7. Dominic

CHAPTER 7

Dominic

I twirl the globe on Joshua’s messy desk while I sit across from him. As soon as I walked in, I turned my lip up in disapproval at the state of his office. He simply rolled his eyes without commenting on it.

Right now, he’s filling me in on what are to be my duties. Duties I don’t much care for, which he’s well aware of. When he falls silent, I glance at him with a raised eyebrow.

“She was pretty upset,” he starts.

I smirk. “Who?”

Joshua rolls his eyes. “Madelyn, obviously. What did you do to her, man?”

The real question should be, what haven’t I done to her? My answer would be, not enough. Not even fucking close.

I’d been expecting the little tantrum Madelyn threw earlier. When she brought me to that hallway, I had to fight every instinct in me not to pick her up and punish her for running. But that will happen in time.

Patience is a virtue—or so they say. With Madelyn, it feels more like a test I’m willing to endure.

“That’s none of your business, Benson,” I say to my friend. Though I should probably be nicer to him, considering he’s the reason I’m here right now.

“She already met you before today. Did something happen between you two on Friday night?”

Since I hate repeating myself, I stare at him blankly until he gets the message that I have nothing more to say.

“Fine, whatever. I’m just going to pretend I don’t see anything going on between you two. There’s a cubicle outside with your name on it. You can leave my office, asshole.”

I arch an eyebrow, offering him an unimpressed expression.

“What?” he asks on a sigh.

“I want an office.”

Joshua groans, running a hand through his already messy hair. “You’re not exactly in a position to make demands here, Dom. I’m doing you a favor.”

“Actually, I’m doing you a favor,” I counter. “You only agreed to my request after I promised to catch Torres for you.”

A muscle ticks in his jaw. “Fucking fine. I’ll make a few calls and get an office ready for you. You do realize my team is going to give me shit when they find out I gave my friend a job.”

“Who cares?”

He pauses, thinks that over before running a palm across his face. “Alright, fine. But what about my dad?”

“As long as he stays in New York, Papa Benson will remain oblivious to my presence here,” I reply easily.

“He’d better,” Josh murmurs, reaching for his phone to request that an office be cleared out for me.

Thirty minutes later and I’m in a space of my own, complete with a desk, chairs, and a laptop for me to work. I take a seat in my chair, looking around the gray walls of the office for a couple of moments. There’s a knock on my office door and I call for whoever is on the other end to enter.

A tall man with shaggy blond hair walks in, carrying some files.

“Hey, man. Joshua asked me to bring our unsolved case files over so you could check them out,” he informs me, dropping the stack on my desk.

I cock my head to the side, staring at the files. “Your team having this many unsolved cases speaks volumes about the efficiency around here.”

The man blinks, taking in my statement slowly. Then he chuckles awkwardly.

“You’re kind of funny, Hale.” He speaks with a slight Southern drawl. I’m not sure what was funny about the statement I made. “I’m Kenny, by the way.”

He thrusts his hand towards me. “Nice to meet you, Kenneth,” I say, shaking his hand from my position in my seat.

“Kenny,” he corrects.

I give him a look that conveys my absolute lack of interest in calling him that. We have a stare-down for a couple of seconds before he looks away, pulling his hand from mine.

“Anyway, I’ll leave you to it.”

He walks out of the office, leaving me alone. Having nothing better to do, I start going through the files one by one. Some of them are pretty old, dating back seven years ago, probably when Joshua moved back to Chicago and started working here.

The oldest is a missing persons case—four students at a prestigious university who went missing without a trace. They never found the bodies but they’re presumed dead. I go through the details of the case, wondering how anyone could have gotten away with kidnapping and murdering four kids without leaving a trail. I set the case aside, intending to come back to it later.

Another case is all too familiar to me. Shipping containers found at a port outside the city, each containing millions worth of pharmaceuticals. It happened about a year ago. A shootout occurred between the cops and the criminals who were trying to recover the shipment, and three people died in the process. Nicholas is still pissed about that incident. The FBI had planted an informant within our ranks and it took me a while to fish the guy out. Too long. We lost the shipment, which was a pretty big blow at the time. I toss the file to the side. No use solving something I had a hand in.

There’s of course the Torres file, which is the main reason I’m here. I happen to know Torres personally. The slimy fuck tried to cut a deal with the Cosa Nostra when he first clawed his way out of the ground. He wanted us to help him build his empire, we refused. The FBI aren’t the only ones with a vendetta against him.

He’s been pissing us off, as well. But Torres has a pretty solid security system and a masterful hacker working for him. Something the FBI doesn’t know is that he’s been backed by the Yakuza. He owns several planes that can fly out anywhere, carrying whatever cargo he pleases. He delivers weapons to Japan and they help him stay under the radar while offering protection. It’ll be hard to take him down. But I welcome the challenge.

I spend about two hours perusing the files until my phone dings with a text from Nicholas.

Nicholas: What’s a shadow doing out in the open?

Me: Not sure what you mean by that, Don.

Nicholas: You’re at the FBI office. What the hell’s going on, Dominic?

I exhale softly. Not sure how he found out so fast, but it’s a little inconvenient.

Me: I’m working on a little incognito mission.

Nicholas: Without consulting me? I thought your identity was a secret.

I clench my jaw before replying.

Me: It is.

Which is why I’m cosplaying as Dominic Hale, with a fake identity, social security number, and background to boot.

Nicholas: What are you planning?

Me: I figured we’d have a better chance of catching Torres if I worked with the Feds.

It’s not an outright lie. Torres is my excuse, my cover for why I’m really here.

Nicholas: So you decided to walk into the eye of the storm.

Me: A little dramatic, Ramirez. I took the necessary precautions. It’ll be fine.

Nicholas: It had better be.

I roll my eyes at that. No other texts come in and I place my phone face down on the desk, my focus returning to the files. I switch on the laptop, logging into the FBI database. A lot of things are encrypted or classified. I could probably break into whatever I wanted to, but that would only draw attention—which is the last thing I need.

So I ignore anything that doesn’t concern me, only looking through cases I’m authorized to. A couple hours later, I’m pretty tired and hungry. It’s 2 p.m. when I finally look away from the laptop. I smile to myself before getting to my feet.

Madelyn’s office is at the end of the hallway. I walk toward it with purpose, knocking on her door and waiting to hear her soft voice asking me to come in.

“We’re going out for lunch,” I announce as I open the door.

She looks up from the screen in front of her and her green eyes immediately narrow, fire blazing in their depths.

“No way in hell,” she spits.

She’s still pissed. Good. I like her like this. Raw, unfiltered. It makes me hard. I pause, staring down at her. She’s taken off the brown jacket she had on and the first two buttons of the cream shirt she’s wearing are unbuttoned, revealing her smooth skin and some cleavage.

Her hair is piled up in a messy ponytail. She looks relaxed, at ease. Or at least she did until I walked in.

I take a seat in front of her, my eyes roaming as I take in her office. It suits her personality. From the messy table down to the twinkling fairy lights in the corner and the cactus on her desk. Seriously, though, what the hell is she doing with a cactus?

“Dominic,” she snaps, drawing my attention, “could you please leave?”

“I love it when you beg me.” I smirk.

She shuts her eyes in frustration before rubbing the side of her head with her thumb. When her eyes open again, she doesn’t look any less calm.

“What can I do to get rid of you?”

“You can’t get rid of me, Madelyn. The earlier you accept it, the better,” I state, leaning forward. “Now tell me, did you have breakfast this morning?”

She blinks at the subject change. “Why do you care?”

“Answer the question.”

“I had some coffee,” she grits out. “Thanks to a certain somebody, I didn’t get to any donuts.”

“So basically, you haven’t eaten today,” I say on a frown. The woman has no sense of self-preservation. “Get up,” I order.

She scoffs. “You’re not the boss of me, Dominic.”

“You have two choices. Either you stand up and follow me out like a good girl or I carry you out of here kicking and screaming. And since it’s my first day, I really don’t need that sort of attention. So choose carefully.”

She opens her mouth to speak but is distracted when someone knocks on her open door. I turn to look at the interruption and find Kenneth standing in the doorway.

“Hey,” he says slowly, looking between us.

“Hey, Kenny,” Madelyn returns with a fake-ass smile.

“A couple of us are going to the new sushi spot that just opened a couple blocks away for lunch. I was going to see if you wanted to come.”

The muscles in my jaw twitch and it takes everything in me not to glare at him. Madelyn practically jumps to her feet, grabbing her jacket from the coat hanger beside her desk.

“Actually, Kenny, I’d love to come,” she says excitedly. Then she shoots me a smug look. “I choose option three.”

I watch as she sidles up next to the blond guy who is really starting to get on my nerves. He’s still staring at us curiously.

He looks at me. “Hey, man. You could come with us if you want to,” he offers insincerely.

“He doesn’t want to,” Madelyn answers for me. “Let’s go, Kenny.”

She practically pushes him out of the office and a second later, they’re both gone. I lean back in the chair, displeasure coiling through me. I’m going to make sure she pays for that.

Having nothing better to do, I head to Joshua’s office. He’s on a call when I open the door. He frowns but continues speaking to the person on the other end. I ignore him in favor of lying down on the couch in his office.

I’d like a couch in my office, as well. Although it is pretty small. Would a couch even fit?

“Would you please knock?” Josh asks in exasperation once he hangs up the phone.

I don’t reply, shifting on the couch and getting comfortable. I could fall asleep like this.

“What do you want, Dom?”

“Silence.”

He sighs. “I was going to order something for lunch. You want anything?”

I shoot him a thumbs up over my head. Twenty minutes later, we’re seated and eating some pasta and meatballs.

“So, why so grumpy?” Joshua questions, pointing his fork at me.

I shrug.

“If you’re going to barge into my office, the least you could do is talk to me, Dom,” he prods.

He’s got a point there. Plus, I might as well use him to gather information.

“What do you know about Kenneth?” I ask.

Josh blinks. “Who?”

“The one you sent to give me the case files earlier this morning,” I clarify.

“You mean Kenny? Dude, no one calls him Kenneth.”

“I’ll call him whatever I want to. Tell me about him.”

“Like what? He’s a senior agent in the team, a hard worker, overall nice guy. There’s not much to tell.”

“What’s his relationship with Madelyn?” I question.

Joshua grins, “Oh I see. She’s the reason why you’re so interested in Kenny.”

“She took off with him for lunch.”

That has him furrowing his eyebrows. “Seriously? Maddie went out for lunch? She never does that. She acts all friendly and smiley, but she’s kind of a recluse to be honest. She keeps to herself a lot. Kenny’s one of the few people she talks to frequently.”

My fists clench. “Why?”

“Because they’re friends? I don’t know, man.” He pauses. “I do know Kenny’s got a crush on her, but I don’t think Madelyn has any feelings for him. Pretty sure she’s turned him down every time he’s asked her out.”

“I see,” I murmur, turning over the information I’ve just learned.

Joshua’s expression turns worried, “Hey, you’re not going to do anything to Kenny, are you?’

“What makes you ask that?”

“Because I know you. He’s a good man, alright. Don’t hurt him.”

I don’t say anything. Truth is, I’m already thinking of ways to make sure Kenneth never goes near her again. Unfortunately, short of murdering him, there’s no fool-proof plan to ensure I succeed on that.

Joshua realizes I’m not going to say anything else and moves on to another topic.

“Queens wants us to have dinner together tonight.”

“Have fun,” I tell him.

“Come on, man. It’s not like you have any plans. Just have dinner with us.”

“I do have plans,” I correct. “To have dinner in my home.”

“Then we can come over to your place,” he suggests with a grin.

“Not a chance, Benson.”

“You’re not seriously still holding a grudge after what happened the last time we were at your place, are you?”

“You spilled coffee onto my couch and then thought it was funny to spread it,” I say, annoyed as I recall the memory. “I had to get rid of that couch.”

Josh groans. “Holding grudges is bad for your health, Dom.”

“If I agree to dinner with you guys, will you let me finish the rest of my meal in silence?”

“Of course. We can head over to Queens’ place together after work,” he says triumphantly.

I nod once before focusing on my meal. I consider going to see Madelyn once she returns from lunch, but I think she’s had enough for the day. We’ve got time.

She’ll eventually come to understand just how dire the situation she’s found herself in is.