Stolen & Fractured

by Cee Smith

  “And you think he’s just going to let you and Elliana go?” she whispered. I guess I could understand why she thought that would be a problem. Dominic had already stolen me once—what would stop him from doing it again? I didn’t respond with words, just stopped sifting through the dresser as I gave her a look that said he wouldn’t have a choice.

  “What are you going to do about Scout?” I questioned with a mischievous smile.

  “I know what you’re trying to do…and no, I haven’t thought about it because, really, what kind of relationship would we have? He practically lives and breathes Dominic.”

  “It’s still just a job. I told you, he doesn’t actually live with us, and I’m sure if he had reason to, he would probably stay at his own place more often. With the right incentive, he would probably start working regularly scheduled hours, too. It’s not like we don’t have other security.”

  “It’s not that. I mean there’s something there and we have great chemistry—”

  “Yeah. Explain that to me because we’ve probably exchanged a handful of sentences between us in the year I’ve been with Dominic.”

  “That may have more to do with Dominic than Scout. Dominic would probably kill anyone that acted even remotely nice to you.”

  “Ha ha, not funny given my current situation.”

  All joking pushed aside, Jessa looked at me, weighing my response to the question that had plagued us both since I pushed through her door to see if she knew about Dominic and Scout’s trip.

  “Do you think he—”

  “I don’t want to think about it. You’re supposed to be distracting me.”

  “Oh, is that why you have me over here folding your chonies?” She waved my underwear up high, dipping them across my face before pulling them back out of my reach like one would yoyo a dog toy above a dog’s head. I flailed my hand, shooing her teasing, and we both erupted in giggles at her obnoxiousness.

  “Asshole. Besides, how else are you going to know what a $200 pair of underwear feels like?”

  She scoffed while holding up my floral underwear closer, as if she needed a microscope to inspect some hidden material that would cost that much.

  “Rich bitch. You mean to tell me these cost more than my car insurance? I’d hate to see what you use for period panties.”

  “If it makes you feel any better, Dominic mostly buys that shit. I don’t care about $200 underwear.”

  “Dominic buys your underwear? Get out. Does he actually go out and buy it himself? That’s got to be fucking awkward. Can you imagine seeing him at a lingerie store? I bet he scares the shit out of the workers.”

  “I don’t think he goes himself, silly.”

  “So, you mean to tell me he has another bitch buying your underwear? Is that like a full-time job? Can I sign up to be your undie-bitch?”

  “Why would I pay you when you can be my undie-bitch for free?”

  “Yeah, right.”

  “Hey, you’re getting a little sloppy over there with my shit,” I said, leaning over the side of the bed to see into my suitcase. On the right side, she’d carefully bundled my jeans and a few shirts. Everything looked clean and concise until you looked on the left side, where things looked like they’d been thrown in there haphazardly.

  She stared down at me, looking every bit the three inches taller that she was.

  “You better watch it, you,” she said with narrowed eyes and my underwear dangling from her forefinger.

  I snatched the underwear and threw it in her face. She flashed murderous eyes, but I could see the mirth in her smile as I dashed out of the room and through the house with her chasing me. We found ourselves in the living room, me on one side of the sofa and her on the other. We danced around, me jerking one way and her following in pursuit like one of those Tom & Jerry episodes. She threw those same underwear I had just tossed in her face back at me and then dashed over the couch, her long legs sweeping over the back of the sofa like a daddy-long-leg spider. While I scrambled to remove my panties from my face, she tackled me to the ground. She dived into my weak spot, pinning me to the floor as she went to town tickling my underarms and stomach.

  “Say mercy, you skank.”

  “Ahhh!” I screamed between giggles. “Do you kiss Scout with that mouth?”

  She pinned my arms down with one hand while she continued tickling harder with the other.

  “You’re gonna bruise me! Jessa, stop. STOP!” I laughed and shouted. I wondered where Clema was while we were out there making all that ruckus.

  “You know what to say.”

  “OK, all right!”

  “All right, what?” she said with a devious smile. The bitch knew she had me. I couldn’t take it anymore.

  “Mercy. Mercy.” I said with my hands raised in surrender.

  She jumped off of me and pulled me up as she stepped over me. “You know, you really need to work on your defense. It leaves a lot to be desired.”

  We moved back to the bedroom and plopped down on the bed besides the mound of clothes. I laid back, looking at the ceiling as Jessa continued plucking items from the pile and folding.

  “You still haven’t told me much about him. Is he your secret?” She knew who I was talking about because I watched a small smile light her face as if her mind drifted somewhere through her memories, possibly to a time where she was with Scout.

  “He’s quiet, but when he talks I feel like it’s not just nonsense, you know? And he listens. He’s a good listener,” she said, nodding her head with her assessment.

  “And how did you come to find out he’s a good listener?”

  “He was always around when you guys were back home, and I don’t know, we kind of just liked being around each other.”

  “And when you were in the hospital? He kept you company.”

  “I think he was just being nice.”

  “No. He wanted to be with you. Being nice would have kept him at Dominic’s side the entire time.”

  “Maybe.”

  “So, that’s it? Are you dating outside of the bedroom, too, or is this just purely a physical connection? Just two people stranded on an island?”

  “When you say it like that, you make us sound like we’re interchangeable blow-up dolls. Just an orifice to have handy.”

  “Is that what the kids are calling it these days? Orifices?”

  “Shut up,” she said as she acted like she was about to drop another article of clothing over my face. She changed direction at the last minute, and I gave her back the murderous glare she gave me earlier.

  “Well aside from orifices, do you actually like him? You can tell me the bedroom details in a sec.”

  “Who says I’m giving you details? And, yes, I like Scout. He’s…sweet and funny. He’s like a beast, but underneath all that muscle and rough exterior is a big softie.” I knew what she meant. It was the same thing about Dominic, or at least it was. When I first met Dominic, I thought he was a savage. It wasn’t until I actually spent time with him that I saw him for who he truly was. He just wanted to have someone in his life, someone to love him and care about him, someone that would miss him if he left. After his parents went missing, he had spent years without any real companionship. So why he was shutting me out now, I couldn’t understand.

  “Thanks for being here, Jessa. For helping.”

  “That’s what sisters are for.” She gave me a wink and set about continuing with the laundry, but there was something else that felt unresolved, something that’d been bothering me ever since I met my sister at the airport all those weeks ago.

  “Can I ask you something? Is Scout the reason you’ve been sad?”

  “I haven’t been sad.”

  “Well, something’s going on with you.”

  “Do you ever wish you could just stop time? Like too many things have happened already, and you just want to slow everything down to catch up? Can I be honest?”

  “Yeah.” I nodded my head, wanting her to finally get whatever it was off o
f her chest. She had spent so much time caring for me and making sure everything was settled in my life that I felt like I’d been neglectful in waiting until that moment to finally find out what had been going on with her.

  “I was glad when you called. I mean, not the reason why you called, but every day back home felt…pointless after you guys left. I guess I’ve been feeling kind of lonely.”

  “Why didn’t you say anything? We would have come back. I would have come back, or we could have moved you to New Yo—”

  “Hailey, you have a family now. Things have changed and I expected they would. I just didn’t expect it to happen so fast, I guess. I never want to hold you back from living your own life, but I guess I just didn’t realize how it would feel.”

  “You should have said something sooner.”

  “I was handling it.”

  “Not very well. I knew something was up with you the moment you got off the plane. I just thought it had something to do with Scout.”

  “I missed having him around, but I don’t think there’s anything serious there. I mean, we don’t even live in the same state.

  “If you really have feelings for him, you shouldn’t let that stop you.” She smiled, but the tilt of her lips looked like she would rather just end the conversation than try to analyze her feelings for Scout. I guess we all had our own feelings to deal with.

  ***

  In preparation of Dominic’s arrival, I asked Clema to take Ellie back to her bungalow, so Dominic and I could talk. He would be home at any moment, and I wanted to be alone for the conversation we were about to have. I felt like I was watching grass grow as I sat on the couch waiting for him. The room was dark with only a soft pool of light coming from the side lamp. It lit up about three feet of space and allowed darkness to linger in every corner. I stared into the depths of the shadows, looking for answers, for strength, for hope that we weren’t as far gone as I’d imagined. Perhaps I was being pessimistic in pre-packing my bags, and Jessa would give me a hard time about it the following day.

  The sound of the door being unlocked resounded through the room like the blast from a bomb going off. I didn’t know how long I waited on that couch, but I was no less surprised when he walked through the door.

  “Hey, why is it so dark in here?”

  I knew he could see my lone form sitting upright on the couch, waiting at the end of the hall. I didn’t answer him. I didn’t turn around to acknowledge what he said or to greet him. I simply waited. There was a loud clap behind me—what I assumed was him dropping his suitcase—followed by his slowed footsteps, leading him to where I sat.

  “Hailey? What is this?” I watched him out of my peripheral as he walked across the rug.

  “Dominic,” I said just as he took a seat adjacent to me. His expression was cautious as he dropped down into the seat—as if I were a wild animal waiting until he least expected to attack.

  “Hailey, where is everyone?”

  Nothing about Dominic surprised me anymore—his voice was measured and calm. He asked casually as if this were an everyday occurrence.

  “They’re at Clema’s. How was your trip?” Please don’t lie. Please don’t lie. Please don’t lie.

  “Busy. Scout and I are going to fly back out in a couple days to make sure everything is wrapped up.”

  “Where is that again?”

  Dominic’s eyes narrowed at me before he spoke, “I told you where I was. If you have something you want to say to me, Hailey, say it.”

  “You lied,” I whispered. It wasn’t loud enough to hear, but I wasn’t saying it for him. I was acknowledging it. Somehow, sitting across from Dominic while he straight-faced lied to me somehow made the truth of it more real. His lies were blatant. There was no mistake in what he said. He didn’t want me to know the truth of what he did or what he still planned to do.

  “What was that?”

  “I know you didn’t go to New York,” I said a little louder. “No more lies, Dominic.”

  “You don’t want to be involved in that part of my life.”

  “I don’t want to or you don’t want me to? I’m supposed to be a part of every part of your life, Dominic. I guess some things never change, do they?”

  “What the fuck is that supposed to mean?” he growled. I watched his body grow tight, his jaw solidifying around grinding teeth. The amber light glowed like fire in the bottomless depths of his eyes.

  “I thought we were living in the light now. That’s what you said, isn’t it? Yet you have me stuck here on some island while you’re out getting vengeance. That’s not even the worst of it, Dominic. You shut me out. You lied to me. What happened to you not being the type of man that would kill someone? Just another one of your lies?” My voice wavered with the roll of emotions that washed over me. I had to hold it together. I couldn’t break in front of him. Not yet.

  “I was protecting you, Hailey.”

  “Bullshit. You haven’t been the same since New York. I don’t even know this Dominic,” I said pointing up and down his body.

  “What? Don’t recognize me now that the chains are off?”

  “Don’t make this about me!” I yelled. “When’s it going to end with you, Dominic?”

  “I have to find them. Don’t make this about you.” He sounded exhausted as if he’d literally been out there excavating their bones with his bare hands. Already, I could see the toll it was taking on him. His eyes had worry lines that looked permanently etched across his forehead and around his eyes. His cheeks looked sunken with grief, and his mouth looked tense. Even on Dominic’s worst days as my captor, even when he fought every day to survive liver failure, he didn’t look this hollow.

  His words hit me and I gasped at what he said. There’s no way. Not after all this time.

  “Wait. Are they? Do you mean they’re alive?”

  “No, but I met with someone who gave me a possible location where they were killed. We’re going back out with a dive team in a couple days.”

  “What? A dive team? You can’t be serious, Dominic. Look at what this is doing to you. Do you hear yourself? You know, when you took me, I thought it was because you needed a liver, because you’d die without me, but now I’m starting to think you were obsessed with the chase, and looking at you now, I’m convinced more than ever that you have a sickness that didn’t get better just because you got a new liver.”

  “That’s enough!”

  “What? Can’t handle the truth? I love you, but I can’t let you do this to yourself, and we’re not going to wait around for you to figure it out. I’m going home, Dominic, and I want you to be on that plane with us, but—”

  “What the fuck are you saying, Hailey?”

  “If you’re not on that plane, then you’ve made your choice.” I got up to leave, making my way toward the bedroom so I could break down without his cold glare flaying me open to mock every tear forming.

  Dominic rushed forward, locking his hands above my elbows and pinning me to the wall. The length of his body shadowed mine as he absorbed all of the light that had reached that side of the wall.

  “You can’t leave me,” he snarled. He braced his forehead against mine like a ram going into battle, and I felt his breath waft across my face, the anger radiating from his body into the tenseness of his fingers.

  “Are you going to stop me? What role shall I play now? Or am I back to being your prisoner?” I leaned my head as far back into the wall as I could manage, so I could look at the ferocity in his eyes, while showing him nothing but my calm determination. Things had changed. I was no one’s prisoner anymore, and I knew Dominic didn’t want that any more than I did. By keeping me, Dominic would prove that he wasn’t the same man I thought he was. If he kept me, he was more lost than I believed him to be.

  He growled, releasing my arms before pounding his fist against the wall at my side. I turned my head slowly to avert my eyes from the glimpse of fear that flashed in his eyes. I walked along the wall, slipping down the hallway until I
got to the bedroom. After I called Clema to let her know to bring Ellie back, I sat on the bed looking over my luggage.

  It was only two weeks ago that I had arrived, excited that I was somewhere new, that I was with my family, but that wasn’t true, was it? Yes, I had my sister, but ever since the situation with Adam, it felt like my family was splintering, and the more I worried about the canyon emerging between Dominic and me, the less I saw that I was becoming an island. I needed to get back home to regroup, replenish, to find the pieces of myself and my family that had cracked like weathered varnish.

  The door to the house opened and I shoved my ear against the bedroom door, making a sealant to hear the voices better.

  “Did you know about this?” Dominic hurled his words at an unsuspecting Clema.

  “What have you done, Dominic?”

  “Nothing that I wouldn’t do again. Did she tell you she was leaving?”

  “It sounded like it was a possibility. What did you think would happen? You’ve barely been around for weeks, and even when you’ve been physically here, you’ve been absent. People are fragile. You put them through too much and they break. Is that what you want of Hailey? For her to just be something to look at because she’s vacant inside?”

  “You know you’re not unlike your father. He was never a quitter. If she’s still here, you still have a chance, Dominic.”

  “I don’t care for ultimatums and she’s trying to make me choose. Either I give up looking for them or I give her up.”

  “You already know the right thing to do. I love you, Dominic, like my own son. I’ve raised you since you were born. I’ve been there for every minor scrape to biggest victory. I will always be there for you, but you’re an adult now. I can’t hold your hand anymore, but I can be there for your daughter, to hold hers. This isn’t about choosing sides, but when Hailey leaves, I’ll be on that plane with her. Don’t let us down.”

  ***

  A stream of tears were consistent as they poured from my eyes for the first two hours on the plane. We left that night on the last flight back to the states. I wasn’t surprised when Dominic didn’t leave with me, but I was surprised when Jackson revealed that he would be accompanying us back home. It showed that Dominic still cared, even if it wasn’t enough to choose us.