Guns n' Boys Book 1 Part 2 (9 page)

“So do it,” said Vincente from behind Seth,
like a vicious hornet threatening to sting as soon as Seth lost
focus.

But Seth wouldn’t let him win. He only
wished he could look up at Dom, instead of watching the bloodied
hair of a man taking his last breaths. Seth remembered seeing a
goat killed when he was younger, and that was what he imagined when
in one precise move, his knife tore into Angelo’s flesh. The body
convulsed next to his, and he had to almost hug it to finish
quickly and hold his victim in place. One thing Seth didn’t lack
was strength, and it was useful when dealing with cutting into such
a big chunk of meat. Blood ran down his forearms and started
dripping from his elbows. He imagined this man’s soul would never
know peace, trapped in this cellar’s walls forever.

Angelo stirred, just like that poor goat,
but he soon went limp as life ran out of him along with the blood,
to sink into the floor. The body started moving lower as Angelo’s
knees slid apart. It was enough that Seth loosened his grip on the
hair for the body to slump to the floor in a graceless heap, neck
half severed so the head lay at an unnatural angle.

For a moment, the silence was so deep, Seth
could hear his heart beat, but then came the approving grunts, the
friendly pats on the back, even a kiss to his cheek. It was all
happening through fog. His father smiled, and when Seth wanted to
give the knife back, he told him to keep it. So Seth did. He stood
there in silence with the knife still in his hand and finally dared
to look up at Dom.

Their eyes met, and the carefully neutral
face lit up with a smile that didn’t quite reach Dom’s eyes. He
stepped forward and touched Seth’s arm, but it was the briefest
gentle squeeze, so unlike the other gestures everyone else showered
him with.

Was he now like Dom? Was he really a part of
the Family? Seth looked away, all his muscles stiff. Someone passed
him a piece of cloth so he could clean the knife and his hands, but
it wouldn’t be enough. He needed to scrub his arms clean. He only
broke out of the stupor with a hiss when Vincente patted the side
of his arm that still had the stitches in. He could swear the
fucker did that on purpose, as they were visible from under his
T-shirt.

“Well done. Someone clean up this piece of
shit,” Father said and walked out into the corridor without looking
back. For him, matters were settled, and it was now up to some poor
lowlife to clean up the mess.

Seth gazed at the body once more. It only
seemed fair not to avoid acknowledging what he’d done. People were
passing him by, one so uncomfortably close their bodies touched. It
was only then that he recognized Domenico’s scent. He looked up,
but when their eyes met, Seth rushed out into the corridor and then
all the way to the stone stairs leading up. What was he to say?

In the background, there was cheering,
laughs and the sound of glass clinking, so he took a turn in the
other direction. The corridor he was once so familiar with, now
seemed to elongate with every step. As if he were walking through a
nightmarish landscape. He grabbed a towel on the way through the
kitchen, but didn’t stop, afraid someone would want to talk to him
if he did. As ferociously as he rubbed his arms, only some of the
blood came off. He didn’t want to be here. He needed out. Out of
the Family, off this hellish, claustrophobic island. Through the
empty backyard, he went straight for the garage. The sooner he
grabbed a car, the less chance there was that someone would stop
him. He went straight for the black Lamborghini he was using while
at home. Like in a dream, he opened the door and crawled inside,
only to realize there was someone sitting in the passenger
seat.

His heart stopped. He half-expected to see
the tenderized face of Angelo, but as he looked up, it was
Domenico’s amber eyes that looked back at him. Neither of them said
a thing.

For a moment Seth considered taking another
car, but that wouldn’t work. He threw the knife wrapped in a
bloodied towel to the backseat and sat behind the wheel. Without
hesitation, he started the engine and backed out from the garage in
a swift move. The guilt, the feeling of humiliation crushed him
from the inside, and he hated to have someone witness that. He
didn’t even know anymore what a normal person would do in a
situation like this. Would they turn to the police for help?

Domenico reached back and fastened his seat
belt as soon as Seth made it out into the courtyard and sped for
the gates. He made no comments, though Seth was happy to notice Dom
wasn’t bleeding anymore. Seth drove out of the property and the
trees around them blurred as he worked his way down the hill from
the villa. He only slowed down when they got closer to the village
below. The sun had long set, and they traveled in darkness, lit up
by the occasional lights in people’s houses and Seth’s car lights.
Finally, they passed the village as well, speeding down a narrow
road by the sea.

“You want to talk about it?” asked Domenico,
with his eyes still fixed on the road ahead.

Seth sniffed and rubbed his nose, only to
realize he just stained his face with Angelo’s blood. “No. It’s
normal, right? Everyone does this,” he rasped, slowing down at a
turn into a narrow road, which led to a small, rocky beach.

“Does what?” Domenico leaned back in the seat
and looked at his wristwatch.

“Never mind. No one told you to follow me!”
Seth clenched his fingers into fists at how calm Dom was and hit
the steering wheel.

“I know. I’m here in my time off.”

Seth’s eyes went wide in disbelief, and he
stopped the car dead, making them both jerk forward before falling
against the backrests. “You asshole! Get out, get the fuck out!” He
leaned over Dom and opened the passenger side door before
unbuckling Dom’s seat belt.

But Domenico didn’t move by an inch and
stared at him unblinkingly. “No.”

Seth shivered with the threat of violence his
body was willing to dish out. “Okay, just sit in the fucking car
then!” He got out himself and slammed the door behind him. His legs
instantly carried him down the winding road to the beach. There was
nowhere he could possibly go from here, he’d reached the end of the
line.

The wind blew right into his face, getting
into his nostrils, so he bowed his head and picked up his pace,
almost jogging toward the dark waters of the sea. Ignoring the
crunch of stones under his feet, he walked to where he spotted a
big, flat rock and sat down with a long sigh. He could hardly
believe that even though he wasn’t trying to escape this time, Dom
still followed him to make sure. And on his ‘time off’ at that,
when all Seth wanted was to be alone. He pulled up his knees to his
face and lowered his head when the first tears came like another
wave crashing against the beach. Was he really such a despicable
human being?

He curled into a tight ball as the wind blew
into his flank time and time again, as if it wanted to throw him
off into the dark water by the shore.

“What are you doing?” Domenico’s voice
sounded rough and unrefined in contrast to the sounds of nature all
around them. The prick, of course, wouldn’t stay in the car as he
was told to.

“Oh, my God! I told you to go away! What is
fucking wrong with you?” Seth held out his arm, still hiding his
face, and pushed Dom away without looking toward him. He couldn’t
help the deep breaths his body kept forcing him to take.

“I’m worried.”

“So don’t be. All in a day’s work,” hissed
Seth, but his back shivered with another sob. Suddenly, fingers
gripped his hair and pulled his head back. Above him, Domenico’s
stern face was half-hidden by his wild, floating hair. He looked
like some demon from a folk tale.

“Don’t you dare insult me. I wasn’t the one
who told you to kill.”

Seth looked up at him in disbelief and
rubbed his face before getting to his feet. “It’s not about you!
Not everything revolves around Domenico, fucking, Acerbi!” He
pushed at his chest, infuriated by having someone watch his
meltdown. Dom looked down at Seth’s midsection with a frown.

“You’re all dirty.”

“A man is dead, and I couldn’t do anything
about it if I wanted to keep my own head, and all you have is
reminding me I’m dirty?” Seth yelled at him and took off his
T-shirt in one swift move. He threw it to the ground and spread his
arms to the sides. “Happy?”

Domenico’s nostrils flared, and he squeezed
his hands into fists like a beast ready to attack at any given
moment. “You killed my lover.”

Seth stared at him, dumbstruck, but the
annoying tears wouldn’t stop coming. Great, just fucking great.
Though at least it started to make some sense now. “You came after
me for revenge?” he asked in a weak voice. When he looked into
Dom’s eyes, it dawned on him. “Your first lover?” Because how many
gay men could there be at the Villani estate? It made sense.

Domenico sighed and slowly nodded. “Fucker
turned out to be a traitor.”

Seth couldn’t care less about the cold wind
hitting his body. It seemed as though he deserved it. “He didn’t
tell them about you?”

Domenico bit his lip and shook his head as
his body slouched. “I should have been the one to kill him, but
there wasn’t a way around it.”

Seth lowered his gaze to the rocks beneath
their feet. “I didn’t want him to hit you again. Does that make it
any better?” He knew it didn’t. Nothing made it fucking better.

He flinched when Dom cupped his face and
lifted it so that they could look at each other. Dom’s irises
seemed unnaturally light in the darkness when he turned his face
toward the moon. “A Don shouldn’t get his hands dirty. There are
people who do it for him. Would you like that?”

Seth sniffed and for a moment, he couldn’t
speak, too choked up with emotions he couldn’t even name. He nodded
when he could finally utter a few words. “Does that make me a bad
person?” Seth’s lips quivered, but he wouldn’t look away from Dom
this time. His lover’s hands were steady on his skin, they held the
world in place.

“Of course not.” Domenico sighed, stepping
closer. “God will know your true heart.”

Seth held on to that thought as if it were a
lifeline. “I didn’t want to do it. When I was going down those
stairs, I had a feeling it would be you they were torturing. I was
so scared,” he admitted and wrapped his hands around Dom’s
neck.

Domenico stirred next to him, but tightened
the hug. “Me? Why?”

“Because they were yelling homophobic stuff,
and I was taken by smug-face Vincente, and I panicked that someone
could have seen us. I tried to think of something I could do. I’d
have had to do something.”

Domenico raised his hands as if to silence
him. His eyes widened in dread. “That is absolutely out of the
question. Never try to stand up for me against men more powerful
than you. I can stand a lot, but what if they tried to get the
truth out of you?”

Seth had to rub his eyes again, but kept
looking into Dom’s eyes. “I wouldn’t betray you. I’d find a
way.”

Domenico sighed. “People crack. I promise
I’ll try to keep you away from getting your hands dirty from now
on.”

“Don’t I have to learn how to deal with this
shit?” Seth swallowed. All he wanted was to have this burden taken
away.

Domenico bit his lip and looked into the sea.
“I don’t think you do.”

“If I don’t, how would I take care of you?”
Seth slowly stroked Dom’s hair. His nose was so blocked he had to
breathe through his mouth.

Domenico laughed, pulling hair away from his
face. The moon made his skin pale, almost white. “I don’t need
taking care of. Don’t worry.”

Seth licked his lips. Of course, Dom didn’t
need anyone. It was just him who was upset and needy. “I wouldn’t
do to you what I did to Angelo. I’d find a way out.” He needed Dom
to know that.

Domenico frowned, his fingers climbing up
Seth’s sides. “Why?”

“You’re the only person I care for here. The
only one I can trust. The only one who can actually see who I am.”
Why did he even have to explain this? Wasn’t it obvious? Seth
leaned closer and kissed Dom’s lips. Even if Dom did have other
lovers, they could work something out, Seth was sure of it.

Domenico stared at him for a long moment, his
intense eyes frozen in one position as if his eyes were made of
glass, but he eventually nodded and squeezed Seth’s shoulders. “You
can trust me.” And with that, he moved his hand to indicate the sea
in a gesture much like an invitation to sit comfortably on a
sofa.

Seth swallowed and nodded. It was chilly,
but the water should still be warm enough for a short swim. He
pushed off his shoes, got rid of the jeans, and started walking
toward the sea in just his briefs. The cool stones rattled under
every step, but he didn’t mind, looking only at the dark waves.

“Have you ever bathed at night?” asked
Domenico from the shore.

“No. There’s a first time for everything,
right?” Seth looked at him over his shoulder when the first gentle
wave hit his feet, making him stir. He needed to be clean and
didn’t mind the goose bumps. He could stand a bit of a chill if he
could slit a man’s throat. From the corner of his eye, he could see
Dom following in just a pair of black trunks.

“Apparently, meditating in cold water is good
for the mind,” he said, walking into the sea.

Seth followed Dom, smiling slightly at the
Armani logo on his trunks. It was only when the water reached his
thighs that the realization hit him. “You don’t scare me
anymore.”

The smile that appeared on Dom’s face was so
bright, for a moment Seth forgot all about the dead body left in
the cellar. There was a playfulness to it, and before he knew it,
Dom stuck his hand into the water and splashed it all over him.