Gilded Agony

by K. A. Merikan

  Domenico laughed loudly, and paid for their food before swiping Seth with one arm and leading him away, leaving the rest of the line to order their treats. Seth dove his hand into the package and pulled out the sweet. Instead of eating it himself, he pushed it against Domenico’s mouth. Dom chewed on it with a satisfied smile and groaned, leaning in to nuzzle Seth’s jaw.

  “With a hand like that you’d be good at taming animals. ”Seth chuckled as they continued down the busy street, embracing like any other couple. He savored the sweetness of the cocada, crunching the chopped almonds used for topping. “I suppose I enjoy … wild things.”

  Domenico looked at him with such tenderness Seth’s heart melted as if they had just met for their first date. “You can’t stay away from dangerous beasts, can you?”

  Seth offered a bright smile. “Moth to the flame, Dom.”

  Chapter 10 - Domenico

  Fireworks lit up the sky above El Encanto when Domenico and Seth drove up to the gates of Toro’s property. The guards might have had a bit of liquor to sweeten their working night, but Domenico decided to let it slide and parked the car before leading Seth along the trees and toward their home.

  The main house boomed with music, the pool area was lit up so brightly the two of them could see dancing bodies in the distance, but Domenico didn’t feel like socializing. He’d had a hellish week, and all he needed was some time alone with Seth to soothe his aching brain.

  Seth, who’d been a joy to be around these past few days and who’d been particularly charming tonight. With his bowtie hanging loose at his collar, Domenico couldn’t wait to hold his husband and drown in those welcoming lips. For once, Seth hadn’t gone overboard with drinking at a party and was on just the right side of tipsy where his cheeks had a healthy flush and his jokes were getting a bit dumb but still remained adorable.

  They didn’t even bother turning on the light downstairs and climbed to the first floor with moonlight for illumination. Their footsteps echoed on the broad staircase and got faster by the second, like an overture to what was to happen once they stepped onto the stage of the master bedroom.

  Domenico couldn’t wait to see Seth in a starring role again, for once feeling like he had all the time in the world to appreciate each one of their bedroom acts.

  He pushed the door open—

  Someone screamed out. A girl’s voice.

  Domenico couldn’t hit the light switch fast enough, but he regretted his reflexes the moment the room brightened.

  A shock of pale blonde hair swirled in the air, covering a naked back. Mark sat up, staring back at Domenico with eyes the size of saucers even as he yanked the sheet up and covered the girl. She curled up to him, hiding her face from sight, as if she knew very well that she wasn’t meant to be here.

  Messy hair in his eyes, Mark put his arms around her and held Domenico’s gaze despite pallor chasing away the flush of arousal. “D-Dom? You’re… early? I mean… sorry, this…”

  An odd, numb heaviness overcame Domenico, as if the sight of his bed taken over physically injected him with lead. Then came heat. And then the kind of fury that drills its way throughout the entire body, fueled by all the little aches and tension that came before it.

  He grabbed the sheet and pulled it off the two naked bodies, even though the high-pitched screams tore right through his skull.

  “What the hell is this?” he asked, and somehow his whisper overpowered any other sounds.

  Mark rolled them over, trying to hide the girl from Domenico. “You can probably see what it is, right? Christ, just give us five minutes!”

  Seth sighed and pulled on the back of Domenico’s jacket. “Come on, Dom…”

  Domenico shook him off, his heart racing faster by the second. “‘Come on’ what exactly? There’s a woman in our bed! Our fucking dumb son is in our bed too, as if he didn’t have a fucking room of his own a few meters down the corridor,” Domenico yelled, getting to a pitch where his throat felt strained. No amount of decibels could relieve the tension lagging in his body, so he switched on all the lights.

  “Yours has a balcony!” The ungrateful brat complained.

  To think that Domenico had considered him a grown man! And Seth wouldn’t give it a rest either, as if their bed, their place for peace and lovemaking hadn’t been soiled by the excretions of a stranger.

  “Just let them get dressed, Dom. This is embarrassing.”

  “Good. They should be embarrassed. Isn’t it enough that the whole town knows you’re the biggest slut around? You have to prove it to us too?” Domenico asked, grabbing Mark’s forearm and yanking at it so rapidly, both he and the girl got dragged over the mattress. “All I wanted was some fucking peace in my own room, but no, you have to spoil that for me!”

  The stupid girl broke into a sob, and when she briefly looked up at Dom between trying to grab a sheet and rethinking that in favor of getting her dress from the floor, Domenico’s blood went cold.

  This wasn’t just any girl.

  She was their fucking ‘pool boy’.

  “No… you couldn’t have… w-what’s your name?” Domenico asked, circling the bed to approach her. She yelped and covered her naked front with the dress, curled up into a ball and peeking at him from behind her arm.

  “L-Lilli.”

  When Domenico exhaled, it was as if fire had blown through his nostrils from the pit in his forehead. “Our Natalia’s Lilli? The house keeper’s daughter?” he asked in a low voice, watching her tremble without even an ounce of regret.

  The nod wasn’t much of a surprise at this point.

  Mark had managed to pull his pants on and approached Dom. “Let her go! Can’t you see she’s scared?”

  Seth stepped closer too, and his opinion was the last thing Dom needed. “How about we cool off downstairs for a sec, Dom?”

  Mark grabbed Domenico’s wrist in an attempt to make him let go of Lilli, and that was what made anger overflow. Dom punched Mark in the face, sending him to the floor like a log. “Shut up,” came as a hiss. When he looked at Lilli again, huge tears were dripping down her cheeks.

  “Please don’t tell my mom.”

  He took a deep breath. “Leave. You’re fired. Do not speak to my son ever again. Am I making myself clear?”

  She let out a pathetic sob and ran out of the room, flashing him with her ass to make things even worse. Mark moaned at his feet, rolling to his knees and trying to pull himself up, even though he was covering his face with one hand.

  Seth moved between them and raised his hands, as if he intended to shove Domenico back if he deemed it necessary. “Jesus Christ, Dom! Enough!”

  Well, that wouldn’t happen.

  Domenico pushed right past him and nudged Mark’s chest with the tip of his shoe hard enough to roll him right back to the floor. “What part of ‘she’s off limits’ don’t you understand? One fucking person in this whole town that you aren’t allowed to have a boner around, and you fuck her in my bed? I made a promise to her mother!”

  Mark had the fucking audacity to twist from under Dom’s foot and try to grab his ankle to topple him—as if it hadn’t been Domenico who’d taught him that move in the first place. He descended on Mark like a falcon and delivered one more punch, to make sure the chicklet understood that he was to stay down and listen to his elders.

  “Just let me go talk to her,” Mark moaned, smearing the blood trickling from his nose all over when he attempted to wipe it off. “And then I’ll come back and deal with whatever shit you wanna throw my way.”

  “No. From this moment on she doesn’t exist to you. I can’t make that clear enough. Maybe I’ve imposed too few rules on you? Clearly, you believe you can break them whenever you please.”

  “Too few rules? I answer your every call!”

  “Dom, let him explain,” Seth said, and like the annoying fly that wouldn’t give up trying to land on your face in the middle of the night, he once again pulled on Dom’s arm.

  Dom pushed him away,
harder this time, his head spinning like a faulty carousel. “Shut the fuck up and stand aside!”

  Seth walked into his line of vision. “No! Get off him, and let’s talk like adults! He’s made a dumb mistake, and I’m sure Lilli won’t tell anyone what happened.”

  Domenico glared at him. “Mark and I will apologize to Natalia tomorrow, so Lilli doesn’t have to tell anyone, because those who need to know—will know. Don’t I have enough on my plate? Move out of my fucking way!”

  “I’m not telling Natalia shit! She’ll drag Lilli through hell.” Once again, Mark tried to twist away, so Domenico pushed his heel under Mark’s ribs for good measure.

  “Should have thought about this before you brought her to my bed.”

  “Get off him!” Seth pulled on Dom’s arm, but when he tugged over and over, the sound of ripping fabric pierced the buzz in Domenico’s ears. He looked down at his only tuxedo, then at Seth.

  Without thinking, he shoved Seth with all he had. Losing balance, Seth’s substantial body spun before descending on the dresser. His jaw knocked on the corner of the furniture, and he fell with the kind of sound that made Domenico cringe as much as the ripping fabric had.

  “What the actual fuck are you doing?”

  Seth stayed on his knees, holding on to his mouth with a scowl. At least he shut up and let Domenico deal with Mark in peace. Mark, who was already thinking he could slip away from the room as if nothing had happened.

  Dom grabbed his wrist and pulled him back. “Where do you think you’re going?”

  “I thought we were done,” Mark shouted, but Domenico pushed him face-first into the covers.

  “We won’t be done for a while. Now change our fucking sheets. This is fucking disgusting. The audacity you had lying to us that you’re feeling ill… No wonder if you were after unripened pussy!”

  Mark shook his head, but a shove toward the wardrobe where the fresh linens were kept put him into motion. “She’s almost sixteen, and she was the one coming on to me.”

  “Then you should have acted like an adult. You handle deadly weapons but can’t keep your dick in your pants?”

  Mark started stripping the bed in rapid movements. “I can. I just chose not to.”

  Domenico breathed hot vapor. “I see I’ve been too gentle with you. Could have easily broken that nose.”

  To that at least Mark shut up for a while, and Domenico watched him work in silence. Behind him, Seth walked off without a word, but Domenico was glad he stayed out of it this time.

  Mark glanced Dom’s way after several painful minutes. “Okay, I won’t talk to her again, but could we leave Natalia out of it?”

  Domenico considered it for a few seconds. There were numerous reasons to keep their housekeeper happy, which was why he’d agreed to keep Lilli under his protection in the first place. It was so hard to find good staff, who did their job and didn’t stick their noses where they didn’t belong.

  “How far did it go?”

  Mark threw a half-dressed pillow on the bed. “Seriously?”

  Domenico frowned, cocking his head in silent judgment. “Yes, really. I need to know how likely it is someone’s gonna find out about this.” Via pregnancy or gossip, because Domenico didn’t see condoms anywhere.

  “I’m almost twenty one years old. You can’t police my sex life! This is messed up.” At least despite whining he got back to work.

  “Policing your sex life? I haven’t asked Dr. Quincy once about your sexual health. All I asked of you was to not fuck this particular girl. Now tell me, how far did you two get? It’s not like I want to know out of curiosity!”

  Mark gave Dom a defiant stare. “I ate her out. In case you don’t know, that means I licked her pussy.”

  Domenico wasn’t even sure if it was true, or if Mark was saying it so explicitly to revolt him. He groaned and grasped handfuls of his hair. “Sure, pretend you don’t know what I’m actually asking about. No chance she’ll get pregnant?”

  “Not unless my tongue spurts cum. Which it doesn’t. Any other details you want to know about who I fuck? Oh, right. I also fuck Diego, but don’t worry, neither of us is getting pregnant any time soon.”

  Domenico was so shocked he wasn’t sure he heard Mark right. “You fuck that disrespectful bitch?”

  Mark shrugged. “He’s all right.”

  Domenico glanced at the empty room behind him, to see if they wouldn’t be overheard, and lowered his voice. “Oh, I’m sure he is. He told me Seth has ‘cocksucking lips’. I bet he is a joy to be around.”

  Mark’s mouth dropped open, and the discomfort was a visible presence in his body as he busied himself with the comforter. “It’s just fucking,” he grumbled.

  “I’m surprised anyone with a bit of self-respect would fuck that piece of shit after the way he behaved during our first meeting.”

  “I met him before I knew who he was! It’s complicated.” Mark sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. Domenico was actually beginning to feel pity for him. Not because of the blood on his face—that, he deserved—but because of all the messy situations he put himself in.

  “Maybe you should take some time off and rethink your choices. I dislike that idiot enough without him trying to put his dick in me.”

  Mark rubbed his forehead, and this time he didn’t look up at Dom. “I dunno. He’s an ass, but then he can be so hot.” What was this? Confession time?

  “So are many other people, and this guy works with us. Frankly, I want him gone as soon as possible. During the party tonight, he stared at Seth like a dog at fresh steak.”

  Mark snorted. “Cause he doesn’t know how much effort Seth would be to chew.”

  Domenico’s mood instantly dropped at the unpleasant comment. “Shut up. What can you know about this if you don’t ever put effort into anyone?”

  Mark threw the last changed pillow on the bed with a sour face. “Are we done?”

  Domenico nodded. “We are. Now tell the girl to shut up about this. Her mother should believe she’d quit herself. And then you’re completely done with her. Am I making myself clear?”

  Mark mumbled a ‘yeah’ and walked out, leaving Domenico with a pristine bed and no mood to use it anymore.

  He dropped on the mattress, only to get back to his feet and storm out when the main entrance slammed shut, as if Mark absolutely had to let everyone know how bad his mood was. Seconds later, he heard the distant sound of wailing.

  Fucking hell.

  “Mr. Vincitore, what is going on tonight?” called Giulia from somewhere downstairs, her voice strained with impatience. “This is unacceptable. This girl’s going to be afraid of her own shadow,” she said in a lowered voice. When Domenico descended the staircase, she was all the way down, staring up at him with accusation.

  In her plain pajamas and the short gray hair in disarray, she shouldn’t have seemed as authoritative as she did, but he found it very difficult to be confrontational toward her.

  Maybe because she still had the air of a catholic sister about her.

  “We had a bit too much to drink at the party. The walls are soundproof, so why did you leave the door open in the first place?” he asked and rushed past her, straight into Angelica’s room.

  The girl stood in her crib, holding on to the wooden bars and crying, but when Domenico walked in, the wailing only became louder. She held out her arms to him in a silent demand.

  With guilt weighing him down, Domenico picked her up and cradled her to his chest, pacing around the room. Her hair smelled of strawberries, and he was careful to handle her as gently as possible. “There, don’t cry. Daddy is here. It was just the TV, you know. We couldn’t lower the sound.”

  And yet when he noticed the blood on his knuckles, he was sure Giulia must have seen it too. They would both stay silent about it, but the judgement was in the air.

  “Storm up,” Angelica cried and pointed at the ceiling. She hugged him tightly, and at times like this he could still hardly believe this tiny human
being was in his care. But she was his and Seth’s, and they would do everything in their power to keep her safe and happy. And that meant finding Tropico, which Dom was constantly failing at.

  “It’s nothing, honey. Daddy was clumsy and fell over.”

  Her sniffles got less violent, and she settled against him. “You got a boo-boo?”

  Domenico slowly sat down in the plush chair in the corner. He switched on a star-shaped lamp for a warm, dim glow and tapped his cheek. “Got a boo-boo here, but it will be fine if you give me a kiss.”

  Angelica looked at him with those big innocent eyes and quickly kissed his cheek. “More?” The anticipation in her whole body language was so intense it seemed as if she wanted to protect Domenico as much as he did her. It was the cutest thing he’d ever seen.

  “No, I’m all right now. Thank you so much.”

  She wrapped her arms around his head and hugged him tight.

  “Let’s put her back to bed,” Giulia whispered from the side.

  Domenico gravitated toward the crib and gently floated Angelica through the air before settling her on the mattress. He pulled the covers up to tuck her in and placed a kiss on the sweet-smelling forehead. “Now close your eyes and count the lemons above you. I’ll see you tomorrow, Princess,” he said, watching her settle down in the mint-colored pillows.

  It was hard to believe that just months ago communicating with her had been much more difficult. She was growing so fast he was hardly keeping up, and Giulia’s help along the way had been worth the woman’s weight in gold.

  By the time he walked out of the nursery, he was as calm as a baby himself, but that only lasted until he realized what he still needed to deal with.

  He couldn’t find Seth downstairs, which meant he must have retreated into one of the two guest rooms, and indeed, one of the doors was shut.

  Domenico rubbed his face and pressed the handle.

  Locked.

  Now this was beyond ridiculous, and the last thing he needed.

  “Go away,” came in a steady, but slightly slurring voice.

  No. No fucking way. Had he downed an entire bottle of liquor or—Domenico’s mind came to a halt, reminding him of the way Seth hit himself on the dresser. It looked as if he might have hit his jaw, but what if it was somewhere else on the skull? What if he’d gotten a concussion?