Chapter Four

Calista

My mom was right. These people had welcomed me. Dominic hadn't rejected me. In fact, I thought he might be a solid wall between me and anything my stepfather could throw at me. And, God help me, there was Ringo.

The very last thing I wanted was to come between him and my father. It seemed like they had a close relationship, though I could be wrong. Unfortunately, I couldn't seem to make myself crawl off Ringo's lap and out of his arms. I was tired, hungry, and feeling extremely vulnerable. Ringo made me feel safe like I hadn't felt since mom married Borris.

After Rocket and the other men left and shut the door, Dom held out his hand to me. "You're safe here, Calista. No matter what. Understand?"

I put my hand in his, letting him trap it between both of his. "Yes. I-I think I do."

Dom smiled kindly at me, but when I looked deeper, his eyes were cold and flat. There was a chilling rage simmering just beneath the surface, and I wasn't sure if he was angry at me or the whole situation.

"Rein it in, Dom." Ringo spoke softly but with a warning edge. "She doesn't understand us or the club. Not yet. You don't want to come on too strong."

Dom closed his eyes, giving a slight nod. When he looked at me again, there was genuine sorrow and regret shining in his gray eyes. "I never wanted to leave you or your mother, Calista. I didn't even know about you until right before you were born. If I had, I'd've insisted Tina come here to live."

"What happened?" My question was so soft I wasn't sure if he'd heard me or not. "Why did you leave my mom?"

"To keep her safe." Dom sighed, squeezing my hand once before letting go and moving back to his chair. He sprawled out with his legs in front of him, crossed at the ankles as he scrubbed a hand over his face several times. "We hadn't known each other long, but she was my world from the moment we met. We were only together a couple of months before I left. Had my life not gone to hell and back, I'm sure we'd've still been together." He snorted. "I mean, I gave her the location of this place. That should tell anyone here all they need to know. So, baby, I've not been in your life as your father, but I will be now as much as you want me. I will protect you and use the full weight of my position in this club -- which is just as much as Rocket's or Lemon's because I'm in charge of safety -- to slay your demons. So I need to know what sent you running to me."

It wasn't a question. It also wasn't something I'd ever refuse to give him. He deserved to know why I came, though, and caused chaos in his club. That had never been my intent.

"Mom died a few years ago," I began.

"Yeah, baby. Had Byte keeping an eye on both of you. Discreetly and only the surface of your lives, so he didn't go too in-depth, but I knew when she passed."

"Then you might know more than me. We were told it was an aggressive form of some kind of blood cancer, but my mom didn't think so."

Dom tilted his head, narrowing his eyes. "Oh?"

"Yeah. She thought she'd been poisoned. The last few days, she refused to eat or drink anything I didn't bring her. That's when she told me the meaning of the song she'd taught me when I was little and gave me the compass." I nearly sobbed in grief. "Mom and I were always really tight. The only argument we ever had was when she accepted Borris Illivitch's marriage proposal."

"You didn't want her to marry?" Dom raised an eyebrow, like he didn't think that was the whole story. He was right.

"No. It wasn't that. I didn't want her to marry Borris. He's a swine."

Dom gave me a small smile, but I could see he understood. "Did she love him?" Did I imagine he winced when he asked that question?

"No. And what I'm going to say next is strictly the truth as I see it, Dom, but I don't think Mom ever loved anyone in her life other than me. And you."

Yeah. That went over about as well as I expected. Dom sucked in a breath, then stood to pace the room. There was no way my mom would have fallen for someone who didn't love her back. Dom had loved my mom.

"Christ," he muttered, pausing to lean against a wall. He thumped his head a few times before turning back to me. "Why? Why did she marry Illivitch." It wasn't a demand phrased as a question, but I was under no illusion he would accept it if I refused to answer. So I evaded a little bit.

"You said you had someone watching her. Did he not tell you?"

"I said he didn't dig deep. He just made sure you guys weren't in any immediate danger and only checked up once a month or so. He said if there was anything major, he had alarms in place that would notify him. Which is how I knew Tina was ill. Though he only found out a couple days before she died."

"Then he found out the same time we did. Mom demanded to be brought back to the house to spend whatever time she had left. In reality, it was where she'd hidden the compass, and she wanted to make sure I got it before she passed."

"Answer me, honey," Dom demanded. I could see pain in his eyes, and it made me reach out to him when I still didn't want to leave the safety of Ringo's embrace.

I moved from Ringo's lap -- which I'd probably be mortified about later -- and crossed to my dad. "We were living on the streets. Mom couldn't get a job and I wasn't old enough. We both took odd jobs that paid cash so we had enough money to eat, but it was a struggle. Then she met Borris Illivitch." I tried to keep the bitterness out of my voice but wasn't sure how well I managed. "He seemed like a Godsend, though there were red flags from the beginning."

"Did he hurt either of you?"

I took a deep breath, then let it out. "Not… directly. He was always kind to my mother, on the surface at least. There was always something that was a little bit off about him."

"What does ‘not directly' mean?" Any tenderness Dom might have had was turned off now. It was clear he had an issue with the way I'd phrased my answer.

"Well, once they became involved, he wouldn't let my mother work. Or me. And he kept us both practically on lockdown. I was homeschooled. He said by the best educators money could buy."

"He said?"

"Yeah. I tested out for my GED when I turned sixteen and that was the end of my education. After that, everything I learned was about social niceties. What was expected of me in the company of anyone Borris wanted to introduce to me. And neither me nor my mother had any friends Borris didn't approve of. Which is to say no one outside his circle." I knew I sounded bitter, but I could also hear the fear in my voice I tried so hard to hide. "He's not going to just let me go, Dom."

There was a long silence where I wasn't sure anyone was even breathing. I could see Dom working things out in his head. I even saw the exact moment he realized what Illivitch had done to my mother and me and shook his head to deny those conclusions. Ringo, however, wasn't as restrained.

"Oh, hell no! He was grooming you? He was selling you to someone?"

I winced. "When you put it like that…"

"Did he mention anything like this before your mother died?" Dom ignored Ringo's outburst, which was probably a good thing at the moment.

"No. But she knew. Or suspected. She tried to get us out of there. Even had plans in place to make our escape. That's when she got sick."

"Imma kill that motherfucker," Ringo said at the same time Dom said, "He's a dead sumbitch."

I thought I should protest. It's what any decent person would do. I must not have been a decent person because I nodded my head. "He's a bad person."

Dom took a breath. "Tell me what happened next."

"Most of it I already told you. She thought she was being poisoned so she refused to see anyone but me. She even refused to see Borris."

"He didn't insist on being with her?" Dom looked thunderous, but also… pained? This hurt him. He really did feel something for my mother.

"I left her side one evening and when I came back the next morning, she was dead. Borris was standing over her. She had her eyes open in death and Borris had a satisfied look on his face. I imagined he was thinking it was about fucking time."

"Did he hurt you then?" Dom's voice was hard, but his expression was tightly controlled.

"No. He never hurt me or mom physically. I mean, unless he actually did poison her or something. I just got the feeling that it was more because we were beneath his notice than any desire to not hurt us."

"If he didn't hurt you, why did you take off running through the forest in the middle of the night, hmm?" Dom reached out and cupped the side of my face gently. He smiled down at me with genuine affection, but there was also a desire to really fucking hurt someone shining just as brightly. While I was filled with overwhelming relief that my father wanted me and wasn't angry that I had probably brought danger straight to his door… Well, at least he wasn't angry yet. Instead, he had a strong desire to avenge me in whatever way. To protect me from whatever had terrified me so much I'd risk death to find him.

"I overheard him… selling me. Like I was a prostitute. He told the guy he could do whatever he wanted to me. That since I was…" I stopped, clearing my throat. I was acutely aware of Ringo still sitting on the couch behind me. I wanted to look at him, but it was impossible. My back was to him, and I figured it would be a bad move to take my attention away from my father at the moment.

Taking a deep breath, I continued. "Since I was a virgin, I would cost twice as much, but he was given no limits on what he could do to me." I glanced up at Dom again, not able to hold his gaze. His expression gave nothing away, but there was the slightest crinkle of his forehead and at the corner of his eyes that told me the man was furious. "He… that is, Borris, didn't leave anything to the imagination as to what the guy could do to me. The only restriction was that he wasn't to mark my skin or hit my face. If I died, he'd see the guy died the same way, but otherwise, he gave him free rein to do whatever he wanted to do to me." I could feel my throat closing up, hear my voice breaking on each word. "Everything imaginable to sexually terrorize someone. You know. Like me."

"Do you know who this man was?" Dom's voice was still gentle, but I could see the sweat erupt over his brow. "Who was he giving you to?"

I shook my head. "Only that my stepfather owed him a lot of money. Whatever the amount, I was supposed to wipe the slate clean. I think it was a loan, but I could have remembered wrong. I wasn't exactly thinking clearly."

"You don't live in Riviera Beach." Dom narrowed his eyes at me. Did he not believe me? If this turned bad, would he kill me?

"No. We live in Miami. This was the requested drop-off place by the buyer. But it's why I waited to try and get away until we were here. I knew this was where I needed to be." I shrugged. "I thought it would keep my chances of living through this higher than having to travel from Miami to Riviera Beach."

"Yes. You thought right." Whatever Dom was thinking he was holding tight, leaving me a bit uneasy.

Dom glanced over my head. "Ringo, I need to reach out to El Segador." His expression hardened, all the sergeant at arms of his club now. "To do that, I've got to talk with Rocket and Lemon." He stabbed a finger in Ringo's direction. "You keep her safe and comfortable. And if your dick touches her anywhere, I'll cut it off and feed it to you."