Dominic

Trent laughed, and he gripped my hair. "He already has," he said as he whacked the back of my head causing darkness to consume me instantly.

I woke up when someone called my name. I groaned but didn't answer. I had a killer headache and just wanted to sleep until it went away, but the person calling me wouldn't allow that to happen.

"What?" I grunted.

"Bee? Wake up, please."

I groaned as I blinked my eyes open, and I flicked my eyes around until I realised I wasn't in my bedroom. I shot up and gripped the back of my head when pain filled it. I pulled my hand away and found some blood, fresh and hard, on it.

What the fuck?

"What happened?" I asked as I looked around.

I felt an arm come around my waist, making me jump. I looked to the person who was holding me and gasped. I knew it was Damien but his face was so swollen and cut up that it was hard to recognise him.

"Damien," I whimpered and threw my arms around him. He winced but squeezed me with the arm that was already around my waist.

"Are you okay?" I cried as I pulled back from him.

He nodded his head as I brushed his hair from his face and kissed his forehead. "It's goin' to be okay, I promise."

He squeezed me again. "I know."

I looked at him as tears streamed down my face. "I'm sorry for everything I said to you. You're still a dick, but what I said was wrong."

Damien laughed but his face wouldn't allow him to smile. "Shut up, Bee, you were right about everything you said, and I only reacted the way I did because I knew it was true, and I hated it. I never want to be like my parents, and the shit I've being doing just proves that I am."

I frowned as I looked at him.

"I don't set out to break hearts. I actually don't set out to have anything to do with hearts at all but some girls get attached to me. I swear I never meant to hurt Ala

I gave him a look. "Is that your cryptic way of sayin' you like Ala

Damien shrugged but didn't answer.

I glanced around the room then and groaned. "I can't believe I was knocked out."

"Tell me about it. They did this to me after I was knocked out, the fucking pussies!" Damien growled.

I shook my head then winced. "The back of me head is throbin', it's bleedin' as well."

Damien turned me so my back was to him, and he placed his hands gently on my neck and tilted my head forward. He moved his fingers through my hair and stopped when I hissed in pain. "It's not a deep cut, and it's starting to clot. I can see all the dry blood."

I breathed sigh of relief. "Thank God for that."

"Who hit you? Marco? I saw his face before I was hit."

I swallowed and turned to face Damien. "It wasn't Marco, Damien… it was Trent."

Damien's eyebrows shot up, and his mouth dropped open.

"Trent… Trent Miles?" Damien spluttered.

I nodded my head. "He isn't dead. Marco said he just pretended he was so that he could hold the threat of killin' you over your brothers' heads. He lied to you all, Damien."

Damien looked at me for a moment then turned his head and stared off into space. I was about to ask if he was okay when he said, "For the last three and a half years I've seen his face every night when I've gone to sleep. I was convinced he was haunting me for what I did to him but now I realise it's all just been in my head."

I swallowed the lump that formed in my throat and said, "You can let go of all that now."

Damien nodded his head then looked to me just as the door of the room we were in opened and asked, "Is he really alive?"

Laughter from the doorway caused us to look in that direction. I set my jaw when I saw him while Damien just stared, his mouth hanging open. Trent smirked at Damien and gestured to himself with open arms and said, "I'm really alive. Did you miss me, buddy?"

"It looks like I've got to work on my aim," Damien snarled, making Trent laugh.

He tapped his shoulder and winked. "I'm glad you have shit aim. Things wouldn't have worked out for me the way they have otherwise."

Damien got to his feet but froze when Trent pulled out a gun and pointed it at him, "Oh, deja vu. Does this scene remind you of something, bro?"

I scoffed in disgust as I got up from the bed and grabbed Damien's arm. "Leave us alone," I said.

Trent gri

He gestured for us to exit the room with the gun. Damien held my hand tight as we did so without argument. I was shaking like a leaf knowing Trent was behind us with a real gun in his hand; I was expecting a bang to go off at any second.

When Damien and I re-entered the club from the hallway, we walked up to the booth we were at earlier and just stood there while Marco received a lap dance from one of the girls I had seen dancing earlier. I moved a little behind Damien when Marco flicked his eyes to me and winked. He laughed when he saw me trying to hide. He then slapped the arse of the girl dancing on him and told her to leave, which she did without a word.

I looked around the room and noticed two big men, one of which was the man who dragged Damien out from the private rooms earlier, walking towards the private rooms only to stand outside the hallway like Skull and his bouncer friend did earlier in the night. I tore my eyes away from them and looked at Damien when he started to tense up next to me.

"You let me believe I killed him!" he growled to Marco.

Marco nodded his head and said, "I did."

I wanted to punch him.

He answered that question as casually as if accepting a cup of tea from someone.

"Just to keep my family in the business?" Damien asked, his voice laced with venom.

Marco shrugged as he lit up a cigarette, inhaled then exhaled, and blew the smoke in our direction causing me to cough a little. "Your brothers were born for this line of work, literally. I've heard lately that you have a way of getting pussy by just blinking. I could tie you into what Alec does if you're interested? Brothers on Demand, it will be my, or your, next big hit."

Marco, Trent, and the two men across the room chuckled at this, so I glowered at them.

"You're nothin' but a scumbag!" I snapped.

Damien fully stood in front of me then, which only made Marco laugh.

"Calm down, blondie. I'm not going to touch your brother's bit on the side."

Damien glared at Marco. "He will kill you for this, I hope you know that. Dragging me here was strike one, knocking Bronagh out was strike two, and using her life as a bargaining chip to keep him in the business is strike fucking three."

Marco had a bored look about him. "I can be very persuasive, Damien."

Damien shook his head. "You won't be able to talk your way out of this one, or make up some bullshit story like you did with Trent. We aren't the same people you took advantage of back in New York."

Marco raised his eyebrows and glared at Damien. "You're the men you are today because I fucking made you that way."