Chapter 20 – Mari
The next morning came too soon, but it came with a burst of happiness I wasn’t expecting.
I was engaged to Greyson.
Regardless of all the other shit going on, it felt like a dream come true. Greyson had always been my person, and I got to keep him forever. I got to wear his ring and call him my husband for real.
Now, I just had to get the other half of the romance equation sorted out.
“Are you ready to face it now?” Grey’s sleep-heavy voice asked. I turned to him with a smile, loving how utterly worn out he looked. His hair was a mess from my hands, and his neck and shoulders had more scratches and bites than I’d ever seen before. We’d gone so many rounds, I’d lost count, neither of us willing to go an hour without touching. I’d had him in every part of my body, and I felt thoroughly claimed in all the best ways.
“I don’t have a choice.”
“You do,” Grey corrected. “But I’m glad you’re choosing this.”
With another kiss, I slipped off the bed, grabbed his shirt and a new pair of panties before I stepped outside. I was prepared to go searching for Dominic, thinking he’d probably gone to our gym, only to find him sprawled in the hallway, legs askew and hair a mess.
“Have you been here all night?”
He startled awake, forcing himself upright and running a shaky hand through his locks. “Please let me explain. I know you’re mad, but I can’t—I don’t— Please.”
Looking over the red-rimmed eyes lined with dark circles and the wrinkles in his clothes, I knew he hadn’t slept, and a pulse of empathy took away another part of the edge that had spurned him yesterday.
“Come to the kitchen. I’m making breakfast.” He looked surprised at first, but also concerned.
“Are you going to poison me?”
“I can make pancakes,” I said hotly, knowing he wasn’t asking about actualpoison. Breakfast was about the only meal I could make, but it was still something.
Dominic grinned at me, uncertain and a little shy. “Pancakes sound great.”
“Good, you start the coffee, I’ll make the dough.”
Grey choked as he exited the room behind me. “Batter. It’s pancake batter.”
Fuck. “Whatever.”
I could feel the boys exchanging glances behind me, but I didn’t care. Just having us all in the same room made me feel more level, and I realized that even if I was mad, I couldn’t kick Dominic out anymore. Everything felt wrong when he wasn’t here.
I blamed the engagement for the sappiness.
As if he knew I was thinking about him, Grey pressed a kiss to the back of my neck. “Why don’t I make breakfast, and you two can talk this through? I’ll have coffee out in a second, too.”
Nodding, I motioned Dominic toward the living room. It would’ve been easier to go into the bedroom, but it felt wrong to invite turmoil into that space right now when it was so full of joy. We settled on the couch next to each other but not quite touching, and we waited until Grey brought us our cups and disappeared again before we got into it.
“Explain.”
Dominic set down his cup, his hand shaky, and turned fully toward me. “What my mom said was true. We’ve been engaged since you were sixteen.”
“You knew the whole time?”
He grimaced. “Yes. It’s why I kept the name, despite the divorce.”
And why the capos had been gunning for him to usurp me. Joaquin knew about the marriage pact. “Mario wanted you to take over.”
Dominic shook his head, scratching the scruff on his cheeks as he thought. “Mario’s intentions were always his own, but I think he truly intended for Antoni to run Seattle and for us to take Chicago.”
“Then he wanted us both dead.” Dominic’s brows furrowed, and I smoothed them out with my thumb instinctively, unsure why it felt so good to touch him today, when yesterday I hated it.
“You told me a long time ago that you were only allowed to stay in Chicago because you promised not to take over. If my father really wanted us to seize the city again, he was ready to watch us die.”
“Maybe, maybe not.” Dominic snatched my hand off his face, cradling it between his. “Mario probably had a few different paths for us to take to get to the top again, and who even knows if that really was the plan. Maybe he just wanted to connect the bloodlines.”
I thought about it, letting Dominic’s finger rubbing over my knuckles relax me. “Maybe it wasn’t about us, but our legacy. You couldn’t go back without risking your life, but did your amnesty deal with the Lords mention heirs?”
Dominic startled. “No. You think he was going to put our kids in charge?”
“I think it’s easier to usurp a throne when you have twenty years to do it without damaging the entire infrastructure of a city than to try to get it done in just a few and rule over a broken kingdom.”
It was exactly what Cash was doing, though he was too impatient to avoid breaking Seattle.
“So you knew about the pact the whole time, yet you didn’t come home. Why?” I had to know, even if I wasn’t sure I’d like the answer.
“I wasn’t intending to follow the pact,” he admitted. The sting in my chest made no sense. I knew he hadn’t been planning to come for me. All I had to do was look at what he’d done since he left Seattle to know that. For fuck’s sake, his extracurriculars rivaled mine, and I certainly hadn’t been celibate.
“You were going to stay.” And never come home. Then again, had Seattle ever been his home?
He ran his hands through his hair again, cringing at the feeling of them there. “I’m not sure. I was looking for something I couldn’t find and searching in all the wrong places.”
There were so many places, too. Though I’d tried to avoid it, Dominic’s exploits in Chicago always made their way to me over the years. I knew all about the women who passed through his bed, but one of them had always stuck out.
“How does Rose play into this?”
Her name dropped like a boulder between us, and I realized that even though we hadn’t talked about her—hell, maybe because of it—she’d been a sticking point in our relationship. He said he wanted me, but he’d wanted her once too. What the hell was to say he wouldn’t change his mind with me like he had with her?
Dominic swallowed, tightening his grip on my fingers before he spoke. “Rose and I met in college. We were together for three years, engaged for one, before I eventually ended not just our engagement, but our relationship as a whole.”
I knew that. Had heard all about the scandal through the grapevine. What I didn’t know was, “Why?”
He looked at me then. Held my eyes like he needed me to know what he was saying was the truth. “Because I was never meant to marry anyone else.”
“Because of the pact.”
“Because of you.” Dominic watched me before he moved toward me until our knees were pressed together and his hands were in my hair. “All the pieces I loved about Rose were pieces that reminded me of you. Her strength, her resilience, her…innocence.” He had the grace to wince. “I’d been searching for someone who felt like home, only to realize that home was never in Chicago. It was with you, wherever you were. Rose was the unfortunate consequence of that. I never should’ve agreed to marry her.”
The jealous part of me clung to the fact that he didn’t marry her. I wanted to ask, wanted to dig out every detail of their relationship, but I wouldn’t do that. It wasn’t my place and, honestly, asking felt more harmful than guessing. Besides, Dominic felt terrible about what had happened, and the more I asked, the more the wound would hurt him.
And I didn’t think I wanted to hurt Dominic Marcosa anymore.
“You didn’t set out to hurt her.”
“But I still did it. I’m very good at hurting the people who love me.” He looked up at me, gaze weighty. “I’m so sorry, Mari. You deserve more than another apology, but it’s all I’ve got for you other than my assurance that it’s going to happen again.”
I jerked. That wasn’t what I was expecting him to say. He tightened his hands in my hair, keeping me still for him.
“I don’t want to lie to you. I’m a fuckup, we both know that. I’m going to make mistakes, I’m going to step on your toes, I’m going to make you angry. There’s no doubt about it, just like there’s no doubt you’ll do the same. But I’m always going to apologize. I’m going to prove that I’ll fix whatever I break. I promise you that. I just need you to trust me.”
He grabbed my hand in his, pressing soft kisses along my fingertips. “Give me another chance, Mari. Tell me I haven’t lost the only thing I care about.”
Dominic’s eyes were so impossibly hopeful, yet tinged with defeat, like he expected me to walk. Maybe he felt that way because I’d proven that I couldn’t handle conflict well. Instead of staying and fighting, I ran and distanced myself. I isolated. Maybe we both had work to do.
“I should’ve let you explain last night.”
Relief lowered his shoulders, and he kept kissing my fingers, one knuckle at a time. “I get why you didn’t. You needed time to think things through and get past the initial shock. I just—don’t kick me out again. Be mad all you want, ignore me if you have to, don’t touch me if it feels wrong, but don’t cut me off from you. Not completely. I can’t take it.”
Considering I’d felt the same this morning, I had no problem agreeing. “I need you to tell me your secrets, Dominic. I’m trying to understand that you had a life before me, but I can’t build a life with someone I don’t know.”
“I know. I’m sorry.” He swallowed thickly, keeping his eyes on my hands. “Are we okay?”
I stole my hand back, only to press it to his cheek, pulling his gaze to mine. “We’re okay.”
“Thank fuck.” His hand pushed mine harder into his skin, and he leaned forward. The kiss tasted like apologies and new beginnings, and I had the fleeting thought that what Nate had done wasn’t all that different from Dominic. Hell, Dominic had kept his secret for far longer.
So, if I could accept Dominic’s apology, what was stopping me from accepting Nate’s?
When we pulled away, Dominic hauled me into his lap, trapping me in his arms like he wasn’t planning to let me go. “I haven’t forgotten about your disappearing act.”
“I went to see Nate,” I admitted, hating how his arms tensed around me. “We?—”
“I don’t need to know.”
“But—”
“I trust you to make the right decisions for our family and for yourself, whatever those decisions are.” He gently pushed a piece of hair behind my ear, though I could feel the anger coursing through him. He might trust me, but he hated Nate. I couldn’t really blame him either. “I love you, mariposa.”
I clasped his hands in mine, and that was when I saw his attention shift, the laser focus darting to my hand. “Grey proposed?”
There was a lilt to his voice, and I didn’t want him thinking Greyson had taken advantage of the rift between us.
“Actually, I did. It was time.”
Dominic ran his finger over the ring, silent.
“Are you upset?”
“No. I’m good. This is good.”
“It is?” I wasn’t sure I believed him, but he nodded and softly kissed the ring.
“Grey’s a good man. He’ll take care of you.”
“He is, but so are you.”
“I know, and I fully intend to show you I can be good too. But first, you owe me something.”
He flipped me over in his lap, so my ass was bared to the room. “You disappeared on us.”
“Yes,” I panted. I was a little sore from all the sex with Greyson, but that didn’t make me want Dominic any less.
He hummed, sliding his finger along the length of my panties until I squirmed. “I should make you fuck me without coming as punishment.”
A bark of laughter came from the kitchen that we both ignored, though I grinned against Dominic’s thigh. “I’m pretty sure that’s impossible for me.”
These men had all my buttons memorized; there was no way I could stop myself.
“You’re right. So, let’s do this.” He hauled me up with a hand in my hair until he could whisper in my ear. “You come until I tell you it’s time to stop.”
Oh fuck.
“You’re so wet I can smell it. Let’s see if I’m right.” He shoved me farther down so I was nearly face first in the carpet, and he ran his tongue along the damp spot of my panties. “Fuck, you taste good.”
Even the heat of his breath against my covered pussy was too much and not enough. “Dominic.”
“Hush, baby. I’m going to make you feel so good that you’ll think twice before leaving me behind next time.”
Before I could even brace myself, he ripped the panties to the side and got to work. His tongue circled my clit, his fingers speared inside me, and he forced me into an orgasm faster than I’d ever had one before. I was barely able to keep my balance, trying—and failing—to rock my hips, as if that would make it any better. Lightning-quick, I came, and Dominic didn’t stop. He pulled my clit into his mouth and sucked, pushing one orgasm into two and then into three. His fingers never relented.
It was painful to come so quickly and not nearly as satisfying as it was when I worked to come, but Dominic didn’t care. He kept me going until my pussy was truly swollen and we were both drenched in come.
“Enough,” I rasped. “Enough.”
“Say you’re sorry, mariposa.”
“I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’ll tell you next time. I promise.”
“Even if we’re sleeping?” he asked, his fingers circling my worn-out clit.
“Yes! I promise. I promise.”
“Good girl.”
He flipped me over again, holding me steady when the blood rushed back to my head. Then he unzipped his pants and pulled out his dick. “Now, sit on my cock.”
I blamed the orgasms for how long it took me to respond. “What?”
“You got me all worked up.”
The implication was clear: You started this. You finish it. I stared at him, trying to make my brain work faster. “If I do this, we’re good?”
“We’re already good. You’ll do this because we both need it.” He was so fucking sure of himself, I hated that he was right.
Rising onto shaky knees, I hooked my panties to one side and rocked my hips along his length, soaking him until he growled and grabbed me by the throat. “Now, mariposa.”
I lined him up and sank down on his cock before he’d even finished whispering my name.
“Fuck, this is where I belong,” he groaned, holding me captive as he thrust into me from below. “Inside you, all the time.”
“You’d have to share,” I said hoarsely, trying to move my hips, to do something other than come again because I had a feeling it would wreck me.
“I can work with that,” he said, pulling me forward by my throat. “You’ve got two holes we can use.”
Oh my god.
A pan clattered in the kitchen, but neither of us turned to look. I knew for a fact that Grey had finished cooking ages ago and had been watching us ever since. His gaze was a cool breeze along my heated skin, and suddenly, I wanted both of them. Dominic’s heat and Greyson’s ice. The juxtaposition of two men who hated each other for loving me, only to find peace in loving me together.
I wanted them inside me at the same time so we could truly be one unit.
Dominic’s growl sent shivers over my spine. “That’s a good girl. Squeeze my cock just like that, and I’ll fill you up like you want.”
I did want it. I wanted to be owned by both of them, just as I was meant to be. Tapping Dominic’s hand, I rested mine on his shoulders and took over, moving my hips over him until he was speaking gibberish and wound tighter than I’d ever seen him.
“I have to come. Fuck, make me come, baby. You can do it.”
Despite how nervous I was to do it, I was close too. So I kept going, kept pushing until we were both on the brink of insanity, and then it was over, the tidal wave of pleasure bowing my spine and making me cry out. My voice mixing with Dominic’s as he clutched me closer and thrust himself as deep as he could go.
And when it was over, I rocked my hips again.
He winced at the sensitivity, but he didn’t stop me. And soon enough, it didn’t matter anyway as he was rock hard and ready inside me.
Because I didn’t want a piece of Dominic, I wanted all of him. Just like I had with Greyson.
Time was irrelevant as we remade ourselves together. We forgot all about Grey in the kitchen and Cash outside our walls. It was just the two of us enjoying each other, losing ourselves to pleasure, until Grey’s phone burst our little bubble.
I startled, looking over with hazy eyes. He stood in the doorway, eyes heated as they ran over me in Dominic’s arms, his hand tight against the doorway and his cock hard enough that I could see it all the way from over here.
Dominic’s laughter against my throat made me squirm, and Grey’s eyes darkened. “I’m sorry to interrupt. I could watch you all day, reina.”
“What about me?”
Greyson snorted. “You were adequate, but we both know I don’t watch because of you.”
Then he dug his hand into his pocket and pulled out the phone. “Andrews.”
He didn’t have it on speakerphone, but his eyes kept me captive, spurring me into the stillness that came from prey being spotted. I wasn’t prey normally, but if Grey and Dominic were going to hunt me, I could get on board with that.
“Stop thinking lusty thoughts,” Dominic admonished, spanking my thigh.
“Never,” I promised.
“I see. We’ll be right there,” Grey said, turning back to us.
Dominic cursed under his breath and clung to me a little tighter.
“Sorry to interrupt your fun, reina, but there’s been an attack.”