Chapter Seventeen

I’m still having trouble catching my breath. The darkness of the supply closet is overwhelming, but I’m not ready to step into the light, mainly because I’m not sure what to make of what the fuck just happened.

Dominic is aggressive in the bedroom, no doubt about it, but this wasn’t just aggression, this was pain. This was deliberate punishment. He got so mad so fast, and then he was back to being loving and sweet. I’ve never known him to have such extreme emotions, and he’s never not stopped when I’ve asked.

Though all that is more than concerning, the bigger piece that has me feeling puzzled is how I was left feeling in it all. I should have been angry or scared or upset, and I was, until I wasn’t. He hurt me until each sharp sting morphed into something different. Something strong and violent and…blissful. I’ve never known myself to be a masochist, but what else would you call it when my partner leaving me in pain gave me a rush of practical euphoria? Of excitement and adrenaline, and though it hurt in the moment, part of me wanted to ask for more, to push the boundaries, even if I was terrified of where they would take me.

When I finally get up the strength to leave the closet, I come out to find the bar empty and my two remaining customers’ bills covered by the cash left on the bar. It made closing easy enough, and before I know it, I’m shooting Dominic a text saying that I will just meet him at home.

As soon as I step in the door, I see him at the stovetop, his back to me, as something aromatic and delicious fills the air. He looks over his shoulder and smiles at me, that smile that practically turns me gooey on the inside, like I’m sunlight, and he’s lived in nothing but darkness his whole life.

“Hey, baby. How was your shift?”

“Good,” I swallow, images of our little tryst in the back flashing to the forefront of my mind.

He smiles, but his brows furrow slightly as he watches me.

“You okay?”

I shake the images away, nodding and rising up onto my toes before I place a kiss against his lips.

“Yeah, can I help?” I ask as I gesture toward what I now see as spaghetti and meatballs.

He shakes his head.

“I’ve got this. Go sit on the couch.”

I smile and nod before making my way into the living room. I turn on the first thing that comes to life on the TV as he walks into the room, two plates in hand. We eat in relative silence, but that’s definitely not unusual for us. However, I can’t shake this nervous energy that I certainly know is coming from me. It’s practically palpable, the endless questions rolling around in my head. I know I have to speak them, and have to get them off my tongue, but my nervousness wins each time.

Once we’re finished, Dom takes my plate and sets it on the coffee table before taking my feet into his lap. He begins massaging the balls of my feet, causing my eyes to roll into the back of my head as I melt into the couch.

Dominic gives me a gratifying smile as he continues his godsent work. In my hazy, blissful state, the words I’ve been harboring since I got home finally spill out before I can overthink them for one more second.

“Tonight was different, not in a bad way either. I liked it, a lot. It was just…different.”

He turns to face me with that same easy smile.

“What do you mean?”

I rest the side of my head against the couch cushion as I shrug, suddenly feeling slightly embarrassed.

“I didn’t know I liked a little pain with it all. It was new, and I wasn’t sure at first, but it was kinda…fun, I guess.”

His smile slowly begins to fall as confusion clouds his face.

“Baby, what are you talking about? What pain? Did you get hurt at work?”

I let out half a laugh that comes out as more of a scoff than anything. Is he really gonna pretend that it never happened? Talk about whiplash.

“Uh, the closet in the back? Tonight? You practically shoved me in and fucked me until I saw stars,” I hedge, staring at him as I wait for the pieces to come together.

Instead, he just continues to stare until a few seconds go by, and his body goes rigid.

“Excuse me?” he asks, his voice deathly low.

“Jesus Christ, Dom. You fucked me, and it was hot. I loved it, and I just wanted to talk about us trying more of that, but you’re making it weird with this whole ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about’ thing. Fucking forget it,” I say as I shove away his hands, standing to my feet and crossing the room. Embarrassment fills me from head to toe. He could have just told me it was never going to happen again, or he didn’t mean to, or whatever his excuse is. He doesn’t have to make me feel like I’m an idiot who hallucinated the whole thing.

His hand wraps around my arm, whipping me around to face him in a flash.

“No, don’t go. I need you to tell me everything that happened tonight. Every. Detail.”

“Have you lost your mind?” I ask with a shake of my head.

“We had sex?” he asks. “Tonight? At your work?”

“Yes, trust me, you were there!” I laugh hollowly.

His chest begins rising and falling quickly, sharp breaths escaping him as his grip on me tightens like iron.

“We shouldn’t be having sex anymore. Not for a while. Not until I say, understand?” he says.

I scrunch up my face at that.

“Wh-wait. What? No. I don’t understand. What the fuck is going on?”

“Maybe I can help clear this up,” a voice says from the hallway.

Dominic and I turn to see a darkened figure step into the light of the kitchen. My eyes widen as my pulse slows. Carefully, my head turns back to Dominic before looking at the new stranger. The stranger with the face I know too well, with the voice I know too well. It’s…Dom. Twice? Wait. Wait. It’s?—

“Zayden,” Dominic practically growls.

Zayden? Who the fuck is Zayden? The man I’m looking at is an exact replica of my boyfriend. Or who I thought was my boyfriend. What the actual fuck?

He smiles slowly, a sinister look glinting in his piercing blue eyes as he focuses on Dominic.

“Good to see you, brother.”

“Brother?” I echo as my eyes begin flicking back and forth between the look-alikes. Between the twins.

“Oh god. So, tonight. It wasn’t you in the closet,” I say to Dom. “It was?—”

“Me, my angel,” the guy in the hallway, Zayden, says with that same practically maniacal smile.

“I told you I’d kill you if you ever touched her again,” Dominic says as he takes a step away from me and toward his brother.

“Wait, again? Are you saying he’s switched places with you? With me?” I choke out.

My mind races as Zayden turns his attention on me.

“Think about it, angel. I know you can feel the difference between my inferior brother and myself. You said it just now. It’s different with me, and you like it. You want more of it?—”

“Shut the fuck up!” I shout as my breathing becomes erratic. “I d-don’t even know you! You’re a fucking rapist! A predator. It…it was you the other night. With no condom? Not Dom. That’s why you were so?—”

I turn to face Dom, a combination of sorrow and fury intertwined on his face.

“I’m so sorry, baby. I should have protected you better. I should have gotten you away from here before he could get to you.”

“Now, we both know that would have been a very bad choice, Dominic,” Zayden cuts in with a shake of his head. “All is well, I’m here now. She knows the truth, and we will be on our way,” he continues before holding his hand out to me.

I stare at it like a serpent ready to bite. Does he think I’m going to take that thing? That I’m just going to walk out of here with the guy who literally took advantage of me twice? I think I’m gonna be sick.

“Angel,” Zayden repeats as he takes another step closer.

Dominic puts his hand against Zayden’s chest, stopping him in his tracks as he practically snarls at him.

“Take one more step and lose that fucking hand.”

“You’re lucky I let you live last time. I should cut out your heart right here and now just for touching her, let alone thinking you could claim what has always been mine,” Zayden scoffs.

“Are you fucking insane?!” I shout, causing both of their eyes to swing toward me. “I thought you were an only child? Huh?” I shout at Dominic.

He flattens his mouth and doesn’t say a word as I continue.

“Was this a game? Some type of creepy parent trap twin bet? See who could sleep with me the most? How many times have I been on a date with Dominic when it really wasn’t you? How many times did I pour my fucking heart out to one of you while the other sat back and laughed?”

“You have it so wrong, baby,” Dominic says.

“No! No. You don’t call me baby. You don’t call me anything. I don’t know what the fuck is going on here, but I want nothing to do with any of it.”

I turn on my heel, reaching for my keys and phone on the kitchen island, before a hard body presses me against the wall. I push against it, but it’s completely unyielding as he reaches down and pries the keys out of my hand, tossing them over his head and into the hallway before taking my phone and throwing it to the ground, grinding it under his heel as he speaks in my ear.

“You can’t run from me, angel.”

“Let me go!” I scream.

Zayden is ripped away from me in the next moment as Dominic holds him back, delivering a punch to his brother before he’s receiving a hit of his own. They are literally twins, same size, same build. Same everything. Though Zayden seems to be a bit more agile, he dodges more hits than Dominic and even manages to get him to the ground.

Dom’s eyebrow is split open, blood pouring down his face as Zayden reigns down blow after blow. Slowly, Dominic stops fighting and instead just lays there. Something in me hurts at the sight, and I run toward him.

“Stop!” I scream, jumping in front of Zayden to block any more hits.

Unfortunately for me, either I’m too fast or he’s too slow. Or for all I know, maybe it’s on purpose. Zayden’s meaty fist drives right into the side of my head, sending my vision flashing before I stumble.

“Goddammit!” he roars. “Angel?!”

I feel my feet slip before my body thunks hollowly against the hard floors, a second sharp pain ripping through my head. I can’t open my eyes, can’t even move. I just feel dizzy, light, and something warm begins spreading down my face and into my hair as I drift off into darkness.