### Chapter 1 - Night of Salvation
Dominic cursed under his breath as he drove to the hotel to pick up his laundry at the lobby. He wasn't into home delivery, his house was his abode and no one really knew where he lived. His driver, Jameel, hadn't returned from his mother's birthday and wasn't answering the phone, so he had no choice but to go himself,
"I swear on earth, I'm going to skin that little shit... Oh shit!"
In his little fit of frustration, he did not notice the young lady that scampered out the hotel entrance, unfortunately, he had hit her before he could hit the brakes. He quickly got out the car and ran to her side.
"Hey, hey!" he noticed the buttons of her shirt were off, her shirt rumpled and stained with blood, she was almost drooling and her speech slurred. He put his ears close to her mouth in an attempt to hear her and he noticed her breathing was labored. He carried her in his arms and placed her in his back seat. Just as he got in, he noticed a man run out of the hotel, looking around frantically, and then towards his car,
"Excuse me, you have my wife in your car" he shouted as he walked towards the car, Dominic ignored him and hit the roads, making him jump out the way. He did a little merry go
round to make sure no one was following him and then he headed home,
"Benjamin, Benjamin" he shouted at the top of his voice as he barged into his house.
"Welcome back Dominic, I have made a..."
"Respectfully, fuck all of that, I need you to attend to her immediately please" he said, dropping her on the dining.
"Who is this?"
"Can we ask questions later, help her out now"
"Well, if you could just carry her to the couch instead, she looks like a sacrificial lamb on that diner"
"See to it that she's fine, I'll be back"
He said and dashed out the house one more time. He drove back to the hotel for his clothes but his eyes and mind were on the radar for the mad man that ran after him, this time, he drove a different car.
"Where are you, you little shit" he muttered as his eyes searched vigorously for any sights of him.
"Ah yes, Mr. Dominic, here's your laundry" a young man said offering him his clothes.
"Thank you" Dominic looked around one more time before driving home.
"How's she?" he asked Benjamin just as he got inside.
"She's fine, she's breathing. Apparently, it seems she was drugged, after which or probably before, she was beaten"
Dominic leaned over her once again,
"You're safe now" he said and there was a knock on the door, Jameel entered.
"Pack your stuff and get the fuck out. You're fired" Dominic bellowed at him.
"Boss, if only you'd give me a minute to explain myself..."
"I'll give you way much more than that, your life, and the offer lasts only for a minute. A minute you asked for, a minute you shall receive" he said and walked away.
"Don't worry, I'll talk to him later, however, where on earth were you?" Old uncle Benjamin asked Jameel.
"Dominic had to drive to the hotel to get his clothes himself and you know that's your job" he
continued.
"Who's that?" Jameel asked.
Benjamin turned back to look at her.
"Well, I don't know. But for now, you should leave" he said as he walked him out and locked the door behind him.
Benjamin was Dominic's personal doctor, and foster dad. He never knew his parents and he spent his whole life with Benjamin who has been a doctor since youth. However, Benjamin was a
powerful drug Lord back in the day until his wife and only daughter was killed by a rival mafia group.
He closed that chapter of his life and became devoted to his career, and then, Dominic came into the picture. Dominic reopened the chapter which Benjamin had closed, in his own way, became his own boss, built his army, his territory as well as his legit businesses. Benjamin groomed him well. The next morning was rather a cold one, Dominic, always awake at 5AM, went down to the kitchen.
He took freshly squeezed juice out the freezer and just as he closed it, she was there. He jumped in fright, accidentally spilling the juice on himself. Evidently, he had forgotten he had a guest.
"Hey" he said, she said nothing, looking at him blankly.
"Hello" he said, snapping two fingers in front of her face.
"It seems she's sleepwalking:"
Benjamin who was woken up by the noise in the kitchen said.
"She better not be on some type of horror movie voodoo" Dominic said and walked back to his room.
Benjamin guided her back to the bed where she lay. Some hours later, the sun was up and the CEO was ready for work. He headed out to the garage and there was Jameel, waiting to
resume work.
"Boss" he said as he held the door of the back seat open. Dominic was hesitant but he got in anyways, and off to work they drove. Jameel had been driving Dominic for over 7 years. They had
a special brother-like relationship, and it was starting to seem as if Jameel was taking advantage of that when it came down to business. Dominic had a usual office day at work, his
illegal merchandise sold smoothly at the moment as he had marked his territory and no one dared to start smoke with him.
Heading home, a member of his board and a friend as well handed him an invitation.
"What's this Elijah? You're getting married?" he chuckled as he looked at the sealed envelope.
"I wish man, I wish. But this is even better than a wedding invitation" his bald-headed friend said.
"Is it?" he smirked as he looked at it one more time and got into his car.
As Jameel was driving, he opened it, "50 shades of secrets" It was an invitation to an orgy. His mischievous smile got wider as he realized. He got home and was welcomed by Benjamin, as usual, he looked around for the "sacrificial lamb" as Benjamin had called her.
"Where is she?" he asked as he walked into the kitchen and out back.
"Well, she woke up, feeling better of course. She was frantic about a lot of missed calls on her phone, she thanked me and waited for you, but eventually, she had to leave"
"Of course, she did"
"I'll have dinner in my study" he said as he climbed the spiral staircase that was cut into two from the top. He showered and he met his meal served already on the table.
He got comfortable and enjoyed his meal. He looked at the invitation card one more time, taking note of the details such as date, time, location. He was going to drive himself on this one,
he didn't want Jameel or Benjamin to know about it. And on a cold Sunday evening, his long-awaited party was due. A chance for everyone to relieve stress one more time before diving into the week's work,
He thought to himself.