Pursue (Portland Street Kings Book 3) (14 page)

Dom picks up his plate and stands from the table. “Put that down,” Abi scolds, pointing at his plate. “You’ll leave me with nothing to do if you clean up after yourself.”
 

Dom and I grin. This is so far removed from what we’re used to that all we can do is laugh about it with each other and appreciate it for as long as it lasts. He places his plate back down and thanks Abi and me for the meal. He pulls his gloves back on and walks out the back door.
 

“He’s a good man that one. Might have made some mistakes but he’s still here. Do you want to tell me what’s holding you back?” Abi asks as I help clear the table.

“I trust Dom,” I blurt out. Again, Abi pulls my most secret thoughts from my lips. I tell her how I stayed awake for hours last night after Dom told me of his plans to help with the farm. Abi nods her understanding as Dom advised them both this morning that he’d be returning to help them until they got back on their feet. I think that’s why Jared started calling Dom by his name and not "boy" anymore; he proved himself as a man, someone of worth. I reveal to Abi that at first, I felt anger. That Dom could help others and hurt me. Then I’d felt guilty because he had helped me tremendously since leaving Portland. I explained that after hours of lying awake, I’d finally understood I was holding onto anger that didn’t belong there anymore. I’d combined all my hurts into one and if one lived, so did they all.
 

“It’s a dangerous cycle, fear and hatred. However, trust an old woman, they don’t last. It takes too much of a toll on the soul. Soon enough everyone has to choose between the exhausting loneliness and anger or to start allowing people back in and begin living again. Sounds to me like you’ve chosen life.”
 

“I have,” I whisper.

“Can’t hear you,” Abi shouts all of a sudden and points to her ear. “My hearing is almost as bad as Jared's jokes.”
 

Clearing my throat as we walk to the sink, I speak clearer, “I have.”
 

“No, still can’t hear you,” Abi states, her voice getting louder as she places the plates in the hot water.
 

“I choose life!” I yell and end with a laugh thinking I’d feel ridiculous, but I don’t. I feel the opposite. Saying that out loud felt good. Actually, it felt great. My chest feels lighter and my breathing comes easier.

Abi turns to me with a knowing smirk. “Whispers are for the weak and you, my girl, are anything but.”

A sensation of weightlessness comes over me, but it's short lived when I remember how I’ve treated Dom. “I’m ashamed of how weak and lost I became. I wish Dom didn’t see me fall so low.”

“I’ve never met a person who isn’t flawed or broken, either by insecurities, sadness, or heartbreak. You’re as broken as you are special, young lady.” Abi addresses me with a tone as if I’m in trouble, and my smile returns. “You view yourself as weak, but all Dom sees in you is courage.”
 

Does he?
“I hurt him just to spite him. I’m not sure that shows much courage,” I confess with a frown.
 

“That boy looks at you as if the sun rises and falls only from your very eyes.” Abi glances at me and pauses washing the dishes. She dries her hands and turns to face me. “Life has a dark side and for some, there’s no escaping it. There is no rhyme nor reason. There is only life. Don’t forget to look for the good, especially when you fall down.”

My chin trembles. “I always thought it was because God had forgotten all about me and my brothers.”

Abigail’s eyes glass over and her soft, wrinkled hands cup my face. “Or he took extra care creating you all.” Her voice is strong and penetrating. “Making sure you had the strength you needed to get through what lay ahead. That’s what my Mason had, strength because God made sure he was prepared.”
 

Abi turns back to the dishes and before dipping her hands back into the water, she lifts her right hand and shakes her finger in the air. “God only sends his best angels into the dark.”

Chapter Fifteen

Della

Swinging in a tree seat Jared built for his granddaughter years ago, I stare out at the vast cornfield as the sun's yellow tones turn a bright gold while it sinks below the horizon. The chains holding the seat squeak quietly and the lovely warm breeze blows my hair out of my face.

A week and a half have passed on the farm. I’ll never forget a minute of it. It’s hard to hate Lucini when I’ve been able to live a life I would never have known had I not been on the run. A wonderful life with two people embedded deeply into my heart. And Dom, had we not broken down, stumbled onto this farm, the right one, I’m not sure where we’d be, how we’d be. Would I still be angry, lost and letting my fears drive me?
Thank God, that’s not me anymore.

Dom and I have grown closer, not physically, but still intimately. First, we talked through everything that had happened since he entered my life. We talked through all the miscommunications and mistakes we’d both made. When the fog cleared and I could finally see everything for what it was, I found myself just as much to blame. Each of us had a secret to hide. Dom went to Lucini angry, and honestly, if I’d found out he was working for the mafia first, I probably would have gone to Slater and told him out of anger. We started out so innocently, but the harder we fell, the more tangled our web became.
 

With the past behind us, we became comfortable with each other once again. We stayed awake late into the nights laughing, talking, cuddling and kissing. Dom never pushed it further and the one time I did, he said, “We don’t need to rush into it. We’ve got forever.” He melted my heart there and then and I wondered if there would be any moment in all my life as perfect as that one was.
 

Another favorite day of mine was when Archer, the pony, arrived. He’s a deep chestnut color and has a friendly personality. If he were human, I’d say he was a people person. He’s fast, obedient and will be perfect for a little girl. He’s also a pig who never says no to any food.
 

I’d also cooked Kelso’s famous spicy beef stir-fry for everyone, even Benny. This must be my family's secret recipe since Kelso refuses to share the recipe outside our family. He thinks it’s going to make him rich one day: America’s best stir-fry. I laugh about it, but even so, I made Dom swear he wouldn’t tell Kelso I showed Abi how to make it. Kelso has a knack for payback and the last person to feel that was Pacer, and he didn’t move off the toilet for a solid six hours.
 

Jared and Dom have plowed the massive cornfield. They’ve also been working on ways to incorporate soybeans because Dom did some research on the internet and found soybeans would give a better return than corn, and they’re easily grown together. Jared was resistant at first. He’d only ever grown corn, and that’s all he wanted to grow until he couldn’t farm any longer, but with Abi’s help, we talked him into trying it for one season.
 

Slowing the swing and placing my feet flat on the ground, I sigh. A week and a half of nothing but peace, no violence, no fearing for our lives. So when Benny told us an hour ago that the Dodge is running perfectly, it was bittersweet. I miss my family, but I don’t miss the rest that comes with our world.
 

We’re set to leave in two sleeps. Abi asked us to stay one more day so she could cook us some good-bye meals. Jared muttered his agreement, seeming nonchalant about it, but I saw his face fall when Benny said the car was ready. He’s going to miss us, and I’m going to miss them both so much. I hope that Pacer wants to meet his parents because I can’t leave here and never return.
 

We’ll be heading back to Portland. My real brothers who live in Mexico and who apparently run their own cartel business have struck a deal with Lucini. They’re handing over what Lucini wants desperately: the Guerrero Coast Route that brings drugs in from South America. They will pull their men who protect the road from other cartels trying to take over and let Lucini take control. From what Dom tells me, they are making a huge sacrifice for me because by giving up the road, they are also giving up their business. No road means no drugs to sell. If they want to continue to sell to their clients around the world, Lucini will set the price too high for them to make a profit. Or choose not to sell to them at all and knock them down so they can’t get back up.

Dom took some convincing to stay another day on the farm. He wanted to leave tonight. He’s worried about Abi and Jared getting caught up in our dangerous mess, and I agree, but with the O’Connors striking a deal with Lucini, I thought we'd be in the clear, meaning Abi and Jared are safe. However, Dom told me about Paulie’s threat to keep coming no matter what. That this was a game to him, and he didn’t care about the rules or the orders he received. We’d gotten away, and that pissed Paulie off. He wanted to end my life and Dom's simply because we escaped him.
 

Dom also told me William O’Connor has been staying in Hastings since Nick's funeral, and he’s on his way to Portland now. He went to Hastings hoping to meet me. William and his two brothers have told Dom they will meet me and find out for themselves if I’m happy and how I am. Dom said they will offer me a home with them, that they want me with them. I hope they’re prepared for disappointment because I’ll never leave my brothers. It’s not in us to be apart; we’ve spent too long looking after one another.
 

Since finding out Phillip was never our foster father but a kidnapper, I’ve been curious to find out about my family. I wanted to know if I had any brothers and sisters, if they looked like me. I wanted to know what features my parents gave me. First I just wanted to see them. Finding out my father was as evil as Phillip was a blow, but not a lot shocked me anymore so I came to grips with it easier than everyone thought I would. So I am curious about my brothers. I do want to meet them. I just don’t want them to think they have some kind of claim over me or the decisions I make in my life. If William is anything like our father, then the one meeting will be our last. Dom swears they aren’t, but I am a product of my past, my upbringing. No matter how hard you try to run from it or how far you try to push it down, in the end, your past shapes who you become.
 

A warm hand on my shoulder pulls me from my thoughts, and I look to see Dom staring down at me.

“It’s getting cold.”

Pressing my lips together, I nod and stand. Dom takes my hand, and we walk toward the house. Usually, Jared would watch his nightly news while Abi and I cleaned up after dinner and talk. Then all three of us would sit down at the table and play card games while Dom helped Benny in the garage. But tonight I left after cleaning up, needing some time alone to clear my head.

“Do you want to see if Abi and Jared are up for a card game?” Dom asks.
 

“Yep.” I nod. Feeling refreshed, I don't want to waste the night away stewing over what can’t be changed.

As we near the back door, music filters out and Dom stops us suddenly. I peer through the screen to see what he’s looking at and find Abi and Jared in each other's arms.
 

Dom and I shuffle sideways and peek through the kitchen window, eager to give them their privacy but also to make sure everything is okay. It takes only a moment of watching them to realize they’re dancing.
Abigail and Jared sway magically in each other's arms to the sounds of "Piano Man." As we continue to spy on them, a smile tugs at my lips from witnessing such beauty and love. Forty years of marriage and Jared still holds his wife with a tight grip as if he’ll never let her go. And Abigail rests her head on her husband's shoulder like it’s the softest place to fall in the world. Their steps don’t falter. It's as if they’ve danced to this old beat many times. Without needing to wonder, I already know that if the music wasn’t playing, they’d continue to a beat of their own, a love melody.
 

All of a sudden, Dom pulls me to him. He places his left arm around my waist, lifts my left hand to his right and presses it against his chest. He begins to sway us and a small giggle escapes my lips.

Dom chuckles warmly. “You laughing at my romantic gesture?”
 

“Just surprised you have any romantic moves at all.” Smiling softly, I turn my head and rest it on his shoulder.
 

“I’ll just have to prove you wrong then, won’t I?” Dom whispers and kisses my cheek.
 

We continue swaying through the song, and I’m not sure how many more songs. It isn’t until the music ceases that we pull back from each other, and our eyes lock. From this moment, we both know what will follow.
 

Dom spins on his heels and walks us quickly to the barn, pulling me behind him by our clasped hands. He closes the large barn doors while I climb the ladder. When I reach the top and wait for Dom, the anticipation grows to an unbearable amount. I step from one foot to the other and fidget with my hands. To distract myself, I look over at our pushed-together blow-up mattresses and hope they will be able to survive what we’ll be doing on them tonight.
 

Turning around to see where Dom is, I’m caught off guard by his body slamming into mine. His palms rest against my jaw as his mouth falls on mine. A fiery passion flares through my veins and blazes across my chest as I desperately claw at his clothes, wanting to rip them to shreds from being a barrier between us. The hunger for our skins to touch is all consuming.
 

Our clothes discarded, Dom cups my ass and lifts me. Automatically, my legs wrap around his hips and my arms fold over his shoulders. Dom walks and then all of a sudden we’re falling. We land softly on the sofa, me in his lap, my sensitive bare breasts rubbing against his chest with his cock standing erect between us, the tip rubbing my stomach.
 

I move in to kiss him, but Dom pulls back, his eyes penetrating and full of wonder. He drags a thumb across my lips. “Fucking beautiful.”