Making her own deal with the boogieman, she shook his hand. “Deal.”
It was decided. The three would share the throne.
Clicking her heels as she headed out of his office, she had almost forgotten.
“Oh, and Lucca”—Maria looked back at him from over her shoulder—“I know you’ve been secretly helping Cassius.”
The underboss smiled, not denying it.
“Unfortunately, in the process, you taught him to smoke.” Going for the door, she didn’t have to look back as she walked through to know Lucca had no idea Cassius picked up that habit. “Now fucking undo it.”
Dominic sat in the cold warehouse on his old, tufted leather chair. His tatted hands gripping the arms, he stared at his three brothers who stood before him on the other side of his desk.
Angel’s, Matthias’s, and Cassius’s gazes were unwavering, staring down at him not as a brother but as the boss. Every one of them knew why they all were here—Dominic had yet to choose the titles of consigliere, underboss, and enforcer.
This was a decision he hadn’t come to lightly. It was one that could break their family and bonds apart if he chose wrong or one brother felt slighted by another. The only reason Katarina wasn’t here was because Lucca had noticed her talents and employed her as the Caruso bookkeeper. That Caruso job excluded her from holding any power in the Luciano family, as it did his wife Maria. Those two actions alone caused Dominic to give his full trust over to the underboss and future Caruso boss once and for all.
“I have come to a decision,” he told them, meeting the eye of each man before moving to the next. “We run this family—”
Each brother waited on bated breath as Dominic said his final word.
“—together.”
Fifty-Six
Your Soul To Take
“Do I get to see you finally shoot now or what?” she asked, standing in his backyard. She had been married to this man for a week, and while they had fucked their way through most of it, she needed to see the legendary Glock in actio—
“What the fuck!” she yelled when the gunshot went off beside her. He had been standing perfectly still one moment, and the next, his Glock was in his hand and had already fired.
Dominic laughed. “Sorry, princess, but you asked for it.”
There is no fucking wa—
Maria’s mouth dropped seeing the can yards away with a bullet hole right through the middle. How was something like that even possible? But fuck me, that is so hot.
Looking back from the can to him, she raised a brow and smiled. “Can I try?”
“Have you ever shot a gun before?” he asked, slightly unsure or slightly scared.
She wanted to lie but didn’t. “No.” She had someone following her twenty-four seven; she didn’t need to have a gun in her hand.
Releasing the mag, he put it in his jacket pocket before he racked it, clearing the chamber of the little bullet before it was safe.
“Okay, come here,” he said, pulling her waist until he planted her right in front of him and the target. Handing her the gun, he showed her the correct stance that his father had taught him many years ago.
“Now, this finger”—he removed her pointer finger to where she had instinctively placed it on the trigger to let it rest under the barrel—“goes here. Your finger only touches the trigger when you’re certain you want to pull it.” He began to stress this fact even more. “The only reason I didn’t shoot you that morning when you surprised me is because I kept my finger here. You must be completely certain who is on the other side before you do, because”—he placed her finger back on the trigger and lightly pulled … click—“once you do, it can’t be undone.”
“Okay.” Maria tried to swallow through her suddenly tight throat from his grave words. “Dom … can I ask you a question?” She stopped the lesson for a moment.
He nodded.
Maria turned to face him. “That morning, when you and Kayne fought and you pulled your gun on him … ” She remembered the words he had spoken to her: I had the gun in my hand, Maria. I might not have been the one to take his life, but I can’t promise you I wouldn’t have done the same as Lucca five seconds later. “Was your finger on the trigger?”
Even though a part of her, deep down, already knew the answer, she wanted Dominic to realize just how wrong she was to ever call him monstrous like his father. She wanted him to know, once and for all, that he was everything Lucifer and she were not.
Dominic Luciano was good.
“No.” Shaking his head, his brows drew together, almost disbelieving it himself. “No, it wasn’t.”
“I know.” Maria kissed his lips hard. “I know you wouldn’t have done it.” She kissed his lips over and over, trying to make him see that he was pure, that he wouldn’t have ever done something that would have hurt her.
Maria made Dominic kiss her until he began to get it through his head, and by the time she was done, he had taken the gun from her and they snuck back inside to quietly go up the steps.
She placed one last tender kiss on his lips before he pushed her hard down onto his bed. Staring up at him, even though she knew he was good on the inside, on the outside, he looked like a mean motherfucker who was about to fuck her senseless yet again.
Dom went to throw his leather jacket off, but Maria stopped him,
“No … Keep it on.”
“What are you doing?” Maria sleepily came into the living area to see Dominic at the table. “It’s late.”
“Go on back to bed, princess. I’ll be up when I’m done,” he assured her, not taking his eyes away from his task.
Seeing his guns laid out on the table, Maria had watched him clean those things every night since she’d been here. Yes, they had only been married for a week, but it was weird. At least when she spent those first two days together in her penthouse, he hadn’t, and her place didn’t give her the creeps. She was going to have to do something about their living situation because, while yes, Maria was spoiled rotten, it wasn’t the house that bothered her; it was the remaining presence of a certain someone.
“I don’t think this is something you need to do every day, Dominic.” Taking his hand, she tried to pull him back to bed. “Come on, It’ll be here in the mornin—”
“No,” he ordered harshly, removing his hand.
What the …?
Maria had never even seen him like this. She hadn’t been with him long, but either way, this wasn’t her Dominic who treated her the way every girl dreamed to be treated.
Ever since earlier today, when she had asked that question about Kayne, he had acted slightly different, like there was a war going on his head, as he refused to believe that he wouldn’t have killed Kayne because it would have hurt her.
Dom grabbed her hand, pulling her back to him and down onto his lap so he could rest his head on her forehead. “I’m sorry.”
“What’s wrong?” she asked, touching his beautiful face.
It took him a moment before he told her, “Every night I sat here with my father and cleaned these guns. I couldn’t eat dinner or go to sleep until it was done. It’s a habit I’ve yet to break, and I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay,” she whispered, giving him a kiss. Maria could see he was nowhere near ready to break that habit. It was something they would have to work on a little bit at a time. “I’ll let you finish. Come back to bed whenever you’re ready.”
Giving her one last kiss, he let her go, and then he continued cleaning them.
Maria had to hide the boiling emotions that began to rock through her body. Walking up the stairs and into the room that was Dominic’s but wasn’t at all, it only added fuel to the fire as pure rage soared through her.
Looking through the little window, she stared at the pathetic man on the other side. “Can I go in?”
Lucca contemplated for a second before he nodded. “I’ll give you a minute.”
Maria waited until Lucca was out of sight before she slid the metal d
oor open with all her might, stomping her stilettos inside. The sight of the man did not scare her as she growled at the devil himself, “You.”
The chain at his ankle didn’t even so much as rattle when he saw her. The grotesque man that was only kept alive by an inch of his life had spread his hands out into a cross as he looked up in the sky, welcoming her with open arms when Maria’s hands went to his neck.
Her emerald eyes were in a death haze as she squeezed Lucifer’s neck. No words needed to be spoken—the devil knew his fucking sins. She had watched Lucifer die in her mind a million times on her way over here. Having heard enough.
In the little time she already spent with Dominic, she heard enough of the things the devil did to his own children for a lifetime. This man needed to pay with his life, and she wanted it now. Lucca was never going to let this man die.
Seeing the life force almost leave him, she was so close …
“Maria!” Lucca entered the room in a rush, going to her hands and trying to pry them off his neck. “What the fuck are you doing?”
“He needs to die!” Maria shrilled out as she spit on the dead man who was catching his breath while Lucca held her back.
“He is not for you. Do you understand me?” Lucca threw her out of the room, trying to calm her down. “That is not your soul to take.”
“Then get Dom in here!” she cried, hitting him. “Why the fuck haven’t you brought him here yet?”
“Maria …” He tried to calm her as he shook her to force her eyes to his. “Dominic has already been here …”
Fifty-Seven
The Night Before Their Wedding …
“Hello, Father.” The words slid from his lips, arching in an eerie smile. He had waited here quietly for his father to wake from his nightmares, only to be greeted by another. “You’ve never looked better.”
Startled, Lucifer jumped back, the rattling chain wound around his ankle that had been tightened several times over from his weakening echoed throughout the room.
Dominic’s head fell back in laughter. “I see you have finally met your match.”
Seeing who it was, a bony Lucifer started to ease. “What took you so long?” he hissed.
“I knew the day Lucca took you that you wouldn’t be dead anytime soon,” Dom revealed.
“Then why come now?” His haggard voice was on the brink of giving up. The only reason he was alive was because Lucca had willed it so.
“Tomorrow is a special day for me, Father, and I’ve come to tell you the news.”
Lucifer’s ears perked up. It was the most alive he had looked.
Dom knew that his successes were going to be his father’s, Lucifer would take the credit that he had raised him, and it would give him a happy death. Only one thing would make Lucifer roll in his grave.
“Tomorrow”—Dominic’s hazel eyes glowed—“I marry Maria Caruso.”
Any bit of sanity Lucifer had broke as he crawled across the floor, the chains rattling as he went for his son.
Dominic threw him on his back in an instant, digging his shoe into his father’s neck while Lucifer looked like a zombie that’d been brought back to life as he tried to scratch and beat at his legs.
And he thought Maria’s father had handled it badly.
“Lucca has given me permission to kill you,” Dominic whispered the words of his final sweet release that had Lucifer stopping from pathetically trying to kill him. Dom could see the prayers in his soulless black eyes that he thought were about to be answered. Stepping onto his neck harder, he smiled evilly, one last time.
“I love her.
“I’m going to marry her.
“We will have children.
“And this Luciano blood that sits in my veins will be mixed with those you hate most.
“Sleep well tonight, Father”—suddenly, Dominic released the pressure at his neck—“because you have twenty-seven fucking more years to go.”
Fifty-Eight
My Turn
Maria’s heels sharply tapped on the porch as she entered the dark monastery of Lucifer’s home. There wasn’t a time she had come that she hadn’t felt the scope of his vileness that had been hidden from sight.
The television was playing, and Dominic was on the couch, watching. Maria went to him, ignoring the free space on the couch to sit on his lap. His arms surrounded her in a loving circle.
How this man could feel an ounce of love in his body after being raised by Lucifer was a testament to his strength.
“I hate this fucking house.”
Dom took his eyes off the television. “Then find a house you want, princess.”
“I fucking hate him,” she finally whispered.
Dominic knew who she was talking about. “You went to see him?”
“Why didn’t you kill him?” she asked, trying to understand how he could possibly walk away. “I tried, but Lucca stopped me. He’s saving him for yo—”
“I’m not ready to put him out of his misery,” Dom told her the truth.
“Put me out of my misery.”
“What misery?” He hadn’t missed what she mumbled under her breath.
She placed a kiss on his cheek where his dimple was. “I want you to wipe him out of my mind.”
Dominic stood, lifting her into his arms. She started unbuttoning his shirt as they went up the steps. By the time he laid her down on the bed, both of them were in too much of a hurry to remove the other’s clothes, seeing who could get themselves naked faster.
Taking her ankles, Dominic lifted both of her heels to his shoulder before taking her hips to pull her pussy to his dick.
Any thought of Lucifer went out of her head like a nuclear invasion when he slid inside of her. Leaning over her forced her legs to go higher.
“Dom … we’re never going to get a divorce, are we?” was the sighing moan she gave as he thrust inside of her.
A surrender? Probably. But damn, if the only time she gave control over was when he fucked her, was that really losing? Or is it a win …? It felt like a fucking victory as she grew slick around his dick, and he started nibbling on her neck.
“No, we won’t.”
He was right; he was never leaving her bloodstream. Fucking Dominic was more addictive than the most expensive drug sold on the streets.
“I would kill you before I let you leave me,” she said the harsh words in a sweet tone as she grabbed his hair to lift his head to show him she was joking … kind of. She would kill him before she would let another woman have this.
Maria had kept each and every expensive shoe and purse that she had owned because they were hers, and she didn’t want to go out and see what was hers on someone else.
“Why would I leave you, princess, when I have everything I could ever want with you.”
“Me, too,” she breathed the words out.
Dom stopped moving inside of her. “You do?’
“What else could I want? You have a big dick and know how to use it.”
“Oh.” Dom laughed as he started moving again, but Maria could see the hurt in his eyes.
“You promised never to tell me no when I want something,” she continued, despite wanting to come, but she was determined to hold out this time.
His dimples were nowhere in sight as she went on.
“Promised me only girls …”
He pumped inside her faster. “No, I didn’t.”
“Quit interrupting and go slower.”
“Maria, are we fucking or are you trying to bust my nuts?”
“We’re not fucking.” She searched for his hand that held the thick ring she placed on his finger. “We’re making love.”
Dominic suddenly stopped moving to search her eyes. “You have to be in love to make love, princess.”
“You told me you love me … don’t you?” she asked.
“Yes.”
“Then what’s the problem?” she grumbled, wanting him to start back inside of her.
“Maria …” Dominic’s
brows drew together. “Are you telling me you love me?”
“Isn’t that what I’ve been saying?”
He shook his head at her as he went back to thrusting deep inside of her. “I must have missed the L-word.”
“I L-O-V-E you, Dominic.” Maria bore her emerald eyes into his as he fucked her. “Did that spell it out for you?”
Damn, the dimples did it. Unable to hold out any longer, Maria arched on his dick and let Dominic chalk up another win. Well … hell.
“I love you, Maria,” he whispered into her ear as he let himself go when he felt her surrender.
Maria just held him to her as his ragged breath beat her skin. “I love you … and it’s my turn.”
Fifty-Nine
Ghosts
“What the hell are we doing here?” Matthias asked, getting out of his car, followed by Cassius, who had come with him.
“I don’t know. She won’t tell me,” Dominic said, sitting on the hood of his Mustang next to Maria.
Angel pulled up and got out of the car with Katarina, both wondering the same thing.
Maria got off the hood of the car, taking a step toward the ivy gate. She looked past it and right at Blue Manor. Turning back around, she looked at Dominic. “What would you say if I told you I wanted to buy that house?”
Matthias whispered, “Oh no.”
Her eyes then went to all of the Luciano siblings. “For all of us?”
“I’d say you were fucking crazier than I thought, princess,” Dominic said before smiling. “But I wouldn’t expect anything less.”
“My father set up a trust fund the day I was born. The agreement was, I’d have to be married to receive it.” She took a step toward him. “And, well, I kinda already bought it.”
“Jesus,” Matthias muttered, walking off.
Dominic (Made Men Book 8) Page 40