Revengeful Deceptions

by Ursula Dukes

  Once he reached outside, the tears returned with a vengeance. He wanted to hit something, anything, he wanted to hit it so hard that whatever it was would feel as bad as he did.

  He clenched his fists and began pacing, pacing back and forth, muttering to himself that he would find the murderer of his baby and kill them, kill them with his bare hands.

  His father's voice brought him out of his silent rage.

  “Son,” he said placing his hands on Adam's shoulders, Dominique is awake and she's asking for you.”

  Chapter Twenty Nine

  Before she even opened her eyes, Dominique felt the loss. She was cold, and when she instinctively placed her hands on her belly, she started to scream, she hoped and prayed that it was all a terrible dream and that by screaming she would be able to wake herself up, but as the nurse came bounding into the room she realized that it was not a dream, that she and Adam's baby was gone. Adam could hear the screaming as he ran down the hallway to her room. And as he passed the waiting room he saw them all sobbing, sobbing for Dominique as her screams had brought them all into her nightmare.

  Adam held her all night long, even after the nurse had given Dominique a strong sedative, he held her. Just knowing that she wanted and needed him there with her was reassurance enough to him that they would make it through.

  As he stretched out in the back seat of his rental car, Brandon did a few lines to celebrate. Not only did he get rid of Adam and Dominique, but he also managed to burn the entire house down. That was something even he wasn’t expecting. This will definitely move me up among the ranks. No more lame ass jobs for me, now it’s time for me to start telling those assholes what to do.

  For a moment, Brandon thought about going back to the scene just to make sure they were dead, but he thought better of it when he remembered almost three years ago he had gotten out of his car to see the dead bodies of Stephen Greenway and his kid.

  “Ain't no way I’m going back there,” he said out loud, “I'm catching the ferry back to civilization first thing in the morning.”

  While the others returned to the inn to get some much needed rest, Adam stayed at the hospital with Dominique. It wasn’t until the next morning that the pain and reality of it all once again hit her. But this time she held onto Adam as if her life depended on it. He had told her that he would be strong for the both of them and that they would get through it all together. But the moment Dominique told him that it was okay to let it out and that she wanted to be there for him as well, he let go, and together they mourned the loss of their child.

  Dominique knew there was no sense in reliving the past, she didn’t have the strength to continue mourning the deaths of Stephen, Teddy and the baby, she had felt the familiar emptiness for so long and she didn’t know if she could do it again.

  She thanked god that Adam was being so very strong for her. The following day they had chosen to have a small memorial in the hospital chapel to say goodbye. Dominique had told the small group of friends and family that she hoped that Stephen and Teddy were there to watch over her and keep her. That was all that she could say before her eyes flooded with tears. Once the small service was over, Dominique wanted to get out of the hospital. She wanted to go, she no longer wanted to be stuck in the hospital where their baby died, she wanted to distance herself as far away as she could.

  “Mrs. Caruso, you still need to recover, you've had a tremendous loss, not only to your body but to your mind as well, I’m going to discharge you but I highly recommend counseling for both you and your husband,” he said looking at the both of them.

  “Thank you doctor, but we'll be just fine,” Dominique said as she held Adam’s hand.

  Adam had booked them a flight back to Boston, it was much quicker than the ferry and they had nothing left back at the house. He would hire someone to pick up his car and return with it on the ferry once he got a hold of the replacement keys that were being sent to him by the dealer. In the meantime, he'd rent or buy a new one if he had to. Getting Dominique home safely was his only priority right now.

  When Brandon got on the morning ferry, he made sure to blend in with the other passengers and got himself a cup of coffee and the local newspaper. He tried to conceal the smile on his face as he read the headline: Hours after private wedding, one of Nantucket's oldest homes goes up in flames.

  But how come there was nothing about the deaths? He wondered to himself as leaned back and began to read the entire article. It wasn’t until he had gotten towards the end when he read, the two occupants inside, Mr. and Mrs. Adam Caruso escaped unharmed but Mrs. Caruso who was five months pregnant was taken to the hospital where she lost the baby. Unsure of whether or not foul play is suspected, police say it’s too early to tell as they are still investigating the cause of the fire.

  Brandon forgot where he was and cursed out loud. “Son of a bitch!”

  Several passengers turned and looked at him but only for a moment as he made up an excuse.

  “Yeah, sorry about that, it's a shame about that old house that burned,” he lied, as he held up the newspaper.

  Some passengers nodded, but most of them turned away and went back to doing whatever it was that they were doing.

  “This bitch is unbreakable,” he muttered to himself before crumpling up the newspaper and throwing it into a garbage can.

  When DiNunzio found out that Brandon had not only burned down the entire house, but locked Dominique and Adam inside of it, he was livid. He had not known that Dominique was pregnant and if there was one thing DiNunzio couldn’t tolerate, it was causing harm to a woman who was pregnant.

  “But dad, you told me to take care of them,” Brandon fumed at his father's harsh objections to what he had done.

  “Brandon, you failed to mention to me that she was pregnant, you know my feelings on that subject, we don't go around hurting pregnant woman Brandon, and what’s even worse, it's because of you she lost the baby.

  Now you've stirred up a lot of problems for me Brandon and I can't have that. Jonathan Caruso has done some favors for me in the past and whether you like it or not, he's the best attorney I know and I need that man on my side. This end's here Brandon, do you understand me? You leave that family alone! If the cops find out that you set that fire boy, you’re on your own.

  Goddamn, were you this much of a disappointment to Caruso? No wonder he sent you packing, you don’t know when to quit do you? It's obvious that you can't carry out a simple task and this woman has gotten the better of you so as long as she keeps quiet, she'll stay alive. Now leave her be boy, his father shouted. “Oh and I’d lay low at that place of yours for a while and you better hope that things die down. Now get the hell out of here.”

  Brandon walked out of the back office feeling defeated and humiliated, once again the almighty Caruso's had managed to get one over on him. Well he wasn’t gonna back down, no fucking way, he was determined to make Dominique and Adam suffer. “What dad doesn’t know won’t hurt him. I'll lay low for a while, let things die down a little and when they do, that's when I’ll pounce on those motherfuckers,” he muttered aloud as he drove home to his dilapidated apartment.

  Brandon had been so used to being the one to follow people around; he hadn't noticed the person following him. Jonathan had hired Paul to do another investigative job and that’s just what he was doing. So far all Brandon seemed to do was hang out at his old man's bar, and go home. He thought it funny that the police hadn't connected him to the fire yet. “You want me to make a call down to the police Mr. Caruso?" Paul asked when he informed Jonathan of Brandon's where abouts.

  “No Paul, what I want you to do is keep following him, and let me know if he goes anywhere near my son or Dominique.”

  “Yes sir, and if he does? You want me to step in?”

  “If he does Paul, I want you to kill him. But make it look like an accident.”

  “Yes Mr. Caruso.”

  Jonathan had grew tired of Brandon's relentless pursuit of Adam and Dominique,
he had hoped that since being told the truth about who he was, the son of a gangster, that would have made him happy enough to leave well enough alone but it wasn’t.

  Jonathan knew the reason why though, it was because his real father, Peter DiNunzio believed that family or not, you had to work your way to the top and Brandon was a man who had been born with a silver spoon in his mouth, he wasn’t used to having to work for anything.

  That was solely my fault, thought Jonathan as he contemplated whether or not he should try and talk some sense into Brandon, get him to end this once and for all.

  But he knew what Brandon was thinking. Brandon was not only stubborn and selfish, he was angry; angry that Adam now and always would have the life that Brandon himself should still be living and if Brandon could no longer live the life, Adam and Dominique shouldn’t either.

  “We're home baby,” said Adam as he gently guided Dominique into his condo.

  Dominique gave a weary smile as she made her way into the bedroom and climbed into bed.

  “Can I get you anything; is there anything you'd like?”

  Dominique shook her head, “Just for you to hold me.”

  “Of course baby, of course.”

  Adam took off his shoes and climbed in bed with his wife and held her close in his arms while she wept. Once he made sure that his wife was fast asleep, Adam slowly removed his arm from around her and crept out of bed, he had some phone calls to make and he did not want to wake her.

  The first was to the Nantucket fire chief who told him that the fire was definitely not an accident, and that the perpetrator had gone to great lengths to make sure they wouldn’t come out alive. “If you didn’t have the common sense to break that glass Mr. Caruso, you and your wife would have perished in that fire. You and she are very lucky.”

  “But my child wasn’t, was she chief?” He said, anger rising in his voice.

  “Mr. Caruso, I didn’t mean anything by that, I’m very sorry for your loss, I just meant that things could have been worse is all I’m saying. Now Mr. Caruso, can you think of anybody who would want to cause you or your wife harm?”

  “No one what so ever chief,” Adam lied.

  “Well we know that gasoline was definitely used as an accelerate. But we were unable to get any prints off of the bolts that were used on all the doors. But rest assured Mr. Caruso, we are going to find out who did this.”

  “I'm sure you will chief, thank you,” was all that Adam said before hanging up. He only called the chief because he had wanted to make sure that it was arson and not an accident. He hadn't told the chief about Brandon and his threats because he was going to take care of his half-brother himself.

  “What ya doing?” Dominique asked and curled up next to her husband.

  “I was just on the phone with the fire chief.”

  “Oh? What did he say?”

  Adam told Dominique the chief’s findings and when he was finished she realized she had been holding her breath. She rested a hand on her belly, “Adam do you mean to tell me that Brandon locked us in that house and set the fire? So he's gotten away with killing not only Stephen and Teddy, but our baby as well, is that what you’re telling me Adam?” Dominique now stared at her husband as if he were the cause of it all.

  “What are you planning on doing about it Adam?”

  Adam could see the anger in her eyes. “Dominique, I have no intention of letting him come near you ever again. I am going to end this and we will not have to worry about Brandon anymore, do you hear what I’m saying Dominique? You and I will no longer have to worry about him.”

  “Adam please promise me that whatever it is that you’re planning, you'll be careful. I cannot bear to lose you too, I just couldn't. I already lost Stephen and Teddy and our baby, if something happened to you....” her voice trailed off. She was feeling dizzy and didn’t want to talk about it anymore.

  “Dominique I promise you that I’ll be careful. I’m not going anywhere, you can count on that.”

  Dominique squeezed her husband’s hand as she got up from the sofa, and crawled back into the bed. Not only had Brandon taken the lives of those she loved, he took away her strength as well. As angry as she was, Dominique couldn’t bear to think about it, not right now, she told herself as she swallowed the tiny capsule that the doctor had given her.

  While Adam returned to work, Dominique stayed at home. There were days when Adam was afraid to leave her because he thought she might harm herself. It had been six weeks since that awful night and Dominique just couldn’t seem to recover.

  Adam had to go back to work, he knew that if he didn’t he too would become depressed and he would be of no help to Dominique. So going back to work seemed like the only logical thing to do, and so far, it was helping him cope. Adam had hoped that his wife would at least start to feel better by now, but that wasn’t the case, it seemed like she had given up, she was barely eating and she wouldn't let him touch her.

  During her last visit, the doctor had told Dominique that she could resume sexual activity, but she decided to keep that from Adam. She loved him dearly but she wasn’t ready to be with him intimately and that was putting a huge strain on their relationship.

  Besides going to the pharmacy to refill her prescription for more pain killers she never left the condo. She found that anytime her mind began to wander back to that night and losing the baby, the tiny capsule would put her in a dreamlike state, leaving her mind empty and thoughtless. Even when her mother in law and Molly had come over for a visit and to bring her something to eat, she still had no desire to get out of bed. And if it wasn’t for having to unlock the door, she would have stayed there.

  “Honey, we brought you some of that delicious soup that you love from Mistral's, come on Dominique, won’t you get up and join us in the kitchen sweetheart?” Muriel pleaded.

  “I'm tired Muriel, I'm going to go back to bed, but I promise I'll eat later.”

  Muriel knew that Dominique was severely depressed and if she didn’t do something about it, she would lose her daughter in law and dear friend.

  “Dominique honey, you've got to get out of that bed. Come on, she said tugging at her arms. “Let's get you in the shower and then you can come on out here and have something to eat and I’m not taking no for an answer Dominique, no more excuses, either you get out of that bed right now or Molly and I will drag you out young lady, now it's your choice.”

  Dominique did not have the strength to argue, she reluctantly climbed out of bed and headed into the shower. There was an extra bottle of pills in there anyway, she told herself as she undressed and got into the hot shower.

  “See, now don’t you feel better Dom?” Said Molly; she had prepared the bowl of hot soup and fresh baked bread on a tray for her.

  A slight smile was all that Dominique could muster, she had taken two capsules this time and was feeling light headed.

  “Now come on and sit down and eat this delicious soup. Talk to us Dominique, what's going on?” Molly urged.

  Dominique wanted to tell them that she was in trouble that she had grown dependent on her painkillers, that she barely talked to her husband, and that she has never felt so alone.

  “I'm alright; I’m just tired, so if you guys don’t mind I’m going to go lie down before Adam gets home from work. Thanks so much for the soup it was delicious.” Dominique gave them each a hug and kiss before heading back into the bedroom.

  “Muriel, what are we going to do? She's obviously depressed and getting addicted to those damn pills, we've got to do something to help her.” Molly stressed while she and Molly walked to the car.

  “Your right Molly, I think it's time we spoke to Adam, let's head on over to the office.”

  Muriel and Molly found Adam about to leave for the day when they told him that they had just left the condo and that it was obvious that Dominique was trying to hide the fact that she was becoming overly dependent on her painkillers.

  “Adam honey, if you don’t do something about it no
w, I’m afraid that we'll lose her, you’re going to have to get her off those pills, get her out of bed and get her to talk to you. If she won’t talk to you then she'll have to talk to someone honey, a professional. She's holding it all in and trying to numb the pain by taking pain killers. We have to help her Adam, you know this.”

  “I'm going home now mom and don’t worry, we're not going to lose her.”

  “Let me know if you need anything son, and please tell her that Molly and I are here for her, no matter what.”

  “Of course I’ll tell her mom, I’ll call you later,” he said giving her a kiss.

  During the short drive home, Adam began to go over in his mind what he would say to Dominique, he would tell her that he loved her more than anything in the world and that he felt the loss of their baby just as strongly as she did. He wanted her to let him touch her, caress her, make love to her.

  It had been six weeks, and according to the research he'd done online and the calls he'd made to several doctors, six weeks seemed about the right amount of time to go before resuming sex, but they had also said that it depended on the individual.

  Adam felt that the longer she put it off, the worse things were going to get and even though he still held a very strong desire for his wife, he wasn’t sure just how long he would be able to wait, he already longed for her touch and pleasuring himself was something that he found himself doing far too often lately. She's got to come out of this, he told himself when he reached their home.

  Chapter Thirty

  Adam unlocked the door to the condo and quietly made his way into the bathroom where he proceeded to pour Dominique's pills down the drain. As she lay sleeping, he gently removed the second bottle from her purse and discarded them in the same way as he had the others. Dominique woke to find Adam searching through the night stands that stood on either side of the bed.

  “Adam, I didn’t hear you come in, what are you doing?” She asked with a puzzled look on her face.

  Sitting down on the bed, Adam cupped her face in his hands, “Baby, I was getting rid of the painkillers. You don’t need them anymore.”