His Revenge by Charlene Raquel

Chapter Twenty-One

 

 

Gwen didn’t remember getting into her car or driving away from school. And she definitely didn’t remember making her way home.

Somehow, she had managed to park her car across the street from Mrs. Hamby’s house. She usually parked in the driveway in front of her apartment at the back of Mrs. Hamby’s house, but she didn’t make it that far. She couldn’t drive anymore and had no strength or inclination to move from the driver’s seat.

Gwen had no idea how long she sat in her car before a knock at her window startled her enough to scream. Thankfully the scream with more of a screech than a full out horror movie scream.

“Are you okay?” Dominic stood back from her car with concern on his face. “Gwen, do you want me to call someone? Sam? Drew?”

Gwen burst out crying, laying her head on the steering wheel and released every rotten emotion that had been bottled up inside her.

Her door opened and Dominic picked her up, carrying her to a green cable box next to her car. He set her down on it and knelt in front of her. “Let it out. You’ll feel better once you do.”

Gwen sniffled. “Why are you being nice to me?”

Dominic’s eyes gentled. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

She shrugged one shoulder.

“Do you want to talk about what happened?”

She shook her head.

“It really does help to talk about what’s upsetting you. Keeping it in lets it fester until all you have left inside is ugly, horrible, inescapable darkness.”

“Is that what happened to you?”

Dominic considered her for a minute. “Yes.”

Her eyes widened.

“You didn’t expect me to tell you the truth, did you?”

“No. I didn’t.”

“I promise to always tell you the truth, even if it hurts you.”

Gwen blinked away some tears. “Why? Why will you always tell me the truth? Why are you here? Are you following me?”

“Yes. I was following you.”

Gwen leaned back away from him with even wider fearful eyes. “Why?”

“Hmm. Because I promised myself I’d keep you safe and that has turned out to be a full-time job. Trouble seems to find you.”

“It didn’t use to. Why did you promise to keep me safe? I thought you were one of the people I needed to be kept safe from.” Gwen watched him closely and felt nothing sinister. Just a melancholy that she wondered about.

“You never have to be afraid of me. I would never hurt you.”

He didn’t answer her question, and she felt that the answer was important. “Why did you promise?”

“You’re not going to let that go, are you?”

She shook her head. “You told me you would tell me the truth.”

He stood up and stuffed his hands in his pockets. “I see you’re not going to forget anything I say.”

“Nope, so you should probably just tell me. I can be relentless.”

He leaned against the tree a couple of feet away. “It’s not a happy story. Are you sure you want to hear it?”

Gwen nodded. She needed something to keep her from her own morose thoughts.

Dominic took his time starting. “I had an older sister who I loved more than anyone. Our parents didn’t have time for anything but their own entertainment. They never spent time with us or showed us love. Our house was not the best place to grow up, but we had each other. She took care of me, and I looked up to her.

“When I was in high school and my sister was in college, she disappeared. One day she was there and the next she was gone. None of her friends knew what happened, the police thought she ran away and nothing much was done to look for her. My parents were useless. They were more concerned with what their friends would think.

“I put up posters and looked for her everywhere I could think of, but I was too late. A month later, a jogger found her body dumped in the woods. She had been brutally attacked and violated.”

He rubbed his face to control his emotions. “I was devastated and felt I had nothing. I started to act out and got into some trouble. A retired cop had lost his daughter the same way and took pity on the lonely, lost kid. He gave me direction and taught me that there are people who care for others, who help when there is no other assistance available, and then there are those who sit back and do nothing but bitch about the world being unfair. He made me decide what kind of man I wanted to be and helped me get there.”

“What did you choose?”

Dominic frowned at her. “I chose to be a better man, to be the kind that steps in to help others, the kind of man who will do what he can to save a young woman from a fate worse than what my sister faced, even if it’s from her own father.”

“You were at the house that night.”

“Yes, I was.”

“If you wanted to save me, why were you there?”

Dominic shifted uncomfortably. “Are you ready to hear the whole story? To believe what I tell you? I have no reason to lie to you.”

She hesitated. “Yes. I need to know.”

“I’m sorry to tell you, but your father is not a good man.”

Gwen nodded. “I know that.”

“He’s made illegal deals with crime families and even some known terrorists.”

Gwen’s eyebrows shot up. She knew about the crime families, but she would never have suspected terrorists. “Don’t you have connections to some crime families?”

Dominic chuckled. “I have ties to just about everyone in some form, but I do not deal in drugs, weapons, or flesh.”

Gwen was feeling ill. Was he saying her father dealt drugs, provided weapons to bad guys, and sold females against their will? “Are you…Are you telling me my father is involved in all that?”

“Some directly and some indirectly. He got himself in deep with a particularly violent cell leader and he was going to use you as payment. My associates caught wind of it, and we stepped in. I arranged to have the terrorist taken care of and I assumed his debts owed.”

She needed to stand up and move or the bile would come up. “Which meant my father… I can’t even call him that anymore. That—that meant Richard Mason thought he had to give me to you as payment?”

Dominic nodded. “When my people disbanded the terrorist’s organization, I made it clear that I was holding all of his markers. Everything that was owed to him was now owed to me. If I didn’t, your father would have used you to pay other debts.”

Gwen paced in front of Dominic. “How do I know you’re telling me the truth?”

Dominic sighed. “I didn’t want to have to do this, but I suppose you need to hear it for yourself.” He pulled out his phone, scrolled through a couple of screens, and hit the play arrow.

Richard Mason’s evil voice filled the air with such vile hatred and filth that Gwen stumbled to the cable box and threw up the coffee she had just consumed behind it.

She felt her hair being pulled back and a soft hand on her shoulder. “It’s going to get better. I promise.”

A crumpled tissue was shoved in front of her face, and she used it to wipe her mouth. “Thanks.”

Dominic shrugged. “It’s mostly clean.”

Gwen gave him a small laugh. “I don’t care.” She stood and made her way to her car. She fished out a water bottle from the back seat and swished in it her mouth. Throwing up sucked.

“If you have that recording, why don’t you turn it over to the police and have him arrested?”

Dominic stuffed his hands in his pockets again. “He’s not the one in charge. He’s a small player. We’re after who he works for. We also obtained the information we have illegally and none of it can be used.”

Gwen crinkled her nose. “Who do you work for?”

“That’s a conversation for another time.” He shut that down immediately, leaving no room for her to argue.

“People think you’re a bad guy.”

Dominic gave her a cocky grin. “I’ve worked hard for people to think so. It makes what I do much easier.”

“I’m confused. If Richard is supposed to hand me over to you, what happened in the mansion, and why do you say I’m still in danger?”

“I was hoping to take care of it before you found out, but it looks like I’m going to have to tell you. Your father is in bed with someone else who has a lot of money and connections. He managed to pay off the debt he owed to the terrorist, with interest. That was an obscene amount of money. He has bartered you to someone else. I just can’t figure out who. He’s been extremely careful with what he says on the phone and has a new bodyguard, who is probably just guarding him. Your father is small town but tries to play with the big league. I don’t know how he keeps pulling it off.”

“He’s going to come after me again?”

“Yes.” Dominic gave her a sad smile. “Now tell me why you’re so upset.”

“After hearing all of that, my guy trouble doesn’t seem important.”

“Sure, it is. If it had you crying, it’s important.”

“My boyfriend broke up with me and is now with my worst enemy, a girl from my tennis team who lives to make my life miserable.”

“It might not be how you think.”

“Oh, it is. I saw a photo of him kissing her.”

Dominic scowled. “If he’s that fuckin stupid than he doesn’t deserve you.”

Gwen shrugged. She had no idea what to say.

“I have to go now but know that I will keep you safe and I’ll make sure your father will never be able to hurt you again.” Dominic squeezed her shoulder. “Things are never what they seem. Remember to keep an open mind and not react on emotion. Our emotions will sometimes only let you see the surface. It’s when you look deeper that you get the true picture.”

Again, Gwen had no answer.

“Go on inside. I’ll watch you from here.”