e his sacrifice so that you can live.”
I looked down into the terrified eyes of the teenager and held my breath.
I opened my mouth and found myself pitching forward toward the floor. I landed on top of the terrified room server who let out a loud “Oof!”
“What the hell!” I yelled as I felt someone land on top of me, forcing an “Oof!” out of both me and the poor room server on the bottom of the pile.
“I wouldn’t move if I were you,” said Dominic as he pressed the barrel of the gun to my head. “Are you going to attack me, Mr. SEAL, or are you going to let me get up?”
“Get up, you coward,” Brian growled as he backed away from the pile.
Dominic slowly lifted himself off of me as he kept the gun aimed at my head. He then yanked me off of the frightened teenager and pulled me against him so that my back was pressed against his chest and I could see Brian’s face. I could feel the cold metal of the gun against my temple, and I smiled weakly at Brian so that he wouldn’t know how scared I was. He looked right through me as he fixed his gaze on Dominic and the gun.
“You see, SEAL, I win. I get the girl. You lose,” Dominic proclaimed. “You are nothing more than a hired hand.”
“Oh, you have no idea what I am, you arrogant prick,” Brian shot back as he watched Dominic closely. “But the one thing I’m not is you, thank goodness. Who would want to be such a pathetic loser?”
“You’re good at what you do, but you’re not going to get me worked up,” Dominic chuckled. “You see, I win. I will always win. I have money and money makes everything work. You don’t have money, so you are nobody. You can’t have girls like this because you have nothing.”
“Is that what you think? That I want your girl?” Brian laughed loudly as he began circling us, forcing Dominic to turn on the spot where we were standing in order to follow him. “That’s just ridiculous. Why would I want used goods?”
His words pierced my heart and I wondered, Is that what he thinks of me? I was trembling as Dominic spun in place. The gun was hard and cold against my head, and I could feel the tears welling up in my eyes as I realized that one wrong move and he’d fire a bullet right into my brain. I wouldn’t stand a chance. My eyes searched wildly for Brian, but he was on the move and was keeping us moving, too.
“Used goods? Is that all you think of her? My, my, my, that’s not very complimentary, is it, Kitten?” Dominic looked at me as he asked the question. “How do you feel about being called used goods?”
“I’m not used goods,” I whispered.
“What did you say? You need to speak a little louder, dear,” Dominic ordered. “We can’t hear you.”
“I’m not used goods,” I said more clearly.
“Well, I believe the SEAL here thinks you are,” Dominic reminded me. Brian continued moving, his attention focused on Dominic, but I could see that he was holding something in his right hand. I couldn’t tell what it was, though. Dominic pressed the gun against my head harder and more insistently. “I think maybe he might be right. Maybe you are used goods, and you know how much I hate it when something that is mine has been used.”
I couldn’t hold it in any longer, and the tears began sliding down my cheeks. I had done everything I could to try and save all of us, and now I was going to be the first one to die. Dominic was going to win, again. I’d done everything I could to escape from him, and he was going to have the last word here in this hotel room with Brian watching. I closed my eyes and willed myself to breathe deeply. If I was going to die, I wasn’t going to fight it. I would stay calm.
Seconds later I heard Brian yell, “Duck, Ava!” and without thinking I pulled away just as Brian flew across the room and grabbed Dominic’s arm. He let go of me and turned the gun on Brian. I heard myself screaming as the gun went off and the sound rendered me deaf for a moment. Was I shot? I didn’t feel like anything hurt, and it didn’t look like I was bleeding. I looked up and saw Brian punch Dominic in the face as he swore a blue streak. Dominic punched back wildly, but only landed one to every four of Brian’s.
Where is the gun? I couldn’t see it in Dominic’s hand. I frantically searched the room with my eyes and finally located it on the floor just under the sofa. Dominic had dropped it when he’d fired a round, and Brian must have kicked it out of the way. I scrambled across the floor and grabbed it from its hiding place as Dominic landed a vicious punch, and I heard the crunching of bone against bone as his fist connected with Brian’s cheek.
I winced as I lifted the gun and pointed it at Dominic. His earlier punishment had left my arm an aching mass of bruises, but I held the gun up as I stood and yelled, “Dominic, stop! Now!”
He turned and looked at me holding the arm that was holding the gun and then burst out laughing. His laughter struck a nerve, and I nearly pulled the trigger. I would have, too, had it not been for the fact that this gave Brian the opportunity to connect one very brutal punch to Dominic’s ribs. I watched Dominic crumple to the ground holding his side as he writhed in pain, then looked up at Brian and held out the gun.
Brian quickly crossed the room and took the weapon from me and tucked it back inside the holster under his hoodie before moving back over to where Dominic lay crying in pain, and gave him a swift kick in the ass for good measure. Wide-eyed, I looked up at him.
“Hey, he tried to kill both of us,” he shrugged as he pulled out his phone and quickly punched the 911 key. He told the operator where we were and what had transpired then hung up the phone, tucked it in his pocket, and moved over to help me off the floor saying, “I think we should get some clothes on you, don’t you think?”
The rush of adrenaline had made me completely forget that all I was wearing was a pair of panties. I shivered as Brian wrapped an arm around my waist and walked me back to the bedroom, where he retrieved my clothes and helped me pull my T-shirt over my badly bruised torso. I left my bra on the floor, knowing that to try and put it on would be more pain than I could handle. After he’d helped me dress, he walked me back out to the living room and sat me on the couch.
“Just stay there, okay?” he advised as he moved around the room and untied the room server and Cheese. He brought the frightened teenager to the couch and sat him down next to me. Cheese was still groggy on the floor, so Brian went into the bathroom, ran some cold water over a washcloth, and brought it out to put on Cheese’s face. Dominic lay silent on the floor until Brian nudged him with the toe of his sneaker, then he groaned in pain and tried to roll over.
“I’m going to kill you, SEAL,” he muttered as he tried to get up off of the floor. The pain in his ribs made him cry out and sink back down to the floor.
“Yeah, promises, promises,” Brian replied as he pushed Dominic’s face into the carpet a little harder than necessary. I looked away. I understood why Brian was doing what he was doing, but I still didn’t want to see it.
Despite everything that had happened, I felt sorry for Dominic. He was a sad, sick man, and he was going to pay the price for his desire to get revenge, but I also knew he was a broken boy who never felt like he’d been loved. I shook my head and looked at the poor little room server who’d gotten caught in the middle of all of this and thought he was going to be killed. I put a bruised arm around his shoulders and reassured him that it was all going to be okay.
Brian looked at me from across the room, and then looked away.