Guns n' Boys Book 1 Part 2 (10 page)

“What about now?”

Seth’s smile widened, and he splashed Dom
right back, ignoring the dry blood on his hands. “Still not
scared.”

“When did that happen?” Domenico scowled at
the icy spray, but joined Seth waist-deep in the water.

“I don’t know. Maybe you’re getting soft
with old age?” Seth took a deep breath before going in deeper in a
few quick steps. When the water covered his tainted arms, he
finally felt better. He looked at the white reflection of the moon
in the pitch-black waters, and listened to Domenico’s approach. The
water was gently rocking back and forth, and now that he got used
to its temperature, even the slick rocks underneath his feet were a
welcome sensation.

“Give me your hands,” asked Dom as he joined
Seth, lowering himself in the water.

Seth held out his hands without question. He
wished today had never happened. Maybe except for this moment, when
Dom turned Seth to face him, gently spilling water over one of the
bloodied forearms. After he got both wet, he held on to one and
started slowly massaging the red hue out of Seth’s skin. It was as
if all the sin dissolved into the sea, meaningless in the vast
waters. Seth couldn’t remember the last thing that calmed him down
this much. Domenico was making it all better, making it all
disappear. He was now washing the other hand, carefully massaging
Seth between the fingers, around the nails, pushing his fingertips
in every nook and crook. When Seth looked up and met his soft, pale
gaze, it was as if all the horror of earlier that night had been a
bad dream.

Tears stopped pushing at Seth’s eyes, and his
breathing slowed down. Relief washed over him with every gentle
wave and each touch. He could be with this man forever, have his
care and trust, be the only one that Dom lusted for and only one he
needed. Seth knew it was just a dream. After all, he was getting
married and judging by Dom’s words about Angelo, Dom had other
lovers. What they had would have to suffice.

Domenico’s cool, soothing touch climbed up
Seth’s torso, massaging all the meaty bits, rough skin teased
Seth’s nipples, and there was nothing he could do to stop himself
from dreaming about Dom taking him in the backseat of the car to
warm him up.

“Just relax,” whispered Domenico into the
wind, leaning forward to kiss the little valley between Seth’s
collarbones. His hair tickled Seth’s chin.

“I’m relaxed.” Seth nodded and ran his
fingers through Dom’s hair, always so silky and soft. He sometimes
wondered how he managed to keep it in such fine shape.

Domenico kissed him on the lips and pushed on
his arm to make Seth go deeper into the sea. Seth took a deep
breath and dove under the water with his eyes closed, the chill
giving his blood a rush. The water swallowed him whole, providing a
safe space where no sound or touch existed, where he was free,
clean, and detached from the Family.

His knees hit the sand, and he let his head
resurface, straight into Domenico’s palms. The way Dom held Seth
was strikingly similar to the fashion he used to break people’s
necks. But Seth wasn’t scared. He just looked up at Dom and stroked
his shins underwater. Seth wondered if maybe the lack of fear came
from knowing how deadly Domenico was. There was no point in fearing
something he couldn’t fight. If Dom wanted to kill him, he could do
so without much effort so all that was left up to Seth was putting
himself in Domenico’s care. If death would someday come at Dom’s
hand, that would be the end of it.

Domenico’s face was lit by the countless
reflections of moonlight on the water. Dozens of little, irregular
shapes were dancing across his features as he smiled. One of his
hands shifted, stroking over Seth’s ear, all the way to the back of
his head, while the other washed Seth's face in soothing circles.
These gestures not only cleaned his face, but got each muscle in
Seth’s body to relax. His heart started pounding at the touch of
Dom’s rough fingertips. He could only imagine how much it had to
hurt to remove the fingerprints. He turned his head to kiss Dom’s
palm in appreciation of his strength.

“You will be all clean when you go out.
Leave the rest to me,” said Dom, and Seth realized Dom was
submerging himself as well. Seth put his head under the water once
more before standing up with a deep breath.

He did feel better.

“Cold?” Domenico was squeezing out water from
his long hair, shiny rivulets still cascading down his body and
beading on his chest. It was a mouthwatering sight.

Seth moved closer for a kiss. “Not
anymore.”

Dom smiled and closed his eyes, crossing
himself with a whisper. But Seth didn’t catch the words. When Dom
looked at him again, he reached out to pull Seth back toward the
shore. Seth entwined his fingers with him, shivering as the cold
air hit his wet skin.

He felt clean. Body and soul.

“One more for the groom!” laughed Vincente,
refilling Seth’s glass with homemade limoncello. It was surreal to
see him so smiley and pleasant, all eager to serve Seth. If it
weren’t for the fact that he and Santo were drinking from the same
bottle, Seth wouldn’t dare to taste the liquor.

“It’s happened fast, but maybe it’s for the
better,” Santo said, wrinkling his nose and nodding in that serious
manner, as if he were an old man and had any reason to claim to
know shit.

“Yeah, yeah, Father’s pick after all,” Seth
muttered and enjoyed the drink. At last something nice in his
horror of a life. The world was nicely blurry, making the concept
of marriage distant and less real. Only the people rushing around
the house and preparing the decorations reminded him of what was
about to happen tomorrow.

“Did he show you her picture before?” asked
Vincente, leaning back in the leather-covered armchair.

“Don’t be stupid, you know when I first saw
her. She seems nice.” Seth held out his glass for more alcohol. The
one he had just moments ago was curiously gone.

“Pretty too. A bit thin, but she is good
enough, I suppose. Nice ass.” Vincente grinned and took a whole
glass of limoncello in one go.

Santo followed, melting into the
armchair.

“True, true.” Seth’s gaze went after one of
the staff, though his mind drifted off to the memory of Domenico’s
ass. The guy was so freaking lean. Not too slim, but proportional
like a Greek god and so utterly grabbable. The way his ass looked
in those Armani boxers was what wet dreams were made of.

His attention was back to the conversation at
hand when he heard Domenico’s name. Santo was grinning.

“What a woman, gorgeous.”

“Huh? Where?” Seth looked around, but there
were no female figures in sight. From the mezzanine where they were
all sitting, they could see a bunch of young men building
decorations and a low stage for tomorrow’s wedding. Some of them
were pretty hot, but none could be mistaken for a girl, despite
their nicely sculpted butts.

“Acerbi’s girlfriend. He showed me a picture,
and she’s prettier than Angelina Jolie.”

Vincente chuckled into his
glass. “I’m sure she
sucks
at giving head though. He’s been like a dog with
a cock ring on since he’s been back to Italy.”

That got Seth’s attention, and he frowned,
sipping his limoncello. “He’s got a girlfriend?” He didn’t even
consider Vincente’s crass joke worth commenting on.

Santo and Vincente looked at one another.

“He never told you about her?”

Seth straightened up in his
armchair, trying to fight the tension in his arms. What
fucking
girlfriend? Did
Dom not only have casual lovers but a girlfriend on the side as
well? “No he hasn’t. What’s she like?”

“Good-looking,” said Vincente with a grin.
“He’s a jealous fucker that Acerbi, and with a woman like that, no
wonder.”

“Oh, come on! ‘Good-looking’? That’s all
you’ve got?” Seth groaned and fell back into his armchair. Santo
was bound to have some insider knowledge so Seth gave him an
expectant look with raised eyebrows.

But Santo only spread his hands in a gesture
of helplessness. “Must be serious about her. He’s only said she’s
from the US. I imagine his mother’s happy there will be
grandchildren coming her way soon.”

Was this for real? Seth certainly didn’t feel
it was, but from the looks on their faces, he gathered it wasn’t a
new thing that just came up now. “Yeah, shoulda considered a double
wedding,” he grumbled and started texting Dom already.

‘
Why didn’t you tell me you had a fucking
girlfriend? WTF?!’

And he should have predicted Vincente would
pick up on his annoyance. “What? You afraid she’s nicer than
yours?” He snorted and poured Seth another generous glass.

“She is nicer than his,” uttered Santo as he
looked at the builders below, though he did not specify which of
the women was actually better looking.

Vincente rolled his eyes. “Not that it
matters. He can have another one on the side.”

“Yeah, it doesn’t matter, does it? She’s just
a fuck after all!” Seth lashed out, and when he stood up, he had to
hold the back of his armchair to steady his stance. “Might as well
enjoy your life while you can,” he finished grimly.

Both men looked at him from their armchairs,
briefly stunned into silence.

Santo sighed. “I think you had enough, Seth,”
he suggested, slouching forward with a pleasant smile.

“I need some food,” Seth
grumbled and walked off without looking back. Fucking girlfriend.
Fucking wife.
Fucking.
Fuck
. He could hear Santo and Vincente’s
short laughs behind him, but he couldn’t care less. He sped down
the stairs, holding on to the railing. His world had become a bit
hazy after all that limoncello, but he didn’t wobble all that
much.

He just wanted to be alone so he let his
legs carry him toward the kitchen, but pretty soon he realized he
couldn’t get what he needed. Catering staff were busy preparing
food and stashing it in fridges. When he entered the kitchen, the
buzz of many voices combined with sounds of cooking made Seth
slouch in resignation. He grumbled with a frown and sneaked through
by the wall, trying to find something he could eat.

“Do you need something, sir?” It was a soft,
slightly boyish voice, with a clear foreign accent.

Seth blinked and glanced at a bright, wide
smile on a well-sculpted boyish face. Judging by the uniform, the
guy had to be one of the catering assistants. He was quite
attractive, slim and thin-boned like Peter. “I— yeah, I wanted a
sandwich or something.”

The guy grinned at him. “Are you one of the
guests?”

“I’m the groom.” Seth
smiled back, feeling that pull of attraction. He was willing to
check it out. If Dom could have lovers and a girlfriend, he could
have some fun as well. Especially with how freaking hard it was to
find spare time with the fucker. Always fucking busy. Maybe he had
to run off to Skype with his
girlfriend
.

The guy stepped back,
blinking, and it was as if there was a wall between them all of a
sudden. Only now did Seth realize the guy had been standing
unusually close for a polite conversation. He couldn’t help a
sheepish grin.
Bingo
. Fucking too close to the Family wouldn’t do, but a fling
with a waiter? That seemed safe.

Seth leaned against the counter. “You wanna
make me that sandwich?”

The guy swallowed, playing with his fingers,
though his eyes followed the line of Seth’s body. “If you wish,
sir.”

“My name’s Seth.” He held out his hand to the
guy, who hesitated but eventually squeezed Seth’s palm with a small
smile.

“Brian.”

Seth licked his lips. The smaller hand really
was a bit like Peter’s. “‘Brian’? Are you in Italy for a summer job
or something? Where are you from?”

“I’m studying abroad in Italy. Made in
France, raised in Britain.” Brian laughed, stepping slightly closer
to Seth again. “This is a way to get some extra money in.”

“We’re here talking, and that sandwich isn’t
gonna make itself,” Seth teased, already feeling the guy’s body
heat. He gently nudged him farther into the back of the kitchen,
away from the other staff.

“Oh, sure.” Brian looked back with a flush
to his cheeks. “If you could show me where I can find some bread,
I’d gladly make it for you.”

Such a bottom. No question
about that
. “Yeah, and there’s some jam I
want in the pantry.” Seth led Brian around the corner, to the
narrow corridor, which led to the spiral staircase to the
pantry.

“What about some meat?” dared Brian, looking
back to Seth in the narrow, semidark space. His large eyes were
already glinting with excitement, and for a moment, the sexual
spark became so intense, Seth considered doing Brian right there.
But no, it was far too risky, so he urged his short-term date up
the stairs.

“I think there’s some Italian meat to be
found upstairs.” Seth grinned, already feeling that mix of alcohol
and adrenaline pounding in his bloodstream. He couldn’t wait to get
Brian down on that dusty floor and relax with the help of his
lips.

“I would love to try
that
,” teased Brian,
already breathing quicker.

The door to the pantry creaked as they
entered, and Seth had to bend almost in half to be able to follow.
It was still bright outside, so Seth didn’t turn on the light and
bit his lip, stepping closer to Brian in the cramped space that
smelled of spice and comfort. “It’s a delicacy.”

Brian backed away, biting his lip as he
touched the wooden shelf on his side. “So, where is that famous
sausage?”