Page 68 of Monster
Okay, so now I’m fucking talking to myself. I’ve really fucking lost it. I shake my head at myself, annoyed at my own stupidity. Essa is seriously fucking everything up. I take a deep breath and roll my shoulders, gritting my teeth at the pain in my shoulder that I still feel daily. Speaking of pain…
I see a sign coming up on the side of the road. My headlights flash across the green metal and it illuminates the words. Le Grande 60 miles.
Fucking finally.
When I got in my car a few hours ago, I just started driving, no where in mind. But the further I drove, the more I realized I was heading in this direction. Now I have made the conscious decision to go to Le Grande, it makes sense. Dominik motherfucking Reed and I have some unfinished business.
I put another cigarette to my lips and light it. The end glows bright in the darkness of the car as I inhale, and I smile.
* * *
“What the fuck!”Dominik shouts as he steps into his room and sees me sitting on a chair in the corner of his darkened room. He had a towel to his head where he was rubbing it over his hair as he stepped in, but the moment he saw me, he dropped it by his side. Now he’s standing in front of me in only his boxers and I smile as I see him shift from foot to foot as he stares at me with his mouth agape.
“Hello, Dominik.”
“Where the fuck is Essa?” he shouts as he quickly pulls on a pair of sweats. Once he has them on, he glares over at me with pure hatred engraved on his face, which is fair, I suppose.
“She’s with me, where she fucking belongs,” I growl. I don’t want to talk about Essa with him. I can feel my hands getting twitchy with the need to fucking stab him or some shit and that’s not my intention—right now anyway.
Control it.
“You fucking hurt her! She doesnotbelong with you,” he spits out as he balls his fists at his side. Neither of us move. He stands by the door, and I sit in a chair. I keep my face a mask, showing indifference, even when the monster inside of me is screaming to be let out.
“Funny how you think you know shit,” I say as I stand. Dominik’s chest is heaving with his anger, and I want to laugh, so I do. I throw my head back and let a laugh loose. What I didn’t expect is for Dominik to come up and punch me in the fucking throat. I sputter out a cough as my airways close. My eyes snap down to him and my hand automatically raises to my throat.
I wheeze as I attempt to catch my breath and Dominik stands in front of me, hands curled into fists, ready to fucking fight. He’s close to my height, probably just over six foot, but I still tower over him, and I feel like I’ll have an advantage because of all of my sparring with Leo. I haven’t physically fought someone in so fucking long and my blood is singing with excitement.
This wasn’t the plan, but I’m definitely not complaining. I manage to catch my breath and put up my fists, a smile playing on my lips.
“Wanna fight me, bitch?” I taunt him. I know the moment I get my hands on him, I’ll fucking kill him, but if thinks he actually has a chance against me, I’ll play.
“You hurt her. I don’t know what you did to her because she wouldn’t tell me, but I saw her scars. I know she fears you. You don’t deserve her.” He glares as he cracks his neck. His jaw is tense, but I can see the bags under his eyes and the overall exhaustion in his features.
“Yeah, kid, you’re right about that. I don’t fucking deserve her, but she is mine nonetheless.” The guilt rolling through me is unexpected and unwanted, so I shove it down and force the anger back.
Neither of us speak as fists begin to fly. I crack Dominik in the jaw, and he stumbles back, but quickly recovers and lurches forward, landing a swift punch to my stomach. I grunt and return it with a knee to his stomach. He topples over and wheezes. Tears spring to his eyes as he lies on the ground, clutching his stomach and I step back, laughing.
“That didn’t take long,” I laugh as I stand over him.
“Fuck you,” he breathes, and he gets to his feet, still clutching his stomach. “Fuck you, you piece of shit!” Dominik launches toward me and rams his shoulder into my midsection, knocking me off balance. We both fall onto the bed, and he lands on top of me. We both throw punches and Dominik manages to land a few good ones to my jaw and nose.
I feel something wet and warm trail down the side of my face, and I grit my teeth as he lands another to my fucking jaw, rattling me.
“Goddamnit,” I growl. I wrap my hands around his throat and squeeze. He gasps out and brings his own hands to mine, attempting to pry me off of him.
“Yeah, look who’s trapped now, bitch,” I laugh as I feel blood trickle into the back of my throat. Dominik’s nose is bleeding, running over his lips and down his chin. His cheekbone is already beginning to bruise, and I smile as his face begins to turn a different color from his lack of oxygen.
I pull him closer to me until his face is right in front of mine. I look him in the eyes and what I see startles me. I see pain. Loneliness. Familiarity. He misses Essa and how the fuck can I blame him for that? The bitch crawls under people's skin and buries herself inside, like a fucking parasite.
I grit my teeth as I say, “Essa is fine, but she’smine,” I growl through clenched teeth. “She is fuckingmine.You need to get over her and let shit be. Quit calling the fucking cops. They aren’t going to do shit when I have them in my fucking pocket. It’s useless, Dominik. You need to let her go.”
I let go of his throat and shove him off of me. He falls to the bed beside me, and we both lie next to each other as we try to catch our breath, him more so than me. I close my eyes as I try not to think about what I saw in this fucking room a week ago. Only one fucking week ago. It feels so surreal to me still she fucked someone else. That shegavethat part of herself to someone.The part that was fuckingmine.
And that’s the exact reason why I didn’t kill Dominik just now. I can’t do that to Essa. As much as I hate herandhim, I can’t take another person from her.
“You didn’t let her go.” Dominik’s voice breaks the silence around us, and I sit up, moving away from him. I stand and wipe my hand absentmindedly across the blood I feel on my face. I’m sure I look worse than I feel. Dominik actually surprised me by being able to hold his own and it felt fucking good to throw a few punches. I already feel lighter.
“Because she has always been mine. She was never yours,” I state as I glance over at him. He sat up and now sits on the edge of his bed. His hands are clasped in front of him, and his head is bowed as he stares at them.
