"Is this what you wanted, Annie?" Erika whispered into my ear as we watched Nathaniel and my Father pat Dominic on the back, both flashing fake grins on their faces.
I could only nod. My chest ached more and more.
"So, you're really going to sacrifice your own happiness to do this?"
"Erika, the more I push him away, the less painful it will be once we succeed. I know I can't guarantee that the old Dom will come back, and I know the new Dom so well that I know he won't come back to me at all until he finds out the truth." I made sure I kept my words at a whisper, despite the shakiness of my voice failing to do so, at least the applause of the employees were loud enough to cover our conversation altogether.
"Boo, you love him so much to even consider this."
"Boo," I gulped and wrapped my arm around hers, practically clinging onto her. "All I want is for him to be happy-"
Even if it meant that we wouldn't be together at the end of this. My fate was sealed either way, because as of Monday, our plan to take down Nathaniel Walsh was set to go.
Just one step at a time.
Starting with the relationship with my own Father.
Fortunately for me, my Father was talking to me again, he unexpectedly invited Dominic and I for a late lunch at his home the next day. I didn't expect my fiancé to come with me, since he woke up with a throbbing headache from the amount of wine he gulped down last night, and because of his current state, he was particularly clingy with me and moody to everyone else. Dominic slept for most of the morning and during the drive to South Pasadena, to my Father's third - and hopefully last - million dollar, two level, colonial home.
Honestly, who needs six bedrooms and six bathrooms at his age anyway?
I drove there in black SUV, parking behind my Father's third Mercedes, purposely parked in plain sight. I mean, other than his other three favourite vintage cars parked in his garage that he refurbished for the sake of keeping his memories of his younger years - and one of them used to be the family car when I was five - there was also a boat and an extra car that belonged to my Brother whenever he was around LA.
Gee, my Father sure knew how live luxuriously, but you should see Nathaniel's place.
"Hi Antonia," I greeted my stepmother as I stood in front of the doorway. For a couple of months being a pregnant woman, she was blooming.
"Hello darlings!" She greeted in response, her accent on full volume as she gave me one of her signature hugs and kisses, both to me and Dominic. "Come on in," She added as she widened the dark double doors, revealing their home and leading the way.
"Come on, baby," I whispered to the half-dazed Dominic.
"I'm sorry, Marianne, I'm just not in the mood."
"I know."
"But I'm here."
"I know." I weakly smiled and held his hand.
"Good." He snuck in a kiss before we followed Antonia.
Through the long hallway, a turn to the right and shortcut through their large dining room, we were out on their covered wooden deck, which overlooked down to their pool and tennis court. My Father already sat on one of the six seats, a glass at hand and slowly blew out smoke after inhaling his cigarette. He reminded me of one of those mafia bosses in their mansions, but to me, he was always going to be my Father, the silver-haired, glasses-wearing, scotch-drinking, 63-year-old smoker, who just happened to be my boss. As much as I loved him and put up with him like I did with Dominic, my Father was evidently turning into the one man I disliked the most.
"Ah, sweetheart," He stood up from his seat and smothered the end of his cigarette into an ashtray, his glass placed against the glass atop the wooden outdoor dining table and wandered over to me with quite a haste. I held my breath as I embraced him, not wanting the smell of the tobacco filling my lungs all over again.
"Hi Dad-" I gasped.
He let go of me and reached out his hand for a handshake towards Dominic. "And Dominic, you seem to be in a rather delightful mood," He sarcastically commented as they shook hands.
The younger male merely smirked and gave me a look, calling for my help in his time of moodiness. I waited for their hands to separate before I gently pushed Dominic to the nearest chair and sat him down, taking the seat right beside him and kept a hand on his lap, prepared to pinch him if necessary. I know how he was when he was this way, so I needed him to be as polite as possible.
"I am still in a great mood for you, sweetheart," My Father continued the conversation, he certainly was in a better mood than I expected, which honestly, was something I felt threatened and scared about. "I knew you were capable of doing great things with us."
"Yeah, I suppose." I actually wanted to ask him straight away who Janina Miller was, but I needed to smoothly soothe it into the conversation. "Your case happened so fast too, Dad."
Maybe not smoothly.
"I don't understand why Nathaniel forced it onto me, he could have easily done it himself."
"What do you mean?"
Dominic chuckled out of the blue and said, "I know how you feel, Adrian, he's in the process of wanting me to do a job for Judge Cole."
"I've heard." My Father chuckled as well.
Oh, so we're back to this again? Even when I'm working with them, I still felt as left out as before.
"But, Dad, I found through one of the contracts that this woman cosigned on the company-"
"Ridiculous." Did he not read or study the case at all?
"Yeah, this woman named Ja-"
He waved his hand and silenced me, his brows furrowed and wrinkled his skin a bit to show he wasn't interested about where the conversation was heading to. He then took a big gulp of the remaining amount of scotch in the glass before he swerved the topic. "Dominic, what more is left to do for the case with-"
"Dad, I deserve to know. I worked my a-"
"-Marianne!" He hissed. "There is nothing more to talk about that case. It's done. It's been signed and sealed into the archives, so we wouldn't need to bring it up."
"I just want the answer."
"Why is it so important? It doesn't matter."
"If it doesn't matter, then you wouldn't mind answering me who the woman is."
"Marianne, is this really the time?" Dominic mumbled, his voice croaked as he seemed less interested of what went on and was more concerned with his own personal pain from his hangover. I pressed my fingers on his lap, he flinched and tossed his head back on the seat and let out a frustrated groan. "Okay, okay, I'll shut up," He said under his breath.
"Yes, Marianne, is this really the time?" My Father frowned at me, I frowned back, and Dominic pulled me back because I was at the edge of my seat.
"Yes it is, because if I don't ask now, you'll sure to forget."
"You are just like your Mother and her persistent nagging about something irrelevant to her. Beside, do you really think I'd be interested in who Nathaniel deals with behind my back?" He scoffed. "You are very mistaken."
"You are just as involved, Dad."
"Enough!" Antonia yelled and nearly slammed the tray of bite-sized savouries and sweets that she prepared for us.
She took her role as a homemaker so seriously.
"What is the matter with you two? You've just made up after a while and you both couldn't wait until afterwards before you chew each other's heads off?" She ranted, she furiously laid out the sandwiches, tarts, mini pies and such along the table, making the clings and the clangs that came from the plates making contact with the glass. Her hands waved about in between the transfer and her lips made shapes as she continued to scold us. The further she went with her ranting, she sounded more and more like my own Mother when Marcus and my Father had a go at each other like that.
"Antonia-"
"Hush, Adrian," She grunted, rose her finger and took a deep breath, she then pointed at me while she looked at her husband. "This is your only daughter, and even if I'm pregnant with our child, she deserves some respect and love as much as the one that's growing inside of me. So you answer her right this second."
Wow. Antonia was on my side?
"This isn't any of her business." My Father stubbornly hissed and pushed himself up by slamming the palms.of his hands against the glass of the table.
"Need I remind you that the only reason you two fought was because she spoke her mind? And need I remind you that it was Nathaniel who talked her into doing what she-"
Dominic shifted on his seat and spoke up again. He leaned forward and asked, "What is your fascination with this woman that cosigned for a company my Uncle owns?"
He wasn't on my side. I expected that.
"Dom, she could be cosigning more things and could ruin a lot of things. And your Uncle has done so many things you don't know about, so I'm asking my Dad if they truly are partners in this firm." I turned to my Father. "Dad, I've done something I haven't done in my entire life, but if you really have to know why, because your partner in this firm threatened me."
"Ridiculous!" Dominic and my Father exclaimed at the same time.
"Of course you both won't believe me." I rolled my eyes and walked out, the tight feeling clenched at my chest as I rushed to the kitchen. Someone followed me, I didn't know who, but I was certain it wasn't my Father.
"Marianne... Babe..."
I looked over and was surprised to see Dominic.
"Let's get out of here," He calmly said as he turned me around and caressed my cheek.
"I told you it was a bad idea to come here."
"Then let's go, I'd rather eat something very greasy than healthy anyway." His attempt at cheering me up wasn't that great, but he knew my weakness for food, and the word greasy was something I craved for lately.
"Dom," I breathed his name and held onto the hand at the side of my face. "Do you believe me back there?"
"It sounds ridiculous, but it would be something my Uncle would do, just not to you." Dominic looked like he struggled and forced himself to say something that would deny and reject the idea.
I don't blame him.
"Okay," I nodded and we left. I couldn't bare another minute, no, another second in there.
Hamish and Erika were right though. I doubted that it would work when they instructed me carefully on how to do it, but mentioning the existence of Janina Miller turned my Father to a very hostile person. He'd willingly jump me to shut me up for the sake of not letting Nathaniel's secret slip out of him, but the fact Antonia stopped him showed hesitance and discomfort that he couldn't. My Father proved that he was a pawn to the game, he proved that Nathaniel certainly played the game and he was only a piece of the board game. Dominic didn't sound interested now, but I'm very sure that once we linked everything to his Uncle, he would be, and I just needed him to be by my side while I recovered from the argument.
My heart broke when I saw my Father's frown like that, and the quiver of his lower lip in defeat before I marched out added salt to the wounds. I bet that he didn't expect that type of reaction from me nor did he expect that I'd be picking a fight with him either. My Father openly and warmly invited me to his home for a meal, catch up and be friendly again, but because of the plan, I needed him to hate me for him to understand. He probably did though, since he and Antonia were on the verge of an argument themselves if I hadn't taken his attention back to me. I just felt bad that my pregnant stepmother had to get involved too, even when she sided with me.
"Babe, what happened there? Be honest with me."
"Huh?" I peeped to the driver's seat.
"Why did you suddenly turn vicious?"
I shrugged and looked back out the window.
"Do we need to stop by the grocery store?"
"No. Why?"
"Buy something for you?"
"Like what?"
"A tampon."
I glared at him through his reflection on the window, I heard his laughted into my ears, so I turned and slapped his arm. "Shut up, Dom." I hissed.
"Are you sure?"
"Do you want me to prove that I am not on my cycle?"
A smirk curved at the corner of his lips, his fingers coaxed his chin as he slyly asked, "And how would you do that?"
"Show you my bloodless underwear." I was being sarcastic and didn't think it'd be taken seriously, but he practically misinterpreted my tone as a teasing and seductive one, because he drove the car into a nearest parking building, drove all the way to the top, parked at the most secluded corner and turned to me with a nod. I stared at him oddly, he was acting like his old self again and it was beginning to feel weird. I hadn't expected him to come back so soon, but I guess I might have to play along while it lasted.
Then again... He could be acting this way to fool me too.
I reminded myself that Judge Cole acted like a completely different person to me before I saw his sleazy self at the park two days ago, so my doubt of being able to interact with the old Dominic was extremely high. Either Nathaniel talked him into doing this or he's up to something at his own expense. I reminded myself over and over not to fall for his charms, his good looks and loving gaze through his pretty hazel eyes.
Okay, I'm failing.
"Well?" He cooed, his deep voice made me shiver.
"We-Well what?" I stammered and struggled to say two simple words! Geez, very smooth, Marianne.
"Are you going to prove it to me?"
I closed my legs and crossed my arms, I kept looking away and tried my hardest not to fall for him. However, when he simply touched me on my arm, I lost it. I jumped over to him and planted a kiss. I don't know if this was my sexual urges or if he successfully seduced me or if I was stressed out by everything that's happened or maybe it was all those emotions at at once, but I wanted him.
Especially since his old self suddenly made a rare appearance.
I loved the old him. Seeing and being with his old, teasing and quirky self made me want to give myself to him with no questions asked. Old Dominic Walsh was my biggest turn on.
"I can't believe we're doing this at a parking building." I naively commented as we stripped to nothing at the back of the SUV. "This is illegal, isn't it."
He fondled my breast as he mumbled, "Not like we haven't done this before."
My cheeks tingled and I combed my fingers through his hair. "Don't say it like- Mmm-" I moaned at his touch.
"Who do you belong to?" He blew into my ear, his body shifted about and positioned himself. His fingers curled and gripped on a few strands of my hair, tugging my head back to face him properly. This was the new Dominic now, and he became dominant. "Say it."
"You," I moaned.
"Say my name."
I gripped at his hair too. "Baby, stop."
"Say my name!"
"D-Dominic!" I nearly screamed. "I belong to you, Dominic. Just you."
"Good."
And we did the deed right then and there.
I couldn't help but slightly whimper and let loose tears out when he didn't notice. I loved him and only wanted to have sex with him, but throughout the entire time in the back of the SUV, my mind kept flashing Nathaniel's face whenever I looked at Dominic. As much as I tried to think and imagine my inner sexual fantasies, they were ruined by Nathaniel and his wrinkled, crooked smile.
He's tormenting me inside and out.
By Monday, I haven't found the right words to tell my two closest friends what happened between Nathaniel and I. I didn't dare to, and now, wouldn't intend to. And I began to distance myself from Dominic after our public intercourse, after seeing his Uncle throughout the entire time, I decided to withdraw from sex until I get the visions out of my head. I don't know if my fiancé will be happy with my decision to do so, but I have no other choice. I'd probably need to make up some excuse each time he'd initiate it. I resorted to filling up my free time as much as possible.
I'm officially joining Erika in her yoga classes and going to the gym with Dominic, so at least I'd pass out once I get home.
So unfit.
Everyone gathered at the large meeting room at around two o'clock, Dominic stood with his Uncle and my Father, which didn't happen too often since I started and - as Erika told me - since he became partner. My fingers fiddled about the ends of my blond hair, pulling and pinching the ends of each strand as I nipped at my bottom lip anxiously. Erika leaned close to me and asked what was happening, she looked as confused as I was, but Hamish interrupted and whispered from the seat in front of me that this was the important announcement we've waited for. More confused, I groaned and mumbled, "This isn't going to be good, is it?"
"Maybe?" Hamish shrugged and slipped over a piece of paper with his notes from his notebook, it had notes and key words about the meeting today.
"New York, huh?"
"Yes, New York-" We all closed our mouths as Nathaniel clasped his palms and rubbed them deviously against each other. "Other than a big congratulations to Ms Lawler, we have decided on who will lead the team in our New York office," He announced.
"Introducing our leading partner in New York, our very own, Dominic Walsh. Of course he won't be going there alone. He's handpicked his very own team." My Father placed his hand on Dominic's shoulder, giving him a light shake as he added, "The selected few will be going to New York later this week to soak up the new environment and see the renovated office."
"Don't think this is a break from working with us. The team before you were terminated of their contracts due to their lack of performance, you wouldn't want to be in the same situation as them, do you? Need I remind all of you that you belong to us-" His expression unexpectedly turned from serious and evil to a softened one. "-Work wise that is," He joked, well, it sounded serious at the same time.
The room echoed in laughter, Erika, Hamish and I faked our chuckles as we exchanged looks and nodded.
I guess there's a minor delay to our plan. I guess I need to think harder for lame excuses not to be alone with my fiancé. I guess I'm headed to New York.
Fuck.