#DS7Unbalanced #InoCent #SMCouple #DaggerSeries

CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN: PHOTOS

DOMINO'S POV

"You should take her home."

My attention was pulled from the TV screen that I was absentmindedly watching. I found Yuliya Silvano watching me with her sharp eyes.

She's in better condition than her appearance suggests. They needed to tape her up, and she'll have her arm in a sling for awhile. It will take a lot of time before her bruises heal, the cuts she has will take longer, but they won't do any lasting damage except for scars.

"I suppose I can't ask you to bring me some water?"

I opened my mouth to answer, but I hesitated and looked down at Tiara, who was sleeping peacefully in my arms. "It took her a long time before she managed to get some sleep."

"So you won't."

"I-I'll have someone get you some," I stammered.

I can't believe I'm being rattled by a woman much smaller than me. But Tiara's mother exudes an aura that makes you feel like you need to pass some sort of test. And I'm pretty sure if this is a test, it would be one where the standard is so high that almost no one will be able to pass.

Inabot ko ang cellphone ko at mabilis na pinadalhan ko si Warrick ng text message. Sigurado ako na nasa labas lang siya ng kuwarto.

"Are they all dead?"

Inangat ko ang ipinatong ko na kumot kay Tiara. She was beyond exhausted, but she was so restless that I needed to put her in my lap and force her to settle down.

"I'm guessing, yes," I answered.

"You killed them?"

"I wasn't there to do that, ma'am. I was just there to get everyone to safety."

Itinulak niya ang sarili niya pataas para sumandal sa headboard. She let out a slight grunt, but it was the only indicator that she was in pain. Anyone who sees her will think that she owns this place rather than being a patient. No wonder Tiara has an air of elegance, as if she's from royalty.

"Too bad. I wanted to castrate a lot of them from making me wear dreadful rugs, for I don't know how long." She scoffed with a shake of her head, and she muttered something in Ukrainian. She's probably cursing them. "Who were those people who took all that scum?"

"I can't talk about them, ma'am."

She rolled her eyes. "I supposed not."

It was then that we heard a knock. Warrick came in, and I tipped my head to the side to point in the direction of the older woman. He hesitated for a moment before he went to her and handed her the bottle of water.

Yuliya raised her hand with an IV line. "It would help if you would open it for me."

Acting the same way I did moments ago, Warrick hurriedly opened the bottle and gave it back to her. Pagkatapos niyon ay nagmamadali siyang lumabas na wala man lang lingon sa akin.

"Where's Thomas?"

Of course she'll ask about him. I reign in the anger I'm feeling. If only she told Tiara about her father, Tiara wouldn't have been used by Radley and Salazar in their ploy.

"He's in custody."

Sandaling hindi siya nagsalita. When she did, there was an unmistakable anger in her tone. "He knows, you know? That I've been missing for a long time. But instead of being alarmed, he uses it as an advantage." She shook her head bitterly. "I heard a lot of things in that place. About the things Thomas did. I can't believe myself from hoping that he'd change. He was always a selfish asshole, and that's saying a lot coming from me because I'm far from selfless."

"Salazar doesn't care about anything but himself." I suddenly remembered the time in the secure interview room. "Well, maybe he did care," I said more to myself than to her.

"Don't let yourself believe for one moment that he cared more than himself."

"He gave up the ledger—"

"I'm sure it's because he's choosing prison over death."

I regarded her with a look for a moment. I wasn't sure if I should keep talking to her because there was a chance that I would piss her off at some point. She doesn't like me anyway. It's not like there's nothing more to lose. "Then why would you make Tiara leave Ukraine and go here if he's that terrible of a person?"

She didn't answer immediately, as if I had taken her by surprise. But after a while, the corners of her lips went up. "You have guts." She leaned heavily on the headboard and closed her eyes. I thought she wasn't going to answer, but after awhile, she opened her eyes again. "I wanted to believe."

I know she could see the confusion in my face. She continued to explain, "There were a lot of moments when we were happy. He loves to spoil me. He knows what I want and what I need. He listens, he believes in my dreams... or I thought he did." Her eyes were unfocused, as if she were remembering all those times she's talking about. "I didn't know he was married until I got pregnant. He said he wasn't ready, but I know there's more to it, so I push and push until he admits the truth about his wife. He didn't want me to continue the pregnancy, and when I did, he assumed that I wanted to tie him down. That's when his real colors started showing."

"And still you love him."

"Some people are stupid that way," she shrugged. "But now I'm not sure if it was really love or if I just didn't want to lose. I hate when he comes and takes Tiara with him. He'll make her smile and laugh... making her happy. I hated it the most."

Anger started to bubble out of me, but I held myself back from speaking.

"He was that way to me too. He made me so happy, until he destroyed all that with his lies. I didn't want Tiara to have just that. I didn't want her to believe in the temporary happiness he could give. I hate it when he'll give her things as if it were enough to compensate for everything." Uminom siya ng tubig bago niya ibinaba iyon sa lamesa sa tabi niya. "But still, I kept being stupid despite everything. He promised that he would tell his family about us. I thought he's going to leave them, but he didn't."

"And that's okay with you? If he did leave his family?"

She smiled as if she knew what my real question was. That if it were the case, she wouldn't care that Salazar's first family will get hurt as long as she's happy. "I told you, I am not selfless. I am not a good person. The world is a battle, and it taught me that from a very young age. I fight for myself and not anyone else's. If that makes me a terrible person, then yes, I am." Bumaba ang mga mata niya kay Tiara nang bahagyang kumilos ang babae. "I never did right by that child."

She didn't. It wasn't something that could be denied. Tiara was just one of the three children who deserved better from their parents.

"You." My eyes snapped up to meet her sharp gaze. "Do you have a family you're hiding?"

"What—" Nang lalong tumalim ang mga mata niya ay sunod-sunod na umiling ako. "No, Ma'am."

"Are you planning on cheating on her?"

"No, Ma'am. My own brothers will castrate me if I do that."

"Are you planning to marry her?"

"We're already engaged."

Napadiretso ng upo ang ginang sa sinabi ko. She hissed at the pain that probably shot up through her. "You're what?"

Making sure that I wasn't going to jostle Tiara, I reached for her hand to show it to the older woman. Tumaas ang kilay niya habang nakatingin a singsing. She must have approved of it because she gave a small nod of appreciation.

"Don't get her pregnant before you marry her." She shook her head as she watched my cheeks heat up. "She's a ballerina. She has a figure to maintain—"

"About that... ma'am." I cleared my throat. "I mean no disrespect. You're her mother, and I know that you care about her career. But—"

"Boy, just get to the point."

Thomas Salazar didn't stand a chance against this woman. No wonder he chose Damian's mother, who would rather talk to a bottle of alcohol than him. Salazar is not the kind of man who could handle someone like Yuliya Silvano. He's a coward and a cheat and nothing else much, really.

"Well?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.

Get it over with, Dawson. "Can you not be so hard on her when it comes to food? She's barely eating. I know she has a weight to maintain, but even her coach agrees that she needs to put on some weight. I want her to be healthy, Miss Silvano, because I want to be with her for a long time."

She just looks at me as if she's weighing my words. I held on to Tiara tighter, and if it weren't for the cold blast coming out of the air conditioning, I'd be sweating buckets.

"You still can't get her pregnant before you have another ring on her finger and a paper saying you're married," she said in a tone that tells me that she's not taking no for an answer. "I don't care about what generation this is or what children are into nowadays, but premarital sex is what got me to have a child with that..." She let out a string of words that sounded as bad as they probably meant. "Do you understand me?"

"Y-Yes, Ma'am."

There goes the second part of my doll's punishment. With a small smile, I caress Tiara's soft cheek with the back of my hand. My doll needs to wait a little longer since I'm the kind of man who likes to keep his promise.

"You better take care of her. I don't care if you can snap a man's neck with a flick of your finger, but I'm going to make sure that you'll be drinking through a straw. Is that clear?"

I swallowed nervously. "Yes, Ma'am."

"Good." She reached for the water. "So how did you propose?"

My lips parted, but I couldn't tell her anything. It's not like it's easy to explain how Tiara and I got engaged.

"Umm..."

Kumunot ang noo ng ginang. "Did you do it while you were out on a date and put it in a cake, which is the dumbest way to propose to someone by far?"

"N-No, Ma'am."

"Then how?"

"Well..." She watched me with her hawk-like eyes as she drank. "I didn't propose. I just slipped the ring on her finger while she was sleeping, and when she woke up, I told her that we're getting married."

Tiara's mother put down the bottle of water, and then she thumped her chest and began coughing as if the water had gone down a different pipe. Nang makabawi na siya ay puno ng hindi pagkaniwala ang mukha na pinakatitigan niya ako.

"Ma'am—"

"You did what?!"

TIARA'S POV

I almost jumped when someone stopped beside me. Kunot ang noo na nilingon ako ng isang babae bago siya umabot ng pasta na nakahanay sa shelf na nasa harapan namin. She put two in her cart before she pushed it away, giving me another weird look.

Nagpakawala ako ng malalim na hininga. It's been awhile since I've been out by myself without anyone following me because I need protection just in case someone decides to just shoot me or kidnap me. Or put me in a plane and make it crash.

I shook my head. Now that everything is over, all that happened feels like a dream. Except I still have the good part of it.

Domino.

"Isn't that the president's daughter?"

"Iyong anak ng kabit? Siya nga ata."

I let my hair, which isn't up in a bun, fall over the side so that it could cover my face. I pretended to busy myself with the array of pasta in front of me.

Malaya na nga akong makalabas ng mag-isa pero parang gugustuhin ko pa na hindi na lang lumabas dahil sa mga taong walang ginawa kundi ipaalala sa akin ang pinagmulan ko.

The media is in a frenzy with all the news surrounding the Obsidian Legion, especially the connection of influential and powerful people with the local branch. Lalong lalo na ang presidente mismo ng Pilipinas.

Everyone's curious about the international legion and what countries are involved with it, but I doubt it will be something that they'll find anything about anytime soon. Not when Idalion, the secret criminal society, plans to wipe them out silently, one by one.

Akala ko nga ay magiging dahilan iyon para kailanganin ko pa rin ng proteksyon sa matagal na panahon. After all, my father was the root of all of these. But Dagger assured me that I would be the least of the international legion's worries.

"Pasta is better when it's fresh."

I gasped in shock, and this time there was a reason for me to be surprised. Because standing beside me is the man that I remember meeting in that warehouse.

Allessio Cascella.

"You're here to kidnap me, are you?" Bumuka ang bibig niya para magsalita pero humakbang ako paatras. "You're going to use me as bait for those international assholes because you know that they hate my father—"

"Has someone told you that you have a great imagination?"

I didn't answer him, but I crossed my arms in front of me. Domino said something along those lines. "It's not everyday that someone—" Nagpalingon-lingon ako sa paligid at hininaan ko ang boses ko. "—from a secret society will appear beside me as if it's normal that a criminal boss goes shopping."

"Of course I go shopping. How do you think I buy food?" Umangat ang sulok ng mga labi niya. "I'm a good cook, just so you know."

I wanted to say a lot of things, but I'm not that foolish. If he could kill a warehouse full of men, I doubt he'll find it hard to do the same with me.

As if reading my mind, he shook his head in amusement. "I'm not here to hurt you. In fact, even if I try, I'll probably end up on my back." He tipped his head in a direction. Sinundan ko ang tinitignan niya at nagsalubong ang kilay ko nang makita ko ang papalapit na sina Nevan at Warrick. "I gather you didn't know that."

"No, I did not," I whispered, annoyance lacing my tone. Domino has some explaining to do.

"Don't give him much of a hard time. After everything that happened to you, it's only normal that they won't drop every protection that you had before. Besides..." Bumaba ang mga mata niya sa kamay ko. "You're about to be married to someone who lives a dangerous life. Protection, even if you don't need it, is the smartest thing to have."

"I—"

"Is there a problem here?" Warrick who now reached my side, pulled me closer to him, and then he used his body to cover me. "The Dawsons wouldn't like this, Mr. Cascella, even though they owe you for the help you gave them."

Allessio waved his hand good-naturedly, as if he didn't hear the warning behind Warrick's words. "They don't owe me anything. They gave us a lot more, so we all have our wins." Bumaling sa akin ang lalaki at may inabot siya sa akin na kulay brown na sobre. "One of my men found this. I am sure that your man and his family will want to take a good look at this."

Kinuha ko ang sobre at nagtatakang nag-angat ako ng tingin sa kaniya. "Why are you giving this to me?"

"We might have worked together for a second, but I'm still on the other side of the law, bellissima." Inangat niya ang basket na hindi ko napansin na dala niya. "And I really was in here to shop."

"Umm..." I looked down at the envelope. "Thank you. I guess?"

"You're welcome." He glanced at Warrick and Pike before returning his gaze to me. "You're going to be okay now. The legion won't come after you. You have my word. They won't be given a chance to do anything but hide."

Hindi na niya ako binigyan ng pagkakataon na sumagot at nakangiting naglakad na siya palayo. I just stood there for awhile, digesting everything that happened. Hindi pa ako matitinag sa kinatatayuan ko kung hindi pa muntik bumagsak ang pakete ng pasta na nasa harapan ko.

I blinked, and I looked down at my hand. As if they had a mind of their own, I found myself opening the envelope and pulling out its contents. To my confusion, I found a couple of pictures inside.

"Fucking hell."

My eyes snapped to Warrick, and I saw him staring at what I'm holding in shock. Muli akong nagbaba ng tingin sa hawak ko para titigan ang larawan ng isang lalaki na hindi ko nakikilala.

He's older but handsome. He looks like he's not from here but rather from a foreign country. He's probably American—

"No way," I whispered.

I traced the date on the bottom of one of the photos. It was taken two years ago. There's no way that this could be right.

There's no way that the man in the photos was the same person that I just knew from the stories.

Nikolas Clarence Dawson.