Unbound (The Dominator 3)

“Pull out to the main road, “I said to the driver, “Fast. I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

“No, Tommy. Wait. If it blows…” she started but I shut the door and stepped back. I saw her looking at me through the window. She looked frantic and pounded her fist on the window as the car moved out of the way. I saw her shouting at the driver but he was following my orders to move her away.

We were about eighty feet from the building and people were being pulled out. There were a lot of people outside the place already, people who’d obviously been evacuated already and several people had their phones, filming.

Firefighters started moving the crowd back and unrolling yellow tape.

I saw a gurney come out with Johnny on it, oxygen mask on his face. He was unconscious and not looking good. Fuck. I ran my hands through my hair.

Nino jogged to where a couple cops and Ben stood. He was all right. Good. His wife was with a group a little further back. I told them all to move back some more and we got behind the fire truck.

Minutes ticked by and I watched from what I hoped was a safe distance with Ben, Olive, and two other investors who hadn’t been in the bar area during the explosion.

A third bomb had not gone off. Either it wasn’t happening or Leo Denarda had to give the order but he couldn’t give any orders because my guys had him. Multiple ambulances were on the scene. All of my people were okay. But I felt sick to my stomach when I heard Olive say to Ben that they hadn’t seen Johnny’s wife Kate.

Tia

I was out of my mind with worry. That limousine sat idling on the side of the road a half mile away from the Fete building. The driver told us that the limo was armored as well and was trying to be soothing but in a bossy way because I was having a flip out and I think he knew he had to keep us safe and stop me from doing something stupid, like running toward the building to find my husband.

I didn’t know if that was just our luck that we were in an armored car or if Tommy had planned it that way, but I was not soothed by anything. I was sick with worry and sick with the images I’d seen.

One minute, I’m trying to calm my sister-in-law down and the next minute there was this shaking boom that I felt deep in my bones.

We couldn’t get the bathroom door opened to get out but by the sounds and smells I knew there was some sort of explosion and there was also fire. The fire alarms blared a second and then everything went dark. Tess and I had debated what to do and then finally, she pushed against the door and it wouldn’t move. I pushed too but I was pretty sure there was a person against it. I’d heard a grunt.

“Dex?” I’d called out but he didn’t answer and then a waiter came in, bringing all sorts of dust and smoke with him. I couldn’t see him well as we had our phone lights on but mine dropped to the floor the wrong way so wasn’t giving off much light. He grabbed me and started pulling me out and I knew instantly that this guy wasn’t here to help.

We started to cough as that dust filled our lungs and I screamed and tried to pull away so Tessa started fighting him off. I was trying to fight him off, too, but he was big and strong and so Tess got her shoe off and hit him in the side of the head with it. He swore at her and then struggled and hit Tessa in the face with a gun. There was dim light coming in from multiple places in the bar.

He dragged me with him, something poking my ribs.

“Come or I fuckin’ shoot ya.” He pushed the gun barrel into my ribs, and my mind was filled with fear for my unborn baby while I wondered if Tommy got hurt. I couldn’t fathom anything worse than hurt; it was too frightening.

When the guy got me out of the bathroom into what was looking like a hellhole, he climbed over Dex’s prone body, pulling me along with him. I’d cried out looking around, trying to see what was around us, which was a mess. Stuff dangling from the ceiling. Smoke. A horrible burnt smell. Something by the door to the far end of the place was on fire and I could see a few people moving around and hear people who were clearly hurt.

“Tommy!” I’d screamed out and the guy who had me covered my mouth and lifted me and pulled me quickly into another room as I saw what I was pretty sure was Tommy’s shape, back behind a bunch of debris but making his way toward our direction.

There was another boom and then we were behind the closed door of a supply closet. The guy had his hand over my mouth and he had the gun in my ribs again. It was pushed to my ribs to the point of pain and I just stayed still until I heard my husband calling my name. Tommy was close.

I bit the guy’s fingers and that got me enough room briefly to scream for Tommy. The guy smacked me in the mouth and then put his hand over my mouth again.

And a few very scary moments after that, yet another gun to my head, I saw my husband kill that guy. That guy who gave us info that might’ve saved us. And Tommy killed him. Like he’d killed his father for putting a gun to me.

This guy had hit Tess in the face with a gun and dragged and threatened me and my ribs did feel bruised. He’d smacked me in the mouth, too. He’d agreed to help us and gave us info and Tommy didn’t know the guy had struck me in the face but maybe Tommy had killed him for putting the gun to my head.

He’d promised me in the dark of night after nightmares that no one would do that again. He’d had so many dreams that I imagine had to do with Tom Sr. putting that gun to my head and the pointing it at me when Tommy shot him.

And all those people hurt, on the ground, crying or not moving was streaming like a movie through my mind. Tommy put us in a car and where on earth was he now?

I kept praying he wasn’t about to be blown to smithereens by that third explosion. I couldn’t even think about him being in there with that happening, I wanted to claw my way out of that car and run and save him.

Me, saving him? It was crazy-talk but I was overcome with this urge to get to him, to drag him away from that building.

After a really long time, with no explosion sounds, thankfully, he and Nino were approaching us and I was bawling with relief, wanting to barf, wanting to shake some sense into him for leaving me sitting here for what felt like hours.

The driver stepped out and Tommy said something to him and then the driver, Tommy, and Nino all got into the car and as we pulled away, he turned towards me and I immediately crawled into his lap and threw my arms round his neck. He held me close but he was shaking.

I looked up at his face, thinking he was shaking with relief for a second but then I saw something very different from relief. It was absolute rage.