Dominic
I watch as they escort Sofia out of the room I’m trapped in. There’s a part of me that wants to rip through the cable ties and kill everyone on this property with my bare hands.
But I won’t need to do that.
I know I still have my knife on me, and I just need the perfect opportunity to use it.
I sit there for what feels like forever, but I know it’s just the minutes passing by and my worry for Sofia making it worse. I need to get to her, to get her out of here and to safety. There is a burning rage inside me that wants to forgo all careful, calculated action and rip everyone to pieces.
The thought of what they might be doing to Sofia, if she’s even still on the property, drives me mad, and I realize I’m crossing my boundaries here.
Two of Jose’s goons come back into the room. “You’re lucky. The boss wants to kill you himself. At least it’ll be quick.”
I let my head roll forward as though I were still dazed. My body is slack but ready. They bend down and cut free my hands. The one takes my left arm, and I slump forward. As his friend bends down to take my right arm, I throw a punch straight to his throat, causing him to choke.
The idiot holding my left keeps holding my arm but tries to get his gun with his free hand. I quickly lift the hem of my pants, grab the knife and heave several quick short stabs into his abdomen. He releases me and slumps to the ground, and I slit his throat.
I whip around to see the other idiot lumbering toward the door, still unable to call for help because I punched him so hard. Quick as a bullet, I cross the room and put an arm around his neck before drawing my blade across it. Blood spurts out and washes the walls as I stand beside him. I probably look like a madman.
I frisk both of them and take their guns and holsters. I check how many bullets are in each magazine before I attach them to me and keep my knife ready in my hand.
I sneak toward the door. I don’t know how many guards will be out there or where Sofia is, but two things will happen: I’m going to kill every motherfucker in this place, and I’m going to get Sofia back.
She may be a pain in the ass, but for now, she’s my pain in the ass. I never fail at a job.
I pull the door open confidently to find only one guard standing outside, so I stab him in the neck as quickly as possible. He gurgles some bloody words and slumps to the ground. I retrieve my blade and crouch, sneaking across the garden toward the main house. I keep to the boundary, in the brush and plants, hoping I won’t run into more guards. One comes out from a hidden spot in front of me, but he doesn’t notice me and keeps working his way across the garden. I cross quickly, trying not to draw his attention. There is another guard at the back entrance to the house. He’ll see me coming if I go for him and immediately alert the others. It would mean a firefight.
I look around for anything I can use. I need to keep moving because the patrolling guard could come my way at any moment. I find a pebble and move back behind a tree to throw it to the other side of the deck. The guard whips around and holds up his gun. He slowly stalks toward where the pebble landed, and I quickly and quietly sneak into the house. I want to let out a breath, but I’m too scared that someone will hear me at this point.
I crouch behind some furniture and peek over the top, scanning to see where I am and where I can go. I’m in what looks like a bedroom, behind some armchairs near the door. I crouch as I walk toward the door and slowly peek around both ways. There are no guards to be seen, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t any in the house.
I don’t know which way to take to get to Sofia. I listen carefully, trying to see if I can hear her voice, but I don’t hear anything. The rooms must be soundproof.
A door opens to the right, and I hide behind the door of my room. A goon walks past the door saying, “Is it safe to leave her there with him?” “He’ll kill her if she tries anything. It’s not like she can go anywhere,” a voice answers.
They walk past the room I’m hiding in, and I wait until they turn a corner and are gone. I slip into the hallway, and I draw a gun. I reach the door they came out of. Either this room is full of guards, like a break room, or this is where Sofia is being held. Either way, I have to find out.
I slam the door open and aim my gun at the only guy in the room. He’s in a loud Hawaiian shirt and slacks. He looks at me, surprised, and opens his mouth to call the guards, but I cock the gun. “I don’t think so.” Sofia is sitting on the sofa, tears streaming down her face.
“You are going to die,” the man says. “No one leaves my house alive unless I instruct it.”
“I’m not just anyone,” I say. “I’m a Sorvino.”
I walk to him and grab him by the shirt, turning him around and pressing the gun to his head. “If I’m going to die, I’m going to take you with me, so let’s think carefully about that. Sofia, come. Stay behind me.”
Sofia gets up and holds the back of my shirt. I hold onto the rich guy’s shirt and push him forward. “Off we go. We’re going to walk right out the front door.”
He growls, but he walks, his hands in the air. We walk down the hallway slowly, and when we finally bump into some guards, they raise their weapons, and I push mine hard against the back of his skull. “Try it. I’ll shoot him before you even pull the trigger.”
The man shouts in Spanish, and the guards lower their guns.
“Back up until you’re out front. Stay where I can see you. Sofia, keep a lookout behind us,” I say.
We walk slowly to the front door, and the guards reverse out, glaring at me. Some other guards shout, but the man calls out in Spanish again.
“What’s your name, friend?” I ask.
“It’s Amancio, and you’re a dead man, friend,” he says.
“Amancio, I don’t think so,” I say, leading him toward a car and casting my one good eye around the yard. “We’re going to borrow your car.
Don’t worry. We’ll ditch it soon enough because I’m sure you’ll track it. But today we’re going for a drive. Sofia, can you drive?”
“Yes,” she says shakily. I can feel her hand trembling.
“Get into the car and start it,” I explain. “Amancio, get in the back before I shoot you.”
I open the door, and he climbs in. I get in straight after him. Sofia puts the car into gear and drives us onto the road. “Go a few blocks, then stop, count to ten, and drive as fast as you can again.” “Why?” Sofia asks.
“Just do it,” I order.
Sofia
Once I stop, I start to count to ten, and while I do that, Dominic hits Amancio in the head with the butt of his gun before kicking him out of the vehicle to the curb. I finish counting and hit the gas, racing down the road.
“They’ll hopefully stop and pick up their boss before they get around to tracking us,” Dominic says. “Pull off at the first mall you come across.”
Zipping through the streets, I’m concentrating too hard to make conversation. Dominic breathes heavily and points out a mall. “There! Pull into that one. We need to get out of here quickly.”
I pull haphazardly into a parking space, and we get out. Dominic limps beside me, looking around for our new getaway vehicle.
“The bus,” he says suddenly, pointing to the bus approaching the nearby stop.
We hurry to where it stops, and the driver gives Dominic a horrified look when he sees how beaten up he is. “You’re not going to be trouble, are you?”
“No trouble,” Dominic hands him a fifty. “And keep the change.”
The driver turns back to face the road and waits for the rest of the people to get onto the bus. Dominic leads me to the back, and we sit down, each on the aisle seat but in the same row.
As the bus pulls out, I sigh in relief, sitting back in my seat. I look out the window because I can’t bring myself to face Dominic, not after what he did to Carmila. I’ve always known the kind of things that my father did to ensure that his business operations ran smoothly. I knew people died. I just never, I don’t know, thought about it. I never thought how innocent people might lose their lives in the name of money and power.
But I cannot deny I’ve benefited from that money and power.
I don’t know how I feel about it because I’ve always known. I just never really cared. Yet now, I want to crucify Dominic for killing Carmila because she was my friend.
We sit in silence, and all I have are my thoughts to sit with because I just don’t have the words to express what I’m feeling to Dominic, and I’m pretty sure he wouldn’t care anyway.
We get off the bus we’re on after a few stops, and we get onto another going in a different direction. Again, he pays off the driver, and we sit in silence. A part of me wants to mourn and cry and grieve for my friend, but there’s the tiniest seed planted in my heart-what if she did betray me? It just couldn’t be true. She couldn’t be involved in this world-I would know. I’ve grown up in this world.
I can’t stand it anymore and finally turn to Dominic. “How do you know Carmila betrayed me? What evidence did you have?”
Dominic opens his one good eye and looks at me. “I knew because I knew,” he says.
“That’s not a good enough reason to shoot someone,” I say.
“You’re a princess. You don’t understand this world and what it takes to survive. When you’ve been doing this as long as I have been, then you know what you know when you know it.” I frown and look away. “And if you’re wrong?” “I’m seldom wrong,” he says.
“But what if you are?” I ask.
Dominic sighs. “I’m not sorry if that’s what you’re looking for. I
don’t have time to regret my decisions. I have to do what I must to protect my family and ensure they survive. Your father’s probably done similar things. I doubt worse, though.”
I feel sick and hold my stomach. I can’t believe this guy. He doesn’t even regret killing innocent people. The bus approaches the next stop, and he stands. “We’ll get off here. Come on.”
It’s outside another mall, and he leads me inside. It’s getting late, but some stores are still open. “Get some clothes,” he says as we walk into a general store. “And anything else you might need, get an overnight bag as well.”
“Okay,” I say quietly, heading off on my own. It’s weird to be alone after being with him for so long, but I’m happy for the respite. I pick out three outfits and find some underwear, toiletries, and a bag to put it all in.
When I’m done, I find him in the men’s section, picking out his own stuff.
Everything happens in silence.
Checkout, back outside, stealing a car.
Silence.
We pull into another motel, and he checks us in and lets me into the room.
I set my stuff down on the bed and look around. “I’m going to go shower.”
“Look, Princess, you can hate me for what I did. But your friend betrayed you. I didn’t do that. What I did was to do you a favor by removing her toxicity from your life. You’d always be in danger with her.”
I can’t help myself. Before I even blink, I raise my hand and strike him through the face. There’s a tense moment where we look at each other.
He grabs me, and I gasp as he plants his lips over mine, kissing me hungrily. Clearly, aggression turns him on.
I push him off me and slap him again. “Stay off me. I’m not yours to touch.”
He chuckles and rubs his face. “You hit hard for a princess.” “I’m not a fucking princess,” I shout.
“Own it. Own what you are, and then you can live free of the shame people attach to it. I’m a killer. It’s what I am. I’m not ashamed of who I am or what I do. I don’t have time for that bullshit. It’s always moving forward, onto the next task, the next job.”
I stare at him and shake my head. “What you are is a monster!”
“Maybe I am, but I know I’ve killed more killers than I’ve killed innocent people. No one is perfect,” he says calmly. “No one is sin free. No one is so-called innocent.”
I pick up my things. “I’m going to shower. I need to wash… everything away.”
Tears well up in my eyes, and for a moment, I almost think I see a flash of concern on his face, but I know it isn’t real. Dominic has no heart.
I go to the bathroom and shut the door, locking it behind me. I run the water so it can warm up while I get undressed. I feel tired, my whole body aches, and I start to cry. I let the sadness wash over me until I climb into the shower, slide to the bottom, and hug myself, sobbing.
I don’t care if Dominic can hear me. I just need a fucking moment. I was always sheltered from this part of my father’s life. I don’t want to be involved or near death, destruction, and cruelty.
I know Dominic thinks he can reason his way out of being a killer, but I just can’t understand it. My heart is breaking for Carmila. She was a huge part of my life, and I don’t know if I believe him that she betrayed me. You can’t just believe someone has betrayed you. You need evidence.
I rest my head against my knees and let the water wash away my grief.