Twenty-Four | Dom
Twenty-Four
Dom
Jo entered the code that Dr. Foster had given her for the cabin while I watched the area around us, making sure we were truly alone.
When Dr. Foster said she didn’t have any neighbors, she hadn’t been lying.
The cabin was secluded at the top of the mountain, and the weather had made it nearly impossible to reach it safely.
Once the door opened, I walked in behind Jo, keeping my hand on her lower back as I closed and locked the door behind us. She turned on some lights and walked through the kitchen, admiring a fancy coffee maker while I quickly cleared the rest of the cabin and made sure everything was secure.
“I’m going to go grab our stuff from the truck,” I said, reaching for the doorknob. “Please stay inside. I’ll get a fire started as soon as I get back.”
“Dr. Foster said we should be fine to use the heater, even if the power goes out. I’ll get it turned on now so it can start heating the cabin before we have to start a fire.”
“Sounds like a plan.”
I walked outside and pulled the door closed behind me.
I grabbed what I could and made as few trips as possible, thankful once everything was inside so I could get out of the frigid cold.
Jo had gotten the heater started and was in the bedroom while I worked on putting the food away.
I wasn’t sure how long we would be staying there, but my gut said more than a few days.
We had some fresh food in the fridge that I had brought and put away.
It would last us maybe a week, if that, but it was better than nothing.
The worst-case scenario was that I could go back into town to get whatever we needed while I kept Jo hidden in the cabin.
I knew she would hate that idea, but I was determined to do whatever was necessary to keep her safe.
“Need any help?” she asked as she walked into the kitchen and smiled at me.
“I’m all done, but if you’re hungry, I can make something for dinner.”
She scrunched her face and shook her head.
“I know I should eat, but I don’t really have much of an appetite right now. Maybe later. But if you’re hungry, you should make yourself some food. Don’t wait on me.”
“I’m fine. Just let me know if you change your mind.”
She nodded and looked around, taking the cabin in.
“I expected it to be old and dingy,” Jo said with a laugh. “I should have known better, given her family has always been well off. Her dad left the cabin to her when he died a few years ago, but she hasn’t been up much since then. I think most of this was his stuff. It all looks brand new.”
“Yeah, it doesn’t look like he spent a lot of time here either,” I mused, knowing that if I had a place like this, I would never want to leave. “Or he just took really good care of his things.”
“Possibly. The bed in the master bedroom still had plastic covering the mattress, so I don’t think he used it. I did find some linens in the closet and started a load of laundry, so they should be ready by the time we’re ready for bed.”
“Sounds good. Thank you for getting that started.”
She smiled, but I could feel the energy shift between us as the reality of what happened weighed on us.
“Do you want to watch TV?” I offered.
“Sure.” Her lip trembled as if she struggled to say what she really wanted to say.
I followed behind her, nearly knocking her over when she stopped suddenly and turned to face me. She held a gun between her hands, aimed directly at my forehead as she narrowed her eyes at me. I lifted my hands, unsure of what was happening or why she was acting like that.
“Did you tell Tray where we are?”
My heart sank as a breath rushed out of me.
“No. I didn’t tell anyone where we were. Aside from Dr. Foster, Keith, and Axel, no one knows.”
“Unlock your phone and give it to me.”
I slowly reached into my pocket and pulled it out, unlocking it before handing it to her.
She kept the gun aimed at me with one hand while she swiped her finger over the screen as she looked through it. I didn’t bother talking because I knew nothing I said would help. Jo needed to confirm for herself that she was safe, even if she questioned it with me.
I waited patiently, not making any movements while she continued looking through my phone.
“Sit down,” she demanded, nodding to the leather recliner.
I arched an eyebrow out of habit, but lowered it when I saw the anger flicker in her eyes. There was nothing playful about her, and I saw the warning when she looked up at me under her thick lashes.
I sat down and leaned back in the chair, resting my hands over my stomach to look as calm and nonthreatening as possible.
I still had my gun on me, but it was tucked into the back of my pants, and I had zero desire to reach for it.
I wasn’t a threat to Jo; she just needed to confirm that on her own.
She lifted her foot and held it right in front of my dick, pressing down slightly as she stared at me.
“If you make even the slightest move to get up or reach for your gun, I will squish the shit out of your dick. Do you understand me?”
I went to answer, but before I could, she began pressing down.
“I understand,” I forced out, struggling to control myself because even though she thought she was intimidating, this was just making me hard, and it was by far the worst time for that.
She watched me for a few seconds before putting her gun away and using both hands to look through my phone.
“What is this?” she asked, turning the phone to face me.
On the screen was a picture of Jo sleeping. Only, in the picture, she didn’t look asleep. She looked dead.
“I liked how you looked, so I took a picture.” I shrugged, knowing she wasn’t buying my bullshit.
She turned the phone around to look at it, then looked at me as she cocked her head to the side.
“You liked how I looked?”
“Yeah. You looked peaceful.”
I swallowed hard as I watched the storm brewing in her eyes.
“I. LOOK. DEAD!”
I pressed my lips together to keep from laughing because this wasn’t funny. But I couldn’t help it. She was adorable when she was pissed off, even if I knew that my dick was currently on the line if I continued to piss her off.
“I don’t think so.”
“Don’t fucking try to play me, Dom. You took it because I looked dead and you wanted to have something in case you needed to prove to Tray that you could handle me.”
She popped her hip out and placed her hand on it as she stared at me and waited for me to disagree with her.
“Okay. Fine. You’re right.” I sighed heavily, hating that she was so fucking smart. “I took the picture because it did look like you were dead and I wanted to have something in my pocket, should I need it.”
“You’re such an asshole,” she muttered as she tossed my phone to me and started to pull her leg away.
Before she could, I held onto her ankle, grinning when her eyes widened and she struggled not to lose her balance.
“I’m an asshole who is determined to protect you, Jo. I fucked up by not telling you about my involvement with Keith. I’ve said I was sorry, and I meant it. But if we’re going to do whatever this is and keep you alive, you’re going to need to trust me.”
“I know,” she grumbled, looking away from me.
“Okay, then what happened?” I let go of her ankle and stood up after she was steady on her feet. I wanted to look into her eyes and know what had changed to make her doubt me again, so I could try to prevent it from happening again.
“When I asked you earlier what you wanted from the house, you said just me,” I continued, tilting my head so I could see her face better as she looked the other way. “What changed? How did you go from wanting me to be here with you to questioning whether I was setting you up?”
“I don’t know,” she hissed, throwing her hands in the air. “I just got to thinking on the way up here, and the more I thought about it, the more it made sense that you were just doing all of this so you could turn me over to Tray.”
“Why would you even think that?”
“Because, since the moment I opened my eyes this morning, you’ve been doing everything you can to control me.
You decided that you were going to drive me to the clinic.
You decided to stay there all day, despite my telling you multiple times that you could leave.
You were the one who offered to go to my house to get stuff once you decided that we needed to leave town.
Just like you were the one who said that if anyone asked what you were doing at my house, you would tell them you were going after the bounty and trying to find me.
You isolated me from my friends and took me to the middle of nowhere, where I wouldn’t have anyone to help me if needed.
You’ve been the one controlling everything, so excuse me for questioning whether you have ulterior motives and if all of this is just to fit your narrative. ”
I took a deep breath in and let it out slowly as I rocked back on my heels while I processed that.
“I can see how you would feel that way,” I replied softly. “I’m so sorry, Jo. My only intentions have been to protect you. I promise that I will never do anything to hurt you.”
“Just like Tray promised to love and cherish me until death do us part? He was just as controlling as you’ve been today, Dom.
How can you blame me for questioning you?
You were best friends with him for so long; how am I supposed to trust that you’re not just like him? What makes you any different?”
I rolled my shoulders a few times to relieve the tension building on them, then I got down and kneeled in front of her.
“Because I will do anything to earn your trust back, Jo. I will gladly step aside and let you lead things from here on. I have no desire to control you, nor do I want to do anything that makes you question my loyalty. You’re in charge from here out, and I will do anything you ask me to.”
Her eyes softened slightly as she looked down at me. But before she said anything, she turned and walked away, leaving me on my knees in the living room by myself.