Dominic

by L. A. Casey

  I flinched away from him. I knew he wouldn't hit me or hurt me physically, but that still didn't change the fact that he was scaring me.

  "Dominic, you're frightenin' me," I said, my voice shaking.

  He grunted and moved his arms from around me and began pacing my room. I got a headache looking at him, so I moved to my bed, climbed onto it, and snuggled under my covers. I was already in my pyjamas, and I was content enough to stay for the night now that I was there.

  I heard Dominic sigh after another few minutes of pacing. "Bronagh?"

  I didn't answer, which caused another deep sigh to escape his mouth. I heard him moving about and then came the noise of things hitting the floor, and I instantly knew it was his clothes and shoes.

  He was stripping!

  I mentally kicked myself; we're having serious problems, and I was melting over him getting semi-naked. My mind was apparently stuck in the gutter where Dominic was involved.

  I tensed when he climbed into my bed behind me. I didn't fight him off when he tangled his limbs up with mine. First his arms came around my waist and he pulled me against him until I was moulded into the front of his body, then he tangled his legs up with mine and put his head resting above mine.

  "I live you, pretty girl," he murmured and kissed the crown of my head.

  I squeezed my eyes shut for a second then open them. "I live you, too."

  He turned me to him then, lowered his head, and brushed his lips over mine. I knew I should have lightly kissed him back or even attempted to tease him with a whisper kiss, but I just couldn't. I pressed my mouth hard on his and forced my tongue into his mouth.

  Dominic groaned, tensed, and then quickly pulled back away from me.

  "Bronagh," he growled, "I want to fuck you when you kiss me like that!"

  I smiled at him; I loved getting him so worked up.

  It made me feel empowered.

  I leaned forward and lightly kissed him then, but he groaned again. "Still makes me want to fuck you."

  I laughed. "So will I just stop kissin' you then?"

  "Never stop kissing me. Never!" he growled, making me shudder and lazily smile at him.

  He kissed my forehead and sighed. "I'm sorry for upsetting you. You know I would never put my hands on you to hurt you. Right?"

  I nodded my head. "I know, but you're still very intimidatin' when you get like that. It's fine if I'm just as mad because sometimes I think I scare you when I'm like that."

  "You do but I think it's sexy as well," Dominic mumbled.

  I snorted and rolled my eyes. "We need to talk."

  He nodded and locked eyes with me. "Tell me what Branna told you."

  I did as he asked, and when I finished speaking he was nodding.

  "Have you ever heard of a man called Marco Miles?" Dominic asked me.

  I thought on it, and then shook my head answering no.

  "Damn, baby, you really are sheltered," he murmured.

  I frowned. "I don't know any bad people, Dominic. I made it my business for years not to talk to anyone or listen to gossip."

  Dominic nodded. "I know that but everyone knows of Marco, his name is known all over the world. He is… a very bad person."

  I closed my eyes and asked, "And he is your boss?"

  "Yes."

  My heart broke in two.

  "Oh, my God," I whispered.

  Dominic pulled me even closer to him. "I don't sell drugs, I don't take them, and I don't kill people or go on any jobs that would land me in prison for life."

  I opened my eyes feeling a little more than confused. "What do you do then?"

  His jaw tensed. "I'm paying off a loan you could say by fighting."

  I frowned. "Money?"

  He sighed and closed his eyes. "No, not money. It's more complicated than that."

  I sat up and pulled him upright with me. I turned to him, crossed my legs, and gestured him with my hand to carry on talking. "I've got nothin' but time so start talkin'."

  Dominic's lip twitched. "Bossy."

  I shrugged.

  He scrubbed his face with his hands before locking eyes with me again.

  "My dad was Marco's best friend since they were kids. They were both bad people and started up their empire from scratch. They had links to a number of Dons from different Mafias, nearly every drug cartel known to man, and they pretty much had the law in their back pocket. My brothers and I grew up around violence and that lifestyle not knowing any better. We were treated like princes, and got everything we wanted because of who our dad was. High-end escorts were servicing me from the time I was thirteen, because I didn't want to jerk myself off. Our lives were a blur up until my mom and dad got killed just after mine and Damien's fifteenth birthday. Dad crossed Marco looking to get some extra money on a drug cartel deal, so Marco had my dad and mom killed before they could take him out. They were best friends, but their greed for money changed them, made them hollow… evil. My mom was no better; the only thing she loved was money and materialistic things. She encouraged my dad to keep our lifestyle up… it got them both killed in the end."

  Dominic watched me while he was speaking and stopped when he saw I was now crying.

  "Baby, please don't cry." He frowned and reached for me.

  I moved forward and engulfed him in a hug, holding him to me tighter than I ever had before.

  "I'm so sorry."

  Dominic swayed me. "What are you sorry for?"

  "For your upbringin', I wish you and your brothers had the love Branna and I had from our parents." I sniffled.

  He rubbed his thumb across my cheek and murmured, "No one has ever cried for me before."

  "Well, I live you so of course I'm goin' to cry when I hear about your childhood," I cried.

  Dominic lightly smiled at me. "Bar my brothers, you're the most important thing in the world to me, you mean everything to me. I just want you to know that before I finish what I need to tell you, okay?"

  There was more?

  Oh, God!

  "Okay," I nodded.

  He blew out a breath and licked his lips before he said, "It's disgusting to say, but I genuinely don't care that Marco had my parents killed. I hate him but not for that. We never saw my parents and when we did they were cold people so them being dead wasn't hurting anyone… except Damien. He really is a lover and not a fighter in all aspects. He was the only one who held out hope that our mom would someday love us instead of her clothes and bags, and that our dad would be proud of us instead of Marco's nephews Trent and Carter. After they were killed he wouldn't let us speak a bad word about them; he got very violent if we did."

  I blinked my eyes in shock while Dominic nodded his head and said, "I know it's hard to think of him as being violent but after our parents were gone he just changed."

  I felt sick as I listened to him, my heart hurt for Dominic and all his brothers. I just wanted to squeeze them all.

  "Marco's nephew Carter doesn't look like the family at all, but he is evil like them and Trent was even worse. He really was a younger version of Marco in all aspects from looks to personality."

  I furrowed my eyebrows. "Was?" I questioned.

  Dominic nodded his head, closed his eyes for a moment before opening them and looking directly at me. "He is dead. His death is the reason my family is in debt to Marco."

  "Do you owe him a lot of money or something?" I asked.

  Dominic shook his head. "Not money but we do have to work off our debt to him. My brothers, bar Damien, have certain jobs they do for Marco. My job is fighting."

  I frowned. "I don't understand. Why are you and your brothers in debt with Marco over his nephew's death?"

  Dominic sighed. "We have to work for Marco in order to keep Damien safe."

  I felt my heart stop. "Why just Damien? Why is he always singled out?"

  Dominic looked at me then, his eyes locking with mine. "Because Damien is the reason why Trent is dead. He killed him."

  "What did you just say?" I whi
spered, hoping I had heard him wrong.

  Dominic lifted his hands to my face. "Please don't think less of him, Bronagh. You have to understand what our parents death did to him, what it still does to him. You think you have problems with letting people close to you? Damien barely loves me, and I'm his twin!"

  I widened my eyes. "Don't say that, he does love you. You just have to see you two together to see that."

  Dominic sighed and rubbed my cheek with his thumb. "He has opened up a lot lately since we've been here. I know he hasn't forgotten our past, but he seems different here, he isn't as cold anymore."

  I gave him a look and said, "Say that to the trail of heartbroken girls at our school and around town."

  Dominic smiled a little. "He makes them no promises, Bronagh. Having sex is the only intimate thing he does with girls. He doesn't feel for them, he doesn't feel for anybody and not by choice; he is just hollow inside. He is a nice guy, but if you're looking for someone who is sensitive or someone to have a talk with about feelings and shit, you might as well pass him by because he doesn't do anything like that with anyone."

  I held up my finger. "That is where you're wrong, dear boyfriend. He randomly told me the other day that I was growing on him and not just because I'm hot," I grimaced at the last part of my sentence, making Dominic snort.

  "That is unheard of for him, babe. He never talks to girls much, unless he is hitting on them or fucking them."

  I swallowed. "I'll consider myself very lucky then."

  Dominic grinned at me. "You should. You're important to me, and he knows that. You don't know how happy it makes me feel knowing that my brother is coming out of his funk, and it's because of my girl."

  I shook my head. "I don't think it's because of me, I think it's because he sees that you're in a relationship and are happy-"

  "I'm with you, and I'm happy because of you, so it's still down to you that he is coming around," Dominic cut me off smiling.

  I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, well, I'm just happy he is thawin' out."

  Dominic sighed. "I don't think he will thaw out completely, that shit with our parents and Trent really fucked him up."

  I swallowed, then chewed on my lip a little before asking, "Can I asked why he…"

  "Killed Trent?" Dominic finished my question for me.

  I nodded my head and settled into his side when he motioned for me to do so.

  "We turned fifteen two weeks before our parents were killed, over three and a half years ago, and Trent stood by us through it all. Carter did too for a time, but he was more of a loner unlike Trent. The three of us were practically best friends; we were raised together in the same environment, so he thought like we did and accepted the shit we had seen and done as normal. The only difference with him and us was that he enjoyed all the evil things, and we didn't. We never voiced it, because we didn't want to appear weak, but Dame and I talked some nights, and we both agreed the life our dad and Marco led wasn't for us. We were going to tell our dad that we wanted to leave New York and go anywhere else the day they died." Dominic frowned as he played with my hair. "Damien didn't want to leave the compound we lived in after that day. All the things we talked about were forgotten because he wanted no part in them if it involved him leaving New York. He started to pull away from all of us, except Trent and Nala."

  The female name peaked my interest. "Who is Nala?"

  "Nala was Damien's girlfriend, but before that she was just the cute Asian chick who followed us everywhere," Dominic said, and he smiled like he was reliving a memory with Nala in it.

  I smiled also then asked, "Is she a nice person?"

  Dominic shrugged. "Her dad was into the same shit as my dad and Marco but she hated what he did for 'business' like Damien and I did. She was quiet but nice, and she had the hots for Damien. She said it was his blond hair that attracted her to him and that his - our - beautiful face had nothing to do it."

  I snorted. "You vain fucker, you're makin' that up!"

  Dominic grinned. "Okay, she never said we had a beautiful face, but she was obsessed with Dame's hair colour. I think all Asians like light skin and hair, and that's what they get with Damien. He has slightly paler skin than me and his hair is white as snow naturally, so Nala was his number one fan. She came to the compound when we were all around ten. Damien had a crush on her as well so when he asked her to be his girlfriend when we were thirteen, and she said yeah, it wasn't a surprise. The only thing that was a surprise was that Trent hated them together. I think he had a thing for Nala as well and was just jealous of her and Dame, but I'm not really sure if that is the exact reason." Dominic shrugged then stretched and settled back next to me. "Dame and Nala were still together after our parents were killed but he eventually grew distant from her as well. No matter how hard she tried to help him feel better, she just couldn't. Trent was sort of her shoulder to lean on through that time; he made the mistake of trying to kiss her one night though. Damien saw the whole thing and went crazy. He attacked Trent and beat the shit out him for touching his girl."

  Dominic looked up to the ceiling then and tightened his hold on me. "I think he loved Nala. I know we were only kids, but they were dating for a solid two years and knew everything about each other and did everything together. They were literally the others half and were happy until all hell broke loose. After Trent tried to kiss her and Damien kicked his ass, he spewed a lot of bullshit towards Damien, and that only made him angrier. He said Damien wasn't good enough to be Nala's boyfriend and that he belonged in the ground with our traitorous father."

  Dominic shook his head. "It was a bad thing to say to a friend over a girl. Don't get me wrong, Nala was great, but she was still a girl, and I found it stupid that they were fighting over her. Loyalty wise, though, I was pissed at Trent for trying something with my bro's girl. I didn't care what he called our dad but when he wished Damien were dead, I got my turn at kicking his ass. It was the first time I was ever in a fight, and I beat the shit out of him. Damien got me off him though because he wanted to do it himself. I was fine with that 'cause I had gotten a few hits in. Trent got to his feet after Damien got me off him, and the crazy fucker pulled out a gun, a real fucking gun." I rubbed his arms when he started to get a little bit twitchy as he spoke. "I wasn't afraid of being shot by him, I was afraid for Damien though, because Trent looked at him with such hatred before he pointed the gun at him. It was then that I knew how much he truly was like Marco. If Nala hadn't jumped on Trent's back and caused him to drop the gun, there is no doubt in my mind that he would have shot and killed Dame; I feel sick just thinking about it."

  My eyes were wide. "Oh, my God, where did he get a gun from?" I asked.

  Dominic shrugged. "The compound we lived in never kept weapons or product onsite because we got raided a lot, but my guess is he swiped the licensed gun Marco kept in his office. After it was knocked out of Trent's hand it somehow ended up in Damien's hand, and that was when I started to panic. I still remember crying like a bitch for him to throw the gun away and that we weren't like our dad or Marco. He was listening to me as well until Trent laughed at me and called me a bitch like our dad, who deserved to be six feet under with lead in his head. Trent had already knocked Nala off him so when Damien fired the gun and hit Trent, she was safe from a follow through bullet. Trent was hit either in his heart or his shoulder. I couldn't tell because the blood that came from his wound soaked his shirt, so I couldn't pinpoint where he was hit. He wasn't moving so I guess Damien got him with one shot." Dominic shook his head then and cleared his throat. "Shit hit the fan after that. Everything went by fast, Marco had his boys clear the courtyard and wash away Trent's blood while he called the doctor, but it was too late. We were told he was already dead by the time the doc got there. Ryder being the oldest out of us met with Marco to 'discuss' things. Ryder, Kane and Alec were already involved in the business but after Dame killed Trent, they we in even deeper. We weren't stupid; we knew that the meeting with Ryder and Marco was to keep us all ali
ve. When Ryder came out of Marco's office he told us Damien was safe, but we had to work for that safety. I knew Marco wouldn't give anything unless he received something out of the deal, so I was game for working once I knew it would keep Dame safe."

  I was surprised when he snorted but didn't interrupt him.

  "I was expecting to run product and sell it or some shit like that, but Marco had certain 'jobs' for us all set out. I was apparently his main man; he is really into gambling and making his money in an exciting way, and it was around that time that underground fighting got big. He wanted a fighter in the underground to represent him, and after he watched the CCTV of me kicking Trent's ass that's what I became. We have been to more countries than I can remember in the last three and half years. It seems every couple of months Marco calls me and tells me about a new underground circuit that he wants me to represent him in."

  I gripped onto him as I felt my heart hammer into my chest. "He can call you whenever and tell you to leave here at any time to go to a different country to fight then, right? If he has done it in the past then he can do it again-"

  "Bronagh!" Dominic snapped and shook me. "Listen to me very carefully, I am not leaving you. Ireland is the last country I am fighting in. I already told Marco this, and he has agreed because he was getting bored with my fights since I always win. Apparently it's not exciting unless I have an even match, and I'm fighting like an animal to please him. We're all getting released from him after my current circuit is over. Another few weeks, and it's all done with."

  I sat up and just looked at him. "So that's it? Marco is going to let your family off the hook that easily? Damien killed his nephew."

  Dominic shrugged. "Men like Marco don't care about family or honour. He knew that Ryder was planning to get us out of New York whether Damien wanted to leave or not, and after Trent was killed it was the perfect pitch for him to play and keep us with him."

  I pulled a face. "I hate him already, and I haven't even met him."

  Dominic pulled my head down to his. "You won't ever meet him either."

  I nodded my head. "Good."