Page 110 of Scorned Beauty

An awkward silence blanketed the space between us, but I wasn’t simply going to tuck tail and not be the man she knew me to be. “I understand,” I repeated. “But also understand that I’m not a man who gives up easily.”

Her eyes flared.

Yeah, she liked that.

“Weeks, months, years—I’m going to wait.”

“Years?” She raised a brow. “That’s a long time to wait.”

“I’m a De Lucci and a Moretti.” I shrugged. “Once we’ve decided on the woman we want, we don’t back down.”

She grabbed the folder and started flipping through the pages. As for me, I was contented just staring at her. I was the dumbass who let this beautiful woman slip through my fingers because I was a coward. In a way, I didn’t want to share her with others in my circle. But this? This was a start.

She stared at my espresso cup. “I’m ready to head back to the penthouse. It’s been a long…strange day.” Sloane gave a light laugh. That husky laugh. Fuck. My dick chose that time to wake up. I was glad I was in a suit so I could hide my erection.

“I’m ready.”

After we picked up Ginger from Renz’s apartment, we spent the drive back to the penthouse in silence. Sloane was busy flicking through the project proposal, while I was busy sneaking glances at her. The penthouse wasn’t that far away, less than a ten-minute drive in normal Manhattan traffic. And for the first time in my life, I wished it would take me thirty minutes to get there just so I could spend more time with her.

Although…I could be opportunistic.

So when the building came up and I had to make the choice between turning to the garage and the building’s entrance, I said, “I’m coming up with you.”

“Dom, you can just drop me off in the front.”

“I need a couple of items from my room.”

She blew out a breath in a way that told me she didn’t believe me, but was resigned. “Okay.”

After I parked, we walked to the elevators designated for the upper floors.

“You should just move back in,” she said. “I can rent an apartment somewhere. Maybe in New Jersey.”

I swiped my card and leaned against the wall while the car zoomed up. “I want you in Manhattan.”

“Why? Delphine is in New Jersey. It makes more sense for me to live there. Are there still threats?”

“Not from the Zahkarov bratva.” Although one could never tell with Kirill in charge.

“Grigori and his crew, then. I’m a witness to their crime.”

Kirill made it clear that Grigori was theirs to deal with and I told him, not if we found him first. Well, we found Boris first. Now we need to find the rest of his crew, especially Anton.

The doors to the elevators opened to the foyer leading to my penthouse. The initial design of the entrance hall opened straight to the dedicated upper-floor elevators, but it didn’t sit well with me for obvious reasons despite the security to its programming. Anything could be hacked. As don, I had enemies who wanted to kill me.

Tastefully designed curved steps led to a bulletproof double door. With Sloane living here, I wished I’d had it built for fucking explosives.

But I wasn’t prepared for the grenade waiting for us inside the penthouse.

My mother.

Chapter

Twenty-Eight

Dom

“Ma, what are you doing here?”I steeled myself, acted normal, and led Sloane past the threshold.