Chapter 28

CHAPTERTWENTY-EIGHT

ONE THING LUCA could say about drinking—it made him bolder.

Just running his finger alongside Dom’s had his stomach in a flutter, and that only intensified when his captor didn’t immediately pull away.

“No one has to know,” Luca whispered.

Dom’s eyes turned heated, and for a moment Luca thought something would happen. But Dom let go of the glass abruptly and went back to his chair.

“This isn’t just about me, is it?” Luca said. “It’s more than that. You don’t want anyone to know you’re—”

“Drunk and sitting here having a conversation with you? No. I don’t.”

Wow, he couldn’t even say the word, could he? Was he just in denial, or was it something more? Thank God for vodka, because Luca doubted he’d push the subject if he were sober, but right now he couldn’t care less about any consequences.

“Are Mafia guys allowed to be gay?”

“Jesus Christ,” Dom muttered.

“What?”

“Don’t fucking say that.”

“What? Gay?”

“Mafia. It’s not yours to use.”

Uh, wasn’t that just stating the obvious? Mafia, mob, la Cosa Nostra, crazy kill freaks. Luca would have to come back to that one. He was far more interested in the other word Dom wouldn’t say.

“Is it forbidden?” Luca asked. “To be gay?”

Dom leaned forward, a retort on his lips, but nothing came out. Instead he sat back, looking down at his drink. “Yes.”

“Even if it’s you?”

“Especially if it’s me.”

“Why?”

Dom sighed and looked up. “Why do you think? I’m the heir.”

“Right. You’ll be the boss someday, and if anyone has a problem with you being gay, you can just get rid of them.”

“So the entire Rossetti family?” Dom smirked. “Your daddy would be proud of that train of thought.”

Luca flinched. “Don’t say that.”

“What? The truth? Fiore would love nothing more than for all Rossettis to be wiped off the face of the planet. Isn’t that what you were just suggesting I do?”

“You know it’s not. All I’m saying is, why couldn’t you change things? Make an example of one, and oh, I don’t know, put the fear of God in the rest of them.”

“’Cause life isn’t a fucking fairytale, that’s why.”

“So you just get to be miserable? That’s a long, lonely life you have ahead of you there.”

“Or not so long in my line of work. Depends if you’re good at it or not.”

Luca’s eyes dropped to the wounded arm he’d doctored twice, and then back to Dom. “You seem to be pretty good at making narrow escapes.”

“I have to be.” Dom raised his glass and took a long swallow.

“Because you’re the heir?”

“Wow, you catch on quick.”

“And because they expect you to produce the next heir.”

“I’m seeing why you got into medical school.”

Luca rolled his eyes. “Okay, so that’s kind of obvious, but you don’t exactly strike me as the ‘get married and have babies type.’”

“Why not? Because I let you suck my dick? All men want to see themselves in their offspring. What makes you think I’m any different?”

The caustic tone told Luca he’d stuck a nerve. This was the first time he was getting somewhere with this guy, and despite what Dom said, he didn’t want kids. He didn’t want the picture-perfect family with a picket fence, and that made Luca want to keep pushing.

“What makes you different is you’d rather come on me than anywhere near a woman.”

“Jesus. Vodka does this?”

“Don’t change the subject. Why do you do what someone else wants you to?”

“Let it go, Luca.”

“You don’t have to do everything your father says—”

“Clearly you don’t understand how all this works.”

“I’m just saying, like, my parents wanted me to travel and take a gap year before college, but I had goals and I told them how it was going to be.”

“Ah.” Dom rested his chin on his fist. “So I should tell my father, my boss, how it’s going to be. Luca, you wouldn’t last a day in this world.”

“I beg to differ. I’ve lasted several in your world so far.”

“Only because I’ve let you.”

“Touché.” Luca drank a little more, his body feeling nice and warm even with how casually they talked about his imminent end. Maybe it was the alcohol, but he didn’t feel the sense of dread that had been clawing at him for days. Or the hatred that usually came off Dom in waves. Was he overly friendly? Ha, never. Was he opening up a little? Definitely. Just the bit of information Luca had gleaned from their conversation told him Dom wasn’t incapable of being a somewhat normal human. There were feelings in there, not just angry, violent ones. Luca had seen it with Dom’s sister and even his father, and knowing Dom was trying to live up to their expectations instead of his own made Luca almost empathize with him.

Almost.

“You’re a pretty scary guy when you want to be, you know that?” Luca said.

“Good.”

“I mean, every time I saw you, I’d have a panic attack.”

“And now you don’t?”

Luca bit his lip before admitting, “Now I have a different type of reaction.”

“That’s pretty fucked up, considering what I’ve done to you.”

“Yeah. It is.” God, he couldn’t believe what was coming out of his mouth, but he also couldn’t seem to stop himself.

“So that’s what gets you off, then?” Dom said. “Someone who hates you?”

“You don’t hate me. I think you want to, but you don’t.” Luca slid his empty glass on to the side table and got to his feet. He knew what he was about to do was risky, and the dumbest thing he could ever do, but he wasn’t ready to let go of this strange connection they’d formed over the last couple of hours. He wasn’t ready to be relegated back to the role of hated hostage. So with the alcohol humming through his veins making him brave, Luca made his move.

He could feel the weight of Dom’s stare as he walked across the living room. Dom had one ankle propped up on his knee and his glass dangling from his fingers, but as Luca approached, Dom straightened in his seat.

“What do you think you’re doing?”

Luca moved between Dom’s legs, reached for his glass, and finished off the drink. “I’m showing you my reaction to you. Up close and personal.”

Dom’s eyes dropped to the erection Luca had no hope of hiding, and his jaw clenched.

Shit, did I push too hard?Luca wasn’t sure. But just when he thought Dom would tell him to get the fuck away, he shifted in his seat and got to his feet. Dom gripped Luca’s chin and angled his face up to his. Then he leaned down and ghosted across his lips, “You talk too much.”

Luca’s cock pounded almost as hard as his heart as he stared up into eyes scorching with untamed lust. “Then why don’t you shut me up?”