The feel of my bare knuckles hitting King’s cheek is so fucking satisfying I don’t even care that it hurts my already bruised hand.
I think Val shouts my name, but I’m too preoccupied with channeling my fury at her brother.
King swings for my head, and I deflect it so it only grazes off my ear, but I miss the punch aimed at my ribcage.
It connects, but I turn with the hit, and I use my shoulder to ram into King’s chest.
We go down, flipping an armchair in the process, but King manages to twist so we land on our sides rather than landing with me on top of him.
“What the fuck is your problem?” he snaps as he catches my chin with his elbow just as I land a jab in his side.
He rolls away, and I get to my feet at the same time.
“You’re my problem,” I growl. “You call yourself a fucking brother?”
“Dominic!” Valentine tries to come between me and King, but I catch her around the waist and push her back behind me.
King lowers his brows as he tries to see Val behind me.
I use my free hand to point at him, and he slaps it away, stepping up into my face.
“Ask me where Valentine was when her mom died,” I grit out.
My words stop King in his tracks.
“Dom,” Val says quietly, and I feel her lean her forehead against the center of my back.
“He deserves to know,” I tell her with my eyes still on King. “Now fucking ask me.”
As we face off, I start to register the other people in the room. The woman near King’s side. Another woman, across the room. And a couple off to my right.
But I don’t care about them. Not yet.
“Where was Val when her mom died?” the woman, Savannah, asks from King’s side.
I turn my gaze to King’s wife and tell her, “Val was at her apartment in Florida.”
The blond woman’s eyes widen, and I bring mine back up to meet King’s. “Now ask me how her mom died.”
I can see his jaw working. “Val.” He looks at me but asks her, “How did your mom die?”
My fingers squeeze into a fist. For a man with his resources, finding this out would take him mere moments. But he doesn’t know because he didn’t care.
And from the emotion brewing behind his eyes, I think he’s starting to understand that.
Val’s forehead lifts from my back so we can all hear her when she answers. “Suicide.”
Savannah’s indrawn breath is audible. “While you were there?”
I continue to stare at King. “Ask me what she left for Val to find next to her corpse.” I don’t give him time to ask. “A pile of bills. Because Val stood up to her and wouldn’t let her have your dad’s filthy money.” I take a step closer to him. “Now ask me what fucking day it was.”
King drops his gaze from mine as he shakes his head. “Christmas Day.”
So he remembers that much.
“No.” Savannah practically cries the word.
“Now tell me why my Valentine had to sit through that funeral all alone.” Standing here, in front of my wife’s family, I feel the full weight of what she went through. To have these people so close but so uninvolved had to be the worst kind of loneliness. “No fucking answer, huh?”
A small hand gently grabs my wrist.
I unclench my fist, and Val slides her hand down, her fingers entwining with mine. “It’s okay, Dominic.”
And here she is, trying to comfort me over what happened to her.
“I’m sorry.” King stares at our hands gripped together and shakes his head again. “It’s not okay, Val. I’m so sorry.”
It’s not a gloating sort of satisfaction that fills me hearing the mighty King apologize to my wife; it’s a different feeling. A warmer one. The satisfaction of giving someone something they need. Because even if Val fooled herself into thinking she was over it, she wasn’t. She needed to hear him say it.
“King…” Val starts, like she’s going to tell him it’s okay again.
King lifts his head to look at her. “Your husband is an asshole, but he’s right. I wasn’t the brother you deserved back then. There’s no excuse.”
Savannah sniffs, wiping at her cheeks.
I let my glare lift over King’s shoulder, catching Aspen’s eye. She looks sufficiently pale, clearly understanding she was just as shitty of a sibling.
I watch her straighten her shoulders. “I’m sorry, too.”
Val lifts the hand not holding mine and wipes away a tear. “Thanks, Aspen.”
King’s eyes zero in on Val’s tattooed finger before they snap up to mine.
In answer, I undo the top button of my shirt and let the material part so he can read Valentine’s name across my neck.
The woman to my right, still standing off to the side with Nero, makes a humming sound of approval.
Savannah reaches for Val. “Can I hug you now?”
I reluctantly let go of my wife’s hand when she moves to meet Savannah.
“So, who is this guy?” the female voice I’ve never heard before asks.
Before Nero can answer, I turn to Payton, who I’ve only seen in pictures, and hold out my hand.
“I’m Dominic.” She places her palm in mine, even as I hear her psychotic husband growl. “But feel free to call me Daddy.”
The man at her side darts forward and shoves me back, breaking my hold on his wife’s hand.
I automatically step back, but he’s quick and already sweeping my feet out from under me.
I start to fall. But I’m quick, too, and I snag his collar, dragging him down with me.
Only I’m not quick enough to dodge the punch he aims at my jaw.
His wife, who started laughing after I said daddy, jumps forward and starts tugging on Nero’s shoulder, trying to stop him from beating on me.
And since I’m not going to accidentally hit a woman, especially not Nero’s woman, I force myself to stop fighting back.
Nero stares down at me with his devilish black eyes, but he also relaxes. “If you ever hurt my wife, I’ll skin you.”
I lift a brow. “Is that all? If you ever hurt my wife, I’ll dangle you over a hungry bear. Let him rip off pieces to eat until no number of tourniquets or amount of adrenaline would wake you back up.”
Nero makes an impressed face. “Decent idea.”
Payton reaches out a hand and tugs on Nero’s dark hair. “Can you two talk torture techniques standing up, please?”
Nero presses his fists into my chest, putting his full weight onto me while he pushes himself up.
I flex against his heaviness so he doesn’t crush me, but to get him back, I kick the heel of his foot as he steps over my legs, making him trip.
Nero spins around, ready to fucking pummel me again, but King puts his arm out between us. “You’re even now,” he says to Nero, then lowers his hand to help me up.
I lift my head to see Val hugging Aspen, both of them wiping their eyes, then take King’s offered hand.
Back on my feet, I follow King when he tips his head toward the kitchen.
Nero steps up close behind me. “I kinda like you, Dom.”
I smirk at him over my shoulder. “Feeling’s kinda mutual.”
He slaps a hand, hard, in the center of my back. “It’d be a shame to have to kill you.”
He moves to step around me, so I get him with a backhand to the gut. “Feeling’s still mutual.”
King rolls his eyes at us before pulling open the fridge, and I feel my mouth pull into a grin.
I said my piece, and while I’m not happy about seeing Valentine cry, I think this will give her some closure for that chapter of her life. And she needs that so she can start looking forward to our future.
King turns back around with three beer bottles in hand. It’s not one I know, but I’m not picky. Before I remove the cap, I press the cool glass to my jawline, where Nero’s hit connected.
Nero eyes me. “You deserved that.”
I remember the rabid look on his face before he shoved me and smirk. “Worth it.”
He huffs and snags the beer King holds out for him.
King stares at me as he lifts his own bottle to his cheek, where I first hit him. “It was a cheap shot,” he tells me, like there’s any excuse for letting yourself get caught off guard.
“Maybe. But Val said some shit on the way over here that reminded me I owed you a punch to the fucking face.” I flex my fingers, releasing the stiffness. “And if you make me think about it too much, I’ll want to do it again.”
King watches me for a long moment, then drops his eyes to the ink on my neck. “She really tell you all that? Or did you dig it up?”
I lower the bottle from my jaw. “She told me. We talk. A lot.”
He nods once. “I’m glad she did. I’m surprised. But I’m glad.” King leans back against the counter. “I know I owe her more than one shitty apology, but I’ll take care of it.”
I eye him, then lower my beer and twist off the top. “Good.”
As much as I’m still pissed, I believe him. And it’ll be up to Valentine to decide whether she forgives him.
Nero moves to lean against the counter next to King. “So how about you finally clue us in on what’s going on? Why do you suddenly need the help of The Alliance?”
This is the whole reason this all started, so I tell them.
I explain how each man has been hit. How someone is targeting my family without leaving behind any calling cards. How the cowards are coming onto my turf, and how I’m going to make them pay.
“I can handle Chicago,” I tell them. “But when we find the man behind this, I’m going to need backup. Because it’s not a local. I’m not sure if the person behind this is even in this fucking country. But we’re close. And when I get a name, I’m going to wipe them from the face of the earth.”
Nero takes a pull of beer. “Sounds fun.”
“I’ll admit, I’m looking forward to it.”
“How close are you to finding them?” King asks me.
In answer, my phone dings with an incoming text.
I slide my phone out of my pocket and look at the text from the unknown number.
“Just got closer.”
Living Room Guy told me his handler’s name. I knew there’d be no contact for him in the phone, but this text is him.
Unknown: Check in
I open the message and click to add an attachment.
Me: *sends photo of the dead man with his chest caved in*
Me: You had my attention, Casey.
Me: And now I have yours.
I open a different chat and make sure my men back home saw that he messaged.
Rather than worrying about the hitters’ phones being traced, I just had them cloned to this untraceable one. There’s no guarantee we’ll find Casey through this text, but we’re already halfway to nailing down his location.
I move back to the chat with Casey, but he hasn’t replied. And I doubt he will.
Hopefully he’s too busy shitting himself.
“What’s that?” Nero asks, suddenly at my side, pointing to the photo I sent.
“A dead guy.”
“No shit, dumbass. Let me see.” He holds out his hand, and I set the phone in it.
Nero sets his beer on the kitchen island so he can use both hands to zoom in on the photo.
Then he holds the phone closer to his face.
“Need a minute to borrow King’s bifocals?” I snort.
“Fuck off.” Nero’s face is still close to the phone screen. “You’re a year older than I am.”
“Sure.” I take a long drink of my beer. “But clearly my vision is better.”
“I don’t wear bifocals,” King mutters, but it’s lacking heat because they’re now both bent over my phone, looking at the corpse of Shower Guy.
King straightens to look at me. “What did you hit him with?”
“Yeah.” Nero moves the photo from side to side, still zoomed in, like he’s looking for clues on the floor. “There’s no blood under him, just in that hole.” He points to the spot just left of the man’s sternum. “So it’s not like you used a bazooka on him. That would’ve gone through.”
“Sometimes you just gotta stick with the classics,” I tell them, then slide the brass knuckles out of my pocket.
King’s brows raise. “Seriously? Who even has brass knuckles anymore?”
Nero reaches out and takes them from me, sliding them onto his own hand, then looking back down at the photo. “So you put these on, then wallop the dude in the sternum until what, the ribs crack off and into his heart?”
“Someone knows his biology.”
Nero clenches his fist around the knuckles. “I know how to kill people.”
“What a surprise,” I deadpan.
Nero grunts. “Can I keep these?”
“Fuck no.” I open and close my hand in a gimme gesture. “Your slender little fingers don’t even fill it out properly.”
King snorts.
“Slender?” Nero rears back, offended. “Just because I don’t have big-ass sausage fingers doesn’t mean mine are slender. You fat fuck.”
King laughs this time.
I just shake my head. “Jealousy is an ugly color on you, Nero.”
I’m far from fat, and Nero is far from little, but I’m the thickest guy here.
Nero grumbles something under his breath as he pulls the brass knuckles off his fingers and slaps them into my hand.
I’ve worked with these guys a few times before, but it’s never had the comradery feeling like this. They may still be mad about me finagling my way into The Alliance, but they seem to be treating me as though I’m one of them.
Sliding the metal into my pocket, I type out a quick text to Rob, then drop my phone in the other pocket and lean against the large island.
“Hey, Angel,” I call across the room to Valentine, but all four women turn their heads my way. “You want a drink?” If no one else is gonna offer my lady a beverage, I’ll do it.
Her mouth opens, then closes, like she’s not sure.
“Come on.” Savannah herds the little group toward the kitchen.
My eyes stay on Val as she approaches me. And my chest swells when she comes right to my side, standing next to me.
I run my palm over her hair, loving that she left it down. “What’d you like?” I hold up my beer. “Not sure what they have, but this is pretty good.”
“Umm…” Val leans into me while Savannah opens the fridge.
Savannah starts naming options. “There’s beer, chardonnay, Bailey’s. I know there’s some red open somewhere.” She leans back to look past King to see what’s on the counter. “I think there’s some bourbon.”
“Any chance you have ginger ale?” Val asks quietly. “That plane ride was kinda bumpy, and I’m not sure my stomach has recovered yet.”
The side of my mouth pulls down. It’s always a little rough landing by the mountains, but I didn’t think it was that bad.
“You should’ve told me,” I say quietly.
Val lifts a shoulder. “It’s not that bad. But alcohol just doesn’t sound good quite yet.”
“Found some in the pantry,” Payton chimes in from across the kitchen, green can in hand. “If you don’t mind drinking it on ice.”
“That’d be great, thanks,” Val replies.
I rub my hand up and down her spine. “You need something else, too? Pills or something?” I offer, though I’m not sure what you take for a stomachache.
My wife looks up at me, biting her lip and shaking her head.
“Just let me know,” I tell her before I press a kiss to the top of her head.
Savannah is standing across from us, grinning.
“What?” Val asks.
“Nothing. Just enjoying how cute you two are together.”
“Oh my god, shut up.” Val shakes her head.
“Will not.” Savannah takes the glass of wine Payton hands her. “And if you don’t want to talk about him calling you Angel, then let’s talk about those tattoos.”
Val crosses her arms, and my urge to smile withers a little. I’m not sure I want to talk about that either.
I chance a look at King and find his narrowed eyes on me.
Pretty sure telling them I drugged Valentine and tattooed her against her will is not going to end well for me.
The sound of a vehicle pulling up to the house breaks our stare off.
“Who—” King starts, but I cut him off.
“It’s for me.” I step away from the island and stride toward the door.
Of course, King and Nero follow.
I open the front door, and we wait as Rob climbs out of the SUV.
“Who’s that?” Nero asks as he tries to slip his hand into my pocket to grab my brass knuckles.
I knock his hand away. “Rob, my second. Now quit trying to grab my nuts.”
King gives us a look.
When neither of them steps back, I’m forced to be the one to move if I want to let Rob into the house. But then Nero and King slide so they’re shoulder to shoulder, blocking Rob anyway.
I sigh. “Would you just let him in?”
“You’re not staying,” King tells Rob.
Rob gives him a bored look. “Not planning on it.”
“What’s in your pockets?” Nero asks him.
“Get your own fucking brass knuckles, man.” I shake my head. “They aren’t that hard to find.”
Nero, god of the underworld, frowns in disappointment before he finally moves.
Rob lifts a brow at me in a what the fuck sort of way. And I shake my head in a these two are fucking weird way.
It’s not really necessary for Rob to come inside, but it’s cold out. And I want to prove a point.
If I’m in The Alliance, so are my men.
“Got ’em?” I ask, holding out my hand.
Rob nods and takes a velvet bag out of his coat pocket.
Ever curious, the women head our way with their drinks in hand.
“Who are you?” Aspen is the first to speak, and her tone is definitely interested.
King points a finger at his sister. “No.”
She ignores him, stepping past King to hold her hand out. “I’m Aspen.”
Rob gives her one of his bright smiles as he takes her hand. “I know. I’m Rob.”
“And I killed her last husband,” King adds. “At her request.”
Aspen lifts a shoulder, hand still in Rob’s. “It’s true.”
“Hot.” Rob’s smile doesn’t fade as he lifts Aspen’s hand to his mouth and kisses the back of it.
King steps forward. “No. Get the fuck out. This is family only.” He grabs Aspen’s arm and pulls it out of Rob’s grip.
I click my tongue. “Sorry, Robbie. You heard him—family only.”
Rob snorts. “Have a nice group hug later.” Then he turns his gaze to King’s sister. “Sweet dreams, Aspen.”
King crowds Rob back out through the door, slamming it behind him.
“You’re so ridiculous.” Aspen shakes her head.
“You two making eyes at each other is ridiculous.”
“Okay, grandpa.” She takes a sip of her wine.
“What’s in the bag?” Val asks, having made her way back to my side.
“Gifts.” I gesture with my open hand. “Ladies, if you will.” They all look at me a little funny, then finally, Savannah, Aspen, and Payton stand next to each other in front of me. “You, too,” I tell Val, and she joins the row.
I can already see Nero grinding his teeth, and I can’t wait to give his wife something worth more than a car.
“Hands out, please,” I request.
“There aren’t worms in there or something like that, right?” Payton asks.
“Worms?” Savannah makes a face. “Ew.”
“Not sure what your Christmases are usually like but…” I shake the bag, and the sound is faint, but clearly the items inside are hard. “Not worms.”
Valentine holds her hand out first, and the others follow.
“That’s my girl.” I wink at her, enjoying the way her cheeks turn pink.
I decide there’s no point in asking them to close their eyes, so I reach in and pull out the first of four identical items.
I lay the first diamond tennis bracelet in Savannah’s hand. Then in Aspen’s. Then in Payton’s. And last, I hold out the final bracelet for Valentine, gripping the open ends, and clasp it around her wrist.
“Dominic,” Val breathes, staring down at the glittering stones.
“Are those really real?” Nero is leaning over Payton’s shoulder, looking at the bracelet as his wife holds it up to catch the light.
My face scrunches. “Dude.”
“Just asking,” he says, like I’m the one in the wrong.
“What is this for?” Savannah asks as she touches the diamonds.
“It’s tradition,” I tell her as I pull Val back into my side. “All the women in my family have them. And now, through Val, you’re all part of my family.” I gesture to the four women.
My wife. Nero’s wife. King’s wife. King’s sister.
The women of The Alliance.
“Not sure how to feel about you buying my wife jewelry,” King mumbles, but Savannah thanks me before making him help her put it on.
Val steps over to help Aspen, and Nero looks ready to slit my throat while he fastens the bracelet on his wife’s wrist.
When Valentine turns back to me, and I see she’s blinking, I hold my arms out.
She walks into my body, wrapping her arms around me in a hug.
“Thanks, Big Guy. That was really nice.”
Hearing her use that name, I squeeze her tighter against me.
“You’re welcome, Shorty.” I rest my cheek against the top of her head.
Her hands grab hold of the back of my shirt. “I’m sorry about the ring.”
Her voice is quiet, so I match it. “What ring?” I know she’s still wearing the one my mom gave her. And even though I love seeing it on her, I kind of hate how it covers up one of the Dominics circling her finger.
She leans back so she can look up at me. “The one I, well, threw out the window.”
I smirk. “Oh, that one.”
Val grimaces and nods. “I’m not sure I’d do it differently, but it was really pretty. And I do feel a little bad.”
“There’s a reason I didn’t ask my mom for the family ring,” I tell her honestly.
She lifts a brow, and I’m glad to see she’s not on the verge of crying anymore. “You knew I’d throw it out of a moving vehicle?”
“Maybe not that exactly. But I did figure the chances were high you’d do something to it. After… Ya know.”
Thankfully the light expression stays on her face. “You did deserve it.”
I smirk at her. “A little bit.”
She slides her hands down and around until she grabs my hips, holding herself steady as she looks up at me. “Since you’re so clever, tell me that wasn’t a real diamond in that ring.”
“What’s with everyone asking about them being real?” I look past Val and find everyone staring at us, clearly listening to every word we’ve said. “The diamonds are real, alright.” I tell the room. “They’re mine. And they’re fucking good.”
Val reaches up and slaps her hand against my chest. “That was huge!” When I grin, she smacks me again. Lightly. “The diamond, idiot.”
“Yeah, well, toss it or not, I’m not going to give my wife a fake diamond when I’m a fucking diamond importer.”
King hums and nods. “Good investment.”
The money guy approves, so that’s good, I guess.
Nero still has his chin on his wife’s shoulder, reaching around to hold her arm up while he continues to inspect the bracelet. “You ever added diamonds to a pair of knuckles?”
“Jesus Christ, man.” I shake my head. “Do you want me to order you a fucking set?”
Nero looks up. “Yeah.”
I almost laugh. “You want it fucking sparkly?”
“Bet they break skin nicely.”
I take a moment to consider it and have to agree.
