The Price of Secrecy

by The Price of Secrecy [Evernight] (mobi)

  How the fuck did he find me? On the heels of that, the name he’d seen in Leo’s visitor log clanged around his brain. Nicholas Cordova. And then just like that, Dominic remembered where he’d heard the name before.

  He could barely take a full breath, but he knew he had to keep it together long enough to return to his apartment. Then he’d need to call Viggo and ask him what the fuck to do. If Gene was using a dead man’s identity and had found him, did he also know who Angela was? Was that who he had been following? That realization was more frightening than anything.

  Nicholas Cordova had been dead since Dominic was four years old. Mario had killed him, and now that the memory had resurfaced, Dominic also remembered crouching in the upstairs hallway, his face pressed against the spindles, listening to his grandfather brag to friends in gruesome detail that he’d given Nicholas exactly what the man had deserved.

  Dominic had no idea what the man had done or why he’d been killed, but it hardly mattered now. Obviously Gene was using the identity free and clear, or he’d never have gotten into a federal pen to visit his cousin with it.

  How long had Gene been here, in CentralWest? Was his presence here related to Frank Rossi’s release from jail? Was that why he’d been looking for Angela or her mother? Or had Gene come looking for him finally, after all these years, and Angela was now just a bonus? Either way, Dominic needed a plan for them both and he needed it quickly.

  A scuffling noise reached his ears, and Dominic didn’t stop to turn around. He leaned close to Angela’s ear and hissed, “Run!” Then he grabbed her hand and took off. Her palm was so damp he barely hung on, and he knew he was doing more pulling her along than she was actually running beside him, but he had no other choice.

  He ducked behind a series of buildings that he knew featured a maze of alleys between them, with another entrance to the street next to his building. She didn’t know how to navigate them, but he did, and he was banking on the fact that Gene didn’t know, either.

  Dominic heard her soft whimpers and heavy breathing next to him, but he couldn’t stop. He led her through dark twists and turns by instinct more than anything, and finally stopped to crouch behind a trash dumpster. He placed a hand over her mouth so she wouldn’t ask questions or scream, and wished with all his heart that he had looked harder for the other Trapani family members all these years.

  Had he been lazy, or merely complacent, assuming they were either dead or in jail? How in the hell had he missed the fact that Gene was still alive and using a fake name? That was sloppy work. It was beyond sloppy work. It was completely unacceptable work, and Dominic Greco didn’t do unacceptable work.

  He’d become comfortable after eighteen years, and there was no excuse for that. None. Now because of it, he’d placed this beautiful girl whom he loved in danger as well. That was unforgiveable.

  He took his hand from her mouth and put a finger to his lips, holding her gaze. There was barely enough light to see her eyes, but he was able to notice her nod. Then he slowly peered around the dumpster. The alley was empty. He listened, holding his breath, and heard nothing. Either they’d lost Gene, or he was hiding somewhere as well, waiting.

  Either way, they couldn’t stay here all night.

  Dominic took her hand and rose to his feet, again slowly, hoping she’d take the hint and do the same. She did, and then he let out the breath he’d been holding. He leaned close. “We’re close to my building. Walk with me slowly. Okay?”

  She nodded again, and he swore he felt her body tremble next to him. There was no choice now. He’d have to tell her everything about his past and somehow avoid letting her know that he knew her secret, so she wouldn’t be obligated to notify her WITSEC inspector. Because if they moved her, and they’d have to now, he’d lose her forever. That wasn’t an option, and he’d never ask her to leave the program for him. He couldn’t do that.

  Dominic ran his free hand through his hair as they walked into the alley behind his building. The back door required an entrance code, and his fingers shook as he entered it. Any second he expected to hear someone behind them, when he would whirl around to find Gene advancing down the alley, but nothing happened. The door opened, he practically pushed Angela inside, and then it was locked again.

  He pulled her close and held her as she cried softly. He would make this right somehow. He had to. Because he loved this woman, and he wasn’t giving her up for the sake of a bunch of damn crooks, family or not.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Angela clung to Dominic as he led her to a back elevator and keyed in the code for his penthouse apartment. She didn’t speak. She couldn’t. So many questions and emotions raced through her mind, but she couldn’t deal with any of it right now. All she wanted to do was collapse into Dominic’s arms.

  “Take me upstairs,” she whispered. “Please.”

  “Hang on, baby. That’s where we’re going.” He led her into the apartment and asked her if she needed anything to eat or drink, but she shook her head. “Are we alone?”

  “No, but Burt and Judy went to bed before I came to find you.”

  “I mean is Viggo still here?”

  “No.”

  “Good.” She wrapped her arms around him. “Make love to me, Dominic. Please. I can’t handle any of this tonight.” Her voice still shook, and fresh tears threatened. “I need to feel you inside me. Please. I can’t talk about any of it. I only want to be with you. I love you.”

  Angela held her breath. Holy fuck. Had she really just told him she loved him? Yes, you did. The words had simply slipped out. He’d think she was still drunk, but nothing was further from the truth. Any trace of the tequila was long gone.

  Dominic swallowed hard. She knew he had because she saw it and heard it. He lifted his chin slightly as if sniffing the air.

  “I’m not drunk. That man watching us and the run through the alleys took care of the last of the margaritas.”

  He let out a loud sigh. “I’m glad to hear that.” The look he gave her now was full of tenderness and lust. “Angela, we have so much to talk about it.”’

  “I know we do, but I can’t. Not now. Not tonight. Please.”

  He looked into her eyes for a long time, and she watched several emotions cross his face, including fear. What was he hiding from? Who was that man? Was he connected to the same people looking for her and her mother? A horrible thought came to her, but she pushed it away. No! She was not in danger with Dominic. He was not connected to the Rossi family. There was no way. It wasn’t possible.

  “Did you hear what I said?” she whispered. Her question sounded desperate, but she didn’t care. Anything to keep the idea that whoever Dominic thought that man was, and whoever he was fearful of was mixed up somehow with her father and uncles. She couldn’t handle that.

  “You mean what you said about how you can’t handle this tonight, or that you love me?” His voice was tinged with humor, and she breathed a sigh of relief.

  “That I love you.”

  He brushed a finger along her face, and she shivered. “I heard it, beautiful. Just processing it, that’s all. I love you, too.” He shook his head slightly, and her heart soared. He loves me, too! “I never thought I’d say that to any woman.”

  “You mean you haven’t?” Seriously? Holy shit…

  “Hell no, I sure haven’t. You’re the first. The only one.”

  Oh. My. God. “I haven’t either. I mean I haven’t said that to a man.” A giggle rose up, but she forced it back down. This was serious business, but every happy thought she’d ever had came rushing to the surface, just the same, and she wanted to laugh out loud and scream her joy from the rooftop.

  “To a woman, then?” He was teasing her now, but she loved that.

  “Well, to my mother. And to Lesli, of course.”

  “I have competition from your BFF?”

  She laughed now. She had to. And then she kissed him. “You have no competition, Dominic. The only man I want is you.”

  He li
fted her into his arms and carried her up the stairs, and then into his bedroom. She let go of everything, and when he laid her on the bed and covered her body with his, she wrapped her arms and legs around him and kissed him like she never had before. She was on fire for this seductive, enigmatic man.

  The loud moans filling the air came from both of them, and Angela could barely stand to wait for him to peel off her clothes. She nearly tore his shirt trying to remove it, and soon they both were laughing at their eagerness. He cupped her face and pulled her hair, kissing her with an abandon she’d never felt from him.

  Their hands were all over each other’s bodies, caressing and sliding up and down limbs, and over sensitive parts. Angela nearly came from his touch alone. She couldn’t wait any longer. He laid her face down and slid two fingers into her pussy from behind. “Baby, oh my God, you’re so fucking wet for me!”

  “Dominic, please. Fuck me. Please! Hard and rough. Take me. Please. Make me yours forever.”

  “Oh Angela…” He kissed her back, trailing his tongue down over her ass cheeks. “You’ve always been mine. From the second you walked into my office you belonged to me.”

  “I love you so much.”

  “I love you, too, baby.”

  She cried out in pleasure as he slid his dick into her wetness from behind, pumping so hard her entire body moved on the bed. She grasped fistfuls of the comforter and hung on, riding the crazy waves of passion as the orgasm crashed over her twice, filling her body with delicious sensations that she could barely stand.

  Droplets of sweat hit her back, and still he fucked her, whispering her name over and over. His hands slipped underneath to grab her breasts, and she lifted her torso so he could get a better hold on them. When he rolled her nipples between his thumbs and forefingers, electric jolts raced to her already throbbing clit, and the climax was intensified once more.

  He pulled out and rolled her onto her back, kissing her rough and hard. When he sank his cock into her pussy again, she clung to him as he thrust in and out with crazy speed. He’d never taken her this way, but it was exactly what she needed and wanted tonight.

  She was lost in his body and his claiming of her, and she never wanted to come back to the real world. Angela wanted to stay here forever, in Dominic’s arms, and with his dick inside her.

  She lost track of her orgasms, and it didn’t matter. Nothing did. Only Dominic, his dark, intense eyes, and his loud groans and whispered endearments as he held onto her and took her body over and over. He claimed her very soul this time. When he finally cried out and came inside her, she shuddered at the intensity of it.

  They lay like that for long, luscious moments while time stood still, sweating, clinging to each other’s bodies as their breathing slowly returned to normal. Angela became aware of how wet she was, and then she tried to sit up but Dominic still had her pinned with his hard, muscled body. “Fuck! Shit!”

  That did. He sat up, staring down at her with alarm on his face. “What is it, baby? Did I hurt you?”

  “No … Shit! You weren’t wearing a condom.”

  “Oh. You’re right. I wasn’t.” He shrugged. “Good. Maybe you’ll get pregnant?”

  She blinked several times as his words tried to process inside her foggy brain. “Excuse me?”

  “Don’t you want children?”

  “I … we’ve never discussed it.”

  “Then let’s discuss it.”

  She sat up. “Dominic, I … I don’t know what to say right now.”

  He cupped her face, his own filled with desperation. “Angela, I love you. You have me. All of me. I don’t do anything half-assed. I told you that. When I said I love you I meant forever. I’ve never told a woman I love her. I’m not giving you up.”

  He pulled her close, and she frowned. His words were perfect. Romantic and heart-wrenching, but they were also filled with an urgency she didn’t understand. Who was that man? Dominic had recognized him, and now this. He was afraid not only for himself, but for her. It suddenly all made sense, but why?

  She pulled out of his embrace. “I love you, too. Yes, one day I would love children, and I can’t imagine having them with anyone but you.” She took a deep breath and gathered her courage. “But it seems we need to talk about a few things first.”

  ****

  Dominic pulled her close. “Yes. Yes, we do. But I need to preface this by asking you not to say anything that will force you to call any government agency contact. Please don’t do that. Not yet. Let me do some background work through Viggo first. He helped me once, and he can help me again without compromising you or your mother.”

  He pulled away to gauge her reaction, and it was exactly what he’d expected. “Oh my God,” she whispered. Tears welled up in her beautiful eyes, and he hated that. He also hated the fear he saw there. “How did you find out? How long have you known?”

  He put a finger over her lips. “Don’t say anything. Then no one can say you did. Let me take care of this. Please? Trust me.” If he’d had any doubt about what he’d suspected was the truth, he didn’t now.

  She nodded, her eyes wide and filled with uncertainty.

  “Good girl. Okay. First things first. As magnificent as that lovemaking was, and as much as I want to repeat it already, we’re going to put on some clothes and go down to my office. I need to make sure your mother has twenty-four protection before I do one more thing, and this time it will be my friends providing it, until we can sort this out.”

  She didn’t speak.

  “She’s safe, Angela. I don’t think he was looking for you or her. I think he was looking for me.”

  “He saw me.” Her voice was small, like that of a frightened child. “He saw my face.”

  “In the darkness, and he has no idea who you are.”

  She nodded. “I want to call my mom. I need to know she’s okay.”

  He crawled off the bed and retrieved her jeans. The hell with his office. They could make the calls from here. He fished in her pocket for her phone and handed it to her. “Be careful what you say to her.”

  “I will be.”

  While he listened to Angela talk to her mother, he realized he’d never been as proud of her as he was right now. True to her word, she kept her voice calm as she talked about her new job, and told her mother how much time she’d been spending with him. He might as well be listening to two best friends talking to each other, and his heart gave an odd lurch.

  She loved her mother very much, and was obviously close to her. He had to make sure nothing happened to either one. This had just become far more involved than he’d realized.

  Dominic had always refused a security detail, but this wasn’t the time to play hero. He needed them now, and so did Marilyn. He went across the hall to call Brian Anderson, Merrick’s brother, and gave him as many details as possible, without compromising Angela’s and Marilyn’s WITSEC status. Brian asked him for two hours, and then assured him everything would be in place.

  When he returned to the bedroom, Angela was still on the phone, now speaking to her mother in Italian. It was a Sicilian dialect, and he understood every word. She was telling her mom what a fabulous lover he was, and how happy she was with him. He watched her for a moment, and then her eyes widened as she realized he understood her. She switched back to English and ended the call.

  Her face was as red as a freshly boiled lobster, and his dick was painful now it was so hard. “Thank you for what you said about me.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me you spoke Italian?”

  “You heard me speak it at lunch the first day of work.”

  “Ordering food and understanding it are two very different things.”

  He crawled onto the bed. “Yes, they are, but you never specifically asked me if I could speak it.”

  She said nothing, merely grinned at him as he pushed her back onto the bed and held her arms overhead.

  “You know I lied to you about the Italian roommate.”

  He chuckled. “Ye
s, I know. I knew when you slipped up and told me you’d learned it from your mother.”

  “Yet you trusted me after that. Why?”

  “Because I knew you weren’t trying to hurt me. I knew you were afraid and hiding. I just didn’t know why or from who. You mean everything to me, Angela. I won’t let anyone hurt you.”

  “You mean everything to me, too. So tell me how to keep you safe as well.”

  “I will.” He kissed her neck. “In a moment.” Dominic let go of her wrists and trailed his tongue down to her breasts, where he circled each nipple several times until she moaned loudly and arched her hips toward him. Then he tortured her by sucking them slowly. When she grabbed fistfuls of his hair, he slid his cock into her wetness, and fucked her until he couldn’t breathe anymore.

  She came twice again, and then he finally let go and filled her with his seed once more. They held each other close, the sweat drying on their bodies. Dominic laid out a solid plan in his head. He would do anything to keep this girl and her mother safe now. He loved Angela, and he wanted her with him forever. No one was going to rise up from her past or his to take her away. He’d kill them if they tried.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Angela woke up Sunday morning to the smell of bacon again, and she wondered if she’d dreamed yesterday, but her entire body was too sore to have done that. She smiled as the memories of Dominic making love to her twice in a short time washed over her, and then the smile faded as she recalled the other events of last night.

  She showered quickly and dressed, making her way to the kitchen. Bacon, eggs, toast, coffee, and fresh fruit filled the countertop. She made a plate and poured herself a cup of coffee, then followed the male voices into the dining room where she found Dominic, Viggo, and two men she didn’t know bent over laptops.

  Dominic glanced up when he heard her, clearing a spot next to him. “Good morning. Sit down. We have a lot to tell you.”

  She had hoped to hear about all this from him alone, but apparently that wasn’t going to happen. She took a seat and nodded toward Viggo. “Nice to see you again.”