Chapter 39
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Dominic
Walking through the apartment, I check every room in search of Alicia, unfortunately coming up empty.
I suspected as much when Leo told me they were going out shopping. I haven't heard from them since, but I came home in the hopes of having a late lunch with her, and I wanted to check on her after last night.
Something seemed off when I first came home last night, but I got caught up in the feel of her, consumed by the moment, and I didn't think to question it.
Now that I'm thinking about it even more with a clearer head, she was worried when I returned home, and seemed relieved to see me.
That would make sense if she knew about what had gone down at the docks, but as far as I'm aware, she has no knowledge of that.
Sitting on the sofa, I pull my phone from my pocket and dial Jaylen's number.
As the line connects, I hear the elevator start up, and I huff, regretting calling him now. I'll likely be stuck on the phone with him for ages instead of doing what I'd prefer—spending time with Alicia.
"To what do I owe the pleasure today, boss man?" he asks, chipper as always.
"Was bored and in desperate need of some company," I snarkily reply, getting off the sofa and walking out to the hallway. "No, in reality, I was calling because I thought Alicia was still going to be gone for a while, but she's coming up now, so I'll call you back later."
The doors of the elevator open just as I hang up the phone.
When I catch a glimpse of Alicia and Leo standing inside the metal box, covered in blood, and sporting cold, emotionless expressions, my phone drops from my hand, crashing onto the floor.
"What the fuck happened?" I ask, rushing towards them, immediately pulling Alicia into the hallway and running my eyes all over her before pulling her motionless body into my arms.
Blood is smeared across her face, and her whole body is subtly trembling. She has this dead, lost, emotionless look in her eyes that has terror shooting through my veins.
Pulling her against my chest, I wrap my arms tightly around her, melding our bodies together. My eyes dart to Jellybean, who runs straight for the kitchen, and then to Leo, who's still standing inside the elevator, his worrisome eyes locked onto the back of Alicia's head.
"Leo," I bark, cradling her head against my chest when I feel her flinch. "What the fuck happened?"
He finally drags his eyes away from her, but he doesn't look at me. He looks down at the floor instead and shrugs.
Wrapping my hand around the back of her neck, I pull away from her—which is an easy feat, seeing as she never put her arms around me—and I tilt her head up, waiting for her eyes to connect with mine.
When they do, my heart clenches inside my chest, and my brows furrow.
"Little viper," I say, gulping as I continue staring down at her, worry swarming through my veins. "What happened?"
She continues looking straight through me, and I'm convinced she's not even aware I'm speaking to her until her lips finally part.
"I'm going upstairs," she says quietly, her gaze dropping away from mine as she slowly moves around me and begins to walk down the hall.
"Have a shower," I tell her, whirling around to watch her leave. "I'll come and check on you in a minute."
She disappears into the living room without a second glance, and as soon as she's gone, I turn back to Leo.
"You better have a very good fucking explanation about what the fuck has happened here, Leo. Why the fuck is she covered in blood?"
He sighs, standing up straight with his hands in his pockets.
"She wanted to go shopping. We realised someone was following us, and I thought if we split up and trapped him in an alley, I'd be able to get some answers out of him. After we split up, Jellybean stopped to take a shit, and no matter how much I was tugging her, she wouldn't budge."
He cringes and shakes his head, running his hand through his hair.
"I thought I'd get to the alley before her, and I promise, Dom, as soon as the dog was finished, I picked her up, and ran to the alleyway.
He already had a hold of her by the time I got there—his arm was around her neck, and he had a gun at her side.
She was screaming, and she looked petrified, so I shot him. "
"It's his blood on her?" I ask.
He nods in response.
"Did you make sure she was unharmed?"
His eyes clash with mine, and he scoffs.
"Of course I fucking checked she was okay. It was the first thing I did."
"Okay." I step towards the elevator, hands clenched into fists, and when I'm near him, I rear my arm back and then swing it forward, punching him in the face. "That's for making the stupid suggestion of splitting up. You deserve that."
Rubbing at his jaw, he nods. "I do. That's why I didn't block the shot… we still have some work to do on the speed of those punches, though."
"You can go now," I snap, turning away from him and heading down the hallway into my apartment.
Moving through the living room, I stop at the sofa to stroke Jellybean for a moment, and then make my way upstairs. I go into my room first, changing out of my clothes, considering there's now blood speckled across my top from hugging Alicia.
Once I'm dressed in a fresh T-shirt and jogging bottoms, I move over to the door in my room that leads to our shared bathroom, pressing my ear against it.
When I don't hear the sound of the shower, I open the door, finding the bathroom empty, filled with steam and the sweet aroma of vanilla from Alicia's hair products and body wash.
The door leading into Alicia's room is wide open, so I walk through, stopping at the threshold when I see her lying in bed, bundled up beneath her sheets with the covers pulled up to her chin.
Her eyes are glossy and wide, transfixed on the wall opposite the bed.
I move over to her, crouching beside her and gently cup her face with my hand, rubbing my thumb across her damp cheek.
"What's wrong, little viper?"
Her teary gaze moves to meet mine, and her bottom lip trembles slightly as she speaks.
"My necklace. It's gone."
Frowning, I pull the covers down slightly so I can see her neck. The slight bruising that covers it has my fist clenching around the material in my hand.
Grinding my teeth, I take a deep breath, drawing my eyes away from her injury to look back into her saddened eyes.
"That's what's making you upset?" I ask, confused.
Alicia definitely doesn't peg me as the materialistic type, so I'm not sure why she's been crying because of a necklace being lost.
She nods, and a tear falls from her eye onto her cheek.
"My father gave it to me before the wedding. It has a picture inside of my mother, Eliana, and me. It must've been broken and come off during the struggle. I didn't realise it was gone until I went to reach for it when we were in the elevator."
Understanding dawns on me, and I move the upper half of my body onto the edge of the bed so I can wrap my arm around her and awkwardly bring her into my chest.
"I'm sorry you lost it."
She sniffles against me, her body shaking slightly.
We stay like that for a few moments before she shuffles backwards in her bed.
I remove my arm from around her and move to stand up, but she reaches for me, shaking her head.
"No. I want you to stay," she mutters, releasing my arm and lifting her covers for me.
Instantly, I climb into bed beside her, sliding my arm beneath her head and curling my other one around her waist, pulling her closer to me.
She snuggles into me, throwing her leg over mine, and circling her arm around the back of my neck.
I press a kiss to her forehead, then rest my head on hers, breathing in her scent and rubbing my hand along her trembling back.
As I lie with her, listening to the sound of her breathing as she starts to relax, I can hear the faint sound of my phone ringing in the pocket of my jeans that are lying in a pile on the floor of my bedroom.
I know it'll most likely be Percy wondering where I am, considering I have a meeting this afternoon, but I don't move a muscle, and I don't plan on it, even once she's fallen asleep.
Work can wait.
Alicia is what's important to me right now.
She needs me, and I'll be damned if I'm not here for her.