May God have mercy on their souls.
Over the years, he had known his father was slowly losing his grip with reality. His hunger to control the whole city ate Lucifer alive with every passing year. Both death and his son, who he had ironically created to be stronger and smarter than him, shortened his time on the throne.
Once Dom rose the ranks to underboss, he’d slowly taken control over Lucifer’s men, one by one, until over half of them secretly followed his commands exclusively.
The last few months, Dominic had known his father had completely lost it, and he’d been preparing for this day since. Today was either going to end with him on the Luciano throne or dead from the possible war that was coming.
When he walked into the warehouse where the meetings of both families were held, he found out just how badly his father had lost it.
A girl was tied to the chair. She looked young, far too young for his father to have here.
When Dante had taken over the Caruso family, he’d made a rule that was supposed to be enforced by the Lucianos as well—children were not allowed to be touched. Mafias around the world not only killed men and women, but children if they had to. In Kansas City, you weren’t up for grabs unless you were over eighteen.
Seeing the old scars that the terrified girl carried on her face, it looked like Lucifer had broken that rule years ago. It was especially obvious by the look in her light gray eyes that she had been marked by the devil.
He took a step, watching her tremble harder as he walked around her. Taking off his leather jacket, he put it around the terrified girl’s shoulders, unable to watch her freeze to death in the cold warehouse for a moment longer.
Giving his brothers a knowing look, Angel and Matthias continued to guard the scarred girl from their father by walking around her in circles, while Dominic went back to the front of the warehouse, prepared to protect his men for what was coming through that door.
Every Luciano man held up their guns as the door was being beaten.
“You will await my orders. I have waited many years for this moment,” Lucifer manically ordered them. “Today is the day we take back our city.”
Once the door opened, Carusos came filing in, making every Luciano man behind him shake in fear and confusion that Lucifer was throwing them into an unknown war that they couldn’t win.
“The Carusos! You didn’t tell us it would be them!” the Lucianos backed up, whispering as the opposing family began to surround them, outnumbering them.
Dominic could hear the rattling of a chain before Sal appeared. Following the chain that Sal held in his hands, he found it connected to his father’s most loyal capo, Giovanni, who no longer looked the same. The man looked like he had been tortured beyond recognition. Dominic didn’t have to know by who; he knew before Sal kicked Giovanni down to his knees and revealed his oppressor, dressed in black from head to toe.
The boogieman.
The last time he had seen the Caruso underboss in a suit was at his mother’s funeral, but since then, he had created his own legend throughout the years. Lucca had outgrown even his own father as the most feared man in the city.
And he was … for now.
As the drama unfolded, Dominic found out all the things his father had kept hidden from him, especially over the last few months. The only sad thing was he had to hear it from his enemy’s mouth as it played out in front of him. Just like the rest of his men, he had been blindsided too.
The girl who sat tied in the chair behind him was Chloe, and by the sound of it, Lucifer had developed a sick obsession with her. Dominic had never seen his father look at a woman like he did Chloe, nor speak about one like when he claimed her as his.
In disbelief, Dom didn’t understand until Lucca said the words, “Chloe is mine.”
Lucifer’s sick mind must’ve developed feelings for her out of jealousy. His father wanted everything and everyone who belonged to the Carusos, and this time, his obsession had gone too far.
When a fair trade was made—Giovanni for Chloe—Lucifer turned it down with laughter.
“There’s not much of him left. He’s better off dead. He serves no purpose to me anymore if he can’t hold her precious body dow—”
POP.
Blood droplets splattered on him from Lucca pulling the trigger on the gun he had aimed at Giovanni’s head.
“Kill them!” Lucifer ordered his men, but Dom stood still as the men behind him looked around, trying to decide who to follow.
His father screamed louder, “What are you doing? Kill them!”
Dominic watched Dante closely, seeing what the Caruso boss would decide, but then he looked at Lucca.
“She’s yours?” Dominic asked, wanting to see something.
Lucca’s blue-green eyes told him all he needed to know before he said, “She’s mine.”
Dante finally spoke. “Step aside, Dominic. Let us take those who should be held responsible for their crimes, and no one else will have to die … today.”
“I SAID KILL THEM!”
Hearing his father’s deranged voice, he hoped it was the last time he’d ever have to fucking hear it again.
It’s time.
Lowering his Glock, Dom dropped it on the ground, then took a step to the side to let them through. Then, one by one, Lucifer lost his power as every Luciano man dropped their weapons, letting the metal hit the floor before stepping to the side themselves.
The power and fear his father had created now fully rested on Dominic’s shoulders, which might’ve felt heavier, instead … he finally felt free.
He had done it, and the funniest part was that Lucifer had done it to himself. Dom hadn’t even had to get his hands dirty. Though he had wanted to be the one to kill Lucifer, he wasn’t going to be able to get his hands on him since Lucca clearly wanted him so badly.
Dominic smiled at the thought of Lucifer in the boogieman’s hands.
Sometimes, reality was better than dreams, after all.
Dominic walked up the steps of the home that now belonged to him. Opening the door to the only room upstairs, it was the best bedroom in the house. It wasn’t tiny and the small attached bathroom made this room the most desirable. The only downside was the darkness; the only light came from the single triangle window.
Passing the threshold, Dom could feel the ownership of the room pass to him and now, it was time to make good on a promise ….
Dominic entered the room and approached the bed. He stared down at the older woman passed out who reeked of perpetual booze. Kicking the mattress that sat on the floor, she began to stir.
Raising up on an elbow, her tipsy bloodshot eyes barely opened at first.
“DeeDee…” Dominic’s voice was cold as he reached into the pocket of his leather jacket and kneeled down before her.
The alcohol and sleep wore off quickly. Instinctively knowing that something had happened, DeeDee stared back at the boy she watched turn into a man.
“So, do you want help?” Raising his hand out of his pocket, he dangled a little baggie in front of her face that was filled to brim with her precious white snow… “Or, do you want to fly?”
Giving away his father to die was easy, but having to agree to the terms the Carusos demanded was not.
The first term had them handing over fifty percent of their profits.
The second would cost a Luciano woman’s life, as one would be chosen to marry a Caruso to mingle the blood of the two families to cease any future wars.
The third had ensured the first two terms by keeping Angel as collateral until the terms were met.
Bang.
Bang.
Bang.
Bang.
Bang.
Bang.
Gunshots rang out, piercing the ears of the living and the skulls of the dead.
Dominic and his siblings thought the third agreement would be the hardest. It turned out they were very fucking wrong.
“You promised me!” Katarina screamed at him, u
ncaring of the many women who stood in their living room. “You promised me I wouldn’t have to go back down there ever again!”
“I know,” Dominic told her painfully and regretfully, not wanting her to have to go to the basement even for just a moment. After Lucifer’s death, he had promised to never make her go down there again, but he was already breaking his promise. “But, please, it’s only for a little bit.”
Kat shook her head vigorously, trying not to cry. “No.”
“They’re here,” Matthias yelled from the window, seeing the black Cadillacs pull up.
“He will choose you if he sees you, I know it.” Dominic’s voice started to break. “There will be nothing I can do. They’ll kill Angel if I don’t let them have you.”
When Lucca walked through the door minutes later, Dominic instinctively knew he was fucked. They had kept Kat a secret from the Carusos, but there wasn’t much the underboss didn’t know in this city.
Lucca only scanned the line of Luciano women before he went searching the house. Dom’s heart sank when he opened the basement door and went down. His last hope was that Drago, the Caruso that his father had shot in the chest five times and almost sent to his deathbed to get his hands on Chloe, wouldn’t choose his baby sister.
When Drago had given his underboss a nod that she was the one he wanted to marry, Dominic had to choose between Katarina or Angel. He could pull the Glock out from behind his back and blow Lucca’s and Drago’s brains outs, and they could try to make a run for it out of the city before the Carusos found out, leaving Angel behind. Or he could let Lucca walk out that door and keep everything he had worked hard for, but it’d cost him his sister.
Dominic’s fingers flexed, itching to go for the Glock at his back as Lucca walked past him.
Letting Lucca go was the hardest fucking decision of his life, but he promised himself one thing.
One day …
He.
Will.
Pay.
Seventeen
For The Love Of God, Be Fucking Ugly
The anger Dominic felt over the next few weeks was about to reach a boiling point. He had never in his existence felt so helpless, and that was saying a lot, considering the hell his father had put him through the second he was born.
One sibling already belonged to the Carusos for the foreseeable future, and now Katarina was set to join Angel.
Taking over the Luciano throne was supposed to make his life easier, not harder. The worst fucking part was that, for the first time, the Luciano siblings could finally be happy together … and they had even been stripped of that.
“Some car just pulled into our driveway,” Cassius had told them, looking out the front window.
Dominic and Matthias instinctively looked at each other before Dom could ask Cassius what he wanted to know.
“Brand new Cadillac.”
“Shit.” Dominic pulled his Glock from behind his back and cocked it so a bullet was ready in the chamber.
Matthias’s voice grew with the same worry that Dom felt in his heart. “I thought they weren’t supposed to come for Kat until after the wedding?”
“Do you know who it is?” Dominic’s tone was serious, mentally preparing himself for the worst.
“It’s a Caruso, for sure,” Cass answered when he saw the fancy suit, protectiveness for his sister becoming apparent in his voice. “He’s opening the door for someone else now … It’s a”—Cassius seemed confused at who he was looking at—“girl?”
“Girl?”
“Yeah, some blonde in heels,” Cassius described her.
“Blonde girl in heels?” Matthias quickly jumped up then ran to the window to see, the worry in his voice suddenly gone. “God … damn …,” the twin breathed out the words upon seeing her.
Who in the fuck could that—
“It’s the fucking boss’s daughter,” Matthias said in disbelief. “Maria Caruso.”
Dominic’s heart beat hard in his chest at the name. The sudden image of the fourteen-year-old girl in the white dress at her mother’s funeral appeared in his mind.
“Oh.” Cassius went back to the couch, no longer concerned for his sister.
“What the hell is she doing here?” Dominic thought he had been worried before, but now he really was. The boss’s daughter belonged nowhere near Blue Park. He didn’t want to be in a ten-foot radius of her. Dante and Lucca would kill the whole Luciano bloodline if anything happened to her. He knew that because, if he had the power Lucca held, every Caruso man would be buried twelve feet deep, because six feet was still too close to the surface for him when it came to Kat.
“Relax.” Matthias, whose ass had been depressed the day Angel was handed over, suddenly looked like life no longer felt bleak.
Dominic felt it the second she took a step on the porch, his memory flooding with the strong but strange feeling he had felt for her all those years ago. It was a pull. His body was drawn to what was on the other side of the door before she even knocked.
Watching his brother’s hand go to the doorknob, Dominic gave one small prayer as those feelings washed over him. Please, for the love of God, be fucking ugly.
And, by ugly, he meant the hunchback of Notre fucking Dame better come through that door, because every nerve ending in his body waited in anticipation to see her again. Even though he knew it would be impossible—considering how beautiful she’d been at fourteen, sending grown men into a frenzy—still, he prayed for Quasimodo ….
Matthias opened the goddamned door.
Fuck.
If he knew any better, he would walk right up, tell her to get lost, and then slam the door right in her pretty face. But the problem was, it wasn’t just pretty; it was the most gorgeous fucking face he had ever seen. Anything he had realistically imagined her to look like before the door had opened was topped. At the most, he thought she’d be beautiful, kinda look like Reese Witherspoon. What he got was Reese Witherspoon from Kat’s favorite movie, Legally Blonde, mixed with Marilyn Monroe. Maria was a goddamn sin wrapped in pretty packaging that was pulled straight from Hugh Hefner’s dreams.
Matthias couldn’t keep his eyes to himself either. “Hey, princess.”
Any stupor Maria had put him under from seeing her again quickly vanished when a suit barreled through, pushing his brother out of the way like he owned the goddamn place. Standing up, Dominic wasn’t about to be disrespected by a no-name Caruso in his home.
“Who the fuck are you?”
“He’s with me.” The boss’s daughter entered without permission to save the poor fucker’s life.
Dominic couldn’t help himself when she stepped between them, his hazel depths begging him to look at her legs since she stood much taller than any typical woman. Dominic had always been tall, outgrowing most of the female teachers since sixth grade. By the time he had gone to high school, he looked like he belonged in college. When she stepped in front of him and stood just a few inches shorter than him, his eyes traveled down her lengthy body.
Her champagne dress hugged all the right places, at least what he could see of it under the big fur coat. But the best part about it was how short it was, showing off just how fucking long her tanned legs went on. The cherry on top… her high stiletto heels. Normal “good-looking” people either had a great face and a nice body, or a nice face and a great body. Maria, of course, had both. And it gave him all the more reason to get her the fuck out of here and back on her side of town where she belonged before the effect she had on him put him six feet under.
“Why the hell are you here?”
When her green eyes, that somehow shined brighter than emeralds, gave him their own once-over, Dominic’s heart stopped when she appeared to like what she saw.
Shit, shit, shit.
“I, um …” Maria paused for a moment before answering, “… to see Kat.”
Crossing his arms over his chest at the mention of his sister, he hoped it would send a polite message to her that, if they came to collect, she s
hould have brought someone besides the dipshit who stood behind her. “And what do you want with her?”
“Well, I thought she needed a wedding dress.” She slightly raised her brow. “Doesn’t she?”
Oh. He didn’t know what he had expected her to say, but it wasn’t that.
“Cassius, go get Kat.”
Dominic never turned his head from hers, even though she did to study the youngest Luciano brother. Even her fucking side profile looked goddamned perfect.
Matthias must’ve wanted to see what the dress underneath really looked like because he asked, “Can I take your coat?”
Maria looked him dead in the eyes with a precious smile on her lips. “Touch me, and I’ll kill you.”
He might’ve actually laughed if it wasn’t for the fact that every second she was here could cost them their lives.
Dominic stepped closer to her. “Does Lucca know the princess is out of her castle?”
“Do you think I would be here if he did?”
Dom lifted his eyes from hers to the Caruso soldier behind her. “Certainly not, if this is the one who brought you.”
The dumbass suit proved to be dumber than Dominic thought when he didn’t catch the insult at first.
“I hope the poor sucker knows whatever you promised him won’t be worth it by the time Lucca gets done with him.” Dom placed his eyes back on her.
“What he doesn’t know won’t hurt him. It can be our little secret.”
Dominic had to flex his jaw to keep it from dropping to the floor at the sound of her voice dropping an octave. The brave princess had even taken her own step forward until the tip of her toed heels were just a few centimeters away, showing him that she wasn’t the least bit frightened of him or his last name. Hell, Dominic might’ve been offended if he didn’t want her to be scared of him.
The two were practically eye-fucking each other when Kat walked in.
“What are you doing here?”
It took Maria a hard second to look away from him. “I thought you might want a wedding dress for when you walk down the aisle.”
Dominic (Made Men Book 8) Page 12