Sweet Seduction Sacrifice (45 page)

"Sometimes we must be cruel to be kind?" he asked in a quiet, but slightly rough voice.

"Yes, honey," I said. "She needs help getting through this. This is the first step."

Dominic shifted slightly, bringing himself directly in front of me. One hand came up and brushed my hair behind my shoulders, the other cupped my cheek.

"Do you have any idea how much I love you?" he husked softly, his blue-blue eyes captivating mine.

"About as much as I love you," I replied with a smile.

His head shook from side to side. "Not even close, sweetheart. Not even close."

We dressed silently after that, wrapping up warm for the early morning air. The sun hadn't yet crested the horizon, wherever Caroline was, I hoped it was indoors. I had pictures of her being dressed in only a thin hospital gown and little else. As much as I wanted this woman out of our lives for good, I couldn't help being worried for her as well. She had no control over how she acted. The only way she'd get better is on medication and in care. But getting her back there was what we were about to attempt. Getting her to wake up to reality - even if only for a minute - see the truth and accept it, so she could move on.

And then we could too, I guess.

Dominic phoned Nick as soon as we slipped into his car. The conversation was short and to the point. Advising his brother what had happened and that we were on the move.

"You're good to go, bro," Nick replied with a yawn. "Oh, by the way, Gen," Nick added. "Jason's back in town too, so you can catch up with him later if you like."

That made me smile, and made the impending confrontation not as all-consuming. I had my brother to look forward to afterwards. Things were looking up.

"Thanks, Nick. I will," I answered and let Dominic ring the call off.

We drove on in silence for a while, Dominic's hand holding mine on top of my thigh. I watched night time Auckland flashing past the Jag; blazes of colourful lights, street cleaners with orangey glows from their beacons, a few homeless people scrummaging in rubbish bins, an Ambulance zooming by, red and bright white strobe lights blinking, no sirens though to pierce the still night. Dominic had switched the radio on, in an effort to replace the anticipation in the air. He'd chosen a country music station, which surprised me, but before he changed his mind I reached out and stilled his hand. The announcer had just mentioned a name I knew: Evangeline Rowe. A New Zealand singer recently returned from Nashville for a while. I smiled to myself - I'd attended the same school as Eva, I knew a bit about her struggles growing up. If she could come back to Auckland and face her demons, then I could face Dominic's tonight.

"Where will she go?" I finally said, after switching the radio off. Eva had long since finished and none of the vocals that followed compared with her sweet voice.

"Maraetai Beach," he said without hesitation, proving again how well he knew this woman.

"Really? Why there?" I asked without thinking. Did I honestly want to know why?

Dominic flicked a glance across to me, trying I think to assess how much I could handle. I swallowed my nerves, telling myself I could do this. For Dominic. To give him the support he needed right now. I smiled and raised my eyebrows in an indication to answer my question.

He made that cough-which-could-have-been-a-laugh sound and turned his attention back to the winding road.

"She used to holiday there with one of her foster families. The only family who ever showed her any true love. They were an older couple, had experience with troubled teens. But although they wanted to keep her, the husband became ill. Heart I think. And Child and Youth Services vetoed their request to hold on to Caroline, so she was forced to another home."

I didn't say anything. What was there to say. This woman deserved help. Deserved Dominic's help. There was no way I could deny her that, even if I wanted to. And before hearing that little snippet, I hadn't wanted to. So, now there was no going back.

I nodded and returned my attention out of the window. We passed through quaint little Whitford and started heading out of the city proper. The roads narrowed and began to wind even more. The street lights ceased and Dominic had to use his high beam headlights to see clearly, and bugs began to splatter against the screen.

After some time Dominic spoke again. "I think I should approach her first, alone. She'll most likely be at the end of the wharf and I don't want her to do anything drastic when startled, like dive off the edge and knock herself out."

"OK," I whispered.

"Once I make sure she's calm enough, then I'll signal to you to come out of the car. Hopefully I can convince her to walk off the wharf before then, but when she's like this she clings to the familiar." He paused, let out a long breath. "Her foster father used to take her fishing off that wharf."

"OK," I repeated, because there was nothing else to say.

"OK," he said softly back, lifting my hand up to his lips and laying a kiss softly against my knuckles. "We'll get through this, sweetheart. Then we'll have the rest of our lives to devote to just us."

I liked the sound of that, so I smiled a genuine smile up at him, all the while praying Caroline hadn't found a knife on her travels and chose this night to follow through with previous threats. I wasn't sure how Dominic would handle her hurting herself.

And I was sure I couldn't handle her hurting him.

The Jaguar purred to a gentle stop at the side of the road, the sound of the waves breaking softly against the sandy beach could be heard through the closed windows of the car. Just as Dominic had predicted a lone figure stood at the end of the wharf, silhouetted by the moon and stars. She was tall and lean, just like in the photo Brett had sent to my phone. Willowy in fact. Her arms wrapped around her body to keep the early morning chill out. I couldn't tell what she was wearing from here, but it didn't look like much. She must have been stone cold by now.

"Are you all right?" Dominic asked quietly to my side, drawing my attention away from Caroline on the wharf.

"I thought you might have been wrong. That she wouldn't be here," I admitted, searching his face for a sign of what he was currently feeling. But he was completely composed now, his court room lawyer face in place. I bit my lip and watched his eyes dart down to the movement.

"She always comes here," he said, his voice a bit rough. "I don't believe she is capable of thinking outside her normal routine."

I nodded. "You better go to her," I said, noting my voice was barely above a whisper. I may have had all the compassion in the world for this woman, but I did not like sending my man out to her alone.

"I'll try and be quick," he said, leaning forward to kiss me gently. A soft mesh of lips to lips. It was over too quickly, but then I just wanted this whole night to pass now, so delaying it any further was not welcomed anymore.

I watched as he slid from the car, the soft click of the door shutting behind him. And then couldn't take my eyes off his back as he walked away from me. She didn't turn when she would have heard his footsteps on the wooden boards of the wharf. She didn't acknowledge his presence at all, even when he came to stand a few feet behind her and undoubtedly said something in order to get her to turn around. She was a tall statue against the backdrop of house lights in the distance, the Tamaki Strait between Maraetai and the holiday homes on Waiheke Island itself.

I bit my lip and wrung my hands in my lap, waiting for a sign that he was making it through her psychotic daze. Ready for the moment she reconnected with reality. Fortifying myself against the sudden unpredictable actions this woman could make.

I might have been ready for her to move, but I sure as hell wasn't ready for what happened instead.

Climbing up the end of the wharf came a dark figure. I watched as Dominic stiffened, having clearly seen who it was before I could make out the hazy figure myself. Dominic shouted something to Caroline, I could hear the sound through the closed window even though she still didn't turn around. He didn't take a step back, instead he stepped toward her, grabbing her upper arm and hauling her several feet away from the approaching threat at the end of the pier.

"Crap," I whispered. Recognising the familiar stance of that dark figure standing off against Dominic on the wharf.

This was bad. Oh, really bad. How had we mucked up so severely? How had
ASI
mucked up so severely?

I dug my cellphone out and thumbed through until I found Nick, hit the call button and waited, biting my bottom lip and watching incredulously as Brett slowly took a step toward Dominic and Caroline, a look of pure hatred now obvious on his face from the light of the brightening horizon.

"We're almost there, Gen," came Nick's voice over the phone. He somehow knew.

"This is bad," I said on a whisper.

"It'll be fine, hon," he reassured, then murmured something to someone at his end, his hand obviously over the mouthpiece of his phone because I couldn't make out the words. "Jason's on the Whitford-Maraetai Road now. He's almost there, OK?"

I let a breath out in semi-relief. The Whitford-Maraetai Road was a long one, but it was the road that led directly onto Maraetai Beach. He could be quite close. I wasn't sure if Dominic had that sort of time though, especially if Brett was armed.

"He might be armed," I offered, because that was on my mind and my mouth thought Nick should know.

"Probably is," Nick agreed casually. "So is Jason."

"But Dominic," I said and he interrupted.

"Is trained to handle situations like this," he said out of nowhere. How the hell could a lawyer be trained to handle
this
? I didn't ask, even though my mouth wanted to.

"What are they doing, Gen?" Nick asked, not even questioning that I was in a safe place. He either knew I was in the car or had expected Dominic to make sure I was.

"Staring at each other. I can't hear what they're saying, I'll open my window."

"Just a crack," he said quickly. "Make sure it's not big enough to slip a hand through."

I did what he said and heard Brett spitting out a few curse words and then adding, "You think I'd take your money?" He did literally spit then, on the ground towards Dominic's feet. "Rich lawyer want to buy me off."

"You're in over your head, Elliott. King wants payment, interest alone has got to be in the tens of thousands. He doesn't do instalments, he'll want your skin or the full amount. I'm offering to clean the slate for you. Make it all go away. If
you
go away."

Oh my God. Dominic was offering money to make Brett disappear, but not just a pay-off to get him out of my life, but a way for him to be clear of King, to be safe from the mob boss's - or whatever the hell he was - sights. I wasn't sure if I should be angry at that or thankful. I mean he was trying to buy me from Brett, wasn't he? But then I wasn't Brett's to sell, so what Dominic was doing, with his hard earned cash, was make a problem in my life go away. And in doing so save Brett from what could only be assumed a hard and painful lesson at the very least, or imminent death more likely. This King character sounded like bad news. I was sure if he didn't get paid, Brett wouldn't be allowed to live. I just had that feeling, and here Dominic was prepared to save Brett's life, while saving me from whatever Brett had planned.

I think he deserved my thanks.

But Brett didn't see it that way.

"Fuck off! Money's no substitute for Gen." Then lifting his head in my direction he shouted, "Hear that, baby? He thinks he can buy your love."

I gritted my teeth to stop myself shouting back that it was better than kidnapping and threatening me to get it. I noticed Caroline wake-up at Brett's shouted words then. Her eyes darted from the horizon to me in Dominic's car. Dominic was no longer holding her, but had placed her behind him, putting himself between Brett and his ex.

"How do you think this will go, Elliott?" Dominic said calmly, returning my attention to him. He seemed to be in utter control. He wasn't shifting on his feet nervously like Brett was. He wasn't flicking his eyes around, looking out for a trap. His focus was entirely on Brett, his demeanour casual, but I knew that was a ruse. Dominic was in killer-lawyer mode, but not any killer-lawyer mode I'd witnessed so far. This one was a mixture of iced-lawyer as well as killer, and was even more lethal because of it.

"I walk away from here with Gen, you go fuck yourself in hell," came Brett's eloquent reply.

"And when you've got her?" Dominic asked, still with that calm voice. "What then? Happy families? You go live it up in the sun, never looking over your shoulder, never wondering if she's thinking of me and not you. Do you really think she'll forgive you for taking away her dream? Sweet Seduction means the world to her, any man in her life would know that. You know that, don't you, Elliott? You know how much it means. Yet you think taking her away from that will make her love you even more? You're a fool," he said softly. "You don't deserve her."

I think Brett was going to have a stroke. He was beetroot red in the face, his fists were clenched tightly at his sides and a muscle jumped erratically in his jaw while he ground his teeth together.