DOMINIC

 

It's five in the afternoon and I'm thinking about drinking again. It's the only thing anymore that seems to ease the confusion in my head. It's the only way I can forget, but after one drink too many, it becomes a problem because that's when I begin to remember.

It seems everything I've worked for my entire life has all been for nothing. I like to pride myself on doing so much good for the people in this world. On some level, I believe the reason I have fought so hard to help innocent people is because I have directly contributed to the destruction of lives.

And it doesn't change the equation much that I worked for Seth and people like him to save my sister. At the end of the day, I've still done things that I shouldn't have done. I've still done things that only evil men can do. It's a realization that I have pushed away for far too long.

If karma exists, then perhaps there's nothing I can do to erase the pain and the hurt I've caused others. I stand at the kitchen counter staring down at a glass full of whiskey. I'm thinking about drinking, but I know I won't be able to stop once I start.

Even after my time overseas and in the military, even after everything I saw there, I always remained strong willed. I was strong enough to not turn into an alcoholic like so many of my family members. But this right here? This right here could be the one thing that finally breaks me.

Seth Grimm broke me.

And just like Humpty Dumpty shattered into a million pieces, so have I. But the difference between that famous egg and me is that I don't know if I'll ever be able to put all the pieces together again. I don't know if I want to put the pieces together.

That's where I'm at; a blank slate where I don't know whether to go left or to go right. I don't know whether to close my eyes or stay awake. I don't even know if I should drink this damn glass of liquor or not.

All I know is that I don't know.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

My head spins to face the door. And I grumble under my breath, swear to myself that if it’s one of the boys, I'm going to explode. I've made it clear to all of them now that I don't want to be bothered or interrupted. I want to be left alone, and they need to learn to respect my wishes.

I know there's a lot I have to talk to them about and apologize for, but I'm not in the headspace to do that right now. That day will come. One day I'll wake up and face my reckoning. I'll atone for my sins as much as I possibly can, and I'll do that through the power of telling the truth.

Knowing what I did to Ella Gold, I have a hunch that that is why Luke fled in the middle of the night without saying so much as a goodbye to me or anyone else. It's just one more thing in a long line of sins that I did because I was trying to protect my sister.

I wrote those threatening letters to Ella as a small favor for someone else. I was told that they weren't dangerous and that the letters were only meant to be a prank. And though I questioned the truth of those claims, I was told that it was something I had to do. It was one more thing I had to do to get my sister back. And I think I knew, even back then, that getting my sister back wasn't going to happen. But I wanted to continue living in denial because it was easier.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

The knocking on the door steals my attention once more and I exhale shortly before racing to the door and ripping it open.

But instead of seeing one of the boys, I see somebody else.

She's tall and beautiful, with auburn hair that hangs effortlessly over her shoulders. She's got a light tan that complements her all-black attire. For all intents and purposes she looks like a sexy robber and the one thing I can't figure out is why the hell she’s standing at my door.

Her eyes are a deep oceanic blue, icy like the glaciers in the sea. I've always been good at reading people and right now I'm reading her as a stone cold woman. I gather that she's dangerous too. All I can think is that somebody out there, one of my enemies, has sent her to kill me.

But she smiles at me in a curious manner with her lips hitched high across her face as if she’s so excited to see me and has been waiting a lifetime. If she were younger, I’d ruminate on the possibility that she’s a long-lost daughter I never knew I had.

"Who the hell are you?" I ask her. "And what the hell are you doing standing on my porch smiling at me like that?"

She rolls her eyes before she steps forward, pushing past me with a nudge against my shoulder. Now, I don't know who the hell this chick thinks she is walking into my house without permission, but I suspect she's up to no good so I pivot on my feet to watch her as she steps into the living room.

Carefully and quietly, I race forward to the console table in the foyer. She slips one hand through her hair pushing her locks behind one ear before turning to face me.

And when she does, I already have a gun pointed squarely at her face. My finger dances on the trigger, prepared to pull it if she tries anything stupid.

"I asked you what the hell you’re doing in my house." I take a measured step towards her. "Now don’t you think it might be in your best interest to answer my damn question?"

She just smiles again, rolls her eyes too. "Put that thing down, Dominic."

"How do you know my name?"

"Aren't you supposed to be somebody?" She begins stepping towards me without the slightest hint of fear in her eyes. "I'm surprised you haven't figured it out since you always seem to be one step ahead of the curve. I'm surprised you have no idea who I am." She shrugs with apathy as she presses even closer. "You’re the one who killed Seth Grimm, right? I mean, the guy who finally put a bullet through his head." She stops and crosses her arms over each other. She arches one brow waiting for me to respond and it's like there's not a gun in her face at all.

I can gather that she's used to having a gun in her face. People who aren’t don’t behave like this. They don't stare down the barrel of a gun with ice cold resolve.

"I don't have a clue what you're talking about," I say defiantly. I'm not about to expose my cards to a complete stranger. For all I know, she has some association with Seth or his associates. For all I know, she's an assassin sent here to kill me. I take a step back but continue to aim the gun squarely at her. "You've got the wrong guy."

"No, I don’t." She smirks and if she wasn't annoying me or scaring me, I would think that's just about the sexiest thing in the world. I would think she's just about the sexiest woman I've ever laid eyes on. "Your name is Dominic Ford and you run a security firm specializing in helping those who are better served by tactics frowned upon by legal authorities. Your homebase is underneath an abandoned factory out in the Industrial Parkway. You have four other men that work with you and just a short while ago, before the Grimm Industries building was blown to bits, you put a bullet in to Mr. Grimm’s head." She winks at me like she thinks this is funny or something. "Go ahead," she says, "prove me wrong."

I purse my lips and drop the gun to clatter at the side of my leg. She knows exactly who I am and though I can't discern how she came across all of this information, I know that she never had any doubts. From before the time she knocked on my door, she knew exactly who I was. Knowing that, I know that she would have killed me already if that's what she came here to do.

“Let's just say hypothetically that everything you just said is true," I say. "Then what the hell are you doing here? Why does any of it concern you?"

"I know a lot more than you may realize." She cocks her head sideways and glances at my couch. “Do you mind?"

"Yes, as a matter of a fact, I do mind." I let out an exasperated sigh as she does it anyway. She steps to the left and takes a seat on my couch and then she gestures for me to join her. "You can't just walk into someone's home and make yourself at home.”

"People like you and I don't exactly follow rules and typical decorum." She taps her hand on the leather cushions of my couch. "You know I, too, have a leather couch, although instead of being black, it’s white. Maybe, just maybe, we are much more alike then you want to believe."

"I don't even know who you are,” I scoff. “So I'm afraid I can't tell if we are alike or not."

"Well, why don't you come sit next to me and we can have a chat?"

I can't help but to roll my eyes. Though I'm a little annoyed and aggravated that this woman thinks she can just walk into my home and do whatever, I can't say I'm not interested in her. I'm interested in her because she's got brass balls and she obviously wants something from me. Maybe I need something from her too. That's what I plan on finding out.

I make my way to the opposite couch and take a seat across from her. We get lost in a staring war of sorts. Her icy blue eyes tangle with mine.

"You have beautiful eyes," she says to me with a sly grin. "They're dark and stormy. They tell me a story about tragedy.”

“Look, you may think you know me and maybe you know some things about me, but you don't know me like that."

"That's where you're wrong." She straightens herself out and pushes her hair behind her ear once more. "I know there's one thing that drives you in this life.”

“I very seriously doubt you know what drives me. I very seriously doubt you have any idea of what goes on inside my mind. You don't understand the reason why I do the things I do. And maybe that's why you’re here." I lean over and force her to look me square in the eyes. "Maybe you're here to find out why I killed Seth.”

“Look at you. You're already opening up to me and you don't even know me." She crosses one leg over the other. "Now, how many people in the world know that you killed Seth?" She furrows one brow. "I'm guessing not that many. And I'm also guessing that you're racking your brain trying to figure out how I know all of this."

"Fine," I grind out and push myself back against the couch. "How do you know all this?"

“We operate in the same world, Dominic." She shrugs and clicks her tongue against her cheek. "You operate on the outside. You and your boys work as private security for those in need. You often find yourselves pitted against some of the worst people in this world. And sometimes, you find yourself working for the very people you're supposed to be protecting people from."

I swallow nervously because this woman knows too much. She knows about Seth, and it would seem that she knows that I was also working for him and his associates. The first and most important question is how does she know all of this?

"And then there are people like me," she continues. "I work on the inside. But unlike you, I don't pledge loyalty to good people or bad people. I pledge loyalty to myself and only myself. For all intents and purposes, I’m a mercenary for sale to the highest bidder with no other stipulations."

"And what services are you selling?”

“I'm in the business of acquiring secrets and then selling them to the highest bidder.”

"And what secrets are you trying to sell to me today?" I look at her with a curious gaze. "What is your name anyways?"

"That's a secret that's going to cost you." She drops her head with a soft snicker. "My name is Katie Strong and you’re about to find out tonight that I am your biggest asset."

I chew into my bottom lip contemplatively. I'm trying to discern if I should trust her or not even though I realize I have nothing left to lose. Trust in this dangerous world is a commodity that’s best not given out to random people. Trust is like currency in many ways though.

"I'm just going to skip straight to the point." She rises to stand so that her eyes bore down into mine. "I know something that you’ll want to know. More than that, I know something that you need to know. And I'm not going to attach a price tag to this secret because just like you, I need something too."

"And what the hell is that?" I rise so that we are at eye level once more. Though I'm a tall man, she's just as tall in nothing more than a pair of black sneakers. She's an intimidating woman and I can only imagine that she's able to stand her ground against anyone and anything. "If I find out you are wasting my time—"

"Do you want to see your sister again?" she interrupts me with a severe and haunted look in her eyes.

I just about sink into the floor. One hand drops to my side as it balls into a fist. The nails of my fingers dig into my flesh. If she's playing some kind of game with me, I'll end her.

"Follow me down the rabbit hole and I'll show you that she is still alive and well.”

“I don't know who the hell you are,” I scream at her, my voice trembling with anger. "But you need to get the hell out of my house."

She's not afraid of me. Not even close. She just stands there as if I'm talking to her in a calm and reasonable manner. "I told you my name is Katie Strong and I'm a mercenary.” She shrugs. "And I know you have no reason to believe me but I can show you proof."

"How do I know that this isn't some trick?"

She steps around the table to place a palm on my shoulder. She cranes her head to look at me and then says, “If I had a sister who was missing, I would do anything in the world to try and find her. And besides, what the hell do you have to lose?"

I want to trust her if for no other reason than I want to continue living in the fantasy that my sister could possibly still be alive. All the evidence and all the reason in the world points to her already being dead, but there's just this slight sliver of hope that I'm holding onto like it's a thread on a wire and I'm hanging precariously from it.

It's my kryptonite.

"Show me," I grind out between gritted teeth. "And if you're lying to me, I will kill you."

And that's not a threat. It's not even a promise. It's just the words rolling off a man's lips who really has nothing left to lose. A man who is at just about at his breaking point, if he’s not there already.