Revengeful Deceptions (9 page)

Dominique and Molly found the
conference room much emptier than it had been the previous day. When Dominique
asked her why, Molly had told her that most of the attorneys were due in court
and that Mondays were the only days that the room would be full. Dominique
frowned as she thought that Adam would be one of the missing attorneys. She
knew she should swear him off and be done with him but after her conversation
with Pam this morning, she was beginning to have second thoughts.
Goddammit!
She swore to herself.
Why can't I turn it off and on like so many men and
women do?
She thought to herself.
I want him and I want him bad.
She
sighed; she had not yet seen him walk in.

Adam smiled and said good morning
to everyone as he sat down next to Dominique. He was going to fore go the
morning meeting all together but then remembered that this might be his only
chance to see Dominique today and since he did tell her that he wasn't giving
up, he decided to make a brief appearance.  Once he sat down next to her,
he could feel the warmth of her body and he knew that he was going to stay the
entire length of the meeting. By the time his father had walked in and started
the meeting, Adam had completely forgotten about the harsh words they had
exchanged only moments ago. Surely seeing Dominique had something to do with
that. As he father talked of litigation, Adam tried hard to concentrate, but he
just wanted to touch her just for a moment.  As if she knew what he was
thinking, Dominique smiled at him as he casually reached over and touched her
hands as they lie in her lap. They interlocked fingers for a moment before
letting go.

Towards the end of the meeting,
Adam couldn’t help but notice that his brother Brandon wasn’t there,
knowing
him he probably had a late night and is still sleeping
he said to himself.
Once the meeting concluded Adam thought of calling his brother but changed his
mind.
Brandon’s a big boy; he knows that he’s supposed to be here.
And
as if by cue, Brandon stumbled into the conference room, making a bee line
towards Dominique.  Immediately Adam and Jonathan reached for him as he
tripped over a chair and almost fell. Adam wanted him nowhere near Dominique.

 
“Meetings over everybody, let’s get to work.”
Dominique could hear the anger rising in his voice.

“Adam, help me get your brother
into my office, now please.”

“Sure dad.  Come on Brandon,
let’s go.”

Adams foul mood returned as he took
hold of his brother and dragged him into their father’s office.

Jonathan slammed the door before he
spoke.

“Just what the hell are you
thinking coming in here drunk and god knows what else Brandon?” yelled his
father.

Brandon fought hard not to slur his
words.

“What’s the big deal, I’m here
aren’t I?”

“Yeah, you’re here alright Brandon,
you’re here and you’re still drunk. I know you didn’t come home last night.
Your mother is worried sick, go home Brandon, and stay there. I’ll speak to you
when I get home tonight.”

“You know I’m not a child! He
shouted as he stormed out of the office.

“Now that’s the second time today I
heard that and it’s not even lunch time.” His father groaned, “Maybe I should
cut ties with both you boys.” He said looking sternly at his remaining son.

“Oh come on dad, you’d be lost
without us.” Adam said with a  slight grin, look, talk to him tonight and
try and find out what’s going on and if you need my help dad, just give me a
call, but for now I’ve gotta make a quick stop before heading over to court,
I’ll talk to you later dad.”

“I suppose seeing Dominique would
be the quick stop that you’re referring to son? “

“Dad, can we please drop it?” Adam
did not want to become indignant towards his father again.

“Son, just be careful, that’s all
I’m saying.”

“I will dad, don’t worry.”

Adam stepped out of his father’s
office and headed down to see Dominique.

Chapter Ten

During the next few weeks, as
Dominique became accustomed to her job, she also couldn't resist seeing Adam
more and more. At first she tried refusing his invitations, but after he told
her that he wasn’t a man who would give up easily, she caved. She knew it was
the wrong thing to do, that she needed to stick to her plan but she had to
admit, she enjoyed spending time with him and before long found herself
spending every evening with him. But Dominique knew that the anniversary of her
husband and son’s death was coming up and each year around that time she would
get depressed and want to spend that time alone. She still hadn’t told anyone
about it. “You really should tell those close to you Dominique, especially Adam
and your new friend Molly. You’re going to need people around you Dom; you
don’t have to go through this alone.”

Pam had told her one night while on
the phone.

“I know Pam, you're right, I should
tell them and I have every intention to it’s just that… I don’t know, I just
feel like they won’t understand, they won’t understand what I’m going through
and it will all seem silly to them that I am still mourning so severely after
two years.”

“Dominique you’re never going to
stop mourning, but you are going to learn to move on and with each anniversary
you will learn to not be so focused on the accident itself, but on the
wonderful time that you shared with Stephen and Teddy. Rob and I wish we could
be there for you, especially on that day but we can’t so let Adam and Molly be
there for you Dom, let them help you through it. If what you tell me about them
is true then I can only imagine that they would be more than willing to be
there for you.”

“Yes they would Pam, I’ll tell
them, I just don’t know when, it may not be today or tomorrow but I’ll tell
them eventually. But I think I’m gonna go through this anniversary by myself, I
just want to be alone with my thoughts, to think about them, talk to them, and
hopefully dream about them.” Dominique said with a heavy sigh.

“Well you do what you need to do to
get through it Dom, but if you need anything or just want to talk, I’m here and
so are Adam and Molly I’m sure.”

After hanging up with Dominique,
Pam knew that her friend was going to have a tough time getting through the
anniversary. Not only has it been two years but it was the first anniversary
since Dominique moved to Boston and therefore it was the first year that she
would not be visiting their graves.

Dominique did not know that there
was someone at the firm who knew all too well that the anniversary of her husband
and son’s death was coming up. Jonathan Caruso had been counting the days, he
expected Dominique to request some time off or at least call out of work sick,
but so far she had not. He wondered if she had told Adam of her terrible loss.
If she did tell him then things were going to get incredibly complicated and he
was going to have to step things up a bit, but if she did not, then he’d be
able to keep his family safe, for the time being at least. Either way, Jonathan
thought to himself,
I’ve got to make sure this never gets out, never because
if it does, all our lives will be ruined.
At that moment, Jonathan Caruso
wished he had never answered his son’s call that horrible night.

Dominique was proud of herself,
so
far so good,
she told herself as she got ready for work. It was October 25,
the two year anniversary of her husband and son’s death. Pam and Rob had called
to check up on her and see how she was holding up. “I’ll be fine,” she told
them. And she would be,
just let me make it through my day, let me do what
needs to be done,
she silently prayed. As Dominique made her way into work
she was glad that the day was cool and brisk. She wanted to breathe in as much
of it as she could before going into the office. She was happy about one thing,
it was Friday and that meant that she would have the whole weekend to think
about her boys.

Even though Dominique smiled warmly
at Adam when he walked into the conference room, he could sense something was
wrong. Her face was as beautiful as ever but her eyes told a different story,
her eyes had so much sorrow in them, particularly today and he wondered why.

“Dominique is everything Okay? Adam
asked her when they were alone in her office.

Dominique did not want to break
down at any time but she especially not at the beginning of her day.

Choking back her tears Dominique
told him that everything was fine. “I think I’m coming down with something,”
she told him.

Adam knew the moment she avoided
eye contact with him that she was
lying
.

“Dominique I know there is
something going on, I wish you would talk to me about it, and let me help you.

“Adam I’ll be fine really. I just
need a bit of space and I need to get to work so if you wouldn’t mind.” 
Dominique did not mean to shut him out but she knew that if he continued to
press her she would crumble right in front of him.

“Dominique, the last few weeks that
we’ve spent together have been amazing, I’ve never met anyone like you. I just
want you to open up to me, tell me what’s going on?”

“Oh god Adam, I just need this one
day please stop questioning me about it, if you really care about me, you’ll
leave me alone today please.”

Adam could not hide the hurt look
in his eyes as he walked out of her office.

Dominique laid her head down on the
smooth wooden desk and took a couple deep breaths;
this is going to be
harder than I thought,
she told herself as she swallowed back tears.

Dominique was grateful once again,
she had been given an easy day and found very few requests for files and she
was glad of that. She had wanted to keep busy but an overflow would have been
too much. But she handled the few e-mails that came in and soon it was five
o’clock.

 
“You sure you’re okay Dominique?” Molly asked
as they walked to the parking garage.

“Yeah, I’ll be fine Molly, but
thanks for your concern, you’re a good friend.”

“Of course Dominique, if you ever
want to talk, I’m here.”

“I know Molly, thank you, I am
going to take you up on that, but just not today, I’m too exhausted.”

“Sure Dominique, no problem, go
home, and get some rest and try to have a nice weekend, call me if you need
anything.”

“Thanks, you too Molly, I’ll see
you Monday.”

Dominique breathed a sigh of relief
once she was alone and in her car. She was determined to shut out the world and
spend the entire weekend inside with several bottles of wine. Once she had
parked her car and headed towards the brownstone she began to feel better. That
is until she saw Adam sitting on her steps. He looked good wearing a black cashmere
sweater and light denim jeans.

“Adam what are you doing here? You
must be freezing,” Dominique said as she unlocked the door.

“Dominique, I know you don’t want
to see me but I had to come, I wanted to make sure you were alright.”

Dominique could not help but smile
at the way Adam was so incredibly attentive towards her. He reminded her of
Stephen in so many ways.
Maybe that's why I find myself so attracted to him.

“Oh Adam, what am I going to do
with you?” Dominique sighed looking into his eyes.

“I could think of a lot of things,”
he said with an encouraging look.

I guess now is as good a time as
any to tell you.” She said aloud as she sat him down.

Adam became nervous. “Tell me what
Dominique?”

Sitting down next to him and taking
his hands in hers, Dominique proceeded to tell Adam what it was that was making
her so emotional. At the end of her story, she also shared with him the fact
that the police had stopped investigating a long time ago and this infuriated
her. “The mere fact that someone could kill two people and get away with it is
something I cannot even fathom Adam. What are your feelings about that Adam?”
She asked inquisitively. Deep down she knew; she hoped that Adam knew nothing
of his brother's involvement in the deaths of her boys.

Adam sat speechless as he let his
mind absorb everything Dominique had just told him.

“Well, I don’t know about you, but
I could sure use a drink,” she said getting up from the sofa.

She wondered what was going through
his head and why he hadn’t answered her question. Dominique didn’t have to wait
long as Adam got up from the sofa and coming into the kitchen held her tight in
his arms.

Dominique took advantage of his
hold on her and let the tears flow like torrents from her eyes. She hoped that
telling him was the right thing to do; she could tell that Adam was nothing
like his brother. It was as if they weren’t even related. But even still, she
couldn’t tell him everything.

“Dominique I wish you had told me
sooner, I don’t know what to say to you, I can only imagine what you’ve gone
through these past two years and yet you survived through it , you are
continuing to survive through it and now Dominique, now that you told me, I
want to help you to get through it. I want to be the one to help you move on Dominique
if you’ll let me. Let me be there for you.” He said, his own eyes tearing up at
the thought of her incredible sorrow.

 
“Thank you Adam.” Was all that she could
muster. Adam wanted to do something for her; he wanted to take her away from
the horrible memory. Glancing at his watch, he frowned,
not enough time,
he thought,
but it still might work
.

Pulling Dominique out of his
embrace just enough to look at her, he hoped he could convince her to go along
with his idea.

“Dominique, let me take you away.
Before you say no, I want you to listen to what I’m about to say. I want to
take you away, just for the weekend, I want to take you to our summer cottage
out on Nantucket Island, now it’s too late for us to catch the ferry from
Hyannis but here’s what I’m thinking, we head to Hyannis tonight, get a room
and jump on the ferry first thing in the morning. What do you say Dominique?
Let me do this please. You can reflect, relax, do anything you want Dominique,
if you want to be alone you can walk on the beach alone, if you want me to walk
with you, I’ll walk with you, but please allow me to take you there.  What
do you think?”