10. Belle

ten

Belle

A fter a long hot bath, I order a pizza with the plan to relax in a t-shirt and a comfy pair of sweats while watching my favorite movie, Pride and Prejudice, not the one with Collin Firth, but the one with Matthew MacFadyen.

Matthew's portrayal of Mr. Darcy was one of every girl's fantasy. The way he finally admitted his love for Elizabeth always makes me cry, and that's exactly what I need right now.

The knock on my front door pulls me from my thoughts of Mr. Darcy. Knowing it's the pizza I ordered, I don't bother checking the peephole. But when I open the door, it's Dom's cousin Joseph instead of the pizza delivery person standing there with my pepperoni and mushroom pizza.

"What are you doing here? Is something wrong with Dom?" My heart races at the thought of Dom being hurt or worse.

"Dom, Dom, Dom. Is that all anyone can talk about?" Joseph's crazed look is back in his eyes, causing me to push on the door, hoping to lock him out of my apartment before he does something rash. But the door doesn't budge. Joseph's shoulder presses back on the door, pushing it the rest of the way open.

The force of it sends me stumbling backward. I brace my hand on the arm of my couch to regain my balance as Joseph storms inside, slamming and locking the door behind him.

"If you would have just listened to me and agreed to have sex, I wouldn't have to kill you now." Joseph grips my arm and pulls me to his side. With his other hand, he pulls a gun from his belt. "I tried to hurt Dom by starting that fire that was supposed to kill his dearest brother." He tightens his hold on me and rubs the gun along the side of my face. "But Nick didn't die in the fire. No, he ended up being a damn hero saving that family. Hell, I even sent my wife to Dom's room to seduce him, and he threw her out. So, now I'm going to hurt him by killing you, but the icing on the cake is I'm going to make it look like a suicide. You made it easy enough for me by leaving the island upset at his cheating. It's actually going to be better than I could have imagined. Dom will blame himself for your death, unable to continue as the head of the family, and I will finally take my rightful place as head of the family."

Joseph is unstable. I need to convince him to let me go so I can tell Dom that Joseph was behind everything.

"Before you kill me, can you at least tell me why?"

"I'm the oldest. I should have been the one to take over when our grandfather died. But instead, he chose Dom over me like always."

"Belle, open up. I need to talk to you. Please let me in." The sound of Dom's voice makes me sigh in relief.

"Get rid of him," Joseph whispers, "Unless you want to watch him die." He adds with an evil hiss.

"Dom, you need to leave me alone. I don't love you. I used you like you used me. Why do you think I was at that sex club? I had a scratch I needed to itch, and my normal hook-up was out of town." I cringe at the thought of anyone else touching me, but if lying to Dom is the only way to save his life, I have to do it. I can only hope he can read between the lines since he knows he's the only one I've ever been with.

"Belle, I love you. I'm lost without you. There was never anything between Jessica and me. She snuck into my room and tried to seduce me. What you saw was the seconds before I kicked her out of my room and told her to never come back. Please, Belle, let me in so we can talk."

"Dom, please just go. I don't want to be with you." I hold back a sob. At least my last memory will be of Dom telling me he loves me.

There's a long pause, and I hold my breath silently, praying Dom will leave.

"If that is truly what you want, little one, I'll leave you alone."

"Yes, Dom, it's what I want."

"Then goodbye, Bella."

"Goodbye, my Dom." The tears flow freely down my face, knowing that Dom is safe from Joseph.

"Good girl." Joseph's praise makes my skin crawl.

"Now what?" I ask.

"Now, you're going to write Dom a note…" A banging sound, accompanied by my front door crashing down, interrupts Joseph.

An angry-looking Dom fills the doorframe. His eyes flash to mine before sliding to Joseph, and the gun in his hand pointed at me.

"What the fuck are you doing, Joseph? Put the gun down before you do something stupid."

"Sorry, we can't be as perfect as you, Dom. But you know what? You're too weak to lead our family. I should have been the one to replace our grandfather after he died, not you." Joseph starts to pace, his hand holding the gun, jerking from side to side. "Nick should have died in that fire. Hell, the hitman I hired couldn't even finish the job when he was in the hospital."

Dom's eyes flare, "It was you? You tried to kill Nick?"

"Of course, it was me. You've gone soft. All the mob families were getting ready to align with the truce you were proposing. I had to do something to destroy you. And the only thing that would ever destroy a man like you would be hurting the people you love." Joseph shifts his eyes in disgust in my direction.

Dom takes the opening and throws his body at Joseph, knocking him to the ground, but not before the gun goes off.

"Dom!" I cry and race to where they are both lying on the floor. Joseph's eyes are closed, and his head is rolled to the side. Dom coughs and opens his eyes; rolling to his side, he pulls the extension cord out of the outlet and ties up Joseph's unconscious body before turning to me.

"I'm fine, little one, but you are in trouble for leaving me."

"I love you!" I throw my arms around Dom, kissing every inch of his face before landing on his mouth.

He breaks the kiss and whispers against my lips, "I love you too, but you're still going to get punished."