Page 14 of Murder & Mayhem (Bloody Desires #9)

JAMESON

I felt hollow by the time I followed Dominic into his apartment building, the switchblade he casually slipped into my pocket a comforting weight.

The last twenty-four hours came crashing down on my shoulders and all the fight whooshed right out of me.

Dominic was right. I had been running strictly on adrenaline and stubbornness for a while now, and it all flooded out until I was totally drained.

I shouldn’t be relying on these strangers to find my brother.

I should be doing it on my own. I’d never gotten help growing up.

Anytime I’d tried, no one could do shit.

Everything had always fallen back onto my shoulders.

That was why I’d vowed when I’d finally gotten us out of there to never need help again.

I would do it all on my own and fuck everyone else.

But that was impossible. I was tired. I was done. I was over my brain and my thoughts that constantly warred with each other. I only wanted to sleep.

I let my thoughts drift, taking in my surroundings. Dominic’s building was nice. Never lived in a place this fancy. Shit, I wasn’t sure if I’d ever stepped foot inside a place like this. He had a doorman who greeted him by name and everything.

“Good evening, Robert,” Dominic replied politely, casually, like he hadn’t just murdered two people. “This is Jameson. He’s permitted to come and go as he pleases.”

Robert the doorman eyed me skeptically, probably wondering why someone like Dominic would be anywhere near someone like me. I didn’t blame him. I was wondering the same thing.

Still, he gave Dominic a respectful nod. “Very good, Mr. Vecchio. I’ll add him to the approved list.”

“Thank you.”

Dominic turned to me and, much more softly, said, “C’mon, Jamie. Let’s get you cleaned up.”

Which had Robert the doorman watching me again, like he was calculating how much damage my filth was doing to his building. I gave him a little salute and blindly followed Dominic.

We took an elevator and eventually made it to his floor, which was second to last. “There’s only one other apartment on this floor and one above us. My neighbor keeps to herself and minds her own business. You’ll have privacy here.”

Didn’t know why he was telling me that, but okay. He walked to the door on the right and unlocked it.

I was vaguely aware of how nice the place looked, but nothing was fully processing. I stood in the middle of a large open room with recessed lighting and. . . waited. Whatever Dominic wanted to do at this point, it would happen. I didn’t have it in me to fight anything anymore.

Dominic beelined to a closet at the back of the room to hang up his murder backpack and take off his shoes. He walked back to me, expression soft and gentle .

“Can I help you get your shoes off, sweetheart?”

I shrugged. That was fine. Dominic knelt at my feet—wasn’t that a strange feeling?—and carefully untied the laces on my beat-up Vans. “Lift your foot,” he whispered. “Hold onto my shoulder for balance.”

I . . . Okay. Whatever. I held his shoulder and lifted my foot. He took my shoe off and put it to the side and then repeated the process on the other. He didn’t say anything about the sole that was half off or the hole in my mismatched socks, and later I’d probably appreciate that.

Once he was done, Dominic stood up and led me to the leather couch a few feet away. “Take a seat. I’m going to get my first-aid kit.” I sat.

My vision went in and out of focus. Noise filtered in from the other room, but I didn’t have the strength even to turn my head in that direction. Eventually, there were footsteps and Dominic was back, a red first-aid kit in his hands.

He sat on the sofa next to me, careful to keep some space between us. I didn’t know if I was grateful for it or disappointed.

“Let me see your hand,” he said quietly, patiently. I held it out to him, palm up, and closed my eyes, not really caring what he did.

The pain grounded me, helped me when I was spiraling.

Most of the time, I didn’t realize what I was doing until the act was done.

Bailey would call me out on it when he noticed me falling into the pattern, and it helped, but Bailey wasn’t here, and cutting my palm or scratching my arm wasn’t nearly enough.

Dominic stayed silent as he cleaned me up. He didn’t bandage me since he said they’d only get wet when I showered, but he told me he would afterwards and to be careful. He then moved on to my face, wiping up the clumped hair and dried blood with a damp cloth.

I slumped against the sofa, ready to let sleep take me.

As much as I hated to admit it, taking the night and regrouping was the right choice.

I wouldn’t make it down the street in the condition I was in now, let alone all the way to the docks.

Still felt like a fucking failure though.

Bailey was the one hurting. I needed to do better.

“I’m going to order food,” Dominic said, the sofa dipping as he stood. “Any preference?”

I shook my head, my stomach rumbling to remind me it had been way too long since I’d eaten. There’d been a time not too long ago that it wouldn’t have fazed me, but months of solid meals had trained my body to need food again. Dangerous. I’d gotten complacent.

When I didn’t offer anything else, Dominic just sighed. I was pretty sure he walked away, but I didn’t open my eyes to check. I sank into the softness and finally let the darkness overtake me.

I must have fallen asleep because I woke up to the sound of voices and the scent of Italian food.

“Thanks, A,” Dominic said quietly, voice gruff. He sounded tired and a little defeated, which made my heart clench. “You know, Uber Eats does exist.”

“I’ve been staring at screens for hours now. I needed to get out. Besides, I ordered some for myself too.”

Dominic made a sound that was somewhere between a snort and a laugh. “Of course you did. Since you’re here, do you want to come in and satisfy your curiosity?”

“Yeah. I have an update for you anyway.”

The conversation was enough for me to open my eyes and turn in their direction. They were standing by the door, Dominic loaded down with way more takeout bags than seemed necessary for two of us.

Next to him, and facing me, was a man who was practically half Dominic’s size.

His light brown eyes were striking against his dark brown skin.

His braids fell in neat rows down to his chin.

The frames of his glasses were bright pink and matched the heavy-banded bracelets that covered his left arm.

He was wearing a white T-shirt, despite the colder weather, that showed off slim arms, black jeans, and heavy boots with a studded strap across the fronts.

He was hot as fuck. Different than Dominic, but I couldn’t deny the man’s attractiveness.

There was very little space between the two of them, and he leaned into Dominic with a familiarity that made my skin itch. Which, what the fuck was that about?

Dominic noticed I was awake and smiled at me, making the itchiness disappear.

“Oh good, you’re up. Just in time. Jamie, this is my brother, Ari. He dropped off our dinner and has some news for us.”

I took the other man in. Brother? They looked nothing alike.

Ari laughed at my reaction. “Not biological brothers. We were in foster care together but became like brothers.”

“We all have the same last name too,” Dominic added.

I stood and slowly walked to the men. My legs felt like Jell-O, but I somehow managed to make it without falling on my face. “Your other brother too?”

“Gideon?” Dominic asked, and I nodded. “Yeah, him too. Wait till you meet him. He’s a fucking ginger Viking. We always get a kick outta people’s reactions when we say we’re brothers.”

Yeah, I bet. Dominic put the food down on the kitchen island and started to dig through the bags. “I hope you’re hungry. We didn’t know what you liked, so we ordered a little of everything.”

My stomach rumbled in response, causing both brothers to chuckle. “I’m gonna take my food to go,” Ari told us. “I got to get back to work. I only wanted to let you two know of some recent developments.”

“What’d you find?” Dominic asked.

“Flame, the leader of this chapter of the Wraiths, the crew that O’Malley runs with, is asking questions. Apparently, O’Malley was supposed to show up with the kid hours ago, but he never did. They went to Byrne’s house and found it empty and spotless. Then they found the body in O’Malley’s place.”

My stomach dropped, but Dominic kept dealing with the food like that meant nothing, though he did curse quietly under his breath. “You think O’Malley went rogue?”

“It seems that way.”

He nodded, thinking. “And the body? What did the crew think?”

“Not sure. I don’t know if they think it’s a regular OD or that O’Malley’s responsible. You’re nowhere near their radar now, and obviously they didn’t call the cops, so we’re good.”

“And Jamie?”

Ari sighed. “They’re looking for him, but I’m not totally sure why.

I don’t know if they think he’s involved with everyone disappearing, they want information, or they’re looking for a replacement.

Regardless, it’s best you keep your head down until you get out of the city. ” He addressed that last part to me.

“What about what that guy said, about taking my brother to the docks?” I asked.

“I’m still working on verifying that. If that’s true, I don’t think Flame or anyone in the crew knows about it.

I can’t find any recent correspondence between Flame and anyone named Slash or about them taking anyone over there.

It seems like Flame was expecting O’Malley to drop Bailey at their clubhouse here in the city. ”

“Is that good or bad? That O’Malley probably took him?”

The brothers looked at each other, having a silent conversation. I fucking hated it. Finally, Ari turned to me. “I don’t know. It adds another element at least.”