Dominion (Alpha Domain #1) (6 page)

“
W
hat the hell
is that supposed to mean?” I questioned irritably, hoping that John really didn’t mean what he was insinuating.

“Turn on the tablet.”

I frowned and grabbed the tablet from where I had placed it in the center console, pressing the button on top to power it up. After the screen came to life, John grabbed it and typed in a series of passcodes after he stopped the car at a red light.

He handed the tablet back to me and I looked down at the screen curiously, feeling the sinking sensation of dread and fear rolling around in my stomach as I realized what I was looking at.

“You’ve been watching me.”

“From the moment you got into town.”

“
Why?
”

For whatever reason, when he glanced at me and I could see the guilt clear in his expression, I felt my fear begin to dissipate. He had been correct earlier—I didn’t have any reason to trust him—but my intuition disagreed with the logical part of my brain. Something deep inside was telling me that I didn’t need to be afraid of John.

“I was asked to keep an eye on you. Keep you safe.”

“By who? Chris?”

John snorted and shook his head. “Hell no. You’ll see soon enough.”

“I’m not a fan of guessing games,” I said dryly as I shot him a glare.

“Just wait. We’re almost there.”

I huffed and crossed my arms over my chest, aggravated by the fact that John wasn’t going to budge and tell me who had sent him to spy on me.

This entire situation was nuts. I still couldn’t quite believe that I had run away from my boyfriend of almost a year and gotten into a car with a stranger making insane claims.

Chris selling me into human trafficking? That was just… absurd.

But I couldn’t ignore the fear I felt when I turned back to watch the short, dark-haired man screaming ‘
Where is she?!
’ at Chris. We had been too far away to hear them, but I was pretty good at reading lips. I hadn’t wanted to believe it was true.

But my survival instincts kicked in and told me to go with John. He would lead me to the truth.

“So… I guess this means you’re single now.”

I turned incredulous eyes to John and balked at the sight of his cocky grin.

“Are you kidding me right now?”

He shrugged and I knew he wasn’t. He was completely serious.

“Sorry, I can’t help it. You’re very beautiful.”

I scoffed and turned away, staring out the window while trying to hide the blush that rose to my cheeks. Judging by the sound of his chuckle, I didn’t move quickly enough for him to miss it.

After ten silent minutes of John weaving us through the streets of the city, he finally murmured, “Home sweet home.”

“This is your home?” I asked as my eyes darted around the area, taking in the building that he pointed at.

John’s ‘home’ was a rather run-down looking brownstone. I wasn’t sure which area of Manhattan we were in, but I knew we hadn’t crossed over any bridges so we were still in the borough at least.

Looking up at his house, I was brought back to the memory of when Chris brought me to his buddy’s apartment and my initial thoughts when I hopped out of the cab. He had been feeding me delusions of a grand apartment building in the heart of Manhattan for a week, when in reality, the place had been a dump in Brooklyn.

Not that I had a chance to form any expectations of the place John was taking me, but this was a little surprising.

“Yeah, my best friend and I live here. It’s also where we work,” he told me as he pulled the car into a spot on the street and put it in park.

He immediately moved to get out, but I hesitated. He settled back in the seat and looked at me with a deep frown as he asked, “What’s wrong?”

“I have questions.”

John appeared a little taken aback, but he pulled the door closed and turned his body towards me regardless. “Hit me.”

“How do I know
you
aren’t luring me in there to sell me into human trafficking?”

John’s eyes were expressionless as he said, “Next question. That one is ridiculous and you know it.”

“Fine. Next question. Haven’t you ever seen a crime movie?” I asked, throwing my hands up in the air and gesturing around wildly. “They saw your car and we’re just parked out in the road!”

John blinked a few times before he burst into a hysterical fit of laughter. I felt my frown deepen and I wondered why I seemed to be the only one taking this seriously.

Then again, I supposed it was because I was the one who was in danger here. He probably didn’t have a care in the world.

“Amber, just trust me. My car is the last thing you need to worry about,” he said, dismissing my concerns with a wave of his hand. “Besides, where else would I park? We’ve got an area around back, but it’s full at the moment. There aren’t many other options in this neighborhood, sweet pea.”

“Don’t do that!” I hissed.

“Do what?”

“Don’t call me cute little names to try to distract me! It won’t work!”

John tilted his head to the side and regarded me with a smile. “Okay, I’ll stop… darling.”

I growled and pushed open the passenger door, quickly hopping out of the car and strolling up to the door of John’s house. I heard his rushed footsteps falling behind me as he jogged to catch up and the jingle of his keys as he searched for the one to unlock the house.

“I don’t appreciate being called pet names by a stranger who just admitted to
stalking
me,” I ground out as I stood and waited at the front door as he started to walk up the stairs. “I mean, you don’t even
know
me. You have no right to—”

The door flew open from the other side, cutting off my words and train of thought as I jumped in surprise. My hand covered my wildly beating heart and I turned to berate whoever it was who startled me.

But when my eyes landed on his face, I was stunned speechless.

“Hello, Amber,” Allen said with a small, hesitant smile.

“Wha-” I started, then promptly trailed off as the all the shock from the day slammed into me at once and everything went black.

T
he first thing
that I heard when I woke up was the loud, but muffled, whispers coming from right outside the door. I groggily rubbed my eyes, trying to remember what the hell happened.

It hit me like a ton of bricks.

The door had opened and I laid eyes on Allen for the first time in many years before I fainted like some kind of freak.

I sat up and winced when a slight pain went through my head. It wasn’t the first time I had fainted and likely wouldn’t be the last, but I still hadn’t developed and kind of immunity to the dizziness and small headache that followed the spells.

I shakily stood up, easing to my feet slowly before softly padding over to the bedroom door and pressing my ear against it.

“Why did you put her in
your
room?”

“Because it’s on the first floor. Get the fuck over it, man.”

I recognized the voices immediately and turned back to look at the room. Apparently, this was John’s bedroom and I had the sudden urge to snoop around and see what kind of things I would find. But basic human decency stopped me, and I settled for eavesdropping on their conversation.

That seems like a fair compromise.

“Fine,” Allen hissed and even though I couldn’t be certain, I could picture his jaw clenched tightly with anger. “That wasn’t exactly the reaction I expected.”

“What did you expect?”

“I’m not sure. A slap in the face?”

John stifled a laugh and I could imagine him shaking his head. “She was shocked as hell to see you.”

“How much did you tell her?”

“Nothing really. I didn’t mention your name at all.”

Allen scoffed. “No wonder she fainted. You couldn’t have warned her first?”

“I thought this would be funnier.”

There was a loud thud against the door and I backed away, my mind summoning up a mental image of Allen pressing John hard against the door.

“You think making her faint is funny?”

“Relax, Allen,” John said and a long pause followed. “I didn’t say that, did I? She’ll be fine. Just calm the fuck down.”

While I was curious to keep listening and see if they would say anything about Chris or the situation he supposedly put me in, I decided that I’d overstepped my bounds enough for one day. I reached for the doorknob and slowly twisted it, opening the door and coming face-to-face with two sets of surprised eyes.

There was a long, awkward moment of silence before I finally broke it.

“Hi.”

“Hey,” Allen said, stepping forward and frowning at me with concern. “Are you alright?”

“I’m fine,” I assured him, forcing a smile on my face even though I knew it wouldn’t reach my eyes. “You guys want to tell me what the hell is going on?”

There was a silent exchange as the two looked at each other and John gave Allen a curt nod. Allen began to nod as well before he said, “Yeah. Come on.”

I followed them down a hallway and into a large living room area, taking a seat on the couch after John gestured for me to do so. Allen pulled the coffee table closer to the couch and sat on the edge, sitting directly in front of me with his hands clasped between his knees.

“You want a drink or anything?” John asked.

“Water, please,” I requested.

“Allen?”

“I’m good.”

John left the room and I quickly realized that his offer was more for Allen than for my benefit. It was clear he wanted a moment alone with me and I swallowed hard as his gaze continued to bore right down into my soul.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered.

“For what?”

“For making you hate me.”

I frowned and shook my head. “Allen, I never—”

He held a hand up and my mouth snapped closed immediately. “Don’t. Don’t bother, Amber. It’s in the past. I’m also sorry to see you again under such shitty circumstances.”

“Are you really?” I asked quietly, the silent meaning behind my question not going unnoticed by him.

“No,” he admitted with a long sigh. “No, I suppose I’m not.”

At least I now knew for certain that he still had some kind of feelings for me, even if they were no longer as strong as they once were. I really had no way of knowing just how strong they were and a part of me wished I could just ask. But things were already so complicated. Not only between the two of us, but with everything that was happening with Chris and the men he’d been meeting with.

John chose that moment to come back into the room and hand me a glass of water which I greedily gulped down. He flopped down next to me on the couch and stretched his arm over the back, a small shiver going up my spine as his skin briefly brushed against my shoulders.

Allen noticed the movement and grit his teeth together. It was a telling motion and I instantly suspected that the feelings he had for me back in our teenage years were just as strong as ever.

Which just made it all the more awkward. Not only did I sort of have a boyfriend, but Allen’s best friend had also seemed to have taken an interest in me. Either that or he was just a flirty guy by nature.

I wasn’t sure why, but the idea of that made me a little sad. I realized that I
wanted
him to flirt with me—boyfriend or not.

Then again, if what John claimed earlier was true, then I would indeed be single again. There was no way in hell that I would even
consider
forgiving Chris for what he had supposedly done. I wasn’t an idiot.

“So...” I started and let the word trail off, hoping one of them would be kind enough to hop in and start explaining.

Judging by the way they both tensed up and looked at each other, I sensed that they weren’t going to divulge the whole truth. At least not up front. While the idea of being misled pissed me off, I knew that everything would eventually come to light. But they probably wanted to ease me into the situation gently, afraid that I’d faint again.

Hell, I was a little afraid of that too.

“So, what has John told you thus far?”

“That my boyfriend of almost a year was about to sell me into slavery,” I said dryly before leveling my stepbrother with an icy glare. “Is it true?”

“Sort of. He was actually going to trade you to pay off the debt he owes to the Sanchez family. Then
they
would’ve sold you off.”

“Or kept you,” John muttered under his breath and I bristled at the implication.

“Is this for real?” I asked incredulously, looking to Allen for answers.

“I’m afraid so,” he said sadly. “I’m sorry.”

I wiggled uncomfortably in my spot, wringing my hands together while I avoided the gazes of the two men in the room. How exactly was I supposed to respond to this? Was I supposed to say it was okay? That I wasn’t heartbroken by the idea of Chris, a man I once thought I loved, trading me for a debt? That I wasn’t
terrified
by the thought of being captured and sold as a slave?

Or worse
, my mind reminded me, the mental image of being tied up and raped by that man—
Dante
— popping into my head unbidden.

“What am I supposed to do?” I asked desperately as I looked between the two men. “Are they going to come looking for me?”

“Yes,” Allen confirmed with a sharp nod. “But they won’t take you.”

Fear was coiling in my stomach, mixing with dread and panic as I asked, “How do you know that?”

“Because you’re not leaving this house until the threat is over,” John cut in.

“And John and I are going to take care of the threat,” Allen added.

They seemed so sure of themselves, but I couldn’t wrap my head around the thought of my stepbrother and his best friend somehow managing to save me from this.

“How do you plan to do that?”

Again, they shared a silent look and I felt myself getting irritated at being left out of the loop. But then, Allen turned to me with resignation in his eyes.

“Because this is what we
do
. You can trust us to take care of it. To take care of
you
.”

His promise was earnest, but my mind was stuck on the first part of his sentence. “What do you mean by ‘this is what we do’? What exactly is it that you
do
?”