Dying Of Embarrassment
Mischief danced in Dominic’s eyes as he moved to make room. “Not coming in?”
I stepped back and said, “No, I must’ve gotten mixed up. I’m looking for Mitch.”
I was about to turn away and knock on the adjacent door when Dominic pulled me into his room.
His tug threw me off balance as I tripped on the thick carpeting in the hallway. I would have fallen
facedown on the floor if I did not reach out and steady myself on the doorframe.
“What the heck are you doing? I already said I wasn’t looking for you.”
“Are you dying to see Mitch or something?”
Still annoyed, the words were out of my mouth before I could think better of them. “Yes. You got a
problem with that?”
I only wanted to find Mitch for my brother’s sake, and here Dominic was, sticking his foot into every piece
of my business. Hmph! I spun on my heels to leave, irritated.
“Liliana.”
At the sound of my name, I turned instinctively to face him, only to feel his lips firmly on mine.
Disconcerted, I made a feeble attempt to push him away. His hand was, however, locked tightly around
the back of my neck, rendering escape futile.
The most outrageous part of it all was his other hand that had snaked around my waist, holding me
tightly against the door.
He’s mad! We’re in the hallway, for God’s sake!
My brain stuttered, and I made a last-ditch attempt to knee him in the guts.
Dominic seemed to anticipate my every move. Nimbly, he avoided my attack and wedged a muscular
thigh between my legs.
The intensity of his kiss seemed to suck all the oxygen out of my head. I felt like I was suffocating on
passion, ready to keel over at a moment’s notice.
“Ahem, couldn’t the two of you, erm, do this behind closed doors?”
Benjamin’s voice turned out to be the perfect mood-killer. My brain jolted awake in an instant.
Humiliation washed over me in waves. Oh God, there are surveillance cameras in the hotel too!
Dominic released me but kept an arm around my waist. My legs were about as firm as jelly, and I held on
to him for support.
My brother’s voice sounded, “Er, Lili. Are y-you two-” Well, I guess Lou saw the whole thing too.
I felt like crying at the absurdity of the situation. Being caught by one’s brother in a PDA was a different
level of humiliation.
Louis probably had no idea about my impending divorce with Julius either. Oh God, is he going to think
I’m cheating?
Since Benjamin and Louis were both here, I did not need to turn around to know that Mitch was here as
well.
How will I discuss Louis’ case with him now? This is all stupid Dominic’s fault!
I bit down on Dominic’s shoulder spitefully.
Soon, I heard a low growl beside my ear. “Try me.”
That immediately got me to back off.
I did not wish to see what his “try me” entailed.
“I mean, the two of you can carry on. We can always come back later. Mitch and I can take Louis out for
a stroll.”
Benjamin’s penchant for stirring the pot was infuriating.
I desperately wanted to shove Dominic away and go back to my room. However, his iron grip on my
hand meant I could only stumble after him as he dragged me to his room.
He even invited the rest of them in.
Once the door closed, Dominic released me immediately.
I scuttled to the farthest corner away from him.
Alas, given the small size of the room, I could only hide near the windows.
The man stared at me meaningfully with the ghost of a smile on his face.
His smile stoked my anger. This is all his fault!
I sensed Louis’ gaze on me as well, though I could not tell his feelings on the matter.
Benjamin and Mitch, on the other hand, had nothing but amusement in their gazes.
Why must they all stare at me?
“Hey! If you keep staring at me like that, I’m going to gouge your eyes out!” I shouted.
“There, there. Let’s talk about serious business now.” Mitch tried very hard to hold back his laughter and
put on a stern expression.
I forced myself to take a deep breath and divert the topic.
I recounted my meeting with Queenie to the four of them. No one was still laughing once I was done.
I calmed down considerably, though I still could not bring myself to look Louis in the eye.
Instead, I forced myself to stare at Mitch the whole time.
“It’s getting late. Maybe you can talk to Queenie tomorrow? She kicked me out earlier and even called
the police on me.”
In truth, I did not know if Mitch and the others would be able to get anything out of Queenie. Her
aggression was still fresh in my mind.
“You’re a woman, so she probably couldn’t care less. I’m sure she’ll be chirping like a bird if any of us
goes. Hey, Dominic, you could give it a try.”
The carelessness in Benjamin’s tone made me uncomfortable. Plus, even if they’re going with seduction,
why do they need to send Dominic?
Dominic’s reaction, however, pleased me.
He shot Benjamin a vicious glance that had the latter chuckling in mock surrender.
“I’m just kidding. Geez, can’t even take a bit of humor.”
Mitch seemed a lot more serious as he said thoughtfully, “We’ll try to meet her tomorrow. If she refuses a
discussion, we’ll come up with another plan. By the way, you two should remain in Jadeborough before
this incident is solved. The police might summon Lou for questioning anytime.”
Louis and I nodded, though I fretted about the excuses I would have to feed our parents about my
prolonged stay in Jadeborough. It would be National Day soon, and they would notice that something
was amiss if neither of us came home.
“Lou, which bar were you at that night?” Dominic asked out-of-the-blue.
“The Happy Hour Karaoke Bar,” Louis replied quickly.
“Ok, let’s head over there right now. We should check out where the incident took place. Something’s
definitely wrong with that karaoke bar. Mitch, pull the surveillance tapes of the place.”
I felt like the path on what to do seemed clear after they took charge.
At Dominic’s suggestion, we took a cab to the Happy Hour Karaoke Bar that Louis had mentioned.
It seemed like a pretty spiffy bar from the outside.
“Lou, when did you visit this place? Who suggested this bar?” I asked.
Louis wore a baseball cap on his head, pulled down to hide his face. Dominic advised him to keep a low
profile, lest someone recognized Louis and ruined our covert investigation.
Their cautionary words reinforced my belief that something was up with this karaoke bar.
“One of my classmates. He bunks with me in the university, and we’re pretty close. Lili, are you actually
suspecting him?”
I did not know what was going through Dominic and the other’s heads, but I was beginning to think that
someone had sabotaged Louis.
One thing niggled at my mind, though. Louis was a freshman who had been in university for less than a
month.
Who on earth would resent my brother so much that they would sabotage him in such a horrifying way?
We were standing in the hallway, so it was difficult to express my thoughts to Louis. I shook my head at
him instead.
Whatever Dominic and the others had told the staff at the karaoke bar, it was convincing enough to get
us access to the alleged crime scene.
Now that we stood in the room where Louis’ life had been turned upside-down, I was at a loss of what to
do next.
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