Dominque (Knights to Remember) (11 page)

D
ominque was late… again. He hadn’t been late for six years of his working life, and now he was late twice with the same person. Ugh. He blamed Angie and her morning meltdown. Not only had she spent the last two days bitching about him going off for a ‘short break’ while she was under house arrest—like it was a vacation or something—but she’d not studied or completed her chores around the house.

Dominque had been trying out a new, more disciplined act around her to see if it changed anything. He hadn't expected a big change immediately, but he thought the fact she was possibly going to miss out on all of her extracurricular activities with her mates from school would have some effect. No! She’d become even more unruly.

He was due to meet Jacob at the train station in Leeds city centre in half an hour and it would take him longer than that to get the taxi—the second taxi because he’d had to let the first one go due to her hysterics—to travel into Leeds. Even at a push, it would take twenty minutes to get there this time of day.

Dominque checked his watch for the hundredth time, listening to Angie complaining in the background how he was abandoning her to have fun. Despite telling her over and over it was for work, it made no difference to her bad attitude. He’d organised Suzie to stay over and it wasn’t like he said no to Angie’s request to have her best friend sleep over. As long as she kept the house clean and caught up on her course work, he would be happy.

He ran his long fingers through his hair, spoiling the half hour of work he put into it earlier, then slammed his hand down on the kitchen table, making her jump. “Listen, you selfish little cow. It’s
work
. I
have
to go. It’s something I
need
to do.”

He needed it for more reasons than the money, but those reasons he couldn't explain, so he left those out. “You’re seventeen—eighteen soon. Do you know what I was doing at your age? Looking after you. Working all hours I could to keep this roof over your head and food in your tummy. I didn’t bitch and moan, I just did it, and I did it all while mourning Mum. There were times I didn’t sleep for weeks because of the stress I was under. How can you be so selfish to sit there and tell me I don’t love you—that I don’t care? Everything I've done has been for
you
. Everything!”

Dominque spun from her, tears stinging his eyes. “No matter what I say, you don’t listen. It doesn’t sink in. So guess what? Either I’m blunt and tell you what I've done for you over the past six years, or I walk out that door and leave your innocence intact. I’ve done stuff you can’t even imagine for you. Gone through shit I can't ever speak about, but I did them because I
love
you, because I
care
. Because Mum died believing
I
would keep us together, so that's what I did.”

He grabbed his bags, seeing the taxi pull up outside. “If you don’t like it, if you can't deal with me looking after you, then leave. I'm not up for this, Angie. I’ve had enough. You're old enough to understand more than you make out, and I'm sick of pandering to your every demand.”

He left her sitting in silence as he slammed the door behind him, quickly throwing his case in the boot and slumping in the back seat. He zoned in and out as they made their way, too worried about Angie to think about the week ahead. It was when they pulled up at the train station his mind kicked into gear and he realised he was ten minutes late. The driver got out to help retrieve his case from the boot, but before he could, Jacob surprised them both by taking it.

“You're late.” Jacob threw a twenty pound note at the driver and took hold of Dominque’s elbow, leading him across the road, stopping at a huge 4x4 Range Rover and opening the boot. “Is tardiness one of your things? Because right now, it’s on my list of issues to correct.” Jacob placed Dominque’s case beside his and several neatly wrapped gifts before slamming the door.

Dominque’s bottom lip quivered. He couldn't do anything right where Jacob was concerned. He always irritated him and displeased him when he tried so hard to do everything right. Seeing the gifts, he realised he’d made another error and forgotten to buy his mum and sister presents. It was on his list, it had just been pushed to the bottom until Angie calmed down. And as that never happened, well…

Jacob turned to see him trying to stop the tears filling his eyes from dropping and the shake trembling his lip. He broke when he saw the firmness slipping from Jacob’s green eyes and a sudden warmth filling them.

“Dominque.” Jacob took him into his arms and held him tightly. “I always seem to upset you. It’s not intended, I swear.” He placed a tender kiss on Dominque’s head, rubbing his back gently as he rocked him in those comforting arms. “I had little sleep and a terrible drive up here from London. If I’d been smart, I would have driven up last night and slept over.”

Dominque sniffled and pulled away so he could wipe his eyes. “It’s not you. It’s not your fault I was late. Despite how much I try, I always mess up and piss you off.” He sighed heavily. That was the second time he’d cried in Jacob’s arms and it was beginning to become a habit he hated.

“What happened?” Jacob opened the boot again, pushing Dominque gently against it and letting him take a seat while he calmed down. “I hope it’s nothing to do with our trip which has caused you to be so emotional. If it is—”

“No-no, it’s not you or the trip. That’s what I'm looking forward to actually.” He met Jacob’s confused, but smiling eyes, and then lowered his gaze to his feet, tapping them on the ground. “I just… my sister. I have issues at home with her and this morning it just blew up. She doesn’t understand… All the things I've done for her, it’s like she doesn’t care. It hurts.”

“Everyone likes to be appreciated. How old is she?”

“Seventeen.”

“Ahh.” Jacob nodded, rocking on his heels with hands in his pockets. “Well then, there you go. She’s too young to know much about life. I’m sure by the time you come back home, your parents will have resolved the issue with her and things will be back to normal.”

“Oh…” Dominque burst into a fresh bout of tears, and watched as Jacob stood stock still, not understanding what happened.

“Dominque.” Jacob’s heavy hand was laid on his shoulder, and then he was pulled back into his arms where he clung onto Jacob’s jacket while he sobbed. It had been years since he vented emotionally, and despite the fact he was making a huge fool out of himself to not only someone he barely knew, but to the whole of Leeds as they walked past and watched them, he couldn't care less. “Why don’t we get a coffee and chat before we set off?”

“No. Not looking like this.” Dominque caught his breath and sighed into the material of Jacob’s expensive suit jacket, smelling the scent which Jacob always carried with him and relaxing a little.

“How about you sit in the car and I’ll go get us one for the journey?”

“Okay.” Dominque’s voice shook as he spoke and he felt another lingering kiss on his hair before Jacob walked him around to the front of the car and settled him in the seat. “Thank you.”

“We’ll talk, okay. Take a moment to calm down while I get those coffees.” Before he shut the door, he paused and Dominque looked through his heavy, wet lashes at him. “You’ll be okay while I go, won't you? No, erm, running off or anything?”

“I won't leave you, Jacob.”

“No, it’s just…” He frowned a little.

“I’ll be fine. I really could do with that coffee. So go.” Dominque offered a sweet smile and hugged himself tightly.

He watched Jacob walk back into the station, then pulled down the sun visor and checked out his reflection in the mirror. He groaned when he saw the state of him. It had been a long time since he’d wept like that. He ran his fingers through his hair and wiped down his face, opening the window and getting some cool air on his hot cheeks. By the time Jacob came back, he felt more in control and smiled as Jacob seated himself in the car beside him, passing over a tall latte and some sugar.

“I'm sorry, Jacob.”

“It’s okay. Honestly. I'm a bit confused, but I'm here to listen if you need to talk.” He sipped his black coffee and smiled. “The parent thing seemed to push you over the line. There’s a story there I need to know about, isn't there?”

Dominque stirred in his sugar and nodded. “There are no parents at home to help her, to help us. There hasn’t been for the last six years. There’s me and her. I'm her guardian. I have been since I was eighteen.”

“Right.” Jacob sat still, looking at the coffee in his hands while they both took a minute to think. “So, you do what you do, the escort thing, to keep her and you afloat, right?”

“Yes. I had to. I needed something which I could earn a lot of money and quickly. I kind of fell into it by mistake. At the time, it was a great option because it solved so many problems, but now…”

Without telling the whole story, he could see Jacob understood from the sad look in his pretty green eyes. Jacob reached over, holding his hand and sighing. “I lost my dad when I was around eighteen. Boating accident. He and two of his friends didn’t make it. Did you have no one around to help at all?”

“There’s just us. We don’t come from a huge family. Mum and Dad were only children and both their parents had passed away by that time.”

“I'm sorry you lost them both. It must have been especially difficult having no one there to depend on.”

Dominque snorted. His dad was a touchy subject, but he’d never mourned him leaving, he’d just been angry. He still was. “My dad’s alive. He never gave enough of a shit to care and come back after Mum died.” His voice wavered and he cleared his throat before he continued. “He left when she got ill. So at fifteen, I helped look after her and Angelique, the house, sorted out school and doctor’s visits. Angie doesn’t have to do anything, she just has to enjoy what I provide for her, and she’s not stupid, she knows what I do, what I went through. I just… I don’t know what else to do. I'm not her parent, and she sees me as a controlling bully of a brother.” Dominque chuckled. “I couldn’t be controlling. I've tried it and failed miserably.”

Jacob sat still, looking at him for a long time while Dominque fidgeted with the cuff of his jacket and wondering when he’d stop. “I have the utmost respect for you, Dominque, and for what you’ve done.”

Dominque lifted his head and stared in shock at Jacob.

“You’re incredibly strong. One day she’ll see that.” He leaned forward and kissed his forehead. “If you’d like, we could go speak with her before we set off. Settle your mind, perhaps.”

“No.” Dominque sucked in a sharp breath and smiled. “She’s not alone. Her friend should be there now and I have a sitter staying over at night. We need space.”

Jacob started up the car and tutted. “She needs a firm hand.”

“Yes.” Dominque laughed. “I don’t have one, I checked.” He waved his hands around and Jacob smiled.

“If you’d like to borrow mine, I'm available to help.”

“Oh, I’d like to see that.” Dominque laughed loudly. “Maybe I should introduce her to Thom.” He grinned.

“Thom? The one who checked up on me?” Jacob smiled as he pulled out into traffic. “He made quite the impression at my club.”

“He’s lovely.” Dominque took a drink of his coffee and relaxed into the plush leather of the seat surrounding him.

“He knew you from… before?”

“Yes. He’s very sweet.” Dominque saw a little dark look flash through Jacob’s eyes and he grinned. “And very into women.”

“Oh. Good.”

Dominque couldn't help the laughter spilling out. “You're jealous?”

“Of course.” Jacob shook his head. “Why I wouldn’t I be?” He flashed a look in his direction. “Why not him? You trust him, know him. Why not ask him to help? There’d be no sexual issues to get over, less complications.”

Dominque shrugged. He’d never even considered asking Thom to help him. The only person he’d wanted to move on with was Jacob. “I want you.”

“That's nice to hear. Why?”

Dominque sighed heavily. He didn’t know that answer. “I don’t know. You're the only one I've considered being with like this. You obviously have something I need, Jacob.” He threw him a sexy smirk, and then sighed at the frown he got. “I honestly don’t know why. Does it matter?”

“Yes. But I guess I’ll have to wait to find out how much.” Jacob raised his brow, and then turned back to the road, speeding up as he entered the motorway. “Christ, I really hope there’s not much traffic. We have a tight schedule to keep, and Helen will seriously kick my arse if I fall behind.”