Page 21 of Murder & Mayhem
But that was impossible. I was tired. I was done. I was over my brain and my thoughts that constantly warred with each other. I only wanted to sleep.
I let my thoughts drift, taking in my surroundings. Dominic’s building was nice. Never lived in a place this fancy.Shit, I wasn’t sure if I’d ever stepped foot inside a place like this. He had a doorman who greeted him by name and everything.
“Good evening, Robert,” Dominic replied politely, casually, like he hadn’t just murdered two people. “This is Jameson. He’s permitted to come and go as he pleases.”
Robert the doorman eyed me skeptically, probably wondering why someone like Dominic would be anywhere near someone like me. I didn’t blame him. I was wondering the same thing.
Still, he gave Dominic a respectful nod. “Very good, Mr. Vecchio. I’ll add him to the approved list.”
“Thank you.”
Dominic turned to me and, much more softly, said, “C’mon, Jamie. Let’s get you cleaned up.”
Which had Robert the doorman watching me again, like he was calculating how much damage my filth was doing to his building. I gave him a little salute and blindly followed Dominic.
We took an elevator and eventually made it to his floor, which was second to last. “There’s only one other apartment on this floor and one above us. My neighbor keeps to herself and minds her own business. You’ll have privacy here.”
Didn’t know why he was telling me that, but okay. He walked to the door on the right and unlocked it.
I was vaguely aware of how nice the place looked, but nothing was fully processing. I stood in the middle of a large open room with recessed lighting and. . . waited. Whatever Dominic wanted to do at this point, it would happen. I didn’t have it in me to fight anything anymore.
Dominic beelined to a closet at the back of the room to hang up his murder backpack and take off his shoes. He walked back to me, expression soft and gentle.
“Can I help you get your shoes off, sweetheart?”
I shrugged. That was fine. Dominic knelt at my feet—wasn’t that a strange feeling?—and carefully untied the laces on my beat-up Vans. “Lift your foot,” he whispered. “Hold onto my shoulder for balance.”
I . . . Okay. Whatever. I held his shoulder and lifted my foot. He took my shoe off and put it to the side and then repeated the process on the other. He didn’t say anything about the sole that was half off or the hole in my mismatched socks, and later I’d probably appreciate that.
Once he was done, Dominic stood up and led me to the leather couch a few feet away. “Take a seat. I’m going to get my first-aid kit.” I sat.
My vision went in and out of focus. Noise filtered in from the other room, but I didn’t have the strength even to turn my head in that direction. Eventually, there were footsteps and Dominic was back, a red first-aid kit in his hands.
He sat on the sofa next to me, careful to keep some space between us. I didn’t know if I was grateful for it or disappointed.
“Let me see your hand,” he said quietly, patiently. I held it out to him, palm up, and closed my eyes, not really caring what he did.
The pain grounded me, helped me when I was spiraling. Most of the time, I didn’t realize what I was doing until the act was done. Bailey would call me out on it when he noticed me falling into the pattern, and it helped, but Bailey wasn’t here, and cutting my palm or scratching my arm wasn’t nearly enough.
Dominic stayed silent as he cleaned me up. He didn’t bandage me since he said they’d only get wet when I showered, but he told me he would afterwards and to be careful. He then movedon to my face, wiping up the clumped hair and dried blood with a damp cloth.
I slumped against the sofa, ready to let sleep take me. As much as I hated to admit it, taking the night and regrouping was the right choice. I wouldn’t make it down the street in the condition I was in now, let alone all the way to the docks. Still felt like a fucking failure though. Bailey was the one hurting. I needed to do better.
“I’m going to order food,” Dominic said, the sofa dipping as he stood. “Any preference?”
I shook my head, my stomach rumbling to remind me it had been way too long since I’d eaten. There’d been a time not too long ago that it wouldn’t have fazed me, but months of solid meals had trained my body to need food again. Dangerous. I’d gotten complacent.
When I didn’t offer anything else, Dominic just sighed. I was pretty sure he walked away, but I didn’t open my eyes to check. I sank into the softness and finally let the darkness overtake me.
I must have fallen asleep because I woke up to the sound of voices and the scent of Italian food.
“Thanks, A,” Dominic said quietly, voice gruff. He sounded tired and a little defeated, which made my heart clench. “You know, Uber Eats does exist.”
“I’ve been staring at screens for hours now. I needed to get out. Besides, I ordered some for myself too.”
Dominic made a sound that was somewhere between a snort and a laugh. “Of course you did. Since you’re here, do you want to come in and satisfy your curiosity?”
“Yeah. I have an update for you anyway.”
