Dominic (Made Men Book 8)

by Sarah Brianne

  “You really are as cold as I think you are, aren’t you?”

  Maria looked at her newly filled champagne glass. “What makes you think that?”

  “Do you remember the last time we saw each other before all this?” Dom waved his hands around him at the extravagant reception held in the Casino Hotel that he was sure she was responsible for. And before you walked through my front door.

  The blonde’s perfect brows drew together, clearly trying to remember.

  “Wow. You don’t remember, do you?” Dominic had to laugh, picking up a glass of champagne for himself.

  He must’ve been sickly in love with her at twenty. Not even amnesia could have let him forget the first time he had thought he saw an angel walking the earth.

  Confusion still marring her face, she lifted the glass to her lips. “When was it?”

  Dominic was captivated by her jeweled eyes. “Dance with me, princess, and I’ll tell you.”

  “I …” Maria’s eyes and body told him that she wanted nothing more, but her words said otherwise. “We can’t. Not here in front of everyone. Our blood only mixed a few hours ago, and I think it’s probably too soon for the Luciano boss to dance with the Carusos’ boss’s daughter.”

  Giving her a sinister lift of his lips, he walked off with some parting words. “Well, who said I wanted to dance with you in front everyone, anyway?”

  Leaving her with a new look of confusion, he kept the smile on his face, glad he had already worked out a plan B.

  He searched for Cassius, who was staring at the ice sculpture when he found him.

  “So, they really are as rich as our father was telling us, aren’t they?”

  “Yes,” Dominic told him with a solemn nod. It was the first time his youngest brother had been introduced to the other crime family. From here on out, it would be up to him to form his own opinion upon the Carusos.

  Yes, Cassius might be young, but the thoughts that went on in his mind were far beyond that of a fifteen-year-old. It was the reason why he had let Cass join the first family meeting that he called once Dom had taken the Luciano throne after Angel had been taken.

  Even though he hadn’t spoken the Omertà, and still had yet to, Cassius was just as much made as the rest of them. Dominic had decided it was better to accept his nature and try to mold the darkness in him for the benefit of the family, because excluding Cassius from the family business would have caused his younger brother to begrudge him, not only as a brother but as the Luciano boss.

  Cassius turned from the sculpture, letting the thoughts he had swirling in his mind disappear, as his face want back to his normal blank stare. “I take it she turned you down?”

  “Yep,” Dominic said with a laugh, having expected no less from the mafia princess. “You know where to find me.”

  The youngest Luciano nodded before Dominic walked off, going to the back of the reception area and to a black sheer curtain that was covering the door to the kitchen. None of the Carusos would have thought twice about young Cassius leading her here.

  Pushing aside the curtain, he opened the door to the kitchen, where he would finish his champagne and wait. It wasn’t until the door lightly swung open a few minutes later did he know that his plan B had worked.

  “You’re not scared, are you, princess?” he asked when she didn’t dare enter the kitchen fully.

  Maria took a step, letting her hand fall so the door could close them in. “Of course not.”

  “Good.” He smiled, holding out his hand for her to take.

  It was as if the world went into slow motion for a solid moment as he held his breath, waiting for her to either take it or turn him down. All he needed was for her to place her hand in his, and he would never let her go.

  Her emerald eyes on his outstretched hand … she finally took it.

  Holding onto her soft, slender hand, he pulled the blonde beauty to him for the first time and carefully placed his other hand at the small of her waist. His body, that had been on fire to touch her since he saw her last, finally stilled, content with a slow dance, even though his thoughts dreamed of much more.

  When she didn’t move fluidly with him to the music they could hear coming from the other side of the door, he looked down at her. “Why do I get the feeling you’ve never danced before?”

  “Because I haven’t.” It took Maria a moment before she admitted the second part. “Not with a guy, that is.”

  “Just relax and listen,” he coached her, knowing it had to be hard for the woman who despised all men to be led.

  When she took a long, deep breath and finally began to relax, he pulled her just the littlest inch closer to him. “See? It’s not so bad.”

  “Yeah, not for you.” Her eyes might not have rolled, but her voice had.

  “That’s true. I’m sure I’m enjoying this more than you,” he freely admitted with a laugh.

  “If only your father could see you now,” Maria said then instantly regretted it. “I’m sorry. I—”

  “It’s all right. I’d pay good money for him to see us dancing together. I’m sure he’d fucking rather die all over again.” He didn’t want her to feel bad, nor hold her tongue with him. He liked that Maria said what she thought, even if it was harsh. She wasn’t for the weak, but Dominic wasn’t either.

  Maria relaxed even more in his arms. “I take it you and he didn’t get along?”

  “We had a complicated relationship.” There wasn’t enough time in a day to explain the relationship he’d had with his father, especially not in the little amount of time he was going to get with her tonight. “How about you and your father?”

  “Complicated,” she agreed. “But I have a feeling yours might be more so.”

  “Yes, you’re probably right.” Dominic gripped her hand ever so slightly, causing her eyes to drift over to his inked fingers. She then glanced down to the hand at her waist, reading the word he had permanently placed into his skin.

  Maria bit her bottom lip. “Cassius is like your father, isn’t he?”

  “You mean, like Lucca—” He paused for a single moment. “—and you.”

  Knowing it wasn’t a question but a factual statement, she flipped it on him. “What about you? Are you like him too?” she asked, not denying her own demons.

  Tilting his lips in a half-smile, he wanted to make one thing clear. “Princess, I’m nothing like my father.”

  Their eyes danced with each other’s the same way their bodies did, and Dominic squeezed his fingers at her waist, feeling the warm flesh underneath her dress as he brought her even closer.

  “Then, how did you know I was heartless? And, what does that have to do with the last time we saw each other?”

  He broke their connection as he twirled her in the desolate room, taking in her white satin dress that exposed her left thigh from the large slit. It was like the grownup version of the white dress that he had first seen her in.

  “I still can’t believe you don’t remember.”

  “Sorry, but I don’t.” Her voice clearly told him she only apologized to be polite. “I’m dancing with you like you wanted, so tell me already.”

  With the song ending, he was able to hear Maria was breathing just as heavily as he was.

  He could do it—lean in and steal her lips in a kiss that would seal their fate forever—but the new song kept him a gentleman.

  “Your mother’s funeral.” When that still didn’t ring a bell for her, he figured he should be really fucking hurt, but thankfully, she’d only been fourteen at the time, so he didn’t hold it against her. Continuing, it was time to finally tell the princess how he knew she had been born without a heart. “I knew you were heartless because you didn—”

  BANG.

  Unfortunately, a single bullet would not only cost a life, but it just might have costed his and Maria’s future …

  All of hell breaking loose in the reception hall, and unlike everyone else who could be heard screaming and trying to run for cover, he mana
ged to like the woman before him, run for the door.

  “Are you fucking crazy?” Dominic grabbed her before she managed to reveal the secret door.

  “We can’t just stay in here and do nothing!” She fought him to leave.

  Rolling his eyes, he lifted the pretty blonde off her pretty little heels, taking her backward through the kitchen. “If I let the boss’s daughter go out there and get hurt, then my family and I are as good as dead anyway.”

  As he opened the deep freezer, she fought him fucking hard.

  “Please, Maria,” he begged her to calm down.

  Her anger was seething that he hadn’t let them run out to make sure their families were okay. It didn’t just hurt her; it hurt him just as fucking badly. His siblings and his men were out there, but he would have never forgiven himself if he let Maria walk out that door. His instincts told him to protect her first, and he always trusted them. They had yet to steer him wrong.

  Placing her back down on the floor, in the safety of the frozen box, he snatched her face in his hands to get her to understand. “You’re drunk.”

  “No, I’m …” Suddenly, he saw Maria realize that she was, but she continued to deny through her fumbled words. “Am not.”

  “You are,” Dom told her firmly, deciding not to tell her that he’d made sure she was so many glasses deep before he’d even asked her to dance with him. Giving her that last glass of champagne had been for good measure. “And if I don’t protect you—”

  “I don’t need protecting, Dominic. Why can’t anyone understand that!”

  Looking at the perfectly sculptured face in his hands, his voice softened with his heart. “I don’t think you do, princess, but we both know, if I let you walk out of here like this, I’m dead, my brothers are dead, Kat’s dead.”

  He prayed for her to understand with his begging eyes, not knowing if he could make her stay in there if she continued to resist. He didn’t doubt that she could handle herself, but he couldn’t risk her safety. Dominic needed to walk out of there knowing at least one person he cared about was safe.

  Maria stared up at him for a few moments before she finally decided, “Fine.”

  Thank you. He wanted to say the words to her but didn’t want her to know he would have given in.

  To let Maria go when he had her in his hands almost broke his heart. He hadn’t had enough time with her yet … She didn’t yet know they were meant to be.

  Removing his hand from her face one finger at a time, he could see, clear as day, in her eyes, that she hated it too.

  “Here.” Dom removed his suit jacket, wishing it had been his leather one, because he wanted to see it wrapped around her and to take her scent with it. “Take this, and I’ll be back.”

  “You’re leaving me?” A slight sadness marred her emerald eyes, making him wonder if she was beginning to feel their connection.

  Wrapping the jacket over her slender shoulders, he regretted having to say his next words. “I can’t sit here with my family and my men out there.”

  Finally, understanding shone on her face, but she had one request. “Will you make sure Leo’s okay?”

  With a nod, he drifted his eyes to her perfectly pouty lips. He was beginning to feel desperate to get her to see their connection. With a death grip on the jacket around her shoulders, he wanted to pull her up in a kiss that would make sure her feet stayed planted in this very room until he came back to continue where they had left off, but he’d promised himself that he would wait for Maria to ask him.

  He either needed Maria’s permission to place his lips on hers or she had to kiss him herself because, if he didn’t, the princess with no feelings, who hated all men, might pull away before giving their kiss a chance. If that happened, she would deny them any chance and any future they were bound to have would be gone forever.

  That was exactly why he had to regretfully let her go.

  “I’ll make sure someone comes to get you when it’s safe.” Walking toward the door, he couldn’t allow himself to look back.

  Maria instantly sensed the shift in the air. “Don’t you dare lock me in here, Dominic.”

  Dominic opened the freezer door …

  “I swear to God, Dominic, if I go for that door when I think it’s safe and find it locked”—she paused, turning her warning into a promise—“I will never forgive you.”

  He never liked to look back at her, but he did this time, seeing that she meant her words wholeheartedly, before he brought the freezer door to a complete close.

  Staring at the lock, he thought about how it was the only way to ensure Maria’s safety and that she would live through the possible war that was on the other side of the kitchen door. If it had been Katarina, he knew what he would do.

  To lock the door or keep it unlocked?

  His tattooed hand hovered over the lock …

  It was like being thrown into World War III. The once beautiful reception had been destroyed.

  The line had been drawn in the sand, as the two families who stood on different sides of the room waited for their orders to fire. Problem was, it wasn’t a fair fight, as every Luciano member hadn’t been allowed a weapon to the wedding. Dominic had instructed his men to take the risk.

  Whoever had shot the gun, it hadn’t been a Luciano; he’d bet his life on it. His men wouldn’t defy an order, not to mention they had been checked by Caruso soldiers before they entered the door. However, judging the people on the other side of the room, there were plenty who could have.

  Dominic quickly pushed past his men before the slaughtering of his family could begin. Jumping up on a now ruined table setting, he made sure his voice could be heard by every man.

  “We came without guns like I promised. You checked every one of my men on the way in,” he reminded the blood thirsty, adrenaline-rushed Carusos, making them look at the men who stood on the other side stood without true weapons in their hands, only holding butter knives and anything else they could swing.

  “Dante, call your men down,” Dominic demanded louder, as he searched for the current reigning king who was too scared to come out, “so we can deal with this man to man.” Spinning on his heels, he continued his demands, but this time to his men alone. “And if it was one of my men who defied my orders, then I will hand him over to you myself.”

  Finally Dante appeared, his face a mask of rage, letting Dominic know this wedding wasn’t going to end in a happily ever after.

  Fuck.

  He made a fist for the coming fight that he wasn’t going to win, as they were all soon to be dead, but he planned to take a couple with him on his way to hell, starting with the ego maniac who had hid behind his own men.

  Dante didn’t deserve the throne. The only reason he had gotten it was the exact same reason everyone looked at him with disgust—their last names.

  Lucifer might have been crazy, but one thing he was right about was his hatred for the Caruso boss, and his father was about to get his dying wish.

  The hard thud of the ballroom doors flinging open had everyone turning their heads to see Drago storming through. He pushed through furiously, going right to his boss to quietly speak something to him. Dominic wished he knew what he had said, but by the look of Dante’s face, he wasn’t going to get his wish of wiping them out or …

  Holy fuck, he was going to do it, regardless what his trusted Drago was telling him. Dante was about to blow them all to smithereens.

  About to give the order for his men to fight with what they had, Dominic stopped when the ballroom door flung open again.

  “Put your guns down.” Lucca’s voice traveled through the room, giving out the order without even speaking a word to his father.

  Never thinking he’d ever thank God for seeing that asshole, Dominic jumped down from the table as soon as every weapon was lowered, and he went straight for the underboss.

  Any respect he’d had for Dante vanished. It was sad to think that the boogieman was saner than the Caruso boss, yet he was. Domin
ic might hate Lucca, but what he had just done made him hate the bastard a little less.

  The two met in the center of the room, with the dead body at their feet.

  “I take it you lost him?” Dominic asked, looking down at the pitiful Caruso with the bullet hole right between his eyes.

  “Yes.” Lucca was still breathing heavily from the run.

  “It’s a shame you didn’t kick the cigarette habit when I told you to all those years ago. You just might have caught him.”

  Lucca’s blue-green eyes darted to him. “Careful, Dominic, you’re still the best option we got for One-Shot.”

  “I guess it’s a good thing you made me leave my Glock at home.” Dom smiled, running a hand over his back and coming up empty.

  “Lucky you.” Lucca’s voice then turned ominous, hinting that he might’ve already known the answer to, “Where exactly were you when the gun went off?”

  “I could ask you the same thing.” Dom raised a brow, looking down at the lifeless body. “Teddy wasn’t exactly your most loyal soldier.”

  “Todd,” the underboss couldn’t help but remind him with a smile in his voice.

  “Well, lucky you … you’re a shit shot,” Dom said smugly, looking around now for his family. “Where’s Kat?”

  Smiling, Lucca pulled out his pack of cigarettes from his pocket. “Drago just dragged her out of the room over his shoulder.”

  “Wha—”

  “She’s fine,” Lucca assured him, flipping his Zippo open to light the end. “You got bigger problems than her right now.”

  “Like what?” Dom snapped.

  “Like convincing my father you weren’t the one who killed his man.” His blue-green eyes glowed knowingly. “I’m sure someone saw you when the gun went off.”

  “Shit.” Dominic looked around again. “Where’s Leo?”

  Catching the sight of the good-looking teenage boy, he left a confused Lucca behind as he went up to the Caruso who he hadn’t yet spoken with.