In The Dark

Chapter 28

Dominick

"Dean, there's no way I'll just leave you here," I argued. "It hasn't even been that long since the doctor let you come back."

"I'm a bodyguard, Dom. How was I supposed to guard, if I'm in bed?" Dean reasoned.

"Right. But, are you okay mentally?"

Dean grimaced as he assessed me. I wasn't kidding. Yes, I was still worried about his mental state, but at least I wasn't telling everyone he was sick. Panic attacks happen. His were reasonable, but I was just looking out for him.

"No." Dean sighed. "In this line of work, there's no such thing as mental stability. The guys here have a hard time working. Especially when I'm not here."

"You're their leader. Of course they worry."

"Dominick, you don't understand, do you? If Zach left the team without saying anything, but you knew where he was going, wouldn't you still be worried? Wouldn't you fear something was going to go terribly wrong without him?"

"Nothing won't, so I don't know that feeling."

I was just messing around, but Dean was getting annoyed. Zach and I haven't known each other for long, so if he happened to go missing, I wouldn't care. Or I wouldn't be as panicked as Kais or Cory.

"Just go home, Dom," Dean mumbled. "There's nothing more for you here."

"I was going to leave anyway. There's a lot I have to go check on."

"Sure you do. Bye."

"Later, Dean."

I left the warehouse feeling pretty bad about the situation. What if something did happen to Dean? I didn't trust him alone with the people here. Some of them scared me more than I tended to scare myself. I knew that if they were allowed to do the things Zach forbade them to do, Dean wouldn't be in charge.

I decided to stop by Ren's house to pick up a few things in her room. More than that actually. It was possible Ryder was home. If he was, then we needed to talk. I wanted to know where he had gone the night Ren and Zach stayed over. Maybe it would help me with confirming that Ian is indeed alive and close. He would always be the only one I trusted who knew how to keep me up to date.

Just as I had assumed, Ryder's car was in the garage. He must have just gotten home, because the garage door was just being let down. I waited a couple of minutes to give him time to get inside. Plus, I needed to think of how I'd present the problem to him. I couldn't just demand he tell me everything he knows. Not professional and I don't need him to keep anything from me.

I finally got out of the car and knocked on the front door. It was more like a bang, but who are you to know that? Ryder came to the door with an annoyed look on his face. I guess he really wasn't in the mood today. I heard about what Vanessa's mother did yesterday. Wasn't my fault. Who told him to date a woman with psycho parents?

"Look, I'm not coming here to yell at you or anything. I just...want to know something," I started calmly.

"Just come in." He stepped aside to let me in. "I was going to waste the entire day away, but I guess you can come and ruin those plans."

"Cool. I won't be long. I just want to talk about Ian."

There. I said it. Never will I ever beat around the bush about something this serious. No information needs to be kept from me.

"Getting straight to the point, aren't we?" Ryder scoffed and followed me into the kitchen. I was surprised to see the fridge was stocked with soju. Thank you, Ren. "What do you want to know about him, Dominick?"