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“Brennan got shot because his men” – Eli pointed at Jack – “thought he was me!” Eli took a deep breath to calm himself and said, “They were looking for a flash drive.”
“Dom, this is what I was talking about,” Jack said, injecting a hint of sadness into his voice. “He’s been acting erratically which is why I came up here to check on him.”
“You said you came up here to look for Caleb,” Dom said coldly.
“Yes, C-Caleb too…” Jack stammered.
“What’s on the flash drive, Eli?” Dom asked.
I saw Eli hesitate and then his gaze met Dom’s and he shook his head. Tears filled his eyes and I started to step forward, but Dom reached out his hand to gently cup Eli’s face. “It’s okay, Eli. You can tell me anything.”
The tears fell and Eli dashed angrily at them. “I’m sorry, Dom,” he whispered. “I wanted…” Eli shook his head and fell silent.
“Dom-” Jack implored.
“Shut the fuck up!” Dom ground out. As harsh as his voice was, his hold on Eli was gentle and his hand moved to the back of Eli’s neck so he could force Eli to look at him. “What’s on the flash drive?”
“Proof,” Eli finally whispered.
“Proof of what?”
Eli looked at Dom almost pleadingly and I knew he didn’t want to voice the words. I wanted like hell to tell him he didn’t have to, but in my heart I knew he needed to do this.
“Proof that he raped me,” Eli finally admitted, his voice low. “Caleb and Nick too,” Eli added.
Dom held Eli’s gaze for a long moment even as Jack yelled, “He’s lying!”
The man didn’t get anything else out because Dom’s big fist slammed into his jaw in the same exact place I’d hit him. Jack hit the floor again, but Dom remained standing above him, fists clenched. “You raped my kid?” he asked, his voice deadly.
“He’s lying!”
Dom bent down and punched him again, this time breaking the man’s nose. Blood sprayed all over Jack’s face and the floor, but Dom didn’t even pause when he loomed over him and snarled, “I trusted you to watch out for him!”
Jack put his hand up to ward off the blow he sensed coming. “He…he seduced me, Dom!” Jack stammered and I felt Ronan grab me as I strode forward.
“What the fuck did you just say?” Dom whispered.
“You know what he was, Dom! He used his body to-”
The man didn’t get even another syllable out because Dom slammed his fist into Jack’s face yet again and this time he didn’t stop. Eli finally turned away when more blood slicked Dom’s fists and the floor, but it wasn’t until Jack stopped moving that the cop stepped in to stop Dom from killing the man. As big as the police officer was, he was no match for an enraged Dom and it took Memphis’s help to push Dom back.
“All right, Declan!” Dom bit out and then he pushed away from the two men and turned his attention to Eli, whose shoulders were shuddering as sobs tore through him. I barely noticed as Ronan checked Jack’s pulse and seemingly satisfied that he was still alive, stepped away from him. The police officer, who I now realized was Declan Barretti, one of Eli’s uncles and also a Captain in the Seattle Police Department, knelt down and unceremoniously turned Jack over and yanked his arms behind him and slapped cuffs on him. A small crowd of doctors and nurses had surrounded us, but none made a move to help Jack. Several more men I could only assume were Barrettis arrived and began talking to Zane and Declan, but I ignored them and focused on Eli.
When Dom carefully put his hand on Eli’s shoulder, Eli let out a ragged sob and turned into the man. Dom’s arms went around him and he whispered, “It’s okay,” in his ear. “You’re home now,” he added and Eli nodded.
Long after the crowd started to disperse and Declan yanked a groggy Jack to his feet and dragged him to a room to be treated for the damage to his face, I stayed and watched Eli cling to the man who’d been his father all along. He just hadn’t known it.
* * *
It was like some surreal game show.
Me, Ronan and Memphis on one side, Dom, Declan and a big dark haired guy named Cade who turned out to be yet another Barretti, but by marriage, on the other side. I hadn’t understood the reasoning for his attendance in the small hospital conference room Declan had commandeered, but I had figured out that he was there because of a special connection he seemed to share with Eli. Because the second he’d strode into the room, he’d gathered Eli into his arms and had held him for a long time. If the man hadn’t been happily married, I would have been struggling with the green-eyed monster.
