Page 55 of Sweetest Sin

I pull Damien out of his arms and hug my little boy tightly.

He jostles in annoyance, but doesn’t wake up, and I’ve never been so thankful that he’s such a heavy sleeper. I could vacuum around him, and he wouldn’t wake up.

“There’s a bed in the back,” Dominick says. “Lay him in there.”

While I’m tucking Damien into bed, I think about everything that happened tonight.

The intruders—one held me back while the other went after Damien. But he was already gone.

Shortly after, Matteo showed up. He wasn’t shocked to see the men. He was prepared and killed them quickly. The car was waiting for us. The plane was on standby.

At the time, I thought I was a victim of a random attack. But this wasn’t random at all …

Dominick is dangerous. Violent. He’s rumored to be part of a criminal organization. He runs his city with an iron fist. I witnessed him kill a man …

“Oh my God,” I breathe. “This was because of him.”

I quietly leave the room, closing the door behind me, and then stalk toward the front of the plane, finding Dominick, Matteo, and another man sitting in their seats, talking quietly.

Dominick sees me coming first, but before he can say a word, I’m in his face. “You did this!” I whisper-yell. “You have been in our lives for two damn minutes, and I was attacked, and my son was almost kidnapped!”

“Calm down,” Dominick says. “You’re going to wake up?—”

“Wrong answer,” one of the other guys mutters.

“Don’t you tell me to calm down!” I shove at his shoulders. “And don’t tell me what to do with my son. I told you to stay the hell away, and you didn’t listen and now?—”

“Enough!” Dominick stands and towers above me. “I fucked up,” he says. “I left you at that run-down apartment with no security, and it’s on me. I know this.” He swallows thickly. “But it will never happen again.”

“You can’t know that,” I hiss. “This is your world. Violence and corruption and death. I told you I wanted no part in it, but you didn’t listen.”

“It’s too late,” he says, his gray eyes locking with mine. “I was being followed, and the second they learned about you and our son, you both became a target.”

“Who’sthey?”

“We’re trying to figure that out right now.” He sighs.

“Of course.” I scoff. “You have so many enemies. You probably have to play a game of elimination to figure out which one is trying to get to you this time.”

Somebody snorts, and Dominick glares.

“You knew this was going to happen,” I accuse. “That’s how you got to us so quickly. This is exactly why I told you I didn’t want you in Damien’s life. We were almost taken!”

“I handled it,” he says.

“You handled it.” I laugh, but it comes out manic. “You handled it? There shouldn’t have been anything to handle! Normal people don’t get attacked in the middle of the night! Kids don’t get kidnapped while they’re asleep!”

“You’d actually be surprised,” Matteo says.

I nail him with a death glare.

He simply shrugs, unfazed. “I’m just saying, violence and corruption and death are everywhere. You just don’t see or hear about it.”

“Tell me what happened,” I say to Dominick. “Who were those men who are now lying on my floor with bullet holes in their brains? They almost … almost …” I choke out, the reality of the situation hitting me hard.

My legs wobble like Jell-O, and I drop onto the sofa, afraid I’ll fall if I don’t sit. “They almost got our little boy,” I whisper, looking up at Dominick, my vision blurry with tears.

“I would never let anything happen to him,” he says, his voice cold and confident.