Then he started singing. The Italian words rolled out, lush and deep. His voice was astounding, so smooth and self-assured.
She couldn’t understand a word of the song, so she just closed her eyes and let the melody flow over her. It soaked into her, stroking the depths of her soul.
When he stopped, she waited a moment or two before opening her eyes.
“Your voice is very good,” she said.
He climbed to his feet again, brushing his knees off and looking abashed.
“Yep, surprised me too.”
“It did? You don’t normally sing?”
“Not since I was a little boy, when I was in the church choir.”
“What do the words mean? Is this something you sang in church?”
“It’s an old Italian love song.” He frowned. “My father used to sing it to my mother. But I’d rather not talk about my parents right now.”
“If you don’t normally sing, why did you do it just now?”
He cleared his throat. “Don’t laugh.”
There was a vulnerable, boyish quality to him now, and she knew it was just for her. She’d asked himself to open himself up, and he had—as much as he was capable. For a man like him, that had to be hard. And he was making the effort for her.
She shook her head solemnly. “I promise I won’t.”
“Lorenzo said women like it when you sing to them.”
“You took love advice from a seventeen-year-old?”
He winced. “Seventeen and eleven months and one week. A grownup, really.”
“That’s what you were talking to him about? His mother and I thought you were trying to sell him on being a Moretti foot soldier.”
Dominic barked out a laugh. “I’ve been doing anything but. He’d join our pack yesterday if I let him. I told him the pack would give him a scholarship and put him through school, and if he graduates from college with a degree in computer science, he could work for one of our businesses managing computer security.”
“Oh,” Zoey said, taken aback. She hadn’t expected that from Dominic. “How did he respond?”
“Disappointed at first, but he cheered up at the thought he could be associated with us on any level.”
“But again,” she squinted up at him. “you took love advice from Lorenzo?”
“Well, nothing else seemed to be working.”
She shook her head in frustration. “What did you expect? Did you not realize that blackmailing me into staying here by threatening to let Lorenzo die would make me very, very angry?”
“Yes,” he agreed. “But I would have done whatever it took to get you to agree to let me protect you. I’d rather have you hate me and be safe than be happy with me but in danger.”
“Oh,” she said quietly. She hadn’t considered it from that angle. How had he managed to make being a total asshole sound sweet? “You know, if you’d just take the time to explain things to me, we might get on a lot better.”
“Romano told me that too. Dammit, I hate when that hairy bastard is right.” Dominic made a sour face. “It’s not personal, I promise you. I’ve just lived my life a certain way for the last ten years. I’ve built up walls so thick, no light could get through. Until you came along.” His blue eyes shone with warmth. He was focused on her, as if nothing else existed. “You’re my light, Zoey. You’re finding the cracks in my armor.”
“Oh,” Zoey said in wonder and blinked back hot tears. Nobody else had made her feel like this. And, she realized, nobody ever would. This connection between them was special and unique. And he needed her help. Without her, those walls would stay up around his heart and he’d never let himself feel all the things he deserved to feel. Being loved, being cherished. “That’s amazing.”
“If I agree to try harder from now on, would you consider going out to dinner with me tonight?”
“Well …” she pretended to consider for a moment. He looked at her expectantly, clearing his throat. “You did sing to me.”
“Yes, I did!” Dominic gave her a winning smile. “And very well, too, if I do say so myself.”
“If you can get Lorenzo to apologize to his mother for being an ass and reassure her he’s not going out on shoot-em-up missions with your pack, I will gladly have dinner with you.”
He lit up. “I will do better than that. Fetch Andrea and come meet me in the parlor in fifteen minutes.”
A short while later, Dominic led a shame-faced Lorenzo into the parlor. Andrea, Stewart, and Zoey were waiting.
“Tell your mother why you wanted to join our pack,” Dominic said in a stern voice.
“It’s the best way I could think of to keep you safe!” Lorenzo flushed, shoving his hands in his pockets. “You gave up everything to move here with me, and we live right next to the portal, one of the most dangerous places in the city. On my own, I can’t do anything to protect you. But if I was a member of the Moretti Pack, I’d make enough money that we could live somewhere safer, and nobody would dare mess with my family. And yeah, I wanted to help out Cin too. I thought if we had a bigger place I could,” his cheeks glowed red, “ask her and her friends to live with us or something.”
Andrea burst into happy tears and hugged her son.
Cin, who had walked into the room unnoticed, said in a small voice, “You’d let someone like me live in your house?”
“We would,” Andrea said with motherly warmth, and then Cin joined the hug, followed by Stewart.
Lorenzo stepped back and looked at Stewart. “You make my mom happy. You tell really, really stupid jokes, but my mom thinks they’re funny. I guess ‘cause she’s old like you. If the two of you went out on a,” he made a horrible face, “date, I guess it wouldn’t be the end of the world. Just don’t tell me anything about it.”
Stewart began to cry and hugged Andrea, and Andrea hugged her son. Zoey blinked her eyes and wiped at them with the back of her hand.
“Shut up. I’m not crying, you’re crying,” she sniffled to Dominic. “I need to go find a dress for dinner tonight.”
“I have a closet full of evening gowns for you in our bedroom.” At her surprised expression, Dominic winked with a very smug look on his face. “I knew you’d come around sooner or later. I thought it would be sooner, honestly. I’m pretty damn charming, after all.”
“Oh my God, are you insufferable.” But she smiled as she followed him out of the main house, across the grounds, and over to a very nice Mediterranean-style three bedroom with red barrel tile roofs.
Chapter Nineteen
“B efore you get ready for dinner, we need to talk.” Dominic backed Zoey up against the velvet wallpaper of his bedroom’s far wall.
“About what?”
“About the fact I’m not going to be able to wait until after dinner.”
“Are you going to make me regret coming in here with you?”
“Definitely.” He grabbed her hands and pinned them above her head. “You made me wait. You drove my wolf crazy. You were so close, but you weren’t with me. I’ve been sleeping alone when I should have been sleeping with my mate.”
“Your mate? As in me?”
“Of course, you numbskull. Sexy numbskull,” Dominic added hastily.
“Just checking.”
He lowered his head and nipped her neck hard enough to make her yelp, but there was a hot pleasure in it too. “You want to know about wolves and mating? Let me start educating you.”
“Ooh. Suddenly, I’m hot for teacher.” Wow, she’d never been so bold before.
Dominic slid his other hand down her back, and Zoey arched toward him. He took an appreciative whiff and curved his hand around her belly. For the first time, she didn’t have the slightest urge to suck it in.
His sexy voice zinged through her body, blasting away any self-consciousness, and somehow her panties magically disappeared. Oh, wait, what were her hands doing? Her bra joined her panties. Zoey was naked, one raw conduit of need. Both his hands were now cupping her generous backside, kneading t
he flesh of her cheeks.
She fought the urge to climb onto him.
He picked her up effortlessly, as if she weighed nothing. She had never felt so desired before.
Carrying her over to the massive bed, Dominic sat on the edge of the mattress with her in his arms. She was boneless with want, her skin against the wool of his suit, the breadth of his chest.
He lowered her carefully, as if she were a work of art, and stroked her breasts, stomach, the sides of her thighs—everywhere but her damp girly bits—with his broad palms. It drove her crazy with desire, and she squirmed, biting back a whimper at his sweet torture.
Finally, he slid one hand between her legs and lightly ran his fingertips over the seam of her pussy. Her breath hitched, her legs parting wider in invitation.
Dominic dragged his fingers through her dampness, and her legs trembled. Then his hand vanished as he began stripping off his clothing.
“Faster,” she urged, which just made him slow down. Her gaze was riveted on him as he slowly peeled off his jacket.
“How are you doing, Zoey Monroe?”
“Very, very good,” she smiled.
“It’ll get better,” he assured her.
He slid a finger between her legs, and she shivered violently.
“More showing and less telling, Mr. Modest.”
“Hmmph. There’s nothing modest about me.” He pretended to be offended, but the proof was in the hard ridge pressing against Zoey’s side.
She shrieked as he flipped her over and bent her over the bed, her face pressed against the mattress. He was on his feet behind her, with his palms on her sides. He trailed his fingers lightly along her curvy body.
“All this woman, all mine. How did I get so lucky?”
He squeezed her butt cheeks with his massive palms. She shivered at the sensation of his fingers on her lit nerve endings. She shifted her weight, leaning into his touch, before he slipped one hand between the folds of her pussy, slick with her excitement. He touched her clit, and she jolted as if she had come in contact with a live wire.
A moan escaped as his fingers did delicious, swirly things that drove her wild. And then … he removed his hand.
What?
“Don’t even think of stopping now, you bastard!”
He let out low, sexy rumble of laughter.
“Dammit, Dominic, if you don’t take me right now—oh!”
She gasped as he slammed his enormous length into her from behind, filling her.
His hand returned to do its delirium-inducing thrumming against her clit as he rolled his hips over and over against her backside.
She clutched at the bedspread, thick waves of unruly brown hair fanning about her head, muffling the moans and sighs as he rocked her body with each thrust.
His fingers continued their hypnotic strokes, and together their breaths grew harsher and faster, almost in unison as they both began the climb toward the apex of pleasure. The heat coiled deep inside her until she shattered with a loud cry.
Waves of ecstasy pulsed through her, and her walls squeezed his thickness. He answered her cry with a loud, animalistic growl and shuddered with his release. She felt his hot seed filling her and gloried in knowing she’d given him so much pleasure.
He stayed inside her until the waves finally succeeded. When he slid out, he pulled her back up from the bed, taking her into his arms.
He looked at her face with a warmth that wrapped her like a blanket and seeped into her soul.
“I love you,” he said, caressing her cheek with his thumb. “I need you. Every day that goes by without you by my side is dull and colorless. If you’ll just stay with me, I’ll be a better mate to you. I swear on the honor of the pack.”
Dominic walked to the back door of the limo and held it open for Zoey. She couldn’t help but feel a rush of warmth. The big, scary killer was also an old-fashioned gentleman. And he treated her like a princess.
He was a complicated man made up of many parts. Sure, some of them were sharp and spikey, but now that she’d gotten to know him, she understood those were barriers he’d erected to protect himself.
“Hey!” a voice shouted from behind a cluster of palm trees. Romano trotted up, looking expectant. “What’s up, boss?”
“Going to dinner.”
Romano’s face lit up. “Nice. I’m hungry. Where are we going? I’m in the mood for a rare steak.”
“We, as in my mate and I, are going to Sergio’s. You are going to sit outside and eat a sandwich.”
Romano frowned and slumped his shoulders. “Sergio’s? I love Sergio’s.”
“We’ll bring you leftovers,” Zoey promised him, elbowing Dominic.
Romano looked at them with sudden interest. “Wait, are you guys going on an actual date? Did Dominic stop acting like an ass?” He sniffed the air. “What is that smell? Did you make the beast with two backs? Ha, get it? Because he’s a beast and— Awwwk!” He struggled to breathe, which was hard to do with Dominic crushing his windpipe.
“Dominic, please don’t break your friend,” Zoey said, sliding into the back seat of the car. “You might regret it later.”
“Doubtful,” he grunted but released his hold on Romano’s neck.
Romano coughed and wheezed dramatically from the front seat as their limo driver headed to Sergio’s until Dominic kicked the back of his seat and he stopped.
“You guys are like brothers who fight all the time,” Zoey laughed.
“He’s adopted,” Dominic said promptly. “His real mother was a troll.”
It was about a half-hour drive, but traffic was light, and Zoey sank into a warm haze of contentment. Dominic’s massive arm wrapped around her shoulders, and she leaned against him in companionable silence. This felt good. This felt right. Like she was exactly where she was supposed to be.
Suddenly, a blinding sense of panic choked Zoey. “Obstacle. Turn back!”
“You heard her!” Dominic yelled. He wrapped his arms around Zoey protectively as the driver tried to make a quick turn in the middle of the street.
A massive explosion rattled the air, and everything went dark.
Chapter Twenty
D ominic’s ears rang, and his mouth tasted like blood. He tried to shake Giuliana’s hand off of him, and she tightened her grip on his wrist.
“Hold still so I can heal you, you ass!” Giuliana barked.
“I’m healed enough!” Dominic groaned and stumbled to his feet. “We’ve got to find her. And you need to go back home.”
He was in the middle of a scene that echoed a long-ago nightmare. Did the Bianchi Pack know what had happened to him all those years ago? Was that why they’d attacked him when he was with his mate?
When he was human, there had been an ogre attack. He and his fiancée, Phoebe, had been enjoying lunch together when the screaming started. Dozens of rage-filled ogres barreled down the street. Bodies flew through the air, and cars were overturned.
He’d grabbed her, and they’d run. He pushed her ahead of him, and then the trolls closed in, and he’d tried to put his body between hers and theirs.
As a human, he was no match for them. They’d snatched her away, just as the police arrived—too late.
And now, he’d failed the woman he loved—again. Despite being bitten, training as a foot soldier, and working his way up through the ranks, Dominic still couldn’t protect those he loved.
The twisted wreck of the limo stretched sideways in the middle of the street. The scene was crawling with cops, but they were very careful to stay out of Dominic’s way. Most of the cops were on the Moretti Pack payroll.
The explosion had sent their car spinning, and the door had been ripped from its hinges. Their driver was dead. When Dominic lunged from the car, he’d been stunned by a hail of silver bullets. They couldn’t kill a warrior-class shifter, but they’d knocked him out, and he’d sprawled on the ground, fading in and out of consciousness, until Giuliana showed up.
Dante was healing Romano.
/>
Other pack members were on the scene too, some in wolf form, sniffing around. Unfortunately, Zoey had been pulled into a van, Dominic’s his scenters had no idea where the van was.
Right before he’d passed out, Dominic had called headquarters, and they’d been able to seal off the roads bordering their territory. The van had tried to cross back over to the east side, but they’d run into a roadblock and driven off.
The van had vanished though. It could be anywhere.
And now more bad news was storming up in the form of Arturo, with Ottavio and Carlo on his heels.
Giuliana stepped away from Dominic, folding her arms defensively in front of her face.
“What the hell is my niece doing out here at the scene of an attack?” Arturo bellowed. The bones on his face rippled, and his ears were pointy and fur tipped.
“I came without asking him. He was semi-conscious when I got here and started healing him. The minute he gained consciousness, he tried to push me away and send me home.” Giuliana was pale, her voice weak.
“You’d say anything to cover for Dominic,” Ottavio snapped at her.
“Bite me, asshole,” she spat at him. “You’d say anything to get another Capo in trouble.”
“You are coming home,” Arturo growled at her, “and you will not leave the house without a squad of bodyguards. Ever again.”
Giuliana’s face went white with anger. “You will regret this,” she informed her uncle. Her back was stiff with fury as she let two foot soldiers escort her to an SUV.
Arturo spun on Dominic with a snarl. “And you! Letting her come here? It’s only the fact I owe you my life many times over that keeps you breathing. You are no longer a Capo. You are no longer in my pack.”
Dominic stared at him in shock and swallowed hard. Just like that. His pack, his family, his protection, his identity—snatched away from him.
“Yes, sir,” he said tonelessly.
That meant he was searching for Zoey on his own.
“I respectfully request release from the pack, to go with Dominic,” Romano said.
Mated to the Capo (Mafia Wolf Shifters) (Encantado Shifters Book 1) Page 15
