Page 69 of Dominance

“No. No. Youcan’tleave. Not like your whore mother did.”

“Domenico. Go back to bed,” I rumble, my shoulders tightening as I put myself between Gloria and the clear, menacing threat of his outburst.

“Go fuck yourself, Adriano!” I miss the tell, the tilt of his hips, the dropping of his left shoulder.

“Adri!” Gloria’s scream is the only warning I get before the metal flashes for my head.

My sudden lurch backward saves me from the worst of the blow, but the butt of the pistol catches the side of my head, flashing pain, and I go down hard on my side. Spots flash, agony blossoming through my skull.

“You fucking, sulking dog. Content to grovel at my feet. Without so much as a snarl, a flash of the teeth you once had. Come crawling back and let me mate you to my offspring.” He’s rambling, incoherent.

“He’s your consigliere, Dad. Your right-hand man. Leave him alone.”

“So was Alessandro! And I was supposed to just tuck my tail and obey?!” he screams, raving mad. “He took my place, my legacy!”

“Dom…none of us saw Giancarlo’s decision coming. That he would pick Aless over you?—”

“Lies! You Diamantes are all the same. Greedy. Selfish.Blind. I was the right choice then, back then before…” A sound halfway between a sob and shriek tears from his throat.

How long has he been keeping this madness at bay?

“Before they used me. Everyone used me.”

“Dad. You haveeverythingnow. Please, just?—”

“No! Ilosteverything. Including the woman who said she loved me. And the child she stole from me. I won’t let it happen, not again.”

Gloria gasps, stepping back as Dom straightens, composing himself.

I try to rise but the gun in Dom’s hand twitches toward me, warning me to stay down.

“You should have been mine, Gloria. My legacy. My second chance. She had no right to keep you from me.”

“I’m here now.”

“Precisely. My blood. And you can give me what I need to make things right.”

“What are you saying?”

“I’m saying that what this family needs is an heir. An heir of true Diamante and Vipera blood. A male heir unlike the gaggle of bitches Uncle Giancarlo and Aunt Eva had. Someone who I will show the way to rule. Under my guidance.”

“You’re off your fucking rocker, Dom,” I scoff, glaring up at him, the reality of what he’s saying hitting me almost as hard as his pistol whip.

“I am finally seeing clearly. And you two will give me a grandchild to call my own or die trying. Starting tonight.”

13

GLORIA

“Dad…” The sickening feeling forming in the pit of my stomach deepens.

“Do it. Now.”

He’s calmer. Cold.

I take one step, then another, raising my hands. “This is…”

“Necessary.”

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