NEVERLAND

by Melissa Jane

  My hands ran up his muscular shoulders and into his hair, as he trailed a mix of tender and passionate kisses down my neck. I was breathing heavy, relishing in this clandestine moment that felt far too good to be true. When Xavier pulled away, catching his breath, his forehead against mine, I finally saw the truth I’d always thought to be there.

  “I have to go,” I whispered, now petrified of being caught.

  “You don’t have to go anywhere.”

  “You don’t understand,” I said, pulling away. “He’ll kill us both if we’re caught.” Releasing his hand, I ran from the room and slowed my step down the hall, hoping my lipstick wasn’t smeared to cause suspicion. Back in the living room, I smiled at Sol and Charles who were sitting alone.

  Dominic.

  Faint from a sudden rush of panic, I searched for Dominic but couldn’t see him in the room. Xavier re-entered, took one look at me and immediately knew something was wrong. He saw my hackles raised, he felt my pounding heart.

  “Everything okay?” Sol asked, concerned and suddenly suspicious.

  Dominic’s dress shoes clip-clopped down the hall, slow and deliberate. I was frozen in place, nostrils flaring as I struggled to breathe, gripping the leather couch like it was my last lifeline. When he finally emerged from the darkness, his smile disturbingly cold and detached, I knew the game was up.

  “Everything is just fine,” Dominic answered, his tone catching the other men off guard. As he passed, Dominic cast a sideward glance at me and then to Xavier. It was a look emphasized by his tense jaw and hardened eyes.

  “Well, let’s get back to business shall—”

  “Or everything will be fine,” Dominic interjected, holding his finger in the air as if ready for a big announcement. He chuckled to himself, a cold chill running down my spine. “I’m just not too keen on the wolf in sheep’s clothing.”

  “What are you talking about?” Sol demanded, now with an obvious indicator the meeting had taken a turn.

  Dominic looked over his shoulder. “You see what you did, Lucy? This is all your fault.” Without looking at his target, eyes still locked on me, and with the confidence of a hunter killing its prey, Dominic pulled his Glock from his waistband, straightened his arm and pulled the trigger shooting Xavier in the chest.

  I screamed a guttural heartache, watching Xavier’s body being propelled back by the force of the bullet. Before I could reach him, Dominic hooked an arm around my neck, swinging me around and holding me captive. Both Charles and Sol were on their feet, their own weapons pointing at an unperturbed Dominic, shouts and curses erupting in the now broken night. They were rightfully seething, demanding my release, and hurt over their loss. Despite the Glock drilling against my temple, I fought to free myself from the monster who’d taken another life so undeserving.

  “What the fuck was that about?” Sol yelled, no longer Mr. Hospitable. “Are you fucking insane? You think you can come in here and kill one of my men for no damn good reason?”

  Dominic’s angry breath warmed my cheek, as he kissed my forehead. I could feel him smiling. The sick fuck thinking this was all a game. “You can blame Lucy for that. She knew the rules and she broke them within minutes.”

  “You stupid motherfucker,” Sol bellowed, spittle slinging from his mouth onto the glass coffee table. “Do you know who will be coming after you?”

  Dominic laughed, mocking the men in front of him. “I know the Croats will be coming for you when I inform them of their supplier’s double-crossings. You fuckers will be run out of this town and you can take that piece of shit with you,” he fired back, tilting his Glock to Xavier’s lifeless body. “Now, lower your fucking guns before you’re left explaining her death.” Dominic dug the Glock in deeper causing a yelp as I tried to escape.

  “You think we give a fuck about her?” Sol asked, incredulous.

  What happened next did so in a micro-second. Used as collateral blackmail, Sol took aim and pulled the trigger, his face beet red as he unleashed his fury. Caught in the line of fire, Dominic shoved me forward, the bullet hitting just above my collarbone. I jolted from the impact, excruciating pain roaring through my body as Dominic ducked for cover. I collapsed heavily at Xavier’s side, my hand landing over his. The room erupted into a war zone, gunshots fired in quick succession, explosions caused by bullets shattering glass, sharp shards sprinkling over us like snow.

  But I didn’t care, it all became white noise, a small smile playing on my lips when Xavier’s fingers twitched in my hand, his eyes opening a sliver, barely enough to see mine.

  As blood pooled under my face, and my world began to fade, I heard his voice and I saw briefly behind the disguise as he said the words, “I told you I’d find you.”

  Chapter 18

  NOW

  Dominic smiled from above, his face twisting and contorting like that of a monster in a child’s dream. His hands circled my throat, fingers squeezing hard, determined to steal my last breath. I clawed in desperation, but my hands seemed to move through his body as if he were a ghost.

  “There’s no more chances, little Lucy.” Dominic threw his head back and laughed maniacally.

  “Leave me alone,” I begged, despite feeling myself slipping into a dark abyss. Lowering his lips to my ear, he whispered his promise, “It’s too late. I’m coming for you.”

  I bolted upright, gasping for air with a dry, sore throat, sweat dripping over my body and a painful throb in my shoulder. My eyes rolled to the back of my head fighting the urge to be sick. I rolled to the side, someone lifting a bucket closer to my mouth. I heaved three times, vomiting only liquid but it was enough.

  “It’s okay,” a woman soothed, rubbing my back in rhythmic circles. “You’re safe now. Here…” she held a cup to my mouth filled with the bacterial mouthwash you get at the dentist. Gratefully accepting, I swilled it around and spat. Placing everything on the side table, the woman lowered me back down onto the damp pillows.

  “Where am I?” I muttered, eyes too heavy to keep open.

  “Shh, rest,” she said softly until sleep claimed me once more.

  ~~~

  “Lucy, it’s Romeo. Wake up, baby. Please. I need to hear your voice.”

  ~~~

  The warm lights caressed my body, The Weekend’s “Call Out My Name” playing soft and lyrical as I danced across the stage, lost in a solemn trance and falling into a broken place I couldn’t pull myself out from. The deep bass bore down into my soul, and I moved to seduce the one pair of eyes watching. He remained in the dark shadows in front of the stage, until only a hand extended out into the bright lights, forefinger curling, slowing encouraging me to come closer. Like a moth to a flame, I was drawn to him, falling to my knees. The hand, strong and controlling, a touch I was used to, snaked up my neck and twisted into my hair. He held tight, his menacing face slowly emerging from the dark abyss ready to breathe his fear into me.

  Dominic smiled, tilting his head, breath burning my skin.

  “Are those tears for me, Lucy?” he whispered, eyes hooded with lust.

  “No,” I exhaled.

  He yanked my hair and I gasped. “Liar,” he said, slowly dragging his tongue over my cheek. “I’ll make sure every tear you cry is because of me.” Dominic claimed my mouth, kissing me deeply, tasting and devouring. “Are you ready?” he asked, kissing me once more.

  “No.”

  He smiled. “Too late.”

  Dominic turned me to the audience where Romeo stood alone, under a bright spotlight, darkness threatening to engulf him.

  An ominous figure stepped behind him, the glint of a knife at his side.

  “Do it,” Dominic ordered.

  I blinked and the knife was at Romeo’s throat but he didn’t flinch. I screamed, yet I made no sound. The blade sliced through his beautiful skin, blood cascading down his body.

  Dominic pulled me back to face him, the bloodied knife used to kill Romeo now grazing my cheeks, catching my tears. He looked up through his lashes, the shad
ows warping his evil features. “I told you I’d kill you both, Lucy. You just didn’t listen.” Dominic lunged with the knife. “Now it’s your turn…”

  “Stop!” I screamed, waking myself, my arms crossing protectively over my face.

  Something exploded close by, further startling me into consciousness.

  “Shit. Jesus. Fuck,” a voice panted, sounding as terrified as I was feeling. Opening my teary eyes, I saw Sol at the foot of the bed looking like he’d just come under a missile strike, hot coffee splattered up his khaki pants. He cast me a nervous, wide-eyed glance. “You scared the shit out of me.”

  Using the arm that didn’t hurt, I crawled to the headboard staring at my shooter. He seemed like a completely different man, no malice in him whatsoever. Sensing my fear, he extended his arm in placation. “Before you say anything, I’m real sorry about having to shoot you.”

  His sincerity left me more confused, him registering my expression.

  “I didn’t want to, but it was the only way to get you away from Dominic.”

  Without moving, I threw a quick look around the unfamiliar surroundings. Medical equipment was placed in various spots, an armchair next to the bed, and my arm hooked in a sling.

  “Why did you save me?”

  Sol looked more nervous than before. “Ah, I’m just gonna get…” he glanced down the hall and back to me, already making an exit. “I’ll be right back.”

  I listened to the banging against a door, a short too-quiet conversation that ensued, and then urgent footsteps coming back. I gripped the sheets tighter, not knowing what to expect.

  Sol didn’t reappear. Instead, Romeo rounded the corner, his body glistening from a shower, a hand clutching a white towel low on his waist.

  I gasped, so many emotions begging for first place.

  “Romeo,” I sobbed. “Is it really you?”

  He nodded, his own eyes glistening. “Yeah, babe. It is.”

  Romeo closed the space, pulling me into his strong arms, holding tight. I cried heavy sobs against his chest, breathing him in, hoping it wasn’t all a dream. He kissed the top of my head, soothing my raw emotions.

  “You’re safe, I promise you,” he comforted, waiting until I was ready to face him. I pulled away, staring at the boy I loved who was now all man. Xavier was gone, and in his place sat Romeo, clean-shaven to reveal the smooth tanned skin I’d loved so much and a striking jawline. He was a completely different man, yet the attraction I felt was even more powerful. Without his colored contacts, I saw his beautiful chocolate brown eyes I always fell deep into. His hair was much shorter, slicked back and stylish. Romeo had grown into a handsome man. So handsome, it hurt.

  “How are you here? I don’t understand what’s going on,” I said, swallowing the lump in my throat. “You were shot.” My hands instinctively moved to his smooth, muscular chest where he’d been hit. Instead of a bullet wound, a hand-sized bruise, all black and purple marred his skin like a violent storm. I traced the marking with my fingertips feeling the electricity between us, a nervous energy yet a sensual familiarity making me heady.

  Sweet baby Jesus.

  My gaze dropped to what else was on show. His caramel skin and a gloriously smooth chiseled six-pack. Romeo was a well-sculpted man.

  He smiled, seemingly being able to read my mind. “It gave me a good slug,” he said, lightly. “I had my vest on.”

  A silence fell between us. We didn’t need words, our eyes conveying everything that needed to be said. The hurt. The pain. Loss and love. Romeo caught the tears that slid down my cheeks, his chest rising and falling heavily.

  He pulled away, and I felt the immediate loss. Running his hands down his face, he looked uncertain, biting the inside of his cheek. “What happened to you, Lucy? Where did you go?”

  I blinked, pushing out a fresh wave of tears. “Life happened.” For the next half an hour I told Romeo everything, about how my world began falling apart the night Mom was killed. The atrocities committed by my uncle and his pedophile poker friends. About what Jillian, Jaden, and Jessica went through on a daily basis and how I desperately wanted to find them. To living months in shelters because I was too scared to hand myself back into CPS in case they stuck me with another abusive family.

  How I’d often lock myself in the cleaning cupboard at night, to escape the vile women who’d target desolate young girls, handing them over to child traffickers in exchange for a simple hit of coke. The night I answered an ad for The Boardroom for Franco, the cheapskate, underpaying rapist. And that fateful night I escaped his assault only to find myself homeless and injured and in the path of my next storm. Dominic Salvatore.

  That was the hardest to speak of, Romeo taking my hand in his for support. His perfectly defined jaw tensed when I told him of how Dominic had picked me up from a broken place and promised a life that would never see me destitute again. But when I explained the conditions of working in the club, the constant physical and emotional abuse, Romeo’s knuckles turned white. When I mentioned the persistent threats of rape and cases of molestation, Romeo smashed his fist into the wall opposite him.

  “I’m fucking sorry, Lucy. I’m so fucking sorry. I should have been there for you. You didn’t deserve any of it.”

  When he gathered some composure, I spoke of Blaze and Jonny, and how their brutal and unnecessary deaths were merely to prove a point, and how it had pushed me to escape based on promises from impersonating Detectives Simon and Jason. And then how my father had been so cruelly reintroduced to my life only to have his brains sprayed over me.

  “I tried to find you, Lucy.” Romeo’s eyes glistened once more, the weight of my fucked-up world resting on his shoulders. “I couldn’t find anything on you after the age of fifteen. It’s like you just vanished.”

  “That’s because I did. Dominic made sure of it.”

  Romeo swiped a tear falling down my cheek. “You’re a force of nature, Lucy. I don’t know how you survived this long.”

  “I almost didn’t. Dominic received a phone call from Sol requesting the second meeting. What you don’t know is that Dominic promised if he ever gave into his urges, he’d not only rape me until I was broken but ensure he killed me afterward. Well… moments before the call came through, he was about to do just that. Romeo, because you requested me, you saved my life.”

  Romeo paled, knowing he’d come so close to losing me a second time. Cupping my cheeks, his thumbs stroked gently, his forehead resting against mine. It was painful being so close to him, our lips grazing until he claimed my mouth with a ferocity that both frightened and delighted me. I needed him, I desired him, I wanted him, and I knew Romeo felt the same.

  When we pulled apart, catching our breath, I realized the man in front of me had become a mystery.

  “You’re safe, Lucy.”

  I smiled, kissing him once more. “Saved by the mobster man.”

  Romeo laughed, revealing perfectly white, straight teeth. “Lucy, I’m not a mobster.”

  “What are you?”

  He seemed hesitant. “I’m Vice. But the good kind.”

  “Did you know you’d see me?”

  “Never in a million years did I think I’d see you walk through that penthouse door.”

  “So, how did all this happen?”

  Romeo kissed my forehead. “Always in a hurry, that hasn’t changed. You need to eat before we get into that.” He looked down at his towel, and I felt a throbbing between my legs which made for a nice change from the throbbing in my head and shoulder. “I’m going to put on something more suitable and get you some food. It’s been three days.”

  “Three days!”

  Romeo cleared his throat. “Well, after Sol shot you, you fell and hit your head on the marble floor.”

  Tentatively, I reached up and touched the bandage on my forehead.

  I felt Romeo watching my every move and when I met his gaze, he gave a small smile. “You look even more beautiful than what I remember, Lucy.”

  I bit my
lip, smiling. “I bet I look a real treat right now.”

  “You certainly do, but not in the way you’re thinking.”

  With those parting words, he left the room, and for the first time in my whole life I felt some hope.

  ~~~

  “I guess it’s my turn.”

  I lay with my head on Romeo’s bare chest listening to his heartbeat, a sound I’d found so soothing. It was now dark out, and we were in the privacy of Romeo’s room in the safe house, a small lamp placed on the floor to darken the room. The five of us, Sol, Charles, Romeo, myself and Laura, the nurse, made the house our home for as long as it took. Laura helped me shower, fed me and removed the bulk of the bandages so I could be more comfortable. And now, it was time to hear Romeo’s truth.

  “It started the night you were taken away from us. Away from me.” His arm wrapped around my good shoulder, his thumb grazing my skin. “They wouldn’t tell us where you went and we never heard from you. It was like you just vanished into thin air. Everywhere I went I’d look for you, hoping you’d be just around the corner or in the same class as me. With everything that happened, the town became too much. Everyone was talking but they didn’t know the truth, and they were deliberately ignorant of the hurt it had caused. Some even blamed us, saying we’d done something to you.”

  “Oh my God!” I whispered, a hard lump stuck in my throat. “I’m so sorry.”

  “Don’t be. You know what that place was like.” He paused, considering his words. “Mom was devastated. She cried for months for you. I often heard her sobbing in the bathroom, the door locked. She spent hours on the phone to various government departments trying to find where they’d taken you, but of course, everything was confidential. We ended up moving because the pressure was too much and my dad needed work. We resettled, and I graduated knowing full well what I wanted to do.”

  “You always did hate injustice.” I absently ran my fingers over his muscled stomach.