Page 43 of Exile

“I asked you a question. Don’t you think this is a decision we needed to make together?” This time Dom asks his question against my ear, speaking in a tone that can only be described as a growl. Before I can respond, he pulls me away from the car, only to open the door to the back seat and toss me in unceremoniously. By the time I get myself upright, he’s in the driver’s seat, pulling out of the parking lot, steering my car back towards home.

“What the fuck, Dom? What are you doing?” My fear gives way to righteous indignation, but Dom ignores my question. He doesn’t say another word to me on the drive back to his house, and by the time we pull into the driveway, it feels like my heart is going to explode out of my chest. I move to get out of the car before Dom can reach me, but I find myself trapped by the childproof lock. Dominick yanks the door open, grabs me by my arm and jerks me out of the car. I flop out of the vehicle like a rag doll and do my best to stay on my feet as he marches me up the stairs of the front porch.

“Dom, you’re hurting me! Let go!” I try my best to wrench out of his hold, but it is useless.

“I’m hurting you? I’m hurting YOU? I’M HURTING YOU?” Dom’s voice gets louder and scarier as he drags me by the arm, nearly jerking my shoulder out of its socket. “I’m not the one who started this battle, Serena. Maybe you should’ve had an adult conversation with me before you unilaterally made a decision that affects both of us!” In a fluid movement, Dominick yanks open the front door and throws me through it. I land on the floor in a heap, my knees slamming into the hardwood. I barely catch myself before my face meets the same fate.

I scramble back, trying to escape his wrath. He looks like a dark god in his all-black police uniform as he stalks toward me. I don’t make it far before he pulls me up by my hair, tearing a pained yelp from my throat. “Dom, stop! Please! I’m sorry! I didn’t think you’d mind!” My vision is blurred with tears, my words gasping sobs as I scratch at his hands, trying to make him let go.

“You didn’t think I’d care?! After everything I’ve done for you? After everything I’ve done for your mom?! This is how you repay me? Go behind my back and take away my choice to have a child with you? I thought we were starting our lives together, Serena?! How could you do this to me?” With my hair wrapped around his fist like a leash, Dominick leads me up the stairs, leaving me no choice but to follow along unless I want him to rip it out by the root.

“Dom, it’s an IUD! It’s not permanent!” I scream at the top of my voice, trying to talk reason into him. When we make it to the bedroom, he tosses me onto the bed, and I scramble back, pressing my back against the headboard, trying to put distance between us.

“You saw how devastated I was when you found out you weren’t pregnant. Then you decided to turn around and make extra sure it can’t happen? Are you just using me to escape your mom but have no real intention to make a life with me? Are you fucking playing me, Serena? I KILLED A MAN FOR YOU. I SAVED YOU. Is having my child really that fucking awful of a fate to you?” He is in my face now, his large hand wrapped around my throat, cutting off my air while holding me in place, forcing me to look him in the eye. “I love you. How can you betray me like this?”

I can’t respond while he chokes me, so I do the only thing I can think of to try to calm him down. I cup his face in both of my hands and pull him to me, pressing a wet, salty kiss against his lips. I pray he feels the apology in my kiss and accepts it. The punishing grip he has on my airway lessens. I open my mouth to gasp in some air, and he takes the opportunity to dive in, shoving his tongue into my mouth, taking control of the kiss, devouring me with his intensity. Just when I think his anger has begun to ebb away, his hold on my throat tightens again, cutting off my air. My eyes fly open in surprise when he pulls away, and the look he gives me is both wicked and terrifying.

“Oh, Kitten. If you think you’re going to avoid a punishment by distracting me with your mouth, you don’t know me very well at all. You lied to me. You betrayed me. You’re going to have to do better than a kiss if you want to earn my forgiveness.”

Black spots dance in my vision, and my lungs begin to burn from lack of oxygen. Weakly, I slap at his arm—trying to get him to let go—but he doesn’t even react. With his free hand, Dominick undoes the button on my jeans and starts yanking them off. I dig my nails into his arm holding me in place, tears and snot making my face a mess. My head begins to pound from lack of oxygen, and I’m terrified he won’t let up before he chokes me out completely. I don’t want to know what he will do to me if I’m not awake to stop him.

Just as he gets my jeans down to my ankles, his work phone comes to life, its obnoxiously loud ring bringing him out of his rage-induced fog. I lie there, held in place, trembling like a lamb cornered by a wolf, waiting to see what he will do. Just when I think I’m going to lose the battle to stay conscious, Dominick lets go of my throat, allowing cool air to rush into my lungs. I begin gasping and choking, afraid I’m going to vomit. I do my best to swallow back the bile, afraid to anger him even more by losing my lunch all over his bed.

While Dominick answers his phone, I lie there, shivering from the adrenaline crash, trying my best to calm my racing heart. I listen in on Dominick’s call, wondering what would be so important that he would interrupt his assault for a phone call.

“Hey, man, sorry I ditched you.” He goes quiet, listening to whomever is on the other end of the call. “Yeah, I found her. I had to give her a ride back home after a doctor’s appointment. Can you come pick me up?” More silence while he listens to the caller. “Nah, she’ll be fine. She isn’t going anywhere else today.” Dominick levels a look at me when he says the words, the dead look in his eyes sending another wave of terror crashing over me. “Yeah, I’ll see you in ten.”

Dominick hangs up the phone and begins tucking in his uniform shirt back into his pants. It must’ve come undone during our fight. I remain still, afraid if I move, I will reawaken the monster that resides under his skin.

“I am needed back at the station. Eric is coming to pick me up. You’re going to stay here until I get back. This conversation is not over.”

I’m too stunned by the sudden change in his demeanor to speak, so I nod dumbly. I don’t move from my spot on the bed until I hear the front door open and close with Dom’s departure. Then I rush to the bathroom to vomit up all of the terror I experienced in the last half hour.

CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

SERENA

Idon’t know how long I lie on the bathroom floor, numb from the shock of Dominick’s anger. Eventually, I manage to drag myself upright and check my reflection in the mirror. Once again, there is no visible evidence of Dominick’s assault, but the ghost of his punishing hold still lingers on my skin. Deciding I have no desire to risk facing his wrath when he returns home, I head downstairs to leave. I don’t know where I will go, only that I can’t remain here.

I scan the first floor, looking for my car keys, but they are nowhere to be found. Dread pools in my gut as I desperately hunt for the keys to my escape. When I determine they are not in the house, I head out to the car hoping against hope that Dominick was so focused on punishing me that he left the keys in the ignition. The small flicker of hope is quickly snuffed out when I get to the car and find it locked, keys missing, along with my purse that had been left in the backseat.

“Fuck!” I smack my palm against the window, frustration and terror bubbling up inside of me. Dominick’s house is secluded, with no close neighbors, and it is far enough from town that walking will take hours. Without my purse, I have no phone to call for a ride and no money. Panic begins to take root when I realize how few options I have. Do I hide? Do I walk and hope someone picks me up? Do I stay and pray Dominick comes home in a better temper, ready to apologize for his outburst?

The thought of staying and facing him causes bile to rise up in my throat. I can’t do it. I can’t stay. Without thinking about it, I start walking down Dominick’s long gravel drive, heading to the main road. I’ll hitchhike if I have to, but there is no way in hell I am staying here a minute longer.

Ten minutes into my walk, I’m cussing myself for not thinking to grab a jacket. The air is brisk, and the sun is beginning to set, signaling a drop in temperature will be coming soon. I am so consumed by my thoughts, I don’t immediately notice the car driving past me, slowing down to pull over on the shoulder. It isn’t until the flashing blue and red lights come on that I realize they’ve stopped a few yards in front of me. My feet freeze to the ground, fear keeping me rooted in one spot. If it’s Dominick, I don’t know what I’m going to do. I squint against the strobing lights, trying to make out who is getting out of the police cruiser.

“Serena? Is that you?” My knees go weak with relief when the familiar voice calling out to me doesn’t belong to my fiancé. Dane stops directly in front of me, blocking the glare from the lights, looking at me with concern dancing in his eyes. “Why are you out here walking when it’s almost dark? This road isn’t safe to walk on without any sidewalks. You don’t even have a coat. Come on—get in my car. I’ll give you a ride.”

Dane grabs my elbow to steer me to his cruiser, but I hesitate, my feet refusing to move while my brain tries to process my options. He turns, giving me a confused look. “Let’s get you in the car where it’s warm. Where are you heading?” He gives my arm another tug, and I follow him, my legs working mechanically while my brain tries to come up with an answer to his question.

Where am I going? Can I tell him what Dom did? Can his partner be trusted? After Eric sent Dom that picture of Kai and I hugging, setting off Dom’s first violent outburst, I don’t feel like I can trust that either man would believe me. Lost in my own thoughts, I don’t realize what’s happening until I’m tucked into the back of Dane’s cruiser with the door shut, trapping me in. My heart begins to pound in my chest, panic rising when I realize I can’t get out. Where there should be a handle to open the door, there is only flat plastic, and a steel grid separates the back seat from the front. Dane stands outside of the car making a call on his cellphone, and my heart sinks. I watch helplessly as he turns his back to me, walking a few feet away so I can’t overhear his conversation.

Minutes later, he hangs up and stalks back to the vehicle, keeping his gaze trained on the ground, avoiding my pleading stare in the window. I hold my breath when he takes his seat behind the steering wheel, unsure whose side he is on. Dane glances up in the rearview mirror, conflict clearly written across his features. “I’m gonna give you a ride to the station. Dominick will be waiting for you there.” My stomach plummets at his declaration, and my eyes burn from fresh tears forming. “He mentioned you guys had an argument. Even if you’re mad at him, you shouldn’t put yourself in danger by walking in the cold and dark alone. That isn’t how you prove a point.”

An argument? He told Dane we had an argument? Is that what choking your fiancée to the point of almost blacking out is to Dominick? A fucking argument? “He said we had an argument?” My voice is shrill, incredulous even. My blinding fear is momentarily replaced by anger at how flippantly Dominick dismissed what he did to me.

Dane responds by flicking off the strobe lights and steering the car back onto the road. He’s on a mission to deliver me back into the arms of the monster who was once my savior.