Dom
IF I SAID I wasn’t scared I’d be lying, but right now as I walk away with Chloe’s fuck up of a dad all I can think about are those words. And the fact I didn’t say it back. I should have. But I have every intention of coming back and showing her just how much I fucking love her. My heart is pounding in my chest and adrenaline pumping through my veins. I’ve never gone out of my way to hurt anyone outside of the cage. But it’s just like in the cage, either them or me. Do or die. I need to get in and out and make sure we all make it back. Fuck if I’m living in fear every time she leaves the house. I can’t live like that and Chloe isn’t going to either. And that’s what I need to keep in mind when we get to where we’re going. Do or die.
Andre is driving the van and I’m in the back, opposite me is Mike who he looks as cool as a cucumber and not in the slightest bit scared.
‘You good?’ he asks as he cocks his hand gun. I nod not saying a word. ‘Fear is normal,’ he says. ‘On your first time.’ Like killing people is an everyday occurrence for him. Maybe it is? What the fuck do I know.
‘I’m fine,’ I reassure him.
‘Don’t think about it just squeeze the trigger, you think about it you’ll be dead in a second, they won’t hesitate.’
I nod. ‘Got it, hesitate you die.’ He looks at me and a look of pride crosses his face. As the van comes to a stop Andre tosses some stuff over the seats to us and I watch as each of them pull on a balaclava and I do the same zipping my jacket up so my neck isn’t on show and pull on black gloves which Andre gives me.
‘Keep covered at all times, even though we will leave no witnesses, you can’t have your artwork on show. Andre tells me, like a teacher talking to a student. Again, I nod. Apparently, Andre has men on all sides of the property we’re going into. That makes me feel better knowing we have back up and it’s not just the three of us.
As we move closer I get myself into the same headspace as I do before a fight. Focused no distractions. We get to the side door and gunshots ring out. Shit. Andre pushes me up against the side of the building and shots fire out all over the place. They know we’re here. Fuck, bang goes the surprise. The shots are coming from the back and not being fired at us. So looks like Andre’s men have been spotted. He does some shit with his hands which I’m pretty sure it means stay alert and follow me. But I can’t be sure.
We creep along the wall and under a window. I stand at one side Andre the other and he mouths counting to three and in sync we cover the window, no one’s there so we move along until we get to the side door. I turn and realise Mike isn’t behind me. Where the fuck did he go? I scan the area but trying to see in the dark with no lights not even the moon, is like wading through quick setting concrete. Andre kicks the door open after another three counts and we move like we’ve done this a thousand times before. Watching each other’s back’s we clear the first room and each room we clear we get closer to the gunfire.
Now or never, Dom. Do or fucking Die. The door swings open and we open fire until we get to an alcove, where we duck in and I finally remember to breath. Not sure if I hit any targets, but sure as shit I tried. I take a deep breath and on Andre’s count we duck out and fire again. This time I watch as a bullet connects with a guy in a shirt ugly enough it doesn’t show the blood seeping through. He hits the ground, his gun aimed on us. He fires and everything seems to slow down. As I watch the bullet fly toward its intended target. Me. Andre knocks me out of the way and fires another shot killing the man on the floor. Fuck. I move in behind him and check no-one is coming up from the rear.
We make it to the end of the corridor with little problem and take out another two men through the last door. Realising from the sound of gunfire that more is going down outside the property than inside, we make our way to the back door. Andre opens it just a crack, looks out and then closes it again. He points to the stairs. We need to go up. We do, again in sync, guns cocked and ready to fire.
The layout upstairs is pretty much the same as down and we make our way down the corridor clearing each room as we go. All empty, but as we get to the final two rooms I can hear there are men inside. I twist the handle and Andre goes in first taking out two men as I fire on the third. I hit him directly in the chest and watch as the blood seeps through his clothes, and his eyes glaze over as his last breath leaves him. I don’t have a chance to think about it, or feel anything, because Andre is moving onto the last room, as he opens the door this time I fire first and take out a man firing through the window out back. The force of the shot has him falling through the window. The guy beside him realises too late as Andre’s bullet takes him out. Straight through the middle of his forehead.
With the room clear we move to the window as the shooting stops outside. Andre waves to his men and we move down and out the back door.
‘Anyone have eyes on Patrick?’ he asks. There is no answer. Fuck. This was a big waste of fucking time. I can’t believe it. I bend at the waist and rip the balaclava off trying to catch my breath with my hands on my knees. My throat is red hot and I can’t seem to get the air in fast enough. And for what? He wasn’t even here.
‘Where’s Mike?’ Andre asks looking around but we don’t see him. ‘Spread out, find him.’ Everyone fans out and I get a really bad fucking feeling. Andre pulls me with him. ‘He’ll be fine.’ He must have seen the look on my face. I go with him through the house, room by room, but we don’t find him. Having seen him last outside, before we even got into the house we retrace our steps and eventually come across him in a clearing, flat on his back. Bleeding out.
***
Chloe
Just stay back and wait, Chloe. We’ll be back in no time, they said. Don’t worry, they said. I’ve been pacing this fucking cabin for the past 3 hours, not hearing a peep from any of them. I tried the whole, ‘Don’t worry’ shit, but that lasted the couple of minutes it took me to get undressed to get into the shower. Which turned into not having a shower and throwing my clothes right back on. The man I love and my dad—no matter how upset I am with him, he’s still my father—they’re both out there.
Andre I don’t really know and quite honestly, he kinda scares me a bit. I may not care as much what happens to him, but knowing he’s out there with Dom gives me a little reprieve of my worry.
‘Chloe!’ Dom’s voice travels through the cabin and I jump out of my skin. I race towards the door but stumble a little when I see he’s alone. The look on his face says all I need to know.
Halting in my tracks, I fall to the ground and sobs rack my body. Oh God, my dad.
‘Chloe, it’s alright, I’m here, I’ve got you.’ He pulls me up into his arms and I cling to him like he’s my last breath.
‘My dad? Dom please.’
‘Chloe look at me. Chloe look at me baby.’ His hand cradles my chin and he pulls my face to his. ‘Your dad took on gunfire and was seriously injured by bullet to his stomach. Andre’s taken him to one of his contacts, probably the same doctor who fixed me up. They’re working on him now.’
‘He’s not dead?’
‘No, honey, but it is touch and go. Andre will send us word when he can.’
‘And Patrick? You got that fucker, right?’ His deep inhale of breath tells me all I need to know before he even speaks.
‘No, he wasn’t there.’ Anger mixed with sorrow shows in his eyes.
‘What do we do now? Can we go to where my father is?’ More tears roll down my cheeks and he uses the pad of his thumb to brush them away. ‘I’d really like to be with him right now.’
‘We can’t, Chlo.’ His mouth brushes mine, trying to soothe me. ‘All we can do is wait for Andre to return with news.’
‘And how long is that going to take?’ I push away from him and throw myself down on the sofa.
‘I don’t know Chloe. I really don’t know. I’m so sorry.’ He comes and sits next to me, rubbing my back, trying to comfort me. Scooting me over, he lays beside me and pulls me into his arms, letting me cry out all the grief and worry. We must fall asleep, because as I open my eyes, I see that it’s already light outside and panic takes hold. Andre hasn’t shown up with any news.
‘Dom, wake up, it’s morning.’ I shake his arm to get his attention and he grumbles something that sounds like ‘No, no, I didn’t kill him.’ My heart races thinking of what that could imply. ‘Dom, it’s Chloe. Please get up. We haven’t heard anything from Andre yet. What if my dad died while we slept the night away?’
‘Chloe, calm down.’ He mumbles as he pulls himself upright. ‘I’m sure we would have heard from Andre if he’d died overnight. And, baby you needed to get some sleep.’
‘You don’t know that for sure, Dominic!’
‘I’m sure we’ll hear something soon. Let’s just get a shower and clean-up to kill some time.’
‘How could you possibly be thinking about sex right now at a time like this?’
He laughs. He fucking laughs.
‘Chloe seriously, calm down.’ Standing up, he pulls me into his arms, cradling me into his rock-hard body. I melt into him and I try my hardest not to respond, but my body betrays me. ‘I wasn’t thinking about sex, Chloe. But now that you mention it, would it really be so bad?’ His nose caresses behind my ear as he trails it down my neck, suckling my sensitive nerves. My body trembles in response and he must be able to feel it.
‘Dom…’
‘Chlo, you said something to me before I left last night and I know this isn’t the right time, but I need to show you how I feel.’ My resolve crumbles as his lips crash into mine. I know it’s all wrong in the moment, but I need this man. I need him inside me. I need to show him how much I love him. I need to feel his love. Something good needs to come from this whole shit-storm of a situation. Amor vincit omnia- Love conquers all, right?