by V. F. Mason
Connor was supposed to give us invisible guards, so we were free to do whatever we pleased. We were fortunate enough to purchase tickets to the Broadway show, Beauty and The Beast, and of course, Kristina couldn't contain her excitement and wonder. She begged us to stay behind to get a photo and autographs, and although I tried to explain that wasn't how it was done, to our surprise, the main cast, Belle and Beast, decided to pose for some photos, and she ended up happy.
Rosa moaned and begged for more shopping, so while Kristina and Juanita visited another toy store, we explored Fifth Avenue to study the newest fashions. Although I grew uneasy in crowded places, everywhere people were rushing somewhere, and no one paid much attention to anyone.
This bugged me too. Would Damian want to stay in New York once everything was over? I remembered the girl who loved it here; the city mesmerized me, and I soaked up every minute spent here. In my first year in North Carolina, I almost couldn't stand the steady way of life and people always in your business.
But this trip only showed me how much I'd become part of our small coastal town with warm smiles, yards, beaches, barbecues, and a peaceful way of life where I didn't try to stay caught up with the rhythm.
"Mama, look!" My eyes rose to Kristina, who climbed up on the ship, waved her hands and jumped on the rope as a gasp left my mouth. Clenching my hand to my chest, I stood up and walked to her as she bounced up and down on it, clearly having a blast after scaring me shitless.
"Baby girl, this is for older kids. Don't do it again."
She rolled her eyes. Since when did she roll her eyes so much at me? Then she whispered, "Mama, I'm a fearless pirate. You cannot question my power in front of the crew." I watched other kids doing all sorts of things, and they had some "make believe" going on. Was she the captain? Before I could ask any questions, she shushed me. "Mama, sit back with Grandma Juanita, please. It's embarrassing," she concluded dramatically. With a shake of my head, I slowly walked back and noticed Rosa on a swing close to Juanita as she popped another brownie into her mouth. The girl had an appetite; she either read or ate. Or danced. Probably how she kept that body of hers in shape.
"Didn't you plan to finish the series?"
She shrugged. "I grew bored, decided to hunt you down. Nice playground." More likely, she was scared of staying alone in the house. After what had happened to her, she'd never sought any therapy, so no wonder she had all those phobias. Her story was awful, and despite not having the scars on her face anymore, she still rubbed her cheek and forehead from time to time as her eyes glassed over, indicating she was somewhere else.
"Yeah, Kristina is excited." Her loud squeals of joy caused rounds of laughter from all three of us.
Suddenly, my phone vibrated in my jeans pocket. My brows furrowed because Annie knew not to contact me, and Damian said he wouldn't call. A glance at the screen showed an unknown number, but what if he had to use a prepaid phone? My hands shook as I answered on the fourth ring, the flashback of a similar phone call after everything went to shit so vivid in my head.
"Hello?" I calmed a bit, congratulating myself for not indicating my emotions to whoever called.
"Sapphire." A voice from the past.
"Uncle Benjamin?" How did he know my number? The sleazy man was never someone I wanted to talk to. Why would he call me anyway? "How did you get my number?" Fear settled in the pit of my stomach, as my intuition told me something was off.
"How much do you love that pretty little girl of yours?" My heart stopped as I felt the blood drain from me, leaving me pale. Juanita and Rosa joined me with worried expression on their faces. "Say… more than your Sociopath?" My eyes quickly scanned for Kristina, as she sat in the sandbox studying the sharks. "You're watching her now, good. Have you seen the red light on her?"
Red light? Only then did I see the red spot on her forehead. If it had not been for the adrenaline in me to save my child, I would have collapsed there on the spot.
A sniper’s mark.
Benjamin chuckled at my sharp intake of breath. "Always a smart girl. So here's what you will do. Tell those women to go home, then pick up your girl and come to the black Mercedes parked next to the sidewalk. That way no one will get hurt. But if you don't listen, your kid's head will be blown off. Five minutes, Sapphire."
"Why?" I asked, dreading his answer because subconsciously I had put two and two together. Seemed like all my childhood was filled with child molesters and men without souls. And they called my love a monster.
"You'll figure it out on your own." With that, the line went dead as I fisted my hand. Breathing heavily, I understood his threat.
A man like him had no morals; they would kill Kristina and anyone who stood in their way. Where the hell were Connor and his men when we needed them so much?
My eyes focused on Juanita and Rosa, as I said, "You need to go home. Now. And fast." Juanita's eyes grew with fear as she darted toward Kristina, but I stopped her with my hand. "No, she and I stay. Go."
Rosa shook her head. "No, Sapphire, No!"
"She has a sniper mark on her. He will kill her. It's him."
Her lips trembled, because she understood how powerless we were against them. With one last look at Juanita, I ran to my Kristina, picked her up in my arms as she wiggled in displeasure, and shoved her head to my chest, covering her from the deadly aim as much as possible. "Mommy, no. I want to play."
She began to cry, and I patted her back. "Shh, be quiet." The man standing by the car wearing glasses was a muscled mountain, who could probably squish me with one arm. His face held a permanent snarl. He pushed us inside without any gentleness, and we ended up on the seat opposite two men who greeted us with sinister, dirty smiles that instantly made me wish for a hot shower.
"Time to kill your lover boy." Closing my eyes for a second, I prayed to God not to be put through the same thing I went through all those years ago.
Where are you, Damian? You promised me.
How could he put me through all this again?
Dominic
Rosa rushed after Sapphire, making me curse as I exited the car and stopped her by the waist right before she was seen. Although I bargained with them for her, who the fuck knew what they would have decided had she tried to stop them. She struggled against my hold, as I got distracted inhaling her sweet scent and enjoyed the feel of her in my arms for the first time.
My sweet girl.
"Let go of me, you fucking piece of shit," she screamed, and I grimaced when her mouth proved to be less than sweet. I spun her around swiftly. Her tits pressed against me and her eyes grew huge once she had the time to study my face. "Who are you?" She placed her hands flat on my chest and tried to push, but I wouldn't budge. "You aren't Damian."
"No."
Then she blinked rapidly and whispered, "Dominic?" And because she knew my name, and how my body reacted to her despite the danger looming over us, I pressed a hard kiss against her stunned mouth, almost moaning in pleasure at the softness of her lips. Letting go of her, I removed the cross from my neck and gave it to her. "Keep it." She frowned. "Don't follow them. It's dangerous. Connor and I will handle this problem. Leave with Juanita."
A loud gasp from behind her confirmed the old woman heard everything as her eyes drank me in. "Dominic."
Emotions.
She was part of my memories, but there simply was no time for this. "Go home and stay there. Now." I wasn't satisfied until she nodded, and with that, I jumped back in the car as Vitya sped after S's vehicle.
Game fucking over for S was coming.
"The house sucks," Rosa whined, as she dragged her suitcase on the porch, while the white headphones dangled from her neck. Did she ever go anywhere without them? "And no offense to the bitch or anything, but I really prefer a bigger megapolis. I'd die out of boredom here." We entered the house, and she fell on the couch, folding her arms and sending daggers my way. I took the glass, poured some cold water from the fridge, and focused my entire attention on the yard beside ours
where a beautiful woman played with her child.
The woman's silky ebony hair shone brightly in the sun as she tilted her head back, blowing air bubbles through the tube as her daughter clapped her hands and giggled loudly in excitement. They sat on the green grass, both wearing jean shorts and pink T-shirts, barefoot. They seemed happy and carefree, and I couldn't help but long to join them and envelop them in my arms and never let them go.
Sapphire.
My Sapphire.
If only I was a better man.
"With my scars finally gone, I thought you'd give me the chance to date," Rosa continued, and the happiness in her tone couldn't be ignored.
She got the plastic surgery done on her some months ago, which eliminated all the scars on her face as though they'd never been there. Don insisted on doing it right after we moved to Luke, but I took my time, not wanting to attract any attention to us in case someone wanted to find her through it. Kit Davis was one of the best plastic surgeons in the world, and he'd found the time for us just recently. And since the work was very neat, as I didn't want any traces of the horrific experience left on her skin to remind her of it, I wanted only the best. "What was the point of it?" Furrowing my brows, I glanced back at her with annoyance, considering she took my attention from the perfect view.
I replied in a colder tone than usual, "I wasn't aware we'd done it to improve your sex life. Be grateful, Rosa." She blushed, and remorse filled her eyes. She opened her mouth, probably to apologize, when the doorbell rang.
About fucking time.
I marched the few steps to the door and opened it swiftly where a teenager stood, holding a ventilated container.
"Mr. Reed?" he asked. I nodded, and he handed me the paper along with a pen. "Could you please sign here?" I quickly put my signature, tipped him a twenty, and snatched the container from him.
"What did you order?" Rosa joined me, her eyes curious and a bit cautious, which wasn't surprising due to the whimpering sounds and movements.
"A puppy."
Her mouth hung open so wide, I thought her jaw would hit the floor. "This is, like, super cool." She reached inside to pat it, but I stopped her.
"It's not for us."
"Oh. Who is it for then?"
"For my family." And with those words, I went out to put my plan in motion.
Damian
"Drop your weapons, Sociopath. We have your woman and child. You can't get away from this," the voice from my darkest nightmares spoke, and I couldn't believe my eyes.
Benjamin Hill was S? Rage ran through me, as I remembered meeting him all those years ago at John's party that gave me Sapphire. Not any document, not any leads ever traced back to him. Not one shred of evidence indicated his involvement in this mess, yet alone being the main orchestrator. I had paid attention to names first, then to faces, and since his name never came up, I'd had no reasons to spy on him. That day at the party, Erik acted sleazy toward Sapphire and my entire focus was on him, although something had bugged me when I looked into the fucker's eyes.
I now understood what. They shared the same eyes. And mostly I saw him naked, through the haze of smoke and closed my eyes to disconnect. We'd never shared a conversation, and it was my mistake. My greatest enemy was right under my nose, and I never knew it.
How fucking brilliant.
Richard stood in front of him, one of them pointing the gun at me, and the other held one to Sapphire's head as Kristina cried in her arms.
My family.
They had my family and threatened them. A silver knife still in my hand, I took a step toward them, but they stopped me with an upheld hand. "I'll kill her without remorse, boy toy," S said, and my hands fisted.
"I'm no fucking boy to you."
He smiled disgustingly, scanning my appearance as a glimmer of lust shimmered in his eyes. "Yes, you turned out fine." Three massive men barged in, holding gasoline containers in their hands, as S commanded, "Spread it everywhere; don't leave a dry corner. Burn this fucking shit to the ground."
Sapphire kicked him, and she tried to turn to me, but he hit her with the gun and snatched Kristina from her arms. Sapphire fell to the ground, unconscious, and I roared in outrage, not caring about the guns pointed at me.
"Help us," the brothers ordered. One of the men took a swing at me, but I ducked my head and kicked him instead, and then I disarmed another one while the third one grabbed a knife. He swiped it at me as I kept stepping back and shifting to the side, but as hard as he tried, he couldn't get hold of me.
I noticed my blade under the table, and I took the first steps to get it when Kristina screamed in horror. "Don't touch me."
My head spun in her direction. Noticing Alfred's hand on her neck, a red haze of rage overwhelmed me. Unfortunately, because of my shifted attention, it gave the third man an opening to wrap a metal chain around my neck and choke me while the other two pummeled my stomach, face, and legs.
My head was dizzy, my legs weakened as the metal dug into my neck, and at some point, my eyes shut and the world faded away.
Connor
Racing my car to Damian's dungeon, I cursed my department and everyone involved in this fucked-up strategy that put Damian and his family in mortal danger. Dominic gave them the location last night in the gala to gain their trust per my instruction, along with information about who Damian was. As fucked-up as it sounded, Damian and Sapphire became bait. Since no photos were attached, they couldn't make the connection of Dom being the other twin. I prayed I wouldn't be too late to save them, and even if none of them ever spoke to me again, at least they would live happily ever after.
Dominic
The dungeon burned from every direction as I noticed S along with Richard getting away with a sobbing little girl, their bodyguards hurrying along with them.
Kristina.
Since Connor hadn't shown up yet, I didn't have a choice but to run at them, knocking them down as Vitya followed me closely.
"What the ever-loving fuck are you doing, Konstantinov?" S asked suspiciously but then groaned in pain as my fist connected with his abdomen. This allowed me to quickly take the child away from him and throw her to Michael, who was running just behind us. He caught her flawlessly and cradled her to the crook of his neck, patting her back gently.
Richard pointed his gun at me. "He is the fucker's brother. Just look at them! The other twin. Tasty twin." He licked his lips and repulsion threatened to get the better of me, but I shoved it back down and kicked the gun away, utilizing the distraction. Vitya handled S, as I pointed the gun at Richard and shot his leg, feeling no remorse as sirens were heard in the distance.
In a few minutes, Connor raced toward us, cursing. "You couldn't wait for me?"
Shaking my head, I gave him the gun. "Take care of the kid," I said to my men. "They are trapped inside. I need to help them. Call an ambulance and the fire department." Not waiting for his answer, I rushed inside, praying for the first time in a long while that my brother and his woman would be okay, and I'd be able to help them.
Losing them was not an option.
"Damian, come on!" Dominic whispered, shaking his brother awake. "We need to go now." Damian murmured something and turned to his side, covering his face with a blue blanket with car prints on it. Dominic exhaled heavily and tried again, with the same result. With no other choice, he shouted louder right into his ear. "Wake up." Jolted awake, Damian breathed heavily. He scratched his head, confused.
"Dominic, what are you doing?" Dominic's eyes watered.
"Something is wrong. Mommy and Daddy are screaming." Only then, Damian heard the sound of breaking glass and loud grown-up voices, not all of them belonging to their parents. Dominic grabbed his hand and pushed him under the bed, murmuring along the way. "Let's hide, like Daddy taught us. Remember what he said?"
Damian nodded. "Always hide if strangers are in the house unannounced." They both settled on their stomachs under the bed, breathing heavily as their small hands tightened into fists.
Suddenly, everything became quiet, and they stilled as smiles started to spread on their relieved faces. "Let's go check on Mom and Dad," Dominic said excitedly, and before Damian could stop him, he slid out of hiding. The minute he stood up, their door opened, slamming against the wall loudly. The light from the hallway lit up Dominic as two men entered the room. "Well, well, if that isn't Jake's little bastard." Dominic screamed and tried to get away but was quickly grabbed up. "We could sell you." His brother yelled, calling for Mom and Dad.
"Weren't there two of them?" another male voice mused.
"Maybe we got the wrong information. Let's get the hell out of here before that stupid bitch wakes up." Damian saw their feet move toward the door, and he clenched his eyes shut.
His heart beat faster, tears slid down his cheeks, and he tried as much as he could not to make any noise. But sounds of Dominic crying couldn't be ignored, and despite fear running through his trembling body, he slid out too. One of the men who wore masks and gloves noticed him, and his lips curled up in a sleazy smile. "Here is the other one."
They were taken away from their home and sold to a human trafficking ring within twenty-four hours.
Life as they knew it was over, but Dominic's guilt never went away. Because through all those years, his brother was the one who saved him and sacrificed himself.
He just hoped that one day he could return the favor, even if it meant him dying instead of his brother.