Revengeful Deceptions (11 page)

 
“Adam, I’d love to go, but are you sure that
it’s Okay for us to go together? I mean you are the boss’s son and he might not
approve. Speaking of which, do your parents know that you’re here? I mean that
you’re here with me? I don’t want to cause any problems Adam; I need to keep my
job,” she said concerned.

“Dominique, yes it’s perfectly okay
for you to accompany me to the party, its open to all employees, and you and I
are both employed there. As far as the rest of your questions, no, my parents
don’t know that we’re here. Not because I am keeping it from them but because I
don’t need to tell them.  So it’s alright Dominique, I have a key
remember?” He said laughing; “we’re not breaking and entering. And for the
record, my father cannot tell me who is can and cannot date,” he said with a
grin.

 
“Oh so we’re dating now are we?” asked
Dominique who sounded a bit alarmed at hearing that word.

“Dominique? What else would you
call it?" We have been seeing each other almost every day for over a month
now, I think it's high time I started calling you mine,” he said putting his
arm around her,
  and
drawing her near. 
Dominique let him-she needed the closeness, the comfort that he so willingly
offered. “I like the thought of being someone's again,” she grinned.

During their last night at the
cottage, the moment Adam joined her and held her in his arms, Dominique fell
asleep. She slept so deeply that she soon fell into a dream, a dream that
quickly turned into a nightmare. It’s bright at first when she finds herself
standing at the scene of the accident.

She is unable to see the bodies of
her son and husband and the more she strains her eyes to cut through the
darkness, the blacker everything gets. In the distance though, something or
someone is walking towards her and as she stares at it she sees that it is
surrounded by a hazy, red light. The figure is cloaked in black; it bends down
to where Stephen’s body has suddenly appeared.

She tries to scream, and call out
to Stephen. But her voice is strangled. She tries to run to him, but she is
paralyzed with fear. The creature leans over Stephen and tries to withdraw the
very soul from his body. Then it turns, and in an instant stands before
Dominique. Hands are suddenly wrapped around her throat as she pulls and
withers in pain. 

The creatures grip tightens and as
its hood falls from around its face; she cannot see anything, but she feels the
sorrow and an overwhelming sense of doom. Looking beyond the creature she can
see a bright light, but there is nothing but blackness where its face should be
and as she fades, she fades into its darkness.

Adam had been shaking her awake.
Her screaming and crying out for Stephen woke him with a start. And as he
cradled her in his arms while she cried, Dominique knew that she must punish
Brandon for  leaving  her husband and son out there in that field to
die, because if she doesn’t, she knows that she will have that same nightmare
for the rest of her life.

At first he did not know what to
do; Dominique was screaming, crying and calling out her dead husband’s name.
She was having a horrible nightmare and there was nothing he could do to shield
her from it.

He wished he could enter her
nightmares and slay whatever awful thing that was causing her so much pain and
angst, but he knew it wasn’t a dragon or some fairytale creature. It was a
demon, a real demon who had taken her son and husband away from her that night
and it was going to be up to him to help her slay the demon.

By the time they fell back to sleep
it was almost dawn. Adam was finally able to settle her down to sleep by
stroking her hair and letting her talk softly to him about Stephen and Teddy.

Dominique did not want to leave the
comfort of Adams arms as he held her outside of the brownstone. “I had a
wonderful time Adam, thank you so very much.”

“Your very welcome Dominique, I
hope we can do it again I really enjoyed myself,” he said with a genuine smile.

“Oh I’m sure Adam,” she giggled,
“Let’s see what you enjoyed the most, was it the crying, or the screaming? Oh
and let’s not forget calling out my dead husband’s name in the middle of the
night, which was it?”  Dominique asked, making fun of
herself
.

Adam took the keys from her hand,
unlocked the door and led her inside.

Taking her in a firm embrace he
said, “Dominique I had a great time, I really did. And I’m glad that I could be
there for you, I want you to feel good again Dominique.”

“Is that so?” She asked with a
smile and giving him a kiss.

Adam let out a soft moan, “Oh
that’s definitely so.”

“Then why don't you start by
showing me just how good you want to make me feel Adam.”

Two hours later, Dominique waved
good bye to Adam as he drove off. It was Sunday afternoon, and she had a
wonderful idea. She called her friend Molly and invited her to go costume
hunting with her. Molly was more than happy to oblige and the two met on
Columbus Ave. in search of the perfect costume. Molly had already chosen her
costume, she and her boyfriend were to go as Marie Antoinette and King Louie
but was all too happy to help Dominique chose one. While browsing through an
antique store that had a small clothing area, Dominique decided to tell Molly
about she and Adams weekend together.

“Oh Dominique, I knew you guys
liked each other!” She said squealing with delight.

“Oh Molly, was it that obvious?”

 
“Well yes and no Dominique, I just happen to
have an eye for that sort of thing. I’m a romantic at heart and I’m the type of
person who pays close attention to body language and certain innuendos. And you
and Adam have incredible body language. I’m so happy for you guys, you make a
beautiful couple.”

“Well we’re not a couple yet Molly,
there are some issues I need to work on first.”

“Dominique, if you don’t mind me
asking, what kind of issues? What would keep you from wanting to date a hunk
like that?”

By the time Dominique had finished
telling Molly about Stephen and Teddy, Molly was in tears. She could not
believe how Dominique was even able to go on and be as strong as she was.

“It’s been hard Molly, it really
has but Adam is going to help me find the person or persons who killed my
husband and son and then I will be able to get on with my life, and hopefully
that life will include Adam. Because I really am starting to have feelings for
him.”

  
“Dominique thank you so much for telling me that,” she said as she wiped
her eyes with a tissue. “I think that Adam helping you is great but mind a
little advice?”

“No Molly, go ahead, I’ll take all
that I can get.”

“Well just don’t let it consume
you, I mean by all means go after the son of a bitch who did this to your family
but Dominique, once it’s done then let it be done, don’t put your life on hold
any longer than need be.

  
I mean I know we’ve only just met and you barely know me but I like to
think of myself as a pretty good judge of character and I can see that you and
Adam are meant to be, so just remember to live your life Dominique and while
you’re taking care of the memory of your son and husband, don’t forget to take
care of yourself. Life’s too short not to.”

“Your right Molly, you’re
absolutely right, and believe it or not, my heart is slowly but surely telling
that to my mind. Now let’s get shopping, I want to find something incredibly
sexy for the party!”

A few hours later, Dominique walked
out of an authentic costume shop with a gorgeous gone with the wind inspired
ball gown.

“Dominique, that gown is going to
look absolutely gorgeous on you,” said Molly. “You’d put Scarlet herself to
shame,” she said with a giggle. Is Adam going as Rhett Butler?”

“He doesn’t know it yet, but he
is,” Dominique laughed while sending Adam a quick text.

Adam chuckled when he read the text
from Dominique.

“Hey handsome. Guess who’s going to
be Rhett Butler to my Scarlet O’Hara? But, please no moustache.  See you
tomorrow. Thanks again for the wonderful weekend.”

For the first time in a long time
Dominique began to feel like herself, she had almost forgotten what that felt
like. And it seemed to her that Adam and Molly were helping her to remember.

Jonathan Caruso was waiting for his
son in his office first thing Monday morning.

“What is it now dad?”

“Nothing son, your mother and I
were expecting to see you over the weekend that’s all.”

“Oh, I took Dominique to the
cottage for the weekend, is that alright?” He asked his father in a derisive
tone.

“That’s perfectly alright son, why
wouldn’t it be? How did she like it there?  This isn’t exactly the best
time of year to bring a guest to Nantucket though is it?”

“She didn’t like it dad, as a
matter of fact she loved it, it was just what she needed.”

“Oh? How so?”

“It’s just that she’s had a rough
week, we both did and we needed to get away, now if there’s nothing else dad,
I’ve got a few phone calls to make before the meeting.”

“Sure son.” As he turned to go,
“one more thing son, it’s good to see you happy, maybe you’ll settle down soon,
make me and your mother grandparents,” he winked at his son before leaving.

Settle down and make my dad a
grandparent? Now where is this coming from? One minute he’s telling me to be
careful and the next he’s expecting grand kids. Either my dad is losing his
mind or he’s finally starting to realize what’s really important in life.

Chapter Twelve

Nick Kilarmo pulled up in front of
the law firm. He knew that Brandon wouldn’t be there this early in the morning,
he just left him sitting at the afterhours bar a couple hours ago. Nick figured
he’d go in and tell Jonathan Caruso exactly what he knew and how much it would
cost to keep him quiet. The old man would have no choice but to pay him, otherwise
he’s be on the phone with the New Hampshire state police telling them who was
responsible for that hit and run accident almost two years ago.
No, this is
gonna work,”
he told himself as he headed towards the office.

 
“Can I help you sir?”

“Yeah, I need to see Jonathan
Caruso.”

“And your name is?”

“Yeah tell him that Nick is here,
Nick Kilarmo.”

While the receptionist left her
desk, Nick took in the surroundings,
the old man is doing well for himself.
He nodded with approval.

“Mr. Caruso will see you now Mr.
Kilarmo, right this way.”

Nick followed the receptionist down
the long hallway that led to the larger offices, the offices of each partner.

“Diane it looks like I’m going to
miss the morning meeting, see to it that Mr. Dorr handles it today will you?”

“Of course Mr. Caruso.”

Jonathan waited until his secretary
closed the door before speaking.

“What can I do for you Mr.
Kilarmo?”

“Well Mr. Caruso, it seems like I
can do something for you.”

“Oh and what is that?”

“Oh I can see you’re a man who doesn’t
like to beat around the bush, I like that.”

“I don’t care what you like or
don’t like now get to it, I’ve got a firm to run and you’re wasting my time.”

 
“Well Mr. Caruso, what I can do for you is
keep my mouth shut about what your boy did  two years ago, it is two years
right? “ He said sarcastically, “because I don’t know about you but I been
keeping track and it seems to me that the two year mark came on Friday. And one
seems to remember things that oh shall we say leave a permanent mark on one’s
mind.”

“Mr. Kilarmo.”

“Please call me Nick,” he smirked.

 
“Nick, I know what you’re getting at but let
me put a stop to it right now, if you think you are going to waltz in here and
black mail me because you were stupid enough to be with my son that night
you’ve got another thing coming. Do you really think that the police are going
to believe a two bit loser like yourself? You don’t have the brains or the
balls to do anything about it. But let’s say you did, let’s say you went to the
police, just what would you tell them huh? That you and my son were delivering
drugs for Mr. DiNunzio and on the way home you hit a car killing the occupants?

Or maybe you’d tell them that you
and my son were drinking and decided to do a couple lines of coke and things got
way out of hand and now you’re in over your head. You can try either story but
they won’t fly Nick, like it or not you’re an accomplice to murder.

Oh but wait, I have one to add,
tell me if you like this one, I call the FBI and I tell them that not only are
you heavily involved with organized crime, but you also had a hand in the
killing of an innocent father and son? How do you like that story Nick? Does
that fly? You low-life piece of shit now get out of my office before I have you
forcefully removed!”

Nick knew Jonathan was right, and
he didn't like hearing that at all. 
Coming here was a mistake,
he
told himself,
a big fucking mistake. He should have thought things through
,
he told himself. He wouldn’t have a leg to stand on if he went to the cops, and
if Brandon was going to go down, he'd have no problems taking Nick along with
him.
No, I’ve gotta go about this a different way,
he thought quickly,
I’ll
go after the chosen one.

“This isn’t the end old man; if I
were you I’d watch my back. Better yet, how’s your son Adam doing? I hear he
has a new girlfriend. Brandon tells me he's doing good, representing all those
cases, better tell him to be careful though, wouldn’t want anything bad to
happen to him. What with him being your favorite and all.”

“You stay away from my son or so
help me god!”