With one hand on the door knob, Brian opened his mouth to say something just as someone knocked on the door and called, “Room service!”
Brian looked out the peephole and confirmed that it was the guy who usually brought up our meals, and opened the door. As he turned the handle and the door flew open, the room server came flying into the room. He collided with Brian and knocked him against the wall hard enough to knock the wind out of him and send him to his knees. Brian quickly sprung back up as two masked men rushed into the room. One was short and square, and the other was tall and lanky. Brian swung at the short man, landing a punch in his stomach before the second man attacked.
“What are you doing!?” I screamed as the two masked men attacked Brian. “Leave him alone!”
The tall one rushed Brian, but quickly found himself on the ground as Brian swept his feet out from under him. The fat one regained his footing and tried to punch Brian in the face, but Brian ducked and the man missed, throwing him off balance and giving Brian a chance to land a brutal punch to the man’s kidney area and making him cry out in pain. The tall man pulled himself off the floor and landed a punch to Brian’s crotch, causing him to crumple to the floor, and giving the tall one a chance to reach under Brian’s hoodie and grab his gun. Before Brian could fight back, the tall one held the gun to his partner and said, “Put him out of his misery.”
“Stop it! Stop it!” I screamed hysterically as I ran toward them and began hitting the tall man who’d taken Brian’s gun. He turned and shoved me hard against the wall before spinning around and whipping Brian in the head with the pistol.
I watched as Brian slumped to the ground and the fat masked man kicked him in the ribs.
“Don’t hurt him!” I yelled.
Then the tall one looked down at the frightened room server on the floor and threatened, “Stay down there and be quiet or you’re next. Got it?” The boy nodded and lay still.
When I realized that they hadn’t come after me yet, I turned and ran toward the bedroom, but before I could reach the door, the second man quickly covered the distance between me, wrapped an arm around my waist, and grabbed a fistful of my hair before he slapped his hand over my mouth to keep me from screaming.
“Shut the hell up,” he growled in my ear as he pulled my hair so hard I thought he was trying to yank it out of my scalp. “I don’t want to hear your useless whining, got it?”
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.”