Chapter 474: Blinded

Dom could not believe how terrible his timing was. He had everything he needed to give to his boss on Miss Lisa's actions, but the man was on his way out of the country. The worst part was that President Lee had taken Mina with him, and Dom, not wanting to put her in danger, chose to wait until they returned to give his boss the information.

Everything Lisa had done was well documented, and for those staff members who were too afraid to say anything, Dom had allowed them to record distorted audio which captured their recollection of events from the time Mina had been viciously slapped. Of all the staff in the Lee mansion, only one of them seemed to praise Miss Lisa, and Dom took it as a sign that the woman had either never been on the receiving end of Miss Lisa's aggression or was hoping to get in good with the woman, who many believed was going to be the future matriarch of the main Lee family branch.

Dom was still in the recovery room at the Lee facility when Doctor Rebecca walked in. She said she was bored, and she wanted to go out, but Dom did not understand her meaning. He assumed she meant that she wanted to find more people, but his investigation had been concluded, and all he needed was her silence until he was able to formally speak to President Lee about what was uncovered.

"We are done Doc. The next time I have to go looking for bad guys I will give you a call." Rebecca sighed, causing Dom to sit up. He had never seen the woman sigh, ever, and in truth, he was suspecting her of something.

"Is Mina really that much better than me?" She asked, and Dom shook his head.

"You two cannot be compared." He had meant for his words to be reassuring, but Rebecca took them as an insult.

"But why though? Am I not attractive?" Dom found himself swallowing hard because Rebecca was extremely attractive to him. It was her attitude that was ugly.

"Both of you are two different people. Mina is warm and gentle, while you are… Well, you are a doctor through and through."

"But Mina could have been a doctor, she said it herself. If she and I both had the same qualifications, which one of us would you choose?" She asked, suddenly sitting at the edge of Dom's bed, making him feel uncomfortable with how close she was. It was the first time that he wanted a beautiful woman to back away from him.

"Rebecca, let's not play this game. Mina has enough enemies; she doesn't need to add you to the list."

"You see, she and I are not so different, so why do people treat us as if we are?"

"The people who do not like Mina are jealous of her, while the people who don't like you are afraid of you. Rebecca, do you know how many people you have hurt for no reason?"

"Not for no reason. They all deserved it."

"Really? So, having a disagreement with a colleague warrants a broken nose?"

"He should have kept his guard up. We are all trained the same way. I have tried to break your nose as well, but you have never let me." Dom shook his head at the woman.

"So right now, if you make me angry, you wouldn't blame me for punching you?" Rebecca stayed quiet, unsure how to answer, because she would be furious, and she would retaliate. "Exactly. On the other hand, Mina would not do anything that she would not want done to herself."

----

Mina was not surprised when the car stopped on a private runway, and while she wanted to be bitter, she was too excited to keep up the façade. She darted into the jet looking at everything, and when the pilot told her that she could sit in the cockpit after takeoff, she literally clapped in anticipation. She had never been on a plane before, let alone a private jet, and even though President Lee was the one sponsoring the memory, she would accept it as having been bought and paid for by her suffering.

There were only fourteen seats on the jet, seven on each side, and Mina took one in the middle. She was thrilled when Mills took the same seat on the opposite side of the aisle. The women looked at each other, both beaming in excitement. They were leaving behind the cold to go and enjoy the warm weather of Bal. It was Mina's first vacation, and she planned to enjoy it, even if it meant she had to ignore President Lee the entire trip, she would.

Drax looked at Ian, his eyes conveying what he had already explained to the man before agreeing to allow him and Mina to join them. The trip he was taking Mills on had already been prearranged, and he did not want her distracted by Mina. It was not that he was jealous of Mina per se, but he was jealous of her. She had stolen Mills' attention from the moment they met, and he was beginning to think his girlfriend wanted a girlfriend of her own.

"Relax, it's not like you could have sat next to her anyway; unless you planned on having her sit on your lap." Drax shot Ian a look that said that was exactly what he was planning to do, and Ian shrugged.

"Well then I am sorry. I will make it up to you when we get to the island." Drax rolled his eyes and settled into the seat he occupied. He sighed dramatically and Ian chuckled. He had never seen his friend behave so affectionately toward anyone. Not that Drax did not have his fair share of women, because he did, but Mills was the first girl he had claimed as a fixture, and certainly the first he had brought home with intentions.

----

When Mina stepped off the plan she was instantly blinded by the intensity of the sun, she turned around quickly, and bumped into the chest of President Lee, who questioned if she was okay. She nodded turning around while using her hand as a shield to block out the sun's rays, but she was clearly having trouble seeing, because she was using her foot to tap each stair before taking a step down. Rolling his eyes, Ian took the glasses off his face and handed them to Mina, who put them on without hesitation.

Mina still used her hands to block the sun, because the frames were not tinted enough, and light was still making its way around the lenses. Ian looked up at Mills who was having the same issue as Mina, the only difference being that Drax had already made accommodations for the possibility and had already bought darkly tinted, wide framed sunglasses for his woman.

"What is going on with you and Mills? Why can't you see?"

"We can see, it just hurts to look."

"Why?"

"We have less pigmentation in our irises. Our eyes cannot effectively block out strong sunlight. It is probably worse for Mills, whose eyes are grey. I just didn't think it would be this bad for me though, but I have never been to a tropical location; I know now." Ian nodded.

When Mina climbed into the waiting car, she pulled off the glasses, but kept her eyes closed to rest them. Both men were staring at her, but with her eyes closed, Mina could not see the pity on their faces. Ian, who felt like crap for not having considered her the way Drax had considered Mills, asked the driver to stop at the nearest lens dealer, hoping to buy the woman something that would stop her from looking like she was in pain when she was supposed to be enjoying herself.