The car ride was silent.
Not the kind of silence that eased the mind.
The kind that made it harder to breathe.
Domain sat with his elbows on his knees, fingers laced tightly together, jaw locked. The city blurred past the window, a smear of lights and movement, but all he could see was her.
The way Ariana had looked when he carried her out.
So small, broken.
His knuckles whitened. He didn’t even realize he was gripping his hands that tightly until Marco, from the driver’s seat, glanced at him through the rearview mirror again.
That was the fourth time in two minutes.
The fifth time, Marco didn’t even bother hiding it. He turned down the radio and asked, casually,
“You good?”
Two words. That’s all it took for Domain to almost come undone.
But instead of answering, Domain shifted his weight, looked out the window, and grunted,
“I’m fine.”
Marco didn’t push.
He didn’t ask questions.
And that, more than anything, is what made Domain stay.
Because Marco never tried to dig where he wasn’t invited.
He just waited, steady, quiet, like stone. Like if Domain ever decided to talk, Marco would be there to listen. No pressure. No guilt. No forced therapy session wrapped in gentle words.
Just silence and space.
Domain could breathe in that kind of space.
So he sat in silence.
But his mind wasn’t quiet.
You saw her.
You saw the bruises.
The way her hands trembled.
You knew what that look meant. You’ve worn it before.
A sick feeling twisted in his stomach.
The worst part wasn’t the guilt. It wasn’t the anger, or even the regret that he hadn’t stepped in sooner.
The worst part was that she had looked at him with trust.
Trust.
Like he was safe.
Domain had spent his entire life making sure people feared him. In the ring. In the streets. Even in his own damn house.
But when Ariana had seen him in that storage room bleeding, shaking, and afraid, she didn’t flinch.
She looked at him like she knew he would catch her if she fell.
Like he already had.
Marco turned again, eyes flicking to Domain’s hands this time.
They were trembling.
Before he could hide them, Marco reached over from the passenger side and tossed a water bottle onto his lap.
“Drink something.”
He said, tone firm but quiet.
Domain didn’t reply, but he opened it anyway.
The cap cracked.
YOU ARE READING
Silent Scars
Teen FictionAfter enduring years of neglect and cruelty from her mother and stepfather, Ariana's life changes drastically when tragedy brings her under the guardianship of five brothers she's never met and they never even knew they had a sister. For her brother...
