"Thanks for meeting me," Hunter speaks quickly reflecting his nerves no doubt. The inflection in his voice lacked his usual exuberance.
"Don't thank me yet Hunter. I am not sure why we are even here. Even when my message comes with a heavy fist or two, it seems you just don't get it. I'm sure this little meeting of ours will be over very soon," Dom replies in his usual asshole manner.
"Let's not jump ahead of ourselves, Dom. We need to sort some stuff out," Hunter leans back on his chair.
"You didn't understand the message I had delivered already. Are you just that stubborn?" he replies through an awful smirk.
"That's what we are going to talk about. All in due course. Did you want anything? Tea or coffee? Something to eat?" Hunter is rising up out of his seat to order from the counter of the small French Patisserie they are in.
"I ordered already," Dom responds looking out of the window in the busy café.
"Of course you did," he turns and goes to the counter, thankful that it wasn't too busy this morning. The less people around them the better.
"What did you mean by that?" Dom questions, looking genuinely confused, asking as soon as Hunter sits at their table again.
"Any normal person Dom would have waited until their guest arrived before they ordered. You know, being polite and all," Hunter moves to a seat opposite him, to see him better. He watches unperturbed as Dom rolls his eyes. "Okay, you ready to do this Dom?" he asks quietly.
Dom nods his head and leans back in the wicker seat, crossing his legs.
"You are going to stop all the bullshit and games. Right now. After we finish our little coffee meeting, you are pretty much going to forget all about Verginius and I, the whole Bellafonte family, actually. You will act like you do not know any of us, imagine we are dead to you, cause honestly Dom, you have been dead to her for years. And before you start huffing and puffing, yeah, she is with me. Very much so," Hunter keeps his steely gaze locked on Dom, leaning forward to drive his point home, offering him a cocky smile, atypical of my Hunter.
"That's a joke Hunter. You are obviously seriously deranged. Ginny would never do that, she can't stand the sight of you. She probably forgets some of our time at St. Joseph’s but even now I can recall her bemoaning how you left her," Dom barks out with a laugh, shaking his head in disbelief.
"How did you get her to be so pliant? It always made me wonder? I mean the Verginius I know is full of passion, love, and noise," Hunter enquires softly, quirking his eye at Dom in challenge.
"Are you really so stupid?" Dom asks slowly.
"Obviously," Hunter says back quickly.
"Same way that I shut your mother up. Or have you still not figured that out?" Dom smiles like the snake he is.
"Well, let's see, maybe you can fill in the blanks," Hunter goades him some more. "Somehow, you found my mother in your father's bed? And well that started a lifetime of torment and misadventures at my expense. But I am still lost about this submission thing you have with women in your life. Oh, and please explain to me just how you had me thrown out of St Joseph’s?" he snarls angrily. Quickly refocusing himself with a series of short breaths.
"Getting you removed from St. Joseph’s….. that was child’s play. Dad just made the Dean an offer he couldn’t refuse. After all, you never had the money to survive in our world. Especially after my father got over his bullshit guilt about your mother’s unfortunate and untimely death. One phone call and you went from popular and privileged to having fucking nothing,” he took a sip of the water from the centre of the table, quickly moving on to the more personal nature of their vendetta. “And with your mother, that was pathetically easy as well. I mean is it my fault if your mother was a whore? She was obviously a gold digger, spreading her scrawny legs wide for any prick, especially if said prick had money to burn. It wasn't that she fucked him so much, it was that he was threatening to leave my mother for her. It makes my skin crawl, even now thinking how close we came to being related. But the greatest thing ever was that your mother already had a bit of an addiction, didn't she? And after all, all is fair in love and war, and well my family's name was at stake, so you are damn fucking right, I know how to shut my women up. Your mother couldn't stop snorting her way through all of the west-side, even when she was swallowing script after script of valium. You know, she was one greedy bitch, you sure she was not a fucking vaccum? The amount of money I spent on blow suggests differently. It was such a tragedy when she accidentally snorted an impressively large bag of bad blow. Apparently the autopsy showed she almost dissolved her own brain, I’m not surprised with the sheer amount of shit I had to cut up for her. Me, myself, I don't touch the nasty stuff, but I got to say the photos of that night take pride and place in my heart. Wonder where I kept that photo?" Dom sneers suggestively, only stopping briefly in his tirade when the waitress delivered his fresh juice and muffin.
"What about my father?" Hunter growls through his teeth.
"Well Mr. Hollingsworth Senior was a much harder nut to crack, but praise the Lord, we all have our vices, it just took much longer for me to discover his. Of course, it is the success of his children, so cliché if you ask me. So naturally, the past few years have been entertaining to say the least. I mean your poor brother, being dishonourably discharged from the navy on all those bogus charges, the shame your father must have felt. And do you even speak with Liam, your middle brother?" Dom pulls a face of disgust, "that terrible bike accident. No wonder everyone blames you though, you insisted that your mechanic was reliable, all those checks you did together. I do need to congratulate him though, looks like he is not limping so much anymore," Dom laughs again.
"Stop! Jesus, you are deranged," Hunter says, once again floored by the detail that Dom is admitting to.
"No. I am determined. I will keep going unless you disappear again Hunter. The deal was you go and not come back. I already have a few games in play with everyone’s favourite twins. So yeah, Caleb, Drew, and Matthew are next. Anyone that gets close to my Ginny is fair game," he snarls. His eyes are glinting in their excitement.
"Dom, you know that your game is up though, don't you? You have lost. Stunningly. You lost the girl. You lost her years and years ago, you are just too stupid to see it. She doesn't want you, she loathes you. And, for the record, I really am back. I am not being chased off again. I am not responsible for what happened in my family, that is all on you. Do I feel guilt? For sure. Am I a criminal? Well, that is a gray zone that we are working through. But what is plain as day is that I will risk it all Dom, to see you brought to justice. You have ruined too many people and I will not allow you to hide behind your family or their money anymore," Hunter's voice changes in a few minutes. His anger is replaced by his confidence and it is a beautiful sight.
"That's the thing though isn't it Hunter. If I go down, you go down. Everything you have on me or my family has been obtained illegally or by questionable means. Surely you can admit you are one of our fine countries most renowned creative computer programmers, I believe the FBI would be most interested in your illustrious career,” Dom slaps the table in his rising ire, but then he just smiles again, sitting back sipping his juice again, his psycho shining bright now, “I am not scared by your idle threats Hunter, you wouldn't sacrifice yourself to do the right thing. You have only ever done the right thing once. The night of the dance. You probably remember it different to me, sweeping in to rescue her. I was surprised how quickly she responded to the GBH, but beggars can't be choosers. Lucky, you locked me out of her suite because it would have been a very different outcome, although we probably wouldn't be having this discussion now, would we? Actually, I would have insisted you be my best man at my wedding. So yes all of this is because of you Hunter, you fucked up. You should have just let her go. Now though, I am more determined than ever to destroy the both of you," Dom picks up a napkin and daintily dots his mouth after his speech and smiles at Hunter like they are great mates at a bar. Hunter goes to speak but is interrupted by Dom's verbal diarrhea, again.
"And then I am still not sure if it was genius or not yet, but having her grandfather as one of your secret saviors, your benefactor, it's just ironic. I have hours of tape of her speaking with him about trying to understand why you left and where you went, why you impacted on her life so much. It is fucking hilarious. I listen to it when I work-out, it gets my blood pumping. I wonder though if she knows yet? Imagine the sting, that both of you lied to her for years. That you were her family's side project since that night?"
"She knows. She actually knows absolutely everything, Dom. And you know what?" Hunter says so softly that Dom actually had to lean over the table to listen.
"Oh do tell Hunter, what?"
"She is going to wait," Hunter responds, sharing the most open, honest smile I have ever seen.
"What do you mean?" Dom asks slowly.
"She is going to wait for me. See the thing is Dom, Gigi is and always has been mine. I would never not tell her anything. I share with her absolutely everything. She knows every one of mine and my family's dirty little secrets. She knows all that shit at St. Joseph’s was you. Her grandfather and I even explained to her how the Bellafonte family became my sponsor. I have no shame, in fact, I am proud of the fact that the first person I called after being escorted from St. Joseph’s was Mansueto. And the Bellafonte family helped me to select which Universities scholarship I should accept. I had already had the GPA to continue my education, it was easy. That is the Bellafonte family though, they give without expectation to those in need. And I was in need. Must drive you crazy Dom, that Gigi and I were just written in the stars. She understands why things happened the way they have and she knows emphatically the depth of my love. Gigi and I made a promise to each other when we were kids and nothing will break that. Nothing nor no-one Dom, no-one."
