If The Seas Catch Fire(106)

Sergei let out a long breath, and his shoulders didn’t seem to slump so much as erode, as if the revelation of his identity were dissolving the shell he’d had around himself all this time. After a moment, he opened his eyes.

“Your family killed mine. When I was a child. All that’s left is me and my mother, and she’s wasting away in a home because of what that night did to her. And for what they did to us, I will bring the entire family down or die trying.”

A chill ran through Dom. He could see the killer in him now, the razor-sharp hatred in his eyes. And yet, at the same time, the terrified child. The broken son. Not just the need to extract blood for revenge, but the anguish behind it.

“I’m sorry,” Dom whispered, as if it changed anything.

Sergei pulled his knees up and folded his arms loosely on top of them.

“Is that why you had me come here tonight?” Dom asked. “Instead of a motel?”

Sergei straightened, his eyes losing focus. “I…”

“You’d have attracted the cops right to your own front door,” Dom said. “And the crime scene…”

Sergei ran the tip of his tongue along his lips. “I think…” Slowly, his eyes focused, and he looked at Dom. “I think I did that on purpose without even realizing it. I’d never kill someone here. No way. Maybe…” He closed his eyes. “I don’t know what I was thinking, except maybe, subconsciously, I brought you here because this is the only place on earth where I wouldn’t kill anyone.”

Dom shivered. How might this have gone down in one of their usual cheap haunts? “Were you still planning to kill me? When we were…”

“I was… I thought about it. Because, I mean—”

“Because you don’t have a choice. I understand.”

“How the f*ck can you understand?” Sergei snapped, his voice wavering. “Do you have any idea—”

“You’re not the only one they pay to take people out.”

Sergei jumped like he’d hit him. “What?”

Dom shifted uncomfortably. “I’m… my uncle’s been sending me on hits for years.”

“You? I didn’t…” Sergei shook himself. “I didn’t think you were capable of…”

With a soft laugh, Dom shrugged. “Guess that’s a compliment?”

“Yeah. I guess it is.” Sergei rubbed his temples. “I’m sorry. I… I should’ve said something before, or—”

“What could you have said?” Dom slumped against the wall. “We both know how this works. Once you’ve got a contract, it’s either his head or yours.”

Their eyes met.

It’s your head or mine.

We both know there’s no getting out of this.

Sergei was the first to break eye contact, and he murmured something in Russian—Georgian?—as he rubbed both hands over his face. “What the f*ck do we do now?”

“I wish I knew.”

“This isn’t how it was supposed to happen. This…” Sergei pushed out a ragged breath. “I started working for the families as a contract killer so I could kill the f*ckers who killed the people I love.” He let his head fall back, and goddamn if there weren’t tears sliding down his face. “I never thought they’d tell me to kill someone I love.”

Dom’s heart stopped. “Sergei…”

“You’re everything I’m supposed to bring down.” Sergei wiped his eyes, and his rock steady sniper’s hands were shaking now, badly. “You’re…” He sniffed sharply, wringing his hands as if he could somehow bring them back under his total control. “You’re the last person in the world I was supposed to fall in love with.”

Dom moved across the floor and sat beside Sergei. He took Sergei’s hands between his, holding them tight to still them. This side of Sergei scared Dom more than the contract on his own head. Sergei had always been so strong, so solid—bordering on cold more often than not. But now he was falling apart, trembling like a terrified child and fighting back tears that wouldn’t be stopped.

“You’re one of them,” Sergei sobbed. “I’m supposed to… you’re supposed to…” He wiped his eyes with shaking hands. “You’re a Mafioso. You’re not supposed to be…human.”

“Sergei, look at me.”

Sergei lifted his chin, blinking a few times, and met Dom’s eyes as another tear rolled down his prominent cheekbone.

Dom brushed it away with his thumb, and cupped his face. “I’m human and so are you. And I don’t know what to do now. All I know is…” He swallowed hard, his own emotions threatening to get the best of him. “I love you, Sergei.”

Sergei’s lips parted, and he stared at him in disbelief.

The words were out, and Dom didn’t know what else to say. So he tipped up Sergei’s chin and kissed him.

Sergei broke the kiss and touched his forehead to Dom’s. “I don’t want to hurt you, Dom. I can’t.”

Dom’s gut twisted into knots.

You have to. We both know you do. This only ends one way.

He knew all too well how those contracts had to play out. Sergei had no more choice than Dom had had when he’d taken out Luciano.