Page 95 of Vicious Vows

Being there for my sister has always been paramount in my mind. Yet now, when I was faced with the choice, instead of reaching out for my sister, a primal instinct took over and I found myself lunging forward and grasping onto Dominic instead. With all my might, I pulled him backward, ignoring the deafening roar of crumbling stone around us. My hands clenched tightly around his arm, feeling his pulse racing in tandem with mine.

The roar of tons and tons of massive stone was nearly deafening, but I kept moving, my hands holding onto Dominic like he was a lifeline.

A deafening scream pierced through the air behind us as the heavy building collapsed behind me. The ground trembled violently, knocking my legs out from under me. In a panic, I landed on top of Dominic, desperately trying to protect him from the falling rubble. I closed my eyes and braced for impact, certain that we hadn't run far enough to survive. After what felt like an eternity of terror, I cautiously opened my eyes to find smoke-filled skies and the very last of the horrified onlookers gawking at me in disbelief.

"We have to keep moving. Get up," Dominic's voice cut through the roaring flames and my body jerked as he pushed me up, urging me to get moving. I stumbled to my feet as he led us through the chaos, his eyes scanning for any sign of escape. Adrenaline pumping through my veins, I followed close behind, dodging falling debris and thick smoke. Finally, we burst through a small opening in the inferno and collapsed onto solid ground. When he got us to safety, he collapsed back to the ground while I turned around to look at the destruction behind me.

The once sturdy walls of the house were now reduced to a few twisted and charred support beams, surrounded by piles of smoldering furniture and broken appliances. My eyes instinctively drifted towards the last place I saw my sister, her hand protruding from between a jagged crack in the rubble like a macabre sculpture. Blood dripped from her fingertips, staining the debris around her. A massive slab of stone lay atop her body, crushing any hope of her survival. There was no way she was alive under that. I'd chosen Dominic over her.

My heart squeezed tightly in my chest, and I got up to my knees before releasing a loud sob that ripped from deep in my soul.

The weight of guilt and agony overwhelmed me, suffocating my every breath as I was consumed by the loss of my twin sister. It hit me with the force of a freight train, leaving me broken and shattered in its wake.

In a daze, I felt Dominic's strong arms wrap around me, his grip so tight it was as if he were trying to keep my broken pieces from scattering. His murmurs in my ear were drowned out by my sobs.

There was nothing that he or anyone else could say to stop the reality from sinking in.

The nightmare was over and my life would never be the same again.

CHAPTER 39

Dominic

Pain.

All I can feel is the pain rioting through my body.

Slowly, my mind starts to come back to consciousness, and I try to turn my head from side to side. My first attempt quickly let me know that I don't need to do that again. Even turning my head is enough to make me want to scream out in pain. I bite down on the inside of my mouth to keep myself from doing just that.

As fragments of memory trickle in, a tsunami of dread engulfs me. The echoes of my last altercation with Lionel reverberate through my mind, intertwined with the deafening crash of my crumbling home.

Am I buried alive beneath the weight of rubble?

A chilling stillness grips my heart as the realization dawns upon me that Faye was in close proximity when the final debris plummeted. "Faye," I attempt to call out, but only a feeble squeak escapes my lips.

Against the pain, I turn my head to the side and try once again to open my eyes. This time when I do, I don't see anything but darkness.

Oh God, I'm still under the rubble.

I clear my throat. My mouth is so dry my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth. I'm not going to let it stop me though; I need to find my wife. "Faye," I say louder, and suddenly I hear things rustling around.

"Shh, it's okay. I'm here. I'm right here, Dominic." A bright light is turned on over me, and I squint my still-shut eyes tighter together.

"Can you open your eyes, Dominic? Can you try to look at me?" Is that Dr. Nelson? What is going on? I move my head once again; this time the pain is less severe. With great effort, I force my eyes open and focus on the clearing images in front of me. Faye is sitting next to me, leaning over my body, her face painted with concern. Dr. Nelson is on the other side of me, seriousness furrows his eyebrows as he waves a small pen light in front of my face.

"What's going on? Where are we?"

"We're in your penthouse. Yuri said you had this in the city for emergencies," Faye responds quickly. I look around once again, and now that there's light flooding the room, I realize that we're not under debris, but I'm lying in a bed. I flex my hands and can feel the soft fabric of the bed under my body.

"It feels like I can't move. What's going on?" I do my best to get my concerns out. Surely this pain can't be normal.

"You've got a lot of injuries, Dominic. I can get you transferred to the hospital if you want."

"No, No hospitals." I grit out as I slowly pull my leg up. First one side, then the other. I can move; it's not as bad as I thought it was. I lock my gaze on Faye, her eyes misting over with tears. "Hey, none of that. I'm fine." I do my best to ease her concerns, but the minute I do, it's like the dam opens up, and she drops her head onto my chest and begins to cry. With all the effort I have left, I lift my hand and slowly smooth down her hair in comfort.

"I know you're just waking up, but can you tell me what you remember? Do you know what happened at your house?" Dr. Nelson shoves his hands in his pockets and takes a step back.

I close my eyes for a second and do my best to remember everything from the last time that I was conscious. "Lionel and I were fighting; then the house started to crumble around us. There was fire, so heavy, lots of smoke."

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