Guns n' Boys Book 1 Part 2 (6 page)

“He’s his son, Dom.” Angelo’s lips trembled,
and Domenico noticed a missing tooth.

He sighed, cupped Angelo’s face, and pressed
on his bottom lip to expose more of the damage. It was a shame
Angelo would go this way. “I think he loves me.”

Angelo flinched but was quickly back for more
touch. “It will end in blood.”

Domenico swallowed and leaned in to press a
brief kiss to Angelo’s temple, tasting salt and copper. “Perhaps.
Don’t all bad things feel good? You of all people should know.”

A wide smile, followed by a chuckle, bloomed
on Angelo’s lips. The opiates had to be kicking in. “They do, oh
God, they feel so fucking good.”

“It felt so good to take the Don’s son. But
you know what’s even more wrong?” Dom sat down with his head on
Angelo’s shoulder.

“What can be better than a tight virgin
hole?” Angelo nudged Dom with his broken nose.

A slight shudder went down Domenico’s back at
the memory. A blanket underneath his knees and elbows, Angelo’s
weight on top of him, his hands so grabby, possessive. It hurt so
good to just let go and take the man he loved.

Dom kissed Angelo’s cheek again. “The Don’s
my father,” he whispered, somehow overcoming the almost physical
barrier in his throat.

Angelo frowned slightly. “That’s not true.
The devil himself is your father. That is so nasty. You really
don’t have any morals,” he said, but it didn’t sound like a
slight.

Dom sighed. “His hole didn’t feel nasty
though,” he said and closed his eyes, savoring what time he had
left with Angelo’s warm, breathing body.

“Fucking your virgin half brother, the son
of the Don, and making him fall for you, handsome devil?” Angelo’s
breath was deep and raspy.

Domenico looked up at him with a slight
smile. “Is that what I am?”

Angelo wore a sad smile as he watched Dom
with half-lidded eyes. “Yeah, I sometimes wished you would have
talked to me again.”

Dom swallowed hard and scooted even closer.
“I wouldn’t have trusted you again.”

“I know. But I won’t let
you down now. I’ll keep my mouth shut about you and Seth. I only
told
you
about
Tropico.” Angelo’s lips were dry again, and he spat blood to the
side. “I know they’d kill me anyway.”

Domenico quickly reached for the pitcher and
raised it to Angelo’s mouth, helping him drink. He came here
expecting to not feel much. If anything, he’d expected to spill the
anger he had been holding back for almost ten years, but the moment
he faced Angelo again, heard his voice, all he wanted was to hold
him close and snap his neck when he’d be least expecting it.

But he couldn’t afford mercy.

Seth rummaged through his mom’s pantry, to
see what was left of the preserves she made before she died. He was
trying to find the recipe book she had for jams and pickles, but it
wasn’t going his way so far. The room was cluttered, dusty and the
ceiling was so low he had to stay on his knees while looking
through the shelves in the semidarkness. This was the moment when
being big and tall wasn’t all that helpful. At least he was alone
here and could spend some time in peace and quiet.

But if he were honest with himself, this
whole “looking for preserves” thing was just an excuse to get his
mind off the matter at hand.

He was falling for Domenico Acerbi. It wasn’t
moths in his stomach anymore, but full-on butterflies and other
shit. He was fucked. Not in the literal sense, though that was an
aspect of it. He was fucked in every other conceivable way. His bad
taste in men had reached new heights. It was okay to play around
with Dom, but he couldn’t be really getting attached to him. Dom
didn’t care for him. Dom had a mission and entertained himself with
Seth in the meanwhile. Being the hot stuff he was, Seth was hardly
surprised. After a few days back in Italy, Seth could barely sleep
and wished Dom was by his side. Everything would be better that
way.

Yesterday, when Dom had led him in a dance
in the barn, Seth was so mesmerized he didn’t know what to do. He
actually felt embarrassed he’d done the girl’s steps but only
pondered on that later. When Dom led him with so much ease
everything seemed easy. Having feelings for Domenico Acerbi was the
worst idea on the planet though. The guy would use it to his
benefit the moment he spotted an opening in Seth’s defenses, and
Seth would be beyond fucked. He’d be on a sea of ‘fucked’ with only
a pancake spatula for a paddle.

He crawled in farther, behind another row of
shelves and jars, hoping to spend the rest of the day here if no
one noticed he was gone. Fortunately after the initial proposal and
an afternoon with Lucrezia and her father, Seth was not to see her
until the wedding day. She seemed like a perfectly nice girl, which
only made the whole thing so horrendous. She was eighteen, for
fuck’s sake! What did she know about what she wanted in life?

The pantry was hot and stuffy, but being
here was still better than the pressure he was under outside. Seth
took off his T-shirt and put it on one of the shelves. He could
even lie down on it later and have a nap. Maybe that would help him
forget all the shitty things that kept happening in his life. He’d
even called Peter in the morning, wanting to let him know he was
fine, tell him that he was sorry for the sudden breakup, and all he
got in return was anger. There was even a new boyfriend in the
picture! Good for him, but still… why couldn’t Seth’s life look
better? Peter even told him not to call again so he clearly got
over their two-year relationship quickly.

There was a clang of the door opening, and
Seth froze with tiny hairs standing up on his nape when he realized
he couldn’t face the person who entered as easily as he’d like.

“There you are. I’ve been looking for you
forever.” Domenico.

Seth sighed, though his
heart instantly raced at hearing Dom’s deep voice.
Fuck
. He quickly
dismissed the idea that maybe if he stayed quiet Dom wouldn’t
notice him. He obviously already had.

“Yeah. I was looking for stuff…”

“So, you free? I’m done with my report so I
thought we could get some air?”

“I— No. You could’ve texted
me. I’m looking for this
thing
.” Seth raised his voice,
peeking at Dom’s silhouette from behind the shelves. To his dismay,
Domenico walked deeper into the pantry, no doubt to force Seth to
follow him. He even had his hair down, the bastard.

“What? Maybe I know where it is?”

Seth crawled a bit closer on all fours.
“Yeah, if you know where my mom’s fig marmalade is, then you can
help.”

Domenico snorted. “Nah, but I have something
good for you, too.”

Seth rolled his eyes and came over closer.
“Is that a euphemism for your cock?”

“No, I have homemade focaccia with pesto.”
Domenico squatted in front of him and showed him a canvas bag. “My
mother made it.”

“Oh. That’s nice.” Seth plopped down on his
ass and took the bag, more confused than ever. Dom shared his
mother’s food with him? The man had the appetite of a wolf. “Um,
how is she doing?”

Dom scratched his neck and started slowly
rocking back and forth. “She’s fine, told me to pass her greetings.
We had a very happy reunion.”

“That’s nice,” Seth muttered and tore off a
piece of focaccia. All he wanted was to lean closer and smell Dom’s
hair, though the bread was almost as tempting.

“You did anything interesting?” Domenico
played with the sleeve of his casual beige shirt.

“Not really. My brother’s all nasty,
everyone’s stiff around me. I thought I’d just do stuff on my own.
All my friends are back in New York.”

Domenico startled him by snapping his fingers
in front of Seth’s face. “What about me?”

Seth blinked and put the bread in his mouth.
“I kinda thought… you’d be busy with your own friends. And stuff.”
To be honest, he didn’t assume Dom would want to spend much time
with him other than some training and maybe getting a quick blow
job. It was pretty depressing.

Domenico went silent, pulling on his hair. “I
don’t like what’s going on here now. Let’s go outside.”

“Okay.” Seth grabbed the T-shirt from the
shelf and put it back on. “I’m just cranky.”

“Why? You still want to blow me?”

Seth squinted and passed him on all fours.
“Yeah, I’ve been upset about it since yesterday. All I could think
of since then was sucking you off. I couldn’t sleep because of it.
I thought about it in the shower, and then when I was making
breakfast, I imagined the banana I was having was a big fat cock.”
He looked back at Dom. “That’s a ‘no’.”

Domenico whistled, but started moving back
toward the door. “That was harsh.”

“I can be harsh, so stop prodding me.” Seth
went down the tiny wooden spiral staircase and into the kitchen
where Dom was already waiting for him. Handsome in a slightly
rugged way and elegant at the same time. Who could possibly resist
that? Not him.

“We could grab some wine,” Dom said,
gesturing toward the appropriate cabinet.

Seth gave up and moved close enough to smell
Dom. The kitchen looked so empty without his mom around. “Go on
then. It’s just been a shitty day for me.”

“Tell me about it. I could only see my mother
for half an hour because of other obligations. I now hardly spend
any time with her. Even when I’m here.” Domenico shrugged and
retrieved a bottle of red wine.

Seth gave him a small smile. It was nice to
see a human face to Domenico. “I hoped to find some of my mom’s
preserves, or the recipes, so I could make them myself one day. No
one wants me here in this house, so I called Peter, but even he
gave me the cold shoulder.”

Domenico stopped on the way to the door and
turned to Seth, his face blank. “What?”

“I know, right? I finally get to safely talk
to him, and all I get is ‘call me in a year’?” Seth groaned.

“Why the fuck did you even contact him in the
first place?” growled Domenico, whose eyes opened wide, dark as two
pieces of coal. His displeasure was obvious despite the lack of any
grimace on his face.

“Why not? I wanted to let him know I’m safe.”
Though he wasn’t all that safe, now was he?

“I don’t want you to contact any past
girlfriends or boyfriends,” hissed Domenico, walking up to Seth
with his shoulders tense as though he was prepared to fight.

Seth took a step back, unsure of what was
happening or if that bottle of wine was about to end up on his head
in a matter of seconds. So Dom didn’t care about Seth getting
married, but here he was, throwing a fit because of a phone
call?

“What’s your problem? And I didn’t have any
girlfriends, for your information.” Seth frowned.

Domenico snorted and spread his arms. “Well,
that bitch you called today is no man.”

Seth’s eyes went wider, and he took a deep
breath. “How can you say that? Maybe I’m a ‘bitch’ for you as
well?” he added as blood turned bitter in his veins.

Domenico rolled his eyes and stepped back,
moving his hand up and down to indicate Seth’s whole body. “Don’t
be ridiculous. Look at yourself. You’re more of a bear than a
bitch.”

Seth tensed up even more. “Peter is no bitch.
He is the way he is, and there’s nothing wrong with that!”

“No?” Domenico blinked at him with disbelief.
“A man should not make himself look like a woman. I have no
sympathy for some stupid fairy!” He stepped back, pacing around the
room with the bottle in his hand. “You’ve been away from home for
too long.”

“I thought it was kinda cute,” Seth mumbled.
“Whatever, he doesn’t want to talk to me anyway. Happy?”

Domenico exhaled, the pent-up aggression
clear in his tone. “Don’t do it again.”

“I won’t.” Seth pouted and looked away,
leaning against the counter. He was hardly surprised Dom, despite
being gay himself, thought that way of Peter. Fucking internal
homophobia.

Domenico opened the door. “Shall we go?”

Seth walked outside into
the chilly air. “Yeah, I just wish I could have my New York life
back.”
With you.
If he only could live with Dom in some nice neighborhood,
even if just for some time, before Dom lost interest.

Domenico followed him with a sigh. “We’ll see
how it all unravels.”

“I’m gonna get married next week, that’s
what’s gonna unravel,” Seth whined and brushed his hand against
Dom’s. His warmth was the comfort he needed, even though he knew he
wouldn’t get it here.

Domenico looked at him and nodded toward the
northern part of the estate, starting to walk already. The sun was
setting, and the red light made the shadows of the trees in the
garden unnaturally long and sharp. The last rays of sun were
pleasantly warm on Seth’s skin, and it made him glad that he agreed
to come out. “Don’t think about it. It can’t change anything.”

“You’re right, pass me that wine.” Seth
sighed as they walked past the first trees on their way to the
vineyard.

“You don’t want to wait till we’re seated?”
Domenico walked effortlessly next to him, long legs carrying him up
the hill.

“Why? Are you planning a romantic picnic? All
in love with me already?” Seth teased, but watched Dom closely for
his reaction. Unfortunately, Domenico seemed more interested in the
landscape that lay in front of them than anything else. His face
looked softer than usual, but that might have been the light.

“I have fond memories of this vineyard.”

Seth’s face lit up with understanding as he
looked down on the fields. “Oh, I remember! Is this where you had
your first time?”

Domenico nodded, but Seth couldn’t miss the
way his Adam’s apple bobbed at the question. “We could go to the
same spot, if you like.”