Maria’s eyes turned into slits. “Is Dominic here or not?” Truthfully, she didn’t have a smart-ass comment, because mostly, what he had said was true.
He couldn’t help but smile because he’d gotten her. “No.”
“Okay, then I’ll wait.” She let the annoying twin know she wasn’t going anywhere, which tipped the smile right off his face. “Where’s Cassius?”
“I’m sure he’s up in Dom’s room.” Matthias told her, heading back to his room. “Get your boyfriend to make you a key already.”
She rolled her eyes. “He’s not my—”
“And Maria”—stopping her lie, Matthias shot her an evil glare from his doorway—“learn how to fucking drive.”
At least he wasn’t fucking dumb, because as soon as she took one step, Matthias quickly shut his bedroom door before she heard the lock on the other side click.
Maria wanted to call him every name in the book, but she didn’t as she passed his bedroom door. Instead, she actually smiled.
Going up the steps, Maria was confused as to why Cassius would be in Dom’s room and was even more confused when she opened the bedroom door to find him not there. About to walk back out to go find him, she noticed the strangely shaped window was cracked open.
Walking up to it, she saw the back of the younger figure sitting on a little flat part of the roof that went straight out from under the window seal. “Cassius?”
Turning, he saw Maria. “What are you doing?”
“Coming out to join you.”
“Well, be careful,” Cassius complained, taking her hand to make sure she didn’t trip. “You should have taken those things off before you came out here.”
“Last time I did that, you gave a dog a thousand-dollar chew toy,” Maria reminded him, taking a seat on the roof beside him.
Cass gave a side smile. “Oh, right.”
Seeing the little dent in the side of the cheek that lifted, Maria’s mouth dropped open. “You have dimples too?”
“Don’t remind me,” he grumbled as his smile quickly dropped.
“What do you mean? They’re adorable,” Maria said in awe. They were hot on Dom, but on Cassius, they were cutest fucking thing in the world. They made the devilish boy finally look his age. They didn’t suit his personality, but that was also what made them so charming.
“So adorable that Kat would always pinch my cheeks to see them.” He rubbed his little cheek, getting rid of the ghost pain.
“Well, from what I could see, they’re not as deep as Dominic’s.” Maria laughed. “I’m sure she just wanted to get a good look.”
Cassius shook his head. “Mine aren’t as deep as Dom’s, because he smiles all the time.”
“Oh, I see.” Maria understood he was implying his dimples weren’t as trained as Dom’s because he rarely smiled. “Kat was just trying to see them.”
He gave one last rub of his cheek for good measure. “Yep.”
“So, is this your usual spot?” Maria asked, staring out at the land that surrounded the home. It was a decent amount of property, but it just looked bleak and sad. There was hardly any grass. “’Cause, if so, this view sucks.”
“I don’t know … I’ve always liked it up here.” Cassius shrugged, looking up at the sky as the sun started to set. “It’s pretty nice out here at night.”
“Yeah, maybe.” It was much different than the night view she was used to.
“Does Dominic’s room not creep you out, though?”
“No … it was my father’s before Dom’s.”
Well, no wonder it creeped her out.
“Did you and your father get along?” Maria asked softly, trying to pry.
Cass gave his answer in a simple shrug.
Seeing that this Luciano didn’t want to answer made her even more curious about their father/son relationship. Maria knew how the other Luciano siblings felt about their father, but the youngest one, she did not. She didn’t want to force it out of him, though, like Angel had said about Dominic ….
Cassius would tell his story when he was ready.
“Um, excuse me …?” Maria’s green eyes caught something. Leaning over, she picked it up from out of the gutter. “What is this?” Of course she knew what it was, but it was a rhetorical question.
His eyes grew wide. “Uh … You’re not going to tell Dom, are you?”
Maria gave him a stern look. “That depends. Are you going to keep doing it?”
Cassius answered without a blink of his eye, “No.”
She didn’t doubt the Luciano could easily lie. Rolling her eyes, she scolded him, “Smoking kills, you know? And you could at least try to hide it. How dumb can you be to do it right outside of your brother’s window without even trying to hide the evidence?” Taking the butt of the stick, she shoved it in his pocket for him to throw away later, “And don’t litter, that’s not cool, either.”
“Thanks.” He gave her an appreciative look that she wouldn’t tell on him. “I promise I don’t do it often.”
“That’s how it starts, though,” she continued her mothering rant. “My brother smokes, and it was only a cigarette every on—” Suddenly, Maria stopped, staring at Cassius with a scrutinizing gaze. It all suddenly clicked. “You talk to Lucca, don’t you?”
“Yes.” Again, he didn’t deny it, but Maria didn’t miss the little flex in his jaw.
“That’s how you knew I used to wander around when I was a little girl.” Maria continued to stare at him strangely. “How long have you been talking to him?”
“A long time ….” His voice turned from nothingness to holding the littlest bit of anger. “I thought he was my friend.”
“What happened?”
Cassius’s brows furrowed deeply, looking out at the falling sun. “I didn’t know who he was, and he used information I gave him against us.”
“Katarina,” Maria whispered, the last piece falling in place.
He didn’t even have to nod his head. “He betrayed me.”
“He betrayed me too,” she told him, seeing how hurt he was. It was like looking in a mirror.
“He did?” Cassius asked, looking back to her.
“Yes.”
“Are you going to forgive him?” he asked.
“I don’t know,” she answered honestly, looking away from the sunset to him. “Are you?”
Cassius shook his head confidently, but Maria saw how he had to think about it first. “But you should, though,” he finally admitted. “He’s your brother, and he cares about you.”
“Really?” Maria smiled. “What else has he told you about me?”
“Well, he told me your name was Mia,” he huffed before dropping his anger to slightly tilt his lips. “But he also said you were evil, spent too much money, but that you were also pretty cool.”
Maria couldn’t help but laugh. “Well, that’s awfully accurate.”
“I think so too,” Cassius agreed with another smile that showed his little hint of a dimple.
Ugh. As much as this family made her pull her hair out, the more she came over here, the more attached she started to feel.
Maria always thought she just wanted to be alone, but now she’d had her alone time—finally—and with only Leo living with her, it turned out she was kind of missing her brothers and how they were always in each other’s faces, even though it used to annoy the piss out of her.
“Are you going to marry Dom?” Cassius bluntly asked her.
Maria thought for several shocking moments until she finally knew what to say. “I—”
The window creaking behind them had Maria and Cassius turning their heads.
“Maria?”
Staring at a confused Dominic, she slightly melted upon seeing his handsome face. Maria hadn’t known until this moment how much she had missed him these past few days.
“Well, I’ll see you later.” Cassius slightly raised his eyebrows at her before getting up to go back through the window to leave them alone.
Lo
oking at the hand he held out to her, she grabbed it as she stood on the shaky ground and carefully made her way to the window.
Grabbing her waist tightly, he lifted her down in one swift, light motion until her stilettos reached safe ground once again.
Maria stared helplessly up at him. The act he had just done made her stomach flutter, and when he let her waist go, she could see that the time she spent apart from Dominic had affected him as well. He seemed sad when he had left her place, and now he appeared even more so.
Dominic avoided her eyes, taking a seat on the edge of his bed. He looked tired as he rubbed his eyes.
Taking a step toward him, she could see that he hardly slept, making that hole in her chest that much deeper. Maria stretched out her hand, spreading her fingers through his hair.
At her touch, Dom suddenly opened his eyes and was even more surprised when he found her arms wrapping around his neck.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered into his ear as she hugged him.
Wrapping his arms around her waist, he sat her down on his leg. “For what, princess?”
“For not understanding, listening, judging you, not coming to see you sooner—” She stopped, not wanting to make herself look worse.
“It’s okay,” he murmured, letting his thumb smooth back and forth over her exposed thigh that he held.
When she kept her face burrowed into his neck, Dominic sensed something was off. “Maria, what’s wrong?”
Wanting to continue to stay there a little longer, she wasn’t sure she could look him in the eyes. She liked the way his skin smelled even more fiery up close, and it hurt to look Dom in the eyes when he was sad or, worse, heartbroken.
“I talked to Angel,” she spoke into his skin, hating she even had to say this to him, hating this fucking happened to him. “He didn’t tell me what exactly happened, but he told me that you didn’t get to choose your first time.”
Dominic continued his thumb motion on her thigh. “Oh.”
“Are you upset he told me?”
“No,” he assured her sweetly, “I’m not upset. I would have told you eventually.”
Maria squeezed him tighter as her throat closed. “I’m so sorry that happened to you.”
“It’s all right. It happened a long time ago.” He placed a kiss on her shoulder. “There’s no reason to be upset, princess. I’m not anymore.”
“Well, you’re nicer than me. I’ll never get over it.”
Dom chuckled at his black-hearted princess’s joke, knowing it was true. “Maria.”
She lifted her head from his neck, knowing he wanted to see her eyes.
“I just want you to know that the only reason I want to protect your virginity is because I didn’t get to protect mine.”
“I know,” she told him before placing her face back in the crook of his neck, liking how warm he was there. “But you taking my virginity, with or without a stupid piece of paper, isn’t protecting it, because it’s something I want. I choose.”
“I understand, and I’m glad you trust me with it, but”—Dominic smiled—“you’re still going to have to wait till after we’re married.”
Maria brought her face out of neck again. “Confident, aren’t we?”
“Yes.” Dominic showed her his dimples that she loved so much. “I’m going to get you to marry me, Maria Caruso, even if it’s the last thing I do.”
“Well”—she brought her lips closer to his—“you’re going to be waiting a long time.”
“That’s fine.”
“You prepared to wait that long for me?” She teasingly brought her lips even closer to his without letting them touch.
“I’m a patient man,” he teased back, showing no signs of mercy. “You’re the one who’s going to break, princess.”
Maria let their lips only touch for a second before she pulled away. “Never.”
Dominic laughed, and when she placed her face back in his neck, he gave her another sweet, tender kiss on her shoulder, whispering a promise onto her skin. “I’ll wait forever for you, princess.”
“Good luck,” she told him with a yawn after her long day, and watching him look sleepy made her look sleepy.
Going to her pink strappy heels that matched her monochromatic pink dress, Dominic took his time carefully removing them.
Maria was already breaking, getting turned on by watching him take off her heels. It was the way he grabbed them and pointed her feet to show off her white toenail polish that had her about ready to say vows here and now.
“Don’t.” Maria moved her naked foot before he could grab it after he had taken both heels off. “I get to wear heels twenty-four seven for a reason.”
He looked at her confused.
“The bottom of my feet are tough,” she informed him, letting him know the downside to being able to withstand the pain. “You can touch my feet in heels, but you don’t want to touch them without.”
“Well, that’s too bad,” Dominic said, taking her foot in his hand anyway. “You’ll have to get used to it.”
Ugh, Maria wanted to melt, liking the way he touched her feet, slightly massaging them as if he could rub them into being soft again.
“You know, you could at least take me on a date before asking me to marry you,” she grumbled, wanting to jump his bones already.
“You’re right.” He laughed, seeing that he was making it hard for her already. He stopped, picked her up in his arms, and looked down at her with his dimples on display. “How about tomorrow night?”
“That works,” she answered, not expecting that response but knowing she would be at the spa in the Casino Hotel first thing in the morning getting a pedicure.
When he placed her down on the bed, Maria made herself comfortable on her side, putting her hands underneath her face. As Dominic lay down, he took the same position, only opposite. Both of them lay facing each other with a small space separating them from head to toe as they stared at each other.
“You’re so beautiful,” he told her achingly without reaching out to touch her.
Something about him telling her those words meant more when he said them without touching her.
All her life men had stared at her with only one thing on their minds and told her things they thought would make something happen between them. It was ironic that the one man she desperately wanted to fuck wouldn’t, because he was giving her the one thing she had wished everyone else gave her—respect.
Dominic was being respectful to her and a true gentleman, but that somehow made her want him even more. And the things she wanted him to do to her were neither respectful or gentlemanly in the least.
But this moment felt precious in a way, and she didn’t want to ruin that. All Maria wanted to do was understand him more.
He called her beautiful, but Maria believed she was ugly. On the outside, yes, Maria knew she was beautiful, but that wasn’t what really mattered. Those things faded with time and were shallow, like me.
There was a reason why Maria presented herself so gorgeously on the outside—because the inside was hideous.
Dominic was different, though. He was not only beautiful on the outside, but on the inside, he was just as, if not more, breathtaking … and in their cruel world, that was all that would ever matter.
“Can I ask you a question?” she asked softly.
“Yes.”
Even though Dominic had answered like she could ask him anything, Maria still hoped her question was okay to ask. “Did you sleep with anyone after what happened to you?”
“Yes.” He nodded just a little bit over his hands. “I’ve been with lots of women, Maria,” he admitted honestly. “The first four were not my choosing, but I thought, somehow, I could undo what happened to me by sleeping with women of my choosing. So, I drowned those first four out by fucking women over and over, but it never worked. Most of the women I slept with were in that first year. It’s been a long time since I’ve been with someone, but every woman I was with didn’t live here
and wasn’t untouched, like me. We both did it to help forget whatever it was we were running from. It was never out of love and only to serve a purpose.”
She could hear it in Dom’s voice and see it in his eyes that he used to be ashamed of what had happened to him and the things he did to cope with it, but he wasn’t anymore. He had healed, which allowed him to speak so openly now.
Maria’s silence had him continuing. “If you’re worried, I am clean. I’ve been tested and, like I said, I haven’t been with someone—”
“I’m not,” she assured him with a shush, putting a stop to his fears. “That wasn’t a worry in my mind at all.” Maria knew he would have never come close to sleeping with her if he even thought he could give her something. “You’ve never explained anything that happened in your past to me, Dominic. I only ever want to hear about it when you want to tell me.”
“Okay.” He gave her little smile … before it slowly disappeared.
Maria listened as Dominic told her in depth about the night he lost his virginity. He told her everything, and no story had ever made her feel such strong emotions of anger, sadness, and hurt, but she continued to listen as they both stayed perfectly still. She learned a lot about Dominic that night, but one night wasn’t long enough to tell twenty-eight years of abuse. Sleep would come first ….
Thirty-Six
Ketchup is Seasoning
The sun coming up stirred Maria to wake, but before opening her eyes, her first thought was that Dom would be gone. The trauma of waking up and not seeing the last man she’d shared a bed with remained. But there Dominic was, fast asleep, peaceful.
Smiling, she stared at him a moment longer, then quietly and very carefully got up, grabbing her heels before leaving the room and going down the creaky steps.
Passing a little bathroom, she took a few minutes for herself and cleaned up a bit. Slipping her shoes back on, she left the tiny bathroom, heading down the hall, keeping herself from loudly clicking her heels. She about made it to the living area without even so much as a peep when she saw a someone she didn’t know in the kitchen. The “peep” hadn’t come from Maria, but the older woman who screamed at the sight of her.
Dominic (Made Men Book 8) Page 27