Fifty-Eight
He sighed and looked out the window to see if the guys were coming back before he turned back to her. “You’ve got to know that the life you had is over. Your new life is with me.”
She started crying and shaking her head. “No, I don’t believe you.”
“What do you think will happen if you return home, baby? Are you going to forgive your cousin? What about Marino? He thinks you’re his, and he won’t stop looking for you until I put him in the ground.” He didn’t mean to sound so harsh, but she needed to understand how her life was now.
“You’d kill him?” she asked.
“In a heartbeat, if I was protecting you or my family.” Fuck, it was taking them too long. He got out of the car to look for them. “I’m going to go check.”
Dominic exhaled when he saw the guys come back around the corner. He relaxed when it looked like they were all there and they hadn’t lost anyone. It was then he noticed the glowing sky behind the men. The warehouse was on fire.
“Let’s go,” Graham said. “Follow us.”
Dominic waved and got back into the car. “Follow them.”
“You got it, boss.”
Dominic glanced over at the girl. It was hard to see her in the dark, and he only got flashes of her when they went under street lights.
“What’s your name?” he asked.
“Rebeka.”
“I’m Dominic. How old are you?”
“Eighteen, just about nineteen.”
He relaxed. If she had been younger, they would have had to find another way to protect her than have her stay with him. But she was an adult, so he didn’t have to worry about crossing the line. Many mafia families married their daughters off when they were sixteen.
They slowed down and pulled into the Maclean driveway. It was long and then curved around at the end.
After they stopped, he opened his door and held out his hand. “Come on.”
She started crying again.
“I promise you you’re safe, baby. We don’t have time. We need to get you into the house.”
She slowly moved over until she could take his hand and let him pull her out.
“Good girl.” He closed the door. “Head back, Ray.”
Dominic didn’t watch him leave. He just followed Graham and Duncan into the house. “I’ll take you to the room you’ll be using while your here.”
Dominic noticed her limping and then saw the smear of blood on the marble. “What’s wrong with your foot?”
She seemed confused and then looked at her feet. “I don’t know. The right one hurts.”
Dominic picked her up and ignored her squeal as he followed Graham and Duncan up a staircase and down a long hallway. Fuck, the place was huge.
Graham stopped at a door and opened it. “You’ll have this suite for the time you’re here.”
Dominic nodded but didn’t look around.
“She hurt her foot, Graham. Can I get medical supplies up here?” Dominic asked.
“I’ll go get them, and I’ll also grab some clothing for you both,” Duncan said and then left.
“Thanks.” Dominic walked into the bathroom and set her on the counter before grabbing a towel, folding it, and placing it next to her.
“Here, this will be more comfortable.”
He put her on the towel, grabbed another, and laid it over her lap to cover her legs. For some reason, he didn’t want another man looking at her when she was half-dressed.
Graham stood off to the side and let him take care of her.
Dominic lifted her foot and set it on her opposite knee so he could see the bottom. Goddammit. “Baby, it looks like you have some glass in your foot.” He hadn’t even thought about her running without shoes down a dirty alleyway.
“Have you had a tetanus shot lately?” Dominic asked.
“Yeah, about three years ago,” Rebeka said.© 2024 Nôv/el/Dram/a.Org.
Good, he didn’t have to worry about that.
“Here you go,” Duncan said as he entered the door.
“Thanks, man,” Dominic said.
“How bad?” Duncan asked.
“I’m not sure yet. Her feet are disgusting. I’ll have to clean them before I can see the extent of the damage.”
“We’ll leave you to it,” Graham said. “Dial one if you need anything. Dial twelve if you want the call to come directly to me in my suite.”
“I can’t thank you guys enough.”
“We’re family,” Duncan said. “We help each other.”
Dominic nodded.
Graham stopped at the door. “I’ll have the kitchen bring up some food. They’ll set it just the cart outside the door. Put it out in the hallway when you’re done with it.”
He didn’t know if either of them would be able to eat, but he would encourage her to because he guessed she hadn’t eaten for some time.
Dominic looked at Rebeka as she sat silently, staring down at her foot in his hand.
“We need to get you in the shower. Afterward, I want to soak your foot and work on the glass. I think there are several pieces stuck in your skin.”
He turned and started the shower and then walked back to her.
“Wait,” she said and gripped the sweatshirt she had on when he started to unzip it.
“We need to get you in the shower, baby.”
“I can do it on my own.”
“You’re still shaky and coming down from the adrenaline rush, making you even worse. Besides the fact you can only stand on one foot.”
“I don’t care. I can-”
“Enough. I’m going to get you taken care of. You’ll have to get over being shy and afraid. Besides, I’ll know your body better than you before long.”Fuck, that was a good way to scare her, dumbass.
She shook her head. “No. I don’t want you to touch me.”
“I know, baby, but sometimes we don’t always get what we want. Everything’s going to be okay. Let me take care of you.”
He tugged the cloth away from her and then unzipped it. Fuck. In the bright light in the bathroom, he saw the skimpy lacey white panties and bra she had on and felt a drop of sweat slide down his back. Tearing his gaze from her, he started pulling off his clothes.
“Hey, what are you doing?” she asked.
“Undressing so I can help you in the shower. Don’t worry. I’ll leave my boxers on.” He could tell that didn’t help much, but oh well. After he set his clothes off to the side, he lifted her in his arms.
“I can do this.”
“I know, but I don’t want you to put any pressure on your foot. The glass is already in deep.”
God, he just hoped he could get through the shower without scaring her too much.