Dominic stripped off his suit in the bathroom and let the shower wash the blood from his face. He’d have to burn his shirt, nothing would get the blood from that shirt. He sighed as the steam rose and he pushed his hair back.It was getting too long and he needed a haircut. It could wait like many other things had to wait. He’d avoided Conrad too and he knew that soon his car would pull up and he’d be forced to climb inside and listen to Conrad berate him.They’d never had a loving relationship, rather Conrad was a general and Dominic his soldier, always learning and never being good enough. He was tired and more than once he’d thought about just killing the old man.Gage would approve. Faro and Eris would too but Hunter and even more so, Inara would be heartbroken. He wouldn’t be able to look at his sister and know that he was the cause of her pain. Conrad was a good father to his sisters.**Dominic sat on the wooden chair, his back ramrod straight. Slouching was never acceptable. Th
Dominic looked at the black limousine as it pulled to a stop near the curb. The rear door opened, and he sighed. He gave his men a nod, and climbed into the car. Smoke from his Cuban cigar curled around his face but Dominic remained stoic.The limo pulled away from the curb, and blended into the traffic. “You’ve been avoiding me, Dominic.”“I’ve been busy.”Conrad chuckled low in his throat. “I’m aware of just how fucking busy you’ve been.”Silence ensued, and Dominic knew better than to say anything else. The limo drove towards the warehouses, and Dominic’s heart sank. He was being taken to the warehouse so Conrad could execute his punishment.Conrad Vittori was a fucking bastard, and Dominic glared at him through the haze of smoke. He hated the man with every fiber of his being. The large doors slid open, and the limo drove inside the warehouse.The doors were opened, and Dominic climbed out and smoothed the cuffs of his jacket. He turned to glare at Conrad, and he looked back to wh
The cut on Dominic’s eyebrow had required two stitches. He had four cracked ribs, and thankfully no internal bleeding. The backdoor clinic he’d used had patched him up, and sent him on his way with painkillers and a throbbing forehead. He’d gone without the local anesthesia.It was barely 8 PM, and he gingerly opened his eyes when Ethan parked the SUV in the underground parking lot of his building. He was pissed off, and now Conrad knew exactly where they all stood.His last words hadn’t been as cryptic. “You are more ready than I was, Dominic.” His words kept playing in Dominic’s head, over and over. Ready to take over? Ready for Conrad to leave him the fuck alone? He could only wish.Dominic walked into his penthouse alone, having dismissed his men. He wanted to take a shower, have a drink or ten, and climb into bed. Somewhere in between those things on his list he should eat as well.“Where the hell were you?” Isadora’s voice came loudly from the direction of the kitchen.“I was bu
The police officers parted as Dominic walked toward the house. There were more police officers inside the foyer, and at the bottom of the stairs stood Detective Williams, the one that had made the call.“Mr Vittori, Captain Wilson’s waiting for you upstairs in the main bedroom,” he said.“Thank you, Detective,” Dominic said.Cooper and Ethan joined them in the foyer, and Austin led the way upstairs. It had to be bad for Jimmy Wilson to make the call and ask him to come to Conrad’s house. Dominic wasn’t sure he wanted to see it.“Dominic,” Jimmy said, and he snapped out of it.“Jimmy,” Dominic said and nodded his head.Jimmy nodded his head and Dominic followed him down the hall where they had more privacy. “It’s a fucked up way to die, Dominic. Whoever did this … this was personal. I know you and the old man didn’t always see eye to eye, so I wanted you to see what we’re working with here. This was fucking personal.”“Conrad had security cameras, inside and outside. Have you spoken to
Dominic sat in his study for two hours before he picked up the phone, and dialed Inara’s number. She’d be awake by now, and he closed his eyes as the line rang. She was going to be devastated.“Dominic, this is a nice surprise.” Her voice was light and sweet, innocent like her.“I have some bad news, Inara,” Dominic said gently.“What’s wrong? What happened?” Her voice had taken on a worried note, and Dominic signed.“Someone killed Conrad last night.” Her gasp had him pause, and he could picture her sitting on her bed, tears streaming down her face. “I don’t have all the details yet. Thomas will pick you up soon.”“Okay,” she said through her tears, and Dominic felt like shit for having had to do it over the phone.“I’ll see you soon. I love you, Inara.”“Love you too, Dominic.”Dominic ended the call and took a deep breath. The door to his study opened, and the rest of his siblings walked in. Eris and Faro looked confused at being summoned so early on a Saturday morning.Gage looked
Inara’s homecoming was a tear filled one. She’d gone straight to Hunter, the two sisters hugging and crying together. Inara had been Conrad’s favourite, and he’d never even raised his voice when she was around.Hunter had been his little princess until Inara was born, though he’d never treated Inara better than Hunter, but his eyes never lied. His eyes held more love when he looked at Inara, and Dominic was convinced that Conrad had despised him.“Oh Dominic,” Inara said as fresh tears welled up in her eyes and she flung herself in his arms.“Shh, it’ll be okay, Inara.” Dominic held her against him, her feet dangling in the air. His hand smoothed over her hair, and he closed his eyes.She went to Gage next and whatever he whispered in her ear had her nodding her head and wiping her eyes. She hugged Faro and Eris last, not nearly as long as she’d hugged Dominic, and by that time her tears were under control.“Do we know who did this? Do the police have any leads?” Inara asked.“They do
On Monday morning, Dominic was ready to leave by 8 AM. He had breakfast with Inara and left the house before he strangled Eris. He wasn’t happy with Dominic tending to business during this time. They were supposed to mourn as a family. Dominic had only scoffed at him.“Straight to Winsome Ads?” Ethan asked as he started the SUV.“Yes.”Cooper shifted in his seat and grinned at Hudson. “Did you know that ostriches also have clits?”Hudson frowned as he looked at Cooper. “What the fuck is wrong with you? Why would you even know that?”“It was part of the article I read. Women don’t pee from their clits, did you know that?”“Everyone knows that, Cooper,” Dominic said with a chuckle.“Spotted hyenas do,” Cooper said.“Again … Why are you interested in animal clits? And you call me a sick fuck,” Hudson murmured.“Well since you’re the only one that’s actually taken a girly dick in the ass, I wanted to read up on it,” Cooper said.“I did not take a girly dick in my ass! I’ve taken a finger
Dominic spent the day in various meetings, meeting with investors, and checking up on his businesses. He’d left Isadora at Winsome Ads along with a bookkeeper and an associate lawyer who would go through everything.Dominic wasn’t worried, the company was small in comparison to his other empires, and he’d only bought it so Isadora could have a safe working environment. He had no interest in the company other than her, and now it seemed that even that wasn’t good enough.He hated the fact that she was lying to him. He’d given her enough time. He hated the way he’d fallen hard for her already because even though he knew some of her secrets, he didn’t know them all and he wanted to.He’d fallen in love with a woman he could never fully have. He could never marry her or settle down with her, he could never have children with her, and it was selfish of him to keep her, but he also knew he wasn’t letting go of her until she walked away.Dominic finished his last meeting at seven pm, and by
The sniper teams had dealt with the men sent to the house so swiftly that Rafaella hadn’t even known it had happened. Hudson had given them the all clear and she’d asked about Dominic first.“He’s fine, Rafi, I spoke to Cooper, they’re all fine,” Hudson said.“Then this is the perfect time for us to leave,” she said.“You got what you need?” Hudson asked her.“Yes. Let’s go before they know we’re gone,” Rafaella said.Hudson led Rafaella out of the house and into the garage. He took the smaller SUV and they sped away from the house. The other men were busy dealing with the dead bodies and the women were all safely in their quarters.“You did everything I asked?”Hudson looked at Rafaella in the rearview mirror. “I did.” She nodded her head. “Are you sure you want to do this, Rafi?”“I’ve never been surer of anything in my life, Hudson,” she said as her hands cradled her pregnant stomach.“Dominic’s not going to be happy about this.” She knew Hudson was right. Dominic’s temper was lege
Twenty minutes later, Cooper slowed the SUV down and Gage looked at Dominic. “See you soon, brother.” The door opened and Gage was out of the car. Cooper sped up again the moment the door closed and Dominic could feel everything inside him settle.Tonight everything would end, one way or another.Cooper pulled the SUV up at the specified warehouse. Three men stood outside the door and watched them warily. Their hands reached for their weapons as the doors opened and Dominic climbed out.“Mr. Vittori is waiting inside,” one man said.The other two men stepped closer to them and started patting them down. Dominic had expected it and neither he nor Cooper were armed. Ethan had been somewhere on a rooftop since the sun set with his sniper rifle and he’d start taking the men out when Gage gave him the signal.Dominic walked into the warehouse first, Cooper following close behind him. He hadn’t liked the idea of bringing any of his men with him, but they’d argued and Cooper had told him tha
Sniper teams were waiting at the compound, Agron’s house and Dominic’s country house. Each woman had three men with her and security at Dominic’s house had been doubled. Austin and Hudson were in strategic places on the ground floor of the house.Dominic sat in the rear while Cooper drove the SUV and Gage sat next to Dominic. He had his head resting on the headrest with his eyes closed and Dominic had no idea how he remained so impassive.The trip to the warehouse took them forty-five minutes and Dominic was itching for a fight. He wanted to feel his knuckles split open on Rocco’s face and see the fucking bastard bleed. He could even feel it in the tightening of his groin.“I get it now,” Dominic said.Gage opened his eyes and turned to look at him. “Get what?”Dominic chuckled. “I get why Hudson gets aroused by blood.”“Fuck,” Cooper muttered from the front and Gage laughed.“I’ve always been aroused by it. I just hide it better than Hudson,” Gage said.“There’s a difference between
Gage’s eyes snapped open as a door opened on the far side of the building. He’d been in the ceiling for two days, waiting for the perfect moment. The plan was a fucking good one, even he could admit it.They’d spent three weeks going over the details. For the first time in their history, three crime families were working together to take out the godfather of la famiglia. Rocco Vittori had surrounded himself with soldiers.It was a good thing that he was afraid, because Gage was pissed off and his patience was wearing thin. He wanted Rocco’s blood so much that he could taste and smell it. The women were at the country house, being watched by their men.Dominic would take Cooper with him, Lev would take Sasha and Agron would have Granit with him. Gage worked alone, he didn’t need back-up, he was first in line, back-up and the middle man.Gage closed his eyes again and listened intently as footsteps neared the office. “All I’m saying is, tonight’s meeting with Dominic will end in blood.”
“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me!” Dominic growled. The documents in front of him told the same story Faro just did, but he didn’t want to believe it. He was pissed that Eris kept his problems to himself.Dominic would have helped him, he’d always help all of them, blood was blood and they were bound by it. They all had the middle name ‘Rose’ for a reason. It was their mother’s maiden name and for them it was as strong as the blood that made them family.Faro sat in the chair in front of his desk, the proof spread out over his desk. Fucking Eris. “Sihana found it. She said he was broke, Dominic. He had a few grand in his account, the others were empty.”“Drugs. That’s the only explanation,” Dominic said, sounding a lot calmer. No matter how angry he felt now, Eris would always remain his brother, even in death. He should’ve seen the signs of Eris’s freefalling earlier, but he hadn’t, Faro had.He also blamed himself. If his relationship with Eris had been better, he might have bee
Sihana woke up to light kisses on her bare shoulder. She shifted onto her back and looked at Faro’s face. His hair was tousled and she could see it was still dark out. “What’s wrong?” Her voice was thick from sleep and she cleared her throat.“Why did you leave?” Faro’s voice was soft but he sounded wide awake.“Because you were being an asshole and I wanted to sleep peacefully,” Sihana said and turned away from him.Faro moved up right against her. “You know how I feel about waking up without you. It’s our bed for a reason.”“Then don’t be an asshole to me right before you go to sleep,” she said.“I wasn’t being an asshole. I just disagreed with you,” Faro said.“The truth is still the truth, you’re not a bookkeeper, I am. Eris was skimming money from the strip clubs. I showed you the proof,” Sihana said. “You have to tell Dominic.”“Fuck, Sihana. Do you have any idea what that’s going to do to him?”Faro’s arm snaked over her hip and his hand cradled her stomach. She felt sorry for
Inara clamped her hand over her mouth and retreated away from the kitchen. Her heart was thudding loudly in her chest. She’d woken up half an hour earlier and pulled on her robe, wondering where Agron was.He never left without waking her and she’d gone downstairs for some water when she’d overheard something that might get her killed. She took a deep breath and quietly made her way upstairs again and slid back into bed.By the time Agron joined her, she had her eyes closed and her heart had stopped betraying her. She tried not to stiffen when his arm encircled her waist and his mouth nuzzled her neck. She felt like an idiot. Agron had played her, had played her whole family and it was all her fault.She must have fallen asleep at some point because the sun’s rays woke her and Agron was still wrapped around her. She hated the fact that she’d given herself to him willingly. Hated that she’d fallen in love with him.She understood the saying better now, there really was a fine line betw
The trial had dragged on for two more weeks and Dominic was glad that the end was in sight. The jury was deliberating the outcome but he wasn’t focused on that anymore. They were back in the city and headed to Rafaella’s gynecologist.Hudson had accompanied her to her other appointments while he was stuck in court and they’d decided to wait until he could be with her to find out the genders of their babies. Dominic couldn’t remember a time he’d been more excited about something.“Mrs. Vittori?” The nurse called out their name, and Dominic stood up to help Rafaella to her feet.Dominic had his hand on the small of Rafaella’s back as the nurse led them down a hallway and into an examination room. She took Rafaella’s blood pressure and made notes on the chart for the doctor.“You can get comfortable on the examination bed with your shirt up. Dr. Rehmeyer will be in shortly,” the nurse said and left the room.“After this trial, I think we should go away for a bit, someplace you can relax,
Isadora had taken the stand and sworn to tell the whole truth. Dominic’s rage flared up again the moment she opened her mouth and started lying. He knew Halden had coached her. The things she was testifying to hadn’t been made public knowledge and he’d never said a word to her about it.It took all his self-control not to lash out at her or call her a lying whore in front of the whole courtroom. She was a woman scorned but Dominic could see himself wrapping his hands around her neck and choking the life out of her. He could almost understand Hudson’s fascination with it.Mitchelson stood up with a stoic look on his face. “Miss Watkins, would you say that you were close to Mr. Vittori during your relationship?”“Yes,” Isadora said. “We were very close.”“Mr. Vittori shared things with you, personal things?”Isadora shifted in her seat. “Yes.”“Can you tell the court what the name of Vittori Ads’ sister company in Japan is named?”Isadora blinked and Dominic’s lips twitched but he fough