Guns n' Boys: Swamp Blood (Book 3) (gay dark mafia erotic romance)

by K. A. Merikan

  “Do that, and you can leave Louisiana in peace,” Ripper said, as if he were the president of the US granting Dom amnesty. “I don’t even care about the money for the gym damages. Just work on this. Do we have an understanding?” He held out his hand.

  Ah, the man clearly respected his betters. That much played in his favor.

  Domenico squeezed the thick hand and shook it firmly. “I will find her for you.”

  “That’s more like it!” Jed said with a wide smile and drifted off to the kitchenette. “Let’s drink to this.”

  Ryder gave Domenico a dark look, but everyone else seemed more at ease now that agreements were made. “I’m watching you,” he growled and pulled out Dom’s gun. Domenico accepted it, and Ryder slowly drifted toward the fridges, with his shoulders slumped. The scent of fried meat was overwhelming as Prospect served his associates the food, and Domenico scowled at the thought of the oily scent clinging to his hair.

  A scream outside made everyone face the door, and Dom was glad he had his Beretta back, because fuck only knew what was happening out there. Maybe Baldy had friends watching, who followed them?

  No one got to act before the door flew open, and Seth burst in, red in the face, holding his gun up and pointing it all around like a flustered newbie. “Nobody move!” he yelled, but a few of the men had already pulled out their weapons, clearly not very intimidated by the display. To Domenico’s horror, Mark was right behind Seth, holding a gun against the head of the Barbie-like girl who Dom had spoken to earlier. His face in contrast was pale as a sheet, and his big eyes were so wide they looked like they were about to pop out of his head.

  Domenico raised his hands, including the one that clenched around the grip of his trusted Beretta. “Nobody shoot, for fuck’s sake!” he uttered with cold fear turning his limbs into ice. As calmly as possible, he looked at Seth and Mark and shook his head.

  “I’ve got this,” Seth muttered, but then spoke up to the confused bikers. “He’s coming with us, or Mark will shoot the girl!” He was heaving, and the barrel of his gun trailed back and forth, without aiming at any specific target. It would have been humorous if that wasn’t a loaded gun in Seth’s hand.

  Anger exploded in Domenico’s chest and streamed through his mouth. “Put down those weapons, now! Are you two brain-dead?” He stepped closer and yanked the girl out of Mark’s hands, sending her at Axe. His brain was pulsing with images of red splatters. Of Seth’s body jerking against the wall with each bullet that tore through his body. He wanted to slap the stupid bravado out of that lovely head.

  Seth’s Adam’s apple bobbed, and he looked at Mark, not that confident anymore as he lowered his gun. “We came for you…”

  Ryder snarled at them. “How fucking romantic.”

  Domenico shook his head. He pulled the gun out of Seth’s hand and put on the safety. His gaze trailed to Mark, who stared at him like a mouse caught feeding on cat food. He returned his gun as soon as Domenico reached for it. The thing was light, and Dom rolled his eyes. “Unloaded? Really?”

  Seth looked around at the bikers’ smug faces. “I didn’t want him to kill someone by accident,” he whispered, but everyone could hear, and the laughs got louder.

  Domenico hung his head, frustrated beyond belief. He grabbed Seth’s wrist and pulled him toward the corridor. His eyes met Jed’s who was too busy peeking at Mark to even notice until Dom approached him. “Someplace private?”

  “Let them into the office, Jed,” Ripper said in an amused tone.

  Seth wasn’t even resisting, just followed like a kid who knew he’d done wrong. His skin was so warm, his pulse so lively beneath Dom’s thumb that even this was enough to somewhat stifle the fear.

  Domenico burst into the office and pushed Seth forward, slamming the door behind him. Even his throat was desperately pulsing in tune with Dom’s heart. “Are you insane?” asked Domenico, surprised by the tremble in his own voice. He could hardly catch a full breath as he looked at his lover’s remorseful face. “You could have died. They could have drilled a fucking hundred holes in you!”

  Seth grabbed his hand, holding on to his own forehead with the other. “I can explain, Dom. I’m so sorry… We had a plan…”

  “You had a plan?” Domenico squeezed Seth’s hand so hard he was afraid he’d juice it. “You saw me off in the morning. What the fuck possessed you to go after me?” he rasped, holding onto the front of his shirt. It hurt him to even think about what could have happened.

  Seth opened his mouth and frowned. “Are you wearing makeup?”

  Domenico twisted his lips in displeasure, and his anger was already fizzling out. “Yes,” he said eventually but immediately changed the topic, “Why did you do this?”

  “Mark brought me that money from you, and I panicked.” Seth rubbed his eyes, never letting go of Dom’s hand. “You always lie about the danger you’re in. I thought maybe this was money you wanted me to have in case you died. I couldn’t take it, I had to act...”

  Domenico bit back a gasp, shuddering slightly as cold overcame him despite the summer heat. There was some truth to Seth’s words, but Domenico only omitted certain facts to spare Seth the worry. “Why don’t you ever trust my judgment? It happens over and over. One more stunt like that, and I could lose you. Do you understand me? I could lose you, and if I lose you, I might as well be dead!”

  “Because you don’t include your own safety in your judgment. You don’t trust that I can handle the truth, so how can I believe you? One day you’ll lie that you’re just going out for a walk, and you’ll never come back, and I will never know what happened to you!”

  Domenico frowned. “I always include my safety in my judgment. I like my life,” he said, pulling Seth closer and squeezing his shoulders. His head was clouded after the scare, and it wasn’t going away. “You’re brash. Stop doing this. Stop endangering yourself. This is not something you can handle.” Domenico’s breath shook as he swallowed his pride. “I can’t see you hurt again. It’s coming back to me at night.”

  Seth sat down on the desk. “What? The alligator?”

  Domenico dropped his hands off him and shook his head, emotionally exhausted. He felt as if he had just pushed a huge rock to the top of a hill. “No. Vincente.”

  Seth looked at the floor and started playing with his fingers. “I’m so sorry, Dom,” he whispered, even though it was him who had gotten tortured back then. Truth was they both had been, in different ways.

  Domenico pinched the bridge of his nose and squeezed his eyes shut, suddenly overwhelmed with the urge to just collapse and sob. And he couldn’t do that. He was Domenico Acerbi. He wouldn’t cry. “Those dreams are so fucking vivid. You bleed, and I... I’m there. I can’t do anything.”

  Seth was quick to get up and hug him. Maybe Dom couldn’t cry, but the heat of Seth’s big body, alive and warm, was a huge relief. “We did our best back there.”

  “I fucking failed. I shouldn’t have called Mother. I was fucking stupid,” hissed Domenico and shook his head, pushing his face against Seth’s shoulder. Even sensing the warmth of his skin and the scent of him wasn’t enough to fully compensate for the fear of the last few minutes. “It wasn’t worth it. I wish I could take it back, so you wouldn’t have to go through it all.”

  “You’re not a machine, Dom. You couldn’t have predicted what was gonna happen,” came the soothing words as Seth stroked his back. “I was, and I always am, ready to risk everything for you. If it wasn’t for you, I’d be dead in the first place. If not by your hand, then by Tassa’s. You sacrificed everything for me, and all I want is for you to know that I would also do everything I can to save you if necessary. I don’t know what’s necessary if you don’t tell me the truth.”

  Domenico exhaled and squeezed his arms so hard around Seth he couldn’t push anymore. “I’d tell you if I needed help. I just... please, trust me. I know what I’m doing.” He took a raspy breath and pulled his lips over Seth’s shoulder. “There’s nothing worse that
could happen to me than losing you. You need to keep yourself protected for me,” he whispered, letting his hands climb all the way to Seth’s face.

  Seth exhaled and slowly nodded, looking into Dom’s eyes. “I know you’re proficient at all this. I can trust you, but I need you to promise not to lie and ask for help if you really need it, not just go down with the ship.” Seth slid his hands up over Dom’s. “I’m not useless.”

  Domenico swallowed hard, holding on to Seth’s face now. His brown eyes were so open and sincere that Domenico couldn’t help an ache forming in his heart. Maybe there was some truth to Seth’s words. Time after time, keeping things from Seth had proved disastrous. If Seth were close and knew all Dom’s secrets, it would be at least easier to keep an eye on him.

  “I know,” he whispered, slowly leaning in for a kiss, and Seth’s lips opened without protest, inviting Dom into the safety and pleasure that Seth’s body provided. For a while, they just kissed, without need for words. The serious talk they had taken some of the edge off Dom’s nerves, and the confession about his nightmares made his heart lighter, but it was the long, slow kisses that eased the fear Dom had for Seth’s life. Seth was here. Safe.

  He nuzzled Seth’s cheek and rested his head on Seth’s shoulder, enjoying the sense of safety it gave him, even if it was just emotional safety. Before he and Seth had gotten together, his life had been much easier, but now that he looked back at it—also painfully empty. No weekend fling with the most handsome of men could compare to what he shared with Seth. No amount of partners could compare to Seth giving in to Dom’s lust. What they had was too precious to even compare with anything that had happened before.

  “Don’t worry,” whispered Dom in the end. “This will end soon. Once we’re across the border, it’ll all be fine.”

  Seth took a deep breath and slowly pulled the hairband off Dom’s ponytail. “We followed you to the diner. Why did you kill that man?” he asked in a voice as soft as when he wanted Dom to tell him what topping he wanted for his crêpes.

  Dom stiffened and shook his head. “Fuck. Mark saw it?” That was the last thing he needed.

  Seth sighed. “Yes, Dom. I’m sorry. Please tell me the truth about what happened.”

  Domenico bit into the flesh of Seth’s shoulder with a low groan. What was he to do now? He didn’t want to hurt the kid. “He knew me. I don’t fucking know how, but he knew my face.”

  “Fuck. I get it. You didn’t have much time to talk then? Why are the bikers okay with this? I thought I would need to pull you out of their claws.”

  Domenico rubbed his face and pulled back, somewhat calmer. “They aren’t okay with it. They’re fucking furious, but I’m gonna try and nudge some of my contacts who know people dealing with human trafficking. That’s the only thing that comes to my mind.”

  “As one of your alter egos?” Seth guessed. “Frederico doesn’t know them all, does he?”

  Domenico smirked and looked at Seth. “You might be the only lucky man to meet them all.”

  Seth let out a silly laugh. “I can’t wait. But I promised to fuck a certain Domenico Acerbi first, so they have to get in line.”

  Dom punched his chest gently and laughed. “Don’t make him wait too long.”

  Seth leaned down for another kiss. “He’s waited long enough already.”

  Seth sat on a bed in a guest room in the Coffin Nails clubhouse and listened to Dom making phone calls and changing his accent, or even the language he spoke, quite a few times. It was so strange to see his body language and facial expression change with each conversation, as if he were truly becoming different people, not merely acting. Seth felt like an idiot after the failure he had made of himself that afternoon. Then again, it was still better than actually having to pull Domenico out of the bikers’ clutches. The talk they had afterward also gave him some peace. He would at least try to trust Dom. He imagined how he would feel if he had to watch Domenico suffer, and even thinking of it gave him a shudder. They’d been through so much together already.

  Domenico sounded like he was getting somewhere with the phone calls, despite Seth not catching all of it because of the changing languages. He wrote a note for Dom on a piece of paper, to not bother him, and put it on the shabby desk next to the bed.

  It read: Take your time. I’m going to grab a beer. He waited for Dom to acknowledge it and pressed his lips against Dom’s cheek in silence. His lover squeezed his hand and smiled as he told the man on the phone that he didn’t like brunettes and only fucked blondes. Seth couldn’t help but smile back. He walked out of the room and took a deep breath once out in the corridor, facing a portrait of a naked girl straddling a motorbike.

  He didn’t like the stuffy atmosphere of the clubhouse, although he supposed it was only stuffy for him, Dom, and Mark, who hadn’t left his assigned room since he was led to it. They were prisoners here, as there were far too many police officers investigating the murder of the trafficker for Domenico to walk around town. There were no cameras in the cheap diner, and the public announcements stressed his Eastern European accent, without mentioning the scar, Dom’s most identifying feature. But on the other hand, his looks were quite striking, especially in a small town where everyone would easily identify him as an outsider. They were treading on thin ice just by staying in proximity of the diner.

  Seth knocked on the door of Mark’s tiny room. “It’s me. Wanna come out and breathe a little?”

  Moments later, Mark opened the door and looked around, as if he suspected this was all a trick to lure him out. Seth was pretty sure Mark was still embarrassed by the failed hostage stunt, but being under one roof with a guy who had assaulted him wasn’t helping much either.

  He took a deep breath. “Might do, I guess. I was just texting Fred that it will be another few days till I can see him.”

  Seth nodded, pretending that he didn’t mind the Fred guy. He couldn’t help a bad feeling in his gut about the man, but it wasn’t his place to tell Mark what to do. “You’re not in a rush.”

  Mark shrugged, stepping out of the room that looked more like a prison cell than anything else, complete with bars behind the windows. He made sure to lock the door, too. “I don’t know. What if he gets tired of me constantly pushing it off? It’s like I’m dissing him.”

  Seth sighed. That was somewhat true. A part of him actually wanted Fred to call it all off with Mark, but then again, it wasn’t as if Mark had anywhere else to go. Even if Seth gave Mark some cash when they parted, it wouldn’t be the same as providing a safe home.

  “I know… But as long as you keep in touch, a few more days won’t hurt him.”

  They walked all the way to the end of the unnecessarily dark corridor with only two small windows letting in the light—one at each end, both reinforced with steel bars, just like the ones in their rooms. Seth supposed the Coffin Nails had their reasons to plan their headquarters like that.

  They continued down the staircase that led toward the lounge area downstairs. As much as Seth was uncomfortable with the idea of taking hostages, he was glad he didn’t have to spend much time with Dana. Even after so much time in her company, she never failed to make him uneasy. For once, he was slightly irritated at Dom for keeping his promises, even to people he didn’t seem to really like having around.

  He and Mark were instantly met by glares once they entered the lounge, and Seth didn’t like it one bit, but he couldn’t show Mark just how uncomfortable it made him. He put his hands in his pockets and sat on a bar stool by the counter, staring at a stack of cold fried meat. He didn’t like that his first thought was that if Dom were here, he’d feel more comfortable. Seth had never wanted to be this dependent on someone, yet he couldn’t help liking the feeling of safety Dom provided. Domenico always knew what to say, and more often than not, his confidence was enough to put others in their place. Domenico didn’t take anyone’s shit, and just thinking about it made Seth’s cheeks warmer. He was sure Mr. Schwangau didn’t take any bullshit either.
>
  “So how does that work?” asked someone, and when Seth looked up, he realized it was the redheaded guy they called Axe. He was pressing his lips together, as if trying to stifle a laugh. “Are you forming a fucking centipede?” Everyone else burst out with loud laughter, as if it were the funniest joke they had heard in a while.

  Seth glared at him. So that was the warm Southern welcome. “He’s sixteen, you dumb dick. He just hangs around with us.” His eyes trailed around the common room, searching for Ryder, and there he was, leaning against the wall with his grim gaze focused on Seth, as if he were regarding a huge rat that he couldn’t get rid of because it was his sister’s pet. All remainders of a smile dropped from Seth’s lips. He couldn’t believe the guy would just turn on him like that. The gym thing was a misunderstanding, and Ryder had to see that.

  “Yeah, right,” said Axe, who apparently was the nominated voice of the masses. “Two guys traveling with a good-looking sixteen-year-old chick and nothing happens? You gays are no better.”

  Mark bit his lip. “I’m not even gay,” he said weakly, much to the amusement of everyone gathered.

  Seth sighed. Denial wouldn’t help Mark much right now. “It doesn’t matter, Mark. You don’t have to explain yourself.” He got off the stool, even though he knew Axe most probably had a lot more experience in fights than he did. “Are you saying you’re a pedo?”

  The boos and hisses around them added to the laughter

  Axe smirked. “If she’s got tits and the whole shebang, she’s no little girl.”

  Ryder rolled his eyes at the wall, and it seemed that even Axe’s friends were split on the subject, even though no one tried to support the gay.

  Seth sighed theatrically, even though he wasn’t comfortable with this situation at all. “Okay, so I fuck guys. Can we get this over with, so I can get a beer?”