Page 102 of Into the Fire

“Dom, maybe you should sleep it off,” E said, his voice gentle.

“Or maybe I give you double the price I usually give you, and you load my fucking veins with something that will make me forget for the night,” Dom shot back.

E looked to me quickly.

“I want this,” Dom continued in a low voice. “I need it. I want to forget. My father annulled my marriage to my wife before she died. I have no wife. I have fucking nothing. I. Need. This.”

I watched Dom for a moment before I nodded at E. Dom needed an escape. We could offer it to him this one time. Fox rose and stepped out, saying he was going to call Rosalie.

“Give it to him,” I said, giving E the go-ahead.

“Enzo, I don’t think it’s a good idea—” E started.

“Just fucking do it, Ethan. He’s hurting. He needs a night away.” I glanced back at Dom, whose tongue was tonsils deep in Jessica’s mouth. Upon hearing my approval, Dom broke off the kiss and stared E down. He laid his arm out, ready for the hit. E wasted no time pulling out his kit and giving Dom the double dosage.

“Fuck,” Dom groaned, letting his head fall back.

After a moment, he reached for Jessica again and kissed her.

He adjusted her on his lap, everything he was doing to her visible to us. Quickly, he plunged his fingers into her pussy, making her moan into his mouth.

E stared down at his phone again.

Cole let out a soft hiss of disgust and looked away. Fox didn’t come back.

And me?

I watched, envisioning something terrible happening to our girl and putting me in the position Dom was in.

It hurt.

It fucking cut me to my soul.

I drank again, and before long, Dom was dragging Jessica to the bathroom after she’d come for him at the table.

“Can we fucking leave?” Cole demanded. “He’s fucked up. I can’t watch this shit after knowing how much he cared about Bianca. He’s fucking spiraling, and there isn’t shit we can do to help him.”

“Sometimes it’s in the fall where we find ourselves,” E muttered.

I nodded and got to my feet, the guys following.

Vincent and Levin were outside talking to Fox.

“We’re going to head out. Dom took Jessica to the bathroom,” Cole said to Levin and Vincent.

Vincent’s bottom lip wobbled, and Levin looked sick, but he nodded.

“That’s fine. We appreciate you guys coming out. Dom is just gone right now. It’s a tough time,” he said.

“We’re here if you need anything,” I said, reaching out and giving him a hug. I hugged Vincent next. He clung to me for a moment longer, and I let him.

“It’ll be OK. Time will make this better, Vincent,” I murmured to him.

“It won’t. It fucking won’t,” Vincent whispered before he pulled away and wiped at his eyes.

“Get home to your girl,” Levin said. “We’ll handle Dom.”

“Call us if you need anything,” I repeated. “We’ll be wherever you need us to be.”

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