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I quickly slip into a pair of shorts and a sweater, then slide leg warmers up my calves and twist my hair into a thick braid before taking a second to breathe. To remember that I’m hurt and in pain. The adrenaline I’ve been feeling since waking up is slowly creeping out of my system, along with the pain meds, and the throbbing in my body is front and center.
I’ve never backed down from a fight in my life, but today I’m wishing I had. Five against one is never good odds, and I should have known better. Gina Santini just grates on my last nerves, and it simply wasn’t an option.
“Come on, Capo,” I call to my dog as I open the bedroom door. Hearing voices downstairs, I know all the brothers are here now. Until Domino picked me up, I had only met Pace briefly when we moved to Palermo from Catania last year. He helped us get settled.
Nerves creep up as I approach the open office door. I peek around the corner of the frame and see all five brothers in the room. Domino sitting behind his father’s desk appears imposing as he views whatever Santi is showing him on the laptop. His brow is furrowed in concentration and rage. The more Domino sees on the screen, the angrier he becomes. As his gaze flicks up to where Donato’s phone vibrates in his hand, his typically blue gaze is a stormy black.
Biting my lip, I have to rub my thighs together because, for whatever depraved reason, his anger ignites a flame of desire deep in my core. From the very first night on my birthday to every time he’s yelled or blown up since. An angry Domino is a force to be reckoned with.
Donato turns as he answers his call and our eyes meet briefly before his tone lowers. Pace and Maso sit on the couch in the room, their eyes glued to another screen as they speak in muted voices.
“Cara mia.” I shiver at Domino’s tone—steel laced with his own burning desire for me. “Are you going to come in here?”
Releasing a breath, I glance down at Capo. “Now or never, I guess.” He sneezes and follows me into the room. I aim for Domino but get sidetracked when I’m held from behind.
“Didn’t think you’d get past me, did you?” Pace whispers in my ear before kissing my cheek. Domino stands, placing both fists on his desk, a feral growl emanating from him. “Seems someone’s jealous,” Pace continues to whisper, not letting me go.
Turning my head, I match his tone. “He might kill you.” My intent is to tease him, but I don’t doubt Domino will do precisely that to keep any man away from me.
“Little brother doesn’t scare me,” Pace laughs.
Domino’s face turns thunderous. “Get your fucking hands off my girl, Pace, or I’ll remove them from your body.”
Resting his chin on my shoulder, the brothers glare at each other. Or rather, Domino glares, and Pace grins before he kisses my cheek again and slowly releases me and taps my ass to get me walking to Domino.
If possible, Dom’s glare intensifies, and I’m pretty sure if he could, he’d chop his brother's head off from the look alone.
Immediately when I’m within reaching distance, Domino grabs my hand gently and tugs me forward. Without hesitation, he picks me up and places me on the desk in front of him. In a possessive show of ownership, he captures my lips and doesn’t let go. Stepping between my thighs, he wraps his arms around my back, holding me closer. Tighter.
And for the first time since that day outside the detention center, I feel like his claiming is real. It’s more than words promised in the aftermath of intense lovemaking. It’s a declaration to the most important men in his life that I’m off limits and belong solely to him.
It’s a claiming I can finally accept.
Chapter 9
Domino
Overwhelmed and in pain, I watched Nicola struggle with a close eye all evening. When she finally fell asleep in my lap while my brothers talked about Santini and Salvatore’s operations, I couldn’t stop thinking about what could have happened to her if my father hadn’t found her when he did.
After tucking her back into bed, Capo at her side, I grabbed Pace, and we were out the door. I can’t wait any longer, and the sooner I act, the better I’ll feel.
“Going to tell me why I’m the chosen one here, Dom?” Pace mutters next to me as I pick the lock to the chief’s home after cutting the electricity. Ensuring no alarms could go off.
“Because you have a relationship with her. You give a shit about her well-being, and this asshole and his family have spent ten fucking years torturing her. Did she tell you it was the chief’s daughter who got her sent away?” Staring back at him as the lock pops, I register the shock on his face from the moonlight.
“You know he’s going to come for us, right?” The anger I had hoped to entice in him is now present.
“Yup. I have Natale’s full support. They won’t be able to do shit.” While the Morellos have gone mostly legit since coming home, they still control some of the upper echelons in Sicily’s underground. Natale won’t let me down. Not with this.
Slipping through the now open front door, Pace closes it behind him, and we wait a few beats before moving forward. Searching out the rooms in the house, we come across Santini’s den. Finding a laptop on his desk and one hidden in the top of a closet, we take both. As we rustle through locked filing cabinets, a file with Salvatore’s name appears, so we confiscate that too. I’m sure there’s likely a safe, but we don’t have time to crack it.
Not tonight.
Placing the bag with the computers and files near the door, we quietly make our way upstairs. Gina’s room is easily identified by a personalized sign. Finding the chief and his wife at the end of the hall, Pace pulls out a cloth and chloroform.
Silently breaching the room, the loud snoring sends us to the far side of the bed. “Idiot. Leaves his wife to be attacked first,” Pace mutters. Don’t let a woman sleep on the side where the door is open. I’d never do that to Nicola. Leave her open to such danger. This man doesn’t deserve the drugged air he’s about to breathe in.
With little trouble, Pace puts the cloth over the man’s mouth and nose. There’s no struggle; he didn’t even wake up. Taking him from the bed, I carry him over my shoulder as my brother follows behind as silently as we came.
