Guns n' Boys Book 1 Part 1 (34 page)

Seth’s gaze zeroed in on
him. “What? How the fuck could you be sure of that?” he snapped and raised his
voice again. “This is not on! I’m not even bisexual, I’m a total fag! I never
even touched a tit.”

Domenico had to smile,
even though his amusement was tinted by sadness. “Gold star gay, huh? Same as
me.” He dragged his hands down his face, unsure what to do.

“What the hell am I
supposed to do with her? She’s some stranger.” His breath hitched again. “I’m
not a piece of meat to pass around.”

“I think your father
wants to form an alliance with the Brunis.” Domenico shrugged, shuddering at
the perspective of having to fuck a woman. It would be very unfamiliar
territory. “What could you possibly do about it?”

“I don’t care about his
alliance.” Seth’s nostrils flared. “I
will
stop it.”

Domenico watched him,
wide-eyed. He couldn’t wrap his mind around what Seth was saying. “Seth, just
treat it as your duty. Give her a child, and you can move on.” Domenico started
rocking back and forth in the chair.

Seth approached him in
two quick steps and slapped his forehead. “Are you mental? Bullshit. This is
not
my duty. What is this? Nineteenth century India? I wanna puke at the mere
thought.”

Domenico frowned. “All
I’m saying is that this would secure your position.”

“And you’d like that,
right? What do you care.” Seth hugged himself and walked away again.
“Distressed” didn’t even come close.

Domenico watched his
tense shoulders with a sinking feeling in his gut. “I don’t have the right to
question the Don’s decisions.”

“You won’t even say it’s
a fucked up idea?” Seth hissed, gesticulating wildly. “Thanks. I knew I could
count on you.” He walked behind the table and downed Dom’s glass of wine in one
go.

Domenico sighed, playing
with the fingers of his left hand. He was more than on the fence about it. “As
a future Don, you need to be a family man. There’s no way around it.”

“What am I? A breeding
stud?? I have feelings, self-respect, personal dignity!”

Dom flinched when Seth
threw the empty glass at the wall, smashing it into pieces.

“Don’t you want to
preserve yourself in a son?”

“I’m twenty-six! I don’t
want it. And where are you in all of this, huh?” Seth took a step in his
direction, slouching and spreading his arms to the sides. “‘Cause I don’t think
there is a place for you in this equation.”

Blood drained from
Domenico’s face as he looked up into those fiery eyes. “Me?”

“Yes, you! I thought we
could—” Seth rubbed his face and turned his back on Dom, leaving him confused.

Domenico shook his head.
“You need to obey for as long as you aren’t the one in charge.”

“Sure, I just need to
suck up being everyone’s pushover and now, a prime breeding bull father can pimp
out to anyone he wants.”

Domenico rose from the
chair and walked up to him. He needed to find a sweater soon with the way his
body was getting colder by the second. “You need to understand, it’s business.”

Seth turned back to him,
and his expression wasn’t promising. Lips clenched, brows drawn together.
“Sure, I get it.”

Dom managed to give him
an encouraging smile. He could sympathize with Seth, but there were things a
man simply had to do.

“There’s nothing to be
happy about though,” Seth snarled and walked away. Without a word, he picked up
the dirty dishes and took them to the kitchen.

“Are you going to be
like that forever?” huffed Domenico, following him. “You’ll get yourself up,
fuck her a few times, and that’ll be it.”

Seth slammed the plates
into the sink. “I don’t want to talk about it. And I don’t want you to speak
like that about my
future wife
.” He looked tense and angry, as if sparks
of electricity were about to jump off his skin.

“Of course, Mr.
Villani,” snarled Domenico, rolling his eyes. He hated it when Seth’s spoiled
bratty twin showed his ugly head.

As soon as Dom got to
him at arm’s length, Seth squinted and pushed at his chest. “You’re standing
too close.”

Domenico looked at the
outstretched hand and stepped back, ignoring the twisting heat in his stomach.
“Oh, so that’s how it’s gonna be from now on.”

“Yes, that’s what it’s
gonna be.” Seth turned on the water with a scowl. “I am the son of the Don, the
future Don, and the father of the future-future Don, so piss off.”

The empty ball of dry
heat that was forming in Dom’s chest was now threatening to explode, sending
tingling sensation to Dom’s limbs, making them tense, eager to punch. “Whatever
you say, Villani,” rasped Domenico with his jaw clenched so hard it got his
back teeth to hurt. He turned on his heel and rushed to the one place that
powerful energy could prove useful. He yanked open the door.

Vera sat in the corner,
looking nothing like three days ago, her hair disheveled, lips and nose
bloodied, eyes dark from all the mascara she cried out. Her pupils widened at
the sight of Dom, but she had nowhere to run.

“This is your chance,”
rasped Domenico, shutting the door behind him. He didn’t even want to tease,
corner her before moving on to the main act. He went straight for her throat,
yanking her up by the wall. The tremble of her neck wasn’t nearly the relief he
sought.

She started to gurgle,
and grabbed his wrists, but the door behind him opened with a loud bang.

“What? What do you
want?” growled Dom, without looking back. Rage traveled up his arm, and he
tossed Vera hard into the other corner, following her with his teeth clenched
tight. He wanted the smell in the room to change to something much saltier,
more metallic.

“Please don’t! I can’t
say!” She was crying already and hid behind her arms, curling on the floor.

“Dom! She’s not gonna
tell you anything if you punch her teeth in,” yelled Seth, coming closer. Now
he came in. After he didn’t have the balls to approach this cell for two days.

“No?” Domenico snarled
at Seth, bristling like a wild dog. “Maybe we should find out!”

Salieri squealed and
started crying hysterically. “No! Please!”

“Jesus Christ!” Seth
rushed to them and stood between Dom and the girl. “Are you mad?”

Domenico had a hard time
stopping himself from moving, but he squeezed his hands into fists and growled
at the blurred image of Seth, “Oh, you’re protecting that bitch now? You know
what that is?” He moved over to a fallen Louboutin and threw it at the opposite
wall. “That’s how much your life was worth to her. That fucking shoe is your
life!”

Seth’s eyes widened,
filling with darkness, and he moved away slightly while Salieri kept wailing
like a dying seal. She deserved all this, and Seth knew it, yet he still wanted
to defend her. Did he have the memory of a fucking goldfish?

“What’s wrong with you,
Villani? Did the Chinese cut off your balls as well?” Domenico was moving back
and forth between the side walls of the cell, glaring at Seth and Salieri, who
curled up behind him. The fucker dared to treat Domenico like he didn’t matter,
but that bitch, he wanted to protect?

“Fuck you,” was all Dom
got from Seth before he walked out.

Domenico gritted his
teeth, breathing hard as his gaze turned to Salieri again. His vision turned
red.

Chapter 16

Seth spent the remaining
hours of the day away from Dom, most of it tucked in a jacket and smoking on
the balcony. Seth couldn’t say this was the worst day of his life. After all,
it couldn’t compete with being kidnapped, but it was still a pretty low point
in his life. He wouldn’t leave it at that though. Even from his spot on the
balcony, Seth could hear Dom sharpening a knife. When Seth had passed him an
hour ago, Dom was cleaning his guns. It didn’t frighten Seth. He knew it wasn’t
meant as a threat. After the time they spent together, he realized that for Dom
it was a relaxation technique.

No amount of relaxation
though would help Dom in the morning, once he was going to find out Seth was
missing. Seth hadn’t said a word to Domenico and went to bed with his hands
sweating. He needed to wait for Dom to fall asleep. It was a shame that they
wouldn’t get to share a good-bye. There was something electrifying about the
bastard, but he had enough of this circus. There was nothing for Seth back in
Italy.

Seth was curled up on
his side of the bed, tucked in the king-size comforter when the familiar,
broad-shouldered shape appeared in the doorway. Neither of them said a thing,
but Seth discreetly pulled the T-shirt he was wearing a bit lower.

He flinched when Dom
spoke, controlled and calm as always. As if he had no reason for worry. “Mr.
Villani. I believe, it’s not proper anymore for us to share a bed.”

“Well said, Dom.” Seth
gave him a glare, but relief washed over him. It would be harder to sneak out
with Dom sleeping next to him. The moment he said that, the air thickened
around them, making it almost impossible to breathe. The grave stare it got him
did not leave him completely unaffected. It held unexecuted violence and had
Seth wonder about Dom not forcing himself into bed. He could have if he wanted
after all. Did he not want to?

Domenico cleared his
throat, straightening up. “I will be going. Unless there is something you wish
for, Mr. Villani.”

Seth felt heat rush to
his face. “I want nothing from you. I’m getting married after all,” he said
through clenched teeth and pulled the comforter tighter around himself. Unable
to bear looking at Dom anymore, Seth turned his back on him, to stare at the
ray of light framing Domenico’s shadow on the wall
.

The silence was so
complete it was frightening, and when the light suddenly went off, it felt like
a punch. But Domenico didn’t express his thoughts any other way. The sound of
his soft footsteps resounded down the corridor, eventually dispersing altogether.

Seth glued his gaze to
the clock standing on a bedside table. He would give Dom four hours. Four hours
for the cobra to fall asleep. All Seth needed to do was to leave the house
quietly. There was no way he’d jump out the window, but he could sneak out
through the door easily enough. He had a fake passport and a chunk of money in
his wallet. From the station in Berlin, he could travel to Prague or Warsaw,
and then maybe farther to Russia from there. He had four hours to ponder on
that. Siberia wouldn’t probably be his end-game after all. An Asian country was
more of a probability. Warmer. Maybe he could check online where there were no
laws against homosexuality. Maybe there was some future for him after all.

He barely blinked,
watching the clock. Hours stretched to no end, and a million different
scenarios ran through Seth’s mind. As angry as he was with Dom, he worried
about him anyway. The last thing he wanted was to have Dom dealing with the
repercussions of his disappearance, but he just couldn’t think of a way to
escape that wouldn’t affect Dom. And Dom wouldn’t miss him anyway. After the
initial annoyance, he would surely be relieved that he wouldn’t have to deal
with Seth’s incompetence anymore.

When the time came, Seth
got up as quietly as a mouse and tried to control his breath as he put on a
pair of jeans, a jacket, and boots. The apartment felt cold, but his own skin
was on fire as he struggled with each and every move. The walls seemed to close
around him, eager to trap him inside and only spit him out when his semen was
needed to make babies. He shuddered at the thought, trying to keep a calm head.
The passport and wallet were already in his pocket so he took his first step
toward freedom. It made him realize the fucking boots made too much noise, so
he took them off and went for the door in just his socks, carrying the shoes in
his hand. Life on the run would be hard, he needed to get used to that.

“Where are you going?”

Seth’s eyes went wide,
even though all he could see in the darkness was shadows. He swallowed and
looked around with his heart up his throat. There was no one there. He could
see the window in the living room. It was only when he heard a snort that his
eyes moved lower, to a shadow on the floor by the bedroom door.

On impulse, he threw his
heavy boots in that direction, hoping it would slow Dom down and a fraction of
a second later, Seth dashed for the door. At least there was no need for being
quiet anymore. There were three separate locks on the door, and in his state of
empty-headed panic, he tried to open them all at once. Time seemed to stand
still, but Dom wasn’t grabbing at him yet, so maybe there was a chance.

The door smashed against
the corridor, shattering the silence as Seth poured out of the apartment, his feet
already in motion, heart thudding in his chest. He ran out so quickly, he
barely managed to turn into the staircase without hitting the wall.

He was already raising
his foot over the lower step when Dom brutally snatched him backward and threw
him face-first into the wall. Domenico's hand clamped over his mouth like a
vise, and his strong, wiry body pushed into Seth's with astonishing strength.

Seth’s blood boiled, and
he could feel it on his tongue. Writhing like a wild stallion did nothing to
push Dom off. He didn’t even manage to scream and only let out a muffled squeal
he himself considered pathetic. All his senses burned as he desperately
searched for something that could help him in the darkness. Instead of pushing
back, he tried to step sideways, to throw them both down the stairs.

Dom wouldn't have it. He
twisted his body like a snake, and the hard floor came close all too quickly.
The cobra was about to bite, but Seth wouldn’t go down without a fight. Even
though he hit the carpeted floor with his head, he still found the persistence
to smash his elbow into Dom’s ribs.

“Let go,” he rasped when
Dom’s grip lessened.

“I won’t be dying
because you don't want to put your cock in a pussy!” growled Domenico right
into his ear. He twisted Seth’s head and pushed his cheek into the carpeting
with so much force, Seth heard a slight click in his neck. He moaned and curled
his toes in pain when Dom pulled back his arm.

That was it. He was not
going anywhere on Domenico Acerbi’s watch. He was no less of a prisoner than
Vera Salieri. Seth let his muscles go slack, even though Dom’s weight sent
alarm bells ringing in all his nerves.

The sleek animal that
pinned him in place was gasping for breath, which wasn’t satisfying enough
given the situation, but at least Seth knew he
was
a match for Dom’s
strength. “Now we stand up. You will walk back into the apartment on your own
two feet, got it?” rasped Domenico.

Seth swallowed and
nodded, unwilling to say a word. His failure was so epic the shame of it almost
physically hurt. They both got to their feet with Dom never letting go of the
grip on Seth’s arm and neck. They might have been training together, but Seth’s
technique was so far off Dom’s that it wasn’t even worth comparing. Seth got
led back into their apartment like the sheep he was. He couldn’t scream. There
was no one who could save him, and the last thing they needed here now was the
police.

With one last shove, Dom
let him go, and from the sound of it, started locking the door again. The
silence was overwhelming and this time, Seth was willing to break it.

“Do you ever fucking
sleep? I can go wherever I want to!” Seth raised his voice, even though he knew
his cause was lost. He could barely catch a breath, drowning in the thoughts of
a life in captivity. With a wife he didn’t even get to choose and a career path
that would surely lead him to an early grave. Maybe it was time to end it
himself after all? He rubbed his eyes.

“No, you can’t. None of
us can go anywhere if we want to live,” snarled Domenico, spreading his arms in
a violent gesture.

Seth lunged at him with
his shoulder without another thought, in an attempt to push him away from the
door, but Dom caught his wrists with ease and shook him.

“Mr. Villani, that’s
enough!”

“Stop calling me that!”
screamed Seth, but the energy to fight was leaving his body like air escaping a
punctured balloon.

Domenico stepped away
without making a sound. When he spoke, it sounded as calm as ever. “It was you
who wanted it less personal.”

“I didn’t,” Seth moaned,
completely in pieces, the taste of blood still on his tongue. “It’s not
protection, it’s prison.”

Domenico scratched his
head with a sigh. He looked tired. “I can’t let you go. You need to calm down.”

“I won’t!” Seth
retreated into the living room, which seemed small and cramped. Now that it was
certain he wasn’t going anywhere, he threw the jacket on the sofa. “I don’t
want to waste my life and some woman’s!” Seth’s stomach hurt like something was
eating him from the inside.

Domenico followed him at
the same slow pace. “You’re no wuss. You’ll be fine.”

“I won’t,” Seth uttered
in a broken voice, bile rising in his throat. This was his life. Nothing more,
nothing less. “But what do you care? It’s not like
you
have to do it.”

Dom looked at the floor
between their feet. His chest rose and fell in a steady rhythm. As if nothing
had happened. As if Seth’s life weren’t falling apart. “I would do anything
your father wants.”

Those words were like a
noose tightening around Seth’s neck. There was absolutely no hope for him if he
had no allies. He sniffed and rubbed his face. He didn’t want Dom to see him
useless like this. “But you don’t have to. No one will force you to marry.
We’ll get back to Italy, and you’ll be back to fucking guys at funerals, while
I’m producing kids.”

Domenico let his head
fall back with a sigh. “I did things much worse than marrying a woman.”

“I don’t doubt that.”
Seth frowned at the tremble in his own voice and turned his back on Dom. It was
all too much. Why couldn’t he be like Dom? Cold like the iceberg about to hit
the Titanic without a shade of guilt. A sudden brush of fingers against his
back seemed firm enough to shatter him.

“You’ll be fine.”

It hit Seth harder than
getting his face scrubbed against the carpet in the corridor and he let out a
broken sob. He was once again that child forced to witness his uncle’s
execution, forced to agree with whatever decision his father had made. He
didn’t want to cry, he really didn’t, but when one sob turned into another,
sending a shiver throughout his body, Seth turned around rapidly and wrapped
his arms around his captor’s neck. Dom stiffened, probably anticipating another
fight, but all Seth wanted was to feel safe again. And whether he liked it or
not, at this point, Domenico was the closest to safety he had.

Strong, steady arms
wrapped around him, and Domenico pulled him close with a hushing sound. Seth’s
tears got so out of control, he wet Dom’s shirt, but as much as Seth wanted to
stop, the floodgates were open. He didn’t even remember the last time he broke
down like this. Not while being kidnapped, not when his mother died.

“I don’t want to hurt
some innocent girl,” he sobbed, clinging to Dom in a tight embrace.

The contempt in
Domenico’s snort was unmistakable. He kissed the top of Seth’s head. “Innocent?
She’s probably more acquainted with our ways than you are.”

Seth looked up at him,
hurt by the mocking. After all they’d been through together, he did hope for
more compassion. Then again, what could he expect from Domenico Acerbi?

He pulled away slightly,
but had no idea where he could possibly go. “How am I supposed to have any
intimacy with her?”

“You don’t need any
intimacy with her. It’s an alliance, nothing more.” Domenico shrugged, gently
playing with the hair over Seth’s nape, which was oddly calming.

Seth sniffed and rubbed
his eyes, but it was no use, the tears kept coming. “She’ll have expectations.”

“Yes, she will want her
own villa and a nice car.” Dom’s face was like a mask of indifference. Of
course, he didn’t care, but Seth still pushed closer into the embrace again,
inhaling the familiar, musky scent. Despite the cool exterior, Domenico’s skin
radiated fragrant warmth that felt like a balm to Seth’s nerves.

“Back to the fucking
closet, huh?”

Domenico pinched the
bridge of his nose. “No one’s asking you to give up men. Certainly not me.”

Seth looked into his
eyes, trying to understand what could hide behind them. Did Dom just want to
continue their arrangement because he thought Seth was hot or was there
something else? A quest for power over the future Don, or just pleasure that
came from being together? Seth might as well give up trying to read Dom.