Chapter 33

CHAPTERTHIRTY-THREE

THE WAY LUCA was staring at him with a mixture of shock and gratitude made something inside Dom’s chest twist uncomfortably.

He didn’t like it.

“Don’t think it means anything,” he said gruffly. Like that I won’t still kill you. Though if he were honest with himself, the thought of getting rid of Luca no longer felt right. Not that he had feelings for the kid or anything, but maybe this wasn’t the person he should be taking his revenge out on. Nothing more than that. Really.

“Don’t worry,” Luca said. “I won’t tell anyone you did something nice.”

Dom snorted and got to his feet. “Nice. Right.”

He felt Luca’s eyes follow him as he took one of the packaged meals out of the refrigerator for himself. Then he heard Luca coming to join him, grabbed another meal, and tossed it on the counter.

“Chicken cordon bleu,” he said before Luca could ask.

“Seriously?”

“What? Not to your liking?”

“Uh, no. The opposite, actually. Who eats like this every day?”

“I do.” Dom flicked on the oven then moved back to the fridge. “What do you want to drink?”

“I think I’ll stick with water,” Luca said as he moved onto one of the stools, and Dom grabbed out a bottle of the sparkling shit Chef was obsessive about. He slid it across the counter and eyed Luca closely as he picked up the bottle and took a long swallow. Luca’s full lips were still swollen from their encounter back in his room, and Dom noticed an angry red welt where Luca’s shirt had slipped to one side.

Marked. That’s what he was. But even as Dom’s cock stiffened at the reminder, he heard himself say, “You need to cover that shit up.”

Luca placed the bottle back on the counter and looked at the spot on his shoulder. “I thought it was,” he said as he shrugged the shirt back up over the teeth marks. “But if you’re so worried about it, bite me somewhere no one will see next time.”

“Who said there’ll be a next time?”

“Are you saying there won’t be?”

Dom sure as fuck should be. But his dick was hellbent on calling him out for the liar he was. “Just cover it up.”

“Okay,” Luca said, putting his palms up. “But anyone who stands near me is going to know something’s up. I smell just like you.”

“Fuckin’ hell. Do you ever stop talking?” Dom was about two seconds away from shutting Luca up in the most carnal way possible when the oven dinged,stopping him.

He clenched his teeth and tore the lids off their meals, then shoved the containers into the oven with a slam of the door.

“Listen to me, very closely. What we did up there—”

“Had sex.”

“—stays up there. There is no room for it anywhere outside of that bedroom. So don’t mistake the fact that I liked shoving my cock up your ass as some sort of declaration of love or some bullshit.”

Luca cocked his head to the side. “But you did like it.”

Dom cursed and shook his head as he pushed away from the counter. He needed to get away from this kid right now. It seemed that Dom’s moment of weakness had given Luca some strange sense of comfort, and this newfound ballsiness he was exuding was hot.

Pissed off at himself and his lack of willpower, Dom stormed back into the living room. The last thing he needed to feel toward Luca was sympathy. Hell, he shouldn’t be feeling anything at all. Luca was a fucking Fiore. But somewhere between being locked in this penthouse and getting him naked, Dom had conveniently pushed that aside in pursuit of satisfying his lust. Not to mention he’d had a fair amount of frustration and irritation riding him over being sidelined in the first place.

Taking Luca had been a way to gain some sort of control over the situation, and making him come until he almost passed out on the floor had been an arrogant stroke to Dom’s ego.

But now he was caught between a rock and a hard place. The hard place being his overeager cock.

Dom stopped by a window overlooking Times Square and wondered how many more days he’d be trapped up here in a prison of his father’s making. These last couple had felt like an eternity, and with this added temptation, the long, monotonous hours were going to be excruciating.

If the Fiores would just acknowledge they’d been eclipsed and go back to their fucking side of town, this could all be over with. But those slimy assholes kept slithering out of the damn shadows.

He didn’t know how long he stood there staring out over the city—his city—until Luca called out that the food was ready.

Dom turned around to head to the kitchen, but Luca was sitting at the dining room table, both meals already plated.

Damn, had Dom been so out of it he hadn’t even noticed what was going on behind him? He really needed to get some food in his system to soak up the copious amounts of vodka he’d downed today.

The table had been set so Dom was sitting at the head and Luca was off to the right. It was a sign of deference Dom hadn’t expected from someone determined to push him at every turn.

They were quiet as they dug into the meal, both of them long overdue for some sustenance. Hell, it might’ve been the longest Luca had ever been silent, and Dom was about to make a smartass comment to that effect when his phone rang.

He answered immediately. “Father?”

“Are you safe?” Vincenzo’s voice was urgent, and it sent Dom’s heart rate spiking.

“Yes. Why?”

“They went after Caterina.”

Dom’s blood went cold.

“She’s fine,” his father said. “Thank God Tony was with her and had the sense to come here, but it was a close one. Too close.”

Goddammit, Cat. She shouldn’t have risked coming over, but thank fuck Dom had had the sense to send someone with her.

“They’re riled up, Dom. They’ve tried to get through Midas security several times since the event. I didn’t think they’d be that stupid, but it’s not safe for you to stay there anymore, you or the boy.”

“Shit.” Dom pushed back from the table and got to his feet. “Your compound is secure?”

“I’ve got everyone on the clock. It’s safe. But getting here might be another story. They were on Caterina as soon as she left.”

“Don’t worry about that. The underground parking is secure for us to get to, and I’ll have Joe for backup once we leave.”

“I want you through that door within the hour, Dom.”

“Yes, sir.”

Dom pocketed the phone and turned to Luca. “We have to leave. Go grab a spare set of clothes. Now.”

For once Luca didn’t question him, shooting up out of his chair like his ass was on fire.

When he reached for a plate to take it away, Dom shook his head. “Fuck the food. Go get your shit.”

Then he took off toward the stairs, Luca on his heels. Once in his room, he attached his holsters around his ankles and chest and checked that the guns were loaded. He needed to look every inch the part of the boss’s right-hand man, so he threw on a suit jacket and added his cuff links and ring. After quickly packing a bag, he was out the door. Luca was already in the hall waiting for him. He shoved the clothes he held into Dom’s bag, and then they were off, tearing down the stairs at a record pace.

“Are you going to tell me what’s going on?” Luca said.

“No time. Just stay close and do what I say. Do you understand?”

“I understand.”

“Good. Now stay quiet.”

As Dom unlocked the front door, adrenaline pumped through his veins, only two things on his mind: to get them the hell out of there, and to stay alive.