Chapter 38
Emily
When Lucia’s eyes widen at something or someone behind me, I half expect another handsy guy to grab me again. There’s something smug in her expression when her gaze snaps back to mine that tells me this isn’t a repeat of earlier.
Thankfully, Lucia carries weight around here, being the underboss’s wife and all. So when some creep cornered me, it didn’t take much for her to have him dealt with. Witnessing it happen was both impressive and intimidating.
Lucia is an Italian beauty—short and petite—but she carries herself with a fearlessness that’s impossible not to admire. She has the heart of a lioness, and even though I have a solid foot on her in height, standing next to her makes me feel like nothing more than a timid little mouse.
If I’m being honest, I didn’t even want to come here tonight, but Lucia can be persistent. She called it phase one of Operation Takedown, whatever the hell that means, but I’m actually having a great time.
It took willpower to walk away from Dominic and Peach when I went home to change. Being there with them is one of my favourite places to be, but Lucia was right when she said the space would do us both some good.
“Told you,” Lucia mouths, lifting her hand to blow on her blood-red nails, before rubbing them against her dress.
“What?”
“Look behind you.”
I spin around, not sure what I’m going to find, but when I see Dominic all broody and good-looking, my mouth drops open. His button-up black shirt clings to those broad shoulders. The fabric stretches slightly across a defined chest and impressive biceps.
His jaw is chiselled, cheekbones high, and his dark eyes burn with an intensity that makes him impossible to ignore. Every movement he makes is controlled and deliberate, as if he owns the space around him.
It’s a reminder of how much I don’t fit into this world of theirs. I barely survived my time with the Steel Reapers, but the Sicilian mobsters and their feisty women are on a whole other level.
“D-Dom,” I stutter, my voice catching before I can even steady it. He’s the last person I expected to see, and where is Peach? I know him well enough to know he would never leave her home alone.
“I have something I need to say to you, Em,” he says, reaching for my hand and giving it a light, hopeful squeeze.
“You do?” I squeak, immediately wincing at how pathetic that sounds. I take a breath, tip my chin, straighten my spine, and clear my throat, trying to channel some of my friend’s ballsy energy. “I’m busy. It’ll have to wait.”
I don’t even know why he’s here, and as much as I want to find out, I’m done being the person men think it’s okay to walk over. I deserve better.
I shake my hand out of his hold, turn abruptly, and give him my back. As bad as that makes me feel, it’s something I need to do. I’m here with my friend, and I’m not about to abandon her. But when I face Lucia again, I find her wrapped in Romeo’s arms, his tongue tangled with hers.
“Shit,” I mutter.
Dominic steps in behind me, and I feel the hard press of his abs against my lower back.
His warm breath brushes my cheek as he leans close.
“Do I need to make a scene and throw you over my shoulder, Emily?” his voice is low, smooth, dangerous, and so damn alluring. The warning, however, is unmissable.
I don’t know if it’s the alcohol or the heat of the moment giving me courage, but I spin around to face him.
The moment I do, I realise my mistake. Our fronts are now pressed together, impossibly close, and I have to crane my neck to meet his gaze.
The heat from him is immediate, wrapping around me as the tension between us hums.
“I’d like to see you try,” I snap, letting every ounce of defiance bleed into my words.
His lips twitch into a slow, amused smirk, as if my sass entertains him. Before I can even react, his hands are at my waist, and with one fluid, effortless motion, he lifts me and swings me over his shoulder.
I gasp, half in shock, half in disbelief, as I dangle completely at his mercy. “Seriously?” I manage, my voice muffled against his shirt.
“Keep that in mind next time you feel like challenging me,” he grumbles as he adjusts his hold, then carefully pulls my dress down to make sure my backside is covered.
It’s sweet, but his action doesn’t change the fact that I’m still angry at him.
I’m not even sure where he’s taking me. Home, outside … somewhere quieter? Either way, I don’t fight him. What’s the point? I won’t win against this man-giant, so I hang limply like a rag doll.
I hear Dominic grunt, and from my upside-down view, I catch the legs of a man in black trousers stepping aside before my kidnapper shoves through a door and heads down a long corridor. The music and noise from the club fade with every step he takes.
He stops abruptly at a large metal door, punching in a code before swinging it open. The second the cool night air hits my bare legs, I know he’s taken me outside.
I lift my head enough to glance around. It’s dark, but a distant streetlight spills enough glow to make out the narrow brick walls around us—an alleyway.
Dominic takes a few more steps, putting distance between us and the street, before he finally slides me down the hard, muscled front of his body and sets me on my feet.
Both of his hands remain on my hips, keeping our bodies plastered together. I tilt my head back, staring up at him, but neither of us speaks. The hurt and confusion I see on his face, though, is palpable.
“Why are you here?” I ask.
He clears his throat, his fingers digging deeper into my flesh, but he doesn’t answer straight away. It’s like he’s choosing his words carefully, turning them over in his head before deciding which ones I’m allowed to hear. “The truth?”
“No, lie to me,” I retort.
“The thought of you going home with another man tonight made me insane. Like something went nuclear in my head, and knocked me so far out of my depth I couldn’t think straight.”
My eyes narrow as I let his words sink in. “So you don’t want me, but don’t want anyone else to have me either? That’s unfair, don’t you think?”
He rears back slightly, the lines carving deeper into his forehead. “I’ve never claimed I didn’t want you, Emily.”
“Not with your words, but your actions last night said enough.”
He releases his grip on one of my hips and drags a hand down his face. “I thought I was doing the right thing by you last night when I walked away.”
I gasp, taking a step back. “The right thing by me? How? Do you realise how much that hurt me?” My voice wavers despite my efforts to keep it steady. “Does the thought of me touching you disgust you that much?” I ask as tears burn the back of my eyes.
Before I can retreat another step, his hands are back on me, pulling my body flush against his.
“I didn’t end things last night because I didn’t want you.
” His knuckle gently skims down the side of my face as if to solidify his words.
“Walking away from you was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done.
I want you, cupcake. Fuck do I want you, don’t ever doubt that.
But as soon as I saw the marks I left, it reminded me of the things your ex did.
It was like ice-cold water being thrown over me.
I brought you to my house to keep you safe, to give you time to heal, and in that moment, I felt like him …
like the biggest piece of shit imaginable. ”
“Those marks were done in the heat of passion, Dom, not out of anger, not out of anything meant to hurt me. You need to understand that. You aren’t him. You’ve never scared me the way he did. I feel safe with you. Safer than I’ve felt in my life.”
“You’ll always be safe with me.”
“I know,” I say. “Until I came to live with you and Peach, I felt broken. You gave me a place where I finally feel like I belong. A home and a family. I’ve been acting like I’m okay for far too long, but in reality, I was drowning in my own mind.”
He turns his face away, looking off into the distance, so I reach up and gently cup his cheeks, bringing his gaze back to me. I want him to hear my words because I’m speaking from the heart.
“I used to wake up every morning, trying to convince myself that things would get better, but they never did. Not when my mum remarried. Not after I reconnected with Mick. Not even when I left Queensland and my handsy stepfather—”
“I’ll kill that cunt if I ever have the displeasure of meeting him.”
“No, you won’t,” I counter.
He arches a challenging eyebrow. “Wanna make a bet?”
“You won’t because if you did, it would hurt my mother. And, for some unknown reason, she loves him, and hurting her would hurt me.”
He throws back his head and groans. “Fine, but I’m at least going to break a finger or two.”
I let out a small laugh. “I can live with that.”
“Consider it done.”
“You’re the best thing that has ever happened to me, Dominic Rizzo, and I don’t want you to ever doubt that.”
“I am?” he asks with vulnerability that tugs at my heartstrings.
“Yes. You’re the answer to all my prayers, you big dummy. You’ve given me a place where I can finally breathe, where I don’t have to pretend, where the broken pieces of me aren’t a burden.”
He blinks, his eyes softening, and for a moment, the walls he keeps so tightly in place begin to crack.
I see it, the fear that he isn’t enough.
I don’t know what put that in his head or what he’s been through, but I’ll do everything I can to prove him wrong.
“I don’t want you to feel broken, Emily,” he whispers.
“I … I don’t know how to fix things without making it worse. ”
I squeeze his face gently, holding his gaze. “You don’t have to fix me, Dom. You just have to be here. That’s enough. That will always be enough.”
“I swear to you, mia tortina,” he murmurs as his forehead rests against mine, “I’ll never do anything to make you feel unsafe.
Not ever. I’ll continue to stand by my comment that you’re too good for me, because it’s the truth, but I’m going to spend every day trying to prove that I’m worthy of you anyway. ”
When his mouth bears down on mine, there’s no hesitation. Every doubt, every fear, every tear from the night before melts away under the heat of him.
My hands clutch at his broad shoulders as the world narrows to the press of his lips. It’s messy, urgent, and desperate, but it’s ours, and next time I see Lucia, I’m going to give her the biggest hug, because Operation Takedown seems to have been a success.
I don’t know how long we make out in the alleyway like a pair of teenagers, but by the time we head back inside, my body is humming with need.
When Dominic drew out of the kiss, he grabbed my hand and said, “Let’s get out of here,” but I couldn’t leave without saying goodbye to Lucia. I know she’s inside with her husband, but we came together, so it feels like the right thing to do.
I’m not sure what will happen when we arrive home, but I’m hoping for something, especially after everything we discussed. My heart races at the thought, and for the first time in a long while, that hope feels like it might be enough.
This thing between us has been burning in the background for far too long. It’s time we took things to the next level and see how things pan out from there.
I’m not going to force this. I’ve already put myself out there; now it’s up to him to make the next move.