The more I read, the more I wondered if it was wise to enact my plan. What if Dominic brought a weapon? What if he decided he wanted to hurt innocent bystanders? What if he decides he wants to kill me instead? The last question replayed over and over in my mind as I tried to decide what was the best way to proceed. I knew I should be telling Brian about this, but I didn’t want to hear him tear the idea down, and I definitely didn’t want him to move into protective mode above and beyond what he was being paid to do.
I looked over my shoulder and saw that Brian was sitting on the couch engrossed in a texting conversation, so I turned back to the computer and began composing an email that I hoped would bring Dominic out of hiding and give me the opportunity to expose him for the monster he was.
Dear Dominic,
I’ve been thinking a lot about what you’ve said and written and I keep remembering how we had so many good times together and I don’t want to throw that away. I’m hesitant to jump back into anything, but I do feel like you deserve a chance to make your case and that I deserve the opportunity to hear what you really have to say to me. We shared a great love, and maybe it’s possible to revive what we once had and shape it into something even better.
Will you meet me on Thursday afternoon? I’m staying at our favorite escape with the bodyguard my father hired to “protect” me. Please, don’t worry about him, he’s nothing more than a hired gun who reports back to my father and sits around texting all day. He’s no competition for you, so let go of those thoughts and come find me and sweep me off my feet again.
Fondly,
Kitten
I had to swallow the bile that rose in the back of my throat as I reread my message. I felt none of the things I claimed to feel, and even writing them made me feel sick, but it was necessary if I wanted to lure Dominic into the trap I was about to set. I hesitated for a moment, swallowed again, and then pressed send.
I looked up from the computer and caught Brian staring at me from across the room. “What?” I asked.
“Nothing, just wondering how the homework is going,” he said.
“It’s. It’s fine. Why?” I asked. He was making me nervous with the way he was watching me, or maybe it was just my guilty conscience at work. Maybe he wasn’t even thinking about me beyond what he needed to do to end the situation and get rid of me so that he could get back to the new girlfriend on the other end of his phone.
“I’m just curious, that’s all,” he replied with a small grin that irritated me to the core.
“Well, maybe you should MYOB and get back to work figuring out how to get me home, hmm?” I replied in an annoyed tone.
“Yep, I’m on it, princess,” he said, his voice full of sarcasm and mocking.
“You are such a jerk,” I muttered under my breath.
“Oh, don’t I know it,” he muttered back, making me blush with shame. I didn’t want to be mean, but he was making me so mad at every turn, and the longer I sat there, the angrier I became until I was almost bouncing in my chair.
“Why are you doing this?” I shouted as I turned and looked at him.
“Doing what?” he asked with an innocent expression on his face that sent me over the edge.
“You are driving me crazy!” I yelled. “You are all nice and sweet to me and then you turn on me and now you’re totally cut off and cold. You don’t even notice I’m here because you’re so busy texting your little girlfriend…” A look of horror crossed my face as I heard the words slip out of my mouth. I’d had no intention of saying a single word about how I felt, but there it was, like a toxic cloud hanging over us, and I had no way of calling it back. I bit my lip and looked away as he burst out laughing.
“You have got to be kidding me!” He laughed harder.
“No,” I said as I narrowed my eyes and looked at him suspiciously. “I’m not.”
“My girlfriend?” He was laughing so hard could barely spit out the words. “Ava, when in the hell do I have time in the middle of this mess to find a girlfriend? Forget about trying to court her!” He was roaring now, and I was getting more and more pissed as he mocked me and my confession.
“Well, you’re on that phone texting like a maniac night and day,” I said. “What else could possibly be occupying so much of your time but a woman?”
“Oh man, you are a piece of work!” he declared. Then turning to face me, he looked at me for a long time before speaking again. “Ava, I assure you that there is no woman aside from you.”
I waited for him to say something more, but he simply stared at me in silence until I looked away.
“Okay then,” I said quietly. I had no idea what to say next. He’d given nothing away, and I didn’t want to risk blurting out how I felt about him only to have him start laughing again. So I asked, “Then what are you doing on that phone?”
“It’s something, um, personal,” he said quietly.
“Well, this whole mess is really personal for me, and I let you into that,” I said smartly. “It’s only fair that you let me into your stuff!”
“The difference is that I’ve been hired to do a job that involves protecting you,” he said. “It has to be my business.”
“Oh, so that’s how it goes,” I shot back. His remark stung and I was on the defensive now. “All the other personal stuff you told me was just part of the job?”