Page 25 of Dominic

Annie found and held my gaze for a moment. I gave her a nod. “I am home.” Her voice was clear and strong. I could tell she was nervous, but she was facing her nightmare. I was incredibly proud of her.

“Don’t be silly, child. You don’t belong here.”

“Yes, I do.”

The Divine One smiled, then spoke to his guard. “Dang women líkai shí, ba tamen dou sha diào.” The guard nodded and stepped away from the Divine One, to the center of the eleven-man group.

Annie’s eyes widened and she found my gaze. Her breathing quickened, the pulse fluttering at her neck. I narrowed my eyes and tilted my head slightly, not understanding what I’d missed.

“Is there anything I can do or give you to make you give her to me?” He still addressed me but I wasn’t saying anything. Something felt off. Maybe I was hypersensitive to Annie’s obvious distress or maybe there was something I wasn’t seeing.

Annie’s gaze darted to Venus. “Oni sobirayutsya ubit’ vsekh!” she yelled in what I assume was Russian across the gathering. Venus immediately pulled a knife and charged the group…

And that’s how the fight started.

Chapter Thirteen

Annie

I wanted in this fight. Rage erupted inside me. Surprisingly, it was Lemon who kept me back. She was backing me and Apple away to relative safety where the other women were. I thought it odd Lemon didn’t jump in the fray, but figured she had her reasons. I was glad that yelling to Venus in Russian what they’d whispered to each other in Mandarin threw them off just enough to let Grim Road get a jump on them.

“Where’s Elena and Tito?” I thought Elena was close by, but Tito had been with Piston and Dom not long before the Divine One and his deacons arrived. The beach erupted into a cacophony of shouts and sounds of struggle. Dust and sand flew up as bodies collided. Venus was a blur of movement, her knife flashing in the sun as she engaged one of the Divine One’s guards. Spike and Bear had teamed up against two other men, their large forms towering over their opponents as they used brute force to subdue them. Dominic wasn’t trying to kill his enemy. They wanted these men alive. At least, for now.

Rocket and Leather cut off potential escape and Dominic fought by his president’s side. I looked for Lemon. Though Lemon was still urging everyone back down the beach to the clubhouse, I caught her glancing over her shoulder occasionally. Where before she’d been completely focused on getting everyone to safety, now that we were all moving in the direction she wanted, I could tell she wanted to be in the fight with her husband.

Tito hurried Elena to our group before kissing her briefly and heading back to the men. More of the Divine One’s men came down an embankment above the beach.

“There are more coming,” Elena gasped out, winded from the short run. “From the trees.”

Lemon immediately pulled out her phone and tapped out a message. “Reinforcements on the way,” she muttered to herself. “Now, Elena, will you please make sure everyone gets back to the clubhouse?”

“You should come too.” Elena gripped Lemon’s hand, pleading with the younger woman to come with her.

Lemon patted her hand kindly. “You know I have to keep Rocket out of trouble. Besides, my sister will want to get back to help her man and I can’t let her go alone.”

“I’m coming with you,” I said. “This is my fight.”

Lemon gave me an assessing look, then nodded. “Fine. But you do what I say. I’m not letting you get hurt just when Dom found you.”

By the time we got back to the fight, Grim Road had it mostly under control. The men coming in from the cliffs had tried to retreat but, when they reached the top, there were more men waiting on them. I didn’t recognize any of them, but it was clear by their body language, the Divine One’s men weren’t happy.

“We got a trailer?” Rocket had a phone to his ear talking with someone. “Good. Bring it to the beach. We’ve got some trash to take out and I’d rather make sure it stays gone.” Rocket stuck his phone in his back pocket. “You guys good, Lemon?”

“Yep. Everyone was headed up to the clubhouse when we came to check on you guys.” Lemon moved to Rocket’s side but didn’t touch him. “You finished without me.”

“Sorry, babe. Next time.” Rocket smiled down at Lemon fondly. It was clear the two loved each other very much. The thing was, I’d seen that same look on Dominic’s face when he looked at me.

I sucked in a breath. Yes. I’d definitely seen that look on his face. And it hit me. Maybe this wasn’t a dream, or wishful thinking. Maybe I was truly going to get the happy ever after.

Dom finished securing the prisoners. The Divine One was angry as hell. When his gaze landed on me, he tried to lunge, snapping at me.

“Fucking bitch! You would have been my greatest treasure. To think I wasted my time on one so unworthy.” He gave me a superior look even though he was the one tied and sitting in the sand on his ass. He still saw me as somehow less than him… because I was a woman who didn’t obey.

I’m not really sure what happened next. One second I was standing there contemplating how best to kill the vile, evil little man, the next I was covered in blood and Dom was pulling me off the Divine One, who lay in the sand with blood pooling around him. It looked like someone had stabbed him in the throat a few times. Judging by the blood covering my hands and arms, I was guessing that someone was me.

* * *

Dom

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