Chapter 8 - Dominik
My fingers drummed against the steering wheel of my Aston Martin Vantage, which hummed ominously as I slowed before the rows of buildings. I was looking for one, in particular, as I scanned the number of each building. My eyes narrowed as I counted four apartment complexes, each with its own small road leading to the gates.
Two apartments and a house sat next to two others, with a large parking lot between them. There were only three people on the street at the moment; everyone else seemed to be out shopping or busy with work.
Here was the sanctuary of the woman I had begun to grow fond of, one I was slowly becoming obsessed with.
It wouldn’t have been a problem to set someone to follow her—in fact, I had set a tail on her weeks ago—yet, here I was, thanks to the emptiness inside me urging and pressing me to visit her place of rest. After all, we were the Bratva, and as such, it was our duty to know where everyone lived.
Finding her apartment building, I stepped on the brake and looked through my rear-view mirror to see my men parking just far enough from my carto maintain the illusion that I had come alone.
I stepped out, staring at my reflection on the glass of my car, and adjusted my jacket and ran my hand through my hair; then, I aimed for Maya’s building.
When I reached it, I knocked on the door, but no response came. I knocked again; still no response.
Perhaps she was sleeping.
Deciding it was best to let myself in, I placed my hand on the doorknob, turning, and surprisingly, the door swung open.
I shuffled forward in the silence, then heard retching and coughing. I followed the sound and found her in the bathroom, her hands clutching the porcelain of the toilet, her face the perfect reflection of sickness. Her body heaved violently until she finally released the contents of her stomach, and her back hunched over.
She didn’t notice me enter the room. She was shaking so much, it took me a few moments to notice the single tear rolling down her flushed cheek.
My heart raced, watching her like this, helpless. It made me want to own her even more now—to protect her. Now that she was weak, wouldn’t she be easier to break? Easier to capture? Easier to make mine?
Yes. The excitement started to brew in my blood, and I had to hold myself back from acting on it right then.
She flushed the toilet and splashed water over her face, then took some water into her mouth to rinse, then spit out.
She muttered words to herself, things I didn’t quite catch, but wish I did. I thought I caught ‘My life is shit,’ and I smiled internally. Oh? What was this? She was just making this all the more exciting for me, wasn’t she?
However, all this while, I refused to say a thing as I watched her.
Quietly, I moved back into her room to give her the privacy she needed. When she was done, she stepped into her room; on seeing me, she froze.
She looked like she was going to scream.
“Before you scream,” I said, “I found the door open—and that was after I knocked.”
She didn’t move. She just stood still, watching me with that same fear from a few days back.
While she processed my being here, I racked my mind, trying to decipher the cause of her abrupt and troubling illness.
Yes. The man she dreaded was before her. That look of fear in her eyes? It made my heart pound faster as excitement pulsed through my veins. It made me want to terrify her even more—show her why her fear was valid.
I wasn’t a good man—far from it. I was a man who saw what he wanted and did anything to get it. Even by using fear. I had no qualms using that now, either.
I moved closer, and she still didn’t move. Close enough, I noticed her red, tired eyes. Her skin had a paleness to it, and her shoulders slumped in weakness.
Suddenly, the stillness broke.
“What the hell are you doing here, Dominik?” Her voice was harsh and raw from too much obtrusive coughing.
Unfazed, my eyes traveled over her in concern. “What is making you sick?”
“That’s none of your business,” she snapped. “What are you doing here?”
I ignored the question. I looked around her apartment, searching, but not sure what I was looking for.
“I’ll call the police,” she warned. “Get out. Get out, now.”
She continued to rain threats on me, but I turned a deaf ear, till I was definitely oblivious to what she said because before me was a document, one written by a doctor. On it was the heading, ‘Discharge Instruction Sheet’ next to a hospital logo.
My heart skipped a beat. “You were in the hospital?”
She froze, her eyes drifting to a spot next to the paper I’d been examining.
I followed her gaze to the pregnancy test that had been carelessly left on the table next to the document, and I could see two lines—one of them faint but definitely present—a stark contrast to the sterile white plastic.
My world stopped. Everything went silent, stuck in a freeze frame. I didn’t realize I had moved toward her until I saw her eyes widen and heard her breath catch.
She darted over to the table and attempted to conceal the document, like I hadn’t seen it.
I gave her a look of unbelief. “What is this?” I asked, the lines of my face creased with anger. “What is this, Maya?”
She no longer voiced threats. What she wore now was regret. Possibly she regretted ever meeting me, which would be fair—or perhaps it was dismay at me finding out about the pregnancy… which was stupid, as it was her sole duty to call and let me know about it.
I slowly began to walk towards her. “Talk to me, Maya!”
For every step I took forward, she took one back, refusing to answer till her back was against the wall. I put both hands on her shoulders, pinning her against the wall, and asked her, “What the hell did I just see?”
I didn’t know what I was getting worked up about. For all I know, she wasn’t pregnant with my child. She didn’t portray the attitude of one who was promiscuous, but maybe she was promiscuous, only hid it well; if that was the case, she had fooled me.
Is the child mine?I don’t know if I said those words aloud, or if they were just a question asked in my head. I cleared my throat.
“Is it mine?” I asked.
Maya said nothing.
Like I said, I knew where everyone lived, and unbeknownst to Maya, she’d been followed wherever she went since not long after the night we met. I even had men keeping track of her conversations and chats, and to the best of my knowledge, she had not been with anyone else since we were together.
I didn’t want to tell her that I had breached her privacy; that could turn this around very quickly. So I kept that to myself, insisting to know if I was the father.
Finally, she nodded, and with a tremulous whisper, she said, “Yes.”
To anyone else, it was merely a breath of a reply, but it hit me more violently than a loaded freight train. It caused me to release her and recoil. I kept my gaze locked with hers, and I could see no deceit in her. Not even a glimmer.
She wouldn’t begrudgingly weave false tales.
Tears welled up in her eyes as I asked, “Were you planning on keeping this from me?”
My words were pronounced with harsh precision, like a series of darts hitting a bullseye.
There was an unmistakable fear in her eyes, but immediately, she replaced it with a fiery determination. “I’m going to take care of it,” she said. “You don’t have to involve yourself, Dominik. You don’t have to worry about the child.”
I could barely believe my ears. Not involve myself? A world where I could casually accept such a situation would be an encroachment on my sanity. How could someone like her be willing to take responsibility for something that should belong to me? Why would she do such a thing?
I recalled everything I’d gathered about her. About how her father had an affair. Of how she found out without him knowing, and how it killed her that her father kept it from them for so long. That he’d kept it from her mother, who he claimed to love. Why he would keep something so important from her, and slowly ruin her life. Getting access to her therapist’s files had been nothing of a hardship for me.
If these were her feelings, why did she think it was okay for her to keep something so important from me, the father of her child? This was a baby, a new life. Life that possessed my blood.
I gave Maya a cynical smile, looked to the floor, then met her eyes. “Listen,” I said sternly, “the child in you is my blood. The child in you will bear my name. You, Maya, will bear my name. I don’t care what you say. This is an absolute decree—any room for negotiation has been closed.”
“But—” Maya protested, but I raised my hand, thinking that would be the end of it.
Maya, however, had other ideas. “You can’t just make decisions for me, Dominik!” Her voice simmered with anger.
I observed her, rage burning and simmering inside me like a wildfire yearning to break loose. I put steel in my gaze as I answered, “You can’t make this decision all by yourself, either. Not where it concerns my bloodline.’
That was when I noticed it; the glint of tears, pooling at the corners of her eyes. Maya. The sight made my heart pound even harder, and my mouth curved into a smile that made her eyes widen.
“You know, Maya, seeing you cry like this makes me want to…” I closed my eyes then, cutting the words off, wrestling with my excitement. When I opened my eyes, grim determination steeled my voice.
“I would let you be for now—just for now—but know this: You have one week.” I paused, letting the weight of my words sink into her being. “You have one week to accept reality. Then, you’re under my command. You will move to my house, and you’ll be under my protection—and, little mouse, if you think you’ve a fucking say in this, you’re going to have to think again. You’re mine, you’re carrying my baby, and I don’t let my things roam around like feral strays.”
“You can’t do this, Dominik,” Maya said, her eyes shaking inside their sockets. “I have a life. I have dreams. I gave goals. I have—”
“I don’t care what you have, or what you think you want. If you don’t comply, your loved ones will be in danger. You’ll be putting the lives of your precious Jenna and your mother—all the way in Michigan—in danger.”
It was cruel, using her friend and mother to make her comply, but I was a cruel motherfucker, and I had no qualms about using them to get her in my grip. I wouldn’t have any issues hurting them, and I made sure she saw that truth in my eyes.
With a dead, cold voice, I said, “You obviously know of me. I am a very… capable person. Capable of much, indeed. You really don’t want to test the wicked side of me. All you have to do is listen to me and be a good little mouse.”
“Are you threatening me?” Maya whispered.
I shook my head, allowing a small smirk to escape. “No. It’s a promise—and I always keep my promises.”
Maya’s throat worked as she swallowed, her lips trembling, but she said nothing.
“As for the baby, don’t even think of getting rid of it,” I growled.
Girl or boy, that child would be my heir. My heir was going to inherit everything I owned; I would be responsible for raising it, caring for it, loving it, feeding it, taking it out for its first steps.
Basically, its future was in my hand, and just as I took care of all that was within my control, so I would take care of this.