Page 59 of The Dominator

I washed up for bed and changed into a pair of pajamas, then I stared at the ceiling for what felt like hours, pondering my situation, the recent course of events, my life in general. When I finally closed my eyes again, I knew one thing for sure, I was a survivor and determined to survive all of this.

I was kidnapped and men got shot at and died. I didn’t know if I’d ever get out of that situation. Hah. My kidnapper saved me from other kidnappers. But he got me out and he took care of me that night the way I could only imagine in my wildest fantasies that a knight in shining armor would. I decided that if I’m stuck here paying a debt for someone else and if I have no choice in the matter, I’m at least going to try to find a way to be happy.

Last night I didn’t know if I was going to make it out of that basement in Mexico, and then I didn’t know what’d happen to me when that driver told me I’d been sold, but now I was back near home, safe and warm, and I’d seen potential in Tommy Ferrano. I decided that I didn’t want to just let life flutter away because I’m a victim of a parent’s mistake.

Tommy Ferrano has issues, it’s obvious. He’s dominating and angry and he can be cruel. He wasn’t nice to me the first week. He played some seriously messed up head games and he violated me repeatedly. He’s about to be promoted to be the head of a crime family – the same crime family that threatened my father and that took me prisoner.

But he’s also shown that he has potential. I like his family and they seem close. I could see myself becoming good friends with the girls and Dario doesn’t scare me so much anymore. He’d been really nice to me today. Maybe I’m just a naïve nineteen-year-old girl, but Tommy seems to care about me and maybe I can nurture that potential so that with me he’s always the guy from the beach, the guy who rescued me. Maybe in time I can forgive him for what he’s done, overlook who he is. Maybe I can stay on his good side, make him always be more of the ice cream parlor guy when he’s with me.

Yeah, and maybe I’m an idiot. I don’t know how dark it’ll get. I don’t know what he’s doing down there. I only know that the threats he made in the car just before I was kidnapped scared me beyond any fear I’d ever had in my whole life. I fell back to sleep feeling very conflicted.

I jolted awake again before night was over, but this time it was because I’d had a horrible nightmare. I was back in the pink canopy bed and the man forcing me to give him the blowjob was Tommy. He’d been mean and horrible, manhandling me like that other guy did.

But, then I saw my dad, thinking he came to rescue me. He had a gun. But Dad didn’t shoot him, Tommy said, ‘Take her, I’m done with her,’ then Dad shot me and told me, while I watched my blood leaking everywhere, that I was too much trouble, that I’d weighed him down after Mom died and that’s why he’d tried to get rid of me. After several unsuccessful attempts he was going to get rid of me for good.

When I woke, it was four o’clock in the morning. Would this night ever end?

I got up to get a drink and the bar fridge had no water in it, so I put on a robe and decided to head to the kitchen. When I got to the bottom of the stairs, I heard a loud voice in the kitchen. I stopped on the bottom step. It was Dario’s voice.

“We need to just wait. No, damn it! Don’t! Just circle and keep coming back.”

I stepped off the stairs and walked into the kitchen. He looked up at me and then said, “Call me in 30 minutes with an update. Or sooner if there’s any change.” He ended the call. “You all right?”

I nodded. “I’m just thirsty.” I got a bottle of water from the fridge. “Is Tommy okay?”

Dario waved his hand at me, saying, “Of course,” but I could see the stress on his face.

“I’m going to try to go back to sleep,” I said.

He nodded, not looking me in the eyes.

* * *

Surprisingly, I did fall back asleep, but was awake around 9:15. I got up and took a shower and when I came back into the bedroom just in a towel I froze because I noticed Dario was asleep on the couch here in this room. He was asleep in a t-shirt and track pants, the first time I’d seen him not in a suit. He was quite built, a lot like Tommy. I didn’t let my eyes linger on him for long, not wanting to look like a creep watching him while he slept. Clearly, he took his job of protecting me seriously if he was sleeping here instead of one of the bazillion guest rooms.

I rushed into the closet to find some clothes and got dressed in there. When I came out, he wasn’t on the couch any longer. I went downstairs and looked out the window and I saw three men mulling about outside. I got a coffee and sat at the kitchen table with yesterday’s newspaper to kill time.

Sarah came in from the back hallway, a laundry basket filled with folded towels on her hip and ear buds in her ears. She was singing a pop song. She smiled when she spotted me and pulled a bud out.

“Breakfast?”

I shook my head, “Not yet. Thanks. I’ll just get myself something when I’m ready.”

She smiled and wagged her finger at me. “Don’t put me out of a job, Chiquita!” She headed out of the kitchen and upstairs, I presumed.

I decided to wander around. I saw it lacked a homey feeling. It was decorated sort of man cave’ish like the master bedroom with leather and dark wood and drab-colored or neutral walls without family pictures or art on the walls. There weren’t any mementoes; it was sort of sterile. I opened a door in the hall off the kitchen and found two other bedrooms. One was sort of utilitarian with a single bed, nightstand with a lamp and then a table with four chairs and a coffee maker, fridge, sink, and stove so I assumed it was for the guards. There was a patio door in that room that led to the backyard. The other room I didn’t venture into as it was obviously Sarah’s room.

It was large and had a warm vibe, decorated with cream and burgundy furnishings and dark cherry wood. The dresser was filled with framed photos and she also had a sitting area with a coffee table fanned with books and magazines.

I found my way outside, deciding to get some fresh air. I spotted a guard in the yard, but he left the area when I went out. Good that they were trying to be as inconspicuous as possible, but it was so obvious that the place was under lockdown and that everyone was on edge. I sat at the pool’s edge and dangled my feet in, staring out at the forest beyond the pool.

I heard a voice in the kitchen, so I strained to listen. Dario was on the phone again.

“I don’t give a fucking shit!” he yelled. “Find him!”

He stormed out onto the patio, an unlit cigarette in his mouth, putting his phone into his pocket (he was already dressed in a fresh suit) and then he lit it as he spotted me. His expression dropped and he inhaled deeply, as if the smoke was cleansing him.

“Mornin’,” he finally said, gruffly. He looked like he hadn’t slept much either.

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