“We promise,” Zevon said, ducking his head to meet my eyes as they fell to my lap. “You couldn’t be any safer.”
After a few minutes of keeping my body stiff, waiting for something to happen, my eyes began to droop. Shaking the cloudiness from my mind, I moved up the bed and leaned against the headboard a few inches away from Dominic. He gave me a small smile before pulling out his phone. Zevon stood up and began to pace back and forth.
“Despite his pacing,” Dominic said, tilting his head at the other man, “he lives for this danger stuff.”
“So do you,” Zevon said. “You just hide it better.”
Dominic let out a low laugh, not denying the accusation. “That’s why I stay. If it weren’t for Ace, I’d have left long time ago.”
“Who…who exactly is Ace?” I asked.
“I don’t think we should delve into that right now,” Dominic said.
“I won’t tell,” Zevon huffed. “You seem to be telling her everything she needs to know about us all.”
“Some things really aren’t mine to tell, Zevon,” Dominic said, his voice lowering.
“Zevon?” I called, waiting for his pacing to stop and his eyes to meet mine. “Who are you to this family?”
“A misfit,” he answered. “My parents owed a debt to the Viccis, and I’m here to repay it. But this family is better than the one I left behind. The debt has been repaid, and I’ve just kinda stayed.”
“He stays because of the free range of drugs,” Dominic half coughed.
“I haven’t done anything for four weeks, Dom. I promised I’d get cleaned up, and I have.”
“Yeah,” Dominic said, looking back to his phone.
The both fell into their own thoughts and, before I knew it, my head fell onto Dominic’s shoulder without my consent. He gently rested his head on top of mine for a moment before lifting it up again.
“How long will clearing everything take down there?”
“Shouldn’t be taking this long,” Zevon said. “Be right back.” He slowly opened the door and then closed it once he was in the hallway. When he left, my body leaned once more into Dominic’s, seeking his warmth. My thoughts swam around what I’d do now.
I was pregnant. I didn’t want it. Would they let me get rid of it, or was that why they were so keen on keeping me alive?
“What has you thinking so hard?” Dominic’s voice whispered.
“I don’t want a baby. I…I can’t be a mother. I have to get rid of it.”
“Hey.” Dominic moved to face me. Tears clouded my eyes as he looked me over so intently. “There is no way to get rid of it. The baby,” he stuttered over the word, “is part of you. Ace has already told everyone—except Zevon, I guess—to make sure you stay healthy. I’m sure he knows you won’t want anything to do with it, but I don’t know what his plan is. If anything were to happen…”
“Then they’ll kill me,” I said.
“No,” Dominic sighed. “They would never lift a hand to you. But they would be very disappointed. I don’t really know what they would do.”
“I can’t have a baby, Dominic,” I cried. I willed him to do something, anything. I couldn’t live for a baby, if that was what they were hoping for.
“It’ll work out,” he said, but even he didn’t seem sure. “I’ll do whatever I can to help, okay?”
“I want it gone.”
Instead of saying anything, he pulled me into a light hug. My body slumped against his chest as tears fell.
Eventually, I used his lap as my pillow, letting my tears continue. Dominic seemed surprised, but didn’t tell me to move. I kept my eyes closed when Zevon returned. He apparently thought I was asleep, because there was no way he’d have said what he did if I were alert.
“Someone got in. I don’t know whom, but the cleanup crew is here. Looks like someone sent four men to find her.” His voice was quiet. “ Ace wants me to stay up here instead of helping.”
“Anyone hurt?”
