The Ideal Deal

1

Cast:

Dominic Sherwood as Dominic King

Amandla Stenberg as Summer Winter

⭕️

A streak of lightening pierced the sky, and the wind began to whistle. I sipped some of my warm ginger tea as I watched from my window the trees in the yard swaying gently. I was wrapped in my blanket and staring outside the window, searching for a purpose, but all I could feel was the coldness of my room; all I could see was darkness. I sipped some more tea, wishing that it could have its usual effect of cheering me up, but it wasn't working. Nothing would make me happy except being able to see my family again.

Yesterday was the funeral, and even though I watched as my mother, father, and older sister got buried, I couldn't fathom that they were gone. The silence in the house was something I was used to, as my parents and sister were usually out on business trips or at the company, but the house had never felt so empty and cold. For the first time ever, I wasn't just lonely. I was also alone.

The sound of the doorbell ringing caused my eyes to snap from the window and to my phone. I checked the time and frowned when I saw that it was 9 p.m. I wasn't expecting any visitors, especially at this time in the night. The doorbell rang again, and I walked over to my bed side table and grabbed my gun. I then screeched down the stairs, making sure to not make any noise as I approached the door.

I slightly shifted the curtain by the window and peaked at the person in front the door. Seeing a head of familiar blonde locks and a familiar, muscular body, I sighed and walked to the door. I opened the door and tucked my gun in my back pocket.

Immediately, I was met with piercing brown eyes that were intently watching me. His lips parted as he scanned my body, and he tucked his hands into his black jeans. He wore black leather Giuseppe Zanotti sneakers that went well with his black leather jacket. His t-shirt was also black, and his hair a bit messy.

"Are you gonna let me in or not?" Dominic questioned, breaking the uncomfortable silence between us. I narrowed my eyebrows in response, and he raised one of his. I noticed that he was much more bearded up than when I last saw him, which was about four or five months ago at a convention.

"What are you doing here, Dominic?" I asked while folding my arms. "You're not welcomed here."

Dominic rolled his eyes while revealing an unamused face as he argued, "I don't want to be here as much as you don't want me to be here."

"So?" I frowned. I didn't understand why he was here. He knew that his family and mine had a long line of resentment towards each other, so it made no sense to me that he was on my property.

He sighed, "I wanna talk." Noticing that I wouldn't budge, he sighed once more. "It's about the assassinations of our families."

For once in my life, Dominic said something that I actually thought was meaningful.

Maybe he has information, I thought to myself as I stepped aside, allowing him to enter my home.

I closed the door behind him and led him to the living room. We sat down on separate couches facing each other, and I waited for Dominic to spill the information he had.

"Are you not going to speak," I asked while raising an eyebrow, "or did you come all the way over here to stare in my face?"

Ignoring my last remark, Dominic looked around and asked, "Is anyone else in this house?" I shook my head, and he continued, "The bullets that killed my parents and younger brother are the same that killed your parents and older sister. That's all the Circle would tell me."

While sitting up in my seat and leaning a bit forward, I asked with raised eyebrows, "You talked to the Circle?" Dominic gave a simple nod, and I bit my bottom lip as I began to question things.

The Circle was a small, secret group whose members consisted of the most powerful monopolists. It was very secluded, however, and only accepted monopolists- or people close to being monopolists-that were married to each other and had a history of success and power. Both Dominic's and my parents were in the Circle, but that wouldn't be enough for the Circle to share information with us.

"Lumiere was the one who told me about the matching bullets, but he said that that was all the information he could disclose with me. Even that, he said, was too much to share," Dominic informed me.

"Why are you even telling me this?" I asked while crossing my arms.

He shrugged, "I figured you'd want some answers and to avenge your family's death."

While searching his eyes for any hidden motive, even though I found none, I nodded, "I do." I was usually skeptical of Dominic and his family because of the rivalry between them and my family. For that reason, I never once trusted anything Dominic had to say, but in this very moment, I could tell that he was being genuine. He wanted answers as badly as I did, and I knew that if we both had the chance to end the person responsible for our losses, we'd both do it without hesitation.

Dominic then sighed and adjusted himself on the sofa. "I have a deal," he announced, and I sat at the end of my sofa and pressed my elbows into my knees while cupping my hands and resting my chin in them.

"I'm all ears," I smiled faintly.

••••••

IMPORTANT UPDATE: THIS BOOK IS FULLY PUBLISHED NOW. There are no more posting days, so avoid anymore A/Ns that talk about posting dates!
3/31/20