The cool plastic of my iced latte does nothing to calm my nerves, or my palms, as we near King’s estate.
“Not a bad location,” Dominic comments as he drives our rented SUV alongside Darling Lake.
“It’s really pretty out here.” I look at bare tree branches as we drive past, wishing we’d had a chance to do that fall date.
“Valentine.” Dom puts his hand on the center console for me.
I wipe the condensation off my palm onto my jeans, then place my hand in his. “Sorry, I don’t know why I’m so nervous.”
He squeezes my fingers. “Don’t apologize. You can feel however you want.”
“Right, sorry.” I huff. “Not sorry.”
Dom chuckles. “You’ll get the hang of it.”
“Turn here.” I put my coffee in the cup holder, then wipe that palm on my pant leg.
Dominic follows my directions, and after just another minute, I can see the edge of King’s property. The tall fence and looming gate, complete with armed guards, get closer by the second.
“It’s that one there.” I point.
Dom starts to slow, and I can see at least three men on the other side of the gate step closer.
Guilt and panic slam into my chest.
“Dominic.” My hand is trembling in his. “There’s something else about my brother…”
But then we’re there. And one of the men, who stepped through a secure side entrance, is approaching Dom’s window, gun visible at his side.
Dom lowers his tinted window, setting his left hand palm up on the sill.
A strangled sound catches in my throat when the guard pulls his gun from its holster.
“Afternoon,” Dom greets the guard way too calmly. “We’re here to see King.”
When Dom says we, the guard steps to the side so he can see past my husband’s big frame into the passenger seat.
I recognize him at the same time he recognizes me.
“Hi.” I wave at him with my far hand.
The guard, whose name I can’t remember, steps closer to Dom’s window. I can tell there’s movement at the gate, but I keep my eyes on the guard.
“Val, are you okay?” The guard narrows his eyes, and I follow his line of sight to where Dom is still holding my hand.
“Yep.” I try to keep the stress out of my voice. “Is King home? I texted him earlier and let him know I was going to stop by.” As I say it, I don’t remember if I’ve ever used King’s name in front of Dom before. But he just asked for King by name, so I must have.
The guard takes a step forward, and the hand Dom has on the windowsill balls into a fist. “That’s close enough.”
“Fuck you,” the guard snaps at Dom, and my mouth drops open.
“You’re not my type,” Dom replies. “Now let us in.”
The guard spins away, gesturing to the men inside the property to open the gate.
“I can’t believe how rude he was,” I whisper, because Dom’s window is still open.
Dom shrugs. “He’s just doing his job.”
All the security men have their hands on the butts of their guns as we pass through the gate.
I’ve never seen them so on edge.
I take a slow breath as we make our way up the driveway. “Dominic, my brother…”
Why is this so hard?
My brother is one of the leaders of a criminal organization called The Alliance, and they do a lot of bad things. But he’s a good guy. Most of the time. Except marrying me means you’ll never get to be rid of me. And now you’re going to be a part of this life, too.
“Shorty.” Dom lifts our joined hands and brushes a kiss across my knuckles. “I can handle your brother.”
I stare at his profile as he parks in front of the massive house.
His perfectly cut jaw outlined with dark facial hair. His tattoos highlighted by the bright white button-down shirt he’s wearing, the sleeves rolled up from when he carried the majority of my worldly goods out of my apartment and stuffed them into the back of this vehicle—proving his muscles aren’t just for display.
And from looking at him, I think he might be right. One-on-one, I bet he could hold his own against King. But it’s everything else about King that worries me. Because you’d need an army to go against The Alliance. And I doubt a businessman from Chicago has one on hand.
Dom turns my hand over and presses a kiss against my wrist. “Come on, Angel. Let’s go say hi to your brother. Then I’ll show you your new home.”
My heartbeat doubles, and I don’t know if it’s from nerves or excitement. So I just nod my head.
Dominic turns off the engine, and I’m still working to undo my seat belt when he walks around the SUV and opens my door.
He keeps a hand on me as I climb down. And keeps his hand on the back of my neck as we walk up the sidewalk.
I don’t know why I can’t just calm down. It’s not like King had someone else in mind for me to marry. We aren’t an arranged marriage type of family, so this isn’t going to be a big deal. He might be disappointed in my decisions, but they’re my decisions.
I reach out with the hand closest to Dominic and hook my fingers into his pants pocket, needing the extra contact.
“It’s going to be fine,” Dom whispers before pressing a kiss to the top of my head.
Then, before I can delay any more, Dom pounds his fist against the front door of King’s house.
