Page 10 of Dark Truths

“Hey, cuz.” A voice breaks the quiet.

I know the voice, but glance over my shoulder to check anyway and to make sure he’s alone. “Hey, Dominic.”

He collapses beside me in a giant huff, stretching out his long legs before leaning back on his elbows. Dominic is my cousin, and only son of my dad’s brother, Uncle Leo, but he looks nothing like my brothers and I. His hair is short and blond while ours is dark brown. He has a slightly paler complexion than our naturally tanned olive skin. The only thing he shares with us is the DiAngelo family’s light hazel eyes. And the same cocky, stubborn attitude.

“Have a rough day?” he asks.

“How’d you know?”

“You went for a swim in the ocean when you have a perfectly good pool at your house.” Dominic knows me so well. He knows I swim when my head is heavy, but that I only do so in the ocean when my heart is heavy too. “You’ve been doing that more lately,” he reveals.

He’s right. I have been. “Clinical rounds have been harder this semester. That’s all.” There’s no need to dive into the details and relive the memory of my day. Dominic has enough of his own demons. I don’t need to burden him with mine.

“If you say so.” He gives me a side-eyed look, telling me that he knows I'm lying. “My ear is available if you ever need it, though.”

“Thank you. So, you want to tell me why you’re here?”

Dominic heaves a heavy sigh. “No real reason. I just had to get away from Michael. He’s driving me up a wall with his insane need to find that girl he met atSinnersin January.”

“He’s still looking? I thought he gave up.” Michael met a stranger on his birthday, a beautiful redhead woman with enchanting green eyes. I only know what she looks like because I’ve heard nothing but her from my brother for the last few months. Michael doesn’t believe in fairy tales or anything like that, but the way he described seeing her that night sounds a lot like love at first sight. Or maybe lust because they ended up fucking in a bathroom, only for her to disappear afterward. The girl, Rose, seems to have disappeared off the face of the Earth because Michael can not find her despite exhausting every resource at his disposal. He’s been a complete nuisance ever since and it's made for some tension in the family. Needless to say, our Sunday family dinners have not been the most enjoyable lately.

“He told Uncle Dante that he has, but he still has Enzo and I running searches. His latest request is to search abroad.”

“Would it help if I talked to him?”

Dominic snorts. “Probably not, but—” He shrugs and then sighs. “I don’t know. Maybe it’ll help.”

I nod, adding to my already long to-do list to knock some sense into my big brother’s head. Not that I’m really the best person to be giving advice to my brother on the matter of obsession. I’ve been harboring my own, and it’s not with a red-haired, green-eyed woman, but a dark-haired man with ice blue eyes.

Dimitri Volkov.

Ever since that night where he stepped in and rescued me from that man who couldn’t take no for an answer, he’s been on my mind non-stop. He’s been the object of all my desires and the star of every wet dream. Might as well nickname my vibrator Dimitri at this point. Besides, it’s harmless to imagine him since nothing will ever happen between us. It can’t. So what does it matter? Who’s it going to hurt?

Beside me, Dominic’s stomach growls. He looks at me with a sheepish grin. “I may have also come over for some of that Chicken Primavera you make.”

I shove his shoulder playfully. “I knew it.” Standing, I brush the sand from my body and reach for my cover, slipping it on before motioning to my grinning cousin. “Come on. I’m hungry too.”

An hour later, I’m placing a plate of steaming hot food in front of Dominic and then sitting across from him with my own plate. My cousin dives in and I smile at his lack of manners.?

“So, what are your plans tonight?” Dominic asks in between huge bites.

I shrug. “A bottle of wine, some sappy rom-com and probably ice cream.”

Dominic makes a face like he thinks my plans sound horrible. I guess to him it is. “What are you on your period or something?”

“Not that it is any of your business, but no.” I toss my napkin att him for extra points.

He just laughs and bats it away. “When was the last time you went out?”

I bite my tongue to stop myself from admitting that I went to thePlaygroundbecause that has to remain a secret. “I don’t know. Guess it’s been a while. But I’m focused on school right now. Fun can wait until I’ve graduated.”

“But life doesn’t wait. You know that.” He reaches out across the table and covers my hand with his. “Promise me you’ll try to find some time for yourself. One night will not kill you.”

Debatable. I sandwich his hand between mine by placing my other hand on top of his. Giving it a gentle squeeze, I lie, “I promise.”

He narrows his eyes on me, like he can see the fib, but doesn’t push me. Checking his phone, he sighs. “Got to run. Business calls.” Standing, he takes his plate to the sink. “Dinner was delicious, cuz. Dare I say better than Aunt Alice?”

I bark out a laugh. “Yeah, right. If my mom hears you say that, she’ll beat you senseless and then starve you for a month.” I escort Dominic to the front door and give him a big hug. “Love you, Dom.”

---