Chapter 23
Love
Two weeks have passed and no news of Aiden.
We couldn’t contact him in any shape or form.
Josh didn’t want to go to Liot’s cave without Dominik either, so he waited until today.
Dominik can finally stand and do low-effort activities.
I open our room’s door just to see him getting dressed sitting in bed.
“Still hurts to stand?” I ask him and he shrugs.
“Just a little, not an issue,” he replies his green eyes avoiding mine. Not just a little then.
“I don’t want you to go, Dom!” I exclaim sitting beside him in bed. I reach for the collar of his suit, and make him look at me. “It’s been two weeks, Aiden is probably dead, I don’t want you to be too”
“No one’s dead, Liot has been talking to Vance, and your father has someone inside that says he’s barely hanging, but alive,” my dad has someone on the inside?
“I need to go, Dominik-,” he steals a kiss from me, his warm rough lips brush against mine slowly deepening the kiss and I feel my control vanishing. “Dominik Ricik, seducing me out of my ideas”
“Worth the try. It’s sexy how you say my name,” Dominik lets out smiling. God, I love him.
“Dominik or Ricik?” I ask trying not to lose my composure. A smirk appears in his divine sculpted face. “I’m not letting you talk me out of this,” I say putting my hand against his chest when he tries to join our bodies.
“And I’m not letting you go. You’re the target.
If he catches me I won’t die. He doesn’t want me.
He wants to hurt me and unfortunately torture doesn’t work,” Dominik says and I get it, Liot will kill me at any given chance.
And I’d enter the lion's cage. It’s his territory with his people. I’m still not satisfied.
“Because you’re a fucking masochist-”
“No, because the only thing I care about is you. He wants me to lose what I love the most. We’ve already had this talk,” Dominik says and finishes putting on his shoes. “Anything else?” he asks me and I look at him deeply hurt.
“You’re not leaving me in the dark. I want access to the mission’s room. I want to see and hear everything,” I demand, Dominik seems to consider it. I’m fuming by the time he opens his mouth to talk.
“Fine. Go to your father’s office. Everything will be guided from there,” Dominik says but everything about the way he moves is wrong.
He’s normally overconfident, now he seems somewhat reserved looking.
Is he preoccupied? Does he doubt this is going to end well?
“Stop overthinking. Everything’s great, we’re getting Aiden back. ”
“At what cost?” I question Dominik, his lips press together.
“We leave no man behind,” he replies before swaying my way.
“I’ll come back to you,” Dominik asserts, I look up at him, he’s smiling, yet it’s a fake smile.
Damn it, he’s cute, and he’s used to always getting things his way.
Too bad Josh is going with him. Their egos make them constantly battle each other.
Josh will make sure he comes back and doesn’t play hero.
Dominik studies me, it seems like he’s trying to read my mind. “You better,” I whisper he leans his head slowly and teasingly towards mine.
“I will,” he says before kissing me. His lips rub against mine roughly.
He likes to play this game of always leaving me wanting more.
And it works. My own body betrays me. Dominik bites my lower lip, hard and I feel the metallic taste of my blood in my mouth, before his tongue joins mine with his minty taste.
Jolts of electricity erupt through my skin.
“What was that for?” I ask him when our lips part.
“Punishment. You need to stop overthinking,” he says before passing his finger over my lip. My mouth slightly opens at his gesture. Why does he have this hold on me?
“And you’re going to tease me out of it?” I question trying to seem unaffected. Huge fail.
“Yes, I am,” he says kissing me this time slowly and gently. “I’ll miss you, Cherry,” Dominik says, his first nickname for me, one Josh was not content about.
“I’ll miss you too, Dom,” his eyes narrow for one second, not in anger, in delight.
He moves away from me, towards the room’s door, but I follow him.
If it wasn’t clear, I’m head over heels for him.
And I think I’ll always be. “Josh? Bring everyone back,” I call and Josh nods waiting for Dominik at the front door.
“Don’t worry, I’ll bring them home. Aiden included,” Josh promises, he doesn’t say it’s a promise, but it’s in between the lines.
I move towards the door and watch Dominik and Josh leave with Marcus, Rian and Damian.
I told Dominik to take Karl with him, yet he insisted he wouldn’t feel at ease with leaving me alone.
I told him I could take care of myself. He didn’t give in.
He told me he knew I could handle myself but he doesn’t trust my dad’s guards alone.
He says my father isn’t strict enough with them.
And maybe he was right before mom’s death, since then I’m not as sure.
He’s been paranoid. Double-checking the guards' loyalty and personal lives, making sure none of them are a threat.
“They’re going to be ok,” Maya whispers from behind me.
I assent but I’m not as sure. “They’ve been studying Liot’s house, security, and camera’s blind spots.
They’ll be fine. And if anything goes wrong, they have an escort a couple of blocks away,” she discloses and I take a deep breath in relief. They’re ready.
“Where’s Sammy?” I question, Maya looks behind us and gestures for me to follow her.
“She wouldn’t leave your dad’s office, she convinced him to watch as well,” how does she know?
“How do you know I requested it too?-”
“Doesn’t take a genius. You’re in love, there was no way in hell you wouldn’t want to be watching, making sure everything went well. I’m surprised you didn’t manage to tag along,” oh, Maya knows me too well.
“Dominik wouldn’t let me. And he made a good point. I wouldn’t be helping them. I would be putting them at higher risk. I’m Liot’s target,” I stop talking when we enter the office and see Sammy with my father sitting by his table, with five screens all showing each camera’s image separately.
For now, everything is quiet, the boys are talking while Dominik drives them to Liot’s house.
I don’t listen to the conversation all I focus on is Damian’s camera, his camera sometimes points directly at Dominik.
I don’t know if he’s checking him because he’s worried, like I am.
Or if he’s just looking because they’re sharing the front seats and there’s nothing else for him to look at but him and the road.
Dominik doesn’t seem in pain, so that’s what I hold on to.
An image of Dominik perfectly calm, displaying his emotionless act.
Not once does he flinch or seem bothered while driving, and I thank God Liot has an unprotected area a couple of blocks away from his house.
It makes Dominik’s wound ache to walk or stand for too long.
“What’s Damian saying?” Sammy asks and my father turns the volume of his microphone up while closing in his camera’s recording.
“I think it’s weird he has a house by the woods,” Damian says and Josh chuckles before he leaves the car.
“Plenty of space to bury the bodies,” Josh says Marcus’ camera shows his hazel eyes narrow as the sun falls right on him.
“If he’s in middle age,” Damian comments, his tall figure standing on Rian’s camera.
“And they are. They are stuck there. Now some silence, everyone. Unless you want to start digging your grave already,” Dominik says and I laugh, is he that unpleasant with anyone else?
“Fuck, I saw a shadow,” Rian says and they all grab their guns, all but Dominik.
“Maybe you were tripping,” Dominik whispers yet he does hold his gun, ready to shoot.
“We need to enter the deep woods, you follow exactly where I step,” Dominik commands and everyone nods, I see the cameras moving slightly up and down.
They have cameras on their fake glasses and backup ones on their suits.
They start moving deeper into the woods and I keep watching every camera to check if I spot something they don’t.
But there’s nothing. Nothing until we hear at least two people talk, the boys hide in different places, behind rocks, bushes and trees.
Dominik is holding his gun so tightly I almost fear he’ll accidentally shoot the ground or himself.
“Think the guy can make it through another day?” one of the guards says, near Damian’s right hiding spot.
“Yeah, he’s going to pull through, still thinks his friends will come for him. Stupid asshole,” Dominik slowly gestures something to Damian.
“What did he say?” I ask my father and he doesn’t reply he keeps his eyes on the screen. “Dad?” I reinforce and I get my answer on the monitors. The guards start approaching the guys' hiding spots, and Damian and Dominik each incapacitate one of the two guards.
Dominik’s hands moved fast almost too fast, too mechanical as he broke the guard's neck in one or two seconds. Dominik walks to the unconscious guard and also breaks his neck. “We can’t take any chances if we want to get Aiden and leave breathing,” Dominik says and I force my half-open mouth close.
“You got four guards approaching from the north,” my dad says while pressing a red button.
“How do you know?” I ask him and he shows me his tablet.
I still don’t understand. I don’t understand until the cameras he’s showing me change and I see Liot’s house, or better, where they’re keeping Aiden.
He’s too hurt, it’ll take him weeks to recover physically and months to recover mentally, I just don’t say years, because I know Aiden, he’s not going to let this scar him for long.