Revengeful Deceptions (12 page)

“Save it old man, you ain't gonna
do nothing.”

Jonathan pressed a button on his
desk phone.

A voice immediately came through
the speaker. “Yes Mr. Caruso?”

“Diane get me security, Mr. Kilarmo
needs to be shown out.”

“Right away sir,” Diane urged.

“I’ll go when I’m good and ready!”
Nick shouted and with one swift motion, pushed the contents of Jonathan's desk
onto the floor.

“You think you can come in here and
try to intimidate me Mr. Kilarmo? Well, you don’t know me at all do you? You
come near my son and I’ll have your head on a platter compliment of your boss
Mr. DiNunzio, yes that’s right Mr. Kilarmo, your boss owes me a favor or two,
now GET OUT!”

“I ain’t movin old man!”

Hearing the commotion, Adam along
with several other employees rushed into his father’s office. Adam charged into
Nick and tackled him onto the floor before the man had a chance to reach
Jonathan. A crowd gathered outside the office door but parted as security came
through.  Nick put up a fight as Adam and the two security guards tried to
subdue him.

Out of breath and out of shape, he
was finally able to be handcuffed. As they pushed their way through the small
crowd, Nick stopped and stared at Dominique for a brief moment giving her a
chilling look before turning away. “Creep,” said Molly as they took him away to
the security office to await the police.

Dominique wondered why he stopped
and looked at her in such a way that made her skin crawl. Adam wondered too as he
turned to his father.

“Dad are you alright? What the hell
was he doing here? What has Brandon gotten
himself
into now?”

Jonathan Caruso knew there was only
one thing to do, and he hoped that he was making the right decision.

“Son, close the door there's
something we need to discuss.”

Adam listened intently as his
father told him that his older brother was responsible for the deaths of
Stephen and Teddy Greenway. And that Adam knew the widow. “Son, Dominique
Foster used to be Dominique Greenway, she's taken back her maiden name.”

Hearing this made his skin crawl,
he felt sick to his stomach. He had finally gotten Dominique to open up to him.
He had told her he would help her find her husband and son's killer.
Well I
certainly did that didn’t I?
He thought to himself. But he also remembered
promising Dominique that he would keep her secret to himself. He would not tell
his father what Dominique had shared with him.

“Son, I’m sorry that it had to
happen this way, I know that you were beginning to get close with Dominique.”

“Sorry dad? Sorry? That's all you
have to say? Well your right about one thing dad, I was getting close to her, I
was getting more than close but thanks to you and Brandon it's all over.”

“Son it doesn’t have to be.”

 
“Dad what the hell are you talking about?”

“Hear me out son will you? Now
listen, we both know what Nick Kilarmo does for the DiNunzio family.  Now
he came here to blackmail about the accident, he thought I’d pay him to keep
his mouth shut, but I simply reminded him of what he does and who he works
for.”

“Yeah, and? Get to the point dad.”

“Son, he threatened to go after you
and Dominique.”

Adam worriedly ran his fingers
through his hair as he stared out the window.

“So what are you saying dad?”

“What I’m saying son is that the
only way you can keep Dominique safe is by staying with her and you won’t be
able to do that if you tell her about Brandon's involvement in the deaths of
her husband and son.”

“Or we could go to the police and
tell them everything's that’s happened.”

“If we do that son, you'll lose her
forever and you know that. You and I both know that Brandon isn’t strong like
you, he'll die in prison.”

Adam couldn't help but raise his
voice.

“Then maybe that's what should
happen !
Look dad, it sounds to me like you’re still
covering for Brandon, and yourself. I think I’m falling in love with this
woman, I can't keep this from her,
I
can only tell her
and hope that she'll forgive me!”

 
“Adam she won't forgive you, it's too late for
that and you know it. Son if you don’t tell her, you'll get to have her and the
longer she is with you the better the chance that she'll want to move on from
this horrible accident and start a new life with you that is what you want
isn’t it?”

Jonathan knew he was using Adam's
affection towards Dominique against him. It was all that he had; he also knew
that Adam would do the right thing and protect Dominique at all costs.

Jonathan placed his hands on his
son's shoulders, “Son, look at me, your brother messed up, I messed up, but
that doesn’t mean that you have to suffer for it. You just said yourself that
you’re falling in love with Dominique. Son, you need to protect her then.

If you tell her, there's no telling
what she'll do or how she'll react. Now are you willing to lose her for good
Adam? Because that's what’s going to happen if you tell her, and if she's not
with you then that leaves her vulnerable and unprotected from Nick. Adam, think
about this son please.”

Adam certainly did not want to lose
Dominique, nor did he want her harmed.  He could take care of himself, but
there was no reason Dominique should be punished.
She's been through enough,
he told himself
. Because of what my brother and father covered up, she
should not be made to suffer any longer. No, I want her and I’m going to do
anything and everything in my power to get her to drop the investigation and
get on with her life with me.

“Dad, I know I'm being selfish, and
because of that I am going to keep your secret. But know this, I no longer
consider Brandon my brother and if he ever so much as crosses me or Dominique,
I will kill him, except I won't go crying to daddy and ask him to cover it up.”

“Son you’re making the right
decision, and together we can fix this.”

“Dad this is one thing you cannot
fix. Am I correct in thinking that Brandon and Nick don’t know about
Dominique?”

  
“Yes son you’re correct, I didn’t tell them because I fear they will try
and hurt her.”

“That's the first sensible thing
that's come out of your mouth today.”

“Son, together we can make this
work, I just need you to be careful because Nick is angry and he's not going to
let this thing die son. And we both know what he's capable of. But his boss
DiNunzio owes me a favor, and if I have to, I’ll collect on it. But until I do,
I'm going to need you to be very cautious son, and that means everywhere you
go, you got that? And I expect you to keep Dominique safe as well.”

  
“Don't do that dad.”

“Do what son?”

“Don't act like you care about
Dominique, because I know that you don’t.”

“Your wrong son, I know you think
it’s wrong what I did, but you'll understand when you become a father, you'll
do anything to protect your family son. And sometimes a parent will try and
protect them no matter how horrific the crime.”

“Dad does that help you sleep
better at night? That blatant lie?”

“Son, I know I messed up and I’m
doing my best to fix things, please let’s not ruin your chances at finally
finding love Adam.”

“Dad, how did you find out who
Dominique was? How did you know she'd be moving to Boston and the biggest
question is how in the hell did she land a job at THIS law firm dad, tell me
exactly what you did.”

 
“Son, when Brandon returned to Boston the
night of the accident, I had already begun making arrangements, the first was
to send him to Italy and stay at your grandparents place, then I had to get rid
of your brothers car. After that was taken care of I called one of my private
investigators and told him that I needed any and all information about the
decedent’s wife and within a matter of days he had candid photos, bank account
information, everything. I knew that she was planning on moving but I had no
idea where until my investigator followed her here one day. It was the day of
her interview and once I spoke to human resources, she was given the job.”

 
“Oh and let me guess dad, you figured it’s the
least you can do especially considering your own flesh and blood murdered her
husband and little boy.”

“Son, I didn’t want her to have to
suffer financially as well, I thought that I was doing the right thing.”

“No dad the right thing would have
been to turn Brandon and that creep Nick in the moment he called and told you
what he'd done.”

“Adam, I can't change what happened
and like I said, one day when you’re a parent you'll understand, but for now
you've got to trust me, this is the best for our family and for Dominique.”

“Dad if you'll excuse me, I’ve got
a lot to wrap my head around. But I meant what I said about Brandon, as far as
I'm concerned, I no longer have a brother.”

Adam stormed out of his father's
office, and walked past the scrutinizing looks of several employees. He needed
air; he couldn’t get out fast enough. Dominique, who was concerned about him,
was lingering at Molly's desk when he walked past her.

“Come with me,” he said, grabbing
her by the hand. His voice so powerful, Dominique did not dare object.

Adam did not speak, but held a firm
grip on her hand as they boarded the empty elevator. The moment the doors
closed Adam pulled Dominique close to him and kissed her hard, taking her by
surprise. But Dominique did not pull away, even as he pushed himself on her and
forced her back against the elevator wall. Finally coming to her senses, she
managed to push him away.

Letting out a breath, Dominique
said, “Adam! What has come over you? I like it!”

Adam couldn’t help but let out a
laugh at Dominique’s attempt to lighten his mood.

“Oh Dominique, you are just what I
need.”

“Well I’m glad that I could be of assistance
counselor, now where do we go from here handsome?”

Adam momentarily forgot about what
he'd just been told by his father but it flooded back the moment he looked into
her eyes.
There is no way I am going to tell her now,
he thought to
himself.  Adam decided that he could do it; he could hide the truth from
her. He'd simply store it in the recesses of his mind like a bad dream, the
less attention he gave it, the further from his mind it would go, and
eventually escape him altogether. Besides, he thought to himself,
I’m a
lawyer, hiding the truth is what I’m good at.

Chapter Thirteen

As the week went on so did the
rumors about why Nick had showed up at Jonathan's office. Some said it was
because Jonathan and the partners were involved with the DiNunzio crime family,
some said it was because Jonathan owed Nick money and Adam's personal favorite;
Nick Kilarmo was simply looking for a job. 
If only it were that
simple,
thought Adam as he finished up at the office.

It was Thursday, the night of the
firm's annual Halloween party. This year it was to be held at his parent’s
penthouse. He couldn’t wait to see Dominique in her ball gown. So far he'd made
it four days keeping his secret and if things continued to go as well as they
were going with Dominique, he'd be able to keep it just fine. Even Dominique
seemed to be getting better. 
She hadn’t had a night mare since their
weekend on the island, and she hasn't brought up a thing about reopening the
investigation. Maybe she's ready to move on too
. Adam thought to himself.

Dominique, Molly and a few other
co-workers had been allowed to leave work early so they could prepare for the
costume party. Dominique and Molly wanted their nails done while others were
getting the full works, hair, nails and makeup. Dominique was excited about the
party, not only would she be meeting Molly's boyfriend Neal for the first time
but she'd also get to see where Adam grew up. He told her he was anxious for
her to meet his mother, this made Dominique quite nervous and she wasn’t sure
what to make of it. Meeting ones mother usually implied a serious relationship,
she still wasn’t sure if she was ready for that, even though Adam certainly
was.

There was one thing she was sure
of, since she and Adam hadn’t been able to make love in the past few days, she
was going to ask Adam to spend the night, and what she had in mind had nothing
to do with sleep.

Dominique liked how she felt and
looked in her burgundy colored ball gown. She couldn’t help but notice how the
low cut bodice accentuated her breasts, and the jacquard patterned skirt held
layer upon layer of soft lace underneath the full cut gown. “This is the
epitome of romance,” she said out loud as she stood in front of the mirror.

Just wearing it made her feel sexy
along with the undergarments she had chosen. She and Molly had gone to a
specialty lingerie store where she purchased a lacy strapless bra and matching
red lace boy short panties.  She wore thigh hi stockings with seams in the
back and a pair of sexy satin slides that matched the color of her gown.

She felt like Cinderella, only a
much sexier version. Dominique wore her hair loosely on top of her head with
curly tendrils surrounding her face. A few spritzes of perfume and she was
ready.

Adam knocked promptly at six
thirty. When she opened her door, he let out a loud wolf whistle. “Dominique
you look amazing.”

“Thank you, so do you Adam,” she
said giving him the once over. “Coat and Tails suits you Adam. I say we dress
like this every day,” she joked reaching for her velvet wrap and evening bag.

“You won’t get any argument from me
Dominique. You can wear that gown every day if you want to,” he said with a
sexy grin.