"What do you want to eat?" I asked Isabella, because it was just us today.
Dom, Leo, and Matteo went to check Matteo's files, and they would be back shortly, or so they said.
"I want ramen."
"I can order some."
"You have money?" Isabella asked, looking up from her computer and turning around to face me.
"It's your dad's money," I said, sitting down on her bed and pulling up the app on my phone.
"Oh, I respect it then. Okay, let's see what stores are near us," she said, getting up and going to sit next to me.
After not even a scroll, she clicked on the third shop that popped up.
"Have you had it before?" I asked her, and she nodded. "Leo and I went after school one time just the two of us because Dad doesn't like eating out."
"Speaking of your dad." I swiped out of the DoorDash app, clicked the FaceTime app, and then on Dominic's contact. "He doesn't like FaceTiming either," Isabella said, and the two of us started to laugh.
Then after two rings, he answered, and his handsome face lit up the screen.
"Back up, Daddy," I said, and he held the phone up in the most 38-year-old man way I have ever seen.
"Is everything okay?" he asked.
"Yeah, we were just ordering ramen, and we wanted to know if you, Leo, or Matteo wanted some," I said, showing Isabella and me in her room.
Dominic nodded.
"You guys want ramen?" He asked Leo and Matteo.
"Hell yeah," I heard Leo's voice as he went into frame.
I swiped out of FaceTime. "What do you guys want?"
"Can I please have vegetarian miso ramen with tofu, bok choy, mushrooms, and a soft-boiled egg, and tell them to put chili oil on please. And oh, I also want lychee soda, thank you," Leo said.
"Okay, whose next?" I asked, clicking all of the buttons on the app.
"Can I have Karē Ramen, with spicy ground pork, picked ginger, scallions, and tell them to fucking load it with cilantro. Also, can I have, I don't know, like a beer?" Matteo asked
"Asahi beer?"
"Yeah, that works."
"Okay, Dom, what do you want?"
"Can I please have shoyu ramen, with extra noodles and more of those bamboo shoots, please? And if they have hot green tea, can I please have that? If not, just get me the cold one," he said.
"Okay, thank you," I said.
I went back to FaceTime. "I will see you when you get back," I said with a smile, and he blew me a kiss through the screen.
"Bye-bye."
I smiled as the FaceTime call ended.
He was so cute.
"Give me that phone and stop ogling over my dad," Isabella said, and she snatched it from me.
"I'm sorry," I said, laughing as I looked at what she was choosing.
Spicy miso ramen, with extra corn and nori, and a jasmine iced tea.
"It's the most expensive thing on there, and dad hates spicy food, so he won't eat it all," she said with a smile and handed me my phone back.
I smiled and ordered tonkotsu ramen with an extra soft-boiled egg and pork belly.
I don't even think my stomach can handle this after all of the hospital food, but it is worth a shot.
"Are you going to get a drink?"
I shook my head, went to the order details, and then to the pay button.
"Holy shit, 140 bucks is crazy," I said.
"Dad won't mind."
I do, holy shit.
I pulled the card from outside of my phone case, typed it into the app, and then put it back.
"Okay, it should be here soon," I said, and she nodded, going back to her desk, where all of her homework is.
I got up and sat down on the extra chair that she had in her room. "Do I actually NEED an opposition paragraph, or whatever it is called, as the first body paragraph?"
"I mean…wait, look at the rubric. Did we do that for the other one?"
She shook her head.
"Okay, let's do it for this one," I said, and she pulled it out of her backpack and handed it to me.
"Okay, let's look," I said, my eyes scanning the page. "Thesis. It is literally the first thing your teacher said was to have an opposite opinion as your first body paragraph."
"Fuck," She whined, and I started laughing.
"It's not that hard; just write an outline about it…actually, do that for all of the paragraphs, and it will help it go by faster," I said, and she let out a sigh.
"Okay, fine," she said.
"I will check your outline when you are done," I said, and she nodded.
And then I heard loud knocking on the front door. "I'll go get it," I said, standing up.
God, I haven't had ramen in such a long time.
I walked slowly down the stairs as the pounding got louder.
God damn.
After a little bit, I finally made it to the door.
Oh god.
I feel very wary and scared now, scared of who's on the other side.
It's just the ramen.
It's nothing.
It's just the doordasher.
I was okay.
I was safe.
There was nothing for me to worry about.
I opened the door, and I felt my heart quickly drop.
Oh. Somehow, I was really hoping it was the kidnapper over my dad.
"Hi, Dad," I mumbled.
He looked pissed, and he was alone, so I knew something was up.
I probably should have checked if the ramen was here on the app before I came downstairs and opened the door. God, I am actually so stupid.
And smelled like alcohol, too.
I felt my shoulders drop as he pushed me into the house and slammed the door behind him.
"I want to talk to you," my dad said, pointing at me as he backed me into a wall.
"Where's that fucking fiancé of yours? Is he hiding?" He asked, and he looked around with an expression that I couldn't even recognize. "That's fucking convenient. Tell him to come out here," my dad said, shouting in my face.
"He's not here, Dad," I said flatly. I can't show him I am scared, because he feeds on fucking fear.
"Whatever you want to say to me, just say it and get out," I said.
The alcohol was piercing my nose, and it made me sick.
How did he even drive here?
I should call Mom.
Or someone, someone to get him and to make sure he got home safe and didn't kill himself on the road.
My dad sneered at me. "Of course, he's not here, just my fucking luck. You are so fucking lucky, aren't you, Ryder?"
What the fuck is he even on about right now?
I watched as he reached up, and I felt a hard smack on my cheek.
I rubbed my cheek and looked back at him, letting out a shaky breath. "What…what are you talking about right now?"
"What am I talking about? WHAT AM I TALKING ABOUT?!" he screamed, his voice starting to echo. "Everything in my life has gone to shit because of you."
I felt another smack. "You've been telling Dom all of these fucking lies about me, saying that I'm this abusive fucker; oh, and I did all of these things to you; all of these fucking lies, and now everyone at work treats me like shit."
Another smack and I felt my eyes start to prick with tears. "I didn't tell him anything."
Another smack. "Bull fucking shit!" he screamed.
"Your little fiancé fuck spread all of these lies about me, and everyone treats me like I am some kind of fucking joke now. And you really want me to believe that you didn't tell him anything? It's because of you! It's because of your whoring around with him!"
My chest tightened as the tears slowly started to come down.
"Here comes the fucking waterworks," my dad said, rolling his eyes.
"That has nothing to do with me."
Another smack.
I rubbed my cheek some more as I tried to wipe the tears, but they kept coming.
"You've been spreading your legs for him, haven't you? Just like you've done for god knows who else. You're fucking pathetic, Ryder. A pathetic little slut who has ruined everything," he said.
He was digging for stuff to be mad at as I continued crying. "And you want me to believe that you are actually sick?" He asked, and he pinned me up against the wall and got closer to my face. "Please. You are faking it for attention. You always do shit like this. You are pathetic," he spat.
I felt like a helpless child as the tears continued to come down.
My glasses were dirty now, and I just kept crying.
"If you are…are going to talk to me like that, get out!" I stuttered, and he started yelling again.
"I will talk to you how I fucking want. Do you even know what you have done to my family? My perfect fucking family. Your mother and I can't even have a conversation without your name coming up. Your siblings do not want anything to do with me because of you. I am their fucking father, and they don't even want to eat dinner with me!"
He stopped glaring at me, and his eyes went to something else.
His attention was now on something else, someone else.
He let me go. "Your dad's a fucking bitch, you know that? HE RUINED MY FUCKING FAMILY! That's…that's why your mom fucking left you and why he replaced her with a WHORE!" My dad screamed.
"Don't talk to her like that," I mumbled, pushing him as hard as I could and making a slow walk to the kitchen.
"And why not?" my dad asked, walking after me.
I pulled out one of the drawers in the kitchen and grabbed the biggest knife in the pile.
I held it with both hands, and I pointed it at my dad.
"And now you want to kill me. I'm your dad; I haven't done shit to you."
"Don't fucking talk to her like that," I said louder in between tears.
My cheeks were hurting from the slaps, and my face was burning red.
He started laughing again. "You deserve everything. Every single slap he gives you, you deserve it. I know he puts his hands on you; I saw the bruises; I still see them, and you know what you deserved it. You deserve everything and deserve to be treated like a fucking bitch!"
Oh god.
Oh god.
My dad moved closer as I held the knife with shaky hands.
"GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY HOUSE!" I heard a loud voice ring through the house.
I looked up as Dominic walked in with Leo and Matteo following behind him.
My dad turned around. "This doesn't concern you."
Dominic got closer to him. "It does because you are in my house; you have my fiancé backed up against a cabinet and my daughter upstairs, calling me scared. So yes, it does concern me, actually," Dominic said, and he stopped walking.
And then I watched my dad punch him in the stomach.
He blinked slowly at him.
My dad turned back to me and reached out to grab me as I felt myself drop the knife.
Then he flung me towards me, as Dominic instantly grabbed me.
I'm fucking crying so much right now. Holy shit.
"And now there are 2 more? You are a real fucking whore, aren't you?"
Dominic helped me stand on my feet, and I watched as Matteo came in with a gun.
"You heard him get out!" Matteo said, pointing the gun at my dad and getting closer to him.
"You aren't going to do shit!"
"They might not, but I will," Matteo said with a small smile: Medicate and radiate.
"So I'll give you a choice: I shoot you dead right here, or you leave and never come back," Matteo said with a smile.
Freaky ass.
He shot one of the cabinets next to my dad's leg. "Times ticking."
My dad rolled his eyes, and I watched as he headed to the door, and as quickly as he came, he left.
"Dude, my cabinet," Dominic said as he dropped to his knees to check me. "Are you okay?" he asked, and I nodded, slowly wiping my tears.
"Oh, baby," he said, checking my face.
"I'm okay; it's just a few slaps," I said.
Matteo started to put the knives back where they belonged, and I watched as Isabella came downstairs. "I'm sorry I made your dad angrier."
"It's okay, sweetie, you did the right thing," I said, and I hugged her.
She pulled back from my hug, and I smiled at her.
"I'm sorry about your cabinet," I mumbled.
"It's okay, baby; it really means nothing; I just want to make sure you are okay," Dominic said, rubbing my eyes.
"I'm okay," I said, and he started to hug me again.
I'm safe when he is here.
I am glad he came.
I'm so glad.
"Eat your food, honey," Dom mumbled, putting one of his hands on my thigh.
"I am, I am," I said, shoveling food in my mouth.
We were all eating together as a family now, a weird blended family.
And I was watching Matteo scarf down his food like he hadn't been fed in weeks as Dom's hand didn't leave my thigh as he ate, because for some reason he kept squeezing and rubbing it with his thumb.
I looked over at his lap and then back at my food.
I felt a smile grow on my face.
Somehow it's reassuring.
I should be grossed out that this man was getting hard from just rubbing my thighs, but it was reassuring.
"What are you smiling at?" I looked up at Leo, who was across from me.
"Nothing," I said.
"Nothing," he mocked. "Yeah, right, talking like that. What are you smiling at?" he asked again.
Everyone's attention was now on me.
"Just happy, that's it," I said.
And god, Dom's hand felt so warm on my legs. It made me feel all weird and tingly, as his nails were now slowly rubbing my inner thigh as he ate.
I felt a pit in my stomach as I shifted in my seat.
I was technically greenlighted by the nurse.
So we could…could have sex.
But. I don't think Dom would like that. He would want to make sure that I am 100 percent better and in my right mind. Damn him for being a good guy, I WANT TO FUCK!
After that, we finished the ramen, and the day went on as normal.
And now we were in bed again, talking about Dom's parents.
"We can just spend one night there, and it can be like a vacation," he said, and I nodded.
"I like the sound of that, but will they be okay with me?"
"Yeah, my dad will be impressed I got someone younger."
Oh.
"Uh, not that, but," I gestured to myself.
"Oh. I don't know how my dad feels about gay people, but it will be okay."
Not quite, but okay.
"On the topic of that, I have a few warnings. Uh, my dad is a fucking bigot. So be prepared, and if you kiss ass enough, then it will be fine. Just don't say anything negative about my mom, like not at all. Her cooking is great, but when she tries to make new dishes, it gets a little fuzzy, so whatever she makes, say it is great, or my dad will genuinely kill you. Uh, what else? Yeah, English is her third language, so if she messes anything up, lightly correct her, but make sure my dad isn't in earshot. Whatever she is wearing, compliment it immediately, and no shoes in the house," Dom said.
"Okay, that's not that bad. Be prepared for your dad, and don't even look at your mom wrong."
"Exactly."
I smiled.
"Glad you understand. There is one more thing, but I can't remember it all. It's something about my dad, but I don't think it is that important," he said, shrugging.
And I nodded. "If you say so," I said, cuddling up to him.
He kissed my head. "It will be fun; don't worry, your pretty head."
"I'm not," I said, laughing.
"Sure, sure. Okay, sleep well," he said, and he started to cuddle me from behind, getting all in my personal space.
I should be irritated, but for him, it's okay.