Page 21 of Divine Violence
But I wanted us to keep this one, and Dominic wasn’t on board with that.
“Dominic,” I barked, bringing his attention back to me. His irises were shot, misery etched into every single line on his face, and I didn’t know what to do. “What are you talking about, Dom?”
“I know her,” he mumbled. “Or, well…” he smiled sadly. “I think I know her, or at least I used to know her.”
“What are you…” I started and looked at Alexander. “What is he talking about?”
Alexander shrugged. “I have no idea, dude. He never told me.”
“Her family.” Dominic cleared his throat and started talking. “Her family used to hang out with mine, but they weren’t good people. None of them were. I tried to save her from it all. I tried to keep her from them.”
“Dominic!” I thundered. “Start making sense for fuck’s sake.”
“I don’t know what happened!” Dominic bellowed. “But they died. They all died, and the little girl who felt like sunshine wasn’t a part of my life anymore.”
“So why do you think that she is this girl you’re talking about?” Alexander asked him, placing a hand on his shoulder. “Hey, talk to us.”
“They have the same name,” Dominic mumbled and came closer to Echo and me. His hand trembled as he lifted it toward her hair. “The same hair, the same eyes… This is her. This is Echo from my childhood.”
“Dom—”
“I don’t know what happened to her. I only know what my fucking father told me. I don’t think it was an accident.”
“For fuck’s sake,” I hissed and turned around, storming toward the room we were going to place her in.
“Kai!” Alexander called after me. “Dude,” he said as he caught up with me. “It’s only Dominic. You know how he gets.”
“He’s never like this, not over a girl,” I said as I kicked open the door and walked inside the room. “Never like this, Alex. Something’s wrong with him. Something neither one of us understands, but something is fucking wrong.”
“He’s okay, Kai,” Alexander said, as if he was trying to convince himself more than me. “He’s going to be okay.”
“I am okay,” Dominic said as he walked inside the room. “But I’m telling you, this girl… she isn’t nobody. She meant something to me back in the day.”
“How are you so sure that this is the same girl?”
“I just know, okay?” He breathed out. “I know this is her. The fact that we’re going to destroy her tonight doesn’t sit well with me. None of this does.”
Gently, I placed her on the bed, turning back to Dominic and Alex who stood in the middle of the room now. The worry etched on Alexander’s face only added to my own, but we didn’t have time to go over everything that Dominic was saying.
“Dominic.” I approached him, taking his face in my hands. “She’s not that girl, okay? She has no family. I did a background check on her. She’s an orphan, living in a group home on the other side of the city. She isn’t some long-lost friend of yours. Get that fucking thought out of your head.”
“Then why does it feel like I know her?” he bit out and stepped back. “I know you feel it too.” He looked at me. “Don’t even try to deny it. Every other girl was nothing but a passing thought for all three of us, yet this one,” he pointed at Echo, “she already has us wrapped around her pinky finger and she isn’t even trying. I have a war inside my chest! A fucking war, where one side wants me to destroy her, to make her as filthy and as broken as I am, while the other one wants to hold her, cherish her, show her what it means to be safe.”
“Dominic, it’s not—” Alexander started before Dominic cut him off.
“You feel it too. Why would you do what you did on the boat, huh? She already owns us and I’m not sure that’s such a good thing. Especially not right now.”
“What do you mean?” I asked, narrowing my eyes on him. “What did you do, Dom?”
Silence descended on us. Alex and I looked at each other, trying to figure out what was going on.
“I fucked up,” Dominic whispered and dropped to the floor, crossing his legs as he sat down. “I did something I shouldn’t have.” He looked down at the floor, avoiding our eyes.
“What did you do?” I asked.
“And they found her. They shouldn’t have found her. I made sure of that.”
“What. Did. You. Do?” I asked through gritted teeth, hating the fact that I had no idea what happened.
