9. Domenico
Chapter 9
Domenico
I should have never invited her to the graveyard.
But I couldn’t just leave her there. Even though she’s a Vitale, she isn’t like the rest of them. Her innocence, her purity, it called to me like a beacon. A siren song if ever I heard one. Last night has replayed in my mind so many times, I can recite the script as if I’d learned it off by heart.
But, if she doesn’t meet me today, I won’t give up.
My mother enters the kitchen as I pour a strong black coffee. “Did you have a nice evening, darling?” she asks as she floats to the fridge. Her long robe whispers against the expensive tiles as she picks out some strawberries.
“Yes,” I tell her because it’s the truth. Gian thankfully found the jewel my father wanted. Apparently, he seduced one of the maids into taking him to the office, where they fucked. He told me this on the way home last night, and even though I appreciate my friend’s effort, I couldn’t stop thinking about Lelia.
“Is there something bothering you, Domenico?” My mother’s perceptive nature makes me anxious. I can’t tell her I’ve kissed the Vitale girl. I can’t even admit I saw her and think she’s beautiful. If I did that, I’d have the wrath of my father to contend with. And I’ve only just made him see that I’m capable, even though it wasn’t me. It was my best friend. And when I step up into my father’s position, I’d take him along as my right-hand man.
“No, Mother,” I tell her, faking a smile so she can drop this. I can’t tell her anything about what happened last night. “I’m just tired. Dad’s called me in for a meeting, so I’m heading in now.” I grab my coffee and make my way to my father’s office.
All his private meetings are held at the house, but he does at times call his men to the warehouse where there’s a boardroom set up. It allows us to listen to the torturous screams of the men who’ve wronged him while conducting our business. One thing I know I gained from my father is my bloodlust. It’s a darkness I can’t shake.
Each time I do, it only lures me back in.
“Father,” I greet when I step into his sacred space. Besides me, there aren’t many men allowed in here. Not when he’s here, and least of all when he’s not around.
“Tell me about last night,” he says without acknowledging my politeness. His gaze isn’t on me. Instead, it’s on the screen of his laptop.
I shove my hand in my pocket and pull out the large emerald. Setting it on the desk, I wait for his reaction. When my father smiles, I know he’s happy. There are very specific expressions my father will offer. Mostly, he’s calm, stoic, but right now, he looks like he’s just won a war.
“I’m very proud of you, Domenico,” he tells me as he leans back in his chair. Finally, his attention is on me. When I was growing up, it was the only thing I wanted. My father’s focus was mainly on the men he commanded, on the familia. I was usually an afterthought to him. I’ve become accustomed to that. But right now, as he watches me, I realize all I’ve ever wanted, I no longer need.
“I want out,” I tell him suddenly as the idea forms in my mind. If I’m no longer part of the clan, I can be with her. It’s stupid to think she wants me, even as her father announced her engagement.
“Is this about the girl?” Dad throws out with a smirk cracking on his face. I don’t know how he knows. Perhaps he asked Gian or Romano, but I know none of them would have ratted me out. So, it makes no sense how he even came to that conclusion.
“I don’t know what?—”
“The only way you’ll walk away from this is in a coffin, and even then, you won’t be walking.” My father steeples his fingers as he regards me. “I’ve gotten you an invite to the wedding,” he tells me. “I’m sure she’ll look fetching in the white gown that will be made for a princess.”
There’s no need for me to act like I don’t know what he’s talking about. Not anymore. Instead, I ask, “Why would I go to a Vitale wedding?”
“Because you’re going to take the only thing Aldo Vitale loves.” Confusion must show on my face because my father continues, “You’ll take the bride and when you do, ensure he knows it’s the Montesano.”
“You want me to kidnap his daughter?”
“You want her. Don’t you?”
There’s a challenge laid out before me. I can finally have her, but if I do, she may hate me forever. It’s a chance my father is willing to take, but I can’t do that. I can’t have her look at me with venom in her eyes.
“I’ll send Romano in to do it,” Father says easily. “Or…” He allows the word to hang between us, the unsaid option teasing me as I wait with bated breath for him to tell me what my choice will be.
I sit back in the chair, needing to calm the fuck down. He knows about her. He knows I want her. Someone must have been watching me. My father has never had me followed before. Unless he knew I would make contact with Lelia.
“You can choose to either kill her or her mother, while he watches,” he tells me. None of those sound like something I want to do. I’ve killed, but never hurt a woman. And not in my lifetime will I ever stoop so low.
“You know that’s not an option.”
“Are you that much of a coward?”
Shoving to my feet as rage takes a hold of me, I place my palms on his desk and lean in. “I’m no coward and you know it. The only reason you want me to do this is because you know I met her last night.” I may be throwing all my cards on the table, but I can’t help it. There is something about Lelia that has captured me. It’s stolen my attention and no matter what he does to me, I won’t hurt her.
He chuckles darkly, his eyes black with intent. “Enemies are enemies no matter how pretty they are, Domenico.” Confirmation that he knows exactly what happened last night.
“And what do I get if I kidnap her?” I challenge my father slowly.
For a long moment, he’s silent, before he says, “Keep her, torture her, eventually kill her.” The corner of his mouth quirks because that’s definitely something he’ll enjoy watching happen.
There has to be another way. I’ll find it. But for now, I need to stall. “Let me think about it,” I tell him, even though I know there is no changing my mind. I won’t hurt Lelia. I can’t. She cannot help what family she’s born into. She’s innocent. Her name doesn’t make her the villain.
“You have twenty-four hours to think about it,” he tells me. “But let me tell you one thing for certain. No matter what you decide, that girl will pay for her father’s sins one way or another.” He waves me off, and I know there’s no longer talking to him. He won’t listen, and I doubt he’ll change his mind about anything.
I head out to the garage, my focus on getting to the graveyard and waiting. I told myself I’d give it an hour. If she didn’t appear, I’d leave. But now I have to warn her. There’s no telling what my father will do if he got his way.
I have to decide what I’m willing to stake on this. She’s someone I’ve met once. We may have had a connection, but that doesn’t mean anything. It was one kiss. When I walk up to the mausoleum, I settle on the cold, concrete steps.
The place is deserted. Trees have lost all their leaves, giving off an eerie atmosphere amongst the tombstones that rise from the ground like wounded soldiers. There are graves from the eighteen hundreds, some broken, some still in perfect condition. I wonder if they’ve been replaced. Nothing can withstand that amount of time.
The silence is calming.
The skies are gray, the promise of rain tempting and teasing just out of reach. Much like this need I have to see her. Lelia’s taste is burning into my memory as if it was always meant to be there.
But I can’t have her.
It’s clear my father will never allow it.
I have to stay loyal to my family, to the Montesano name. If I so much as tried to take Lelia, to claim her, I’d put us both in danger. Our lives would be nothing more than a memory. We’d be killed.
But I can’t stop the thoughts of her from invading my mind. Her pretty smile, her eyes. Everything about her is a lure, a siren’s song tempting me to crash into the rocks and decimate everything I hold dear.
I’m convinced she’s not going to come. A glance at the time tells me I’ve been here for thirty minutes. The deafening quiet is getting to me now. I do enjoy it, but there are times it becomes too much. As if it’s trying to steal me away from this life.
Perhaps I should leave the country, like my father wanted for me years ago. Maybe I can go back to Black Hollow Isle. An island where the soldiers and capos from families finish their schooling before going into the family businesses.
If I went back, I could live a halfway normal life. It would be the only option for me. If I stayed, I’d have to kill her.
“Hi,” the soft, musical voice of Lelia Vitale snaps me back to the present. She’s standing before me in a pair of tight black jeans and a gray hoodie with some logo on it. I don’t recognize the band, but she looks adorable.
“I didn’t think you’d come,” I tell her earnestly.
“I wasn’t going to,” she says. “But they’re on the rampage at home, so I managed to escape the watchful eyes.” She offers me a smile. It’s shy, innocent. Not like the girl I saw last night. No, last night she was vivacious and chatty. Perhaps because we were talking about the stars. Something she clearly enjoys.
“Sit.” I scoot to the side, resting my back against the cold concrete pillar, my black boots crunching on fallen leaves as I move so she has enough space.
I lean an arm on my knee, my hand hanging down. Lelia notices the two straps around my wrist. “What are those?”
“Reminders,” I tell her, but I don’t elaborate.
“I have some too,” she tells me as she lifts her arm, and I notice the little gold charms on her bracelet. A moon, a sun, and a star. They dangle elegantly from her delicate wrist, and I want to grip it, tug her toward me so I can feel her soft curves. But I refrain. For now.
“Gifts?”
She smiles. “From my mother.”
“You’re close to her.” It’s not a question, but she nods anyway. “I wish I were closer to my folks. My mother isn’t too bad,” I tell her.
“My mother isn’t in the life. She’s just a bystander,” Lelia tells me, and all I can think about is how my father wants her and her mother dead. I should tell her. I should warn her. But that would be breaking my vow to the Montesanos.
Can I really do that for a girl I hardly know?
“Do you…? I…”
“Ask.” It’s an order for her to speak, and those wide eyes shimmer as she watches me in the gloomy shadows.
“Are you the Underboss?”
Most girls I’ve come across in this life are fearful of me, of the fact that I’m the man who can slice them limb from limb. They have heard about the things I’ve done, and they run, or they get so turned on, they want to fuck me.
“I am indeed.” I nod. “Are you scared, little star?”