Chapter 85

Dominic POV

They stared at each other for a long, stretched moment. The hallway outside the hotel room was silent, save for the dull hum of the distant elevator and the muted shuffle of guests several floors down.

As Dominic roamed his eyes over his second’s posture, he noticed the wrinkles in his usually pressed shirt and how his collar was half-unbuttoned. Not at all the picture perfect image he liked to exude.

His expression wasn’t hard, exactly but wary, unsure. “The twins are also on their way, by the way. Had to take a later flight. They were still chasing a few leads on Alek’s location when I was leaving to come here.”

Dominic nodded but couldn’t speak, couldn’t summon anything meaningful as he was suddenly overcome with a wave of feeling.

His throat tightened unexpectedly, a lump forming with a pressure that had nothing to do with anger. It was emotion, raw and unwelcome. He hadn’t realized how much he needed to see Romero until now, to know that despite everything, his second hadn’t given up on him.

They didn’t fight, that had always been their unspoken rule. Disagree, sure. Debate, get frustrated with each other, of course.

But never fight.

Then Aurora happened and suddenly everything they’d built over the last decade had cracked beneath the weight of one woman who had started out as nothing more than a pawn.

Romero stood to grab a drink at the dry bar, the sound of the ice hitting the glass breaking up the tension. When he offered Dominic one, Dominic took it without hesitation. Romero paused only briefly by him to clap a hand against Dominic’s shoulder before sitting back down.

The contact was short but grounding, enough to shake Dominic out of whatever fog had settled over him since earlier that day.

“The twins found one of Alek’s aliases being used to reserve property outside Mexico City. Some kind of estate but it hasn’t been confirmed yet. They’re going to try and get eyes on it today. If he’s holed up there, we can find a way to storm it and take the girl back.”

Dominic barely processed the words. Instead, he found himself pushing up from his chair and setting the glass down at the dry bar. He crossed the room in three long strides and before he could stop himself, he pulled his second-in-command into a quick, fierce hug.

Romero froze in place, clearly stunned by the sudden and out of character display.

Dominic rarely touched anyone. Not like this and definitely not Romero.

“I’m sorry,” Dominic muttered against the other man’s shoulder, his voice low and hoarse. “I shouldn’t… I never wanted to have this kind of animosity between us. I appreciate you coming here despite all of that and continuing to look into the Russians. Though, none of this should’ve fallen on your shoulders.”

Romero didn’t move for a beat.

Then he sighed, clapping a hand on Dominic’s back in a stiff, but clearly forgiving, gesture. “If I knew you were going to get sentimental on me today, I would’ve splurged for our own liquor and not this cheap shit they keep stocked.”

Dominic huffed a quiet laugh and pulled back.

Romero shook his head, though there was something soft in his gaze now. “You… do know I will follow you anywhere, right? I’ve followed you through worse than this.”

Dominic gave a nod, something like relief loosening the tension in his chest. “I know you didn’t sign up for… whatever the hell this is with Aurora.”

Romero raised an eyebrow. “No, I didn’t. But then again, it isn’t like either of us could’ve predicted one woman would set off a chain of events that is soon to rival taking out your father.”

“Very true,” Dominic said dryly.

Romero sat back down again, taking a large sip from his glass and wincing slightly as the liquor slid down his throat. “I truly don’t know what you see in her.”

“I didn’t know either,” Dominic admitted, walking over to the mini bar and pulling out two glasses. “This thing between us was supposed to be transactional… political. She was leverage, at best. I never meant for it to—”

He cut himself off, not wanting to admit out loud how deeply he’d been fooled. Aurora turning the tide had never been a fear of his, let alone something to brace for.

Dominic sat back in his chair again, kicking up a leg over his knee. “If we do get her back, we won’t be able to trust her. Not right away, at least.”

“When you saw her earlier today, did she look like she’d been hurt?”

“She looked…” Dominic swallowed. “Shaken up but not hurt, no. At least, not physically. Like I said, she wouldn’t look at me. Barely acknowledged I was there. I don’t know if that was Alek’s plan to make play on my emotions and put me into a desperate situation. He was angry when I didn’t take the deal.”

“Can’t say I’m surprised. He clearly wants to break into the American market. It’s looking a little desperate.”

“That or he wants something else and if using us as yet another stepping stone” Dominic muttered. “It wouldn’t surprise me if he had some grand master plan. When I hired him for the wedding, he didn’t strike me as opportunistic. It was a simple business deal.”

Romero gave him a long, assessing look. “Maybe while he was at the wedding, he saw how close knit the Carusos and Guerreros would soon become. It would be tempting to get involved with two families that are well established in our markets. What better way to do that than through some kind of gateway?”

Dominic smirked bitterly. “Or he wants to take over both families and establish the Bratva here.”

Romero didn’t comment on that. He didn’t really need to. The room sat in silence a moment longer before Dominic lifted his glass and knocked it back in one swallow. The liquor burned as it went down, the cheap aftertaste making his nose wrinkle in disgust.

“Anyway,” he said, voice clipped now, all business, “As long as the twins can successfully locate where he’s keeping the girls, we’ll have a better chance at getting them back. The Carusos will have no choice but to bend to our demands, so that will give us better leverage when negotiating future deals with them.”

Romero’s eyebrows shot up. “True but does Francesco even want Aurora back? I thought she was always treated as an outcast.”

Dominic nodded. “She is but Gianna is not. She’s valuable enough to use as a pressure point against them regardless of Aurora’s status.”

Romero leaned forward. “It may take us a while to figure out a way to infiltrate Alek’s defenses.”

Dominic’s jaw tensed. “That’s fine. When I told him no, I told him he needed to come up with a better offer. While he does, we’ll keep researching.”

“I’m surprised he didn’t try to strong-arm you into something.”

“I’m not caving to a deal like that. It would make me look weak and he’d keep bleeding me dry anyway. If I give him fifty now, he’ll ask for seventy-five next year.” Dominic said darkly.

“Fair enough. If the worst comes to worst, we can use force to make him stand down. Or something that lets us hit first. Perhaps take out those closest to him to show him we aren’t here to bargain.”

Dominic’s eyes sharpened. “Exactly.”

“Sounds like old times.”

Dominic allowed a flicker of a smile. “Are you still in?”

Romero snorted. “Like I said, you’re not getting rid of me that easily. Especially not over some drama involving a woman.”

Dominic leaned back in his seat, exhaling slowly.

The weight in his chest was still there, but it didn’t feel so crushing anymore. Not with Romero here and not while their plan was starting to take shape.