Las Vegas Sidewinders: Dominic (22 page)

“They’re okay?” Toli asked
stiffly, taking a breath.

“For now, but she left the
line open and from what we could hear, it’s escalating.”

“Okay, he can’t have an army
of cops in his front yard waiting to shoot us,” Zakk spoke up. “My uncle is a
cop, and you just can’t do that shit. We need to call 911 and the press, to
make sure there’s too much publicity for him to get away with this.”

“Hopefully Coach already did
that,” Cody murmured. “But yeah, why don’t you call 911 and stay down here, a
little way from the house? You can tell them what you know.”

“Hell no!” Zakk glared at
Cody. He reached down and pulled a knife from inside one of his boots. “I’m
pretty sure I can take out at least two with just this baby.” He palmed the
knife and moved towards Dom. “Let’s go get your girl.”

Dom clapped a hand on his
shoulder. “Let’s do this.” He turned to the others. “Here’s the plan—if he has
friends outside, you guys keep them distracted. Biker Boy and I will sneak
around the back and see if we can get in without them noticing us. If the front
of the house is clear, call 911 and knock on the door but keep your heads
down—we know he’s probably armed.”

“I will lead,” Toli said
firmly.

“It’s house number 422,” Dom
called after them. With a motion of his head, he and Zakk ducked between the
two closest houses.

Molly fought the bile rising
in her throat, trying to think of a way to distract Tim. If she could keep him
talking, maybe Dom would get here before he hurt them anymore. She looked up at
his red, sweaty face and for a moment she couldn’t even remember what he’d
looked like when they’d met. He’d been twenty pounds thinner and his hair had
been thicker, but this man was a stranger. Right now his thin lips were in a
flat line of displeasure as he glared down at her, and she looked up defiantly.

“Tim, can’t we just go our
separate ways?”

He laughed. “Really? You
think you’re going to get up and waltz out of here with your little commie
boyfriend?”

“I’m not a communist!”
Sergei grunted, following Molly’s lead trying to distract him with
conversation. “What the hell does that even mean?”

“You’re a Russian, aren’t
you?”

“Well, I was born there, but
I’ve lived most of my adult life here—and I’m a citizen.” That was a lie, but
Tim probably didn’t know that.

“Bullshit!” Tim called his
bluff. “I’ve had you checked out,
Anatoli Petrov
—and you’re a Russian
fucking national. You even had dinner with that commie President of yours a few
years ago.”

“Toli is his brother!” Molly
interjected. She didn’t know if telling Tim he’d gotten the wrong brother was a
good thing or not, but it was all she had right now. “This is
Sergei
Petrov!”

“Oh, so you’re doing
both
of them now?” Tim spun around.

Molly rolled her eyes; she
couldn’t help it. Unfortunately, she was rewarded with a backhand that left her
tasting blood. She took a breath, not allowing herself to give in to the pain.
“I’m not sleeping with anybody,” she protested calmly.

“I saw you with this guy,”
Tim ground out through his teeth. “I saw you with him at a movie theater, and
Hank saw you with him at the fucking Wynn having
brunch
! So don’t
fucking lie to me!”

The movies, she thought
blandly. God, that had been back in July. Had he been watching her that long?
And if so, how had he
not
seen her with Dom? He seemed convinced that
she and Toli were together, which was good for Dom, but very bad for her and
Sergei.

“What, no more excuses?” Tim
reached down and pulled her up by the hair, causing her to yelp. He pushed her
against the wall, still holding her hair. She cradled her throbbing arm against
her, but met his gaze without flinching.

“Now what?” she demanded.
“You’re going to rape me? In front of the brother of the man you think I’m
sleeping with?” She laughed without humor. “Go ahead. You can’t hurt me
anymore.”

“You think I can’t hurt you
anymore?” He slapped her so hard she saw stars, but she just lifted her head
and looked back at him.

“You don’t get it, do you?”
She shook her head slowly. “It doesn’t matter what you do to my body—I don’t
care about you anymore. I couldn’t stop you from hitting me in June, and I
can’t stop you now. But if you hurt Sergei? His family—his
brother
—will
hunt you down like an animal. You think I’ve caused you trouble? You have no
idea what kind of trouble Sergei’s friends, including the Russian
President
,
will do once they figure out what you’ve done.”

“Molly…” Sergei would have
laughed at her comment about the Russian President if he wasn’t so afraid of
what Tim might do to her. Tim was on the verge of exploding, and she was
goading him. Sergei struggled against the ropes around his wrists, looking around
in desperation for something he could use as a weapon.

“Shut up!” Tim’s fist
smashed into Molly’s face, sending her back against the wall, where she hit it
hard and then slowly slid down, blood covering her face. Then she didn’t move.

“You son of a bitch!” Sergei
let out a yell as he lifted himself and the chair off the ground. He swung it
around as hard as he could, catching Tim behind the knees and taking him down.
He landed on top of him, kicking at the man’s face as hard as he could.
Twenty-five years of ice skating had given him thighs of steel, and he used
every ounce of strength he had to keep the legs of the chair swinging back and
forth across Tim’s face.

“Sergei, look out!” Dom
broke through the back door, rushing forward. Sergei briefly noticed someone
behind him that was covered in tattoos, but he had no idea who it was.

Sergei threw himself out of
the way as Dom landed on Tim in one flying motion, his fist connecting squarely
with the older man’s jaw. Tim swung back, grunting, but Sergei had tired him
out, and Dom’s furious blows soon had him motionless on the floor.

“Untie me!” Sergei hissed at
the other man.

Zakk knelt beside him and
made short work of the ropes. He helped him up and Sergei rubbed his raw
wrists. He first thought was Molly and he swallowed hard as he moved towards
her.

“Dom!” He called his name
sharply, and then looked over at Zakk imploringly.

“I got this,” Zakk said,
reaching around Dom, who was still pounding into Tim. “You got enough trouble
with the NHL—let me handle this.” He picked up Tim by the shirt, punched him in
the face several times to make sure his knuckles were bruised and smeared with
Tim’s blood.

“Molly!” Dom was breathing
hard now, his heart practically beating out of his chest when he saw her. Her
body was slumped against the wall, covered with blood, and he let out a howl of
distress. He dropped to his knees beside her, pulling her into his arms. “Baby,
wake up. Molly?” He pulled off his shirt and used it to wipe her face. He
didn’t realize he was crying until the room started to blur.

He thought there was a lot
of activity around him, but all he could focus on was the woman he loved. He
could hear sirens and people talking to him, but his mind had already flashed
back to the day Brian died. He could see Brian’s face as plain as day, his
brains splattered across the alley in Boston. As tears streamed down his face,
he could hear his friend’s voice in his mind. “She’s going to be okay.” He
wasn’t sure who spoke, but he was positive it was Brian’s voice.

“Dom!” Cody was on his
haunches next to him, grabbing at his arms to get his attention. “Dom, you’ve
got to let the paramedics help her. Dom!” Cody finally smacked the back of his
head.

Dom slowly turned, looking
at Cody. “Is she dead?” he whispered.

“No.” Cody gently pulled
Dom’s arms away as the paramedics began to work on her.

“You’re sure?” Dom could
barely speak.

“Dom?” Molly’s voice was
barely a whisper but both Dom and Cody whipped their heads around.

“I’m right here!” Dom
reached out to run his hand over her forehead.

“Is Sergei okay?”

“I’m fine,” Sergei spoke
quietly from behind them. “Just let the doctors help you.”

“Stay with me, Dom,” she
whispered, her eyes drifting closed.

“I’m right here.” Dom stood
up as the paramedics lifted her.

“Dom, you’re going to have
to talk to—” Cody started to say.

“I’m going in the ambulance
with her,” He said in a steely voice. “They can come to the hospital if they
want to talk to me.” He walked out beside her, not looking back, his bloody
t-shirt still in his hand.

“We’ll handle this,” Toli
said calmly to Cody. “Follow Dom.”

“The kid—” Cody glanced over
to where Zakk was standing in handcuffs, a smirk on his face.

“It’s okay,” Toli said
firmly. “Dom needs you more. Toli will take care of the kid.”

“Right.” Cody gave him a
grateful smile and then ran out to his car.

When Cody burst into the
hospital emergency room, he found Dom heaving over one of the garbage cans. He
looked around for help, spotting a nurse at the desk.

“Hey, could I get a towel or
something?” he demanded. The nurse looked up, startled, but when she followed
his gaze to the man covered in blood who was vomiting into the garbage, she
quickly got up and produced a few towels and some ice.

“Thanks!” He shot her a
smile and then rushed over to his friend. Taking the bloody t-shirt from his
hand, he dropped it into the trash and then put the towel with the ice on the
back of his neck. “Come on—let’s take this into the men’s room.”

Dom didn’t move at first,
but Cody managed to nudge him towards the bathroom. He pushed him through the
door and leaned him against the wall. He wet the second towel and handed it to
him. “Wipe your face, man.”

Dom took the towel, but
didn’t move, eyes closed and chest still heaving as he leaned back. Cody let
him have a minute but finally reached out to put a hand on his shoulder. “Dom,
she’s going to wake up and you’re not going to be there. You need to wash up
and get back to Molly, okay?”

Dom opened his eyes.

“You gonna be sick again?”

“No.” Dom handed him back
the ice pack as he leaned over the sink to rinse the blood off his face, arms
and hands. He reached for a handful of paper towels and managed to dry himself
off. He bent to rinse out his mouth, spitting out the vile taste of vomit.

“Cody!” From the hallway,
Cody could hear his wife’s frantic voice. He yanked open the door and stuck his
head out. “Suze!”

She ran in his direction,
throwing herself into his arms. “God, I was so scared! Where’s Molly? Where’s
Dom?”

Cody gently kissed her and
then pulled her into the bathroom. “He’s a little shaken up, but okay.”

“Where’s Molly?” Her eyes
moved between them worriedly.

“I don’t know,” Cody said.
“Dom needed to clean up a little—there was a lot of blood.”

“Whose?” she whispered.

“Tim’s and Molly’s.”

“How bad?”

“Tim? I have no idea,” Cody
shrugged. “But Molly was unconscious when we got there.”

“You okay, big guy?” Suze
went up to Dom and gently put her hands on his arms. His hands were shaking and
she took them in hers, looking up into his handsome face as she tried to still
them. “You’re gonna need to snap out of this.” she said finally.

“I know.” He swallowed. “I
just saw her laying there and all I could think about was…” He stopped.

“Brian.” She wrapped her
arms around his waist and pulled him into a tight hug. His arms went around
her, his chin falling to his chest as he squeezed his eyes shut to try to stop
the tears from coming down his face. “It’s okay,” she whispered. “It’s not the
same—she’s alive, Dom.”

“I keep seeing his face,” he
said. “I can’t go to her until I shake this off.”

“She needs you, buddy.” Cody
moved next to them, resting his hand on his friend’s shoulder. “You can fall
apart later—right now, she’s going to be scared and she needs you to
man up
.”

“You’re right.” Dom slowly
moved away from Suze. He grabbed the towel off the sink and wiped his face
again. “Can you find me a shirt? You have one in your car?”

“Yeah, I’ll go get it.” Cody
jogged out and Suze wrapped her hand firmly around Dom’s as she pulled him back
into the hallway.

“Are you Mr. Gianni?” A small
woman who looked to be of Indian descent approached him quickly, her white lab
coat flapping as she walked.

“Yes.” He looked down at
her.

“I’m Dr. Patel,” she said
briskly. “Molly is quite agitated—she won’t talk to anyone until she sees you.
You’re going to need to help us calm her. I don’t want to sedate her until I
can talk to her, but her injuries are quite extensive, so I’d like to make her
more comfortable.”

“Yeah, whatever she needs.”
He followed the doctor blindly.