Chapter 37
Dominic POV
Earlier that day, the atmosphere in the conference room at the Caruso family estate had been strained enough to snap steel in two. A familiar place Dominic was finding himself frequenting as of late.
The long, polished table was surrounded by what was left of Leonardo’s trusted men and the core figures of the Caruso family, including Francesco Caruso himself.
The uneasy alliance, built carefully over the last few months and reinforced through Aurora’s marriage to Leonardo, now dangled by a thread.
With Leonardo dead and the Russian bratva proving their strength as a strong aversary, every man at the table knew the vultures lying in the shadows were already circling, waiting for the first sign to strike them when they were most weak.
Tension burned in the air as Matteo leaned forward. “The bratva won’t stay hidden for long. If we fracture now, it’ll be a bloodbath. If we’re to continue this alliance, it needs to be official. Not done through a few handshakes. You Carusos have already betrayed us once against the Ferrero family.”
Francesco scowled, his arms crossed tightly across his chest. “That was never our intention.”
“It happened regardless.” Matteo argued. “Are you really willing to risk this alliance because you refuse to agree on proper terms?
Dominic sat at the head of the table, silent, as he watched the drama unfold.
Before coming here, he had already decided what needed to be done before this meeting even began. It was easy to put the pieces together as one not at all interested in investing in this shaky alliance with the family that was once their enemy.
Why bother wasting the time and energy when Dominic knew he would eventually cull them all when the time came?
No. Now was the time to start putting things into motion, creating the steps that would eventually lead to the downfall of every man who sat at this table aside from himself.
When the room fell into a tense, hopeless silence, he leaned forward. “I have a solution.”
All heads turned toward him.
Dominic met each of their gazes without flinching. “If the original alliance required a marriage, the only solution is to continue with that pact. There’s no sense in trying to negotiate something else when the original arrangement was already agreed on.”
“What are you saying?” Francesco asked.
“I’ll marry your daughter myself.”
The room froze.
Even Matteo, who had seemed prepared for any number of outcomes, sat back heavily in his chair, staring at Dominic like he’d lost his mind.
A stunned silence dragged out until one of Francesco’s men finally barked out a humorless laugh. “Marry the Black Widow herself? She didn’t make it a full day before her husband ended up with a bullet in his chest.”
Dominic shrugged. “Bad luck doesn’t scare me. Besides, I’m willing to sacrifice myself if it means keeping our families together against the bratva.”
A lie but they didn’t need to know that.
Francesco shook his head. “You’re better off marrying someone else. Camilla is a far better option. She’s untouched by this disaster. Well-mannered and will make healthy heirs.”
Dominic’s lip curled slightly in disdain.
Camilla. A decorative snake who would slit Aurora’s throat the second his back was turned. Her disdain for her step-sister hadn’t escaped Dominic’s notice while they’d all been together for the wedding planning.
Allowing Camilla to get what she wanted—him—would only encourage her bad behavior.
Dominic shook his head once. “It’s Aurora or you can find someone else desperate enough to align with you.”
Francesco’s jaw locked in fury.
For a long moment, no one spoke.
Dominic could see the calculations running behind their eyes: the risks, the optics, t
he bloodshed and loss of more men they were all desperate to avoid once they believed the bratva came back knocking.
Finally, Stefano leaned back and exhaled heavily. “It would preserve the alliance.”
“And the bratva would think twice before moving if they saw us united even after the tragedy,” Matteo added.
Slowly, one by one, the heads around the table nodded.
Even Francesco. “Fine.”
Dominic said nothing in response, only sitting back in his chair while the talks began again as they moved to discussing plans for the upcoming wedding prep.
Inside, though, he felt something stir.
Something far more dangerous than satisfaction.
Desire.
Now, standing in the center of his study, he watched Aurora reel from the news, her mouth open slightly in shock.
“You can’t be serious.” she said. “You’re not giving me any option to find a different path?”
“There is no other path. This was the one everyone at the meeting agreed on. Whether you like it or not.” Dominic simply crossed his arms, forcing his expression to remain impassive though he felt anything but. “One month from today is when the ceremony will occur.”
Why was she acting like this was a death sentence?
She wasn’t repulsed by him sexually and they got along as well as they could considering the positions they were both in. He was nothing at all like his father and wouldn’t be forcing her to produce heirs for him the second he got a wedding band placed on her finger.
Why was she acting the same as when she was set to marry his father?
In retrospect, Dominic was the far superior option.
“My father didn’t want to give up his precious golden child to a monster?”
Monster.
A pang of hurt flashed through his chest, surprising him.
He forced himself to step away from her, heading back toward his desk in order to keep some distance between them. “You already agreed to marry into the Guerrero family once. What is the difference between continuing the plan?”
“I thought I would be free when you killed him, Dominic.” She replied.
Dominic’s mouth quirked into a faint smile.
Free from his family, is what she really meant. Free from him.
He could lie and tell her it was strategic and a logical move that would put up a front against their faux enemy. He could say she was the best candidate to repair the alliance because she had been the one picked in the first place for the job.
But none of that would explain the way he hadn’t even considered Camilla as an option. The way the thought of anyone else standing beside him at the altar made something primal and furious rise in his chest.
So he sidestepped the question instead.
“Look at it like this: I’m offering you protection. A future that doesn’t involve your father marrying you off to someone else. Weren’t you the one who told me your father was eager to pawn you off to the highest bidder the second he got the chance to?”
Her eyes widened when he looked over his shoulder at her. “Is this not just as much of a cage, Dominic, as the one you’re claiming to save me from?”
He didn’t deny it.
While he knew he’d treat her far better than whoever else Francesco had in mind for the next candidate, Dominic wasn’t about to lie and say she wasn’t correct. He’d be caging her too, just like she was afraid of him doing.
A gilded cage, sure, but one nonetheless.
She shook her head, stepping back again. “I need time to think about it.”
The words hit him harder than he expected just as they had when she called him a monster.
While none of this was ideal for her, he really thought she’d jump at the chance to have the best case scenario. After everything they’d shared—the nights tangled up in each other, the way she clung to him like he was her only lifeline when he’d made sure she survived the attack at her wedding—he thought she would see this for what it was.
A lifeline.
Instead, she looked at him like he was offering her a noose.
“Fine,” he said after a beat too long. “I’ll give you time to think. But I expect an answer by the end of the week.”
She left soon after.
The sound of the door clicking shut behind her echoed through the penthouse like a gunshot. Dominic stood there for a long moment, staring at the empty space she’d just vacated, a hollow, gnawing sensation twisted inside his chest.
She would marry him. His power would be cemented. Everything he’d fought for, killed for, would finally be within his grasp.
And yet… he couldn’t shake the look in her eyes when she backed away from him. Like he was just another executioner wearing a prettier mask.
Dominic swore under his breath and poured himself a glass of whiskey, tossing it back in one hard gulp.
Maybe he was. Or maybe he was worse.
But one thing was certain: whether she came willingly or not, Aurora Caruso was already his.
And soon enough, she would realize it too.
