Las Vegas Sidewinders: Dominic (5 page)

Suze gaped at her. “What
exactly did Dom tell you?”

“That he, Cody, Brian and
Sergei all fell in love with you freshman year. All four of them wanted you,
but you were only interested in Brian. Dom and Sergei moved on—they knew the
ship had sailed—but Cody compared every girl he dated to you, and even when he
was cheating, apparently no one measured up.”

“You mean he’s really
stopped cheating?”

“That’s what Dom said. It’s
killing him, but he’s determined to find a way to win you.”

 “Shit.” She rubbed her
eyes. “I never knew. I mean, I know they all used to tease me about having a
nice ass and stuff, but we
all
said that about each other. In fact, Dom
has the best ass out of the lot of them! Brian was hot—everything a girl could
want—but in the ass department? All Dom. Sergei, now he was pure Russian
hotness. All blond and blue-eyed and chiseled, with the
best
abs you’ve
ever seen. Someday, if I can find the picture online, I’ll show you Sergei’s
abs. Holy Jesus, makes a woman go into heat.” She giggled. “And Cody? He’s
movie-star material—by far the best-looking guy in the NHL. He’s been
approached by all kinds of companies to be their spokesperson, but he’s pretty
embarrassed by it.”

“And what did Brian have?”
Molly asked with a smile.

“Eyes.” Suze sighed. “They
were like steel—with these long gray lashes—the absolute epitome of bedroom
eyes. I have a few pictures I can dig up one day when the boys aren’t about to
get home. His eyes could swallow you up.” She smiled then, resting her chin in
her hand. “My beautiful Brian—what a wonderful love we had. I didn’t think I
would ever love again, but Cody is so good too… I realized after he started
cheating that I wasn’t angry—I was jealous. But I had cut him off, so he had
every right, and now, well, now we dance around the issues.”

“It can be fixed.”

“I don’t know,” Suze sighed.
“I really want another baby, and he said that’s fine with him, but I don’t want
to stay together because of a baby. I miss being in a relationship, where we
laugh and finish each other’s sentences and hold hands…” Her voice trailed off.
“Anyway, enough of that. How are you feeling? The doctor said you should take
it easy for a couple of days so I figured maybe Thursday or Friday we could
drive down to the Strip and go the mall and buy you some stuff. Dom said he’ll
give you cash and he doesn’t want to hear anything about it. You need clothes!”

“I need to lose weight and
stop looking like a hobo. I’m a mess.” Molly rested her chin in her hands. “I’m
so out of shape, I can’t believe Dom wants to be seen with me.”

“You’re beautiful!” Suze
said firmly. “Yes, you’re a little beat up right now and you could lose a few
pounds, but you’ve got gorgeous eyes, beautiful skin, and sexy lips. We’ll get
you healthy and then you can start coming to the gym with me. Maybe we can all
take boxing together—Cody and I already got Dom to agree to come with us!”

“Boxing?”  Molly looked
dubious.

“Trust me—it’s empowering, a
great workout, and fun.”

“Well, we’ll see.”

“Okay, the guys will be home
by around 12:30. I have a quiche in the oven and I’m going to throw together a
salad.”

“Can I help?”

“Nope. You’re just going to
rest and heal. Let me know if you need anything from the drugstore.”

“I think I’m good with what
you gave me last night,” Molly said. “But thank you.” She was overwhelmed by
the kindness she’d been shown over the last week. This was definitely not how
she’d expected her leap of faith to go, but she was truly glad that it did.

The afternoon passed
quickly, having lunch with the guys and then chatting for a while. Finally,
Molly was exhausted and went to take a short nap before dinner.  Dom
followed her up to her room and lay beside her.

“You don’t have to lay with
me,” she said with a smile. “I’m okay. I feel comfortable with Suze and Cody
now.”

“I like laying here with
you. It relaxes me, keeps out all the bad thoughts and makes me focus on my
life; my career, my friends… and you.”

“Me?” she said curiously.
“Dom, I’m not what you need.”

“How do you know what I
need?” He brushed a lock of hair out of her face. “I’ve known you for less than
a week and I’ve found more peace in that time than I’ve had in seven years.
Apparently, you
are
what I need. Maybe we’re destined to be friends,
maybe something more—but whatever it is, I definitely need you as much as you
need me.”

She gave him a beautiful
smile, the first one he’d seen since he met her, and it nearly took his breath
away. “That you need me is the greatest thing anyone has ever said to me.”

Voices and a child’s
laughter downstairs roused Molly, and she realized it was after six o’clock.
She hurried to get up, splash water on her face, fix her hair again, and then
make her way downstairs. She really liked these people and wanted to be a part
of them for however long this lasted. If nothing else, she had a feeling she
and Dom would always be friends. because with his money, connections and
physical strength, she didn’t think Tim would be able to easily intimidate him.
He might try, but Dom had repeatedly told her that he had powerful friends
too—both within the NHL and outside. A cop from a small Nevada town couldn’t
hurt him without repercussions.

She found Suze in the
kitchen checking something in the oven and Dom on the ground with a young boy
on top of him pummeling him with his fists as “Uncle Dom” squealed with fake
appeals for help.

“He’s so cute,” Molly said,
standing beside Suze.

“Dom, CJ or Cody?”

“Well,” Molly glanced around
the room. “All three, to be honest.”

“Yeah, but I think CJ wins
the cuteness category!” Suze gave a surprisingly sharp whistle that brought the
wrestling on the floor to a stop. “CJ, come say hello to our guest. This is
Molly. Molly, this is our son, CJ.”

“Hello, Miss Molly.” CJ
scrambled up and into the kitchen, giving her a big grin, showing off his two
missing front teeth.

“Hello, CJ.” Molly stared at
the child and then glanced up at Suze before forcing herself to look down
again. “Aren’t you a handsome boy?”

“Thank you. Are you Uncle
Dom’s new girlfriend?” he asked.

“CJ!” Cody laughed and
scooped him up. “You’re not supposed to ask about things like that.”

“Why not?” The child looked
at him in confusion. “She’s a girl but she’s not his friend?”

Molly snickered. “Yes, CJ, I
am Uncle Dom’s new
girl
friend.” She patted his head and he gave his
father a look of satisfaction that made them all chuckle.

“Okay, time for dinner!”
Suze hustled them out of the kitchen and into the dining room, leaving Molly to
try to remain composed. The child she’d just met had the most beautiful eyes
she’d ever seen; big and grey, with long lashes that would one day make a
girl’s heart beat faster. If she had to take a guess, especially after seeing
both Suze and Cody’s bright blue eyes, CJ was
Brian’s
son, and Molly
didn’t understand that at all.

“So if she’s up to it,” Suze
spoke without looking at Molly although she undoubtedly knew what Molly was
thinking. “I thought we’d go shopping in a few days and get her some things. We
can go to the Fashion Show mall. No one who lives here shops on the Strip, so
we’ll blend in with the tourists.”

“Why don’t you call Andra?”
Dom suggested. “Ask her to go with you so she can meet Molly too.”

Suze blinked. “Um, maybe, I
guess.”

“Coach says she’s lonely,”
Dom continued. “And right now I’ve got anger management, my workout regimen and
Molly to take care of. Maybe you could spend a little time with Andra.”

“You know it’s awkward for
me,” murmured Suze.

“Wait a minute,” Molly said,
suddenly comprehending that no one knew that CJ was Brian’s son.  “I mean,
what…” Her voice died off as she looked at CJ and forced herself to stop
talking. “No one knows?” she finally asked, looking around the room.

Dom looked down, focusing on
his food. “Bet I can finish my chicken faster than you!” he teased CJ, who
began furiously shoveling food into his mouth while Suze gave Dom a hard stare.

“We were gone before we found
out,” Cody said after a moment. “And then there was just never the right time.”

“For what?” CJ asked, his
mouth full of chicken.

“Don’t talk with your mouth
full,” Cody admonished him. “And nothing for you to worry about. Just grownup
talk.”

CJ rolled his eyes. “Grownup
talk is boring. Can I go watch TV?”

“After you put your plate in
the sink and finish your milk,” said Suze.

CJ downed his milk in one
gulp, grinned at his dad and stuck his tongue out at Dom. “I win!” he shouted,
and ran for the kitchen.

Suze shook her head. “Must
you encourage him?”

Dom laughed, “I’m Uncle Dom.
I get special privileges.”

“Great.” Suze put down her
fork and looked at Molly. “We meant to tell Brad and Andra, but the longer we
waited, the harder it was… and now it’s been more than six years.”

“But as soon as they see
him… I mean, I don’t know them, but if it were me and you’d kept my grandson
from me, I wouldn’t be very happy.”

“Honestly, we didn’t know
right away,” Cody said defensively. “His eyes were blue until he was a year
old. Once they turned gray, we knew we had to do a DNA test, but by that time
we were in Toronto, and they were in Boston. We didn’t know how to tell anyone,
and frankly, at that point we were finally starting to get past the grieving
process and we didn’t want to dredge it up again. Yeah, we screwed up, but
we’re going to fix it.”

“When?” Dom asked.

“Soon,” said Suze. “Very
soon.”

It was Monday before Suze
and Molly left the house to take CJ to school. From there Suze headed to the salon
where she got her hair done. She figured Molly would balk if she’d told her
where they were going, so she opted for the element of surprise. It felt good
to do something nice for someone. Her circle of friends in the last five years
had been rich, spoiled NHL wives and after a while it had become tiresome.

This team in Las Vegas was a
new beginning in more ways than one. She was sort of glad to get out of
Toronto, where everyone knew about all things hockey, and as the wife of a
player that’s all she’d ever heard about. It was unfortunate that a good number
of players wound up married to puck bunnies who cared about nothing but money
and status. Those women all thought it was so ‘cute’ that she and Cody had been
together since college. The status of being an NHL wife had never even crossed
her mind when she and Brian had talked about their future; she hadn’t thought
about it when she and Cody got married either. At that point, all she cared
about was making sure her baby had a father.

Pulling into a strip mall,
she said to Molly, “I have a little surprise for you.”

“What? What are we doing?”

“You’re getting your hair
done,” Suze said with a grin. “All girls want to have great hair, and this
place will make you feel like a princess.”

“Suze, I’m wearing Dom’s old
sweats and an oversized t-shirt. I can’t go into a salon.”

“You’ll be fine. This isn’t
a fancy place—I found it by accident, and my stylist is quirky but absolutely
amazing!” Suze pulled into a parking spot and jumped out of the car. “Come on!”
She slammed the door and Molly was forced to follow.

They checked in, and before
she knew what was happening Molly was wearing a smock and had pieces of foil
all over her head. Suze and her stylist Mags, a tall, skinny woman with bright
pink hair and black lipstick, chatted casually. Mags wore all black, and her
fingers were swift and sure as her eyes looked Molly over carefully. She didn’t
say anything about her bruises, only complimented her thick, wavy hair.

“These auburn highlights are
natural,” Mags said with admiration. “So I’m just going to add some lighter
ones to give depth, plus some lowlights to cover the hint of gray here and
there. I’ll cut some layers in to give you volume and natural bounce. With a
round brush, you can…” Her voice was soothing and Molly closed her eyes to
enjoy having someone pamper her. She’d never had her hair done professionally
before; she’d always trimmed it herself. She didn’t even own a blow dryer and
had no idea what to do with a round brush.

“Do you have a round brush?”
Mags was asking her.

“Oh. No. I don’t.”

“We’ll take one like mine,”
said Suze. “And we’ll need one of those curling things you sold me last time I
was here—it’s awesome! I can get my hair to do anything with it!”

Mags laughed. “Darling, with
a face like yours, you don’t need to do anything with your hair.”

“Oh, stop.”

“How do you usually fix your
hair?” Mags asked Molly.

“I just wash it and let it
dry by itself. It’s almost always in a ponytail anyway.”

Mags blinked at her. “Well,
that isn’t right! You have to show off a glorious head of hair like this!”

“Well, we never really had
the money…” Molly’s voice trailed off.

“Bad divorce,” Suze
interjected. “She’s staying with Cody and me until she gets back on her feet,
so we need to get her the basics… a good hair dryer, that round brush, the
shampoo and conditioner that I use, and that curling iron thing.”

“Suze…” Molly started to
protest but Suze cut her off.

“This is my treat, not
Dom’s. Even though we come from different backgrounds, I know what it’s like to
hit rock bottom, and luckily I married a guy with enough money to make it a lot
easier to crawl out. I like helping someone else, so you should be gracious and
let me.”

“Okay.” Molly bowed her
head. “Thank you.”

“It’s all good.”

When her hair was finished,
Molly acknowledged that Suze was right—Molly did feel like a princess. Her hair
draped in soft waves around her face and curled just below her shoulders. Her
natural auburn color was highlighted, and the gray at her temples was gone.
Despite the bruises on her face and Dom’s ill-fitting clothes, she felt
prettier than she had in years.

It was like that for the
rest of the day. They went from store to store buying the essentials, and it
was like starting completely from scratch. They bought underwear and bras, a
couple of casual tops, shorts, capris, sandals, and a pair of yoga pants with a
matching top. Then they found sneakers and socks, plus hair accessories and
every toiletry from deodorant to razors and shaving cream.

By the time they stopped for
lunch, Molly was exhausted. “I can’t shop anymore!” she groaned. “This is more
than I’ve owned in my whole life!”

“Didn’t your husband even
let you buy clothes?”

“In the beginning, I got
things now and then, and I’ve had to buy a few things in the last few years
because I’ve put on weight; but up until five years ago, I was wearing the same
clothes I had in high school.”

“How is that possible?”

“My parents passed away in a
car accident right after we got married, I don’t have any siblings, and Tim
scared away all my other relatives. I have a cousin in Ohio. and my mother’s
sister is in Texas, but I never hear from them anymore.” She sighed heavily. “I
don’t know how I will ever repay you for today.”

“We’ll have more days like
this,” Suze promised. “After your face heals, we’ll go get makeovers! Then
we’ll get manicures and pedicures.”

“I’ve never had any of
those,” Molly confided. “I always did my own nails when I was younger, and then
I stopped doing even that. I stopped caring a long time ago about how I look.
Subconsciously, I figured if I was ugly he would leave me alone.”

“You’re not ugly. And you’re
going to be okay now. We’re going to take care of you.”

“I don’t understand why,”
Molly said helplessly. “I understand that you guys are all wealthy, and the
money you spent today is probably just a drop in the bucket for you, but why
me
?”

“Because Dom lights up when
he talks about you,” said Suze. “I’ve never seen him like this before—not even
in college. I mean, I don’t know what’s going on with you two, but—”

“Nothing!” Molly looked
horrified. “God, I’ll be forty in July and he’s 28! I’m old and fat, and he’s
young and…” She stopped abruptly.

“…Hot?” Suze supplied with a
giggle.

“
Really, really hot
,”
Molly murmured before clapping a hand over her mouth. “Oh, my God, did I say
that? I’m still married!”

“I’m thinking you’re not,
really. I mean, I guess you are, legally, but you need to find out what you can
do to change that.”

“He’s never going to give me
a divorce.”

“Molly, it’s time for you to
take back your life. He can’t keep doing this to you. Not only is it illegal,
you’re terrified of him. Why not grab some happiness while you have a chance?”

“Because at the end of the
day, I have nothing to give back.”

“Not everything is about giving
and taking. We’re giving because we can, and because we want to. Dom seems
drawn to you, and for the first time since Brian died, there’s hope in his eyes
again. He’s a really special guy—absolutely a guy I would go out with if I
wasn’t married!”

“He seems wonderful,” Molly
agreed.

“He is. I’ve never seen him
angry except on the ice. Every once in a while, he just loses it, and you can
tell when it’s about to happen. Something in the way he moves changes, and he’s
charging down the ice like a lunatic. Then it’s over and it’s like the fight
literally drains out of him—you can see it happening.”

“He hurts,” Molly said
simply. “And sometimes, when you hurt that way, you just need release. The day
he and Cody found me, I was begging for Tim to kill me… not because I’m
suicidal, but because at some point you just want the pain to stop. That day,
I’d had enough. I guess when Dom has enough, he goes out and does whatever he
does. Until you’ve experienced the kind of pain that makes you want to die, you
can’t understand.”

“Which is why you need each
other. All we’ve been able to talk about is finding a way for Dom to get past
what happened, and then there you were. So buying presents and doing nice
things for you is our way of keeping you around. It’s really a bribe.” She
smirked and Molly laughed aloud.

When was the last time I
laughed
, she wondered? “Well, then, I guess I’m easy, because
I’m happy to be bribed.” She’d changed into shorts and a top at the last store,
putting on her new sandals and letting her styled hair flow behind her. Sitting
here on the Las Vegas strip watching the hordes of tourists, she felt free,
anonymous and safe. It had been twenty years since she’d felt truly safe; it
was the greatest feeling in the whole world.

They got home after three
o’clock to find Cody and Dom playing with CJ in the family room. CJ came
running when he caught sight of his mother. “Mommy!”

Suze gathered him into her
arms. “Hey, buddy. How was school today?”

“It was great! I got to be
line leader.”

“Good job!”

“Look out, Uncle Dom!” CJ
attacked him and Dom allowed himself to be thrown to the floor.

Suze rolled her eyes. “I
swear to God, you guys, if he starts acting up at school…”

“Come on, Suze!” Cody nudged
her. “He’s a boy!”

She made a face at him. “I’m
well aware he’s a boy.”

Molly had come in a minute
or so later, carrying the bags with all her new purchases. She put them down
and smiled at the wrestling going on in the family room. “Looks like the boys
are working up an appetite,” she remarked.

Dom glanced up and froze.
She was standing there in a pair of denim shorts and a short-sleeved white top.
Her legs were long and tanned, despite a handful of bruises. Her newly colored
and cut hair was thick and wavy, framing her face and bouncing below her
shoulders. Today, both eyes were open and focused on him, as he allowed CJ to
mock wrestle with him. The bruises on her face were fading, and he found
himself drawn to her mouth: the cuts were almost gone and her
beautifully-shaped lips were a pale red. It occurred to him that he wanted to
kiss her someday, and he felt a sharp jab in the ribs that jolted him back to
reality.

“Hi,” he managed to say,
fending off a playful swing from CJ as he sat up.

“Hi.”

“Your hair looks great,” he
finally said.

“Thanks.” She gave him an
embarrassed smile and then turned to Suze. “Should I put this stuff upstairs?”

“You’re welcome to stay here
as long as you like,” Suze said.  “But I know Dom needs to start sleeping
at his own place. We’re really out of the way for his therapy and stuff.”

“Whatever you want,” Dom
said quickly. “If you’re comfortable at my place, we can go back there, or we
can stay here a few more days.”

Molly hesitated. She liked
being in the big, happy household and having a live-in girlfriend to hang out
with. But Dom needed to live his life too, and she wasn’t ready to be away from
him. At night, he still sat with her until she fell asleep, and last night
she’d awoken from a nightmare to find him gently wiping the tears from her
face.

“Why don’t we make the move
tomorrow?” Suze suggested. “We’re going out tonight, so—”

“’
Going out?’
”
Molly’s eyes widened in alarm.

“Just to Coach Brad’s
house,” Cody assured her. “Our associate coach Dave Marcus and his wife Tiffany
have been away, so Brad and Andra wanted to have a little get-together. I think
the coaches are going to set us up for what’s coming.”

“What’s coming?” Molly
asked.

“She’s not a hockey fan,”
Suze reminded the men as they stared at Molly in disbelief.

“I am a
little
,”
Molly protested. “We’d put it on if it was on TV. Tim’s originally from
Michigan, so he grew up with hockey. But no, I don’t know anything about
expansion teams or stuff like that.”

“Well, technically, we’re
not supposed to be here yet,” Dom explained. “I’ll be an unrestricted free
agent on July first, which means my contract is expiring and I know the
Predators are letting me go. Coach Barnett wants me on his team, but per league
rules he can’t actually offer me a contract until July first. But it doesn’t
really matter right now anyway, because I’m not allowed to play next season
until I’ve met all the requirements the NHL set for me. That’s why I’m in anger
management twice a week. I also need to have a psychological evaluation at the
end of the summer, and then a sit-down with the Department of Player Safety. So
the organization can only offer me a contract with the stipulation that the NHL
okays me to play.”