Page 27 of Dangerous Games

“Will you help me?” I ask, hesitant. Asking a man like Dominic for help is dangerous. It will lead to regrets. I’m certain of that. But I want revenge. If he has been able to learn everything about his mother and can now, years later, avenge her, maybe he can help me get the justice I seek.

“Kill a judge?” he scoffs, looking at me out of the corner of his eye. “You want me to help you kill a judge. Are you insane?”

I shrink back, hurt by his insinuation that I don’t know what I’m doing. “No, I’m not. I’m angry and hurt, and I deserve justice like your mother.” I cross my arms over my chest. “You’ve killed far more powerful people than a judge. I know your type, Dominic. You can’t fool me.”

“You haven’t though.” He plucks a strand of wisteria and holds it to his nose. “The most beautiful and delicate things need to be protected, not tarnished.”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” I’m upset now, ready to walk off his property and never come back. I want help, not some symbolic lecture that is meant to teach me a lesson I won’t ever figure out.

“It means, you don’t want to be like me, Nanette. If you kill Gallagher, you become like me. I’m cold, brutal, angry. My heart has no soft spots, only edges. When I cut someone, they bleed. And when that happens, I don’t shed a single tear.” He tosses the wisteria to the ground and stamps it out like a lit cigarette. “Pretty things get crushed.”

“I hate you; you know? Why the hell did you bring me here, expose my secrets, trash my fucking heart, and lead me to believe you were going to help me? You have no soul.” I turn and start to walk away, and he is there, snatching my wrist.

“You don’t get to walk away from me.”

“The hell I don’t!” I yank my arm away and keep walking. The path leads up to the house, and from there I can dip around the property to the front where I can find a sidewalk and head home. I don’t have to stay and put up with this.

“You are going to regret that.” Dominic is on me again, this time grabbing my elbow. I turn around, jamming my hand hard into his ribcage, but it hurts me and doesn’t even knock his breath away.

“Fucking let me go.”

“You agreed to come here, to protect Jimmy.” His eyes stare into mine from inches away and I’d like to smack him.

“You can’t control people.”

“Funny, it looks like I am.” His grip tightens, making me wince.

“Ouch!” I snarl. “Is this what you do? You just hurt people because you can’t control them, make them want to be around you? What about Jimmy? Have you hurt him? Will he live to tell the story of how he stood up to you?”

“You’re pushing the limit!” he shouts, and a few birds flutter out of the bush near us, startling me. I jerk, leaning into him in fear, then immediately realize what I’ve done. I push away from him and try to free myself, but his grip is too tight.

“It’s touching that you think you can protect me from myself, but one day I will kill Gallagher, even if I go to prison for it. The man ruined my life and Jimmy’s. He is the reason Jimmy is who he is today.” I claw at his fingers. “The reason Jimmy’s life is now being threatened by you. Because you’re a beast, horrible and ugly and out of control.”

“I’ll help you,” he says, his voice steely and cold. I pause, not sure I hear him right.

“You’ll what?”

“I’ll help you kill Gallagher, but you have to stay here.” He stares down his nose at me as I slowly swallow and nod.

“Under one condition…” His grip loosens ever so slightly.

“What’s that?”

“That you make sure Jimmy is safe when this is over. That you don’t let anything happen to him.” I shake as I say the words. I will kill Gallagher. I won’t let anything happen to my brother, but some things are out of my control. Hopefully they aren’t out of his though.

“I can’t make promises.”

“Then fucking let me go. I’m not staying.” I yank my arm away successfully, but before I even turn, Dominic’s hands are on my waist. He pulls me backward against his chest and whispers into my ear.

“You convince Jimmy to get this job over with, and I’ll give you what you want.” His breath is hot on my cheek, and I’m not certain this is the right move. I want to believe him, but I don’t. Men like him aren’t exactly trustworthy.

I nod and he turns me to face him. “Swear it,” I tell him, looking up into his eyes defiantly. “Swear that Jimmy will be okay, and that Gallagher will die.”

“Men who follow orders have no need to be afraid of me.”

I can’t help it. I’m overwhelmed with gratitude, and I throw my arms around his neck. The center of all of my pain for more than ten years unleashes in that moment. I kiss him hard, pulling myself up, and he lifts me as I wrap my legs around his hips. The embrace is intense; I almost can’t breathe. His arms hold me so tightly he’s crushing me, but I won’t have it any other way.

“You swear to me, I’ll get my revenge and my brother lives?” I ask again as he turns and carries me back toward the bench.

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