Wide-eyed, I nodded as best as I could without causing myself any more pain. Who are these guys and what do they want? I thought as I watched the first one quickly flip Brian over onto his stomach, pull his arms behind him, then wrap what looked like a length of rope around his wrists to secure them. There was something familiar about the way he moved, but I couldn’t place it.
“Blindfold the kid,” the one tugging on my hair said to the other one as he dragged me over to the dining table and shoved me onto a chair before letting go of my hair, roughly yanking my arms behind me and securing my wrists with a length of rope. “Stupid bitch, you think you can get away from me?”
I inhaled sharply as I recognized Dominic’s voice, then exhaled slowly, hoping that he didn’t know that I’d recognized him.
“You know it’s me,” he laughed as he pulled off the mask and stepped in front of me. “Don’t try to hide it, Ava. I know you better than you think.”
I let out a terrified scream and began to cry.
*****
Dominic watched me through narrowed eyes, as if trying to decide what to do with me next.
“Shut up,” he ordered as he grabbed a handful of my hair and yanked down hard. I sat stock still as he pulled back on my hair, forcing me to look up at him. He threw the mask aside and then leaned down so that his lips were inches from my ear and whispered, “Did you miss me, baby?”
I swallowed the bile that rose in the back of my throat and tried to nod without speaking.
“No, tell me you missed me,” he demanded quietly. My stomach rolled as he spoke. “Tell me, beautiful Ava. Tell me how much you love me and how much you’ve missed me.”
“I…I…love you, Dominic,” I sputtered. The words felt like poison in my mouth, and for a moment I was glad that Brian was unconscious so he wouldn’t have to hear me lie. “I’ve missed you so much.”
“I don’t believe you,” he snapped as he let go of my hair and slapped me across the face. I bit my lip to keep from crying out, and when I didn’t look back up at him quickly enough, he reached under my chin and forced my head up to look at him. His eyes were cold and angry as he ordered, “Tell me you love me, and mean it.”
“I love you! I love you! I love you, Dominic,” I tearfully chanted. “I’ve missed you so much. I made a mistake and I want to come back. Please?”
“That’s better,” he smiled cruelly as he slowly scanned my body from top to bottom. I swallowed and fought to hide my true feelings so that I wouldn’t vomit. But when he ran his fingers down my cheek, I shrank from his touch. He ignored my response and murmured, “See? Isn’t it better when you admit the truth and tell me how you feel?”
“Mmm hmm,” I nodded as I felt the nausea rising again. I fought to keep myself from looking away as I held his gaze. In my peripheral vision I could see Dominic’s accomplice removing his mask, and my stomach sank when I realized that it was Cheese. The two of them together were my worst nightmare.
“You know my friend Christopher, don’t you, darling?” Dominic said as he watched me. “I believe the two of you became acquainted during an unfortunate incident at the Fiji house, didn’t you?”
I closed my eyes and tried to simply breathe, but Dominic was having none of it, and he yanked my hair so hard that I cried out.
“Do not fucking ignore me, Ava!” he yelled. “I will not have you ignoring me when I ask you a question!”
“Yes, we met,” I replied. My scalp burned and I wondered if he’d actually pulled out my hair.
“Good girl,” he murmured. “When you answer me, I don’t have to resort to hurting you to get a response. Now, you wanted to talk with me about getting back together, did you? Tell me about what you want to do with me.”
“I want…want us to…to get back together,” I stammered as I tried to respond quickly. My head hurt from the tight grip he had on my hair, and I was afraid that if I said the wrong thing, he’d order his henchman to hurt Brian.
“Really?” he said in a skeptical tone that let me know he wasn’t buying what I was desperately trying to sell. “Somehow I don’t believe you, Ava. Why is that?”
“Because I’m…I’m scared?” I whispered.
“It could be,” he said. “But it could also be because you’re lying to me. Are you lying to me, Ava?”
“No! No, Dominic I’m not lying! I love you and I want to get back together with you,” I cried. “I want us to be a family again!”
“Really? Now that’s quite a change of tune, Ava,” he said in a slimy tone that made my skin crawl. “A week ago, you were telling me that you never wanted to see me again. What’s changed in the seven short days between that conversation and now? Hmmm?”
“I realized my mistake,” I said as I lowered my eyes to try and show him my shame. “I was wrong. I’ve spent the week with the bodyguard my father hired, and I realized how wrong I was, Dominic.”
“You hear that, Cheese?” he laughed. “She’s telling me she’s sorry and that she wants to come back. What do you think about that?”
“I think is total bullshit,” Cheese replied dryly. “She’s a cock tease and she has no idea what she wants.”
“I think you might be right, my friend,” Dominic replied as he turned to me with a cold look in his eyes. “But first, I want to hear what the little lady has to say for herself. So, speak, Ava.”