by A. K. Evans
A feeling of sadness washed over me.
No.
I wasn’t going to allow that to happen. It wasn’t very often I experienced happiness, so I needed to soak it up while I had it. Today started off great and I was sure Dom was going to see to it that it ended the same.
Picking myself up off the couch, I went upstairs to get dressed so I could run my errands. Twenty minutes later, I was on my way to the library. When I arrived, I grabbed my stack of books and went inside.
Once inside, the sadness I felt not quite an hour ago had completely vanished. I was in a place that brought me such peace, something I so often craved. On that thought, I decided I’d hang out and read for a while.
I quickly returned the books I had borrowed and finished and went in search of some new titles. I hadn’t done a search in a while, so I figured I’d use the computer and check to see if any of my favorite authors had released any new titles.
Today must have been my lucky day because I scored two new titles plus one that I’d been dying to read that was always checked out when I was there. I found a good spot to sit and dove in.
Before I knew it, I had gotten three-quarters of the way through one of the books and it was approaching two o’clock. Since I still had to run to Ryan’s to grab some of my clothes, I needed to leave the library now. I checked out my books and left.
Given that I hadn’t returned Ryan’s key, I knew I’d be able to get in. I only hoped he wouldn’t be around so that I could go in, get what was mine, and get out. Pulling into the parking lot at the apartment complex, I found I wasn’t so lucky as I spotted Ryan’s car parked in its usual spot.
I let out an audible sigh and wrestled with whether I should wait until he wasn’t around before I attempted to do this. If I didn’t have a date with Dom tonight, I would have waited. Unfortunately, in my haste to leave Ryan’s nearly a week ago, I hadn’t taken all my clothes with me. Some of my nicer things were still here and I wanted to make sure I put in the effort to look good for my first official date with Dom. I knew he said to stay casual, but I still wanted to look nice.
Mustering up enough courage to do what I had to do, I got out of the car and walked toward Ryan’s door. Since he was there and I had no idea what I could walk in to, I chose to knock instead of using the key I had to allow myself in.
It might have been twenty seconds later when the door finally opened.
“Ekko? What are you doing here?” Ryan asked as he stepped back and allowed me to come in.
“I wanted to come by so I could not only get a few things but also to let you know that I should have the rest of it out of here this weekend,” I answered.
He stared at me a moment and pressed, “Where are you staying?”
“That’s really none of your business.”
“You don’t need to be a bitch, Ekko.”
What did I ever see in him?
“I’m not being a bitch, Ryan. You and I are no longer together, and we haven’t been for a long time. I thought we were at least going to be able to keep things friendly between us, but then I found out that you’re a drug dealer. I’m not going to be around that, and you know why,” I shared, even though it was all information that he already knew.
“So, let me get this straight. We’re not together and we’re no longer friends,” he repeated. “Do I have that right?”
“Yes.”
He smirked and said, “Then I guess you can get your things out of here when you pay me your share of the rent for all the months you were here.”
“You can’t be serious.”
“I am. Your half of the rent would be three hundred dollars a month for…how many months was it? I’ll be nice and say four, even though it was a little longer than that.”
He was crazy.
Though, considering I dated him on and off for three years, I wasn’t sure what that said about me.
“I don’t have twelve hundred dollars to give you right now.”
“That’s okay,” he started. “I’m not going anywhere. You can come back when you have it and then you can get your things.”
I was desperate for those clothes and I had an extra seventy-five dollars on me. I didn’t want to give it all away to him, so I tried to reason with him. “I’ve got fifty dollars on me. If I give you that, can I please go get some of my clothing?”
“Payment in full before anything leaves.”
He knew how desperate I was and what my situation was like. He was making this difficult on purpose, knowing that he’d have a way to keep me tied to him if he played this game. Refusing to let him win and wanting to get what was mine, I took two steps in the direction of the room I had been staying in, but Ryan blocked me from going any farther.
“Why are you being such a jerk about this?”
“I’m not,” he tried to defend himself. “I’m not going to do something for someone out of the goodness of my heart when I’m getting nothing in return.”
“I’ll pay you, Ryan. But I don’t have that kind of money on me right now and I need to get some of my clothes.”
He moved toward me and was inches away when he put his hand in my hair. “I’m willing to negotiate. Do you have anything else of value you can offer?”
How could I have not known how much of an asshole he was? Was I so desperate for a connection to anyone, to feel like I belonged somewhere, when I was with him that I couldn’t see just what kind of person he was?
“I have nothing to offer you,” I clipped.
“That’s a shame. It would have been such a nice way to say goodbye,” he proclaimed. “I guess you’ll have to come back when you have my money then.”
I had one final option. I reached into my bag and pulled out the phone Dom had gotten me. The screen lit up and I could see he sent texts earlier when I was at the library. I never knew it because I had silenced the phone before I went inside. Unlocking the phone, I looked up at Ryan and threatened, “I could call the police so they can see to it that I get what’s mine. If you’re nice about it, I won’t tell them about the business you’re running.”
Ryan’s eyes narrowed on the phone before they came back to me. “I think someone’s been holding out on me,” he began. “How does someone like you who was in such a hopeless situation end up with the latest and greatest smartphone?”
Shit.
I knew this phone was a bad idea. I tried dissuading Dom from purchasing this one and begged him to just get the cheapest phone there when he insisted on getting me one, but he refused to listen. Now, it was coming back to bite me.
“That’s none of your business either.”
At that moment, my phone rang, and Ryan snatched it out of my hand. Nobody but Dom knew the number.
I tried to get the phone back from him, but Ryan was so much bigger than me. He held one arm out while he slid his finger across the screen and answered.
“Hello?”
I continued to try to get the phone but failed. Ryan’s arms were so much longer than mine.
“Who am I? Well, I think the better question is who are you?” Ryan said into the phone.
There was silence while Dom replied.
“Ekko’s right here. She’s fine. Actually, she’s not completely fine. She’s being a bitch for no reason at all.”
“Ryan, give me my phone,” I demanded as I pushed my way closer to him, reaching out for it.
Ryan pushed back harder against me and I lost my footing. I fell backward and hit my face on the sharp edge of the coffee table. I cried out as pain seared through the side of my face and I felt the warm liquid dripping down my cheek.
“Oh, now she’s gone and injured herself and is making a mess of my floor,” Ryan taunted Dom on the phone. “I’ve got to go and get her out of here before she ruins my carpet.”
I held my hand up to the side of my face and guessed I was cut somewhere pretty close to my eye, just on the edge of my eyebrow.
“Let’s go, Ekko. You’ve got to go now,” Ryan said
from above me.
I looked up at him in disgust and tried to ignore the pain in my head. “I’m not leaving without my phone and my clothes.”
“I hate to tell you that you’re wrong. You are leaving, and you aren’t taking anything with you. When I get my money for giving your ass a place to stay, you can have your stuff back.”
The blood continued to stream down my face. I took a few minutes to wipe at it with the sleeve and hem of my shirt, but it continued to flow steadily. This was not good. I needed to get something to hold against the cut.
Suddenly, there was a knock at the door.
Great, he probably had some clients coming over to buy drugs. I needed to get out of there before any of that went down, so I started moving to stand up. Ryan had already walked away from me toward the door.
My back was to the door as I used the coffee table to steady myself. That’s when I heard Ryan ask, “Who the fuck are you?”
I turned around quickly, worried about who I might see. The eyes of a man I didn’t recognize left Ryan and came to me. Then, his gaze turned murderous as he looked back at Ryan. When the man looked back at me, he asked, “Are you Ekko?”
My eyes rounded.
How did he know who I was?
“Yes,” I squeaked.
The man, who easily had a good four or five inches and a significant amount more muscle than Ryan, looked back at Ryan and pushed his way past him. His eyes were fixed on me as he approached. My body grew more and more tense. This man was seriously intimidating. He was about the same height as Dom but didn’t have as much muscle mass. That didn’t mean he wasn’t scary.
“I’m Levi,” he said as he came to a stop in front of me.
Of course, this didn’t tell me anything and I remained frozen on the spot, fearful.
“I own Cunningham Security. Dom works for me.”
Relief swept through me at the same time I was wondering what Levi was doing here.
“Dom should be here any minute now. I was in the area on a case when he called and said you were in trouble.”
“Do you mind getting out of my apartment?” Ryan shouted.
“I want my phone back, Ryan,” I shot back.
With his arm wrapped around my shoulders, Levi asked, “Do you have something that belongs to her?”
“She owes me money. When she pays me what she owes me, she can have what’s hers. I’m keeping it as collateral.”
“Ryan? Is that your name?” Levi wondered. It was evident from the tone of his voice that he didn’t have much patience for the man standing in front of him.
I had a feeling Ryan knew it because he didn’t answer. He simply jerked his chin in response to Levi’s question.
“Let me tell you something. I’m good friends with many members of the local police department. Maybe you’ve heard of Detective Jackson Baines. I work closely with him on a lot of cases. Anyway, I’ve got him programmed into my phone and with the push of one button, I can have the WPD swarming this place. Do you think they might find anything of interest here?”
I lifted my hand that wasn’t covered in blood and tapped Levi’s shoulder. When he looked down at me, I asked, “Does Detective Baines like drug dealers?”
Levi’s eyes sparkled, and he let out a chuckle. “No, sweetheart. He has a real distaste for drug dealers.”
I pretended to think a minute by tapping on my chin and added, “Well, my ex-boyfriend here was kind enough to allow me to stay with him for a few months while I tried to get back on my feet. Unfortunately, I walked into this place about a week ago and found out that he’s a drug dealer. I bet he’s got something here that the police would love to find.”
“I’m inclined to agree with you,” Levi replied.
“Ekko?” Dom’s panicked voice came from the doorway.
My eyes left Levi and went to Dom. He took one look at me and immediately directed his attention to Ryan. Instead of coming to me, Dom took slow, deliberate steps toward Ryan. My body grew tense. Levi must have noticed because he squeezed my shoulder a little tighter. A few more men, who had to have been with Dom, appeared in the doorway, but I couldn’t pay attention to them.
Dom was closing in on Ryan, who continued to walk backward until his back was up against the wall. Dom’s hand shot out and gripped Ryan around the throat.
“Why is there blood on her face?” Dom seethed.
“It…it was her own fault,” Ryan stammered.
Dom’s fingers squeezed a little tighter. “I’m sorry, did I just hear you say it was her fault?”
Ryan’s eyes grew wide.
One of the guys in the doorway, who bared a resemblance to Levi, but had longer hair that was somewhere between blonde and brown, warned, “Dom’s a crazy motherfucker, man. You might want to consider how you answer that question.”
I recognized the guy from the night I was nearly kidnapped. He had been there with Dom that night, but I couldn’t remember his name.
Another guy, with shorter dark hair and a body that was just as nice as the rest of them, added, “Yeah. I remember what he did years ago to the guy who thought beating and sexually assaulting Levi and Cruz’s sister-in-law was acceptable. Dom had no personal attachment to that girl and her ex was begging for mercy when Dom was through with him. I can’t imagine what he’d do to someone who hurt a woman who was special to him.”
I gasped while Ryan’s eyes shifted back and forth.
“She was reaching for her phone and pushed me,” Ryan explained. “I pushed her away from me and she fell.”
Now Dom’s gaze looked a lot like Levi’s did when he first arrived…lethal.
“You pushed her?”
“She pushed me first!” Ryan tried to reason.
Keeping his hand at Ryan’s throat, Dom stepped to the side and looked over at me. “Do you see her?”
Ryan didn’t answer.
“I asked you a question!” Dom roared.
“Yes, I see her.” Ryan’s voice was small.
“So, that woman, who is maybe a hundred and ten pounds, moved toward you to get her phone that you had, and you pushed her? I don’t like seeing my woman with blood on her face and, lucky for you, I need to see to her right now, so you’re going to give me her phone without another minute of delay.”
Ryan quickly pulled the phone out of his pocket and handed it to Dom.
Not taking his eyes off Ryan, Dom called, “Ekko, come here.”
I was still stuck on Dom calling me his woman that I couldn’t move.
Dom realized I hadn’t moved and turned his head toward me. With his gaze laser-focused on me, he urged, “Ekko, come here.”
Levi brought his hand to my lower back and gave me a nudge. I moved toward Dom.
When I was standing next to him, Dom asked, “Why did you come here?”
My lip quivered, and I dropped my gaze to the ground.
His voice went soft and he said, “Sugar, look at me.”
When I looked at Dom, his voice, still gentle, asked, “What did you come here for?”
“I don’t have a ton of nice clothes, but I had a few things here that I wanted to get before tonight. I wanted to look pretty for our date. But Ryan wouldn’t let me get my things.”
“Pierce? Cruz?” Dom called out never taking his eyes from mine.
Cruz. That was his name.
“Yeah?” one of them replied.
“Do you mind hanging out with this lowlife piece of shit while I go with Ekko to get her things?”
“Not at all,” they replied in unison. There was an edge of delight in their voices.
Dom loosened his grip on Ryan’s throat and finally let him go.
“Where’s your stuff?” he asked me.
“In the second bedroom, down the hall.”
We walked down the hall to the spare bedroom. Once inside, Dom ordered, “Get everything that is yours. You’re not coming back here ever again.”
“I can’t,” I replied, still using my shirt to swipe at the cut
on my face.
“You can’t what?”
“I can’t take everything that’s mine.”
“Why not?”
“The bed and the dresser are mine,” I explained.
He thought a moment before he instructed, “Get everything else as quickly as you can. I’ll be right back.”
Dom walked out of the room and I pulled out the rest of my clothing. It wasn’t much, but it was all I had to my name. I found my worn-out suitcase in the closet and tossed it on the bed. By the time Dom came back into the room, I had put the remainder of my things in the suitcase. The only items that remained were the mattress, bed frame, and the dresser.
“Is that everything?” Dom asked nodding to my suitcase.
“Yes.”
He walked over, picked it up, and ushered me out of the room. When we made it to the front of the apartment, Dom spoke to Levi. “The bed and the dresser are hers.”
I looked to Dom, confused at what he was doing.
“We’ll take care of it. Get her to a doctor to get checked out,” Levi remarked.
Dom nodded and looked back at me. “Where are your keys?”
“In my purse.”
“Give them to Levi,” he ordered.
“What?”
“The guys are going to get your things loaded in Levi and Cruz’s trucks. Pierce will drive your car back for you. You’re coming with me so I can get your head checked.”
“Oh, that’s okay. I can drive my car now,” I insisted, not wanting to inconvenience them any further.
“You think so?” Dom asked disbelievingly. “You’ve got blood pouring down your face. You’re not driving anywhere right now.”
Other than when he was speaking to Ryan, I’d never seen Dom so angry. This situation was already tense and I really didn’t want to make matters worse, so I pulled my keys out and handed them to Levi.
His face softened when he took them from me.
At that moment, Dom put his hand to the small of my back and started guiding me toward the front door.
