The Sacrificial Lamb (11 page)

The drive to the warehouse seemed excruciatingly long, but it maybe took about fifteen minutes. Domenic’s car roared down the extended driveway, gravel spewing out behind him. He slammed on the brakes and threw the car into park. After a quick check of his weapons, he was out of the car and practically running through the warehouse door. He didn’t bother waiting until he could see clearly and went down the hall quickly. Walking into the main room, the first thing to catch his attention was that the door to where Alex was being kept was open. A few more steps inside, and he saw Marco standing in front of Alex, while Vince held her still.

Domenic’s vision narrowed to a pinpoint aimed at the back of Marco’s head. He didn’t know what Marco was doing, but he wasn’t about to stop and ask questions. Rushing into the room, he grabbed ahold of Marco’s jacket and threw him across the room. The man went smashing into the wall and slid down to the floor. Before Marco could recover, Domenic landed a kick to his head. It made a very satisfying noise, and Domenic smiled grimly.

“I said she is
mine!”
He grabbed the lapel of Marco’s jacket, lifting him enough to drive his fist into the side of his face. Domenic could hear Alex screaming in the background, but he was too determined to worry about that now. Vince had no choice but to watch as his partner was pummeled because he couldn’t risk letting Alex go to help Marco.

As Domenic pulled his fist back again, he heard a voice rumble, “Okay, that’s enough!” His head whipped toward the open door. Sal was standing there. The red haze receded, and he threw Marco to the ground in disgust. Domenic stood to face Sal, fists and jaw clenched.

Vince still had ahold of Alex, and she was staring slack jawed at the behemoth standing in the doorway. “Let her go,” Sal said dispassionately. Vince did as he was told and walked to Marco, sidestepping Domenic warily.

“Get him out of my fucking sight,” Domenic said to Vince, who helped Marco up, and they walked to the door. Sal stepped aside and allowed them to leave. Domenic could see Alex in his peripheral vision as she backed toward the corner of the room. He wanted to go to her to make sure she was all right, but he had to see what Sal’s next move was. If he was here to carry out official orders, Domenic would have to find a way to stop him.

“Outside,” Sal said before turning his back to him and striding out into the main room. Domenic shot a quick glance at Alex who was staring at him wide-eyed. She looked frightened, and again, he had to resist the urge to disregard Sal and go to her. Domenic gave Alex a small smile to try to reassure her, before following the bodyguard out of the room. Sal shut the door behind them and gave him a level glance before crossing his massive arms over his chest.

“What are you doing here, Sal?” Domenic asked in as calm a voice as he could manage.

“Carlo sent me.”

“Why?” He wondered briefly if Sal would tell the truth. Usually Tony would take care of hostages, but that didn’t mean Sal didn’t get the odd assignment every once in a while.

“He seemed to think you overreacted to something he said.” Sal gave him a questioning look. “What the fuck is wrong with you?”

“I stopped those two fuckheads from raping a girl, and you think something is wrong with
me?”

“Considering you already raped her, seems pretty fucking odd to me, yeah,” he said pointedly. “You’re bringing this whole sloppy seconds thing to a whole new level, Domenic,” he continued, smirking a little bit.

“Fuck you, Sal,” Domenic retorted.

“Look, I’m just following orders. I’d watch your back if I were you. People are starting to notice this weird thing you got going on with that girl.” Sal clapped him on the shoulder, and Domenic wondered what the man had heard so far.

“Thanks, Sal. Duly noted.”

“Yeah, yeah. What do you want me to tell Carlo?”

“Tell him I’m taking over for Marco and that scum bag doesn’t come near this warehouse or else I’ll take him out myself.” Domenic looked at Sal carefully to gauge his reaction. The man’s brows were pulled together, and he had an incredulous look on his face.

“Why don’t I just tell him
you’ll
call?” Sal said after a moment’s deliberation.

“Fine.”

Sal just looked at him a couple of moments longer and then walked away, shaking his head and mumbling under his breath. Once he exited the room, Domenic relaxed and exhaled. He ran his hand through his hair and winced at the sting in his knuckles. The adrenaline was leaving his system in slow increments, and the severity of the situation hit him full force. What the fuck was wrong with him, indeed.

After carefully assessing the situation, it looked like he was going to have to go rogue. Fuck his plans, he would have to deal with Carlo another day. Right now, he had to protect Alexis. There was no way to avoid it. Domenic was going to take her away—tonight if he could manage it.

A
FTER
H
E
T
OOK
A M
OMENT
to calm his nerves, Domenic went to see if Alex was all right. When he walked in, she rose to her feet and stepped backward. He sighed. Back to this—she was afraid of him again. They faced one another, and she looked at him warily. He raised his hands, palms out, in what he hoped was a harmless gesture. A few seconds went by before she returned to the cot and sat on the edge.

“Are you all right?” he asked in a gentle voice. She nodded her head mutely. “Did they hurt you?”

She shook her head no, but her hand drifted up to the side of her face where there was slight swelling. Domenic could feel his face shift into an angry grimace as he realized Marco had struck her. Alex’s eyes widened at his expression, he turned away from her and took several deep breaths before facing her again.

“What did they do to you?”

“Nothing,” she said. Her voice cracked, and she cleared her throat, wincing.

“Don’t say nothing. Tell me what they did,” he demanded. She shrank back from him, and Domenic felt instant regret. Obviously, she was in a fragile state, and he was making things worse. He would have to distance himself from the violence of minutes before.

“Please,” he added softly.

“Mr. Mean just smacked me around a little,” she said, not looking at him. “Then you came in and…” She made a gesture toward the corner of the room.

“Mr. Mean?”

“Yeah, you know…the guy with the goatee.” Color rose to her cheeks as she spoke.

“You call him Mr. Mean?” Even though the situation was nowhere near funny, this strange detour in their conversation threatened to make him laugh.

“Yeah,” she said angrily, still not looking at him. “He’s Mr. Mean and the other guy is Mr. Meek.”

He pressed his lips together as he fought to stifle his amusement. “And what name do you have for me?” he asked curiously.

“Domenic,” she said, finally looking up. All the hilarity of the moment left as suddenly as it had appeared. “That
is
your name, isn’t it?” Her head was tilted to one side, inquiring.

“How do you know my name?”

“Mr. Mean told me what it was, right before calling my father. He said now he knew why
Domenic
was so fascinated with me.” Her brows knit together over eyes that were full of questions.

Marco—that fucker. He had obviously wanted Alex to implicate him to her father during the phone conversation. It was possible Domenic would find the police on his doorstep if he ever went back to his condo. Marco had also succeeded in bringing to light his slight obsession with the girl. He should have killed him when he had the chance.

“Did you give your father my name?” Domenic asked carefully. He didn’t want Alex to think he would be upset with her for giving the police his name. That was the least of his worries at the moment.

“No.”

Domenic’s jaw dropped. “Why not?”

“I don’t know. It just didn’t feel…right.”

“Even if it could have saved your life?”

Alex chewed on her thumbnail before speaking. “I just couldn’t.” Her large eyes were luminous, shining with unshed tears. “You’re the only one who’s been nice to me. If
you
were gone…I don’t know what I would…do.” Her last word came out in a strangled whisper and tore at his heart.

Domenic crouched in front of her so that they were eye to eye. “I’m not going anywhere.”

Alex simply nodded. Tears tracked down her cheeks. Domenic couldn’t bear to see her cry. If they made it out of this alive, he’d do whatever he could to prevent her any more pain.

Reaching out a tentative hand, he brushed away her tears, surprised that she let him touch her but pleased as well. His fingers lingered on her cheekbone where a purplish bruise, forming under the surface, marred her skin. Being so close to her, he noticed the small cut at the base of her neck. Moving his hand slowly, Domenic brushed his thumb across it, and Alex hissed in pain.

“I’m sorry,” he said, looking into her eyes. His fingers were at the side of her neck and his thumb caressed just underneath the cut to take the sting away. Domenic could feel her pulse thrumming under his fingertips and was surprised by the speed of it. “Why is your heart beating so fast?” he asked softly.

“I don’t know,” Alex replied, her cheeks stained with color again. He would have given anything to know what she was thinking at that precise moment.

“Do I scare you?”

“No,” she answered automatically and then hesitated for a moment. “Well, not right now.”

“Before?”

“A little bit.”

“I didn’t mean to scare you. He was hurting you,” Domenic said. His hand was still on the warm skin of her neck, and her heart didn’t slow its pace.

“Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad you came when you did,” Alex said in a low voice. “I just didn’t expect you to react that way.” She searched his face looking for answers. He thought very carefully about how to explain what he felt to her.

“Seeing you hurt makes me angry.”

“Why?” Alex looked perplexed at his confession, and all he could do was stare at her and shake his head. He wished he had an answer, but he honestly didn’t know, and he was afraid of what he would admit if he kept talking.

“You know,” she said, “you won’t be able to protect me forever.”

Her words struck a chord within him. Domenic wanted to vehemently deny what she said, but unless he was able to get her out of here, she was right.

“Well, I’m going to try,” he answered, removing his hand from her neck. He stood up and walked away, thinking of what to do next. Domenic knew where they could go, but in order to stay there, he would need to get some provisions. That meant leaving Alex alone with Vince, which was a huge risk.

“What do you mean, you’re going to try?” she asked. He glanced back at Alex, and there was a small glimmer of hope in her eyes.

“I can’t go into details right now.” Walking back, Domenic crouched in front of her again. “Do you trust me?”

Alex didn’t answer right away, considering the question. “As much as I can, I guess.”

Well, that is better than not at all
, he thought with grim humor. “I guess that’s all I can ask for.” Domenic rose to his feet again. “Okay, I don’t want this to look too suspicious, so I’m going to leave.”

“Wait!” she said in a panicked voice. “You’re leaving me alone?”

“Don’t worry, Alexis. I’ll just be in the other room.” He smiled down into her upturned face, and stroked her cheek with his thumb. For a moment, it seemed like she was going to lean her face into his hand but stopped herself. Domenic dropped his hand after a moment and went to leave the room. He would have preferred to stay with her, but needed to do some damage control.

With one last look back, he stepped into the main room where Vince waited. They glared at each other for a few tense seconds before Vince averted his eyes. Pussy. Without Marco, he was nothing. If Domenic did his best to scare the fuck out of him now, he may be able to execute his plan. Vince wouldn’t do anything on his own to harm Alex, of that he was certain.

“Do you mind explaining to me, what the
fuck
you were doing in there when I came in?” Domenic asked in his most menacing voice.

“Nothing!” Vince protested. “Carlo told us to make the call, so that’s what we did.”

“So, why were you still in there?”

“Marco wanted to have a little fun,” he said in a sulky tone.

“Didn’t I tell you to keep your hands
off?”
Domenic growled. “Your pal got lucky that Sal walked in when he did.” He stared at Vince, trying to intimidate him, and it seemed to be working. Vince wasn’t made to be a mastermind. He would never be more than just a minion, and Domenic made sure to remind him of that fact. “Now make yourself useful and go get us some lunch.”

“From where?”

“I don’t give a shit, just pick somewhere!”

With shoulders slumped, Vince walked out of the room, and Domenic pulled out his phone to call Carlo. He apologized profusely for leaving the office the way he did and then told his boss what he had walked in on. He tried to downplay his attack on Marco, but Sal had most likely given Carlo all the gory details by now. Domenic wasn’t sure where Marco had gone, but he did get assurances from Carlo that he would be dealt with. He didn’t believe that for one second, but it wasn’t like Domenic was going to be around to care, regardless.