10. Dom
10
DOM
I watched Corey leave, then focused back on my sons. They were both staring at me.
“What is going on with you two?” Valentino asked.
I did my best to look scandalized. “Nothing.”
“You didn’t tell us he was so hot or so young.”
Vito nodded. “And you made a cake for him.”
“I made a cake. It wasn’t specifically for anyone. If you’d like a piece, go get it. I didn’t realize you’d be jealous.”
“We’d only be jealous if you had made it for him,” Valentino pointed out.
“It’s a fucking cake. I felt like baking, okay? You keep telling me I need to do more things and not just sit around drinking and brooding all the time.”
The two of them looked at each other, and I knew there was a lot of unspoken conversation passing between them.
“It’s time to get back to business. Corey is being perfectly well taken care of by Beatrice. He gets all his meals. I’ve not chained him to his bed or anything.” I realized immediately that those were the wrong words to have said.
“But do you want to do that?” Vito asked.
I glared at him. “I’ve killed men for insinuating less than that.”
“You know we wouldn’t care, right?” Valentino said.
“I mean, he is a little young,” Vito said. “Is he younger than me? That’ll be slightly weird.”
“Enough,” I yelled, slamming my hand down on the desk.
Instead of looking scared the way they once would have, both of my boys simply smiled at each other. “I’m not interested in Corey.”
Valentino shrugged. “No one said you were.”
How could two men be so infuriating?
“Look, Pops, you might as well get to know him,” Vito said. “I mean, what harm could it do? Even if you just, you know, made a friend.”
I huffed. “People like me don’t make friends.”
“You could. You should always be learning new things, right?”
“Like the best ways to torture and kill disobedient sons?”
Vito shook his head. “I don’t think that’s a good thing to learn. I think finding out more about Corey would be far better.”
“I’m not into men. You both know that.”
“You were interested enough in Zeke.”
I blew out a long breath. “Zeke is an excellent hockey player. That was all the interest I had in him.”
“Which is good,” Vito smirked. “I wouldn’t have wanted to fight you over him.”
“You wouldn’t want to die, you mean?” I asked.
“Yeah, that,” Vito said, not willing to keep up the argument.
Val scowled at his brother. “So, how much have you talked to Corey, Pops? What do you know about him?”
“I’ve interacted with him as little as I needed to.”
“So basically nothing.”
Why couldn’t they just leave me alone? “I’m not here to entertain him. I’m here to make sure he’s safe.”
Val nodded, but I was sure this wasn’t the end of the conversation. “Maybe we should talk some more about the footprints you found in the courtyard.”
I sighed. So far all they knew was that I had agreed to be Corey’s bodyguard until he could testify in an important court case. I needed to tell them the truth about Corey and why he was here—and Lisa’s connection to it all. I should have done that the moment I found out, but I despised talking about Lisa. I wasn’t even sure if they knew she was still alive.
Valentino rose and walked to the bar cart. “Drink?”
“Yes. I think we all need one.”
Vito frowned. “So there is more to you watching Corey than you doing Lucien a favor?”
“Yes, but not what you were hinting at.”
“I think we were doing more than hinting,” Vito said. “Next time we’ll be even less subtle.”
I raised my brows, and he grinned. “Fuck. It was so much easier when you were scared of me.”
“Really?”
“Yes and no.”
“Pops, what’s going on? We want to help.” Valentino handed me a drink, then gave one to Vito. When he had a bourbon of his own, I began the story.
“Lucien is the one who asked me to protect Corey, but watching over him is actually a favor for X. It’s not easy to say no to him.”
Vito chuckled. “I still wouldn’t have put it past you to refuse.”
This was the perfect time for me to explain that I tried to, until I found out Lisa was involved. I opened my mouth to say she was the one I was protecting him from, but the words didn’t come out. I cleared my throat and took a sip of bourbon.
“You all right, Pops?” Vito asked.
“I’m fine. My throat’s just dry.”
Valentino spoke next. “You said Corey overheard something he shouldn’t have, and now he needs to testify in court about it.”
I nodded. “He’s an attorney. Contract law. New to the firm. He walked in on his senior partners talking to a client about the best ways to get around drug regulations. The client and her associates are making inferior medicines to cut production costs while upping those costs for the consumer. The cheaper ingredients are highly addictive and some of the medicines are for children. The firm was already under FBI investigation.”
Vito growled. “Those motherfuckers. You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.”
“I wish I was.” I also wish I’d tracked Lisa down and killed her as soon as I could after I’d recovered. Val and Vito didn’t know the full extent of what had happened when she’d left me to die. I’d never shared that whole story with anyone. It was humiliating. Just thinking about it made me want to break some things. Lisa’s neck was at the top of the list.
“So Corey is their star witness?” Val asked.
I nodded.
Vito scowled. “He needs protecting. I don’t disagree, but since when do we work with the FBI?”
“We don’t, but sometimes X does.” Valentino and Vito sucked in their breaths. “Don’t look so shocked, you know he has connections at all levels, legal and not so legal.”
“Yes, but still, how dangerous is it for us?” Once again, I had a perfect opening to mention Lisa, but I didn’t. My sons looked at each other, once again communicating without saying a word. They knew I was holding something back. I used to be able to bullshit them better.
“I don’t know, but I will do what needs to be done to protect Corey.”
Vito grinned. “You like him.”
“I don’t. He talks too much, and he’s annoying, but I’ve given my word to keep him safe.”
“You were nice to him when he came to the door, even though he’d been listening.”
“You caught that too?” Valentino asked.
“I did. I know how to do my job.”
I glared at them. “Corey doesn’t know how to protect himself. He needs us.”
“Us?”
“Me.”
Vito shook his head. “No, you said ‘us’. We’re going to help you.”
“I’ve got this.”
“Whether or not you could do this alone, we want to help,” Valentino said. “This FBI collusion needs to end, and if someone wants Corey dead, then keeping him safe might require all of us, Lucien too.”
I knew that was true. I’d told Corey I would do anything necessary to help him, and I would try, but he was right to question my abilities. I didn’t want to admit that though, not even to my sons.
Valentino held my gaze. “Pops, it’s okay to need help.”
Clearly they already knew how I felt. “I’ve got this.”
“And we’ve got your back.”
I sighed. “Fine.”
“So tell us more about Corey,” Vito said.
“I’ve told you all you need to know. X is working to get the trial date set ASAP.”
Valentino looked at his brother and shook his head. “We’re not getting anything else out of Pops, you know that.”
“Then maybe we should talk to Corey ourselves.”
“Leave him alone.”
Vito huffed. “You vetted the men we were interested in.”
Valentino scowled at his brother, indicating he was pushing too hard, which he was. I should do something about it, but I was trying to be more honest with them, and… Fuck, I did like Corey despite him being a talkative, irritating little asshole. “Corey will do as he’s told.”
“Oooh, so he likes dominant men.”
“Vito,” I growled. “You should shut your mouth before I shut it for you.”
For just a second, he looked like he used to when I’d terrified him. Then he grinned. “Fine, but can’t we just talk to him?”
“No.”
“He’s here in your home. How sure are we that he’s not going to spill any of our secrets?”
“I hope you still trust my judgment. If he were a threat, I would know it.” They looked at each other again. I hated how easily they could communicate with little more than an eyebrow raise. “You’re going to talk to him no matter what I say, aren’t you?”
“Are you going to stop us?”
“You wouldn’t listen if I tried; I’d have to shoot you.”
Val smiled. “Probably.”
“Don’t scare Corey. He’s doing fine. I don’t need you creating more trouble.”
“Yes, sir.” Vito was going to cause trouble. He always did, but I was too tired, confused, and emotional to stop him. What was wrong with me? Maybe I really couldn’t do this job.