Page 68 of Sinful Mafia Prince

Dom blinked, knowing he should feel happy, even elated that Fiore was dead and gone. But somehow, all he felt was resentful that he hadn’t been there. He’d spent his whole life fighting this war, his whole life trying to avenge his mother and sister, and finally, when the time arrived, he’d been denied the satisfaction of even being present.

“You are not pleased.” Vincenzo dropped his hands.

“I am. It’s just…” Dom tried to bank his frustration, but it was no use. He felt robbed. “After all this time, after everything we’ve been through, I wanted to be there. I wanted to be with you for that fucker’s final moments, and it feels like that was taken from me.”

“Takenfrom you?” Vincenzo’s eyes narrowed. “Nothing wastakenfrom you, son. You made a choice.”

“Excuse me?”

“When you decided to go after Fiore’s boy—”

“Don’t call him that,” Dom snapped. “He wanted no part of the Fiores, no part of that world. So don’t call him that.”

“Andthatis exactly what I’m talking about.” Vincenzo pointed a finger at Dom’s chest. “When your affection for this kid grew, your priorities changed, Dom. They became clouded. And when you took him, you made the choice to also takeyourselfout of the fight.”

Dom reared back as though his father had slapped him. “You think I did this on purpose?”

“No.” Vincenzo glanced over his shoulder to the window of the kitchen, then back to Dom. “I don’t even think you realized you did it. It’s clear that the two of you have gotten much…closer since I last saw you, but you have to know this has to be where it ends.”

The order was like throwing gasoline on a flame, and Dom’s anger began to intensify. “Do I?”

Vincenzo’s eyes took on that no-nonsense edge that had made many men cower. “Yes. With the Fiores now out of the picture for good, we have taken the title of head family. More than ever, that means you need to step into your role. You must take a wife and produce an heir. Don’t act like this is some kind of a surprise.”

Dom’s stomach twisted as bile rose in his throat. “No.”

“No?”

“I’m not going to do that.” Dom shook his head. Tying himself to someone merely to produce a child was akin to a life sentence. “I can’t.”

“What do you mean you can’t? We’ve talked about this for years—”

“No,youtalked about this for years!” Dom shouted, feeling as though that was the only way he might be heard. But it fell on deaf ears.

“And you never had a problem with it. Not until now. Not untilhim.”

Dom clenched his fists by his sides, knowing he needed to get out of there before he did or said something he would regret.

“You knew this day would come,” Vincenzo said.

“I also know that you’re the boss, and you could change it if you wanted to.”

For a second Dom thought he saw his father’s eyes soften before he marched toward the house.

He was through the kitchen and almost to the stairs when he heard Luca call out, “Hey, are you okay?”

Dom called over his shoulder, “Not now, Luca,” and kept right on walking.

CHAPTERTWENTY-EIGHT

“HEY. TALK TO me,” Luca said, following after Dom as he stormed through the house. “What did he say to make you so upset?”

“Weren’t you listening in anyway?”

“Well, yeah, but I couldn’t catch most of it.”

“Then don’t worry about it.”

“Dom, something set you off, so either you tell me or I’ll ask Vincenzo.”

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