Dominic (Made Men Book 8)

by Sarah Brianne

  The confines of the two-door car suddenly got smaller the second Dominic slid behind the wheel, reminding her again just how big he was and how glorious he smelled when his fiery scent assailed her nose.

  Wasting no time, he roared the engine to life with the flick of his wrist before quickly pulling out and onto the road.

  “So, which poor sucker did you talk into dropping you off at my house and leaving you there?”

  “None.” She shrugged nonchalantly. “I took a taxi here.”

  “Right,” Dominic said sarcastically, thinking she didn’t want to give up a name, considering the last one who had done it took a bullet between the eyes.

  “I’m serious.” She watched his tanned right hand as he changed gears. “I really did take a taxi.”

  “Does Lucca know where you—”

  “I told Lucca I’m done with having one of his men follow my every move.”

  Dom was about to bust out in laughter, but then he gave a quick glance over at her. “You’re fucking serious, aren’t you?”

  “Yes.” Crossing her arms, she raised a brow. “You think I need a big, strong Caruso protecting me too?”

  “No,” Dom answered, clearly reminiscing to when a heel was pressed against his throat. “I just can’t believe Lucca listened.”

  Looking out the window, she watched Blue Park pass by. “Well, it was a long time coming ….” And it had been. Her whole life had been spent with a man in a suit following ten steps behind her. She hadn’t been able to go anywhere or do anything unless it was approved of by her father or brother. Yes, Maria might have been born with a tiara on her head, but it came with a cost. A normal childhood … sleepovers, friends, a real college experience. Being a “normal” girl for once was something she had never experienced until … Kayne.

  “Having someone watch your back isn’t a bad thing, you know. Especially considering One-Shot.”

  “And if that was the case, I’d be fine with it,” she agreed, looking back at his profile. “But it’s the controlling aspect I have a problem with. Imagine having someone decide when and where you are allowed to go at all times since you were born. It gets kind of old, especially when you get to watch your brothers do what they want.”

  “I understand.” He nodded, feeling for her. “But I’m sure Lucca’s overprotectiveness comes from what happened to your mother.”

  “You know, you talk about my brother like my father doesn’t exist, right?” Maria’s brows furrowed. “You are aware that Lucca is the underboss?” she asked, knowing full well he knew and reminding him of that little fact.

  The engine was all she could hear through Dom’s silence. She could tell he was thinking carefully about what to say.

  “Your father has yet to earn my respect,” he answered rather truthfully to the Caruso boss’s daughter.

  He’s got a set of balls on him …

  Smiling to herself, she thought about how she could get him killed for those words alone. Luckily for him, she appreciated not only his brutal honesty but that he trusted her enough to tell her that. Her smile, however, quickly faded with another thought. “How exactly did Lucca earn your trust? By killing Kayne?”

  “Trust and respect are two different things, princess.” He shot her a look so she’d know that he was being truthful. “Lucca earned my respect the day he was made, but I’ve yet to give him my trust completely.”

  That answer only showed Maria just how much Dominic disliked her father … but the feeling was mutual at the moment.

  “Maria”—Dom gripped the leather of the steering wheel tighter—“I might not be sorry about Kayne, but I am sorry about the part I played in hurting you. I should have put my pride aside and told you who he was. You had no way of knowing when he had the whole city fooled.”

  Maria looked forward, to the dark city road ahead, only able to manage a nod to let him know she accepted his apology. It wasn’t easy, considering every made man treated her the same, but she accepted it because she could see he meant it.

  My own brother couldn’t even fucking apologize to me.

  “Why did you come?” he asked curiously, changing gears again. “Lucca let me know that he told you he was the one who did it … and you didn’t come to see me then.”

  That was another reason she had accepted his apology—Maria was starting to see that she might be able to trust Dom after all. “Leo finally told me that you didn’t lock the door.”

  “I see.” Dominic’s voice couldn’t hide its smile like his face had. “Do you mean by finally told you, you finally asked if I did it instead of assuming?”

  You know what … She decided it was best not to tell him that she hadn’t asked Leo; he’d been correcting her when she did exactly as Dom said—assumed.

  Maria turned on the radio to avoid answering, which most likely told him all he needed to know.

  Hearing the song playing, she immediately changed the station.

  “What are you doing?” he asked, giving her the side-eye as he changed it back. “That’s Johnny Cash.”

  Maria looked at him dumbly. “So?”

  “Jesus.” The look on his face showed that he was more offended at her music taste than her choice in men. “You don’t change it when one of his songs come on. It’s a rule.”

  “That you made,” she told him, raising her hand to change the station again.

  “Maria.” Dom let go of the shift to grab her hand before she could do it. “Don’t make me pull over.”

  She slowly drifted her emerald eyes to the strong, tatted hand that held her slender one. “What are you going to do?” she asked with a heavy breath.

  “There’s only one way to find out, princess,” Dominic said, letting his own eyes drift off the road to gaze down her body. With his hand still capturing hers, he brought their connection to her lap, placing their hands on her exposed thigh until he abruptly let go. “If you’re brave enough to try it.”

  Keeping herself from rolling her eyes was near impossible. Dominic was proving to be a lot harder to pay back for that “almost kiss.” She thought she had him, until Dom made her think that he was about to hold her hand. Clearly, she needed to crank up the heat.

  Shifting in her seat, her baby blue dress rose higher up her toned thighs as she pointed her knees toward Dom. “I like your car.”

  Dominic might not have turned his head from the road, but he certainly shifted his eyes, being less obvious as he dragged his depths up her tanned legs.

  “Thanks. I worked on it for a long time before I finished it.”

  “Really?” Maria asked seriously, forgetting her mission for a moment. She didn’t know much about cars, considering whenever someone in the family needed one, they just bought it brand new off the lot. She hadn’t taken Dominic as the mechanic type. Looking around the interior of the car, it all seemed new to her. “I thought you just bought it like this.”

  “No.” Dom laughed. “Every car you see in Blue Park has been pieced together in some way. Most of them with duct tape and a prayer.”

  Looking at his hands, she admired the lettering of his tattoos as he held the wheel and gear shift. “Does that mean everyone knows how to fix them?”

  “No, but a lot do, because finding a good mechanic, who doesn’t try to scam you, doesn’t come cheap.”

  She was still entranced by his tatted hands when he downshifted, making a sharp turn. “And that’s why you learned?”

  “Something like that,” Dom told her before changing the subject. “Which Cadillac do you drive?”

  “I took a taxi here, remember?” Maria reminded him, acting like her next words weren’t a big deal. “I never learned.”

  The offended face Dom made showed that her admission had clearly shaken him to his core. This time, he broke his own rule by turning the radio off, along with Johnny Cash, so he could show her how serious this was.

  “You don’t know how to fucking drive?”

  With her tone of voice, she let him know she didn
’t think it was such a big deal. “No, I’ve always been driven by one of my father’s men.”

  Dom was still in disbelief, glancing over from the road to her several times. “Have you ever tried?”

  “Nope.” Maria shrugged. “Never really wanted to.”

  “Wow,” he mumbled under his breath, drawing his brows together as he started realizing just how smothered she’d been. “Maybe getting some space to yourself will be a good thing.”

  “I think so.”

  Getting back on track, Maria lightly flipped her gold hair behind her exposed shoulder. To him, it looked like she was just getting it out of the way, but its effect on him, she knew, would have him silently pleading.

  She’d mastered the art of flirting into her only weapon against her father’s men. For the most part, it was harmless; she only did the littlest bit to entice them to get her way. It never took a lot for men, just a flip of her hair or eye contact would do. But Dominic was different. She needed to pull out all the stops in order to pay him back for that little stunt at his house.

  Usually, she never much enjoyed the act of flirting; her only satisfaction was when it paid off. But, when Dominic watched the slinky movement from out of the side of his eye, he drove slower just the tiniest bit ….

  It was fun.

  “You still haven’t told me why you thought I was heartless,” she finally commented, hoping he’d give her the answer she had been dying to hear.

  “I don’t think it. I know it, princess,” he reminded her how she couldn’t put him under any delusion that she was anything other than that. “And I’m not going to tell you.”

  Maria’s voice couldn’t even hide her disappointment. “Why not?”

  “Well, what fun would that be for me?”

  His playful voice and the confident expression on his face had her wondering if she was the one doing the flirting when her stomach summersaulted.

  “Well”—she matched his tone while looking over at the Luciano boss through her lashes—“I could make it fun for you.”

  Braking at a stop sign, Dominic gave her his full attention, turning to face her. He lifted his hand off the shift to capture her chin once more. Letting his eyes slide down from her eyes to her luscious lips, he had her chest rising and falling heavily before he spoke in a low voice that didn’t come out sensually like she had thought it would, but instead with a threatening warning. “Princess, don’t make promises you can’t keep.”

  The second he let go of her chin, Dominic went back to driving as if nothing had happened, letting Maria know she had been fooled again.

  No amount of prayers was going to save this man now ….

  Twenty-Eight

  One Long Night

  Pulling in front of the Casino Hotel, Dom parked the car. “You sure you don’t want me to drop you off at your house?”

  “Yep, I’ve been staying here lately,” she assured him.

  Maria hadn’t been back to the house since Leo lost his eye. Plus, it was really hard to avoid Lucca in the same house. At least at the hotel they stayed in separate penthouses.

  He nodded, seeming to understand. “I’ll wait here and watch you go in, then.”

  “Or …” Maria looked at the hand with the letters O-V-E-R splayed on his fingers that were still resting over the gear shift. Reaching out, she lightly let her soft fingers trail over the top of his hand. “You could come up and make sure I safely get to my room.”

  Dominic dropped his eyes to his hand, watching her smooth her fingers over his rougher skin. “Yeah right,” he scoffed, not buying her innuendo, but he didn’t pull his hand away from her either.

  “I’m making good on my promise,” she threw back his words, trying to prove her earlier “I can make it fun for you” statement.

  “I-I don’t think that’s a good idea, Maria.” His sudden husky voice revealed he thought otherwise.

  Maria continued her strokes, her breathy voice telling him she wanted the same thing. “Something could happen to me on the way up.”

  Putting her eyes back on Dom, she could see the turmoil in his mind, weighing his options and determining if he was ready to risk it all.

  “Is there a back wa—”

  “Come on.” The mafia princess smiled at the supposed big, bad Luciano boss as she opened the car door and put a long, toned leg out. Looking back over her shoulder, she raised a manicured brow. “You’re not scared, are you?” Getting out of the car, she closed the door of his Mustang with a smile.

  The decision Dom faced would take big, ginormous, blue balls to walk into her father’s business right through the fucking front door with his daughter. So she had to create a challenge that would be hard for the Luciano boss to back down from.

  It took only a few seconds before he cut the engine off, and a ballsy, but brave, Dominic got out of the car, meeting Maria on the other side. “If you get me killed for this, so help me Go—”

  “You don’t think it’ll be worth it?” she asked through heavy lashes as she sultrily began for door.

  Maria couldn’t make out if Dom mumbled a silent prayer or a death threat under his breath when he followed her.

  Giving him a polite smile as he held the door to the Casino Hotel open for her, she thought he might have turned back, but glancing over her shoulder, she was surprised to see him still following just one step behind her as she led the way.

  In the crowded casino, Maria reached back, twirling her pinky with his. It was like a little secret, not enough of a connection to garner any attention, but it showed Dom that she was very serious.

  Dominic looked down at their interlocking fingers for a second, then brought his head back up to look through the crowd.

  Shocked that he didn’t break their connection, she was even more shocked by the way the littlest contact made her feel all hot inside. Her tiny acts was going well past flirting … She blamed it on having to stare at his hands for the last thirty minutes. His tattoos intrigued her, which was why she had touched his hand in the car. It had only made her selfishly crave more.

  The two went up the escalators that took them off the casino floor, their little connection still intact, while both avoided each other’s eyes, knowing the cameras on the ceiling were watching them.

  Stepping off the escalator, Maria gave the security guard who checked hotel key cards a smile as she took Dominic to an elevator behind him, without the guard’s approval.

  The big, bald man who worked for her father did a double-take, watching Maria and Dominic walk past. Too stunned to question or do anything, considering who she was, he just stood there.

  Untwining her pinky from his, she started putting in the code for the elevator to take them to the penthouse without stopping.

  “Don’t show me that,” Dominic urged with frustration. “If anything ever happens, I’ll be blamed for it.”

  “Don’t worry.” She pressed the last button, letting him see. “I trust you.”

  “Jesus, Maria.” Dominic held the bridge of his nose, clearly telling himself mentally that this was a bad idea as the door slid closed.

  “Quit worrying,” she coaxed softly, wrapping a hand around his leather-jacketed arm. She started to press her body against his, but he took a step away, backing into the corner of the elevator.

  His frustrations continued. “There’s a fucking camera in here.”

  “What day is it?”

  Dom looked at her like she was crazy. “Tuesday. Why?”

  “If it’s Tuesday night, then Sal’s working, and that means he’s the one watching us right now.” Maria waved at the camera with a smile before she gave him a nice view of her middle finger.

  Rubbing his head like he had a headache, Dominic clearly hated to ask the question. “I take it you’re mad at him too?”

  “No, I just don’t like him,” Maria answered simply. Already knowing what he would ask next, she elaborated, “He likes to kiss Lucca’s and my father’s asses.”

  Holding a finger up
to the ceiling, he asked a question he seemed to already know. “I guess there’s audio in here, too, huh?”

  “Possibly.” She swept her tongue along her bottom lip as she pressed her body into his successfully since he had nowhere else to go. Instantly feeling the warmth off him through her thin dress, she met his eyes. What she was doing was definitely not considered her normal flirting, not with how it was beginning to make her feel, but she was still curious about one thing.

  “Why did you get so upset with Cassius for not changing the channel?”

  Shrugging, Dominic averted his eyes to the climbing floor numbers. “I just don’t like that show, is all.”

  Staring up at him, she carefully watched his face. “Oh.”

  Kat and Dom’s favorite character. She remembered Cassius’s words, knowing full well Dominic liked that show. It was his one and only lie of the night, but the question was: Why?

  The dinging of the door sliding back open meant they were greeted by another Caruso who watched this floor and who now knew Dominic was here with Maria.

  “Hi, Ed.” Maria grabbed Dom’s arm in order to pull him along.

  Dominic gave the man a nod as they passed.

  “Bye, Ed.”

  Again, the Caruso guard did and said nothing, clearly shocked.

  “You’re in for one long night, princess”—Dominic shot her a heated glance—“because I’m not fucking coming out of here alive.”

  Doing what she wanted to do downstairs, she intertwined all her fingers with his. “I promise, I’ll make it worth it.”

  Both quickly walked to her door, where she put her cell phone up to the lock, eager to get inside. Opening the door, Maria went in, letting her hand fall from his as soon as she crossed the threshold.

  Maria gave him the sweetest smile, not letting him in any farther. “Have a nice night.”

  Asshole.

  Staring at the door that was slammed hard in his face, Dominic felt his blood begin to boil. He didn’t know who he hated more in this moment—the little man-eater who was proud of herself, or himself for fucking knowing better.