Maria unbuckled his pants, pushing the slacks down his thighs. She then reached behind her, placing a hand on either side of her waist and jump-bounced herself to sit on the edge of the counter. She pulled Dominick forward and forced him to kiss her, wrapping her legs around his waist and tugging his head side to side.
He responded as if being handled was exactly what he liked. I narrowed my eyes at the sound of metal hitting tile. His gun.
His pants had fallen to the floor and his gun was in the holster hooked to his belt.
I didn’t tell Brock what I was doing, but I motioned for him to stay there. I had one shot. Just one. Whether by design or not, Maria was delivering me a way to get Dominick unarmed. I just had to hope that Demetri was nowhere near done checking on Gray.
I crawled forward, sticking to the shadows, trying to ignore the sounds of my girlfriend’s mother seducing my uncle. When it was looked at that way, it couldn’t be more messed up sounding.
“Tell me, Master, what have you done? Tell me how you got your power. I love that story.” Maria scratched her nails down Dominick’s chest, the sound rough as his shirt moved with her touch.
“You like hearing how I ordered my brothers’ deaths? How I paid Tiny to kill them overseas? Yeah, you would like that, you sadistic little bitch.” He fisted her hair, wrapping it around his fingers as he yanked her head back and leaned forward to bite her neck.
He’d ordered his brothers’ deaths. His brothers were my uncles and my… dad. He’d been the one to set that up? They’d been trying to serve their country and instead of worrying about the enemies on the other side of the world, they’d had their own family to worry about and they hadn’t even known it.
I glanced back at Brock, motioning him to hold it together. We’d always known Dominick was worthless. He’d obviously killed his own brothers because he was jealous. Why else would he do something so horrific?
I steadied my breathing, keeping my anger contained as I moved toward the stainless-steel swinging door leading to the kitchen. I got there and took a breath, unable to see what they were doing anymore. All I could hear was kissing and gasping as if their passion for each other was all-consuming.
“Not that one. The other one. The one where you made sure you won.” Maria’s panting didn’t sound fake, but I had to hope it was. I had to hope she was on our side.
“I always win.” Dominick laughed. “I brought my sniper brother home. Tiny missed him. Let’s be honest. As great as I am, I couldn’t hire a competent hitman in the past. Tiny missed Hunter and when Hunter came home, I hired him to do my dirty work. Then Hunter got a conscious.”
I held my breath, frozen in the moment. I wasn’t going to be able to go anywhere. Not right then. I had to know just how far my uncle had gone.
“Keep going. I love this part.” Maria growled, and then groaned as Dominick did something to her I couldn’t see.
“Hunter’s stupid conscience got in the way. He wouldn’t contract for me. I was even willing to pay him a good chunk, but he wouldn’t take it. Stupid… I had to set up his death like a suicide. Now I control my nephews. I have no problem killing family, which should scare you more than excite you, you horny wench.” He laughed maniacally.
I stood up.
That was it. That bastard was going to die. Instead of sneaking through the door like I’d originally planned, I just wanted to get my hands on my uncle and beat him until he couldn’t talk anymore.
The door swung open without a sound and I rounded the corner, taking in Dominick’s position as he pounded into Maria where she sat on the counter. She flicked a partially surprised gaze my way, but I couldn’t tell if that was because I caught her with half her chest out and gripped in Dominick’s hand or the fact that I was standing there and not just taking his gun and doing things that way.
I didn’t know and I didn’t care. I was there for a pound of flesh and I couldn’t wait to beat it out of him.
“Hello, uncle.” I popped my knuckles. He might be bigger and meaner, but I had righteous anger on my side.
And I’d caught him with his pants down.
The only thing I needed to worry about was Demetri showing up. And the sudden flash of silver in Dominick’s hand as he produced a flip-blade knife to brandish my direction.
Chapter 17
Gray
We went the full five rounds.
Every punch, every jab, every footfall had been forced and desperate on both our sides. Letesha had sobbed at the end, resting her hands on her hips and breathing in short hard gasps.
I’d taken a gut punch when I’d exhaled. She’d knocked the wind out of me in the third round and I’d been trying to recover my breath ever since.
Bending at the waist, I rested my gloved hands on my knees in my own corner. My empty corner. Dad was gone. Stryker and the guys were gone. I had no one left. The other guys on the team wouldn’t come to help me. I’d helped them, but that put me in more of a position to be their support than the other way around.
It was fine. I wasn’t going to wait for other people to be there for me. Stryker and his cousins had to go so they could figure out what was going on and maybe save Letesha’s family.
But, as I rubbed the towel across my face and scanned the crowd in the gym for what felt like the thousandth time, I had to admit to myself that if they’d succeeded, they’d be in there celebrating or at the very least, letting me know.
Sweat trickled between my breasts and I turned back to the referee who whistled for Letesha and I to come to the center. I used my teeth, tearing at the strap on my glove to unhook it and then I tucked it under my arm and pulled while I walked forward. I needed full access to my hands. I suddenly couldn’t handle being bound any more. No matter what happened, Letesha and I had a lot on the line.
I removed both gloves, tossing them in the direction of my corner and then I turned back to my opponent, ignoring the referee and the lost look in Letesha’s eyes. I held out my hands. “Here, let me take those off.”
She blinked at me, her eyes blank and lost. We didn’t know who had won. Not yet. But our fighting was over. Either way, it wasn’t in our hands any more.
We had honestly done all we could for our loved ones and ourselves. We’d even pleaded and begged with the other person for help. Nothing was going to make a difference in that moment as we waited for the referee to read the judges’ decision.
The ring floor had a certain give under my feet, one I was more than familiar with. I couldn’t help focusing on the minute features in that moment that kept me grounded; the mat, the grab of the canvas under my bare feet. The insistent waft of cooler air that hit my skin every time someone opened the double side doors. The tightening of my muscles as I moved side to side in a vain attempt not to cool down too quickly and injure myself.
The referee moved into the center, reaching for my left hand and Letesha’s right. Without a microphone, he yelled out, “And the winner by judges’ decision and with two more point-claiming hits, Gray Asher from Jameson!” His yell hit me like another punch to the abdomen and I exhaled on a choppy whoosh.
“No!” Letesha screamed, yanking her hand from the referee’s hold and twisting away to escape. She stumbled through the ropes, breaking through the crowd who booed her as she passed by. What they saw as poor sportsmanship was actually a girl rejecting the idea that her family was in harm’s way.
I ran after her, ignoring the chill of gym floor under my feet or the fact that I wore nothing more than my fighting outfit.
Pushing through the crowd, I nodded briefly at people who congratulated me, ignoring any other questions or comments.
Letesha ducked into the girls’ locker room, her sobs leading me when my view of her was blocked by other people.
Wiping my forearm across my forehead, I ignored the wave of desperation clutching me in its grasp. I didn’t want to lose Sara. I didn’t want Letesha’s siblings to die.
None of the situation was fair. None of it. Why was my fa
mily wrapped up in all of the chaos?
I finally reached the locker room door and shoved my way inside.
Where the gym had been a teeming mass of people weaving in and out in a chaotic pattern, the locker room had an air of expectation about it, like it knew we were coming and the very walls held their breath in anticipation.
Letesha’s sobs pulled me forward and I crept over the tiled flooring, my hands outstretched as I moved. The lights were on, flooding the locker room with more than enough light to see with.
I blinked, trying to gauge just where and why Letesha still cried. Was she on the phone or trying to get her things so she could go in search of her brother and sister?
“Letesha? Are you in here?” I knew she was. I could hear her, but the sobs had decreased, no longer bouncing off the walls in an echoing pattern I could follow.
“Ah, Gray. You made it. Come on in.” My aunt’s voice released any doubts or questions I’d had and I dropped my hands to move into the main part of the locker room where the weigh-in had taken place.
The shower area had been stripped of the cubicle the judges had set up for Letesha and me. Even the volunteers had disappeared to leave the locker room like normal. The only thing that didn’t belong that I could see were the two younger people sitting on the bench beside the half-wall partition with gags on their mouths and their eyes wide with fear.
Danielle stood in front of them, her lazy smile disconcerting as she waved a black metal gun toward me and then back toward them. “I wondered if you were going to join us. This makes things so much easier.” My aunt grinned at me, as if I somehow got the joke even though no one told me anything.
Letesha’s chest rose and fell as she clung to the partition and stared at her brother and sister. They couldn’t have been older than ten or eleven. Tears streaked their cheeks and their wide dark eyes looked so much like their sister’s.
I stepped forward. “Let them go, Danielle. Dominick wanted me. I’m here. He can have me instead. That’s fine.” But was it? Didn’t a part of me envy the fact that they would have just died a simple death whereas I was destined for far worse circumstances under Dominick’s hold?
Letesha’s gaze tripped from me to Danielle and then back again, as if she had no idea what to hope for or what could happen.
The air in the locker room was chillier than the gym, unheated by the lack of any people. I couldn’t decide if it was better to have so many people there and oblivious to what was happening or if we would get a break with another panicked stampede like Tiny had caused with his shooting at The Pike.
Unfortunately, I didn’t think we were in the situation where anything was going to help us, unless I could convince Danielle – my aunt – to give a damn for once in her life.
She shook her head, her hair moving around her shoulders. She lifted an eyebrow, taking in my now-absent locks. “Poor Gray. You look like a boy now. Dominick isn’t going to want you looking like that. I bet Stryker doesn’t either.”
She’d touched on my insecurity, but rather than let it bother me, I shrugged. “I had to make weight. That’s all there was to it.”
She shook her head, holding the gun steady on Letesha and her siblings.
I had to get them out. That was the only way I could help Letesha at that point. It was too late for me, winner of the fight or not. My family was too wrapped up in whatever twisted crap was going on. Even if I did get out of there, my aunt, my mom, my father, my best friend, and guys I was starting to consider family were all still embroiled in the situation. I’d never let them do it alone – even my aunt as she trained a gun on innocent people.
“Fine. Dominick doesn’t need to want me. I’m fine with that. He wants you, though, right?” I had to take a stab at it. I knew she was messing around with my dad, but was she involved with Dominick? Why was she doing these things?
“Dominick loves me. He’s always loved me. Did you know he saved me? It was a long time ago. I fell for this guy and then he joined the military. I can’t even remember what branch.” She laughed, shaking her head, the muzzle of the gun dipping and swaying as she talked. “My heart was broken. Broken, Gray. Do you have any idea what that’s like?” She stared at me as if heart break was a disease and I had the audacity to not have it yet. She didn’t care if I answered as her voice softened and she spoke almost as if she had a normal conversation with herself. “Well, Dominick found me at the airport. I was crying because the love of my life had left and I’d begged him not to go. Dominick offered me a way to numb the pain until Hunter came back. This was so long ago. I can’t believe I still remember.” She sniffed and wiped at her nose with her free hand. “Anyway, he’s helped me ever since.” She flashed an over-bright smile my direction and then looked back at Letesha.
Had Danielle said she’d loved a man named Hunter? Was this more tied into the Jameson family than I’d originally thought? Dominick had given her something to numb her pain. He’d hooked her with the drugs, probably, and then it had all gone downhill from there. Wasn’t that the standard story I’d heard from Chris about Jasmine and seen in other factions of the Russian gangs?
“Okay, sweetheart. It sounds like you lost, is that right?” Danielle spoke to Letesha, her voice lilting like they were long lost friends. She straightened her stance and smirked with a shrug. “Sorry, I have my orders and I’m not going against Dominick.”
“Danielle, was your military man Hunter Jameson?” I stepped in front of Letesha and her siblings, tilting my head to the side like I didn’t see the gun.
Danielle’s eyes narrowed and she softened her hold on the gun, letting her aim lower a few inches as she considered me. “Well, he told me it was Hunter Romanovs, not Jameson. Jameson is Dominick’s last name.” She pursed her lips. “What game are you playing, Gray?”
I held up my hands. “I’m not playing any games. I just know that Gunner’s dad was Hunter Jameson. I don’t know of any Hunter Romanovs. Hunter isn’t exactly a Russian name, is it?” Was Danielle that stupid that she’d believe that his last name was a well-known Russian name?
I wasn’t sure why Hunter would tell her the wrong last name, but Danielle was being lied to and she should know before she killed anyone for Dominick – even if she already had.
She seemed to think about what I said, staring at me as she went over my words.
I held my silence, unwilling to push her one way or the other without knowing what she was thinking. What if she shot me for making her doubt Dominick? What position would I be in then to help anyone?
“Interesting perspective, Gray. Your dad is an idiot, so we know you don’t get your brains from that side.” She rolled her eyes and then pointed at her chest. “Now, your mom and I were always so smart. I hated that she left.”
“Sure, you did. Why don’t you stop lying?” I rolled my eyes and motioned behind me. “Let them go. This game is getting old.”
“Lying? Why would I lie to you?” She took one step forward, tucking her chin while she studied me.
“I know about you and my dad. You were seen leaving my house with him right after Mom left. You’re probably the reason she ran away when she did. You betrayed her, sleeping with her husband. You’re disgusting.” A bit of spittle flew from my mouth and I clamped my lips shut. I was getting too emotional. The moment that happened was the moment I lost control. I’d learned a long time ago to hold my cool in a fight or in a confrontation of any type.
Don’t let the other person affect you personally. Keeping control was harder than it looked.
Danielle stared at me, huffing and nodding her head. “I did sleep with him, but it’s not like you think. He owed a lot of money. A lot of money and for some reason, the Russians kept letting him off. We needed… Well, anyway, that’s something for your sweet Jamesons to fill you in on. I’m not sure they’re entirely innocent in all this.”
She glanced past me and then returned her gaze to me. “I think I’m going to kill them just because you asked me not to.”
I held up a hand. “Can I just talk to them really quick?”
Danielle quirked an eyebrow, her confidence in the situation comforting.
I turned to Letesha and grabbed her hand, whispering. “When I get you out of this, you have to find Vlasi Ivanovs. Tell him what’s going on and that the Jamesons are in trouble.” I had no idea if it was going to do anything but at that point she needed hope and I did, too.
She nodded, the small spark of hope I’d given her just enough to rekindle my plans.
I could get us all out of there. I just needed a chance.
Chapter 18
Stryker
Dominick continued screwing Maria as he turned toward me, mild surprise on his finely sculpted features. He moved back and forth, not even flinching as he saw me. A shock of hair fell across his forehead and he squinted at me, his hands digging into Maria’s hips. “What are you doing in here, Stryker? Shouldn’t you be watching your girlfriend pulverize someone? Or maybe getting ready for your own fight?”
“I’m right where I need to be, Dominick. You lying, murderous, sonuvabitch.” I reached for him, not caring if he was still in the middle of getting his rocks off or what. I tried not to hurt Maria as I wrapped my fingers around the back of Dominick’s neck and yanked him back. He wasn’t bigger than me in muscle mass or even in height. I’d just always given him more power than he deserved with the respect I’d offered him.
He’d spit on our minimal affections like they were of no value to him. Maybe the fact that he was family or was supposed to be was why it hurt so much to hear that he had so little care for what family meant.
“Can I at least pull my pants up?” Dominick half-turned, his hands partially in the air and a snide smile on his Jameson lips.
Her Champions: A high school bully romance (Bad Boys of Jameson High Book 3) Page 15
