Chapter 27

CHAPTERTWENTY-SEVEN

“THIS PLACE IS like a castle…in a cloud.”

Dom lifted his head from the back of the chair to see Luca lying flat on his back on the couch.

“Such a fucking lightweight,” he said, swirling the contents of his glass. “I thought you were a college boy.”

“What does that have to do with anything?”

“College is one big excuse to party every night and make bad decisions.”

Luca lifted his head, a lopsided grin on his face. “Is that what you did?”

“No,” Dom said, looking away. Between school and the family “business,” there hadn’t been time for messing around. Not that he cared…much. He’d been brought up with such an intense focus that it felt like his classmates were wasting their time when they could’ve been building empires.

“Yeah, me either.” Luca sat up and put a pillow behind his head. “Silas is always at a pub or out drinking someplace, but not me. I just stay in my room and study. Study, study, study, all the time.”

“But look at you now. You’re in a cloud.” Dom’s lips twitched as he took a sip. Day drinking had definitely been a good idea. He was already feeling more relaxed than he had in what felt like years, pushing everything out of control to the back of his mind as much as he could. What the hell else could he do? Defy his father’s orders? That would only result in a harsher punishment than his current situation.

No, he’d sit here and drink until he couldn’t feel anything, and he’d make Luca do the same. Wouldn’t do well to have him clearheaded, and it hadn’t taken him much to get plastered off his ass.

“Also, what do you have against TVs?” Luca said. “How can you have a great big place without a TV? We could be watching something instead of each other.”

“You don’t like to watch me?” Dom grunted. “That’s not how I remember it. You couldn’t take your eyes off me in the shower.”

“You were naked.”

“All the more reason to look away.”

Luca shrugged and stared out the window. “You did it to get a reaction out of me. To humiliate or degrade me, whatever. Guess that backfired on you, didn’t it? You’re hot and I’m gay. Stupid too, apparently. Get over it.”

Dom fell silent. Luca’s casual statement had touched something that he usually kept buried in the far recesses of his being. Luca’s freedom to just announce his sexual orientation was a liberty Dom had never been afforded for fear of repercussions, so to hear him talk so openly about it made Dom wary.

What had he been thinking touching this kid? Or more importantly, letting Luca touch him? If anyone found out… If he told anyone…

What? He’d have to kill Luca? Not like that wasn’t already in the cards.

Dom looked at the young man again, his eyes trailing over Luca’s long legs, flat, tight abs under one of the designer shirts he’d finally put on, and the strong jaw line that seemed to be growing stronger and bolder the longer he was here.

He was fucking gorgeous, there was no way to ignore that, and for the first time in his life, Dom felt a twinge of regret. What would it be like to be so open about who you were and what you wanted? It was something he’d never been able to show, not to anyone. In his world, his family, being gay was almost as bad as being a Fiore. Being gay and lusting after a Fiore? He might as well put a bullet through his head and end it now.

Pissed off and restless, Dom got to his feet and began to pace. He’d thought drinking would bring him some relief, that it would numb the irritation at being locked up and let him forget for a minute who he was. Instead, it had magnified his one weakness.

“You hate being trapped up here too, don’t you?” Luca said.

Dom walked over to the windows, opting for any view other than the one of his tempting cell mate, who was too drunk to know when to shut his mouth. “I’m not trapped.”

“No?”

“No. Unlike you, I can leave whenever I want. I’m here because my father wishes it, that’s all.”

“Really? Because it sounded to me like someone wanted to kill you, and since you kind of want to do the same to me, logic dictates you’re as trapped as I am. Plus, you have this whole trapped-animal vibe going on. Tense, silent, moody…”

Dom glanced over his shoulder. “Guess we have something in common, then.”

“I’m not tense.”

“Or silent,” Dom said.

“You’re the one who wanted me to drink. This is me drunk. Chatty. Also, relaxed for the first time since you abducted me and told me I’m some long-lost heir to your arch-nemesis and I have to die.”

Dom’s lips twitched. When Luca put it like that, it did all sound rather dire, didn’t it?

“I mean, really, I didn’t even think Mafia families existed anymore. You know, other than in the movies. So what’s your beef with each other, anyway? World domination?”

Any ease Dom had been feeling immediately dissipated. If there was one thing the Rossettis took more seriously than their oath to the family, it was the implementation of their plan of revenge on the Fiores.

It had been years in the making. Those fuckers had done the unthinkable, and from that moment on, Vincenzo had been on a mission. He was going to bring down the reigning family, and after over a decade, the end was in sight.

In fact, the end was sitting on Dom’s fucking couch.

But Dom wasn’t about to go into all that, especially not with Luca.

“It’s been a long time coming.”

“Because…?”

“It’s a long story.” Dom finished off the vodka in his glass and reached for the bottle.

“Well, it’s not like we have anything better to do. Tell me a story.”

“Sure. It’s called none of your fucking business.”

Luca frowned. “That’s not a good story. Too short. Not enough details.”

“You’re not getting any details.”

“Oh, right.” He dropped his voice to an exaggerated whisper. “I’m the enemy.”

“That’s one reason.”

“There’s more than one?” When Dom cocked his head, Luca sat up and moved down to the edge of the couch to get closer. “Is it too scary?”

A flash of a memory crossed Dom’s mind, stabbing him in the heart. “Yes.”

Even blitzed, Luca seemed to realize there were things too deep and painful to say, and thankfully dropped it.

A long silence fell between them, Dom quietly sipping his drink and Luca staring out the window. For a minute Dom thought Luca was falling asleep, but he jumped up suddenly and held his empty glass out to Dom.

What the hell?Dom thought, pouring Luca another round. This would probably knock him out for sure.

Luca took a big swallow, flinching slightly. “Is this your favorite?”

Dom shook his head. “It’s just good to keep around.”

“What do you mean?”

Dom pinned him with a look. “I’m sure you can figure it out.”

In his inebriated state, it probably took him longer than it would’ve sober, but soon Luca said, “Ooooh. You use it as an antiseptic for all those emergencies you have, huh?”

“I’m sure as hell not using it to clean the house.”

“You could,” Luca said with a shrug. “Not that you look like a guy who cleans. Probably not even when you hurt someone, right? Is that what Chef is for?”

“That’s not his main purpose, no.”

“You say that so casually. Like you’re talking about a normal job.”

“It is normal. To me.”

“And that’s disturbing as hell. ‘Hi, I’m Dom, I kill people for a living.’”

“That’s not what I do for a living.” Dom pursed his lips. “It’s a side effect.”

“Well…what if you just…stopped?”

“I don’t follow.”

“You know, stopped. Stopped moving, stopped running all over the streets, stopped all the fighting. You’re just go, go, go, all the time; it’s fucking exhausting.”

“Then stop watching so close.”

“What else am I supposed to do here?”

“Oh, I don’t know, stay in your room? Out of my way. Haven’t you heard that saying, ‘out of sight, out of mind’?”

“So what you’re saying is if I stay in my room you’ll just forget about me?”

Dom wasn’t saying that. But it sure couldn’t hurt. Maybe if Luca wasn’t asking a million and one questions, this persistent niggling inside of Dom that was making him relax his guard would finally vanish.

“You talk too much, anyone ever told you that?”

Luca held up his glass. “I told you. When I’m drunk, I’m chatty.”

“When you’re sober, too.”

“Is it so wrong to ask questions? To talk?”

“In my world? Definitely. You say the wrong thing in my world and you lose your tongue.”

“Yeah, I seem to remember you mentioning that.”

Dom arched a brow. “I’m surprised you can remember anything right now.”

Luca lounged back on the couch and kicked his legs out in front of him. “I’m relaxed. In fact, if you’re going to kill me, could you do it now? I hardly think I’d even panic.”

“I’m not going to kill you.”

Luca perked up. “Ever?”

“Right now.”

He sagged back in his seat and let out a long sigh. “You know, maybe if you relaxed and kicked off your shoes for five minutes, you’d feel less antsy.”

“Do I look like the kind of guy who relaxes?”

Luca slowly ran his eyes down over him, and Dom’s dick throbbed at the lazy perusal.

“You look like the kind of guy who will sleep when he’s dead.”

“Sounds about right.”

Luca’s eyes softened a fraction as he shook his head. “And that doesn’t scare you?”

“Dying? No.”

“Wow.”

As the room fell silent, Dom took Luca’s empty glass and walked to the bar cart. He was in desperate need of another drink, and at this point it seemed like the only way to shut the kid up was to have his mouth otherwise occupied.

Dom flashed back to his cock stuffed between those full, chatty lips.

Stop it. You’re going to give him a drink, Dom. Not your fucking dick.

He opened up another bottle from the freezer, filled their glasses, then walked back to Luca. Dom held out the glass, and when Luca reached up to take it, their fingers touched.

“Thank you,” he said so softly that Dom barely caught it.

When Dom didn’t immediately let go, Luca glanced at the glass where their fingers touched. Dom knew he should let go, that he should hand off the glass and walk back to the other side of the room. But when Luca bit down into his lower lip, Dom had the insane urge to be the one to do the biting.

“This can’t happen.”

Luca blinked up at him, those thick lashes kissing the tops of his cheeks and making him appear even more innocent in his inebriated state.

“What can’t?” Luca grazed his finger up Dom’s.

“Don’t fuck around with me, Luca. You know exactly what I mean.” And so did Dom. So why the hell hadn’t he let go of the glass and moved away?