Dominick
He closed his eyes and gritted his teeth, while Maximiliano looked at him with an eyebrow raised and a mocking smile.
"Now, slowly and calmly, speak," Maximiliano encouraged him.
"I want you to fire her," Dominick concluded.
"No."
"Perfect, I knew you'd understand me… wait," he furrowed his brow, "Did I hear a 'no'?"
"Exactly. How do you expect me to fire her if you…"
"Maybe by doing it?" Dominick asked sarcastically.
"Dominick, think," Maximiliano ran his hands over his face in frustration. "Do you know that what you did could be considered harassment?"
Dominick lowered his anger slightly, analyzing the situation.
"There's a law at the hotel that protects the maids from any harassment, no matter who it comes from, a guest, an employee, or a partner, and you're already two of those things."
"Fine, fine," he sighed. "I'll try to calm down. But damn it, I want to teach her a lesson!"
"Well, maybe something can be done. Let me find out who the poor girl is that's the victim of your testosterone outbursts."
Then it was Dominick who raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms.
Jade
She was in the hotel laundry, trying to arrange some sheets, or attempting to.
"Damn bastard, who does that jerk think he is? Just another rich guy with airs of grandeur..." She threw a sheet to the floor.
Jade kept ranting against Dominick without stopping, until her best friend's intrusion made her pause.
Nerea rushed in, looking out of breath, as if she had been running.
"Jade… What...?" she bent over, supporting herself on her knees, trying to catch her breath. "What did you do?"
Jade's face shifted from angry to confused.
"First, breathe," she asked, "then tell me calmly what happened."
Nerea stood up, took a deep breath, and exhaled.
"The guest in the room I sent you to… What did you do to him?" she asked, sitting in a chair.
"More like what he did to me," Jade smiled at the memory of the slap. "Or what we did to each other."
"Explain yourself, woman!" Nerea exclaimed, impatient. "I was in a meeting with Maximiliano, and he stormed in furious, angrier than ever," she waved her hand dismissively. "And the only thing he said, because he didn't knock or ask permission to enter, was that he wanted the maid in his room fired."
Jade's face turned pale with horror upon hearing those words. If they fired her, she was done for. She was the only one who paid her father's hospital bills, his medication, his needs, things that were already incredibly expensive.
"He can't do that…" she murmured, bringing a hand to her forehead. A wave of dizziness hit her.
"Jade!" Nerea shouted, grabbing her to stop her from falling.
"I'm fine, don't worry," she said.
"You're not fine, you're really pale, you've had these dizzy spells before, and it's not normal. You should see a doctor," her friend advised.
She shook her head.
"I need to talk to Maximiliano. He'll listen to me, he can't do this to me," Jade was on the verge of tears.
Her only weaknesses were her father and sister, nothing else. They could do anything to her, insult her, call her many things, but nothing compared to the feeling of helplessness she felt in her chest every time she couldn't do anything to help her loved ones.
"Let me know anything, okay? You know I'll always be here for you," Nerea smiled and hugged her. "Don't worry about this, I'll handle it."
"Thanks."
Jade left the laundry room and headed to Maximiliano's office, almost ready to cry. She bumped into a hard chest, looked up, and sighed deeply.
"Jade, where are you rushing off to?" Maximiliano had his hands on her shoulders, and his expression turned worried when he saw her shed a tear. "Are you okay? What happened?"
"Please don't fire me. I don't know what that man told you, but it's a lie, well, some things are true, but please..."
"Calm down," he asked her. "I don't understand a thing, Jade. Could you speak more slowly?"
Her bottom lip trembled. She took a breath and prepared to speak.
"One of the guests slapped my butt. I got upset and…"
"And you slapped him," he finished for her. "So it was you," he muttered.
"I'm sorry, but I couldn't let that guest disrespect me," she exclaimed, her jaw clenched.
The memory made her angry again. She wiped away her tears.
"That guest is a partner in the hotel, one of the owners," Maximiliano informed her.
Jade's face showed worry.
"But don't worry, I won't fire you. I would never do that," he murmured, trying to calm her down. "You're like a little sister to me, Jade. Now please," he ran a hand over his face, "stay away from Dominick. It's not good for you to be around him."
"I don't even want to see him," she declared.
"Good. Now go back to work and give Lucas my regards."
She nodded and left.
Maximiliano felt deeply grateful to Jade. One night, she had found him lying in the street, about to die. He had been mugged and shot in the abdomen. There was no time to call an ambulance, since the nearest hospital was an hour away. Without thinking, Jade dragged him to her car and took him home. Between her and her father, they removed the bullet and treated his wound. When they finally took him to the hospital, the doctors told him that if it hadn't been for Jade's bravery, he would have died.
Jade smiled. She was more than happy, happiness that vanished the moment she saw Dominick kissing Camila, one of the maids.
It made her sick.
She walked past them without looking back, though she could feel someone watching her. Still, she didn't turn around.
She was fuming. She wanted to punch him in the face.
She was so caught up in her revenge plans that she didn't realize Robinson was beside her until he spoke:
"Hey, Jade."
"Jesus Christ!" She placed a hand over her chest.
Robinson looked apologetic.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you," he said, scratching his neck nervously.
"It's fine," she smiled, staring at her shoes.
She was nervous. That's how she always got around Robinson.
"Hey, I was thinking that maybe..."
"You!" Dominick exclaimed.
Both Jade and Robinson turned to see what was going on.
"I need you to come with me," Dominick said, crossing his arms.
"Excuse me?" Jade furrowed her brow and crossed her arms.
"My room needs to be cleaned," he said calmly.
"Are you crazy? Your room is already clean," she muttered.
"Jade, do you know this man?" Robinson asked, not liking how Dominick was speaking to her.
"Stay out of it, unless you want to get fired," Dominick smirked.
"You..."
"Robinson, please. I don't want you getting fired because of me. Go, I'll handle this. I'll find you later," she told him.
Dominick raised a challenging eyebrow, daring him to speak again.
Robinson wasn't entirely convinced, but he had to get back to work. Jade gave him a pleading look, and he finally gave in.
"But come find me. Don't forget," he said, kissing her cheek and shooting a glance at Dominick before walking away.
"You should do your job properly instead of flirting with my staff," Dominick criticized.
"Your staff?" she laughed. "My only boss is Maximiliano."
"Mr. Anderson to you, you disrespectful brat," he barked.
"I'll call him whatever the hell I want!" she snapped back, raising her voice.
They stared at each other, tension thick in the air. Rage pulsed between them.
Dominick grabbed her arm tightly and practically dragged her down the hallway. She struggled, trying to break free. Unfortunately, Dominick's strength far outweighed hers, so without knowing what else to do she sank her teeth into his arm.
She bit him.
Hard.
Dominick immediately let go of her. She didn't have time to regain her balance and stumbled, falling to the floor.
"You crazy bitch!" Dominick shouted, it had hurt.
"Fucking asshole!" she howled, getting up from the floor.
Forgetting all about what she'd promised Maximiliano, she jumped on Dominick like a wildcat scratching, kicking, doing everything she could to give him what he deserved. Dom tried to hold her down, but Jade was determined to land a few hits. She was furious and just needed to let that rage out.
They both crashed to the ground, and Dominick managed to pin her down, though she kept squirming like mad.
"Hold still!" he ordered.
"Let me go! Let me go so I can beat the crap out of you!" she yelled.
Dominick tightened his grip on Jade's wrists.
"Calm the fuck down!" Dominick glared at her like a rabid dog. His grip was hurting her.
"You don't tell me what to do," she hissed, and lifted her knee as hard as she could smashing it right into Dominick's groin.
His face twisted in pain. He immediately let go of her and collapsed next to her, clutching his crotch, cursing under his breath.
Jade smiled, satisfied.
"Rot in hell," she muttered before turning around and walking away.
Dominick
"Stop laughing," Dominick hissed through gritted teeth. "There's nothing funny about this."
Maximiliano couldn't stop laughing.
"You deserved it," he muttered after finally catching his breath.
"Ow," Dominick winced as the nurse dabbed alcohol on one of the scratches. "Gentler, for God's sake. I didn't deserve any of this. That woman is going to pay, believe me."
"Leave Jade alone. The poor girl was just defending herself," Maximiliano crossed his arms.
"So, Jade, huh?" Dominick murmured. "That's the beast's name."
"God, are you even hearing yourself, Dominick?" his friend and business partner asked. "You talk like she's some kind of villain. Jade is a good person, leave her alone."
"I don't give a damn. She's going to pay for everything she did to me. Get out. I don't want anything else from you. In fact, both of you, get out."
He placed an ice pack on his groin and shut his eyes. Maximiliano rolled his eyes as the nurse left.
"You're so screwed," he sang, gave him one last look, and walked out.
Jade
"Don't laugh. Now that I think about it, what I did wasn't right. Don't make me feel worse," Jade pleaded, tormented by what had happened just half an hour earlier.
She had let her anger take over and nothing had turned out right.
"It's impossible not to laugh!" Nerea exclaimed, bursting into another laugh. "Come on, Jade, stop beating yourself up. That uptight jerk totally deserved it."
"But how can you say that? They wanted to fire me over a slap. What's he going to do now?"
Nerea stopped laughing when she saw how truly worried Jade was.
"He can't do anything. If anything, we can show them how he hurt your wrists the damn animal," Jade touched her sore wrists. "And he touched you without your consent, all on the same day. The hotel rules strictly forbid harassment, no exceptions."
"I hope that's enough. He's rich, and unfortunately, that usually outweighs everything else."
"This country's justice system is bullshit," Nerea said, making Jade laugh a little.
"Wanna go grab a drink?" Nerea asked.
"Alcohol? At this hour?" Jade asked with a giggle.
"Just a little," the brunette laughed.
"Let's go. I need something to relax," Jade rubbed her forehead.
"You could ask Robinson to relax you. I know very well how he could help," Nerea wiggled her eyebrows suggestively.
"Oh my God! You're so twisted," Jade laughed. Both of them left the break area, giggling like partners in crime.
They were heading to the bar when they ran into Robinson.
"Hey, girls," he greeted with a smile.
"Hi, Robinson. We were just talking about you," Nerea said, nudging Jade, who smiled nervously.
"Oh really?" he asked, confused.
"Don't listen to her. She hit her head when she was little," Jade and Robinson laughed Nerea did not.
"Ha ha. Hilarious," she replied with sarcasm.
Jade's smile faded the second she saw Dominick approaching. He had a few tiny bandages on the scratches on his face.
"Something wrong, Jade?" Robinson asked, turning to see what made her expression change so fast.
"Did you come for another beating?" Jade asked through clenched teeth.
"Another beating?" Robinson asked, confused.
"On the contrary, you bitch. I told you you'd pay. They're right here!"
Nerea, Robinson, and Jade all stared in shock as two police officers approached.
"That's her, officers," Dominick said, pointing at Jade.
"What the hell is this…? Let me go!" she exclaimed.
"You can't do this!" Nerea protested.
"What's going on? Jade?" Robinson didn't know what to do.
"Miss, you are under arrest for assault. It's best if you don't resist," one of the officers informed her. The police officers started to say some things, but she wasn't listening, she was in shock.
"Don't worry, Jade. I'll handle this," Nerea promised.
"Everything will be alright," Robinson said to comfort her.
"Have a nice day, psycho," Dominick grinned, triumphant.