Page 23 of Murder & Mayhem
I couldn’t help but smile at how flustered Dominic was. I’d watched this man torture and kill two people today, yet he wasall embarrassed by some teasing from his brother. It was adorable.
Dominic gestured to one of the barstools, and I took a seat as he started to put out our plastic containers of food. “So, Nicky, huh?” I asked, just to break the awkward silence. There were so many other things I should be focusing on. But it seemed kind of pointless. Ari confirmed he had no idea where Bailey was, and harping on it when there were no more answers sounded exhausting.
Dominic scowled. “They’ve been calling me that since we were kids.”
I chewed on my lip. “Can I call you that? Or would you rather I stick with Dominic?”
Dominic stopped fiddling with the food and looked at me, his expression way more serious than I expected from that question. The way his eyes locked on me was so intense, it was hard not to fidget in my seat.
“You asked.” He was breathless, and I had a feeling I was navigating some landmine I knew nothing about. I had plenty of those myself.
“Well, yeah? People think nicknames are harmless, but sometimes they’re not.” I shrugged and looked down at the marble countertop. Or at least, I was pretty sure that was what it was. I’d never had anything but peeling linoleum before, and these were bougie as fuck.
Dominic didn’t answer my question, putting a plate in front of me, looking lost in thought. “Is there anything you don’t like? Allergies?”
I shook my head. Bailey was allergic to nuts, which had been a nightmare growing up. Luckily, I didn’t have any issues like that. “No, anything is fine.”
Dominic hummed under his breath and started to load my plate with more food than I needed. Chicken parm, baked ziti,something breaded and layered I wasn’t sure about, meatballs, and a thing of rice that was shaped in a ball. I watched with wide eyes. He expected me to eat all this? Dominic seemed to understand my stress. “Just eat what you want. No pressure.” Then he started to load his plate with twice the amount of food he’d given me.
I took a bite, and holy fuck, it was delicious. I tried to eat slowly, I knew from experience that I would get sick if I didn’t, but it was sooo good.
I was so focused on the food, I had all but forgotten about the question I’d asked Dominic. Shit, I’d forgotten about him entirely until I felt eyes on me. The food had consumed all my thoughts.
I looked up at his amused expression, and my cheeks heated with embarrassment. “What? Do I got sauce on my face or something?”
Dominic cleared his throat and looked away, and I realized it wasn’t only amusement in his expression. Fuck, was he turned on by watching me eat? It was weird but didn’t bother me as much as it should.
“No, you’re perfect,” he said with such sincerity that I almost moaned. What. The. Fuck?
“Um, okay.” I went back to eating, though I tried to slow it down a bit.
We finished our meal quietly after that, and then I insisted that I help him clean up. While I was loading the dishwasher, Dominic came and leaned against the counter next to me. “Can we talk? About what Ari said?”
I closed the dishwasher and turned toward Dominic. “Yeah, sure.”
“I wanted to see how you’re feeling with all that? It’s a lot, and now getting the confirmation that they’re looking for you too . . .”
“I mean, I guess I kind of expected that. Even if none of the other shit happened, they had to know I’d go looking for Bailey. They have enough experience with me to know that I always did everything I could to protect him. It was the only time I ever fought back. I was going to be a loose end, even if things went 100% to plan. I’m more worried that O’Malley went off script. I don’t know Flame very well, but he always seemed more stable to me. Like, if he had my brother, maybe I could work something out, but now—” I choked, my emotions getting the best of me.
“I swear we’ll find him,” Dominic told me, his voice full of conviction. “I’ll do everything in my power to find him and bring him back to you.”
I broke then. Maybe I was being naive and falling into a trap, but I believed Dominic. Or at least, I wanted to. I wanted to so fucking badly that, when he opened his arms for me, I sunk into his hold, buried my face in his chest, and cried.
“Shhh, sweet boy,” Dominic whispered into my hair, his hands rubbing my back as he kept me standing. “I got you. I got you now.”
I sobbed, my fingers clutching the fabric of his shirt, not wanting to let go.
“Dominic.” My voice broke, but I didn’t care. I was weak and pathetic and probably making the biggest mistake of my life, relying on a stranger, but it didn’t matter. In this moment, Dominic was my salvation, my only hope, and I was putting all my fractured faith in him.
“Shh, you’re not alone. Not anymore.”
CHAPTER 9
DOMINIC
Ineeded to step away. Create some much-needed distance between us. I was latching on, becoming attached in a way I hadn’t since eight-year-old Gideon had shuffled his way into the bedroom I’d been sharing with three other boys, nothing but a trash bag full of clothes and a black eye.
This was different though. Yeah, all the protective instincts were there and the need to claim Jamie as mine, like I had with Gid and Ari, but this was so much more. I wanted to take away all his pain, all his stress. My hand rubbed the back of his head as I wished like hell there was a way I could transfer all his burdens onto me.
