GRACE

A faint voice was what it took to pull me out of the darkness I got pulled into. While I tried to adjust my sight to the sudden brightness, I heard the voice from earlier and quickly recognised it to be Dominic's.

The desperation I detected in his voice caused me to force my eyes to whip open and when all I could see was Dominic, I noticed how worried he was.

"Grace." The way he held my cheeks was enough warmth, but it was also an indication that something huge had happened. "You are awake," he said, his voice now a breath lower.

"D-Dominic?" I swallowed hard to get rid of the parchedness in my mouth.

The man sighed again and moved his lips to my forehead where he planted a very long kiss. When he pulled back, he whispered "Oh, thank God. Thank God you are okay."

The next second, our foreheads met and I tried to figure out what the cause of Dominic's earlier despair was.

"Dominic," I was going to move my hands but they didn't budge, "is Ruby okay? Please tell me she is fine."

"Don't worry, my love." Dominic moved an inch lower and caused our cheeks to rest against each other. "She is fine. Ruby is fine."

I still can't get over the fact that Dominic sounds like a man with a broken soul. And I still can't understand why I am unable to move my hands. I ignored my inability to move for a second and asked, "Are you okay, Dominic? Did something happen?"

I itched to touch him. So, when I once again failed to move my hands, I quickly darted my sight to my hands. But when I saw the state I was in, I understood why Dominic was the way he was.

My hands were firmly tied and strangely, there were blunt knife marks on certain parts of my skin.

The fact that the marks could have led to severe bleeding made my soul shiver with fear. So, after a shuddering breath, I asked Dominic, "What is going on?"

I felt the reluctance with which he left my side. But his eyes failed to meet mine when he stood erect, so I remained in a state of ignorance for a while.

"Dominic, what...?"

"Enough with the chit-chat."

I recognised that voice. But the harshness it carried was strange to me. So, I didn't hesitate to dart my sight to the doorway.

"Sam." I noticed that she was dressed casually. And Samantha never dresses in such a way in public. "What are you doing here? What is going on?" My brain quickly remembered the distress call I had with her back in Dominic's hometown. "Are you fine? What was that call earlier? Who was trying to harm you?"

"Can you please shut it?" She eyes me with fury. "Why would I call you? I hate you."

"Oh." My heart felt stabbed and my brain tried to be rational, it tried to reason that perhaps the person in front of me was not Samantha. After all, Samantha has been my friend forever. "Uhm... Did you... Did you know that someone has been threatening me? I didn't-"

I watched as a vicious smile grew on her lips and my heart rate felt more threatened. That feeling became too heavy, so I stole a look at Dominic. But he was still avoiding my gaze as though guilty of something.

"Okay." I let out a long exhale that was supposed to relax me. "Can someone freaking tell me what is going on?" I don't think I am relaxed. "I am fucking tied to a chair right now! Samantha is acting weird, and Dominic is avoiding me. So, please, tell me what the fuck is going on. "

A huge silence followed and no matter how much I flickered my sight between both of them, a word didn't drop from their lips.

Well, that was until Samantha started to approach Dominic with slow and somewhat sultry steps. "Dominic," she called, "it is not too late to come with me. We will make-"

"You just fucking shut up! Shut the hell up!" Dominic roared and that made my state of being worse. I became more frightened, confused and started to approach the verge of tears. And a part reason for the tears is that the ropes holding me down were too tight.

"You should not be doing this to me, Dominic." Samantha's statement was a warning. And as I watched her reach for the back pocket of her sweatpants, she said, "You have made a choice and you all have to pay for it." A black object with a red button appeared and Samantha gloated more.

"Please," I pleaded once more. "Someone please tell me what is going on."

Samantha intercepted before Dominic could say anything. "Dominic Powers, I am asking you for the last time. Will you love me or not?"

"I have made myself clear, haven't I? I can never be with you. I don't even know you."

"What... What is...?" I struggled to make sense of the little conversation they just had. "Dominic, why is she asking you to love her?"

"Grace," his eyes finally met mine, "your friend is the-"

"I will explain myself," Samantha cut his words. Samantha walked and she didn't stop until her face was very close to me, close enough to let me see that every line on her face was carrying a hint of wickedness.

"Hello dear Grace," I shivered, "what Dominic is trying to say is that I am the one that has been threatening you. I was going to let you go if Dominic agreed to be with me." She reached for a strand of my hair and contrary to when she did that in the past, that action made fear overpower me. "But he refused to love me. He decided to stick with you. So..." Her fingers crawled until they pulled the root of my hair to the point of conjuring pain.

"I am going to bomb you all."

A cackle followed her words and I wondered where things went wrong with Samantha.

"Samantha." A nervous chuckle escaped me. "This is a joke, right?"

Dominic swung in. He pulled Sam's hand with force and demanded, "What do you mean by what you said?

"It means what I said. I am going to bomb this place." She laughed again. "What do you think this remote is for? If you don't change your mind, a fine explosion that I planted in a very precious place will tear you and your lover into pieces." She faced me and showed me that she was capable of wearing a smile that could make one's soul weary. "How about that?"

I won't lie. It still feels weird and untrue. It feels as though I am dreaming. So, to make sure that I was imagining things, I looked up at Samantha who was still wearing that sick, disgusting smile.

That smile was so rotten, it made me wonder if our relationship was a lie from the start. Or did things go wrong somewhere? Did I do something wrong?

But, even if things went wrong, the Samantha I grew up with would have discussed things with me. She is the type that visibly shows her displeasure with things, she hates hiding emotions for long.

"Sam," I called the woman, "why is this happening? What happened? Huh?"

She heaved a heavy sigh. "Why do you bother with asking meaningless questions? If you want to live, tell Dominic that he needs to love me. Do that for me and our friendship and things will go back to normal in no time."

"If this is about Dominic, then what you are doing makes no sense. You would have told me if you met Dominic before me. You would have-"

"Oh, cut the crap. You whiny little bitch."

My heart and soul couldn't take it anymore. I was bleeding too much because of her words.

My eyes narrowed at her and I asked, "Do you really want to kill me because you can't stand me being in a relationship with Dominic?"

She gave a light shrug. "If I can't be with him, why should you? If you don't want to die, you already know what to do."

"Samantha," Dominic called. His voice carried a similar texture to the way he sultrily says my name but there was a bit of disgust lacing his voice regardless. But Samantha didn't sense the disgust, all she focused on was the softness in the way he called her.

"Dominic," she responded, her eyes carrying some kind of hope.

"If you do this, you won't go scot-free. You will end up spending a rotten life in jail."

Samantha scoffed. "If you decide to walk away from Grace, things won't get to that point. She won't have to die and we will-"

"Samantha," I butted in, "please, don't do this."

She closed her eyes for a second and when she opened it, she pressed the red button. A beeping noise quickly filled the room and more fear filled my soul.

"You have four minutes," Samantha said. "Make the right decision and I will make sure you escape before the explosion happens."

"Samantha."

"Go on." Her brows lifted with unusual confidence. "Tell Dominic what he has to do."

I didn't want to. If I had other choices, I wouldn't. But it is currently the way out.

So, I faced Dominic and he quickly shook his head before I could say anything.

"Don't be crazy, Grace. I can't be with her."

"It is the only way Dominic. What will happen to Ruby if we don't make it out of here?" The incessant beeping was becoming deafening and it added more tension to the room. "Dominic, we have to walk out of this place alive."

Dominic moved closer. And with shaky hands, he tried to get rid of the ropes holding me.

"Dominic."

"I can't do that, Grace. I can't betray the love I have for you. I can't let her win."

"Dominic." His attempt was futile but he didn't give up. "Dominic, look at me. Look at me. Please."

"I need a knife. The ropes are too thick."

"Look at me."

He became more feverish and seconds later, he did as I asked.

For a moment, I admired the beauty his eyes carried even though they were distressed. It reminded me of the first day I saw Dominic. Those eyes were the first thing I noticed.

"Dominic," I whispered and he moved closer until our sweaty foreheads were jammed. "Let's... Let's do as she says." Tears choked my throat and I tried my best to push them back to no avail.

Dominic caressed my hair and replied, "I love you, Grace. You. It will always be you. So, no, I can't leave. And I won't let a woman I don't know determine what happens to us." I closed my eyes, I didn't want him to see the way tears were filling them. "Despite what she says, we will make it out. Ruby is waiting for us, so we have to. Okay?"

"Dominic..." My body shook and my tears became uncontrollable. "You... You are right. Ruby needs her father."

"She needs us."

"Well, thanks to your drama, you have spent two minutes," Samantha's voice was almost drowned by the beeping. "I have no desire to die with fools like you, so-"

"You never loved him, did you?"

"What" she questioned my question.

Though my sight was blurred, as Dominic returned to attempting to break me free, I faced her, "All of this was for nothing, right? If you truly loved Dominic, you would never be comfortable with leaving him to die."

"That's why-"

"If anything happens to Ruby and Dominic, I will make sure I hunt you down. You will suffer for days and no one will come to your rescue."

"What?"

With tears still rolling down my cheeks, I hardened my voice, "You know that I can go crazy when I need to. You know that well. So, trust me, Samantha. Trust that I will do what I just said."

"Let's see how you do that from the afterlife." She grinned. "There is no way you will make it out of here." A wink followed. "Bye, Grace. See you never."

I watched as she walked out of the room. Once all traces of her fully left, I broke down and my crying intensified.

"Dominic," I cried."

"Don't worry, Grace. Dave is on his way with some men. They will help us out of this place."

"How? Time is running out. The bomb is-"

"I brought a knife!" Dave rushed inside and Dominic got to work.

"We contacted the bomb squad and they are trying to locate the bomb. But they are yet to find it," Dave informed as he tackled the ropes around my legs.

"They need to freaking hurry!" Dominic ordered, his hair dancing vigorously as he tortured the rope with the sharp knife. As seconds passed, I started to taste some freedom and I started to feel some hope even though the beeping in the room still managed to exert fear.

But, the sound of a distant gunshot temporarily took over the sound in the room.

"What is going on?" Dominic asked.

"The woman must have resisted. I am sure things are under control." Another gunshot and a feminine scream followed.

"Are you sure?" Dominic asked.

"Let's focus on getting out of here. We are the only ones yet to evacuate the hotel."

"Grace, we are done. We need to-"

Ten. Nine. Eight.

The beeping converted to a countdown and the little hope I had disappeared. Though my hands and legs were free, they still felt frozen and I could not find the strength to move.

"Dominic?"

Six. Five. Four.

Before I could look up at him, his whole body formed a thick canopy over mine

"I love you, Grace," he whispered and that was all I heard. That was all that rang in my head even though I knew that in seconds, we might be torn into pieces.

Two. One.

My eyes were shut tightly and I waited for the pain.

It never came.

I wanted to doubt the silence in the room, but the weight and warmth of Dominic Powers assured me that we were indeed alive.

But...

What happened? Were we tricked?

Dave spoke almost immediately, though his breath was very ragged, "They found the bomb. The wires were set up wrongly."

Dominic sighed. I did the same.

As Dominic released the cover he formed over me, he said, "So, if she had set the wires right, we would have died?"

"Yes. And it would have been a direct impact because the bomb was placed right above us."

"Oh God," I breathed. "Oh sweet, sweet God." I shivered, this time with immense relief. I looked up at Dominic who fixed his eyes on me. "Dominic."

His hands found mine. A smile formed on his lips. "We are fine, Grace. We are fine."

"Oh, God. I love you, Dominic." I pulled him into a hug right away and another round of crying ensued. "I love you, so, so much, Dominic."

"We are okay, Grace," he repeated. It seemed he was trying to confirm that we were indeed fine. "We are okay."

"Yes, my Dominic." A sniffle and I proceeded to try my best to make sure that my tears did not stain his hair. "We are fine."

After my response, he looked up at me, and the babyish aura he had made my heart soften and I vowed that I will always protect the man the way he did a few moments ago.

As the thought that we could have died continued to settle, I found myself occasionally belting out hearty waves of laughter, the type that made my body shake.

"Grace," Dominic called, his voice a calming whisper.

"What is it?"

"Thank you for being alive."

"I should be the one thanking you." I slapped his back and he yelped. "What were you thinking? Why did you jump on me? If the explosion-"

"It didn't happen, thankfully. But you should know that I would never hesitate to save your life. It's you after all." My brows jerked. "You are the woman that filled my soul with joy."

"I..."

He leaned in and pushed back my words with a devouring kiss. Just like other times we kissed, he communicated his emotions to me. He told me that he was glad that I was alive. I felt his promise to always protect and love me.

And as the kiss progressed, the more my soul felt at peace.

When he ended the kiss, he said, "Let's run away. Let's go somewhere far away."

"Will Ruby be running with us?"

"Definitely. We are always going to be together." I smiled, grabbed the end of his tee shirt, and played with it. "What do you say, my love?"

Feeling coy all of a sudden, I rested my chin against his hair. With my nose gathering his scent, I replied, "Yes."

"Was that a no?" He sounded sad.

And I swiftly replied, "I clearly said yes!"

He chuckled. "I know. And I am glad." His head rested against my chest and I savoured the moment. "I am so glad."

And I am very lucky to be loved by Dominic Powers.