Chapter 667: Cake

It was Nael's birthday and Mina found herself in the ship's kitchen putting the finishing touches on a cake. She heard from one of his girlfriends that he expected gifts from everyone on the ship, and she heard from others that people had been thrown overboard for not meeting his expectations. With just a few days left until they docked at the next port, Mina was uneager to die. She had not bought anything that could be gifted before boarding, so baking a cake was the only thing she could think of.

Satisfied with her creation, Mina made her way toward the captain's quarters. She knocked tentatively, and the door swung open to the scowling face of Leal, who looked at the cake in her hands as if it were a poisonous animal.

"Who is it?" Nael asked, walking up behind his brother, who Mina noticed was trying to shield her from view. "What is that?" the man questioned, and Mina looked down at the cake, suddenly feeling like she did not know what it was anymore. The cake was pulled from her hands, she was roughly dragged into the suite and thrown onto the ground, where she whimpered in anticipation for death. "You think this was funny?" he screamed, but all Mina could do was shake her head. "You eat it," the man said, taking a huge handful of the cake and pushing it into her face.

Mina gagged on the amount of food being shoved into her mouth, and after she had cried enough tears, Leal decided to stop his brother. He told Nael that she was new to the ship, and likely did not know the rules, and Mina nodded vigorously at Leal's words. After swallowing down what was in her mouth, she explained the situation to him, and the man sent his brother to fetch the woman who had given her the 'heads up.'

Nael was ruthless in his treatment of the woman, and scared for the girl's life, Mina crawled over to where she was being tossed around and laid her body over the girl. She had no idea what kind of prank the woman was trying to pull or why, but it was Nael's fault no one liked her, and if she had been treated better, she would not have been subject to such a joke.

"Please," Mina cried. "It was my fault; I should have confirmed." Nael just stared at Mina, gesturing for his brother to remove the other woman from the room before pulling Mina to his couch, where he forced her to sit.

"Let me explain something to you," the man said in a tone that was so calm it was scary. He pushed the nozzle of his gun to Mina's head, tapping it with each word he spoke. She nodded with the man's explanation of why he hated his birthday, but when he was done, Mina found herself confused.

Nael picked up what was left of the destroyed cake and sniffed it. He got a fork and tasted it, humming in satisfaction as he glanced over at Mina with a smile. He was obviously deranged, and Mina could not understand why Mills would send her to a person so cruel. She told herself that he may have changed, but even then, he had to have had some violent tendencies to survive in his profession for as long as he had.

"Did you go to culinary school too?" Nael asked mockingly, but Mina was too afraid to respond. "I'm talking to you Ami." She shook her head, desperate to get away, but Nael blocked her escape, still eating the cake that she baked.

Mina could feel icing and bread deep inside of her nose, but she did not move at all. She did not know what was going to trigger the man, or what was going to get her killed but actually dying was never part of her plan.

"I'm sorry I overreacted. You aren't a bad person, and I know that, but there are a lot of people on this ship who are." Mina nodded, and Nael made her flinch when he reached his hand toward her face. "Go clean yourself up, and in the future, don't be afraid to ask my brother and I what's expected of you." Mina nodded, running out of the room where she bumped into Leal along the way to her own.

"Did he talk to you?" Mina nodded, and the man stepped forward and lifted her chin. "Next time, come to me if you aren't sure. Nael doesn't know how to express his anger without violence."

"And you do?" Mina quipped, still feeling wronged.

"Yes; unlike my brother, I wasn't forced to kill our mother as a teenager. He has earned the right to be angry." Mina nodded, and tears fell from her eyes, tears that Leal wiped away before being startled by his brother, who was glaring at them accusingly.

"I thought I told you to clean yourself up," the man growled and Mina quickly disappeared.

----

Nael did not know what it was about Ami, but she was driving him crazy. She was not sexy or even attractive to him, but her personality was warm in a way that Nael had only ever experienced from his mother, which was why he had reacted so harshly when she brought a cake to his room. It was something his mother would have done, and in his mind, the woman knew that.

The speed at which Ami left his suite made Nael feel so guilty that he decided to follow her, wanting to apologize to the woman, but he found himself irritated by the scene he stumbled across. Leal was always staring at her, watching her, studying her movements, and while at first Nael was disgusted by his brother's interest in the woman, he soon found himself behaving similarly. From the moment he had shoved the cake into her face he regretted it, but now he felt like he was not harsh enough.

"What the f*ck are you doing with that monster?" Nael asked, his brother just shook his head, staring in the direction at which Ami ran with a small smirk on his face.

"She reminds me of her," he replied. "She also doesn't belong here." A sense of relief washed over Nael, but also a heavy sense of grief.

On Nael's eighteenth birthday, his father had bought him a gun. He remembered feeling like he was invincible, but there was a catch. His father had loaded the weapon with a single bullet, spun the revolver and gave him a choice; shoot himself, or anyone else in the room. Nael knew it was some sort of loyalty test, so he did not choose his father, he chose Leal, who was fourteen at the time.

Their mother got involved, standing in front of her son as she went back and forth with their father about what he was doing. Nael did not know it at the time, but his mother was not his father's wife; she was just a woman he had stolen from Bal and kept as property. He had always wondered why his mother stayed with the man, but now that he was an adult, he realized she did not have much of a choice.

Eventually, the argument became a shouting match, and his father suggested for his mother to take Leal's place. The woman agreed, and Nael felt his nerves begin to rattle. His mother was the kindest and sweetest person he had ever known, and it terrified him that he could accidentally kill her. He stood there, hesitating, then he felt the cold shaft of a gun on his own head. He was given a choice, pull the trigger or die.

Nael knew his father had no real love for him, he had other sons from other women, and he was replaceable, but that instinctual part of him that wanted to live took control. He could remember his mother's warm smile as she closed her eyes and nodded toward him. He could remember the sound of the bullet being released from the gun, and he could remember the blood curdling sound of his brother screaming. He remembered the pleased look in his father's eyes, and he could remember all the blood shed that came after that singular incident.

"I haven't had cake in years," Nael replied, finally back from the memories his brother's words had triggered. "Did the blond tell you why she did it?" He continued.

"She claims that Ami approached her." Nael nodded slowly.

"Find out what's happening on this ship, round up everyone involved, and throw them overboard."

----

Dom was back in his apartment for the first time in a long time. Without Mina, there was no more special treatment and it served as a reminder that he failed her as a friend. After whatever happened with President Lee that drove the woman to flee to her parents, he had gone to visit her. She looked depressed, her hair was unwashed, and she smelled so strongly of alcohol that he could have sworn she was bathing in it.

Mina smiled at him the entire time he was there, but Dom had seen her real smile, and he knew the one she had flashed for him was all for show, likely to keep those she cared about from realizing just how broken she truly was. He had believed her when she said she would be okay, he had trusted her when she said that nothing bad would happen, but she lied, leaving him and many others alone and depressed without her brightness to lift them back up again.

"Dom?" The man looked up to see that Rebecca had entered his apartment. She had the keycard because she was technically his superior. It had been sometime since he had seen her, and she looked exhausted.

Terrence did not take the news of Mina's death well, and she had been spending a lot of time with the man and Dr. Sancho. It was unlike her to care about anyone, but she claimed to have been assigned to Terrence's care.

Rebecca made her way to the couch where Dom sat; she had never been to his real apartment, but she had been sent to check in on him. She sat next to him, wrapping her arm around his shoulders the way she had seen other people do in times of need, and to her surprise, the man laid his head on her lap, curling his feet up on the sofa in a way that would have been annoying to her in the past. She did not like displays of weakness, but oddly enough, Dom's emotional distress was not disgusting to her, in fact, she pitied him.

"Am I doing this right?" she asked, gingerly stroking Dom's arm. The man chuckled a bit, and she took it as a sign that she was helping. She had accidentally made him an island by telling her brother that she was sleeping with him. She did not know it would trigger such heavy infighting within their ranks, and now, Dom had no one to grieve with. "Tell me about her," Rebecca said, genuinely wanting to hear about the woman, and not in a competitive manner.

"I don't know where to start," Dom admitted.

"At the beginning of course." Dom turned his head to look at Rebecca, who wore a neutral expression. She had changed, and he wondered if she even knew that her rivalry with Mina made her a better person, still rude, condescending, and rough, but she took a second extra to think about her words before she said them, and that made all the difference.

Dom smiled as he thought about his first interaction with Mina, but then sadness overtook him again when he remembered the cause of her injury.

"Or…" Rebecca said, sensing Dom's hesitation. "You can tell me all the good things."