The man didn’t flinch. Balls of steel, Gian would give him that. Seeing his lack of fear egged Domenica on; she bared her teeth at the man and took a step closer.
Gian touched her shoulder. “While I agree with the sentiment, I think our message might be heard more clearly if we send him back alive.”
Domenica turned on him, her anger a palpable presence in the room. “Sending him back in pieces will get the message across loud and clear. Don’t touch what is ours.”
He respected her passion, her fury. But he was the Don. The decision was his, no matter how much he wanted to please his mate.
“One more chance. One more chance before we start killing off Biagio’s men one by one. Avoiding an all-out war is still best for all.” He turned to the man in the chair, then something of Gian’s dragon nature must have shown because the man’s eyes widened ever so slightly. “I am a Don in the Shadow Mob now. You can carry this message to your master. He fucks with me, he fucks with Domenica, he fucks with anything in our sightline, and he is a dead man. All the men who follow him are dead men. This is his final warning.”
Taking care not to hurt the man, Gian cut the ropes that bound him and waved to one of his men to escort the man out. “Make sure he gets to Biagio with the message,” he muttered to the man. The man nodded.
To her credit, Domenica waited until all his men had vacated the basement room before turning on him. “What the fuck was that?”
“If Biagio’s a smart man—and despite our disgust and dislike of him, I think we can agree that he is smart—he’ll see this as a show of strength.”
“How? We had that man in our hands. We could’ve—” She shook her head and let out a humorless laugh. “Killing him would’ve been easy for us.” But the questioning was gone from her tone.
Pleased that she understood, he said, “Exactly. Killing that man would have been too easy. Showing that his goons are too weak for us to even care about, let alone hurt, that’s the show of strength we need here.”
“I get it,” she said, finally. “But that doesn’t mean I have to like it.”
“Don’t worry, my bloodthirsty little mate.” He pulled her into his arms. “We’ll get our chance soon. Of that, I have no doubt.”
9
Shit. Shit. Shit.
Domenica stared down at the pregnancy test in her hand, filled with both denial and shock. How could this happen? And now, when things were still so messed up. She needed to get out of here, needed to talk to someone other than Giancarlo. She couldn’t think clearly around him. Both her hormones and her heart were instantly compromised by his presence. And she needed to think about this, really think. She grabbed her coat and purse, and headed out the door.
For twenty minutes, she drove without destination, mind reeling. How had she gotten pregnant so quickly? Well, sure, she’d had enough time. But if her calculations were right, Gian must have gotten her pregnant the first time they slept together. The night he turned into a dragon.
Unbelievable.
She had to talk to Anna.
Her best friend was a short drive away from where Domenica found herself, almost as if she’d been heading there all along. Which, subconsciously she may have been. Domenica parked in front of Anna’s building, then hopped out of her car, conscious of the men across the lot watching her. No threat there. Her men—her and Gian’s. It annoyed her to be followed, but she would have been disappointed had they not. They had their orders.
She trotted toward her friend’s apartment, thinking about what different lives they led. She’d always been jealous of Anna. Her friend was neither rich nor privileged, and yet Domenica envied her. She envied her freedom—her ability to go anywhere and do anything she wanted. Her ability to speak with any other person she chose to, without having to wonder who they worked for, or what their angle was. She envied her ability to sleep with whomever she wanted. Marry whomever she chose. Most of all, she envied her ability to be invisible.
Domenica hadn’t wanted to be invisible for a very long time. But she could remember being so painfully jealous of that in high school. She’d move beyond that. Found her own strength, forged her own home. Yet in some ways, she still envied her friend. Especially right now.
If Anna got pregnant unexpectedly, it would make life complicated for her. But the complexities of getting pregnant now, with her life so in flux, made Domenica’s mind boggle at the implications, the details.
She would have Gian’s baby.
Fear and excitement mixed together in her belly, making butterflies. She halted in front of Anna’s apartment, hesitating. So much had happened in the last two weeks. And she hadn’t talked to Anna, her best friend, about any of it yet.
The door opened, and Domenica started. But before she could react further, her friend flew at her. Pulling her into a bear hug so tight that Domenica struggled to breathe.
“Mena!” Anna said. But before Domenica could reply, she found herself dragged into Anna’s apartment. “It’s been forever!”
Her heart filled with warmth at the greeting, and she cleared her throat. “Long time.”
Anna studied her with a knowing look. “Too long. But it’s really good to see you. Tell me everything. Do we need ice cream?”
Domenica let out a nervous laugh. Why had she been worried her friend would be angry? She should have known Anna better than that. Her friend was loyal to a fault, a truly good person—which, Domenica could admit, that she wasn’t. At least, not always. Pragmatism was paramount to surviving her world.
But Anna’s ability to forgive was truly remarkable.
“I don’t even know if we have time for ice cream, with how long this story will take.”
Anna shot her a shocked expression—she looked aghast. “Don’t you swear like that in my house.”
Domenica laughed.
“I’m serious. I won’t accept such blasphemy,” Anna chided. “There is always time for ice cream.”
“Touché,” Domenica replied.
She sat down on one of Anna’s barstools at her breakfast bar. Her story poured out of her, and she left little out between the night of the nightclub and how she’d found her way to Anna’s doorstep. Anna nodded along, getting them both giant bowls of ice cream, as she listened.
When Domenica neared the end of her story, Anna just stared at her. “That’s… a lot to take in.”
“There’s more,” Domenica said.
Anna’s eyes widened. “How can there be more?” she squeaked.
She had no idea, and yet… “I started feeling a little funny—really tired the last week or so. And I just took a home pregnancy test.”
Anna rounded the bar and pulled Domenica in for a tight embrace. “I see what the kicker was now.”
Confusion washed over her. “Kicker?”
Anna stepped back, her eyes bright with unshed tears. And she offered Domenica a bright smile. “The thing that pushed you over the edge to come to me. Given the other dramatic things that have happened that have kept you too busy from even dropping me a call, I figured it had to be something big.”
Domenica snorted at the mixture of guilt trip and logical reasoning coming from her friend.
“So… You’re pregnant.” Anna’s voice was full of awe.
Nothing felt real. It was as if peeing on that stick had pushed her into an alternate reality—one where she wandered around dazed and somehow removed from it all. “Yes. I’m pregnant.”
Reality flexed, seeming to right itself with her words.
“Wow,” Anna murmured. Then, more firmly, she added, “You will be a great mom.”
Domenica rubbed her eyes then scooped up a spoonful of ice cream. “You think?”
Anna nodded, then wiped away a tear that threatened to escape her eyelid. “I have no doubt.”
She would be a mother. This was really happening.
“Have you told Gian?” Anna asked.
She shook her head. “It didn’t seem real until I told you. Needed to p
rocess it first, I guess.”
Anna smile widened. “So you came to me first.”
“Yes, I did.”
“Good choice.”
Domenica silently agreed, and they refilled their ice cream bowls together.
***
Domenica left Anna’s feeling much better than when she’d arrived. After so much ice cream, her skirt felt tight, but she supposed she would probably have to get used to that. Most importantly, after more than a few tears shed between them, she’d purged some of her blind fear.
She sat in her car, and shut the door behind her. In the rearview mirror, she could see her bodyguards in their own vehicle, patiently awaiting her next action. Her phone rang, and she looked at the caller ID.
“Hi, Tony.”
“Some of the feelers we sent out are coming back in.”
Hope made her heart race. “Tell me.”
“Word on the street is that Biagio is or was pulling a double-cross of some kind. Something major enough to send people into a tizzy. Major enough no one wants to share details with us,” Tony said.
Confusion washed over her. Who could Biagio already have double-crossed while still securing his position? Someone with a prior deal with her father? That didn’t seem explosive enough for everyone to be so tightlipped about it. And it also didn’t seem likely, considering Biagio’s current goal to secure his position.
“Keep digging.”
Tony grunted on the other end of the line, and she hit the end button.
Mind whirling as she thought through all the possible angles, she drove back to Gian’s. Her small troop of guards in tow.
The second she stepped into the door of Gian’s home she knew something was wrong. Voices weren’t raised, but she could hear annoyance in Gian’s tone, and something akin to fear on the other man’s.
The man from Powyrkin affairs stood with Gian in the foyer. The man turned to face her and his expression immediately brightened. “Ah, Miss Spadaro. Perhaps you can talk some sense into your mate.”
“I wouldn’t count on it,” she said dryly. “What is this?”
“As I was just explaining to your mate, his blood came up as having some unexpected relatives in Homeland. We need you—both of you—to come to Homeland as soon as possible.”
What relatives could he be talking about? No, it didn’t matter. Not while her father was still missing.
“And as I just told you, the answer is no,” Gian said, his eyes on her. “We have business to deal with here before we could even consider it.”
She nodded in agreement, grateful for Gian’s support.
The hope in the messenger’s expression faded with her agreement. “Please—it is of the utmost importance—”
“Our priority is finding my mate’s father, then securing our positions. Only after we accomplish those things will we consider visiting your Homeland. Period,” Gian said. “Besides, I’ve always known that I was adopted. I’m not sure I care to find whatever people put me up for adoption, anyway.”
The man paled, then opened his mouth to argue before snapping it shut. After a long moment, he said, “If you would agree, perhaps, to visit eventually…”
“Sure,” Domenica interjected before Gian could argue. “After things are settled—we’ll consider it.” She shot Gian a look, and after a long pause, he nodded, his expression closed off.
The messenger tensed, as though he wanted to say something else. Then he gave Gian a short bow. “Very well, sir.”
Before the man could dig deep for the courage to argue more, Domenica showed him out as forcefully as she could while maintaining a veneer of politeness. She didn’t see a purpose in pissing the man off needlessly.
When she returned to Gian, he was sipping scotch from a glass. While his feelings didn’t show in his expression, tension laced his frame.
“I hope I didn’t overstep, I—”
“Of course not.” He sipped his drink. “You did the only polite thing you could. I appreciate you looking out for me when I’m not thinking as coolly as I could be about things.” Another drink, this one longer.
She closed the distance between them, and gave him a hug. One of his strong arms wrapped around her, and she took a deep breath of his scent.
“The truth is, the idea of meeting the people who put me up for adoption isn’t appealing. I’ve come to terms with the fact that I was adopted—a long time ago. I’m happy with my life. With my family. With my mate.” He pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “Whoever waits for me in Homeland is a stranger. I’m not sure I want to meet them at all.”
“I understand.” And she did. As much as she could.
But when it came down to it, she wasn’t entirely sure that they would have a choice.
10
Domenica woke with a bad feeling twisting in her gut. And it wasn’t just that she hadn’t summoned the courage to tell Gian that she was pregnant. Something felt wrong. As if she was waiting for the other shoe to drop.
The feeling stuck with her throughout the day. By evening, she’d decided that she was overly anxious because of the pregnancy. As if on cue, her cell phone rang. The caller ID showed Anna was phoning.
A smile touched her lips as she accepted the call. It was like Anna could read her mind. No doubt she was calling to reassure her.
“Could you hear my need for ice cream all the way over there?” Domenica asked as she answered the phone.
“Mena!” Anna’s voice was high, reedy. “Help me—please! I—”
“Anna!”
The other end of the line went silent for a long moment. Then another voice came on the line. One she recognized. “Come for your friend. Or you’ll receive what’s left of her delivered to your doorstep.”
The line clicked dead.
Biagio had Anna.
As quickly as she could, Domenica ran to find Gian, and told him about Anna. She struggled to breathe around the hard lump in her chest as she paced back and forth in Giancarlo’s office.
Instructions had arrived via text from Anna’s phone while she’d been looking for Gian. Biagio wanted her. Wanted Gian to deliver her himself. Wanted them to come alone to a place he’d specify at the last minute.
Where he’d no doubt be waiting with all of his armed goons and a gun to her best friend’s head.
“I have to do something,” she said, wringing her hands.
“We will. I promise.”
She nodded in response to Gian’s reassurance, but didn’t look at him. Taking in his calm expression would only reassure her, and she didn’t feel like being reassured. Her mind was too much in a turmoil. She still couldn’t believe the fucker had taken Anna. Not only was she a human, but she also had no part of the life. She’d been raised in a normal family, and had never done more than play around the edges of Domenica’s world. How was she dealing with this?
Anna was scared—had to be. The idea of her best friend being frightened—because of her, especially—made her stomach swirl with dread and guilt. It was one thing to go after her, after Gian. They had both grown up in the life, and chose to continue to live in it. There were risks associated with that they accepted without thought every day.
But Anna…
“I can’t just sit around here, doing nothing,” she said, finally looking at Gian.
Expression calm, Gian nodded. “And I’m not asking you to. I’m just asking you to not go off half-cocked without me. I’m asking you to slow things down, just a bit. Give us time to come up with a plan.”
The urge to go off, kick Biagio and all of his goons’ asses, was overwhelming. But that would be a lot harder to do alone. And, she had to admit, a lot harder to do without a plan.
“Fine,” she said. “But we need to hurry. She’s not like us, Gian. She grew up in a normal family.”
“I understand,” he said.
But could he, really? She wasn’t even entirely sure she could. Some of the defenses that she took for granted, some of the coping mechanisms she’d
used since she was a child, would be foreign to Anna.
“Sit,” Gian said, gesturing toward one of the chairs across the desk from him. “We’ll plan.”
“I’m fine standing,” she insisted.
“Please?” he asked, gesturing again. “You pacing a hole into my floor will hardly help your friend.”
She sighed heavily. He was right.
She sat, and they began to plan.
Staying fairly close to Gian’s side, she strode toward the building Biagio had instructed them to come to—if she ever wanted to see Anna again.
Panic sent blood rushing through her ears, and she took in a quiet, deep breath, attempting to calm herself. She would do Anna no favors by allowing herself to fall into hysterics. Right now, more than ever, she needed to approach the situation as though she didn’t care. A cool head was paramount.
But keeping calm while her friend was in danger? Easier said than done.
The warehouse that Biagio had asked them to meet at was so cliché that, in any other situation, Domenica might have found it amusing. They approached the side door that they’d been instructed to enter through, and Gian paused to open the door for her. She shot him a sharp look, and he frowned, then entered first.
His automatic chivalry would have been amusing if the situation hadn’t been so dire.
The warehouse was a large, wide-open space filled with dust, old trash, and who knew what else. In the center of the large room, Biagio and what looked like a small army of mafia men waited for them.
Armed with high-powered rifles and one with what she would swear was a flamethrower, Biagio’s men looked ready for battle.
Then again, if he’d brought anything less than the best force he could summon, she’d have thought even less of him, if that was possible.
After all, she was traveling with the dragon.
She glanced at Gian, as they made their way across the mildew-scented warehouse. He looked confident, cold. Like the man she’d first met in the bar.
For herself, Domenica knew that she had looked better. Brute force was, unfortunately, the best idea they had been able to come up with when it came to rescuing Anna. Biagio had obviously planned for that, too. His instructions had been that she and Gian come alone. And they had.
Dragon Mob: A Powyrworld Urban Fantasy Romance (The Lost Dragon Princes Book 3) Page 8