Shadows Part XI

[hannah_chapter1]

Title: Shadows Part XI
Author: hannah_chapter
Pairing: Belldom
Rating: PG-13
Summary: AU. Sequel to Temptation. Dom's POV. Ten years have passed and Dom and Matt have made a life together. But when his past comes back to haunt him, how far will Dom go to keep Matt safe?
Feedback: Always welcome.
Disclaimer: Oh so very, very fake.

I sit in my little glass cage, phone pressed against my ear. The operator connects my call and Billy picks up on the fifth ring.

"Mr. Howard!", he sounds so happy to hear from me and I can hear people in the bar, laughing and asking Billy to pass on their good wishes. I close my eyes. God, I wish I was there and not here.

"Hi, Billy. You doing okay?"

"Yeah, we're real busy. When are you coming home?"

"I don't know, Billy, I just don't know. Did the supply truck show up?"

"Yesterday."

"You paid them?"

"Yeah, just like you said. I did the bank, too."

"See, you're doing great, I knew you would."

"There was one thing I wanted to ask you."

"Shoot."

"Can I hire a couple of guys to help out, just until you and Mr. Bellamy get back? I'm dead on my feet."

"I guess so, but be careful. Try and get guys that want to work, not ones that that'll drain the bar dry."

"I will. What about you, Mr. Howard, are you okay? Is Mr. Bellamy okay?"

"We're fine. Look, I've got to go."

"Okay. It was good to hear from you, Mr. Howard."

The connection is broken and I push my way out of the booth and the hotel lobby. I walk back to the house, lifting wallets as I go.

*************************************************************************

I lean against the door.

"I hear you had some trouble."

The door shifts in its frame as Matt leans against the other side.

"I had to teach a punk some manners."

I smile affectionately.

"Tough guy."

"Always."

"You okay in there?"

"Yeah. Thanks for the books and blankets and the clothes."

"I wish I could do more."

"Don't be so hard on yourself, sweetheart, you're doing everything you can."

"It's not enough."

"It's plenty. It's all going to work out, Dom, you'll see. We'll be home before you know it, fighting over who has to scrub the toilets."

"I hope you're right. Oh, I talked to Billy today."

"How's he doing?"

"Good. He wants to take on a couple of guys to help out while we're away. I told him to go ahead, just so long as he's careful. I should call the bank, make sure we've got enough to pay them. I should probably call the supplier, too, try and keep things running the way..."

Matt's laughing.

"What's so funny?"

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to laugh. But listen to you, the responsible businessman, such a change from when we first met."

"I don't want us to lose the place we've worked so hard on, that's all. I want us to have something to go back to."

"We will, Billy will take care of it. He's a good kid."

"The best," I stop, wondering if I should hang this on him, then plunge ahead, "he knows about us."

"What? How?"

I tell Matt all about it and he curses.

"Why don't we just build a stage and do it in the middle of the street?"

"If what Billy and Eddie said is true, we already have. We're just lucky the bar stands alone, if we had neighbours the jig would've been up years ago."

He laughs again.

"I guess so. We really make that bed shake."

"That we do."

"You know something? We're really lucky."

"Yeah, I feel so damn lucky right now."

"But we are. Think about it, Dom. There are plenty of couples in Salvation who've been together as long as we have, or even longer, and they don't even look at each other anymore. We've both seen it. But, even after ten years, I still love you and want you as much as I ever did."

"And I still want you."

"See, lucky. We've got a good marriage."

I have to laugh at our old joke. There are men in Salvation with wives and kids and mortgages, they sit at the bar and tell me their troubles. They wish they had my life, they wish they could be free to drink and gamble and screw, the way I do. But they know nothing. The truth is, running a bar means I know the exact price of each and every drink I take, so I drink a lot less than I used to. I only gamble away what I can afford to lose and while I can never stand up and admit it, I'm tied to another person for life, just like they are - but, unlike them, I wouldn't have it any other way. My life was good until my father came along and started fucking it up.

Our time runs out and, even though I hate to do it, I leave Matt alone.

******************************************************************************

Daddy slides a bottle across to me.

"It's time to talk business."

I pick up the bottle.

"So talk."

"There's a bank, a big, big score."

"What makes this one so special?"

"Every six weeks, they get a special delivery. Money from all the smaller branches. Their vault will be busting at the seams, and we're talking it all."

"How? You said things will be different this time."

"There's a guy we've got to find, we need to steal his wallet."

"Why?"

"We need to find out where he lives."

"Why don't we just follow him? Why make things harder then they have to be?"

"Two reasons. One, I want to see you in action again, see just how much of your edge you've gotten back and two, this will be more fun."

Fun? Jesus wept.

"Who is this guy?"

"He's the manager. Here's the plan. We find out where he lives, we go there and case the joint. Then we go over there in the middle of the night, take his family hostage and make him open up the bank and the vault. It'll be so easy, a walk in the park."

I stand and push my chair back.

"No. I won't put women and kids in danger."

He smirks and I want to drive my fist right through his teeth.

"Alright, you've had your little rebellion, but we both know you'll do whatever I tell you, so sit down."

I sit down. What choice do I have?

*******************************************************************

 I'm standing on the corner, waiting for my bank manager. Daddy's on the other side of the street, watching me. He straightens up and flashes me a quick hand signal. Alright, here we go. The manager walks up the street and I go to meet him. I brush against him but only just. He doesn't even feel it. But I got what I wanted. I go through the wallet and find his address, committing it to memory. I cross the street and hand the wallet to Daddy. He runs down, crosses at the other corner and waits for the manager to catch up. When he does, Daddy bumps him, hard, hard enough to knock him down. Daddy pulls him to his feet and he's all apologies. The manager straightens himself out and, as Daddy walks away, I see him checking for the wallet I just saw Daddy put back in his coat pocket. Finding nothing wrong, he shrugs and walks on.

We come back together and Daddy grabs my shoulder. We laugh together and, for a moment, it's just like old times. But then I remember I wouldn't be doing this if he didn't have Matt locked in the basement and I turn away from him. We go back to the house, I get my fifteen minutes with Matt and spend the rest of the day in my room.

It gets dark and we find the manager's house. I stand in the shadows outside, watching him have dinner with his family - his wife, his three little girls. Watching them makes a lump rise in my throat and I realise I'm mourning a loss, not of something I'll never have - I've got Matt and that's enough for me - but something I never had. My childhood was spent on trains and in cheap boarding houses, there were no cozy domestic scenes like this. Could we have had that? Would it have been different if my mother had lived?

We wait until the family goes to bed and then we go to work, checking all the locks. The lock on the side door gives way and we slip inside. We creep through the dark house, mapping it for later. Locks that take no time at all to pick, no guard dog, no male servants, just a live-in maid; Daddy was right, this should be easy.

We leave and I promise myself one thing: whatever happens, I won't let Daddy and his crew hurt this family. I just won't do it.