Dominion (Alpha Domain #1)

by Arabella Abbing

  “It’s nothing… I didn’t do anything to her. She just wasn’t thrilled when I…”

  “When you what?” John asked expectantly, leaning in across the desk.

  “I might have beaten the shit out of her high school sweetheart.”

  “You what?” John asked with a roar of laughter. “Oh my god, why does that not surprise me?”

  I frowned. “It’s not funny. If I had been a year older at the time, I probably would’ve gotten locked up for the damage I did to that kid. Little punk.”

  “Why’d you beat him up?”

  I sat back in the chair and wished I had a drink. “There was this big party going on one night, but Amber got the flu and missed it. I didn’t really want to go, but for whatever reason, I did anyways. To make a long story short, in my quest to find an unoccupied room to hide out in, I wound up finding her boyfriend buried balls deep in the town bicycle. I saw red.”

  “I bet,” John murmured. “A lot of red?”

  “Oh yeah. My first real fight, and it wasn’t much of one. I really fucked him up.”

  “So what happened next? Amber found out I take it?”

  “She found out I beat him up, but I couldn’t bring myself to tell her why I did it. I don’t know why, I just.. I didn’t think it was my place. Not right away anyway. Later on, when I tried to tell her the truth, she freaked the fuck out and accused me of lying to cover my own ass.”

  John frowned and shook his head. “Alright, I can see why that would be grounds to piss a girl off, but it’s not enough to hold a grudge.”

  “You didn’t let me finish,” I chided, giving him a disapproving look. “She didn’t talk to me for our entire senior year unless she absolutely had to. It wasn’t until right before prom that word got out that the douchebag was still cheating on her, and by then I think she was so embarrassed about not believing me that she never even apologized.”

  I trailed off as I lost myself in the memory of prom and everything that went down that night. I could hardly believe that it had been nearly eight years since the last time she had actually spoken to me.

  * * *

  Eight years ago…

  “Have fun, kids!” my mom called as she pulled the car away from the curb.

  I turned to Amber with a hesitant smile and offered her my elbow, but she ignored the gesture. I could feel my cheeks burning from the sting of rejection as I followed her into the gym, which was all decked out with decorations for prom.

  I immediately sought out my small group of friends and we lingered by the bathrooms for most of the night, secretly passing around a bottle of vodka and sneaking sips when no one was looking.

  The night passed quickly enough and the prom court was called, Amber’s dumbass ex-boyfriend somehow managing to snag the position of king. My heart broke a little for her when she didn’t win queen, but I could see the tiniest hint of relief on her face that she wouldn’t have to share a spotlight dance with her ex.

  “I’ll see you later, guys,” I said absentmindedly to my friends as I handed the bottle back and made my way across the gym.

  When I reached Amber, she turned to me with a blank look, devoid of any emotion. “What do you want?”

  “Do you want to dance?” I asked shyly, already knowing what the answer would be but wanting to try regardless.

  Amber sighed. “I don’t think that’s a good idea, Allen. People are talking about me enough already,” she bitterly added.

  A light bulb went off in my head. “Then do you want to take a walk?”

  She hesitated for a second before nodding. “Yeah. Let’s get the hell out of here.”

  We walked side-by-side out of the gym and she called my mom from her cell phone, requesting that she come pick us both up. We decided to walk around the parking lot while we waited and I could feel my heart pounding hard in my chest as I tried to force out the words that were lodged in my throat.

  “I’m sorry for not believing you,” she said, completely out of nowhere. “If I had listened to what you tried to tell me last year, I could’ve spared myself some embarrassment.”

  “You have nothing to be embarrassed about. He’s a piece of shit who doesn’t deserve someone like you.” Amber smiled at that and I felt encouraged by her reaction. “Amber, I need to tell you—”

  “You know what’s crazy?” she asked, cutting me off. “The reason I didn’t believe you was because I thought you were jealous,” she admitted with a laugh and I felt a nervous chill run up my spine. “Leslie told me you had a crush on me and at first I thought she was full of shit, but when you beat up Don I thought maybe she was right after all. Crazy, huh?”

  I cleared my throat awkwardly. “Yeah, crazy.”

  “What’d you need to tell me? Sorry for cutting you off, I was just worried I’d lose my train of thought.”

  I forced a smile onto my face and shook my head. “Nothing important.”

  * * *

  Present day…

  “Wait, wait, wait. So you two made up after all? When did it turn to shit?”

  “Don’t fucking interrupt me and you’ll find out!”

  John raised his hand in mock-surrender. “Jesus, I’m sorry! Please continue.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Well, after my mom picked us up and we went home, I had a change of heart…”

  * * *

  Eight years ago…

  I timidly knocked on Amber’s door—not loud enough to wake up our parents, but with just enough force that I knew she would hear it. After a few moments, I heard the soft pad of her footsteps moving through the room and shortly after, the door hesitantly opened.

  “Can I come in?” I whispered.

  She frowned but nodded, opening the door further so I could step past and into her room. She closed it silently and I clenched my jaw as my eyes roamed over her tiny pajama set.

  As if this conversation wasn’t going to be awkward enough already. Now I had the wonderful addition of a semi to deal with.

  “What’s up?” she whispered as she moved back to sit on her bed and gestured for me to do the same.

  “I wasn’t entirely honest with you earlier,” I said nervously, twisting my hands together as I sat down on her bed and faced her. “I did remember what I wanted to tell you.”

  “What was it?”

  “Well, uh… Leslie was right, Amber. I do have a crush on you.”

  She looked completely taken aback and it made it that much harder to muster up the courage to continue. As she opened her mouth to speak, I held up a finger and placed it over her soft, pouty lips. It took all of my self-control not to kiss her right then.

  Which was when I remembered that I was already risking everything just by telling her how I felt, so I might as well go for broke. I took my finger from her lips and moved my hand to gently caress her cheek, watching as her eyebrows drew together with confusion.

  “I’m in love with you, Amber,” I whispered before leaning in and pressing my lips against hers.

  For the briefest moment, elation swept through my entire being when it clicked in my mind that she didn’t immediately push me away. There was a split second where I felt her lips just barely move against mine and it sent my heart soaring, right before it came crashing down and lodged in my gut when she pushed me back and covered her mouth with her hand.

  “Get out, Allen,” she said shakily.

  “But—Amber, please just—”

  “Get out or I’ll scream and wake up mom and dad.”

  I was thrown by her reaction, unable to do much else than exactly what she told me to. I stood up and looked down at her, my heart clenching painfully as I noticed she couldn’t even bring herself to look at me.

  I wasn’t stupid—I understood that she was probably freaked out because of our relation by marriage more than anything else. I suppose I just thought of it differently than she did. So before I fled from the room, I had one final thing to say.

  “Deny it all you want, it won’t make my feelings for you
any less real.”

  * * *

  Present day…

  “That was the last thing I said to her before she stopped acknowledging me entirely. Not for lack of trying on my part, but every time I spoke to her after that, she just glared right through me. Eventually I stopped going to see her because I could tell how angry it made her. Then I moved to the city and the rest is history.”

  John was slowly nodding and a smile slowly started spreading across his lips. I frowned at the sight of it, wondering what part of that story he thought was something to smile at.

  “You magnificent idiot.”

  “Excuse me?”

  John laughed. “Nothing, man. Thank you for telling me the whole story, it all makes sense now. And I can totally work with this.”

  “You—What do you mean?”

  John smirked. “I can talk her into this. As long as you’re cool with the idea, of course.”

  “You mean the idea of… sharing her.”

  “Yep. So how about it? Want to be in a polyamorous relationship with your stepsister and your best friend slash business partner?”

  “She’ll never agree to it,” I said, shaking my head.

  “Leave that part to me. Do I have your permission or not?”

  My first instinct was to say no, but what did I really have left to lose? Her respect for me was already gone, I couldn’t dig the hole much deeper. I had spoken to Arnold already and my plan to anonymously pay off Chris’s debt was going to be put in motion soon, then she would be out of danger.

  What was the worst that could happen? She’d reject John? I couldn’t bring myself to give a fuck about that possibility.

  But did I honestly think I was capable of sharing a woman with him? He’d made a good point when he said neither of us had time for relationships of our own. That was definitely true. It seemed like such a good idea in theory to share a woman with John. At least I knew that when I couldn’t be there, John would take care of her.

  I just couldn’t manage to shake the nagging feeling that I’d wind up becoming dangerously jealous if this actually wound up happening.

  Then again, I couldn’t even bring myself to believe it was really possible. So why dismiss the idea before even giving it a shot?

  “One thing.”

  “Shoot.”

  I looked at John very seriously. “I need you to promise me that if, by some chance she does agree to this and one of us winds up being uncomfortable—”

  “Neither of us have her. Already on the same page, bro.”

  I blinked in surprise, then smiled when I realized that even though he wanted Amber, John was ultimately more concerned about keeping our friendship intact. It was enough to put my mind at ease, so I sat back in the chair and threw my hands up in defeat.

  “Why the fuck not then? Give it a shot.”

  John grinned and stood up. “I’ll call you later. Wish me luck.”

  He didn’t even give me a chance to respond before he bolted from the room, obviously excited about the prospect of this possibly working out. I wasn’t at all convinced that it would, but I said a silent prayer that I was wrong.

  I missed Amber more than I wanted to admit. I’d do anything to get her back in my life.

  Including letting my best friend fuck her.

  Why can’t my life be even slightly normal?

  Chapter Five

  John

  “This is going to be even easier than I thought,” I mumbled to myself as I watched Amber and Chris walk into the same office building that they went into yesterday.

  Once they were both inside, I pulled my car into an empty spot and made my way across the street, waving an apology to the drivers who honked at me for jaywalking. I lingered behind the small wall of the bus stop as I waited for Amber to wander back out while Chris went in for his meeting.

  After ten minutes of waiting, I saw her long, blonde hair as she stepped out into the sun and shielded her eyes with her hand. I opened my newspaper and stepped out, my steps heavy as I subtly watched her to make damn sure that our paths would intertwine.

  I grinned to myself as she stopped right in my path and I lifted the paper higher, giving me the perfect excuse to barrel directly into her.

  “Oh, shit!” she exclaimed as she lost her balance.

  I dropped the paper to the ground and wrapped my arm around her waist, hauling her up against my chest to keep her from falling to the pavement. Her breathing was erratic as she looked up at me with wide eyes and I smiled down at her when I saw the recognition flash in them.

  “You again,” she breathed, still slightly stunned. “John, right?”

  “That’s right,” I said, flashing her my most charming smile. “Amber, isn’t it?”

  I could see the moment my smile got to her—her pupils dilated just a fraction and her tongue darted out to wet her lips. The desire to kiss her now was strong, but I somehow managed to resist it as I pulled her up and placed her back on her feet.

  “Yeah, it’s Amber. Thanks for catching me,” she said with a slightly forced laugh, still visibly frazzled from having my body so close to hers.

  “There’s no need to thank me, I probably should apologize. It was my fault, after all.”

  She shook her head and waved me off. “No, it was me. I wasn’t paying attention. Pedestrian traffic in this city seems to be more dangerous than the street traffic.”

  “You learn fast,” I noted with a laugh.

  “I do. So—twice in two days. You work around here or something?”

  “Or something,” I said with a shrug, directing my eyes to bore into hers. “How about you?”

  “Me? Oh, no. I don’t even live here,” she said with a laugh, obviously a little pleased that someone had mistaken her for a resident. “Not yet anyways.”

  “Moving here soon? Well, that’s good news for me. Maybe I’ll get to run into you again.”

  I could tell my flirting was getting to her, but was a little disappointed to see that it was also making her slightly uncomfortable.

  “I don’t know about that. My boyfriend—”

  “Oh, shit,” I said, holding up my hands. “I’m sorry, I forgot that you were spoken for.”

  The flash of irritation in her eyes was exactly what I wanted to see.

  “I’m not ‘spoken for’. God! What is it with men acting like women are nothing more than property?”

  “That’s not what I meant and you know it.”

  Our gazes clashed again and the silence was thick with electricity. Nervous anticipation was pulsing through my veins and I nearly started bouncing up and down on the balls of my feet as I waited for her to respond.

  She let out a long sigh and nodded. “Yeah, I know. Sorry, I’m just having a weird day.”

  “Perhaps it’d be less weird if you stopped lurking outside of buildings you don’t work at.”

  The joke brightened her mood and she smiled. “I’m not lurking. I’m waiting. There’s a big difference.”

  “Waiting for what? Christmas?”

  Amber howled with laughter, doubling over and clenching her stomach as her body shook with mirth. I didn’t think the joke was particularly funny, but it only served as another reminder that she probably didn’t get much joy from her relationship with Chris. I’d been watching them enough to see that despite all the cuddling and pet names, she seemed incredibly unhappy.

  “Oh god,” she breathed out after she managed to calm herself down. “You’re funny. No, I’m not waiting for Christmas, you weirdo. My boyfriend is inside for a job interview.”

  That news was alarming, to put it mildly.

  “Oh yeah?” I asked casually. “Which office? I’ve got some friends in this building.”

  She furrowed her brow. “I’m not sure. Yesterday he met with a guy named Mario and I guess he impressed him because he’s meeting Mario’s boss today. I think he said his name was… Dan? Damien?”

  Oh fucking hell.

  “Dante Sanchez?”


  Her eyes lit up and she pointed at me. “Yeah, that’s it! You know him?”

  “Unfortunately, yes,” I mumbled as I dug my phone out of my pocket.

  This was way worse than we thought.

  * * *

  Allen

  “I can’t believe I’m going along with this.”

  “What’s that, boss?”

  I turned startled eyes to Derek, having forgotten he was even in the room with me. “Nothing. Just talking to myself.”

  “You’re not going crazy, are you? I don’t know if I can handle working for crazy.”

  “Too soon to tell.”

  “That’s reassuring.”

  I snorted and shook my head, glancing at the clock and realizing it was time to make my callback to Arnold to find out just how deep Chris’s hole was and arrange a payoff.

  “Get out of here, Derek. I need to make a call.”

  He saluted me before he left the room and I rolled my eyes as his retreating form. I lifted the landline from its cradle and dialed Arnold’s number, waiting for him to pick up.

  “Hey, man. Got your intel.”

  “Wonderful. How much does he owe?”

  “Nada. He’s paid in full as of today.”

  Well, that was unexpected.

  I could feel myself frowning as I asked, “How much did he owe?”

  “He was sixty deep until this morning. Dante is meeting with him right now, actually.”

  “What the fuck?” I asked incredulously. “How the hell did that little worm manage to scrape together sixty large?”

  There was a shuffle on the other end and I could just picture Arnold sitting in front of the ‘borrowed’ file, shifting through the intel the Sanchez family had on Chris and the details of his loan.

  “He didn’t pay with cash, Allen.”

  * * *

  John

  “Pick up, you son of a bitch,” I growled into the phone.

  “I’m going to go—”