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After much persuasion from Minnie, and the fact that he received a call from his office, Alex hesitantly left the club, leaving Minnie with her job. Minnie had never at once questioned his job, but as he walked out of the club, she began to think otherwise. Maybe, she should just ask him what he did, and if she gets lucky, he might take her to his office.

Yet, on another thought, she did not want an instance where she would have to bump into any other member of the Canaan family. Surely, that office was a family business, and she knew that she would definitely cross path with someone she did not wish to see.

Even as they refilled and served the slowly increasing guests, Genesis could not help but corner Minnie with questions about Alex.

"How did you even mean such a dreamy god of handsomeness?" She asked, and Minnie could not help but chuckle at the dreamy gaze Genesis had in her eyes as she spoke of Alex.

"I guess we just met," Minnie simply replied.

Genesis scoffed, "Yea, right. So, you just stepped out of the road, and bumped right into Alexander Canaan?"

Minnie's eyebrow raised, and she faced Gen, "You know what, Gen? That was exactly what happened."

Gen's jaw dropped, "What the actual fuck?!" She exclaimed, and blinked severally but it was obvious that Minnie wasn't joking about that, and she gasped. "Dom, you mean you just met him on the road?"

"Yes, we met on the road, under weird circumstances," Minnie replied.

Gaping, Genesis left what she was doing and placed her elbow on the cabinet beside Minnie, as she kept her eyes on her friend, "Listen, Dom, I need to hear everything."

Minnie rolled her eyes as she muffled a slight chuckle, "Gen, we've got work to do," She said as she filled the last glass, but Genesis remained adamant.

"Hey, Paul can handle them for a while, but my curiosity cannot wait," Gen admitted, and Minnie could not help but release her laugh.

"Alright, busybody, I promise to tell you everything as soon as our shift ends," Minnie reassured Genesis as she dashed out of the kitchen with a tray filled with glasses of beer and wine, right before Genesis could stop her with her incessant questions.

As soon as she stepped into the club room, she smiled as she was met with a full house. Sometimes being here feels like being home, and she couldn't tell why, all she knew was that she felt happy surrounded with her friends and with Joe.

"Dominique!"

She heard her name from the thick cloud of dancers, and she squint her eyes through the flashing neon lights that dazzled the room. Yet, the grinding bodies of the dancers and the flashy illumination of the room made it almost impossible to see anyone.

"Over here!"

This time around, she could see Justin waving at her, as he and some of his friends shuffled through the crowd to her.

"What are you guys doing here?" She asked, but then mentally slapped herself as she recalled that they were related to Genesis. "Oh, you're here to see Genesis right?"

Justin's nose wrinkled up at this, "Oh, no. I see Gen every minute of the day. I'm starting to get tired of her face."

Minnie couldn't help herself as she chuckled. "Alright, what are you guys doing here?"

Instead of Justin's reply, Victor barged in, "We're here to party, babe. Care to join?" He asked rolling his tongue over his lips, and Minnie sneered.

"How about I hit you in the balls, Victor?"

Quickly, Justin jumped in, covering his friend, "Just ignore him, he's partly drunk."

Minnie laughed, "Partly? Then how will he be when he's fully drunk?"

Justin joined in with a slight bark of laughter, "You wouldn't want to find out."

Victor snorted as he turned away from them, and wandered to the stand where Paul was attending to some 'alcoholic' customers. She felt a slight touch on her hand, and she looked at Justin. Even with the shady light in the room, she could see the daunting look in his eyes, and her eyebrows furrowed in concern.

"Are you okay?" She asked.

He shook his head slightly, but Minnie could tell that he was hesitant to speak up, and she frowned.

"I know something's off with you. Just share it with me, Justin," She stressed, but his face was completely blank, and she sighed. "Well, if you aren't talking, then I've got some serving to do," She stated as she made a move to walk on. But, his lowered voice came to her, stopping her.

"I know you, the real you," He said.

Minnie practically had to stable herself as she spun around to him at once, almost spilling the drinks in her hand. Her face was completely in shock as wrinkles carved through her forehead, and her brows curved into arches above her wide eyes.

"You know me? What do you mean?" She asked.

He swallowed a lump in his throat, "I was doubtful at first, but as I got more information, I knew it was you."

This confused her the more. What does he know about her? Could this just be the truth about her identity in the brothel? Or did he have more to know of her past? Even as she tried to read his expression, she couldn't quite fathom what it was he was hiding from her.

"I don't understand you, Justin."

His lips turned down as he looked away from her, and stared into the space ahead. Suddenly, his lips parted, "I know your parents, Minnie. I knew how you got into Dinah's brothel. I knew about your escape from the brothel. I knew about your meeting with Alexander. I also knew of the brawl you had with Andrew."

As the words rolled off his tongue, Minnie froze up. All he said made no absolute sense to her, as her mind kept pushing it away. It wasn't real, and it wasn't possible. Besides, how could a stranger like Justin know anything about her? But, still, she could not give an answer to how he knew about Dinah, and her parents. Cause, even she could not answer those questions. What more of him?

So, she laughed, "Justin, I think you're also drunk. You guys seriously need to lay it down with all the alcohol," She tried to joke, but Justin's face remained undeterred, and serious.

"My tongue hasn't had even a drop of alcohol, Dominique. How could I when I've been bothered about this ever since I saw you in the hospital?" He stated, and her eyes opened even wider, as her laugh completely vanished.

"Bothered?"

He touched her arms, and gave them a slight squeeze, "We can't discuss this here. Let's go out there," he said, but she was reluctant to leave with him, "Please."

Even though she did not trust him, she did however find herself wanting to know more, wanting to find the answers to all her unanswered questions. So, she succumbed and they both walked outside to the back of the club, after Minnie dropped the tray on Paul's counter. Paul stared at them as they disappeared out the back doors, and his heart tightened with worry.

On getting outside, Minnie turned to him demanding answers, "So, you know me? And, you know all those things you claim to know?"

He nodded, "Yes. Minnie, I have been working with a particular group of traffickers. I was practically raised by them, and everything I have ever known was inculcated by them," He spoke and her ears kept ringing the word 'traffickers' into her ear as he continued, "Dinah's husband was a part of this syndicate, and so was John. We instigated the accident which involved your family."

Minnie's lips parted open, and a gasp escaped. Syndicates? Traffickers? John? Accident? All these ruffled up her mind as she could not make understand a thing.

"We were supposed to sell you to a merchant in middle eastern Europe, but your blood didn't match those needed, and so, Monday took it upon himself to have you delivered to the Carper, a wealthy fiasco who happened to be a pedophile," He explained, "But, this failed when Monday was killed in a battle with the authorities, and he just never got to deliver you to Carper again."

"Who the hell is Monday?" The words just blurted out of her lips as her forehead scrunched up.

"He was Dinah's husband," He replied, and waited for a reaction from Minnie, but she just stared at him, dumbfounded. "Carper had paid for you to be delivered to him, but Dinah told him that you were long dead, and she hid you with herself."

No matter how hard she tried to, Minnie just couldn't pin all what he said together, and her mind was drawn out by everything he said. "Why the hell are you telling me this now?"

He sighed. "Carper knows you're alive, and he wants you at all cost."

The air around her froze up as he said the last sentence, and her eyes bolted out of her socket, "What?"

"I'm sorry, Dominique," He said with all sincerity. His cheeks were hollow, and his face was pale as he said this, "I couldn't bear the guilt of this anymore, that's why I had to tell you," He added.

"No," Dominique shook her head, as she struggled to keep the raging emotions in her, "Everything you just said is a lie!"

"I wish it was so," He said, "but, Minnie, your life is in danger. You need to find a way out of this."

Tears swelled up in her eyes, as she shook her head, "No, I'm not going to belief you. This is all a dream, and I'm going to wake up from this." She repeatedly said.

Justin knew how hard it was for her to bear everything he had just told her, but delay was dangerous, and the last thing he needed was to lose her to Carper. His face fell as he recalled the most important information, and he turned his eyes to the hyperventilating girl in front of him. He gripped both her hands, and yanked her to face him.

"Listen, Minnie. John is back on the case, and he has been following you. He'll stop at nothing to get you and deliver you to Carper, and he'll not be hesitant to kill anyone who stands in his way."

Minnie's face went deadpan, as it felt as though she was slapped in the face.

Justin moved closer to her, "Alexander, your parents, your friends, and even my sister, are all in danger," He warned, "You are all at the mercy of Carper now."

Desperate to understand what he had been yakking about, she stared him in the eyes, "Even if I do believe all these, what I'm I going to do? Nothing must happen to anyone of them."

However, Justin's face fell, and so did her heart.

"I'm afraid I can't help you, Dominique. This is the best I can I do,' He said - his eyes looked beyond her, and froze, and in a flash, he dropped her arms and dashed away into the night.

Reality slapped her on her naked arms, as she snapped right back to her environments. The cool air of the night hit her at all sides, as if the night was trying to warn her of something. Her heart began thumping in her chest as she felt someone's eyes on her, and recalling how Justin ran off after looking behind her, she shivered. There was something at her back, she knew, but she was too frozen to move.

Slowly, she heard the footsteps approaching her, as the boots of the person collided with the tarred road. She gulped back, and prayed silently as the feeling got closer. She could feel the person right behind her. The beating in her heart increased and she could feel the tears roll out of her eyes as she thought of being taken away. Just when she had begun to love her life, then she'll just be yanked back.

She closed her eyes, as she waited for the person, whoever it was, to clutch her. But, the sound of a door creaking open cut through the silence of the night, and her heart froze.

"Dom, are you okay?"

Her ears moved as she heard the voice of Paul, and as his hands touched her, she ripped her eyes open, jumped into his arms, weeping instantly into his chest. Although he was surprised at this, he held her close to himself as his eyes danced around in the darkness, but all he could see was the darkness of the night.

"He's here...they'll take me...Alex," She stuttered as she sobbed into his chest. He rubbed her back, as she cried into him.

"It's okay, Dom. You're safe," He cooed as he lead her back into the club, but before he closed the door, he peered out into the darkness one more time, to try to get a glimpse of anything, but it was all clear.

Yet, he had that feeling that something wasn't right somewhere. He just couldn't tell.

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