Page 27 of Dominance

“I’m not gonna lie. That was part of it. After I met her on the train, it was mostly shock that had me speechless when he introduced her as his daughter and told me I was supposed to marry her. He took that as consent and…the rest just sort of happened.”

“That washer?!”

“Fuck, I forgot that I never told you past meeting her in Paris. See? This is why I need you around.”

“To gossip? Sure. I do miss getting hammered and shit-talking with you.”

“Same,” Ero quips, smirking.

“You’d have to say anything to talk shit, Ero!” I spout, feeling a bit of stress relief being around the guys who have known me the longest and like no one ever could.

“Still. Seems like you’re just rolling over for Dom.”

“Well, theotherthing is that Dom doesn’t take lightly to refused invitations and doesn’t like resistance to his orders. So, I have to play it carefully. Save my asks and refusals for when it might really matter.”

“I don’t envy you that position, Adri.”

“It’s just what we need to do. He would have never let us live if we hadn’t played ball. There’d be a manhunt like you wouldn’t believe. We’d never be safe. This way, he has eyes on us. Gets his vindication by subduing his greatest rival’s little brothers.”

“What a prick.”

“And that’s news? You’ve known the guy as long as I have.”

“Yeah, but he wasn’t the prick in charge back then,” Ciro spits.

“Tell me about Thailand.”

“Nothing to tell, other than two sumptuous, delectable ladies?—”

“You sure about that?” Ero mumbles and I almost choke.

“That wasonetime in the village!” Ciro bursts out, trying to kick his twin. “Anyway, I made contact with the Baan don guy. Nothing much to tell. They’re locked in a turf war with the Triad. Outsiders are not welcome. Not sure why he even bothered sending me there.”

“I know why, but it doesn’t matter now,” I muse, shaking my head. Diversions. And to attract the attention of the Triad, a much bigger ally to form ties with. Dom’s a fucking fool to try and deal with the Chinese mafia. They’ll eat him alive.

“So, what’s the other thing you wanted to tell us?”

“It’s…not good news.” I wave for them to follow, climbing into the othercar I keep stashed in the warehouse and motioning them to join me. A few blocks away, I continue the conversation, making sure we aren’t being followed.

“You want to tell me what the fuck happened in Prague?”

“Oh. Shit. You heard about that?”

“Oh yeah.”

“We figured we’d meet back up. Save on hotel fare.”

“Bullshit. Ero?” I prod.

“It wasn’t that bad.”

“You broke the bar at Pulse 22.”

“No, Alto Osmani shattered the bar at Pulse,” Ciro corrects, his tone completely serious.

“After you threw him off the balcony.”

“After he insulted our mother!”

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