Chapter 10 #3
Lez faltered and laughed. “You innocent little thing. You are too good for this world. Shall I call up the local pigs then? How about I give them an anonymous tip and tell them what that guy told me? Then go find Jasper and the rest of his gang and tell them we should put this silly feud behind us and have a nice little dance off instead, winner gets your sister. Dom’s gotten pretty good at the robot and I can do the worm. What do you say?”
I glared at him, angry that I couldn’t find a comeback to his idiotic take.
“That a no?” he said. “Surely Jasper will agree. It’s a fair game, after all.”
“Stop it,” I whispered.
He clicked his tongue, turning away from me as if annoyed.
"I'm sorry, I should be nicer, shouldn't I?
Because that's gotten you far. Going to that shitty bar to talk to one of them—Jesus—and look what happened?
" He gestured to all of me. "You have no clue how these people run, but we do.
They need to be snuffed out like the rats they are, not put in some cage so they can get out and fuck us later.
Or get their little buddies to do their dirty work while they're locked up.
" He turned to me, his gaze venomous. "Putting them away is just waiting for the inevitable," he continued coldly.
"You're living in a dream world. With rules and pretty little lies.
Not the harsh reality that none of that fucking matters.
These guys don't follow rules, they don't give a fuck about the law.
And neither do we. Because that's how we survive. "
“You’re right,” I clipped back. “I live in a different world. I’m nothing like you.”
“That’s right, you’re not. And before you go clinging to Dom, thinking he’s better and safer, know he’s just like me.
Don’t go pretending any different. Get it out of your head completely.
Because you’re not in LaLa land anymore.
You want your sister back? Get rid of the snobby bitch attitude and deal with who we are and what we do. ”
I gripped the handles of my crutches tight to keep myself from shaking.
"I've dealt with who you are," I said in a low voice.
"I dealt with it back at the church. I don't need a reminder of what kind of person you are and what you do.
I was a victim of it. For several nights.
And that was enough." I threw the crutches on the ground at his feet and turned to walk away—or rather limp away, not daring to look back.
Thankfully he didn't call to me as I trudged across the courtyard.
No insults or snide remarks. The pain in my leg made me grit my teeth, but I forced myself onward.
As I stumbled back inside, a hand shot out and caught my elbow.
I looked up at Dom, who glared back at me, the crutches under his arm.
I let him lead me back up to his room in silence.
When I got inside and he shut the door, I turned on him.
“I think I should go,” I said as he placed the crutches next to the door.
“Thank you for helping me, really, but I should go back to my apartment now.” I picked my phone up from the couch where I had left it and went to the bedroom to grab my bag.
As I made sure my car keys were inside, I turned for the door, only to find Dom blocking my way.
“I’ll call you. I just…I just need to get back and clear my head.
” I stood there, waiting for him to move but he didn’t.
He only continued to glare at me. I tried to skirt around him but he wouldn’t budge. “Dom…”
He signed one word. “No.”
“What do you mean ‘No’?”
He took out his phone and I watched his thumbs fly across the keys. Then he turned his phone to me.
I scanned his words. Then I read them again. “I know the Serpents probably know where I live. But you can’t make me stay,” I answered.
“I can’t let you go.”
I shook my head. “Are you really going to force me?”
He nodded.
I felt the panic rise in me. “So what?” My voice shook.
“You gonna keep me locked away again? Like last time? You’re really going to do that?
Just like at the church. All because I know where you live now, and I’m—I’m some kind of liability, is that it?
” I started to back away from him in utter disbelief.
His mouth set in a hard frown. “No. You won’t be locked up,” he texted. “But you can’t go back. You are staying here with us, where we can watch you.”
“You can watch me just fine from your computer. I saw that you were.”
“It’s not enough now.”
I slipped around the bed, nearly stumbling back. “Please, Dom.”
He walked slowly toward me and signed, “I’m sorry.”
My back was almost to the far wall, just where the window was covered by the blackout curtain. I knew there was no way to get around him. “You two are real bastards, you know that?”
His expression darkened into something I almost didn’t recognize. And in that moment, I realized just how right his brother had been.
I whirled around and shot for the window, swiping the curtain nearly off the hanger to try and pry the screen open, hoping for a fire escape.
But I was too slow. He pulled me away, picking me up and carrying me around the bed.
I cried out and tried to fight, but the pain was too much so I yelled and cursed at him instead.
“Damn you, Dom! Damn you, both. I hate you!”
He sat down on the edge of the bed, straddling me on his lap as he held me tight. I tried to struggle out of his grip, but it was futile. He held my arms to my sides so I could hardly move. Kicking out my feet only hurt more.
“Please, Dom! Please!” I begged, but he wouldn’t let go.
I begged and begged but he ignored me. Instead, he brushed a hand over my head to try and comfort me.
I tried to tug my head away, but it was pointless.
His arm only wrapped around me tighter as I writhed against him.
“Why are you doing this?” I nearly screamed. “Why do you care?!”
He didn’t try to sign to me and tell me why, he just held me, now starting to rock me like I was a child he was trying to calm down. The panic rose to the surface and burst out of me. I bent forward, gasping for air.
I licked my lips, desperate to gather my composure. “I’ll…I’ll go to my parents’. I won’t be alone,” I said, trying to compromise.
Dom removed his hand from my head and I heard the tapping of his phone. The screen came into my view.
“They will try to finish what they started. You’re too involved now. They might try to take you as soon as you’re alone.” He was talking about the brotherhood.
“What about…my brother?”
“I have him watched. But they’ve clearly set their sights on you because you’re an easier target.”
My mouth trembled, my body shaking.
“Breathe.”
I closed my eyes and tried to slow my breath. “I don’t want to…go through this again,” I whispered. “I don’t want to…” I inhaled, unable to finish. I felt the sob coming and I couldn’t contain it. I sniffed, keeping my head bent as I blinked away a few tears. “I don’t want to be scared.”
“You don’t need to be,” he typed. But that only made more tears come. Did he know it was him and his brother I was scared of? That I was afraid that what happened at the church was going to happen again?
I couldn’t bring myself to say it. Instead, I watched my tears drip on the wooden floor, feeling defeated.
Dom held me for a while longer until I finally started to calm down.
I didn’t even protest when he picked me up and brought me back into the living room.
He sat me on the couch and handed me the drink that was left on the coffee table.
A strawberry lemonade. Then he took out the contents of the brown bag.
Two white boxes. Opening them revealed sliders and some chicken wings. He offered me some and I took a slider.
“Thank you,” I mumbled.
“You’re going to be okay. You just need to lie low for a while. You’re safest here.”
Was I? I almost said it, but bit into the slider instead. Maybe for a brief moment I felt safe with them back at the church, until that was all dashed away.
“Until we deal with everything, you need to stay here. Lez and I will take turns watching you.”
“You mean babysitting me.” I scoffed.
“Gangs like this don’t fuck around,” he replied. “Our place is open, we have the club. We have people guarding all the time but we need to take extra precautions especially after Leslie’s blowup. They’ll be wanting revenge.”
Great. “Thanks for looking out for me,” I said, wishing I didn’t sound so bitter.
I knew I couldn’t blame them completely.
It was my fault for going to the bar in the first place, thinking I could somehow negotiate with those men.
It was stupid. And now I was in the situation I was in because of it.
Leslie did what he did out of pure rage, and he wasn’t wrong, I hadn’t tried to stop him.
Even with the shock, I just didn’t, but I should have.
Maybe deep down, I was furious too. But the reality of Leslie killing some of them shook me up.
I wasn’t one to advocate for murder. The only time I could remember not feeling sorry for someone’s death was the man who ran Severfalls.
That whole thing had been so fucked up, but after what they had done to Eve, what they had done to so many innocent women and kids, it was the first time I truly thought someone deserved to be taken out for good.
Now, a part of me felt that way for the Serpents.
But it also felt like a slippery slope, wanting the death of just one person, let alone many.
I was crashing out bad, losing control of my usual good girl facade. And that scared me too. How easy it must be for the twins to just let go of that moral dilemma completely.
If someone messes with you or your own, you take the threat out.
No hesitation. Leslie had said that to me once, when he, Dom, and I were alone in his armory, when I had asked him why he needed so many weapons, and what he was defending himself against exactly.
I hadn’t understood his thoughts back then. But I was starting to now.
As I silently ate my slider contemplating all this, Dom found a throw blanket and wrapped it around me.
Even though it wasn’t super cold in his apartment I was still shivering.
He turned on the TV and put on an old movie from the stack on the shelf.
Fright Night. Thankfully, I was a fan of campy horror films. I watched, only half paying attention.
When Dom had finished his food, he wrapped up some of the leftovers and put them in the fridge.
“I have to go out,” he typed. “Leslie will be around if you need anything.”
“Where are you going?”
“I need to make a few runs. Nothing crazy.”
“Can I come with?”
“Not right now, but maybe next time. I’m going to take your keys and go to your apartment to make sure nothing has been tampered with. You can text me if you need me to bring something back.”
I could already think of a few things. “Dom?” I called as he turned for the bedroom. “If my family needs me. You have to let me see them.”
He gave me an annoyed-looking smirk before texting his reply. “We’re not keeping you from your family, Lena. You’re not a prisoner. Not like last time. You can contact them. And if you need to go out somewhere, we will take you. But for right now, this is home.”
My throat tightened at that last sentence. I looked away, uncertain how to respond.
He came back a few seconds later with my keys.
Before he headed for the door, he stopped in front of me.
He took my chin in one hand, lifting my face.
Then he leaned down and kissed me. I didn’t pull back, but I didn’t deepen it either.
He straightened and turned for the door without a second glance and left me.