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CHAPTERELEVEN
THE KID WAS nervous. Dom could tell by the way Luca looked over to Gino and Joe as if to make sure they weren’t coming back to snatch him up again.
Fuckin’ hotheads.
One day Dom would sit there and bleed out while they argued over whether or not to have steak for dinner.
Save the protection for when I really need it,he thought.Like this kid could really hurt me.
Luca blew out a shaky breath, but his hands were steady. He threaded the needle on the first go, which was more than Dom could say for those who’d done his shitty stitch-up jobs in the past.
Luca looked up suddenly, catching Dom watching him, and again Dom was struck by the innocence he saw there.Puppy-dog eyes,his mom would’ve called them. Maybe it wasn’t Luca’s fault who he was, but Dom still hated him on principle. How could he not?
Something in Dom’s expression must’ve scared Luca, because he said, “I know what I’m doing.”
“I know you do.”
“Oh.” Luca’s shoulders relaxed a little as he lifted the needle. “You may not want to watch this part.”
Dom let out an inelegant snort. If Luca knew half of the things Dom had done in his life, he wouldn’t be worried. Hell, he wouldn’t be sitting in that chair.
Huh.WhyhadLuca interjected in the first place? Maybe he’d thought it would gain him favor? But with as terrified as Luca seemed of Dom, it made more sense that he would choose to stay the hell away, locked up in the bedroom rather than interacting with any of them.
Luca took hold of Dom’s arm, his left hand holding the wound closed, while his right hand steadied the needle. It went through the skin so smoothly that Dom barely felt it. For some reason, he was more focused on the hand holding his arm.
With sure, steady fingers, the kid clearly knew what he was doing as he pierced the jagged skin on the opposite side of the wound. As Luca weaved his way up the length of the gash, Dom’s gaze traveled up Luca’s arm to where his white t-shirt hugged his bicep. His clothes had been deceptive, hiding a frame that Dom had thought would easily be overpowered. But seeing him up close like this, Dom realized the kid probably would’ve given him a good fight.
Maybe he’d still get the chance, when Vincenzo finally gave the green light to dispose of the one ray of hope the Fiores were clinging to.
“This going to take much longer?”
Luca paused as he glanced up from the stitch he’d just administered. Those puppy-dog eyes were a little less innocent now, and his frustration shone through. “I just started.”
“And you’re supposed to be some whiz-kid med student. So, we nearly done?”
Luca’s jaw twitched as he looked to the bloody wound and then back to Dom. “In case you hadn’t noticed, you got shot.I’mtrying to help you. So, we’ll be done when I say I’m done. Which would be much sooner if you’d quit interrupting me.”
Dom raised a brow, the back talk the last thing he’d expected.Well now, isn’t that an interesting turn of events?That backbone was definitely not something Luca had inherited from the Fiores, but something that seemed hard-wired with the confidence he had in his own skill. Unfortunately, it was also a characteristic that made Dom detest Luca a little less, and that wouldn’t do.
“You talk to me like that again and the only interrupting that’s going to happen here is my gun finishing your sentence.”
Luca said nothing, but the next time the needle passed through Dom’s skin, it was done with a lot more force, causing a sharp pain to ricochet through his nerve endings.
Dom jerked his arm in response.“Motherfucker.”
Luca raised his head, his brow arched. “Sorry, did that hurt?”
Dom merely glared at the shithead, and a smirk tugged at the corners of Luca’s lips.
“So,” Luca said, keeping his eyes on the needle. “Is this an everyday thing for you?”
“What?”
“You know, getting shot, taking hostages.”
Damn.Dom had to hand it to the kid, he wasn’t cowering. Instead, he was pushing Dom’s buttons. And while that would normally be reason enough for Dom to lose his cool, he found himself responding.
“Noteveryday,” he said.
