Dominic (Saint Brothers #1) (16 page)

“I’m on my way.”

The phone went dead. He’d hung up on me. I was left staring at the receiver dumbly. What the hell did he mean? Did he mean he was on the way here or on the way to check up on Lauren? I didn’t understand.

Shuffling into the kitchen, I carefully tried to wash away some of the dried blood on my face, wincing at the pain.

It wasn’t worth it. I didn’t care. Giving up, I took a bag of frozen peas out of the freezer and wrapped it in a towel before slowly placing it against the side of my face.

The rapid fire knocking at the door made me jump out of my skin. All I wanted to do was hide behind the sofa like a coward and wait for them to go away.

“Fallon?”

Hearing Dominic’s voice, I didn’t know whether to be scared or relieved. As he continued to bang on the door, I moved to answer it. The last thing I needed was for the neighbours to complain on top of everything else.

Standing in front of the door, I called out his name, just in case. “Dominic? Is that you?” I didn’t want my ears to be playing tricks on me and find myself opening the door to Psycho Matt.

“Yes. It’s me. Open the fucking door, Fallon.”

Dominic

“Fallon. I said open the fucking door.”

I was seriously losing my shit out here. She had sounded scared shitless when she’d called the bar and I had raced over to her place. I’d barely had the time to call Rachael to come over and watch Lily. I had no idea how long I would be, but at least I knew my girl would be in safe hands.

Now she wasn’t even letting me in the fucking door. I knew that soft, cajoling words would probably work better on her but I was too worried and too pissed off to be pussy-footing around her like that. I needed to see her. I needed to see what he’d done and then I could go out there and beat his motherfucking face to a pulp.

“Fallon?”

The locks clicked and she hesitantly peered out the door. One look at her face had me pushing the door open, moving to stand in the hallway. I couldn’t take my eyes off her face. What the fuck had he done to her?

Her face was a complete and utter mess. The bruising was already starting to come out and there was still dried blood on her puffy cheek. I wanted to kill him

“He did this to you?” I wanted to wrap my hands around the cowardly bastard’s neck for touching her. Who the hell did he think he was going around treating women like this? He would pay for laying a finger on Fallon.

“Can you shut the door, please?”

It took me a moment to stop focusing on her to realise I’d left the door wide open behind me. Not that I gave a flying shit if he chose this very moment to return, hell, I’d relish the confrontation. I wanted to have a strongly worded conversation with him about his treatment of women, but Fallon looked scared to death. It was easy to see in the way that she was shaking and how her eyes continually flickered to the open doorway, assessing every movement for threat.

That got to me more than anything else. Even though I didn’t want to feel this way about her, it killed me to think that she thought I wouldn’t protect her from him. She must have had some faith in me to call, or at least that’s what I hoped.

Slamming the door behind me and flicking the locks just so she would feel more secure, I led her into the living room.

“Can you tell me what happened?” I asked as we sat down, keeping my tone more gentle this time. Resting a hand lightly on her shoulder, she seemed to need the physical comfort and support.

Fallon took a deep breath and refused to look at me. “He was already here when I got home. He told me to pass the message on to Lauren that he would find her and that they would be together again.” She shuddered, remembering his words.

“And what did he do to you?” I motioned towards her face.

“He punched me. I must have passed out.”

“Fuck.” I muttered.

“When I came to, I rang you straight away. I didn’t want to call Lauren and have her worry.”

“You did the right thing.” I nodded, rubbing my thumb in a circle on her shoulder. It made me feel better that I was the first person she thought to call.

“Is she safe?”

I nodded again. “Oli and Chester are with her. And before you even think it, they wouldn’t let Matt anywhere near her. He hasn’t got a chance with them guarding her. She’s safe with them.” I got up and looked around the room. I wasn’t sure what to do about this, but I had to keep Fallon safe. I had no choice. “You need to go and pack an overnight bag.”

“What for?” She frowned in confusion.

“You can’t stay here tonight. I don’t think he’d be stupid enough to come back but I need to get Austen over here to notch up your security system.”

“But where will I go? To Lauren’s?”

“You’ll have to stay with me tonight.” This was the only solution I could come up with. I wanted to keep Lauren safe and the best way to do that was to keep her close to me. It may complicate the situation between us, but I had no choice. Matt wouldn’t stand a chance at coming to my place. Lily was there and I wouldn’t play around with her safety. My house was done up like Fort Knox. The fucker wouldn’t stand a chance.

Fallon nodded reluctantly and slowly got up from her chair, limping out of the room. I was pleased she didn’t put up a fight. That leant a nod to how much he had scared her, the bastard.

“Did he do that as well?” I glanced down at her leg.

She shook her head at me. “It happened at work. Don’t worry about it. I’ll be fine.” And she left the room.

Cursing under my breath, I put a call through to Chester.

“Brother?” he answered.

“Can you talk?”

“One minute.” I heard some rustling and doors shutting before his voice came back on the line. “Go ahead.”

I was pleased that he had the sense to move away from where Lauren or anyone else could overhear. “That motherfucker Matt paid a visit to Lauren’s friend, Fallon. He fucked up her face.”

“You’re shitting me?”

“No.”

“And this is Fallon? The Fallon? The one you like?”

“Chester.” I growled down the phone. “Keep your head on the job.”

“Yes, boss.”

“Anyway, I need you to contact Austen for me and get him to take a look at her security system. She’s coming to stay with me tonight.”

“Is that wise?”

Chester knew that Lily would be home tonight and that I didn’t like to mix business with my private life, but this was different. It was Fallon. “Do I really have any choice? She can’t stay here and Lauren would freak the fuck out if she saw her right now. Her face is a mess.”

“What about the cops?”

“I’m going to call Ethan now.” He was an old friend of mine and was on the force. Hopefully he would be able to call and see Fallon at my place. I didn’t want her to go through the stress of having to go down to the police station. She’d had a hard night and I didn’t want to make it any worse for her. Plus, if we wanted to get our hands on Matt, we were going to have to keep this on the down-low.

“Okay. Do you want me to give Lauren the heads up?”

I thought for a moment. “Yes. She needs to know what this asshole is capable of.” Pausing for a moment, I asked, “Have you spoken to Kellin or Maze?”

“Not for a few hours, why?”

“They have found out a couple of things. I’ll talk to you more when I’ve got Fallon secure at my place. Just be warned, I think this guy is craftier than we first thought. Keep your eyes open.”

“Will do, but what do you want me to tell Lauren?”

I had to think for a moment. “Tell her what happened here with Fallon. She needs to know how dangerous this guy is.”

“But I don’t think I should explain quite how bad it is.”

“I appreciate that, Chester.”

I hung up the phone just as Fallon walked back into the living room. Taking her overnight bag from her, we walked out of the house, locking the place up securely behind us. I knew she didn’t want to linger and I wanted to get her to somewhere she felt safe.

Chapter Twelve

Dominic

The ride to my house was done in silence. I let her have it, knowing that she had a lot to get her head around. This had been a hell of a night for her and it would be a lot for anyone to take in.

I wasn’t stupid. I knew the sort of girl Fallon was. I knew what type of upbringing she had. As much as she liked to think that she lived in the real world, I guessed that this was probably the first time reality had bitch slapped her across the face.

When I saw her in Decadence, I did my homework on her. I would have been stupid not to. I knew right then that she was more than just a one night stand, even if I was fighting it. I didn’t need another woman in my life. I’d been burned and I wasn’t about to let that happen again, especially not if Lily was affected.

Fallon had grown up with mountains of money and had led a charmed life. She had broken away from her family to try and do something meaningful with her life by working at the hospital. I knew everything there was to know about her and found it amusing that she thought I couldn’t even remember her name.

If I ever could choose a woman to have in my life, she would be like Fallon. It wouldn’t be a hardship to have her around. I wouldn’t ever have to worry about her bringing drugs into our lives. She’d be good for Lily. And she’d be good for me.

Pulling up outside my house, I turned off the engine.

“Is this your place?”

She sounded surprised. I wasn’t sure why. My house was a large single story with a spacious garden and in a good neighbourhood. Perhaps because she knew I spent the majority of my working life at Sinners as opposed to Decadence she thought that I lived somewhere a little less nice. Her tone amused me. “Nope. I’ve just pulled up outside some random house.”

“Very funny.”

“We need to be quiet when we go in.”

She nodded. Following me up the path, I carried her bag again. No one could accuse me of not being a gentleman.

Unlocking the door, I saw my father walking out of the kitchen.

“Hey, Dad. What are you doing here? Where’s Rachael?” I asked worriedly, looking around.

“Don’t worry. Rachael called me. She had to go to her mother’s house so I stepped in.”

“I’m really sorry.”

“Don’t even think about it, son.” My father waved away my concern about having him called out to watch Lily.

“Was she good for you?”

“She was already asleep when I got here.” He took one look at Fallon’s banged up face and his expression turned stern. “So, this was your emergency?” When I didn’t respond, he frowned. “Did you get the asshole that did this?”

“We will do.”

“Good.” My father clapped me on the shoulder. “I need to be getting off now. I’m sure the two of you have plenty to talk about.” He winked at me and smiled warmly at Fallon before he left.

Walking through to the kitchen, Fallon tentatively followed after me. “Can I get you something to drink? Something to eat?”

She shook her head. “No, thank you.”

Grabbing a beer from the fridge, I explained, “That was my father.”

“I could see the family resemblance.” She smiled, wincing at the pain in her cheek.

Standing in awkward silence for a moment, I didn’t know what to say to her. As she yawned, I realised how exhausted she must be from tonight’s events. Picking up her bag, I motioned for her to follow me. Even though it was still relatively early, I knew exhaustion would knock her out and how much a good nights’ sleep would do her.

“Where will I sleep?” she looked around my home noting that despite the large size, there were only two functioning bedrooms. The other three bedrooms had been converted to a play room, a study and a gym. I didn’t need the extra space so I didn’t see the point in wasting it.

“You’ll stay in my room.”

“I’m not sleeping with you.” She narrowed her eyes at me.

I chuckled, not sure whether to be amused or offended. “I wasn’t planning on fucking you tonight, darlin’. I’ll be sleeping in the other room.”

She blushed furiously, which I thought was adorable. It did me good to think that even in the state she was, I could still affect her.

Fallon

I felt like such a fool. Why did I ever say that to him? Talk about jumping to the wrong conclusion. He had been nothing but considerate to me, so why did I think he wanted to jump my bones? Worse still, he thought he had a woman waiting here for him, but it had ended up being his father. Why would he want me?

Following him meekly into what he told me was his bedroom, Dominic showed me where everything I needed would be. As I paused in the doorway, I couldn’t help but feel bad for kicking him out of his own room. “Dominic?”

“Yeah?” He paused at the other doorway, looking back at me.

“Thank you for coming for me tonight.”

He nodded solemnly. “You’re welcome.” And he slipped into the room without another word.

It was larger than my bedroom and simply furnished, with the largest bed I’d ever seen in the centre of the room. All I could think was how many women he’d probably fucked senseless right there. The black and red décor was masculine but sexual at the same time.

Wanting to get cleaned up, I headed into the bathroom. As soon as I shut and locked the door behind me, I turned and was confronted by a mirror. Shit! I knew it hurt like a bitch, but it looked even worse. Black and blue bruising was spreading across my cheekbone and it looked like I’d been hit by a car.

Dominic had offered to take me to hospital to have it checked out, but I declined. I’d already tentatively checked it out myself and I knew that it was just badly bruised and tender rather than fractured. I didn’t want anyone else seeing me like this, especially not the people I worked with.

He had also told me that a friend of his who worked with the police would be stopping by to take a statement from me at some point. I wasn’t sure if this was normal procedure as I hadn’t gone through anything like this before, but I was relieved that I didn’t have to go down to the station. It was all still too raw.

He was clearly a man of few words, barely speaking to me since we got into the car, but that was fine by me. It hurt every time I opened my mouth to speak so silence was preferable. I felt awkward enough around him as it was. It was a relief to be able to escape.

I had the feeling he had another woman in that other room, which made my earlier words even more mortifying. Was that Rachael who he had been talking about? Had she come back from her mother’s house? He had been busy texting while we were in the car, probably warning her that he was bringing me back with him.

It didn’t set too well with me the thought of him being with another woman. I didn’t have any right to dictate to him, especially seeing as our encounters weren’t exactly memorable to him. But, still. It burned a little. It obviously meant a lot more to me than it had him.

Getting cleaned up and changed, I headed back into the bedroom and settled down in his bed. Stretching my body, I wished I wasn’t alone in there.

Where was Dominic? Who was he with? The thoughts of him plagued me as I fell into a restless sleep.

Tossing and turning, I couldn’t seem to pull myself out of my nightmares. Every single time I saw Matt standing there on my doorstep, fear ran through me. Every time I saw his fist flying towards my face, I jerked, flailing my arms about.

Strong arms wrapped around me. Even though I instantly felt cocooned in safety, I fought against their hold. As I calmed and allowed the realisation that I felt no danger from those arms, I allowed them to give me a sense of comfort. Allowing myself to relax, I slept wrapped tightly in those arms.