Page 22 of Murder & Mayhem (Bloody Desires #9)

Dominic had left me a pair of boxer briefs, but they were going to be too big so I ignored them and put on my jeans.

I’d never worn them like this before, but they would have to do.

At some point, I’d need to find a way to get to my apartment to see what I could salvage.

I couldn’t afford a whole new wardrobe. Even if it wasn’t safe to live there anymore, I wanted to get what I could.

I grabbed the hoodie. It didn’t smell as clean as the shirt.

It didn’t stink or anything, but I was pretty sure it had been worn at least once without being washed.

I glanced at the bedroom door, but I could hear Dominic doing something in the other room.

Was this really what he’d meant to leave for me?

My belly tightened pleasantly. There was something so possessive about the action.

It felt like more than just borrowing clothes so I didn’t have to wear my dirty ones.

I’d seen the man’s closet. He had plenty, but he'd chosen this for me, something that was so obviously his, and I couldn’t ignore how good it made me feel. I felt owned, but in all the best ways.

I put the hoodie on, and the socks he left me as well.

I was about to walk out and see what was next, but I saw something out of the corner of my eye.

The switchblade I was quickly considering mine was lying on the bed.

He must have left it there for me on purpose, right?

I barely hesitated before I snatched it and then ran out of the room, the blade held firmly in my hand.

I found Dominic in the kitchen. He had buttoned his shirt and was fiddling with the coffee maker when I walked in. I didn’t say anything and sat down on one of the barstools. I silently held up the knife to show him I still had it, raising an eyebrow in question.

“Keep it.” He cleared his throat. “Is there any way I can convince you to stay with Ari while Gid and I check this property out?”

My jaw dropped and I stared at him incredulously. “Abso-fucking-lutely not. I’m not staying behind while two strangers look for my brother!”

Dominic winced, but I didn’t take it back. I’d only known him for a day. He was a fucking stranger, and I didn’t know Gideon at all.

“Jamie, this place, there’s no way to sneak into it. It’s going to have security cameras, and there’s a really good chance that the Wraiths will see and recognize you. Chances are, Bailey isn’t even there, and you could be putting yourself in danger for no reason.”

“There is a reason! If you were positive Bailey wasn’t there, you wouldn’t be checking it.

Besides, even if he isn’t, they may know something.

I’m sorry, I know you might think I’m being stupid or reckless or whatever, and I probably am, but I don’t give a fuck.

I am going!” I was pretty much screaming, but Dominic was cool, collected, and not taking the bait.

“It could be dangerous.”

“So fucking protect me! You keep saying that you will. If not, give me the fucking address and I’ll go myself.

” I was acting like a brat, but I didn’t have it in me to care.

My trust in Dominic might be growing, but not enough that I’d let him go on his own while I sat at home, twiddling my thumbs and waiting like a fucking princess stuck in a tower. I didn’t fucking think so.

Dominic sighed heavily and ran a hand through his hair.

“Fine. But you need to stick by Gideon and me and listen to us. If we tell you to do something, you do it, understand?” I swallowed but nodded in agreement, some of my anger lessening.

I might be acting foolish, but I didn’t have a death wish.

I recognized when I was out of my depth.

“Okay. Good. You need to be armed, and I take it from yesterday’s escapades that you don’t know how to shoot a gun? ”

I glared at the sweet jerk. “Sorry, not all of us are in fucking Mission Impossible. ”

Dominic grinned, looking sexy and cocky as fuck. “No need to apologize, beautiful. There’s no shame in not being familiar with weapons. Though, I will be teaching you if we get a chance. For now, hold onto that knife.” He poured coffee into a travel mug.

“Coffee?” I shook my head and wrinkled my nose. Gross. Dominic laughed.

“Okay, but you need to eat something, at least. He opened the microwave, and I realized he had been heating something up in there. “Breakfast burritos. I premake them on the weekend and then freeze them so I have them for the week. We’ll take them with us. We can eat in the car on the way there.”

The burritos smelled good, but I honestly didn’t think I could eat. I had a feeling Dominic wouldn’t like that answer so I just replied with, “Thanks.”

A few minutes later, we were leaving Dominic’s apartment and in the elevator to head down to the lobby.

The car was large, but I was standing so close to Dominic that his arm brushed up against mine.

He looked down and smiled, his pinky grazing along the back of my hand.

I leaned into his side a little, enjoying one last moment of Dominic’s security and warmth before I faced whatever was coming next.

The door chimed and opened, exposing us to the lobby. Was I imagining it, or did Dominic automatically stand slightly in front of me, blocking me from immediate view of whoever might be there? I chewed on my lip, trying to hide my smile.

Dominic exited first, and I followed quickly on his heels. There was a new person sitting at the front desk. “Good morning, Mr. Vecchio. You’re getting an early start today.”

Dominic smiled at the man. “Good morning, Larry. My brother is working on a project and needs some assistance.” He rolled his eyes good-naturedly. “You know how Gid is. Always taking on DIY projects that are more than he can chew on his own.”

Larry laughed. “Don’t I know it. Remind me not to introduce him to my wife.”

Dominic chuckled and rapped his fingers against the desk. “I’ll make a note of it. Alright, we best get going before he makes a mess of it. Have a good day, Larry. ”

“You too, sir.”

Dominic placed a hand on my lower back and began to guide me out of the building. “Let’s go, sweetheart.”

I allowed him to lead me onto the street.

“We should be safe on this side of the city. I have no reason to believe anyone knows you’re with me, but put your hood up just in case and try to keep your face down and out of direct CCTV focus or even tourists taking pictures for Snapchat.

You never know how someone could see your face with the way social media is. ”

I swallowed, throat dry, and desperately fought against the urge to panic and search for every possible camera in the area. I threw my hood up and focused on the ground in front of me. Dominic squeezed my hand reassuringly.

We walked at a regular pace, careful not to bring any attention to ourselves, until we were at the garage, where Dominic parked his SUV. He stopped me before I got in.

“Hang on. We should be good, but you can never be too careful.”

I didn’t get to ask him what he meant before he fiddled with his phone a bit and then was on his knees and ducking to check the undercarriage.

I was a little confused and a whole lot intrigued as I tried to casually watch him out of the corner of my eye.

And yeah, maybe from this angle, I had the perfect view of his ass, which looked thick and round and all kinds of sexy in those pants.

My thoughts began to drift away from whatever he was doing and completely focused on that.

I didn’t get it together quickly enough for Dominic not to notice. He grinned wolfishly. “Like what you see, boy?”

I scoffed, cheeks probably tomato red. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

Dominic licked his lips. “Mm-hmm. For the record, you can look at my ass whenever you want. It’s a pretty nice one. ”

Pretty nice was an understatement. His ass was a work of art, but there was no way in hell I was telling him that. “Whatever. Being conceited is unbecoming.”

Dominic stepped close, crowding me in. My heart began racing, but it wasn’t the usual fear I felt. I looked up at him, swallowing rapidly. Dominic was a pure predator as he stared me down. “It’s not conceited if I can back it up.”

I didn’t know the validity of that statement, but it wasn’t like he was wrong. I wished I had something witty or flirty to say back, but Dominic being this close had officially shut me down. He overpowered everything and stole every single one of my brain cells with one glance.

We were staring at each other, waiting for one of us to fold, and knowing damn well it was going to be me. I cleared my throat and looked past him at the car. “What was that all about?” Yes, I was changing the subject. Don’t judge me.

Dominic’s lip ticked but he otherwise let it go. “I wanted to make sure there were no bugs or tracking devices. Like I said, there’s no reason for us to be connected, and Ari hasn’t found anything, but it never hurts to be careful.”

I stared at the vehicle like I expected to see something, but it looked perfectly normal to me. “I didn’t find anything,” he clarified as I continued to squint at the thing.

Embarrassed, I grumped under my breath and headed to the passenger door.

I hadn’t even reached for it yet when Dominic was there, opening it for me.

I gave him a weird look but still climbed in.

He walked around the other side with a goofy smile on his face.

Once we were buckled, he drove out of the parking garage without turning on the GPS.

I tried to watch Dominic discreetly from the corner of my eye. He was focused on the road mostly, tapping his fingers on the steering wheel and humming along to the music . . . which was fucking questionable .

“What is this crap?” I gestured toward the radio. He had put on some playlist that was so slow and depressing, I wanted to rip my hair out.

He glanced at me. “What are you talking about? My music?”

“Yeah, what kind of depressing millennial crap is this?”

Dominic snorted. “Oh, I’m sorry that my early 2000s alt rock isn’t up to your superior Gen Z ears. Also, I’m barely a millennial. I’m on the cusp.”

I rolled my eyes. “Could’ve fooled me.”

Dominic huffed, pretending to be annoyed, but I could see the hint of a smile he couldn’t hide and the amusement in his eyes. He handed me his phone. “Fine then. Pick something.”

I unsuccessfully tried to hide the giddy feeling I had when Dominic casually handed me his phone.

It was hard to explain. Most of my life, Joey had done his best to keep us away from technology he didn’t have full control over.

No phones, computers, tablets, whatever.

We hadn’t even been allowed to watch streaming services, and the couple of times he’d let us watch TV, it had been on a laptop with no internet access and whatever old DVD he’d handed us.

I had some experience, obviously. I had gone to school on and off, and it was pretty much impossible to keep a kid completely away from technology.

But either way, I’d never had true freedom with that kind of thing until I’d finally gotten us away.

I remembered vividly how overwhelmed Bailey and I had been when I’d gotten us some cheap burner phones from Walmart. It had been a lot.

I’d gotten used to it for the most part.

But still, I always expected other people to restrict me, like they were afraid I would try to get help.

It had taken me months to use the computer at work without being paranoid that my boss would catch me and punish me for doing something I shouldn’t be.

Even though using it was part of my job.

So, while the gesture meant less than nothing to Dominic, it meant a lot to me.

It was a level of trust no one had ever given me before.

Especially coming from someone like Dominic, who was risking something by trusting anyone with his phone.

I pulled up his Spotify and began scrolling.

Dominic didn’t rush me or question a thing.

It took some time—I wasn’t completely familiar with the app—but eventually I found the perfect playlist. Music was another thing I was starting to discover, and I was learning that I had .

. . opinions. The first time Bailey and I had ever had a fight had been over the musical talent of Post Malone.

Afterward, we’d both lay on the rickety futon, holding each other and crying.

It had felt so fucking normal to fight about something so trivial, to even have the headspace, we’d been hot messes after.

I was grinning like a fool, feeling lighter than I had in ages when what I’d picked started playing.

Dominic laughed, and fuck, it was perfect.

I wanted to take a picture of this moment and keep it in my mind forever.

This. This was how I wanted to remember Dominic.

When our time together ended and he moved on with his life and left Bailey and me to ours, I would remember us driving in his SUV, his dark sunglasses on, and the look on his face as he teased me mercilessly about “this generation.”