Chapter 337: You Might Be On Drugs

Dom sat in his hospital bed allowing Mina to punch him in anger. Normally he would have blocked some of her blows, but he was enjoying himself too much to stop her. Somehow Mina's outburst let him know that whatever happened, was not as bad as he imagined, and he had imagined the worst.

When Dom had first met Mina, he was already aware of what happened between the woman and his boss, and at that time, he was indifferent toward the girl. He did not believe that she was innocent as it was claimed, but after getting to know her, Dom realized he was wrong.

Dom knew what Mina lost during her encounter with President Lee; it was mentioned to him when his boss thought he and Mina had been sleeping together. Then the fact that Mina had only been with one man was stressed to him after his boss found out that he had been mistaken. Dom knew the information was shared to deter him from Mina, but no matter how he tried not to think of the girl, she was always on his mind.

Even in Dom's personal life, he was having trouble with not comparing women to Mina. He had already written her off as a potential girlfriend, but it did not mean that he was blind to all her charms. It was why Dom was drawn to Olivia, she was also a nonjudgmental woman, who treated people exactly the way they treated her.

A quality that Dom had not known he was interested in and now that he knew, he planned to settle down and find that someone. That was of course if he ever made it out of the Lee facility again.

Back in the present, Mina was still rambling on about being embarrassed by what she had purchased. She mentioned something about someone walking in while she was changing, the shiny outfit she was wearing, the money she owed CEO Zane, and so on.

Dom could tell she was pouring out everything that she had been holding in, and without thinking he grabbed Mina into the tightest hug he had ever given a person.

"I'm not on drugs, right? Are you really here?" Dom whispered his questions with a voice full of emotion.

Mina did not struggle out of Dom's embrace. She was uncomfortable being held by him, but she also knew from the way he looked at her that the contact was not sexual. He was scared, and she hated to see him that way. She gently pulled away from the man, giving herself enough room to comfortably look at his face without feeling like they were about to kiss.

"You might be on drugs." They laughed as Mina peeled her body away from Dom's.

Dom released Mina without any resistance. He knew he had gone too far in pulling her so close, but he could not help himself. He had dreams about her showing up to visit him too many times, but when he awoke, the only person around was Rebecca, who was nothing like Mina. There were also times when Dom swore he could hear Mina's voice, or see her, but she always faded away like a ghost.

Dom needed to feel Mina to know she was real, and when he had her that close to him, he could see that the bruising on her face was already in advanced stages of healing. It made him curious to know what happened to her, and how long she had been safe, because as far as he was concerned, Mina had been missing until she walked into his room.

"What happened? and please don't lie to me," Dom begged. Mina did not want to tell the truth but seeing Dom's haunted expression she felt that she needed to be honest with him. He deserved it.

"After they took me, I refused to speak. They wanted to know my name, but I did not tell them. So, I was beaten."

"Until you gave them your name?" Dom cut in.

"No. I just let the man beat me. I was hoping he would kill me." Dom nodded at Mina, he had been working with her on self-defense in worst-case scenarios, and like him, she believed that dying quickly was better than being tortured. He had spent hours teaching her what he had learned was the best way to antagonize a captor into accidental murder.

Mina went on to tell Dom that the men only stopped beating her when she was barely conscious. She also told him that by that time, Miss Lisa had already given the men both of their names. Mina made sure to mention that the woman only gave up her name to stop her from being strangled to death, but Dom did not care, he was angry Miss Lisa was involved at all.

Mina finished the story by saying that she fainted shortly after the men left her and Lisa alone. Dom was angry from beginning to the end. He told Mina that he did not trust Miss Lisa at all. He complained that while he was still trying to close the distance between them, he witnessed the woman walking into the van without resistance. Mina had noticed that as well, and she told Dom that she suspected the Lee's had orchestrated the entire kidnapping.

"Dom, you know me. If my clothing had torn while I was fighting with the men who took us, I would have immediately calmed," Mina said. Dom could only agree.

There was a time when Mina was sparring with Jessica and literally dropped to the ground, unmoving, after her shirt lifted just a bit. If that was how she behaved during a friendly training spar, then Dom knew she would react tenfold in a hostile situation.

While the pair chatted, President Lee sat in another room eavesdropping on their conversation and observing them. He listened to Mina tell Dom things she did not even mention to him, and it irritated him that she had such little trust. Even if she did not like him, that was fine, but by now Ian would have thought Mina would have at least looked to him for protection, just a little.

He had even heard that Mina suspected him of plotting against her, which meant that all his work in trying to build a relationship between them was for naught. Ian calmed himself and refocused onto the conversation.

"Why did you look so shocked to see me?" Mina asked. She wanted to believe that it was because he was surprised, but Dom had not stopped staring at her as if he was too scared to blink and it told her otherwise.

"I've been in isolation." Mina's face looked grave, and she felt her heart twitch.

"I told him it wasn't your fault. Why is he still punishing you?"

"Mina, I am probably alive because you are safe, but the truth is that I failed. I had a duty and was unable to fulfill it."

"Yes, but he-"

"Mina. Stop. President Lee is not trying to kill you. Miss Lisa and Miss Luna, I can't say for sure, but not him." Dom knew he was saying too much, but he had gotten the sense that it was the last time he was going to see Mina.