Chapter 73: In A Spiral

▪ D O M I N I C▪

I paced furiously back and forth in front of the large windows adorning my

office.

Without Jade at my side, Aelbank City just was not the same. Marching

about the room, I moved like there was a hurricane within me.

It was as though my brain was in over-drive as I energetically moved my

limbs about. My blue eyes were wild, and every time I paused by the

window, I would immediately start fidgeting in one place.

My squirming would increase to the point that I would explode and

suddenly shout out incoherent words before pacing again, my mind reeling.

The pain I felt due to her absence increased with each passing minute.

Jade was the most precious thing to me.

I missed the feel of her hand in mine, and as I momentarily closed my eyes,

I saw her smiling face staring back at me. Even though I knew it was not

possible, I desperately wished that I could reach out and touch her, but

unfortunately, I did not possess the power to materialise things from my

thoughts.

Another scream tore through me. I hated feeling powerless!

The irony of the situation was not lost on me. I was one of the most feared

men in the United States, and all it took was for one simple slip up and

everything in my world had drastically changed.

Since Jade had been taken, I had found myself thinking back to all the years

since the first day I had met her. From having rescued her and Quintin to

watching her from a distance as she grew up into a strong and powerful

woman she was today.

A part of me regretted wasting time at her nineteenth birthday party.

Had I just given things between us a chance sooner, we would have had

more time together. But as I continued to reminisce, I knew that I could not

have forced myself to be with her back then, and to be honest, the last two

years had been interesting. Especially where trying to understand my new

feelings were concerned.

But then again, everything had happened as it was supposed to.

With a sigh, my breathing began to even out as my fingers briefly touched

the charm bracelet that remained secure in the right pocket of my pants.

With the recent attacks upon us, coupled with Blaire's murder and Jade's

whereabouts that were still unknown, a part of me wondered what I could

have done differently to have prevented all of this from happening.

Letting out another frustrated shout, I tightly gripped my silvery white hair.

Huffing, I then picked up my half-empty whiskey glass from the desk and

threw it at the wall.

For the last few minutes, I knew that Vincent had been cautiously standing

near the partially open office door, more than likely contemplating when to

enter. His brown eyes observed me, knowing fully well that I had not left

the room since the phone call with the Cartel boss.

Seeming to square his shoulders back, Vincent guardedly entered the room.

My face was tense, and I had not slept in over two days, which was a norm

for me. However, my lack of sleep these past twenty-four hours was

obviously due to a different reason. I knew how I looked, my eyes were

bloodshot and my usually well-kept hair was messy from having had my

fingers repeatedly threaded through it.

To say that I was severely stressed about Jade's kidnapping would be an

understatement.

Vincent had never seen me look this distraught, and I knew that he was

wondering how much longer before I would snap. But for Jade's sake, I was

doing my best to keep myself together, for it would not do her any good if I

were to spiral and lose control of myself.

Seeing my second in command enter, I quickly asked while continuing to

pace in front of the windows, "Any news?"

Regrettably shaking his head, Vincent replied, "No, not yet but–"

Interrupting him, I shouted, "It's been over twenty-four hours now!"

"I know that, but what I was going to say was the fact that we haven't heard

anything isn't completely bad. Once her body doesn't turn up anywhere,

there's a chance that she's still alive," Vincent said, trying to calm me.

Rubbing my eyes, I stopped moving and sighed, "I suppose you're right, but

I don't like feeling useless, Vincent. I'm at my wit's end already and it's only

been a day!"

"I understand, but everyone is doing everything they can, it's not like you're

sitting on your ass. You're no good to Jade if you fall apart, you need to get

some rest so that you can keep a level head," he implored.

Dropping to sit in my chair behind my desk, I rested my elbows on the

surface while my hands fisted in my hair once more as I closed my eyes and

bent my head.

"I can't think about resting, I keep imaging what García might be doing to

her. Lord alone knows what he intends to do. He did say he planned to keep

her for himself..." my voice strained as I spoke, "What if he forces himself

on her?"

I cringed as I thought about Jade having to do whatever it took to keep

herself alive.

The thought of her having to give her body over to another man because I

was too arrogant in my ability to keep her safe had me gasping for air.

Walking to one of the chairs opposite the desk, Vincent sat down,

"Dominic, do you remember the first time we ever saw Jade? Do you

remember what was on the tapes, with that piece of shit Enzo?"

Lifting my head, a tortured look passed across my face as I opened my

eyes, "How could I forget."

"When we went to the hotel, we were expecting to find two broken

children, and while Quin was the older one and should have been more

composed, it was little Martha who kept it together for the both of them. Do

you remember how she looked at you when you entered and pointed the

gun at Enzo?" Vincent asked reminiscing.

A small smile played on my lips, "She was so brave, looking me dead in the

eye."

"Exactly. She was fearless, even back then while she was trapped with that

monster! She even bit his leg as if it were a piece of fried chicken! I mean,

clearly she has a unique strength within her, even from back then," he said

while looking at me.

Remembering how courageous she had been made my smile widen.

"And she was just a child back then. She's a woman now, with years of

training! You can rest assured that she's even braver now and extremely

deadly! There's no cage that can hold our Jade and there's nothing that José

can do to break her spirit! To be honest, I almost feel sorry for the Cartel

boss," Vincent chuckled softly.

At his words, I found myself laughing softly as well.

It was not a matter of me not having faith in Jade and her abilities. But more

so that my distress was as a result of her being in such a situation in a first

place.

One that could have been avoided.

Keeping his eyes on me, my second in command went on to say, "I'm pretty

sure that Jade will have that poor Mexican eating out of the palm of her

hands once she's given the chance. For all we know he's already fallen

under her spell, especially after his confession about wanting to keep her for

himself."

Grumbling softly, I said, "She'll never belong to another, she's mine! But I

see what you're saying."

I exhaled and sat back in my chair.

After a few moments, I added, "Our Jade is indeed a survivor, I just rather

we find her sooner rather than later. Especially before she's forced to do

things that she doesn't want to. I know men like García, and I could hear it

in his voice, he plans to make her his in every possible way and I know that

Jade will go along with it if she thinks it's her best option."

Running a hand through my hair again, I thought about Jade and that fiery

mouth of hers.

I knew all too well how bratty she could be sometimes as she enjoyed

provoking me on occasion. Unfortunately, I knew that her rebellious nature

would not be able to resist aggravating the Cartel boss. Jade had a habit of

always wanting to test her boundaries to see what she could get away with.

A deeper frown creased my brow as I wondered how José would react to

her rude replies.

Would the Mexican find them endearing as I often did, or would the Cartel

boss force Jade to her knees, make her put her beautiful lips around him as

punishment?

The image made me wheeze once again as I felt a crushing feeling stirring

within my chest.

I was unable to stop myself from thinking about Jade having to sleep with

José. With my eyes firmly shut once more, I tortured myself as I pictured

her smooth legs being wrapped about the man's waist.

My face twisted as I visualised her being taken over and over again. A low

whimpering growl softly escaped me as my blue eyes started to water

behind my closed lids.

In that moment, I did not care that I was breaking down in front of Vincent.

As I continued to drown myself in the illicit images, I heard him suddenly

shouting at me, clearly seeing my various facial expressions.

"Don't think about that! We will get her back, Dominic; I know we will!"

Vincent said with conviction as he swiftly got up.

Blinking my eyes repeatedly, I nodded as I looked up at him. Making a

clicking sound with my mouth, I took a deep breath and shook my head,

trying to erase the dark thoughts from my mind. No matter what, I knew

that Jade would be able to take care of herself, and with that image in my

head, I felt my own resolve strengthening.

"Alright, let's go visit O'Doherty, I need to see where his head is at," I said

as I stood up.

Wrinkling his nose, Vincent commented, "Erm, you might want to go take a

shower first, your clothes reek of smoke and blood."

Looking down at myself, I had not realised that I was still in my suit. It was

the grey and purple one I had put on after my sexual mirror adventures with

Jade. I supposed I did not want to change since this was the suit I had on the

last time I had seen her.

Unfortunately, the material had long lost its scent of her. Now, I just smelled

of smoke fumes and death.

It was obvious that I could not go to James in clothes stained with blood. I

needed to freshen up and put on a brave face, especially given the ordeal the

Irishman was going through. No matter what, I could not show him or

anyone else for that matter how Jade's disappearance was affecting me.

I was Dominic Giano Calvetti!

Ruthless mafia boss, King of Aelbank City, and I would get revenge for us

all!

Shaking my head, I mumbled as I got up to leave the room, "Fine! Go bring

the car around in the meantime..."

As I walked up the stairs, I thought about the fact that Jade did not have her

medication with her. Exhaling deeply, my brows creased at the knowledge

of this.

In the back of my mind, I had to give Jade the benefit of the doubt that she

would be able to keep things together. However, I knew that it would only

be a matter of time before her behaviour would spiral out of control.

Without her pills, certain impulses of hers would resurface.

Shit!

In her outbursts, Jade might very well end up killing José before I could

even get to her, therein signing her own death sentence