“Care to share it?”
“No,” he doesn’t even look at me. I decide to add rude to his description.
The hostess brings the food over, and the smell makes my stomach grumble. He puts his phone in his pocket and starts to eat his pizza. I start on my chicken, and the silence hangs thickly between us. I realize I don’t even want to talk to him because his moodiness irritates me, but I’m curious about the plan.
“Where are we going next? Where is my father waiting for me?” I ask.
“At Long Beach,” he says after swallowing. “They’ve probably gone to check there now and will be there for a few days waiting to see if you come back.”
I frown. “So, you’re not taking me back to my family.”
“Not yet, princess,” he says. “Not until it’s safe. Otherwise, again, this was pointless.”
He speaks down to me like I’m a petulant child, which sets off my temper. I eat in a huff, and while angrily thinking of ways I’d kill him, I accidentally choke on a piece of chicken.
“Don’t you know how to chew your food,” he says impatiently, getting up and smacking me on the back. I cough, and the piece goes down the right pipe, and I glare at him. “You didn’t have to hit so hard.”
He snorts. “That was a love tap, honey.”
“I’m not your honey, and I’m not your princess,” I snap. “So just call me Sofia.”
He rolls his eyes and continues eating, so I point a fork at him, “Tell me the plan, or I’m not budging.”
“You can stay, get caught, and get taken to Jose. Firstly, you would have to bear God knows how many children for his little army, and secondly, your father will be unable to break away from the Catalans and give the rest of your family freedom.”
“You won’t let that happen,” I point out. “Otherwise, it’s pointless.”
“My family can find other ways to fight Jose Catalan. You’re not my only option, so don’t make my life difficult because I will leave you stranded.”
I look at him, surprised. He simply mutters, “Now eat your food. We need to get going.”
When we’re done eating, I walk with him a few shops down from the restaurant to a pharmacy. He buys a first aid kit, a rather large one, and I wonder who’s injured. I then realize he might be, and I feel slightly guilty, only slightly, though, because he’s still an asshole.
We return to the motorbike, and he packs the first aid kit into one of the panniers. He then climbs back on, and I slide on behind him.
We don’t go far, and we’re only on the bike about ten minutes before we pull up outside a Holiday Inn. He parks the bike in a parking space and climbs off, opening the pannier to grab a duffel bag and the first aid kit.
I’m quiet as he checks us in and leads me to our room. Thank God there are two beds. He leaves me in the room to go shower, and I flip on the television. There’s a news report about an explosion, and I know that’s the house they were holding me at. I’m so engrossed that I don’t notice Dominic come out of the shower in only his pants. I catch his bleeding arm in my peripheral vision, and I almost get whiplash swinging my head. “Are you okay?’
“It’ll be fine. Just have to wrap it up,” he says, opening the first aid kit.
I watch him struggle for a moment before I say, “Here.” I take the bandage from him and wrap his arm gently. I think he’s about to thank me when there’s a knock at the door. In a flash, he has a gun in his hand and stands in the bathroom doorway. “Call, it’s open,” he whispers.
“It’s open,” I call.
The door opens with a bang, and two suited thugs walk in with guns. I scream when Dominic comes out of the bathroom and shoots the one in the head before hitting the other with his weapon. Then he aims and shoots him three times when he’s on the ground.
“Grab the bag,” he shouts, pulling his bloody shirt back on.
As we run out of the room, people poke their heads out of their rooms to see what’s going on. We don’t stop, though, and Dominic grabs the bag, throws it into the pannier, and climbs onto the bike.
I get back on behind him. “We should go to my father.”
“If they found you here, they’ll definitely find you there.”
I hold on for dear life as he speeds off.
Chapter 5 - Dominic