“I’d been laid off from my job and Sarah didn’t work. Times were hard and I couldn’t find work. A friend who’d been laid off with me called and offered me a job. He said I’d be a courier for a company, delivering packages back and forth, and I jumped at it.
“During one delivery, I was ambushed by a couple of guys demanding that I give them the packages. A scuffle ensued, and when it was over, both of those guys were out cold on the ground and I delivered my packages. I didn’t know that was a test that I passed with flying colors. It earned me a promotion–in the cartel. I never even knew I was working for them.
“Anyway, they already had all the information on my family. If you know anything about them, Mr. Powers, you know you don’t tell them ‘no’and live to tell about it. I accepted my promotion and for a while I was able to avoid doing anything more than roughing up some guys for money they owed.
“The night it all went bad, my partner executed a man for not paying what he owed the boss. Since I was there, I was an accomplice and I went to prison. I didn’t realize it at the time, but after my ‘promotion,’ I became a different man. I had to so I could do the things I had to do.
“When I was released from prison, Sophia refused to have anything to do with me. That’s when I realized how bad it had been for my family,” he chokes up with emotion, then shakes his head and clears his throat. “The boss started calling me again and saying he had jobs for me to do. I felt trapped, and Sarah and I fought a lot about it.
“Sophia left one day and we searched for her everywhere but we couldn’t find her. I was beside myself with worry. It was a few months later when I saw her with Harrison. I knew he was bad news and I didn’t want her anywhere near him. So, I used my skills the cartel and prison taught me and threatened him within an inch of his life.
“What I didn’t know was that he is the best friend of the boss’s favorite son. The boss threatened Sophia’s life if I didn’t leave them alone. So, knowing how much Sophia loved Shawn, we arranged for Shawn to basically give her an ultimatum of picking between him and Harrison. I thought for sure she’d pick Shawn and come home,” Manuel says sadly.
“That’s not what Shawn said to me,” I clarify. “Remember the whole scene at the market? When you and Harrison got into a fight and you told me I had dishonored you?” The rage is building up inside me as I remember the events of that day.
“That was all planned, Sophia. I had to make Harrison believe I had nothing to do with you so the cartel wouldn’t hurt you. But when Shawn called you, he told you that,” Manuel counters.
“No, he didn’t tell me that at all. He told me basically the same thing you said to me that day. That I was an embarrassment to him and he didn’t want anything to do with me again,” I calmly explain, but I feel anything but calm inside. “He thought I was weak for choosing my lifestyle.”
If this is even a fraction of how betrayed Dom felt by me, I still have a lot of making up to do with him. My eyes drift to Dom and he already knows what I’m thinking. I can see it in his eyes, feel it in his energy, and sense it in his presence. His love for me is a physical being that reaches out to comfort me. His eyes tell me to let him take my burdens.
My love for him is so overwhelming, I think it will bubble up and burst forth from me spontaneously. He is so strong and demanding, yet loving and giving. He commands me, owns me, and dominates me. But he cares for me, caresses me, and pampers me. Giving me more than I could ever ask for and taking so little in return, this man deserves every bit of submission I can give him. I can only say that because through his every action, he’s shown that he’s worthy of my trust.
“I can assure you, sir, Sophia is far from weak,” Dominic says to my father but holds me captive with the adoration in his eyes. “She’s weathered storms that would make some men crumble. She keeps me on my toes and she never ceases to amaze me.”
My vision blurs from the happy tears in my eyes. The pregnancy hormones aside, this visit would be very emotional anyway, but my Dom knows what I need. He jerks his head to the side, indicating for me to move to the seat beside him and I quickly comply. Not because he ordered it, but because by his side is exactly where I want to be.
“You two look happy together,” Manuel acknowledges.
“We are very happy together,” I reply.
Dominic
It’s obvious to me now how people have underestimated Sophia far too much in her life. She’s far from weak–many people wouldn’t have the guts to walk in her shoes. Watching her interact with her father has been hard for me with my need to protect and shelter her. But I know it’s best for both of them to be able to say what’s on their mind.
“So, you thought Shawn would help bring Sophia home and get her away from Harrison. What happened after that backfired?” I ask Manuel.
“Harrison called me one day and said he’d let her go, but he didn’t want to just turn her out on the street again. Sophia had been accepted into college and needed help paying for it. So I paid all of her tuition, dorm room, books, and anything else she needed. That worked while she was in school but then she went back to him when she graduated.”
“What?” Sophia exclaims, leaning forward in shock. “Youpaid for my college? Harrison told me he paid for my college and that Ihadto go back to him after I graduated.”
“Sophia has already figured out that Harrison was grooming her in order to get to me. He blames me for his sister’s death since I was seeing her at the time. We’ve never gotten along, but it’s more than a coincidence that everything escalated when I started seeing your daughter. You and Harrison both have ties to the drug cartel, and theBoston Brake Jobon my car is one of their tactics,” I say and carefully watch his reaction.
“It’s not a tactic ofthisgroup of cartel members. There are a couple of men in the area who know how to do it, and would have access to the equipment to do it. If you know for sure that’s what it was, it wouldn’t be either of those guys. They wouldn’t leave any evidence,” Manuel declares. “No, if there was proof of it, it’s a newbie with access to some high-tech gadgets,” he says distractedly, as if he’s considering a preposterous idea.
“Any thoughts of who that may be?” I ask pointedly.
He closes his eyes and shakes his head, “Probably the same person who ‘misplaced’ the evidence against Shawn to use against Sophia. He has a few aliases that he uses interchangeably, depending on what job he’s handling at the time. The only person it could be–Detective Ramon Cortez.”
My blood just turned to ice in my veins.
