Chapter 12 – Rae #2
I took a shuddering breath and looked at the man on the ground. The dead man.
“No, Rae. Don’t look!”
Too late. I gagged.
Dominico turned me around, folding me into his body. His touch continued to lightly graze up and down my arms. “That’s it, breathe for me.”
“I killed him,” I gasped. I was going to be sick.
“I don’t think he’s dead yet, but I’ll take care of it.” Dominico tipped my chin up and forced my gaze to his. “Go stand over there and look at the wall. It will be over in a moment.”
My limbs were too cold; my movements were numb. But his words—his presence—were warm. I obeyed them.
“Che fai, Nico! Aspetta!” a voice barked from the door. “The noise.”
I turned at the sound and saw Nico pointing a gun at the prostrate body.
“Cazzo,” Dominico hissed, but he holstered the weapon and dropped to his knees.
In a flash of movement, the voice from the door appeared in front of me. “Let’s check out the garden, yeah?”
“I—”
“Nope, we’re not going to watch this.” It was the violent stranger.
The fucker was smiling. He didn’t touch me, but he moved his body to shepherd me out the French door.
I tried to look around the mass of flesh and bone.
He shook his head and danced—danced—to the side.
“No, no, no, little girl. Don’t you dare peek! ”
The cool air licked my neck. It was a dash of sanity, and I gulped breath after breath, hating that I wasn’t strong enough to face destruction without losing the contents of my stomach.
“My name’s Luigi.” The man stuck out his hand. “We haven’t been properly introduced.”
I looked between his hand and face. “I’d say it’s nice to meet you, but I’m too preoccupied to care.”
He laughed. A light, ringing sound. “You’re blunt. I like that.”
“Let’s go,” Dominico barked from inside.
Luigi looked over his shoulder. “Coming, Dommy-Boy.” To me, he added, “Stay here. Count to thirty.”
I fisted my hands at my side. “I will not—”
“Oh, no, no, no,” he tsked. “Don’t try to be heroic, Rae. You don’t want to catch a nightmare from what the devil’s done tonight.”
Catch a nightmare…like a damn cold.
But what he didn’t realize was that the memory of kicking that piece of shit was going to haunt me. The way his head just snapped to the side—
I staggered to the bushes, ready to vomit.
It didn’t come.
I stood there, breathing hard, as Luigi slipped away, closing the French door.
Through the panes of glass, I saw two shadows move.
Their bent forms blurred, covering the act of dragging something heavy from the room.
When the door to the hall opened, it didn’t shed light on the situation.
I waited until it shut to step back inside.
I could have walked around the far side of the room. I could have avoided the carnage. But the twisted, warped desire to reconcile what was racing through my mind with what actually happened drove me to step back where the side table stood.
Pieces of blue and white porcelain lay on the ground. Some might have been large enough to glue together. Others were fragments that mocked the idea.
With a sigh, I crouched to gather them into a pile. As my fingers swept over the carpet, they brushed against something wet. It was too hard to see the stain in the shadows, but it was darker compared to the swirls of grey on the white rug.
I knew what it was without needing to look.
The panic bubbled fresh, but this time it was fuel, not fear.
I scooted into the hall, down the corridors.
Avoiding the party, I made it to the service passage and into the supply room.
By the time I returned with a cleaning bucket, the stain was drying.
I risked detection by turning on a flashlight and set to work scrubbing the patches of blood.
I poured some over the urine stain as well.
While the cleaner soaked the carpet, I swept the broken vase into a trash bag.
The door opening sent my heart to my throat.
“What are you doing?” Dominico growled, flicking on the light and closing the door. The lock clicked into place.
I forced a breath out of my lungs, trying to dispel the rapid pulse. “What the fuck does it look like?”
“I was going to do that,” he snapped.
I frowned. But he’d already crossed the room and took the brush from my bucket. Sinking onto his knees, he rubbed the spots of cleaner.
Sitting back on my haunches, I stared.
The heir to the criminal family, the boy born into wealth and privilege, was on his hands and knees. Scrubbing. Cleaning. He’d come back to fix the mess, instead of leaving it for me or someone else to deal with. I couldn’t help but watch, completely dumbfounded.
“I’m just glad Luigi caught me in time,” he said conversationally. “He was right about the noise, but a gunshot or my knife would have made an even bigger mess.”
An uncontrollable shiver rattled down my spine. “You…killed him?”
“Broke his neck. Yes.”
It was relief, not horror, that washed through me. I didn’t know the dead man, hadn’t really seen his face. But I was glad he was dead.
And that I wasn’t the one who’d done it.
“You must have hit him hard,” Dominico said and fished a piece of the vase from under the settee. “He had a nasty cut on his forehead.”
“Oh, mercy,” I wheezed and rubbed my own. “I didn’t mean to break the vase, Nico. I didn’t! I know it was a family heirloom.”
“Fuck the vase.” Dominico cut a look to me. His gaze was hard and full of something that sizzled with danger. “I mean it. The stupid thing doesn’t matter.”
“I’m not sure your memaw will see it that way,” I muttered, feeling uncomfortable with the way he watched me.
Or rather, with the way that terrible gaze made me feel.
There was an intimacy brewing between us.
It had been there all along, but the fight only intensified it.
I shouldn’t like that he’d killed for me.
That wasn’t a normal reaction. But there was no denying the warm ball of joy that settled over my chest.
“Thank you.”
“You’re thanking me?” The prince took a rag and wiped up the spot. “For what?”
“For killing him.” I held open the bag of trash for the rag. “And for…the other night.”
“That doesn’t bother you?” Dominico watched me.
“They deserved it,” I said, and while my voice was quiet, it was steady and strong. “So…thank you.”
His eyes flashed. The look he gave me sent the ball of warmth streaming through my blood and a slight buzz formed deep in my core. “I love that you’re not afraid of this world.”
“Oh, I never said that.” I laughed ruefully. “There’s enough evil to send anyone off their rocker.”
“No, I don’t mean the world,” Dominico corrected. “I mean the world we are currently living in. The one my family runs.”
The criminal underworld.
I chose my next words very carefully. “That man was rich, yes?”
I pointed to the wet spot on the floor.
Dominico clenched his jaw but gave me a short nod.
I sighed. “Here’s how that would have played out. I don’t have money for a lawyer. And a judge wouldn’t listen to me. If he pressed charges, I wouldn’t be the hero. The justice system doesn’t help people like me.”
“You don’t have to fear them.” Dominico caught my hand. A thread of electricity zipped through me. “But Rae?”
“Yes?” I breathed.
“It’s me who should be thanking you.”
His voice was full of sincerity. Crouched in front of him, it was hard to remember he’d been the one attacked. Dominico was large and strong. Capable. Deadly.
“You were just surprised.” I shrugged. “You would have gotten him eventually. But maybe next time you want to listen in the hidey hole, lock the door?”
He barked a rough laugh. “Great. Now you know about the chink in the wall.”
“Oh, I already knew,” I said before I could stop myself.
The mafia prince gave me a funny look.
I took a deep breath. This was my chance to help his cousin. I quickly explained what I’d heard the other day. As I relayed the information, a storm cloud darkened his handsome features.
Dominico’s voice was steel and violence. “I’ll help Marcellius. He’ll never have to marry a woman if he doesn’t want to.”
“Good.” I did my part. “That’s…good.”
The way the monster watched me was suddenly too intense.
I pulled my fingers free from his.
Dominico let me go. “You’re really not scared of me.” It wasn’t a question. His tone was filled with awe.
Which was strange, because this man had never given me a reason to be scared.
Tying off the bag and gathering the bucket of cleaning supplies, I rose. “Your world has just as many demons as the real world. But a few of you aren’t afraid to cross the line, even to the point of murder. So I’d rather be on your side, Dominico.” I shrugged. “There’s nothing to fear there.”
The devil stared up at me from where he knelt. I liked the way he looked. Liked having him close. The man with blood on his hands for my sake.
But I couldn’t read the expression on his face this time. The wall closed off whatever he was thinking. I had to physically hold myself back from reaching out and brushing my fingers over his cheek. From begging him to talk to me.
The spell shattered a moment later, when he pushed to his knees and gently plucked the bucket and bag from my hands. “Go out the patio door and go home, Rae. I’ll cover for you.”
I shook my head and tried to protest.
But he cut me off. “I’ve got this.”
I was tired. Not only the exhaustion of the long night, but the strain from the attack weighed on me. The adrenaline was fast wearing off, and I did want to sit.
“Are you sure?” I flicked a glance to the hall door.
“Positive. I’ll speak to Theo.” Dominico rose and walked to the door. “Sleep well, and Rae?”
“Yes?” I sighed.
“It’s Nico.” He gave me a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “Dominico is what people who aren’t my friends call me. And since we fought together tonight, I’d like to think we’re friends now.”
“Okay.” I smirked. Friends. With a mafia monster. “Thank you again, Nico.”
“You’re welcome, Rae.” With that, he left.