you want it? Admit that you want my cock again.”
A sly chuckle slipped from my lips. “I’d be more than happy for another round with your amazing cock. Too bad I’d also have to deal with the rest of you.”
Dom’s expression darkened. “Funny. You really amuse yourself, huh?”
I shrugged. “What can I say? I’m a funny guy.”
He gave me a shove that sent me stumbling back into the street. “I don’t think you’re funny at all.”
Unable to stand there and take it, I shoved him back, throwing him against the car. “Maybe that’s because you have a shit sense of humor. You need to lighten up a little. Enjoy life. Do you enjoy anything ever, Dom?”
Grabbing hold of my hoodie, he pulled me against him. “I enjoyed fucking you while you moaned my name.”
We were close enough for me to feel his heart beating. A frantic pace that matched my own. Something about this man made me feel more alive than I had for a long time. Face to face, our lips almost touched, brushing lightly. I ached to kiss him. To take him right there up against his damaged car.
He wanted it too. I felt it. We were so close to making it happen when a blacked out SUV slowly drove past us. I glanced up to find the windows so dark it was impossible to see the occupants.
My gut told me who was inside. Project X was here, scoping us out. It had to be them. As the vehicle slowed down, I grabbed Dom by the hand. Pulling him away from the car and into the alleyway that ran between the buildings.
“I think we have trouble,” I said, urging him on.
“What’s going on?” Dom glanced behind us, looking back the way we came.
“Project X has been in town. I think that was them. I think they’re looking for us.” How could I possibly explain to him that they asked me to kill him? That was a conversation that would not end well.
Dom gripped my hand tighter as we raced down the alley. “Why would they be looking for us? There is no us.”
“They must’ve been following me. Or maybe you. I don’t know. There’s some shit going on with them. I can explain later. Right now we have to make sure they don’t find us.” We were almost to the end of the alley when the black SUV turned in, blocking our escape.
Having no other choice, we ran back the way we’d come. A dark car entered from that side, effectively trapping us.