Dominic (Saint Brothers #1) (22 page)

“How’s Lily doing?” I hated leaving my daughter, but I had to be here right now. Part of it was because I felt responsible for what had happened to the girls. They were under our protection and yet they had still got hurt. Obviously, the other part was something else altogether.

“She’s great. She and Gemma are busy cooking up a storm in the kitchen, making cookies and cakes and I don’t know what else. All I know is that I’m going to be as sick as a dog if they make me try it all.” My father chuckled.

“That’s good.” I knew she would be fine with my dad. She loved being with her grandparents, so at least I knew me being at the hospital wouldn’t have a negative effect on her. “I’ll give you a call later when I find out more.” And after a few more pleasantries, I hung up the phone.

Opening the door again, I noticed she was awake again. Closing the door carefully behind me, her eyes swung to me and a small smile formed on her lips.

“You came back?”

“I never left.” I assured her. “How are you feeling?”

She seemed a little more lucid as she watched me sit down next to her. “I’m aching.”

I took that as a good sign. At least she was feeling something. I also knew that the nurses would be in shortly to check out her medication, but as long as the worst she was feeling was achy, then that was alright by me.

“You don’t have to stay, you know.” She said hesitantly.

I shrugged. “Where else would I be?”

She looked momentarily frustrated. “What’s going on here, Dominic? I don’t understand why you’re here?”

“We’ll talk more later.” I didn’t really want to get into it with her now. This wasn’t the time or place.

“I want to talk about it now. Why are you here? Did something happen to Lauren?”

The real question was plain to see on her face – were we all lying to her? “No. Lauren is fine. She’s shaken up, but she’s come out of it much better than you did.”

“Well, if Lauren’s fine then I don’t understand.”

Sighing, I knew she wasn’t going to let this drop. “It’s something I would rather talk about at a later date.” I waved my hand around, indicating the hospital in general.

“Now is as good a time as any.” She glared at me.

Damn, this was going to be harder than I thought. Fallon was there, thinking the worst and all I wanted to do was be with her. After all this, perhaps my words were going to be a bit of an anti-climax.

Taking a deep breath, I wasn’t sure where to start so I thought I’d just dive straight in. “I’ve been a dick. I treated you like crap.”

“You don’t have to stick around here. A simple apology would work for me.” Fallon snapped, averting her eyes.

I wasn’t going to let her get off that easily. “Fallon, it takes two to tango. You were into this as much as I was, sweetheart.”

“Sweetheart?” she seethed. “Don’t you ‘sweetheart’ me!”

Shaking my head, I sat down heavily in the chair. “This is coming out wrong. I didn’t mean it like that.”

“Well, what did you mean?”

“I meant that you walked out on me the second time.”

“So, what? Does that mean we’re even? That doesn’t explain to me what you’re doing here.”

“I’m here because I want to be here.” Standing up, I started to pace around the room. I wasn’t big on rejection and I could see this one coming from a mile off. She didn’t want anything to do with me, hell, I wasn’t even sure she liked me. “I’m here because I like you.”

“You like me?” she scoffed. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

Fallon looked so mad that I couldn’t help laughing, and once I’d started I couldn’t stop. She was getting red in the face from her anger, which tickled me even further.

“If you don’t stop, I’m calling security.”

That made me howl with laughter. I didn’t know what the hell was wrong with me but it took a good few minutes for me to calm down enough to talk. Falling back into the chair, I wiped my eyes as I looked over at her fuming expression.

“Have you finished?” she demanded.

Choking back another laugh, I said, “I’m not apologising for that.” She frowned at me. “Well, I never realised what a bitch you could be.”

She smirked. “I think we had this conversation before when you called me a feisty bitch. I didn’t appreciate it then and I don’t appreciate it now.”

“Fallon, for Christ’s sake, will you give me a break? You’re making me feel like some teenager with no confidence.” When she made a move to talk again, I put a hand up to stop her. “I’m here because I want to be here. I’m here because I want a chance to prove to you that I’m not just some dick who took advantage of you.”

She looked taken aback for a moment, “You didn’t take advantage of me.”

“Whatever. I’m telling you I want to give this a go.” I waved my hands between us.

“Telling me or asking me?”

At least she now looked more amused than pissed off. Hopefully, that meant that I was getting my point across. Leaning on the chair so I was closer to her, I looked deep into her eyes, trying to see past the bruising and the bloodshot eyes to see what she was thinking. “Fallon, I’m asking you to give me a chance.”

She was quiet for a moment before smirking again, “I’ll think about it.”

Chuckling, I knew that was going to be the best I would get at the moment. But at least it gave me some hope for the future.

Chapter Eighteen

Fallon

I looked absolutely horrendous. No amount of make-up could cover the mess that my face was at the moment.

Shrugging on my jacket, I’d found it infuriating how long it had taken for me to get dressed. Everything ached now that the painkillers had been reduced. But on the upside, my mind was feeling clearer.

Lauren had called into to see me and it had taken everything in me to convince her that I didn’t hold her responsible for what had happened. She had been the victim as well. It was Matt that was the one at fault. It was going to take a long time for that to sink in, but she would get there in the end.

Taylor had been running around like a headless chicken, flying between her job and the hospital, making sure that I had everything to make me as comfortable as possible and bringing piles of magazines to ward off the boredom. She’d been an absolute godsend these last few days.

I’d ended up having to stay in for several days for them to keep an eye on my head wound. Although I still had a killer headache, it was my hand that was causing me the most problems. Luckily, it was my left hand and seeing as I’m right handed, it could have been a lot worse.

They told me that I was going to have to keep the cast on for at least six weeks and then physio to follow. Depending on how things went, I may also need an operation, but that wasn’t something I wanted to think about just now. I was happy to be getting out of hospital, I didn’t want to think about coming back in so soon.

The others had been great, as well. Kacey and Kellin had popped in to see me and Austen had even called to say hello. It was strange because before this had happened, I wasn’t all that chummy with the boys, but over the last few days, we’d all grown closer. It appeared that my circle of friends was growing.

And Dominic. I didn’t really know what to think about Dominic.

He’d come in to see me every single day and night that I’d been in here, which I knew had to be hard for him with looking after Lily, but when I asked him about it, he’d said he had it all sorted.

We talked about anything and everything and I saw a side to him that I didn’t think was there. He was much deeper and funnier than I had ever anticipated.

He didn’t apply any pressure but I knew he wanted me to make the move to show him that I wanted him as much as he wanted me, but I thought that was obvious. I couldn’t take my eyes off him and the connection was undeniable.

I still thought that he was way out of my league but he didn’t seem deterred. Even looking like the monster I did at the moment, he still looked at me like I was the most beautiful creature he’d ever set eyes on. It was powerful and more than a little scary.

Leaving the hospital, I had no idea where things were going to go with us, but I was willing to give it a try. I was too deep into Dominic to turn back now and although we had done things the wrong way wrong in a traditional sense, we were ready to start over and take that first step. Where it would lead us, I had no idea, but at least we were both willing to try.

“Hey, beautiful.”

I jumped out of my skin as I stepped out of my hospital room, dropping my bag on the floor. “Jesus Christ, Dominic! You frightened the hell out of me.”

He chuckled. “Sorry.”

“No, you’re not.” I swiped at his arm. “What are you doing here?”

“I’ve come to pick you up. You’re been discharged, haven’t you?” he looked at me, puzzled.

“Well, yes.”

“Come on, then.”

“I thought Taylor was coming to pick me up?” I looked around for her, but she was nowhere in sight.

“Change of plan.”

I shook my head at him. I knew that this was going to be something I was going to have to get used to, Dominic taking charge, but it wasn’t going to be easy for me. I had been independent for so long, especially after getting away from my stifling mother, and it was going to take some getting used to.

Dominic smiled at me and held out his hand. Even after the last few days in the hospital, this was going to be our first real physical contact. It wouldn’t be much to some people, but to me? This was big. We’d already done the deed, but this was different.

Taking his hand, I couldn’t help but smile as his fingers lightly squeezed mine.

Walking to the car, he helped me in, even though I insisted I was perfectly capable of doing it myself. He was treating me like a fragile piece of china, which was very sweet at the moment but I could see it getting boring very quickly.

As we moved away from the hospital, I sunk back into the seat. It was great to be out of there. I knew that it was going to be difficult getting back to my life, especially with my hand, but I was more than ready for it. I wasn’t one for lying around and letting life pass me by.

Looking out the window, I frowned slightly. “Where are we going?” This wasn’t the way back to my place. “Dominic?”

“We’re going for dinner.”

“Where?”

“At my dad’s.”

I sucked in a breath and tried to calm myself down. His father’s? Was he kidding me?

“Don’t panic. It’s nothing special.”

“Dominic…” I said in a warning tone and glowered at him when he laughed.

“Seriously, Fallon. Stop freaking out. We all do this once a month.”

Taking another deep breath and trying not to shout at him, I asked, “Who is we?”

“Me, my dad, my step-mother and my brothers.” He said simply.

“What? I can’t do that!”

“Sure you can. Everyone’s been really worried about you.” He glanced at me and saw how mad I was. For a moment, he smiled and reached across to take my hand. “They all want to see you. My dad wants to meet you.”

“Why?” I asked in a small voice, clutching hold of his hand. This was the last thing I had expected to happen today. It was too much after just coming out of hospital and I didn’t think I could handle it.

“Because of everything I’ve told him about you. Because of how I feel about you. It’s important to him. And it’s important to me.”

What could I say to that? It was a hell of a declaration and I couldn’t throw that back in his face, especially not after how close we had gotten over the last few days.

“Do you think you can do this?” he asked, “Because if it’s too much, I can take you straight home. They’ll understand, I’m sure.”

I shook my head firmly. I could tell that this was something he desperately wanted to do, and with how much his family had helped me, it was the least I could do. It was going to be a hell of a jump, meeting his family after only being together officially for a mere few days, but it felt right. “Let’s do this.”

Dominic grinned at me. He was as ready for this as I was.

Taking my hand and bringing it to his lips, we rode the rest of the way in silence. We both had a lot to think about, but a hell of a future to look forward to. And it was a future I was looking forward to now that Dominic was in it.

Epilogue

The Wedding

Fallon

“You really don’t have to do this you know.” I said for what felt like the hundredth time.

“I told you I would be there and I will.”

“You don’t know what they’re like.”

“Stop trying to talk me out of this.”

“Look, they’re not like your family. You’ll get on with my father, but my mother is a raging bitch.” I hissed down the phone, giving him one last chance to get off the hook.

“From all you’ve told me, I’ve met their kind a million times before. Don’t worry about me.” Dominic chuckled down the phone.

“Yeah, but it is one thing for them to talk down to me. I won’t have them doing that to you.”

“Do you really think I’d care about any shit they gave me? Do you not know me at all?”

“That’s not the point.”

“And I won’t have them talking shit to you, either.” He replied menacingly and I couldn’t help but giggle. It would be a hell of sight to see Dominic telling my mother off.

We had talked about this so many times over the last few weeks. I really didn’t think he knew what he was letting himself in for meeting my family, especially on a day that they’d be so far up their asses they would be totally unbearable. But Dominic didn’t want me having to go through this day on my own. He knew what my mother and my sister were like and that this wedding was going to be pure torture for me. I appreciated him being there for me, but I still thought he was a sucker for punishment.

Hanging up the phone, he promised to call by as soon as he could in the morning. Dominic was determined to be my moral support.

Tonight was going to be just as bad for me. There was no way for him to save me from it all. I was going to have to suck it up, and if that didn’t work, I’d indulged in a little Dutch courage.

My sister was going down the traditional route all the way with this wedding. She and Alex weren’t to see each other until she walked down the aisle and to keep temptation at bay, she was staying at my parents’ house tonight. I had to laugh when she told me that. My mother thought that she was still a virgin and keeping her innocence for her wedding night. How funny was that!

What wasn’t funny was that I had somehow been dragged into staying the night before as well. It was bad enough having to suffer through the wedding, let alone getting stuck under my mothers’ watchful eye for an extra night. All I wanted to do was curl up in bed with Dominic, but that wasn’t to be.

Packing up the few things that I needed, there wasn’t anything else I could do to stall. My hideous bridesmaid dress was already at my parents’ house and they were bringing in professional hair stylists and make-up artists to make sure that the bridal party looked immaculate for the big day. There wasn’t any point taking too much stuff with me. My sister would only ban me from using it, anyway.

Locking up the house, I sat in my car. Before starting up the engine, I ran off a quick text to Dominic.

Wish me luck XX

“Fallon, darling.” My mother walked towards me with her fake saccharine smile as soon as I walked into the house. Pausing in front of me, she air kissed me and I couldn’t help but notice her look of disgust as her eyes swept over my casual tee, jeans and boots get-up.

“Good evening, mother.”

As I made to walk through the foyer to where I could hear my sisters’ tinkling laughter, my mother gently held my wrist to stop me. “You didn’t think to make more of an effort for tonight? Did you bring anything to change into?”

“Of course I didn’t. This is fine.” I looked down at myself, knowing what her problem was, but I wasn’t a twinset and pearls kind of girl and never would be.

“This is your sister’s time.” She admonished.

I sighed loudly. “What’s so wrong with what I’ve got on?”

“What’s right with it?” She sniffed.

I shook my head at her. This was just the sort of thing I had been expecting from her tonight so her words rolled off me like water off a ducks back.

She shook her head at me when it was clear that I wasn’t going to make a move to change into something more ‘appropriate’. “Why couldn’t you be more like your sister?”

“Why would I want to be?” I shot back.

“Fallon!”

I turned to see my father walking down the wide staircase with a broad smile across his face. Without hesitation, I stepped into his open arms, relishing the warmth of his love as opposed to my mother’s coldness and once again thankful for his timing.

It was strange how different my relationship was with my parents. I had never really got along with my mother, and a mother/daughter bond is supposed to be the strongest. I was a daddy’s girl, that’s for sure. I had nothing in common with my mother. She and Olivia were like two peas in a pod and no matter what I did, it was never good enough for them. But with my father? I saw a different side to him than the rest of the world did on the outside. He was a man that had got rich off a good name and from sitting on his ass while everyone else did all the hard work, but to me, he was always the one that showed me how to have fun when I was a kid, while my mother only demanded obedience and seriousness. He was the one that showed me love while my mother had always been stick-up-her-ass standoffish.

“Hey, dad. How have you been?”

“I’m fine. Trying to stay out of the way.” He threw my mother an amused look while she huffed and puffed. “Would you like to come and have a quick drink with your old dad before the ladies steal you from me?”

“Olivia is expecting Fallon to join us.” My mother interjected.

Ignoring her, I said, “That would be perfect.” And taking his arm, we walked towards the library, leaving my mother in the hallway with steam coming out of her ears.

Shutting the door behind us, my dad turned to me with a mischievous grin. “You know I’m going to pay for that.”

I laughed. Sometimes I honestly thought he annoyed her on purpose, just to have a little park in his life.

“She needs to quit treating me like a child.”

“Your mother is never going to change.”

I snorted. That was true. She was set in her ways and nothing would sway her now. She treated me like a naughty kid and I wasn’t about to change, so we’d forever clash.

“What can I get for you, sweetheart?” he asked as he moved over to the liquor cabinet.

“I’ll have whatever you’re having.” I settled down on the leather armchair, curling my legs under me.

This had always been my favourite room in this monster of a house when I was growing up. This was the only place where I could be myself and be left alone.

No one ever ventured in there apart from me and my father. He occasionally used this room if he had work to do and more often, to escape my mother.

When she had people over, my mother liked to show off the library. It was crammed full of first editions and leather bound rare books. For me, I loved the escape of the room, how you can be transported to another time, another place, another world just by picking up one of the books in there. To my mother, it was another way for her to show off the family’s wealth.

Over the years of my childhood, I think I got through every single book in the place, which was no mean feat. My father had seen my extreme thirst for fantasy and knowledge that he had the library extended to include modern popular novels, ones that held no financial value but one’s I loved.

“So, are you ready for tomorrow?”

I glanced up to see him sitting down on the chair opposite me. He looked more relaxed and comfortable in here, away from my mother’s evil eye. “As ready as I’ll ever be, I guess.”

“Your mother has been running around like a headless chicken all month, making sure the last minute details are perfect.”

“I can imagine.” I rolled my eyes at him. She was going to be in her element with this wedding, no expense would be spared. Luckily for my dad, all he had to do was hand over his bank card to keep her happy.

“How are you feeling now?”

I flexed my fingers, noting the ache that was still there but it was nothing as bad as it had been. All the bruising was a distant memory and I’d made a full recovery, thank God.

My father was the only one that every asked how I was feeling and made any reference to what had happened to me. I didn’t even call to tell them until after I had been discharged, knowing that my mother would freak out. And she had. But not because I had been attacked and assaulted but because she thought I had brought it on myself by hanging out in the ‘wrong’ parts of town and befriended the ‘wrong’ kind of people.

I had stayed away while the bruises had still been apparent, but my father had called to see me. He was the never ending support that I’d needed at the time, and still was now.

“I’m totally fine now.” I smiled at him as he looked at me, making sure that I was telling him the truth. “Really, I’m okay.”

“How are things going with you? How’s life at the hospital?”

My father didn’t like me working at the city hospital any more than my mother, but he was much more tolerant about it. He may not have agreed with my career choice, but at least he supported me.

“It’s been pretty hectic. I’ve tried cutting back my hours a bit. They’ve been asking me to cover more shifts again and I had to pull in some major favours to get tomorrow off.”

“Ah, but tomorrow is a special day.” He winked at me. It wouldn’t matter what was going on in my life, I would have to drop everything and anything to be there for the wedding. And I would. She was my sister. No matter how much I was dreading the day. “Your mother mentioned something about you bringing a plus one?”

“Are you fishing for gossip, old man?” I smirked.

“Too right I am. I need to know what sort of man you’re bringing with you so I can prepare for the fireworks from your mother.”

I wasn’t particularly looking forward to introducing Dominic to my family. I’d told him over and over again what they were like but he wasn’t having any of it. I knew that my father would accept anyone who made me happy, but my mother was a whole different story.

Dominic had money. More than I first thought when I met him. Not that it mattered to me and that was one of the things he loved about me. I didn’t give a flying crap whether he had millions in his bank or a penny. It wouldn’t be like that with my mother, though. She would never think he was good enough for me.

I half hoped that he was going to turn up in jeans and a tee with all his tats showing on the back of his Harley. My mother would have a complete shit fit. But, he had already told me that he was going to come suited and booted to the wedding, wanting to make a good impression.

“His name is Dominic.” I replied to my father shyly. It was really lame, but this was the first time I would have ever introduced my family to someone that I was seeing. Up until now, I had been able to get away with it. But Dominic had refused to let me face the wolves by myself, so there was no getting out of it.

“Dominic?”

“Saint. Dominic Saint.”

“Hmm. I don’t think I’ve heard of him.”

Even though my father had been there for me after the attack, I hadn’t told him anything about Dominic. I wanted to keep him all to myself for as long as I could and my time had now run out that the wedding was here.

“I didn’t imagine that you would have.” I took a drink of the amber liquid my father had given me. “He doesn’t exactly run in the same circles as you do.”

“So, what does he do?”

I knew that I was going to get the third degree from my parents about him and I was glad that it was my dad I was facing first. At least he would be able to pass on the information to my mother so she wouldn’t make a scene at the wedding. “He owns a couple of bars in town.” I also wasn’t going to mention that he owned Decadence. My mother would only get the wrong impression when she found that out, thinking that because he owned that establishment that he was just like them, and he wasn’t. Dominic was much better suited to Sinners.

He was my sin.

“Well, that’s impressive.” He nodded before sitting forward, looking at me with a serious expression. “And am I to presume that this is serious between the two of you?”

I could feel myself blushing. Even though I got on with my father better than the rest of them, we didn’t often get to talking deep and meaningful like this. “I think things are going well so far.”

“I would think they were if you were bringing him into the lion’s den tomorrow.”

Holding my head in my hands, I couldn’t help laughing. Talking to my dad had relieved some of the tension building in my stomach. “I should have told him not to come. They’re going to eat him alive, aren’t they?”

“I can’t lie to you, sweetheart. But, if he is half the man I think he is, those women aren’t going to run him off.”

“I hope not.”

“Have some faith in your man.” My father smiled at me and I knew at least one member of my family would accept Dominic.

My head was pounding like a jack-hammer was going off in there. I knew I should have cut back on the whiskey last night, but hey, it was medicinal. I had to numb myself against my mother and sister.