Page 65 of The Don's Hidden Heir

I lower my head to look at Elena and she pouts. “She’s rude to me, but I’ll let it be since you like her so much.”

“You don’t need to try and be extra nice. Be you and she’ll come around soon enough.”

We’re both quiet for a moment.

“What do you plan to do with Mr. Peterson and the Bratva.”

I plan on bringing them down and crowning a new king on the Bratva throne.I don’t tell her that though. From now on, I plan to protect Elena from my world and the darkness.

“Don’t concern yourself with the mafia.”

She sits up. “Dominic, I’m my own woman and you don’t have the right to order me around. It’s fine if you don’t need my help, but my son has lived six years without a father and I won’t let you get yourself killed now that he’s met you.”

“I can’t let him live without a mother either.”

“So…”

“This conversation is over, Elena.” I get up from the bed. “This will be the last time you speak to me about the mafia.”

I walk to the bathroom, turn on the shower and step in. As the hot water burns against my skin, I’m stuck between heaven and hell.

I’d become a beast when Elena left me. After we reconnected, she’d helped to lock that monster away.

Now, I must become that beast once more to protect her and my son.

Chapter Seventeen

Elena

“You should know there’s no winning with my brother, reading self-help books won’t change anything,” Vincent says, his blue eyes gleaming under the scorching sun. He nods towards the book I’m holding. “Your book is upside down by the way.”

I quickly turn my book the right way and sigh.

It’s a Saturday afternoon and I’m sitting on the patio, pretending to read a book titled, ‘Standing Your Ground with a Narcistic Partner’,when all I want to do is Google the different ways I can kill Dominic without actually killing him.

Vincent is right, there’s no winning with Dominic.

I shut the book and slam it on the granite coffee table in front of me. “Is he always like that? Doesn’t he ever listen to other people?”

Vincent leans over and steals a handful of the delicious fish-shaped cookies the chef made this morning. “He’sCapo. He was born and raised to lead, so it’s natural for him to be cocky and bossy. He listens to Marcus and Dante, though.”

I furrow my brows. “Believe me, I’ve met Marcus and he’s the last person I want to go to for help. Who is Dante though?”

“He’s a guy who has a love-hate relationship with Dominic. Dante swears he and Dominic are soulmates, Dominic pretends to hate him. It’s complicated.”

His eyes meet mine and he continues when he sees I’m not satisfied with his answer, “I choose not to get involved in mafia business, but I can get you Dante’s number if you want.”

I wave off his suggestion. “If Dante likes Dominic that much then he’s probably just like him.” I lean back in my seat and cross my arms over my chest. “There’s a war brewing between the Bratva and Cosa Nostra. Aren’t you worried about your family?”

Vincent smiles. He’s wearing a white leather jacket and pants, a white turtle-neck sweater creeps up his neck from inside the jacket. “I’m worried. My brothers are not easy men to kill, but they’re all I have left since our parents died.”

“Do you mind if I ask what happened to them?”

“They were both murdered in their mansion. We don’t know who did it, but Dominic suspects the Bratva.”

“Oh.” A pang of guilt and sadness constricts my chest. “I…I had no idea you lost your parents that way.”

There’s a flicker of sadness in Vincent’s eye for a moment, but it doesn’t last. “We don’t talk about it. I have no idea what’s going on between you and my brother, but he’ll never forgive himself if something happens to you and Lucas. That is why he is asking you to stay away from mafia business.”

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