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“No,” Dom admitted after a few moments.

“You know why?” he asked through lips pursed tight, as he blew smoke at him.

He shook his head slowly.

“Then let me educate you. He gave you a weapon that he can take away anytime he fucking wants to. Knowing how to fight, now that’s something he can’t take away from you, and Lucifer can’t control how you use it against him. You might want to spare a few minutes from target shooting to strengthen those puny muscles of yours.”

“You know how to fight.” Dominic found the courage to state after checking to make sure Lucifer wasn’t within hearing range.

Anthony laughed, flicking ashes off his cigarillo. “You asking for my help?”

“Would you?”

Anthony narrowed his gaze down at him, then lifted his gaze to stare off in the distance, as if debating his response.

The man might have talked back to Lucifer, but Dominic saw fear cross Anthony’s face before he returned his eyes to his. “Why not? As long as we keep it between us.”

“I can do that,” he agreed.

“That means you don’t tell anyone, not your brothers, and especially not DeeDee. The sorry bitch will break a leg running to tell Lucifer so fast.”

“I won’t tell anyone,” Dominic solemnly promised.

“Then why fucking not?” Anthony gave him a hard pat on his shoulder that nearly sent him back to the ground. “My apartment is across the street from your school. Number 234. I’m usually home on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons. You could stop by for about fifteen or twenty minutes before walking home.”

Dom didn’t know if it was the cold wind blowing or the cunning way that Anthony was looking at him that sent shivers down his back.

“You better get inside, kid. You look like you’re freezing your ass off.”

Looking down at his feet, Dominic killed a dead tuft of grass. “I can’t go back inside until Lucifer tells me to.”

Anthony gave him an eye roll as he took his coat off to place it around his shoulders. The heavy weight swallowed him in layers of warmth. “That will keep you warm. I’m going to make sure the other rugrats aren’t about to burn the house down. Go see how many times you can lift that log over there until I come back.”

Watching him leave, Dom stared at the thick muscles exposed under Anthony’s short-sleeved T-shirt before he went to pick up the log after shrugging his arms into the large holes of the coat. The coat was heavier than the log.

On the doorstop, Anthony stopped to laugh at him, seeing his predicament.

“The coat makes the man,” Anthony quoted. “Your muscles are strong enough to either wear the coat or hold the log,” he said derisively. “Choose which one is more important—freezing your nuts off or working up a sweat.” Going inside, Anthony didn’t wait to see which one he chose.

Dominic carefully took off the brown leather coat and placed it on a rusty old lawn chair before picking the log back up. He was still lifting the log up and down when Anthony came back outside when it started getting dark.

Anthony walked over to him to take the log away before putting the coat back on his shoulders. “How many?”

“Two hundred and three.”

“Better than I expected. Take a hot bath when Lucifer comes back. Your shoulders are going to hurt like a motherfucker in the morning.”

Moving the lawn chair, he placed it behind Dom. “Take a seat. You look like you’re about to drop.”

“I can’t—”

“Let me guess; you’ll get in trouble if you sit down.”

Dom was nodding his head when Lucifer came back, yelling, “Dom, get your ass inside. DeeDee needs help carrying the groceries from the car.”

Heading toward the door, he warily passed Lucifer. Just as he started to walk through the door, Lucifier flung him against the door jamb and jerked Anthony’s coat off his shoulders.

“If I wanted him to have a jacket, I would have given him one,” Lucifer snarled at Anthony.

Anthony shrugged, taking the coat away from Lucifer and putting it on. “My mistake.”

“Don’t interfere with the way I raise my son.”

“Like I said”—Anthony raised both hands up apologetically—“my mistake. You get rid of Urie?”

“Yes. Drive his car back to his business and make sure no one sees you getting out of it. I can’t have my enforcer getting locked up right now.”

Enforcer. The title of the man ricocheted like a bullet through his mind.

“Won’t matter if anyone does; they’ll keep their mouths shut,” Anthony muttered, ignoring Dom as he walked between him and Lucifer.

“Anthony …” Lucifer stopped him before he could leave. “Next time, don’t fucking bring anyone to my house for me to finish them off.”

“Will do. You’re the boss.”

“Remember that,” the Luciano boss warned threateningly.

“Won’t have to. You’ll never let me forget it.”

Dominic lowered his eyes when his father’s glare returned back to him.