Chapter 38 DOMINIC
Ava's POV
I didn't sleep well that night and by the time the sun came up, I was exhausted but I couldn't stay in bed anymore. I got up and showered.
My phone had been quiet all night as there was no messages and no calls. So I thought maybe I was wrong and that nobody filmed us. But I knew better than to hope for that.
I got dressed in shorts and a tank top and was about to go find breakfast when someone knocked on my door. It was Dominic.
"Morning," he said, walking in without waiting for me to invite him.
"Morning."
He looked at me closely. "You look tired."
"Didn't sleep much." I replied
"Why not?"
I sat on the bed and told him everything and I expected him to be angry but his face stayed calm the whole time I talked.
"So you slept with Marcus," he said when I finished.
"Yes." I replied
"And you think someone filmed it."
"I'm pretty sure, yes."
He was quiet for a moment, just looking at me. Then he asked, "Was it good?"
I blinked. "What?" I said not because I couldn't hear what he had said earlier but surprised that of all things to ask that was what he decided to ask.
"With Marcus. Was it good?" He asked again
"That's what you want to know?" I asked still surprised.
"We agreed to be open. To explore. So yes, I want to know if it was good." He sat next to me on the bed.
"Tell me about it."
"Dominic, this is weird." I said quietly.
"Why? We're supposed to be honest with each other, right? So be honest." He said and i didn't know what to say. This wasn't the reaction I expected at all.
"It was good," I finally said.
"Different from you. But good."
"Different how?" He asked
"Gentler and slower. He took his time." I said.
"And you liked that." He said but that wasn't a question.
"Yes."
He nodded slowly. "I'm not mad, you know. I just want to understand."
"You're really not mad?" I asked
"No. I'm curious. And maybe a little turned on."
"Turned on?"
"Yeah. Thinking about you with him. About what you did." His hand moved to my thigh.
"It's hot."
I felt my body respond even though I was tired and worried. "You're insane."
"Maybe. But you love it."
He kissed me and I kissed him back. His hands pulled me closer and I felt him hard against my leg.
We pulled off each other's clothes fast. He pushed me back on the bed and climbed on top of me. There was no gentleness like there was with Marcus, just hard and demanding.
He pushed inside me without warning and I gasped.
"You're still wet," he said. "From thinking about him?"
"From thinking about you." I responded and he started moving, his hips snapping hard against mine.
He flipped me over onto my stomach and pulled my hips up. Then he pushed back inside from behind. This angle was deeper and I had to grab the sheets.
"Fuck," I moaned.
"That's it. Let me hear you." He said and pounded into me and I was already close. My body was sensitive from last night with Marcus and now this.
He reached around and found my clit, rubbing hard circles. The pressure built and built until I couldn't hold it anymore.
"Now," he said. "Come now."
I fell apart and he followed right after. We collapsed on the bed breathing hard.
"Better?" I asked.
"Much better."
We laid there for a few minutes, catching our breath. Then there was another knock on the door.
"Who is it?" I called out.
"It's me," Isabella's voice said.
I looked at Dominic and he shrugged. "Let her in."
I wrapped a sheet around myself and opened the door. Isabella walked in wearing a sundress.
"Good morning," she said, then saw Dominic naked on the bed. "Oh. Did I interrupt?"
"We just finished," I said.
"Good. Because we need to talk." She sat in the chair by the window.
"I heard about last night. About you and Marcus."
"How did you hear?" I asked
"Marcus told me. He came to my room this morning looking guilty." She crossed her legs. "He's worried about the person who saw you."
"We all should be worried," Dominic said, sitting up.
"If there's a video, it'll get out. We need to be prepared."
"Prepared how?" I asked.
"Damage control, a statement ready and talking to our lawyers."
There was another knock on the door and this time it was urgent.
"Who is it?" Dominic called out.
"It's Tom. Sir, we have a problem." The person responded from outside.
Dominic got up and put on his pants. Then he opened the door. Tom stood there with his laptop looking panicked.
"What's wrong?" Dominic asked.
"The video. It's already posted. It went up an hour ago."
My stomach dropped. "Where?"
"A gossip website. It's spreading fast. Twitter, Instagram, everywhere."
"Show me," Dominic said.
Tom came in and opened his laptop. We all gathered around to watch
The caption said: "Hayes International Executive Caught in Beach Affair. Is this what they do on company retreats?"
The comments were already brutal.
"She's a slut."
"Dominic Hayes needs to fire her."
"This is what's wrong with corporate America."
I felt sick reading them.
"How many views?" Dominic asked.
"Already over 500,000. And climbing."
"Fuck." Dominic ran his hands through his hair. "Can we get it taken down?"
"We can try but it's already been copied to other sites. It's out there now."
Isabella put her arm around me. "Don't read the comments. They don't matter."
But they did matter as these were real people saying horrible things about me.
"We need to leave," Dominic said.
"Get everyone on the plane. We're going home early."
"Already arranged," Tom said. "The plane is ready when we are."
"Good. Give us an hour to pack." He said and Tom left and we all just stood there in silence.
"I'm sorry," I finally said. "This is my fault."
"It's not your fault," Dominic said firmly. "Someone violated your privacy. That's on them, not you."
"But I'm the one who went with Marcus. I'm the one who..."
"Who did exactly what we agreed you could do," Isabella interrupted. "Explore. Remember? We all said it was okay."
"I know but..."
"No buts. We're not letting them shame you for this." She grabbed my shoulders. "You did nothing wrong. Do you hear me?"
I nodded but I didn't really believe it.
"Pack your things," Dominic said. "We'll deal with everything else when we get home."
They both left and I was alone. I sat on the bed and looked at my phone. I had messages from Maya, from my mom's nurse, from people I didn't even know.
I opened Maya's first.
"I saw the video. Are you okay? Call me when you can." She had typed
Then I opened the one from my mom's nurse.
"Ava, your mother saw something online. She's very upset. You should call." I saw the next one and my hands started shaking. My mom saw it. She saw the video of me and Marcus.
I tried to call her but the nurse answered instead.
"Miss Scott, your mother doesn't want to talk to you right now. She's very disappointed." The nurse said from the other end
"Please, let me explain." I siad
"She needs rest. Maybe call back in a few days." She replied and the line went dead.
I sat there feeling like my world was falling apart. The video was everywhere. People were calling me names and ny mom wouldn't talk to me.
I started packing my things with tears running down my face. Everything I brought felt stupid now. The bikinis, the sundresses, the heels. Like I'd come here to have fun and instead I'd ruined my life.
There was a soft knock on the door.
"Come in," I said, wiping my eyes.
It was Marcus and he looked terrible.
"Ava, I'm so sorry. This is my fault. I should have been more careful."he said
"It's not your fault either. We were both there."I responded.
"But I suggested the cabana. I wanted somewhere private and instead..."
"Someone filmed us. That's not on you or me. That's on whoever did it." I assured him
He sat down next to me. "I told Dominic everything. He didn't hit me so that's good."
"He's surprisingly okay with it." I told him.
"Is he though? Or is he just pretending?"
"I don't know. But right now we have bigger problems." I said.
"Your mom?" He asked
"She won't talk to me. She saw the video." I responded.
"Shit, Ava. I'm sorry."
"Everyone keeps saying sorry but it doesn't change anything. It's out there now. Forever."
We sat in silence for a minute. Then Marcus said, "For what it's worth, I don't regret it. Last night with you was amazing. Even with everything that happened after."
"I don't regret it either. But that doesn't make this easier."
"I know."
He helped me finish packing. Then we all met in the lobby to go to the airport.
People stared as we walked through. Other guests, resort staff, everyone. They'd all seen the video by now.
I kept my head down and followed Dominic to the car and pn the drive to the airport, nobody talked. We all just sat there thinking about what was waiting for us back home.
At the airport, there were already photographers. Someone must have tipped them off.
"Hayes International sex scandal!" one of them yelled.
"Is the company promoting this behavior?"
"Are you all in a relationship together?"
They all kept asking and security pushed them back and we got through. On the plane, I finally felt like I could breathe.
Dominic sat next to me and took my hand. "We're going to get through this."
"How?"
"Together. Like we said."
Isabella sat across from us. "I think we should make a statement. Own it. Don't apologize but explain that what consenting adults do in private is nobody's business." She said
"The board will never agree to that," Dominic said.
They kept talking but I couldn't focus. All I could think about was my mom and how disappointed she must be.
My phone buzzed and it was text from an unknown number.
I opened it and felt my blood go cold. It was a photo of me and Dominic and Isabella together in bed from Bahamas.
Under the photo was a message.
"That video was just the beginning. I have so much more. Want to see?”