Chapter Nine
Dominic
The morning felt too quiet, with the kind of stillness that usually precedes a storm breaking over the city.
I was standing in my dressing room, pulling a fresh black designer tee over my head, feeling the weight of the day before it even started.
My ink felt tight against my skin, and the reflection in the mirror showed a man who hadn't slept more than four hours.
I checked the heavy gold watch on my wrist, then glanced at the bed where Donny was still tucked under the black silk sheets, her ginger curls spilling across the pillow like a splash of fire against the dark.
She looked peaceful, but the burner phone in my pocket was vibrating with news that was anything but.
I stepped out of the room, my tall frame casting a long shadow down the hallway as I headed for the stairs.
Taz was waiting at the bottom, his face looking like it had been carved out of granite, his hand resting near the holster of his sidearm.
He didn't have to say a word; I could see the chaos in the set of his jaw.
"Talk to me," I growled, my voice a low rumble that echoed off the marble walls. "And keep it low. I don't want Donny waking up to this bullshit."
"It's the docks, Dom," Taz whispered, his eyes darting toward the upstairs landing.
"A crew moved in about twenty minutes ago.
They didn't just hit the shipment. They set the whole warehouse on fire.
We got three men down, and the Vittis left a signature this time.
They spray-painted 'Blood Debt' across the gates in red.
They ain't hiding in the shadows no more.
They're coming for the crown, and they're coming loud. "
I felt the dark heat rise from my chest to my throat cold, calculated fury taking hold of my senses.
I adjusted the heavy gold chain around my neck and grabbed my varsity jacket, the leather sleeves creaking as I pulled it on.
"Call the hitters. I want every Vitti-affiliated business in the North End shut down by noon.
If they want to play with fire, we're gonna give 'em an inferno. I'm heading down there now."
I was halfway to the front door when a sound from the top of the stairs stopped me dead.
I turned around to see Donny standing there, wrapped in my oversized cashmere robe, her eyes wide with a terror that hit me harder than any bullet ever could.
She had heard us. She wasn't the naive girl from the warehouse anymore; she knew exactly what those low-voiced conversations meant.
"Dominic, don't go," she pleaded, her voice trembling as she started down the stairs, her small hand gripping the railing. "I heard what Taz said. They're waiting for you. It's a trap, I know it is. Please, just stay here. Let the police handle it or let your men go. Just don't leave me alone."
I met her at the bottom of the steps, my large hands coming up to cup her face.
I looked down at her, the contrast of my dark, tattooed skin against her pale, tear-streaked face making my heart ache.
"Baby, I told you I'm your shield. A shield don't work if it's tucked away in a bedroom.
I gotta go handle this so it don't ever reach these gates. You trust me, don't you?"
"I trust you with my life, but I don't trust the world!" she cried, her fingers digging into the leather sleeves of my jacket. "You promised me you'd stay safe. You promised me a future. How can we have a future if you're out there hunting ghosts in a burning warehouse?"
"I'm a Masters, Donny Rae. We don't hide," I reminded her, my voice turning into that sweet but firm command.
I kissed her hard, a deep, desperate press of my lips against hers that tasted like salt and a silent goodbye.
"Taz is staying here with five men. The house is on lockdown.
I'll be back before dinner. I love you, girl. Remember that."
I pulled away before her tears could break my resolve, walking out the front door and climbing into the back of the armored SUV.
The engine roared to life, and as we sped down the driveway, I watched her figure in the rearview mirror until she was nothing but a small, lavender-and-white speck against the massive stone of the mansion.
? ? ?
The scene at the docks was a nightmare. The sky was choked with black smoke, and the smell of burning rubber and expensive chemicals was enough to make my eyes water.
I stepped out of the car, my Jordans crunching on broken glass, and looked at the remains of my father's legacy.
One of my lieutenants, a young kid named Marcus, came running up, his face covered in soot.
"Boss, we found something," he panted, pointing toward the back of the pier. "They didn't just burn the place. They left a gift."
I followed him, my hand instinctively reaching for the piece tucked into my waistband.
There, tied to a wooden piling, was a man I recognized instantly.
It was Renny Taylor—Donny's father. He was beaten beyond recognition, his face a swollen mess of purple and red, with a note pinned to his tattered shirt with a steak knife.
I leaned in, the heat from the nearby flames licking at my skin, and read the words scrawled in black ink: A life for a life. The girl is next.
"Dominic…" Renny wheezed, his eyes fluttering open for a brief second. "They… they took her. They didn't come for me. They came for the house. They used me as a distraction… get back… get back to her…"
My heart stopped. The air in my lungs felt like lead. I didn't even wait to see if Renny was still breathing. I turned and sprinted back to the SUV, my voice screaming into my radio. "Taz! Taz, come in! Report! Taz!"
I only heard static—nothing but soul-crushing static.
"Drive!" I roared at the driver, my fist slamming into the back of his seat. "Get us back to the estate now! If anything happens to Donny, I'm gonna burn this entire state to the ground!"
? ? ?
The drive back was a blur of red lights and near-misses.
Every second felt like an hour, every heartbeat a hammer against my ribs.
When we finally rounded the corner to the estate gates, my blood ran cold.
The iron gates were twisted off their hinges, and the security booth was riddled with bullet holes.
Two of my men were slumped on the pavement, their white shirts soaked in crimson.
I jumped out of the moving car before it even came to a full stop, my gun drawn, moving with a frantic, lethal speed I didn't know I possessed. I ran into the house, and the silence inside was a thousand times scarier than the gunfire outside. "Donny! Taz! Somebody answer me!"
I burst into the primary suite, my eyes scanning the room.
It was trashed. The silk sheets were ripped, the velvet curtains torn down, and the smell of gunpowder hung heavily in the air.
I saw Taz lying by the dressing room door, his shoulder bleeding, his chest heaving as he struggled to stay conscious.
"Dom…" he coughed, clutching a wound in his side. "They were too fast. Professional. They had the codes somehow… they took her through the back… I'm sorry, man. I tried… I tried…"
I stood in the center of the room—the room where we had shared a blunt and a bed just hours before—and I felt something inside me snap.
The refined menace was gone. The boss was gone.
There was only a monster left, a dark-skinned giant with a broken heart and a bloodlust that would make the devil tremble.
I looked down at the floor and saw the small velvet box I had given her, the "flawless" diamonds scattered across the hardwood like tears. She was gone. The Vittis had taken the only thing that made me human.
I walked over to the wall and punched it, my fist going straight through the drywall. The pain in my knuckles was nothing compared to the agony in my chest. I turned to Marcus, who had followed me in, my eyes glowing with a terrifying, murderous light.
"Call every man we have," I commanded, my voice a death-rattle whisper.
"I don't want them arrested. I don't want them questioned.
I want them erased. We're going to war, and I'm not stopping until the name Vitti is a footnote in a history book.
They took my queen, so now they're gonna meet the king of hell. "