Bloodbath

by K. A. Merikan

  He rubbed the tears off his face and turned to the cell. He wouldn’t touch her, even for a hug of consolation. She wasn’t his to touch, because a girl like her never would be. How could he have imagined that they had any kind of future together? Her world was so far away from his it would have been impossible to make the two collide.

  The curtain whispered, and he looked up, only to meet her damp, blue-eyed gaze as she slowly walked out, pretty like an angel and just as sweet.

  And yet Mark would do as Domenico told him, because he was a monster like everyone else.

  “What… what was that about, Mark? What is happening?”

  Mark licked his lips as if he had to prepare them for the lies he was about to say, and he took a step closer to the steel bars. “He had a plan for getting you out, but it got thwarted. The Morenos have arrived early. But Raul Moreno isn’t here yet, we can still find a way out.”

  Charlotte’s face went as white as a sheet. “We?” she whispered with wide eyes. “We? It’s not you who is close being taken by that man!”

  “No, no!” Mark was quick to say. “It’s only his son Samuel who will come to see you today.”

  Charlotte hugged herself, and Mark rushed to the door of the cell so that he could hug her. “See me? What does that mean? What if he wants to—”

  “He won’t! He will probably just want to see your body…”

  “See my body?” Her voice became a shrill and her breathing a heavy rasp. “He will grope me, and you will watch on? Mark, it’s been weeks! Let’s just go now. Somehow. There must be some commotion if they arrived.”

  Mark tried to hug her, but she pushed at his chest. “There’s no way right now.”

  She took a step back, tears already pooling in her eyes again. “Don’t let him touch me, or I’ll tell them you’re here undercover!”

  Mark sneered and spread his arms. “You won’t, because I’m not an undercover anything, Charlotte! I’m just a guy who wants to help, but it won’t be easy.”

  “You lied to me?” Charlotte’s lips parted and she stared as if she finally saw the wolf eyes peeking out from underneath the sheepskin on Mark’s back.

  Mark took a step closer to her. “Yes, but I still want to help—”

  The moment he tried to hug her, Charlotte slapped him across the face so hard her fingernails left scratches on Mark’s cheek. “Don’t you dare touch me!”

  Mark took a deep breath, fighting the urge to break through her defenses. He took a step back, and then another. “I think it will be for the best if we don’t touch each other anymore.”

  Charlotte was heaving, and her worried gaze followed him as he left the cell. “Please help me…” she whined once more, and Mark didn’t want to even think how much dignity that request cost her.

  Mark looked away and let the sheepskin slide off his shoulders completely.

  Chapter 15 - Domenico

  The sun felt too nice against Domenico’s skin for him to care about the dismissive glares shooting his way now that the truth about his relationship with Seth had spread like wildfire. He didn’t need any of those people, not really. Not when he had Mark and Seth at his side. He only associated with Toro’s thugs out of necessity. Now that it was no longer necessary for his plans, he decided to relax and let his sexuality do the work for him. The reaction of the men would separate the wheat from the chaff, and one day the chaff would pay the price.

  It didn’t escape Domenico’s notice that the only man here who didn’t seem to have gotten the memo that Dom and Seth had become social pariahs was Felipe, who spent the morning merrily playing chess with Seth, with a joint in one hand and a glass of beer in the other. As much distrust as Domenico had of him in the beginning, it was becoming increasingly clear that someone, who was high nearly all the time didn’t pose any danger to either of them. At the end of the day, it was none of Dom’s business why Toro allowed Felipe to idle his life away on Toro’s coin, but considering how the villa was made to look like a palace, maybe Toro needed a jester to complete his court?

  It would have been different if he were alone. He hadn’t mentioned it to neither Seth nor Mark, but there were some options available for a short liaison. Like the hunky guard with a snake tattoo looping around his entire arm. But men like that, those who were desperate enough to sleep with women to provide cover for their real needs, were not to be trusted. They would not be loyal if their own life came on the line, and they wouldn’t make good insiders for Domenico. They could only be quiet fucks for a bit of relief, but in Seth Domenico had found a true partner.

  He took a big drag of smoke, watching the droplets of water drying on his partner’s skin. Seth looked like an underwear model, one from a classy ad made for an expensive brand, with great teeth, shining eyes, and a harmoniously muscled body—nothing like said guard, who clearly spent too much time at the gym instead of strengthening his muscles in more natural ways. Seth was pure class, and even now Domenico could imagine him diving in the pristine waters close to their home, complete with lines of light reflecting off his tan skin. Domenico would buy anything Seth were to advertise.

  Seth sat at the edge of the pool, and he frowned at Dom. “Stop staring at my chest, it’s not gonna make it sprout nipples.” He seemed to have no idea the scars didn’t make him any less handsome. If anything, it gave Domenico a thrill to touch them, because it was a tiny part of Seth that no one else but him had access to.

  Domenico got off the sunbed to join Seth. The white stone at the edge of the pool burned his skin, but he poured some water over it, and heat became bearable. The party music would mute most of their conversation, but it was a safe one to have here anyway. Across the pool, Domenico caught the burning gaze of the Snake Man but ignored him. He would not stop himself from interacting with his husband to not aggravate a hopeless case of closetitis. The bastard was just jealous he couldn’t have a taste of Dom’s dick. Dom sucked smoke out of his cigarette to agitate the man further.

  “I wasn’t thinking about that. I imagined you advertizing the new Calvin Klein cologne.”

  That brought a smug smile to Seth’s lips. He patted his taut stomach and it made Dom only pay more attention to the dark hairs on it. “You think? I definitely lost all the pudge.”

  Domenico laughed. “You’re obsessed. Those five kilos don’t make that much difference. All in your head,” he said and playfully poked Seth’s temple. He wasn’t blind to some of the blurred faces at the edge of his vision turning, but he chose to ignore them. Not everyone was violently homophobic, of course, but no one wanted to lose the privilege of being one of the guys by speaking to the token gays, and so it was just the two of them again. Dom truly didn’t mind but still remained wary of everything around him. As a precaution, he made their little group only had bottled drinks and food that couldn’t have possibly been spiked with laxatives or other shit.

  And then there was Mark, who came out of his Charlotte hole every now and then. Though not literally, since he wasn’t touching any of her orifices anymore. Even now, a few days later, despite the sun, the pleasures of the pool, and being allowed beer, he seemed to remain in sulking mode.

  “I think there’s a difference,” Mark said with a shrug, as insensitive to Seth’s body issues as he had been when they were still a major issue.

  Domenico tossed the still-lit cigarette at him and shot him a sharp glance. “Did someone ask your opinion? Last time I checked I was the only one sleeping with him.” Sadly, just sleeping for now, because Seth was so obsessed with being caught on camera doing anything else than hand jobs that Domenico still wasn’t getting what he craved so much. Sleeping with his cock pressed against that glorious ass had to do for now.

  Mark groaned from his spot under a parasol. “Just saying…”

  “I get it, Mark. You were going for a compliment.” Seth smiled at Mark, but the boy didn’t appear any less gloomy than before. He was probably just frustrated he wasn’t getting any.

  “He still needs to learn
a lot,” said Domenico, watching Mark. “How did she take it?” he asked quietly. They were all talking in Italian, and he doubted anyone would bother listening on to all the conversations anyway, but adding another layer of difficulty for the surveillance team wasn’t a bad idea.

  Mark mulled over his answer, and Domenico doubted it was because of speaking in Italian, because the boy was getting really good at it. Just like him when he was Mark’s age, picking up languages like a sponge. Especially when Domenico had been doing hours of surveillance on his marks, learning languages had been a useful way to kill time.

  “Badly,” Mark said in the end. “It’s all pretty shit.”

  “She’s giving you the silent treatment?” asked Dom, discreetly brushing his finger over the side of Seth’s hand.

  “Yeah. But it’s so awkward it’s for the better, I guess.”

  Seth smiled at Dom sweetly, but no matter how pleasant that was, it made Domenico think that Seth shouldn’t be doing that in public. It made him seem softer, much more vulnerable. Not something Seth should be in this place.

  He wouldn’t smile back, at least not in this carefree way. “Remember. Face of stone when we’re out here.”

  Seth sighed and looked away, going as far as putting on his sunglasses. Seeing him shut off made the prospect of fucking him slip further out of Domenico’s grasp. Maybe once they were out somewhere as Dana’s bodyguards they could have a quick fuck, since it wasn’t like Dana actually needed protection.

  Seth slid down into the water and leaned against the edge of the pool with his arms. “Did she get her period?”

  Domenico scowled. “Oh, fucking hell. Way to spoil the mood,” he said, pulling away his hand.

  “I thought you were used to blood,” Mark said, but a stupid little smile was pulling at his lips.

  “You know that’s not the same kind of blood. We wouldn’t be discussing ass blood here, would we?”

  “What if Bastian could get pregnant?”

  Seth’s scowl was prominent even with the shades on. “Mark! Fuck off.”

  Domenico’s fingertips tingled, and he looked at Seth, profoundly unhappy when his mind delivered the relevant image. “Jesus fuck. What is wrong with you? That’s not how God created us!”

  Mark got up from his chair and stretched in the sun. He wasn’t even eighteen yet, but despite being annoyed with him, Dom had to notice Mark didn’t look like a boy anymore, but like a young man. He could easily pretend to be twenty. “Good, I guess, ‘cause I can’t imagine either of you taking care of a toddler.”

  Domenico snorted. “That’s women’s work. I am good at playing with children. I’d be a good dad.”

  Seth smirked. “This one time, Gian dropped a boy into a pile of dirty snow for throwing a snowball at us.”

  Mark chuckled. “And you wouldn’t have a woman to take care of the baby anyway.”

  Domenico shrugged. “Well, excuse me, but that brat didn’t know how to fucking behave. If we had one, he would know what discipline meant.”

  Mark’s face soured, and he raised his eyebrows, preparing Dom for yet another combative comment. “What if it was a girl?”

  Domenico groaned and rolled his eyes. “I guess... it would be impossible to not love your own blood, something that was created out of you.” The worst thing was that this question made Domenico’s heart fill with all kinds of upsetting scenarios. He’d have a woman around all the time to take care of the girl. He had no idea how to act naturally around one for more than a few minutes, not without following a pre-planned script.

  Seth snorted. “I bet you wouldn’t let her go out on her own anywhere.”

  Domenico pressed his lips together. What kind of answer were they expecting when so much harm could come to a pretty girl? “Well, someone might hurt her.”

  Mark rested his hands on his nape, as if he wanted to show off that he wasn’t all that skinny anymore. “I’d take care of her real good.”

  Domenico clenched his jaw and slapped Mark’s calf hard. “You’d be her big brother! Don’t be fucking disgusting.”

  Seth nodded. “You wouldn't want to fuck your step-sister after all, right? That would be a horrible idea.”

  Domenico growled, annoyed that Seth would be shitting all over their relationship again. It was high time to get over the past. “That’s not even the point. You know how men are. Self-centered, violent, liars, and they’d tell her anything to get under her skirt. I’m not even mentioning that I’d never let my daughter date a man who sleeps with other guys.”

  “I wouldn’t be violent to her or anything.” Mark crossed his arms on his chest. “And it’s not like I do both guys and girls at the same time.”

  Domenico hated how Mark had started flaunting his interest in pussy since it came up. As if he wanted to punish Dom for telling Mark to stop sleeping with the girl. “Of course you’d say that. And then you’d get bored of pussy and go off to suck some cock. And that would hurt her if she found out. I’m never letting my little girl date a fuck-it-all!”

  Mark spread his arms. “You don’t understand anything! Bastian, tell him.”

  Seth rubbed his chin against his forearms. “Oh, now you want me to tell him?

  ”What don’t I understand? You want to fuck around? Fine. But not with my daughter!”

  Mark stalled. “You don’t have a daughter.”

  That brought Domenico’s mind to a standstill, and he distracted himself by pulling on a dark hair growing on Seth’s forearm. “Yeah, but in theory I could have one, and I just wanted to set things straight right away, so that you’re not confused in the future.”

  Mark raised his eyebrows in defiance. “We don’t even know if she’d be pretty.”

  Domenico sought understanding in Seth’s eyes, but no glance could filter back through the dark shades Seth was wearing. “She obviously would. She’d be Bastian’s and mine. Two hot people make more hot people. She’d be the most exquisite woman you’d ever see.”

  Mark shook his head. “Yeah right. I bet she’d have a terrible personality. Yours and Bastian’s after all.” He laughed, but it sounded mean-spirited.

  Seth looked up at him. “And yet you’d still fall for her, because she’d be so hot.”

  Domenico smirked. “Don’t say that. She’d be an angel, like both our mothers,” he said, stroking Seth’s hand. He bet his mom would have gladly taken care of her granddaughter.

  Mark rolled his eyes but then made an abrupt turn with his body. “Shit. Gotta go.” He gave them a short wave and walked off. It only took Domenico one glance at the walkway by the other side of the pool to know why. Nero Moreno.

  And Mark wasn’t the only one to spot the green-haired freak approach, considering that some eighty percent of the people sunbathing suddenly remembered things that needed to be done by yesterday. Not that Domenico could entirely blame them, because Nero Moreno was completely naked. Only Felipe remained where he was, spread out in the sunbed and so deeply asleep he might as well have died.

  Seth turned around in the pool with a groan. “Someone should get him sectioned. Should we leave?”

  Domenico watched a whole group of women in bikinis leave before Nero could even reach the pool in all his tattooed glory.

  He had a decent-looking cock, but with all those patterns painted all over his skin, Domenico wasn’t sure if he’d ever tap that. Who knew where that body’s been? It might have been fucked by ten behind the nearest bar, and it wouldn’t have surprised Domenico. There was something about Moreno’s son that screamed trash and dirt, and it wasn't just the tattoos. It had much more to do with how Nero carried himself and how vulgar he was in his approach to getting sex.

  Unsurprisingly, David fidgeted away, hiding in the bushes growing at the side of the pool so abruptly he’d have fallen if there were no branches to hold on. If Domenico had any doubts about David’s commitment to rising in the ranks, even if through backdoor favors, they were all gone now. It seemed he was having second thoughts about a repeat p
erformance, but that served him right for being a homophobic douchebag.

  Seth pulled himself out of the water and sat on the edge, as if he were afraid to be in the water with the approaching caiman. “I’m taking that as a ‘no’. Stop staring.”

  “I can’t,” said Domenico, transfixed by the large shape of a caiman that ran across Nero’s chest, dominating all the other drawings with its pitch black flesh. And yet despite its solid color, the animal did not seem flat, almost as if Nero’s tattoo artist had managed to capture the texture of the reptile’s skin somehow.

  By the time Nero approached the pool and slid into the water, the whole area was much quieter than it had been minutes ago, and Domenico kind of appreciated this effect of Nero’s presence. But then he noticed something reflecting the sunlight right where the head of Nero’s cockhead was, and he was back at disgust.

  There was no doubt that Nero was heading their way once he started swimming, slowly like a predator approaching its prey. Tough luck for him, because Domenico would not be backing down.

  Dom nodded when Nero made the last few movements with his fingers and approached them, immersed so deep most of his face remained covered. The surface erupted in bubbles around Nero’s nose, and he finally stood in the water, which in this place only covered him up to the navel. Domenico tried not to gasp when he saw why the caiman on Nero’s firm chest looked so three-dimensional under the shiny droplets of water. There were scale-like lumps all over the pitch black ink, as if someone had pushed tiny beads underneath the skin and let the scars heal. It looked unreal and so barbaric Domenico tried hard not to flinch.

  “No one killed you two yet. Good.”

  Seth pushed his shades onto his head. “We’re doing our best.”

  Nero nodded with a huge grin. “I told people we’re fucking, so you should be good for now. No one dares touch what’s mine.”

  Domenico blinked, and for a moment he was ready to jump into the water and clutch at Nero’s neck to make him take back those words. He belonged to no one anymore. No one would ever dare to lay claim on him again, no one besides the one man Domenico chose to give his heart to. Nero’s lies couldn’t have been further from the truth, but the sole knowledge that others believed he’d as much as lay a finger on someone like Nero Moreno had his teeth clenching.