Destroying Dominic (Genoa Mafia Series Book 3)

by Ginger Ring

  When Oscar swung the bat, it gave Dom the perfect opportunity to strike the side of his opponent’s bleeding leg. Dom kicked it from the side and the man stumbled and went down. Dominic lunged to get him in a chokehold but his competitor slid from his grasp and ended up flipping Dom to the ground. His fall to the cement caused his teeth to rattle. He groaned as his body told him he’d just aged fifty years.

  Nothing was broken and he shook his head to clear the cobwebs. Dom fought the urge to find Stephanie in the crowd and make sure she was okay, there was no time. Jasper had promised to keep her safe and he’d put his trust in him. Right now, he had other things to worry about. Oscar had picked up and started the chainsaw that had been among their weapons of choice. The smell of gas and smoke filled the air and he recognized the cries of the woman he loved in the background.

  Oscar came after him while he was still on the ground. Dom grabbed a crowbar to hold the saw at bay as the man above him pushed it closer to his face. Sparks flew and burned parts of his flesh. Dominic took advantage of the awkward stance and the strain the heavy saw was putting on Oscar’s back. When the man lifted it briefly, Dominic struck the man’s leg with the metal bar. The crack echoed in the room as it shattered his enemy’s knee. The saw fell from his hands and skidded across the floor.

  With the man on his back, Dominic pounced. He tried to go for Oscar’s throat but the guy would not give up. Oscar’s arms were the size of Dom’s legs. The years had added rings of muscle and strength to this beast just like age did to the rings on a tree. Oscar also had a longer reach. Whereas Dom could not reach his throat, Oscar had his thick fingers around his and he squeezed tight. It would be a minute at most before Dom would lose air and go limp. There was no way that was going to happen. If it took his dying breath, which it might be, Oscar would win.

  As the grip on his throat had him seeing stars, Dom caught sight of something lying by the shoulder of the man beneath him. It was an ice pick. The first time he tried to reach it, he caused it to move farther. With just seconds until he passed out, he made one last grasp. That was all he had, one last chance to save Stephanie. Dominic threw his knee into the guy’s gut and the grip around his neck loosened.

  With the pick held securely in both hands, he plunged it to the hilt into Oscar’s heart. The man’s eyes bulged. It was over. His lungs would fill with blood in seconds.

  “That’s for Anastasia.” Dom withdrew it and stabbed him again. “That’s for Angelia.” He repeated the process several more times. “And that is for all the lives you forced me to take to protect her.” Foam and blood dripped from Oscar’s mouth. Dominic stood and dropped the bloody tool to the floor. The metal clunked on the cement. Everyone was silent except for the final gurgles sounding from the man on the ground.

  Dom staggered back. His legs shook as his heart raced with adrenaline. Everyone was quiet and just stared. Blood dripped from his fingers and covered his chest. Finally, he heard Jasper yell, “Fuck yeah!” and the crowd followed suit with shouts and applause. His gaze finally settled on Stephanie. Her face was pale and her eyes were wide. Jasper still stood behind her, his hand resting on her shoulder. Dominic may have won the battle but he’d lost the only thing that mattered. How would she ever get over what he’d done? What he was?

  She’d be better off with Jasper. The guy had grown on him. He knew deep down the man had a heart, and once it was taken, that lucky woman would always be first in his life. A few of the biker crew members came up and slapped him on the back but he was still in a daze.

  Without a word to anyone, Dom walked out of the building. His skin was cold and clammy with sweat and blood. The warmth from the sun was heaven and he stood with his face toward the sky. He tore his fingers through the braid on his head. One of the first things Oscar did when he arrived was shaved Dom’s head, and that’s the way it remained the whole time he was held there. It was risky to have hair as a competitor could tear it from your head. A lot of good that did the man lying on the floor.

  Dom wandered over toward the wood fence on the edge of the property and stared back at the garage. No one had come out yet. That was a blessing. He wasn’t ready to talk to anyone. The white van he used was parked in the lot and would soon be used to cart Oscar to the funeral home. Wiping the back of his hand across his forehead, it finally hit him that it could be him right now taking his last ride in the van. There was no doubt in his mind that he would win, but going against Oscar hadn’t been in the plan. That had shocked the hell out of him, but he was glad in the end. That man would’ve been able to do to anyone else what he’d done to him.

  Stephanie was free now. Would she go home to California to be with her father or just go where no one could find her?

  “Dom,” she called from the building, and then awkwardly ran across the parking lot in her sandals. The woman should be running away from him, not toward him, but she was.

  His heart ached as she’d never looked more beautiful. Her pretty dress so fresh and clean, while he was covered in filth. They were total opposites in every way. It had never been clearer than now. He loved her with all his soul but happy endings were only in books. Now she would give him the heave-ho—“Thanks for saving me, but no, thanks.”

  But she didn’t. Stephanie leaped into his arms. Her dress was now stained with blood but she didn’t seem to care as she covered his face in kisses. “Are you hurt? Do you need a doctor?”

  “No.” He shook her off. “You’ll ruin your dress.”

  “I don’t give a damn about the dress. You risked your life for me. Fought for me. I can’t ever thank you enough.” She framed his face with her hands.

  “You don’t have to thank me and you don’t owe me anything.”

  Stephanie cocked her head like a confused puppy. “What’s wrong?”

  “Don’t you understand?”

  “No. I love you.”

  “Still?” Dominic chuckled and waved his hand toward the shed as they carried Oscar’s body to the van. “After seeing that you still want to be with me?”

  “It’s because of who I am that you had to do that. Do you still want to be with me?” She folded her arms across her chest. “Seems to me we are the perfect ones to be together. Perfectly messed up from perfectly messed up situations. We aren’t picket fence type people but you’re the one I want. You know where I come from and still stood by me. I know who you are and what you did and I’m still standing here. I’ll be standing by you for the rest of my life. Am I wasting my time? Did you change your mind?”

  Could it be? Could they really be happy and go on from here? If she was willing to try, he wasn’t giving up. Stephanie was the best thing that ever happened in his life, and if he had to fight for her again, he would.

  “Well?” Her lower lip trembled and there were tears in her eyes.

  Dom took a step forward. “I told you I don’t fall in love but it was a lie. It’s the only lie I ever told you. The truth is you’ve been in my heart from the first time I ever saw you. You held the piece to my heart that’s been missing for such a long time. I love you and always have. Together, I feel normal.” He smiled. “Well, as normal as one could be in this business. If you can stand to be with a scarred, broken fighter, I can handle being with the daughter of a mob boss.”

  “Try to keep me away.” She wrapped her arms around him again and he crushed his lips to hers. It wasn’t a tender kiss but one of possession, of need, of passion. They belonged to each other and no one was ever going to tear them apart again.

  “Isn’t this touching?” Maksim snarled, and clapped his hands.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Stephanie

  She cringed at his voice. How she wished it was he who had just died. “What do you want, Maksim? You lost.”

  “Let’s be reasonable. Your father needs our business or he’ll go under.” He narrowed his eyes at her. “I’ll make sure of that.”

  “Anybody who gets involved with you deserves it.”

  “It’s
time for you to leave,” Roman said. She hadn’t realized that they were drawing a crowd. Roman, Maddy, Arlo, and her father now surrounded them. Hopefully, her father hadn’t heard what he said, but then the jury was still out on his involvement. If he hadn’t signed that damn contract, they wouldn’t be here right now. She glanced at Dominic. If it weren’t for that damn contract, she wouldn’t be here at all.

  Maksim started to argue about some unfair advantage but Roman shut that down fast. “The battle was won fair and square. You leave now. I have some business to discuss with Ivan and it doesn’t include you.”

  “This isn’t fair,” the younger man whined.

  “This was your idea.” Stephanie lunged and kicked him in the nuts. The guy bent over in pain and Dominic held her from behind before she could attack him again. “You are pure evil,” she spat. “You deserve to spend eternity in hell for what you did to my friends and all those other girls.”

  Maksim slowly straightened but ignored her. “You promised me safe passage home, Caponelli, and I’m ready to go.”

  “Gladly.” Roman motioned for one of the SUVs to come over. It stopped and the driver got out and opened the back door. “Take this bastard where he needs to go.”

  Maksim fumed. His face a bright red and his fists were clenched as he got in.

  “Yes, sir.” The driver closed the door and then winked at Steph. There was something familiar about the guy. Could it be? Her savior from the past? Briefly, before he got into the front seat, she caught sight of a dog. It was a red-nosed boxer mix, and if she was a betting person, she’d put odds on it that his name was Willy Dawg. A smile crossed her face.

  Everyone stared as they drove off.

  “He got off easy,” Maddy grumbled, and Roman laughed.

  “My fierce wife thinks I went easy on him.” He placed an arm around her shoulder and kissed her cheek. “Maybe she should run this organization. The woman is tough as nails.”

  “He should be in the van with the other guy but I know you promised him no harm.” Maddy sometimes forgot she shouldn’t speak against her husband in public but he seemed more than a little amused with her comments.

  Dominic’s work van soon headed off in the same direction.

  “I promised him that no one in my family would harm him,” Roman clarified.

  Maddy stepped toward the road and pointed at the retreating van. “So who was the driver? He wasn’t one of our men?”

  “That’s Jeeper,” Ivan said and walked over to his daughter. “He works for me.”

  “Did you tell him to help me get away?” Stephanie hoped it was true.

  “Yes. I did.”

  ***

  Stephanie sat with her feet up while she typed on her laptop. This story was taking much longer than she thought as things kept changing. They’d just taken her father to the airport and he was on his way back to the West Coast.

  Maksim had joined Oscar in the van heading to the funeral home, so his story was over. After a long talk with Ivan, she discovered that neither he nor Maksim’s father knew what he was involved in until she was almost taken that stormy night so long ago. Maksim had used her father’s ships to transport women out of the country. He was also blackmailing him from saying anything as he made it look like her father was just as guilty as Maksim was.

  The contract had been signed before then. It was his idea to have Jeeper convince her to leave. He’d rather never see her again than have his daughter at the mercy of a madman. They’d had a few days to reunite and he’d talked with Roman about selling the shipping business to some of his contacts out there.

  Her father had aged over the years and wished to retire. He’d taken an instant liking to Genoa and was already looking at properties on the lake. Everything was coming together. She hadn’t gone back to working at the bridal store. Planning weddings wasn’t her passion, writing was. Her book may never sell a million copies, but the fact that she was almost finished with it was a milestone in her life.

  She needed to get a job soon, once she received a real Social Security card. Anastasia Bravikova was alive again. There was no need to keep pretending she was someone she wasn’t. Everyone still called her Stephanie—that would be too much of a change. Her father had been depositing money into her bank account every month since she’d been gone in the hopes that she might use it if needed. To say she really didn’t need to work would be an understatement. She was loaded.

  “Almost done.” She typed “The End,” closed the laptop, and stood.

  Dominic walked across the room and kissed her forehead. “I’m so proud of you.”

  “Thanks. Now to get it published is another thing.”

  “The fact that you finished it is a huge accomplishment in itself.”

  “It’s a pretty crazy story. That’s for sure.”

  “The true ones usually are.” He scooped her up in his arms.

  “What are you doing?” Dominic smelled delicious. That fresh, outdoorsy scent that drove her wild. “We have to get to the party.” Valentina and Ryan were sharing the news of their pregnancy. It certainly wasn’t a secret. The woman glowed and Ryan couldn’t be prouder or more overprotective than he was before.

  “Let’s have a party of our own.” He tossed her on their bed and pulled his shirt over his head. She never tired of looking at him. That long hair made her swoon, and when those muscles flexed, her knees went weak.

  Stephanie continued to stare as he removed her shirt and bent to kiss her neck. The scruff of his jaw tickled her and she squirmed from his touch. They’d talked a lot in the last week. There were no more secrets between them and Angelia’s picture was now in a drawer. That part of his past was over for good. When he slipped her shorts and panties down, there were no more clothes between them either. He was a wonderful lover. Sometimes fierce and overpowering and other times sweet and tender.

  They didn’t have a lot of time but she didn’t need it when the man she was with made her melt on sight. She gasped as his finger dipped between her legs. Stephanie was ready before he even asked. Her love for this man made her heart want to jump from her chest. Dominic kissed his way from her breasts to her neck to her mouth. He was an electric shock to her system that she’d grown to need on a daily basis just to survive.

  Her lids closed when he thrust in. The pace was fast and furious but he never finished before she did. Her man may not use a lot of words but he spoke to her like no one ever could. They rocked back and forth, entwined in every possible way before her world burst and Stephanie floated back to earth. His groan of pleasure echoed in her ears.

  Stephanie hugged him tight, tears in the corners of her eyes.

  “Are you okay?” Dominic slid his thumb across her cheek. “Did I hurt you?”

  “No, never.” She smiled. “I’m just happy. I’ve been lost for so long, wandering alone, but now I have you. I have my father, Madison, Valentina.” Stephanie laughed. “Even Roman no longer wants to kill me. Everything is right in the world.”

  “Yes, it is.” He kissed her lips again.

  ***

  Six Months Later

  It seemed odd to be at Firenza and not be working the event being held, but this one was for her. The first publisher that she submitted her book to had offered her a contract. It was a dream come true.

  Not only that, her whole family, her new family, were all there to show their support. Valentina looked amazing with her round belly. She wore flats to appease Ryan, who was afraid she would fall in her stilettos. Roman teased Madison about getting to work on producing an heir but so far that hadn’t worked. Maddy was scared of babies, never having been around them, but that might change when her sister-in-law had one.

  Stephanie had been signing books all night. It wasn’t out until Tuesday but she’d received advance copies of Contract from Hell from the publisher. Every time she saw the cover, a smile lit up her face. It was of Dominic. You couldn’t see his face as it was in the shadows, but it was definitely his hot body. He’d never
live down the teasing from the guys but he did it for her. That cover alone would sell books. Lots and lots of books.

  Contract from Hell was her story, but to the world, it was a work of fiction. The names had been changed to protect the guilty, the innocent, and the truly awful. She kept her fake name as her pen name.

  Stephanie flexed her fingers and looked up. A tall redhead was the next in line for a book. She held out a copy for Stephanie to sign.

  “Would you like it personalized?” It was still hard to believe that people actually wanted her autograph. The whole thing was crazy.

  “Yes, please. You can make it out to Jackie.”

  Stephanie signed it and placed a bookmark in the middle. “Thanks so much, and I hope you enjoy the story of Stassi and Diego.”

  “I’m sure I will. Here’s my card. I’m a new reporter at the Genoa Globe, I would love to set up an interview with you.” The woman held out a well-manicured hand and placed the card in front of her.

  “Okay, that sounds like fun.” Publicity was still something she shied away from but it had to be done. “What was your name again?” Stephanie twirled a piece of hair around her index finger.

  “Jacqueline Smith,” she answered.

  “Wow, my favorite angel.” Jasper came out of nowhere and stood by her side.

  “I’m sorry?” The woman gave him a quick glance from head to toe.

  “Charlie’s Angels. You know, Farrah, Kate, and Jaclyn.” He winked. “Jacqueline was my favorite one.”

  “Yes, well, same name different spelling.” She turned her attention back to Steph.

  “Both still angels in my eyes.” Jasper practically drooled and Stephanie rolled her eyes.