DOMINIC

 

I make sure the gun is fully loaded and then lean back against the large windows behind me. I hold the gun down in front of me, just waiting for Christopher to come through that door. And when he does, we are going to have a talk about where my sister is. Only after I have the information am I going to end him just the way I ended Seth. The last thing he will ever see is a gun pointed squarely at him by a man he shouldn't have crossed.

I think back to the few times I have ever interacted with Christopher Lawson. I think about how he always seemed to be put together on the outside, but I also knew of his associations with Seth Grimm. And because he associated himself, willingly, with a man like that I knew that he was evil to his core.

I have no sympathy for the lives that were lost in the explosion at Grimm Industries. Everyone who perished in that fiery blaze of glory deserved what came to them.

Standing on that rooftop at the event, I even saw him there. As Zach came to my rescue and dragged me out of the building just in the nick of time, he was still standing there. Zach and I barely made it out of the building. In fact, it exploded right as we made our exit.

I struggle to understand how Christopher Lawson could have done the same. It doesn't much matter though. In the context of the security footage I've just seen of my sister alive and well, I'm more than happy that he survived. Because now, for the most part, I know that my sister is alive. He gives me purpose, and it drives me to fight for her when she can't fight for herself.

In the near distance, I can hear a car pulling up to the front of the house. And then seconds later, I can hear the front door opening and then subsequently closing. I tighten my grip on my gun, rage and anger burrow through my veins. Even with all the self-control and discipline in the world, I'm not sure I will be able to stop myself from pulling the trigger before he's given me the information that I need.

From underneath and above the doors, I can see lights flicker on, illuminating the hallway that leads to the office. He's coming straight for me but he doesn't know I'm here. I have the element of surprise and all that he has left is about to be regrets. Regrets for tying himself to Seth’s wagon. Regrets for crossing me. Regrets that he ever laid eyes on my sister.

My heart begins to race, beats incredibly fast. If I didn't know any better I would think I'm having a heart attack. But I do know better and I know that is nothing more than adrenaline. I live my life on the edge, always getting myself into situations that I shouldn't survive. But somehow, I always do survive because my will to live and fight for what's right is stronger than any man I've ever come against.

Both of the two French doors in front of me part open at the same exact time as Christopher Lawson storms into his office.

Our eyes immediately lock with each other like two opponents in Mortal Kombat. But he doesn't look scared, not even in the slightest. Even as I raise the gun to aim squarely at his head, he remains calm and measured. And I don't know how because even as strong-willed as I am, when a gun is pointed in my face, I tend to at least show some signs of panic.

People like Christopher, they sold their souls a long time ago. And maybe one of the things they were exchanging their souls for was the ability to never be afraid. In his line of work that would be a beyond useful trait.

"You're a dead man walking." My finger dances on the trigger, itching to put a bullet through this man's head. But I don't pull the trigger because I need something from him. And he's going to give me what I need. "From the second you walked into this room, your fate has been sealed."

"Ah." He wags his finger at me with a shit-eating grin hitched across his lips. He's a middle-aged man with a full head of dark black hair. His face and his hands are tan, contrasted against the all-black suit he’s wearing. "You're delusional if you think you're not already dead." He steps towards me. One step first and then another before he stops. He cocks his head sideways and narrows his eyes on me. "What the hell are you doing in my home?"

"Why are you still alive?"

"Interesting…" He's not scared at all. "So, it was you who blew up the building and all of my associates?" He grits his teeth before he chuckles wildly. "You’ve got a lot of balls showing up here."

I decide to take responsibility for the blowing up of the Grimm Industries building, not only because I feel the need to protect Zach and Zane but also because I want to make him feel fear, if that's even possible. "And somehow you escaped—”

"Yeah, see, the funny thing is…" He wags his finger at me again and cracks a wide mischievous grin that sends a chill down my spine. "When I was standing on the rooftop, at the exact right time I looked over my shoulder and I saw you fleeing. And though I've never known you well, Dominic, I've never trusted you. So, seeing how you and your friend were fleeing the scene, I thought it was in my best interest to flee too. The thing about people like you and I, Dominic, is that we have a high level of self-preservation."

"If that were true, then what the hell are you smiling about?" I reaffirm my grip on the gun before continuing, "I am standing here in front of you prepared to send a bullet through your brain. Those doors behind you are about to be painted in your own blood. There is nothing to be smiling about."

He steps a little closer, steps right up next to the desk. He's far enough away from me so that he won't be able to do something stupid but he’s still getting too close for comfort. He leans over the desk slightly, still wearing the same shit-eating grin. It's a smile that makes me want to really pull this trigger because it is one forged from evil and malice and cockiness.

"Now, let me tell you one last secret." He clicks his tongue against his cheek and then whispers to me, "I knew you were here before I even stepped foot in the front door, and I'm not the only one."

Chills run down my body again and suddenly I have a feeling that not only am I being watched right now, I've been being watched since I first stepped foot into this house.

He leans back and straightens himself out, straightens out his jacket of his suit too. "I hope you enjoyed that one final glimpse of your sister because it's the last time you’re ever going to see her again."

Just when I'm about to pull the trigger, betraying my own promise I made to myself to not kill him until I got the information I needed from him, something peculiar catches my attention from behind me.

From behind me, I hear glass shattering and feel a pain that's familiar to me, the feeling of a tranquilizer dart burrowing beneath my skin. I grunt out in pain and shuffle forward just before my eyes become heavy, my eyelids tripping over my eyes. My vision is blurred and the sounds all around me become more and more muffled until it all seems to bleed together.

The last thing I see before my face cracks against the hardwood floor is Christopher approaching me and then dropping to his knees. I try to make eye contact with him but everything goes dark…

###

I awake in the back of a van with my hands bound behind my back, and though my eyes are still heavy and tired, blurry even, I can make out that we're heading deeper and deeper into the Hollywood Hills. My eyes glance up to the front seats in front of me to see two unfamiliar faces sitting there. Neither of them are Christopher Lawson himself.

I imagine he had his men come at me from behind. And though they had to shatter the beautiful glass windows behind me to shoot me with the tranquilizer dart, I'm sure Christopher has more than enough money to repair that window and then some.

For a split second, I start to regret my decision of not following Katie out of the house. She had warned me this would happen, and I was too filled with rage to listen to her. That's one of my character flaws though. I can be hotheaded at the worst possible times. It's a condition of losing everything I've lost in my life. I'm not the best at remaining composed, especially when it comes to my sister that I haven't seen in ten years.

It was almost easier when I first began to believe that she was dead. It was easier because I was tired of fighting and I had nothing to fight for anymore. But now, I have something to fight for. Even after seeing the security footage of my sister, I still had my doubts that she was alive. Christopher himself confirmed that she was.

And now until my last dying breaths, I'm going to fight like hell for the people I love.

Without causing too much commotion and without alerting the two men that I'm awake in the back of the van, I subtly try to push myself against the far right side of the van on the opposite side of the cargo door. I'm looking for something to assist in cutting the ropes that have me bound but there doesn't seem to be anything of use.

I try to understand why Christopher didn't kill me when he had the chance. His men hit me with tranquilizer darts when they could have just shot me dead. That gives me a little hope that they don't plan on killing me because if they planned to do that, I'd already be dead. No, they have something else planned for me and if that's true, it has to be a fate worse than death.

Now, I must bide my time until I can make my move. Whenever that time comes, it won't be in the back of this van because I have no tools at my disposal. I'll have to wait for the exact right time and the exact right place, only then will I make my move.

And these two men will regret ever carrying out Christopher's request. They are nothing more than men for hire. I can tell as much based on the way they carry themselves in the front seat. The two of them, it would seem, have a bond with each other. A bond strong enough that they can laugh even in the face of these horrendous acts.

I close my eyes, either to pretend that I'm still asleep or maybe I'll just take a nap. Like I said, I'm not too worried about them killing me right now. And it might be a good thing to get some rest before I send both of them to an early grave.

The poison from the tranquilizer dart is still inside my system so it doesn't take a lot of effort to begin to drift off into slumber. But almost as soon as I shut my eyes, I hear something strange. At first, it sounds like the grinding of metal against metal. Without thinking, I shuffle to a sitting position and when I do, I can hear the sound of gunfire from right beside us.

I duck down and shield my face, all the while knowing that there's nothing I can do to protect myself while bound in the back of this van that's about to become a death trap.