It was a scenario he thought he’d never in a million years be in, so when the question was asked, his mind nearly went blank. Only a whisper of an impossible thought echoed in his mind …
“Think carefully, Dominic.” Lucca’s voice held a knowing warning. “You only get one choice.”
Staring at the underboss, he wondered if he knew what it was Dom was going to choose before he himself knew.
Swallowing hard, he thought, if he asked what he secretly wanted, it was going to make it real. Dominic wasn’t going to be able to take it back, and until he shook Lucca’s hand, he was the enemy, which made this a very dangerous game. The only thing he wanted could cause the whole deal to fall through. It was a scenario of high stakes, high rewards, and the reward could be oh so sweet while simultaneously making him and Lucca even.
Taking one deep breath, he chose. With the second, he staked his claim. “Maria.”
It was an eye for an eye.
Lucca took a hard hit as he stared him in the eyes. Then he stood, leaned forward, and put out his hand again. “Deal.”
Confused, Dom furrowed his brows at how quickly Lucca had agreed to it.
Just like that? Holy shit, he’s even more of a cold bastard than I already thought.
Dominic stepped in front of Lucca’s desk and took the boogieman’s hand. “Deal.”
Lucca stood as they shook hands. Looking Dom in the eyes, he sealed the deal, making them go from sworn enemies since birth to … equal partners.
Nineteen
The Last Thing His Name Would Take
The second Dominic pulled his hand away from Lucca’s, his heart dropped at Lucca’s next words.
“Good luck with my sister.” Lucca smirked. “You’re going to need it.”
“What?” Dom asked, feeling his rage begin to creep back in. “We made a deal. If Kat understands an arranged marriage, then I’m sure Maria will too.”
Amused, Lucca knocked his ashes in the tray. “Then you really should have specified that. The only thing I planned to do was give you my blessing and keep my father from killing you.”
“No.” Dominic hit his fist on Lucca’s big, wooden desk. “You knew exactly what I was fucking asking for.”
Lucca put a hand on his crystal ashtray, stopping it from rattling as he gave Dominic a deadly look. “If you think my sister would listen to single order I gave her, then you do not know Maria at all.”
“Oh, I know Maria,” Dominic made it clear.
“Then you know, if I forced her to marry you”—Lucca paused for a moment—“she would never, ever love you.”
I should do it, just fucking slit his thro—
Smiling, Lucca blew out the smoke from his mouth. “And that’s what you want, isn’t it?”
“You know, at least we finally came to one agreement.” Dominic started pacing the room again. “Your whole ‘arranged,’ not ‘forced’ marriage bit was a load of bullshit.”
“There’s nothing to be ashamed about, Dominic. I’ve got well over half my men in love with her.”
Dominic pinched the bridge of his nose at another realization. “Jesus, Lucca, is that why you gave her that joke of a bodyguard? Ted?”
“Todd,” Lucca corrected.
“I don’t give a fuck what his name is.” Dom’s voice went cold. “You knew exactly how this was going to go before I walked through that door. You probably put the idea in her head that Kat needed a wedding dress right before you assigned Teddy to her.”
Lucca corrected him once more, “Todd.”
That was it. Dom turned, heading for the door, knowing if he didn’t walk out of the room, one of them was dying tonight.
“What are you more scared of?” Lucca taunted in a haunting voice. “That you won’t be able to get Maria to fall in love with you … or that you might find out she’ll never love you back?”
Dominic didn’t know how the sick bastard had figured it out, but since he had, he supposed there was no longer a point in hiding it. “I’ll get her to love me.” Going to the door, he opened it, making a promise to Lucca Caruso and the rest of the world as he declared one last thing. “Even if it’s the last fucking thing I do.”
Slamming the door, he didn’t even hear the “good luck” that he had been genuinely wished.
“A girl only gets to walk down the aisle for the first time once. So, it has to be designer.”
“Princess has a point.” Dominic grabbed the other arm that didn’t have a manicured hand around Kat’s. His sister might’ve not needed, let alone wanted, a fancy dress, but if the Carusos were going to make his sister get married then, by God, they were going to pay for it.
“Fine,” Kat gave in before looking over at Maria with concern. “Did you just say, for the first time once?”
“I’m thinking my third husband, after the first two mysteriously die, will be the right one.”
Dominic felt his balls wanting to shrivel up and hide inside his body. “That’s good to know.”
“Maria …” Kat waited for her to look at her before she continued, “I think I’m a little bit scared of you.”
Maria smiled. “I’m only kidding.”
Yeah fucking right. The poor soul, aka the Caruso schmuck who married Maria, he prayed had tough knees because no man, and he meant no man, was going to get his dick sucked. The only reason he didn’t fear his sister around the mafia princess was because it was obvious Maria liked her.
Maria might’ve looked at men like she wanted to stomp her stilettos on their necks, but she didn’t look at women that way. Her eyes softened around them. She looked at them appreciatively, especially when she liked what they wore. As for men, he could tell how she felt about them. When her beautiful emerald eyes turned beady, he didn’t have to be in her mind to know the single swirling through her brain …
Kill all men.
And, if Lucifer hadn’t been his father, and he wasn’t in this line of work, he might’ve been a little offended. However, Dominic was man enough to know that less women wanted to keep men around. It was no wonder women were trying to figure out how to make babies without needing the Y chromosome. Hell, after having Lucifer as a father, he truly wished them all the luck in the world.
They passed designer store after designer store until it was apparent they’d arrived at a bridal store, as everything inside was white.
Entering the store, they were greeted by one beautiful-looking man. “Maria, my love, I haven’t seen you in a while.”
Maria and the guy gave each other a kiss on each cheek.
“I know. I’ve missed you.”
Why does it seem like she comes here once a week …
“Ken, I need a dress for my friend, Kat.” Maria took his hand in hers to introduce them.
Dominic couldn’t help but think the two looked like Barbie and Ken had come straight to life as they stood next to each other. However, in this Barbie dream house, Ken didn’t like Barbie.
“And who might this handsome man be?”
Well, that definitely explains why Maria likes this man.
The mafia princess grinned at him smugly. “This is her brother, Dominic.”
“Nice to meet you, Dominic.” Ken gave him a wink.
Joke was on her, however, when he smiled at Ken, because it didn’t bother him one bit.
Ken continued when he looked at his sister. “And you are gorgeous. Spin for me, honey; let me take a look at you.”
Awkwardly, Kat spun, and Dominic had to keep himself from laughing. His sister wasn’t your typical “girly girl.” She loved the color pink, just as much as he did on her, so much so that she even died her hair a cute baby pink. But she also loved the color black. She appreciated girly things, but Dominic had ultimately rubbed off on her. Kat was the perfect mixture of hard and soft, sweet and badass, and Dominic couldn’t be prouder of how she turned out.
“Maria, you take her to the dressing room to get her undressed while I go pull some dresses. And you, handsome, can go tak
e a seat in the sitting area.” Ken finished the orders with his eyes back on Dom.
“Thanks.” Dom gave him a polite smile, not wanting him to think his nerves had anything to do with Ken’s harmless flirting. Hearing him give the orders had made everything real. He was about to watch his little sister, who he raised, try on fucking wedding dresses for a man she didn’t want to marry, making him feel like he was about to be vomi—
“May I offer you some champagne?” a woman offered when the three entered the dressing room area.
Dominic picked up the flute without a second thought, throwing it back like the disgusting gold liquid was a shot of fucking tequila. Picking up the second glass, he gave it to Maria before grabbing the third, this one to nurse until this hellish experience was over.
“She’s not old enough to drink,” he told the woman holding the tray out for Kat. It only made the woman look at him in concern when she then glanced over at Kat. “But not too young to get married,” he said, not only for her but to remind himself.
Needing to go sit down before he passed out, he took a seat on the expensive, ridiculous-looking. grand velvet love seat, while Maria rolled her eyes, then took Kat to a dressing room.
Wiping his brow he took a few deep breaths, trying to calm himself. He could handle killing men and his father, so he should be able to handle this. Dom didn’t know the last time he felt this sick, on the verge of throwing—
Maria coming back and taking a seat beside him miraculously kept his stomach contents down.
She took one look at him and chuckled. “Nervous?”
“No, not at all,” Dominic badly lied, taking another sip of the champagne.
“Uh-huh.” Maria smiled. “You sure about that?”
“Yeah.” Dom shrugged. “I just had to choose death upon my whole family or marrying off my eighteen-year-old sister.”
Maria had been in the middle of taking a sip of her champagne when she suddenly stopped to stare at him in disbelief.
“What?” he mocked, unafraid that he had told her something he wasn’t supposed to. Dom couldn’t care less about much at this point, and it wasn’t like Maria was an innocent, little angel anyway. “Does Daddy not tell you the family secrets?”
“No,” Maria answered simply, still staring at him strangely. “I find things out other ways.”
“If you knew, then why are you staring at me that way?”
“Because my father and his men don’t exactly just come out and tell me family business,” she said softly, her eyes boring into his.
Dominic could see it then, in her emerald eyes, that she was slowly starting to see him a bit differently, like her mind was beginning to change about something … and then they heard the dressing room door open.
Clearing his throat, he looked to where he heard the sound of a dress dragging on the floor. Seeing Katarina in a white wedding dress brought his sick stomach right back.
“Hmm.” Kat looked at herself thoughtfully in the mirror on the pedestal that made the dress fall perfectly around her.
Even though his stomach was doing somersaults, Dom only had to give the dress one hard glance to know it wasn’t meant for her.
Shaking his head, he told her, “I don’t like it.”
He was thankful for his honesty when she happily went right back to the dressing room and he no longer had to look at it.
The second she shut the door, Dom couldn’t help but down the contents the second his lips touched the glass.
“Here.” Maria took the now empty flute out of his hand and handed over her half-full one.
Dominic stared at the outstretched glass, making sure his large hand grazed her fingertips when he took it from her. Immediately, he regretted it, as now his body screamed out for him to touch her more. “Thanks.”
He couldn’t say he had the same effect on her when she immediately called out for the woman to bring them more champagne.
“You don’t come here often, do you, princess?” he asked sarcastically when the lady began refilling up their glasses.
Maria laughed. “N—”
“Oh, yes. Ken gives Maria a call every time a new collection arrives.”
“Is that so …?” Dom asked, a sly smile touching his lips as he looked at the lying blonde.
“Thanks, Sherry,” Maria said through clenched teeth after she filled up her glass.
Dom took a sip, still smiling. “It’s probably good to start practicing now, if you plan to be on your fifth husband by thirty-five.”
“That’s not why I like to come try on the dresses. I try them on because I know I’ll never wear one.”
Looking over at her, he couldn’t figure out what he heard in her voice. It wasn’t sadness, but rather a … void.
The sound of Kat’s footsteps on the pedestal had him looking back to his sister. This white dress was uglier than the first.
“No.” Dom took a sip, desperately not trying to down the contents with Kat around.
Ken stood there, looking appalled, clearly no longer thinking Dominic was attractive, since they didn’t share the same taste.
It was too bad, as he was sure the dress was fucking expensive and would be pretty on another girl, but not his Kat.
“The dress I have is fine, Maria,” Katarina groaned, clearly not liking this experience.
He knew the dress they were talking about. It was a strapless, white dress, with a short, puffy tulle skirt. Dominic had surprised her with it when he had turned the basement into a fake high school prom. He couldn’t get her to go to her high school one, since she had been like him in the “having no friends department.” So, because he didn’t want her to miss out on an experience like he had, he threw her, her own prom. Dom had even managed to get Lucifer out for the night so they could blare their music, and he, his brothers, and Kat had laughed and danced all night. Kat had somehow even managed to get Cassius to dance with her. To this day, it was one of his favorite memories of them all. That one memory slightly made all the other horrible other memories in that house bearable.
The tall, legged blonde suddenly stood up and went over to her. “What’s wrong?”
“They’re beautiful, but this just … isn’t me.” Kat awkwardly stood in the big white dress, staring at herself in the mirror.
“Go back in there and get this thing off,” Maria quickly told her. “I’ll be right back.”
When Kat and Ken went back into the dressing room, Dominic watched Maria carefully as she left the dressing area on a mission, then came back a moment later with a dress in her hands.
“What do you think of this?” Maria asked, holding the dress up in front of her.
Dominic stared up at her from the couch, his breath getting caught in his throat. “I don’t like it for you”—he stood up, making her move the dress off to the side carefully, not liking to see her in that color—“but, for Kat, it’s perfect.”
Staring up at him, the blonde beauty looked caught off guard. She didn’t leave to take the dress into the dressing room until Dominic sat back down.
When she turned her back, Dominic downed the champagne again.
Returning to her spot next to him, Maria sat down differently, like she was now aware of how close they had been sitting on the couch. Dominic had noticed it immediately. The smell of her sweet perfume had called out to him to get closer, but he’d forced himself to be a gentleman, when that was last thing he wanted to be with Maria.
He already had two different images playing through his mind; one dirty, one criminal. He’d take both, but he preferred the one where he pressed her up against the glass on the storefront window over the one where he took her in the dressing room for five minutes.
Slightly adjusting himself on the couch, he tried not to inhale too deeply, but he couldn’t resist letting his legs spread wider, which put him that much closer to her.
“How come you didn’t like that color on me?” Maria asked, her perfect brows slightly drawn together.
Taking the
champagne glass from her hand without permission, Dominic gave her a wicked smile. “Princesses don’t belong in black.”
As soon as the last words left his lips, the door opened.
Kat slowly emerged, this time with a smile. Finally, she looked like herself.
Maria whispered what they were all thinking, “It’s perfect.”
Staring at his baby sister, he forgot why they were here. All he could see was how beautiful she looked, and how she suddenly wasn’t that little baby in her pink cat onesie.
Feeling his eyes getting wet, he blinked, only able to say, “Wow,” afraid he might cry if he said anything else.
While Maria started accessorizing and Ken began the alterations, they kept Kat distracted.
Dominic stood up, going to where the lady kept the champagne.
The woman politely smiled. “Would you like some mor—”
Grabbing the opened bottle that was already halfway empty, he started to walk away.
“Sir, you can’t do that …” She gave up when he gave her a “watch me” look.
Dominic didn’t give a single fuck. Lifting the bottle to his lips, he let the shitty liquid wash down his throat, as he headed to the front of the store, staying far enough away from what they were doing in the back but close enough to make sure they were safe. While watching to make sure no one entered the store, he pulled his phone out of his pocket, took a big swig, before he regretfully dialed a number.
“Yes?” a cold voice answered.
He took another drink. “I want a meeting.”
“I’ll have to get back with you. Dante is bu—”
“No,” Dominic stopped him. “With you.”
There was silence at first.
“Tomorrow night, at my home office, nine o’clock.”
“Thanks. Listen …” He gripped the phone, looking back toward the dressing room, contemplating.
“I don’t have all day.” The cold voice was harsh.
Dominic cracked his neck from side to side. “Never mind. See you tomorrow night, Lucca.”
When the dial tone clicked, he was happy he didn’t rat Maria out.
Dominic had called to do the right fucking thing, to tell him where he could find his sister without Caruso protection. He thought it would show some sort of respect to the underboss. That way, when he had the meeting he wanted, Lucca might show some mercy. But then he decided to fuck it. The boogieman hadn’t shown mercy a day in his goddamn life. Lucca didn’t even know the meaning of the word mercy.
Dominic (Made Men Book 8) Page 14
