“Was she anything like you?” he asked simply.
Lucca’s brows drew together in confusion. “No.” Looking back to his dead mother, the coldness in his voice left as he said, “She was everything I’m not.”
“Then”—Dominic stood to go sit next to his father—“I truly am sorry.”
“Dominic,” Lucca called as Dom started to leave.
He stopped, turning to look at the enemy. He almost didn’t believe it when the words “thank you” crossed his lips.
It was at that moment Dominic knew two things: the Luciano throne would be his, and the city would be his as well. The future Caruso boss had just made a critical error.
Lucca proved he was human after all.
Giving him a final nod, he went to take his seat next to his father as the ceremony was about to begin.
“Luciano.” Dante came down the aisle, this time sounding a little less sad. “There’s someone I wanted to introduce you to.”
Father and son both stood up, turning to look at where the Caruso boss had walked up from behind them.
“My newest soldier”—a young man in a clean, black and white suit stepped out from behind Dante as he introduced him—“Salvatore Lastra.”
The second Dominic saw him, he felt like he had seen him before and quickly tried to place him from his memory, thinking he had to have seen him from school since he looked so young. If he was made, then he was at least eighteen, and he doubted a day older.
When his father didn’t introduce himself, he looked over to see the smirk he had all day had been wiped clean from his face.
“Dominic.” He held his hand out, introducing himself when his father remained stunned. “Nice to meet you, Salvatore.”
The Carusos newest recruit took his hand in a firm grip. “You can call me Sal.”
The second his rough hand took his, Dominic instantly recognized a tell. Out of all the hands he’d shaken of Carusos’ men, none had been as rough as his. Those were the hands of someone who had grown up in Blue Park.
“I know you, don’t I?” Dom said, making all three look awkwardly between themselves before he continued. “You’re from our part of town, aren’t you?”
A silent sigh of relief that Dominic didn’t understand washed over the men. Clearly, he was left out of something, and he didn’t know what. Taking another moment to look into the young man’s eyes, a memory hit him. As he fiddled with the cherry candy in his pants pocket—a habit he’d never grown out of—he knew where he’d seen him before. The street kid cleaned up good. It’d been a few years since Dom had last seen him wandering the streets a few years back, but his face, while clean-shaven, still looked young. It was certainly a small world. Little did he ever think the homeless kid he’d passed on his way to school from time to time would end up working for mafia royalty.
“Yeah.” Sal adjusted his suit, looking like he himself didn’t think he belonged in it. “Mr. Caruso took me off the streets of Blue Park after my mother died.”
“How kind,” Lucifer finally spoke through clenched teeth. “Is this the Great Salvatore you’ve been speaking of?”
Dominic had to do a fucking double-take. No fucking way.
At their meetings, Dante had mentioned the Great Salvatore as an associate of his. They spoke about him as if he was an urban legend who was on his way to becoming the greatest hacker to ever live. Lucifer had even used his services when they needed to get a cop off the city’s payroll and onto theirs. Dominic had assumed he was an older man, not some homeless kid.
Dante wrapped an arm around Sal’s shoulders like a proud father. “Yes, he is.”
Lucifer’s jaw flexed slightly before he held out a pale, long-fingered hand. “Nice to finally meet you, Salvatore.”
His blue eyes didn’t stare as kindly as they had at Dominic when he took the devil’s hand. “Likewise.”
Then … Dominic finally saw the little secret that he hadn’t been let in on as he noticed Sal’s eyes weren’t just blue; they were blueish-black.
It really is a small fucking world after all.
Going back to their seats, they watched Dante walk away and take his seat in the first pew with his children. Sal sat with the family, making it look like he was one of his sons, as well.
Dominic chose not to say anything yet, waiting until after the funeral to discuss just how much more fucked up the Luciano family could get. The only thing that made him happy about his new revelation was that his father’s creepily chipper mood had turned sour. However, it quickly returned when the priest began. As if his father didn’t make him sick enough, the longer the mass lasted, the bigger his smile got, while everybody else cried.
In a sea of sad faces, the only face that wasn’t distraught, other than his father’s, was the angel sitting in the front pew next to Lucca.
He couldn’t help but watch Maria throughout the different stages of the funeral, wondering at what point she was going to cry. He thought when the choir sung the gospel song that she’d at least look sad, or when the pallbearers carried her mother’s body out, but even when her dead mother was lowered into the ground, she hadn’t shed a single tear.
Dominic couldn’t help but laugh at the fact he had thought she was an angel.
Maria was a mafia princess, and a fucking monster, just like the rest of them.
Eleven
The Earth Becoming Whole Again
It seemed like such a sin to throw dirt on such a beautiful, white casket. Every shovel of it made a hard thud from the impact, until it became softer as the dirt began filling up the six-feet-deep hole.
As Dominic left the graveyard, Maria exited in the opposite direction, and with the earth becoming whole again, Dominic turned to give the princess one last look.
And thus, a new beginning was created from an end.
Twelve
Blue Park’s Biggest Whore
The drive back to Blue Park was definitely going to be awkward as they got into Lucifer’s old black Cadillac. It was just another thing that separated them from the Carusos—seeing all the new Cadillac models surrounding them.
When Lucifer turned the key in the ignition and the car roared to life, his smile disappeared now that the festivities were over.
“Well …,” Dominic began the conversation.
“Well, what?” Lucifer snapped, driving onto the road and into the traffic erratically.
“When were you going to tell me I had yet another brother?”
“When I wanted you to fucking know.”
Dominic could tell by his voice that, if he hadn’t been driving, he would have slapped the shit out of him. However, the truth was obvious; Lucifer was clearly just as taken aback as he was, not over the fact that he had another son, but that his biggest enemy had taken him in.
“Why didn’t you want him?” Dominic asked, looking down at his hands that were beginning to shake. He didn’t think he’d every truly understood his sick father and why he did certain things. “You wanted fucking soldiers, but you let him rot on the street?”
“His mother was a whore!” Lucifer roared back. “It could have been any man’s!”
“Pull over,” Dominic said, feeling bile rise. “Pull the fuck over!” he yelled again when his father didn’t stop, reaching over to abruptly turn the wheel. They swerved off the side of the road.
“What the—”
Lucifer hit the brakes and slammed the car into Park when Dominic jumped out of the car.
Leaning over, vomit spewed from his mouth as he barely made it out of the car.
All day he’d had to watch his father’s joy that the Carusos’ boss’s wife had been laid to rest after being tragically murdered. And now this shit? In his mind, he kept replaying all the fucking times he had passed by Sal living on the street, wanting to give him change or the couple of dollars he’d had in his pocket, yet he never did. Because he used that money to buy Kat something to help with her boredom, being stuck in the basement, or to buy Angel and Matthia
s a pack of donuts in the morning at the gas station if they ran out of cereal. Not knowing each time he did, he’d denied his own goddammed brother.
“Are you throwing up?” Lucifer’s face and voice leeched with disappointment when he came around the car to see him hurling. “Since when did I raise such a pussy!”
“I ate leftovers of DeeDee’s shitty cooking this morning, and it must’ve given me food poisoning,” Dominic quickly lied, thankful when his father believed him.
Wiping his mouth off with the back of his hand, he stood straight, facing his father. “You knew he was your son; admit it.”
“I did,” Lucifer finally admitted without remorse. “But it wasn’t until after he was born and I saw his eyes that I knew.”
“Then why didn’t you bring him home?” Dominic asked, confused. Raising an army to take back the city was his father’s whole purpose.
Lucifer was silent, clearly thinking until he just came out with it. “His mother was Blue Park’s biggest whore! I didn’t want anyone to know I had slept with her.”
Sal’s mother hadn’t been a whore; the disgusting men who had pulled up to her on the street corner and paid to sleep with her were.
Taking a step closer to him, Dom pointed a finger at him angrily. “So, you let your son rot on the street for years rather than let the world know you had to pay for sex?”
This time, the fist that came at his face, Dominic wasn’t allowed to catch. Literally and figuratively, he had to take it on the chin or his punishment would be worse.
Dominic spat out the blood that filled his mouth into the grass, still waiting for Lucifer to answer his question.
“Yes,” his father finally answered coldly.
Dom was quiet at first, staring at his father blankly, until he threw his head back in laughter.
“What the fuck are you laughing at?” Lucifer hissed. “That I fucked a prostitu—”
“No.” Dominic’s chest still boomed with laughter, but it turned sinister the more it went on until he completely stopped. Looking into his father’s black eyes, Dom gave him the same creepy smile he’d seen all day. “I think it’s funny that the one son you had nothing to do with … ended up being your greatest creation yet, and you led him right into the arms of your enemy.”
The fist that met his face brought him a deep sleep …
Running down the block, he finally made it, bending over to catch his breath.
Lucifer watched as he got out of his car.
Talking through a heavy breath from having to run across Blue Park, Dominic didn’t understand why his father couldn’t have just picked him up. “What was the rush that you needed to meet here so fast? I was—”
“I don’t give a fuck what you were doing. You do what I want when I want,” his father hissed.
Dom bit back what he really wanted to say. It was becoming harder and harder to tolerate Lucifer.
Lowering his eyes to his scuffed shoes, Dom hid the burning thoughts of wanting to take his brothers and Kat and disappear. Freedom from Lucifer and the tyranny he imposed on them beckoned him to start raising enough courage to take his life and those of his siblings in his own hands. He had been creating an escape plan, if it came down to it. After the funeral, Dom was slowly coming to the realization that he might have no option but to run away from his own destiny.
Once a week, Dominic picked up a bag of cash from Anthony, and he gauged the amount Lucifer had him transporting. The amounts increased equal to Lucifer’s trust. He just needed one large payout to help them disappear to a place where Lucifer couldn’t use his parental rights to drag the younger siblings back under his control if they were found.
Lucifer began walking toward an older house, expecting him to follow. Dom did. The unkept yard was just one of many on the block. Iron bars on the windows showed no one felt safe as the empty, dark sidewalks curved into a cul-de-sac. There were several cars sitting in the driveway. Dom recognized Anthony’s old, lime green Buick sitting in front.
Lucifer didn’t knock, going inside as if he owned the home. Walking in behind him, Dom was nearly knocked over at the strong scent of perfume and incense that had his eyes watering.
Taking in the crowded occupants of the room, he spotted Anthony leaning back on a worn sofa with a woman who had her top more off than on.
Anthony had been the lone man in the room before their arrival, as the crowded room was filled with women of various ages, sizes, and complexions, staring at him with listless expressions that had his skin crawling.
“Took you long enough to get him here. I had to keep Lacy occupied. She was getting bored,” his enforcer nonchalantly spoke, glancing toward Lucifer as he got off the couch.
Revolted, Dom was unable to hide his disgust when it was visually apparent that Anthony was aroused.
Dom turned toward his father. “What—”
The word had no more than left his lips when Dominic found Lucifer’s fist swinging, striking him on the side of his nose. The hard contact immediately brought him to his knees.
Disoriented, he brought his hand to his nose, feeling the rush of blood pooling out.
The women scattered to different sides of the room, getting out of harm’s way without a noise. Their silence exhibited this wasn’t the first time they had been exposed to sudden physical violence. Instinctively, they were making themselves unnoticeable to keep themselves safe the only way they could.
Lucifer’s face swam above him, filled with contempt, as he threw his foot out, hitting him in the ribs. “You think you’re more man than me?” Lucifer roared as he kicked him again.
Dom tried to roll away from the unprovoked attack, unable to fight back as it could cost Kat’s life.
“You think you can run from me … or worse, turn my men against me? You puke your guts out because you feel sorry for a street kid who would blow your brains out at a Caruso’s order. Boo-hoo! You’re too fucking weak to ever take me on!”
Vicious kicks, one after another, had Dominic gasping for breath as Anthony watched, making no move to interfere.
“You think you have the balls to take me down? Prove it!”
Dom felt himself jerked to his feet by Lucifer’s hand on the back of his jacket. Tossed forward, Dom hit a wall, making the whole house rattle before he was grabbed and forcibly led into a bedroom. Thrown down on a bed as he tried to gather his reeling senses, he saw Anthony and the woman had followed them into the room.
“Show me!” Lucifer yelled at him.
“I don’t unde—”
Lucifer bent over him, placing a hand on his throat to strangle what air he had left. “Fuck the bitch … Show me you’re man enough to take what’s mine.”
Lucifer expects him to fuck a woman in front of him?
Revulsion filled him once again at his deranged father.
Seeing Anthony sprawling down on a chair to watch, it finally clicked in his pain-filled brain why Lucifer was so furious. Anthony had betrayed him, and Lucifer wanted him to know.
“I’m not going to fuck her,” Dom gasped out as the woman came around the bed and get on next to him. He found nothing attractive about the woman, who Dom could clearly see was terrified.
“She’s not good enough for me, but she’s the right slut for you. That little pecker of yours has never been out of the barn door. It’s time he got out to play.”
Demented laughter filled the small room, making Dom want to vomit at what Lucifer was ordering him to do.
Feeling her shaking hand go to his trousers when she went to unzip them at his hips, he tried to jerk away from her touch. However, Lucifer tightened his hand on his neck, making bright spots appear in his eyes as his oxygen was cut off.
“You’re going to fuck her, or I’m going to kill you,” Lucifer commanded with a clenched jaw. “You’re going to prove to me you’ll do what I want, when I want, and how I want, or you’ll be watching what I do to your precious siblings from hell’s gates. I’ll make the boys into the soldiers I deserve an
d”—his lips twisted up into a frightening sneer—“I’ve already promised to marry the girl off to Anthony when she becomes legal. Without you around, I won’t wait. I’ll give her to him now.”
Dom gave in. There had never been a chance of escape from Lucifer’s psychotic future for them. The only way he would ever beat Lucifer at his own game was to put his own feelings aside and become what he hated the most—his father.
Dominic forced himself to stop struggling against Lucifer.
Feeling his capitulation, Lucifer loosened his hold.
“If you expect me to fuck her, get off me,” Dom wheezed out with a hiss. He didn’t know how he was supposed to fuck anyone with the mess Lucifer had made out of his body, as well being completely unaroused by the woman waiting to comply to Lucifer’s demands.
Lucifer got off the bed to go stand in front of the door, blocking any escape. It was a useless endeavor. Lucifer had won. He had won the minute he threatened him with Katarina. There was no way he would ever let Anthony lay a hand on her, much less spend the rest of her life married to the betraying bastard.
“Get busy,” Lucifer ordered.
Dom used the corner of blanket to stem the flow of blooding from his nose and saw fear mixed with sympathy coming from the woman.
She didn’t want to be in this situation any more than he did. Both knew they were pawns in Lucifer’s game, and giving in was their only key to survive.
When she unzipped his pants, Dom didn’t try to stop her this time, letting her slip his trousers off first, then his underwear.
“At least you took one thing after me.” Lucifer’s sarcasm as his eyes went to his limp dick had Dominic wanting to use the blanket to cover himself, but he didn’t. He used his humiliation to fuel the hatred he felt in every pore in his being for the man he called Father.
The woman started stroking his dick, and the only thing Dom wanted was to hold down his lunch.
Dominic (Made Men Book 8) Page 9