If The Seas Catch Fire(109)

Those soft spoken words shook Sergei right to the core. It wasn’t the first time Dom had expressed how much he would’ve given to be away from this world, but Sergei hadn’t known his backstory involved the same kind of deep-seated trauma as his. That his fate had been sealed in the blood of a parent murdered before his eyes.

Most of the made men in this town—or those doing everything they could to win enough favor to be made—embraced the Mafia life. This side of it, a man who’d been caught up as a child in wheels that were turning without his control, was nothing Sergei had ever seen before.

“I’m sorry.” Dom cleared his throat and shifted onto his side. Touching Sergei’s face again, he said, “Completely killed the mood, didn’t I?”

“Well. To be fair.” Sergei moistened his parched lips. “I asked.” He caressed Dom’s face. They weren’t much different, were they? All the hell they’d been through, the inevitability of getting tangled in all this because of what people before them had done…

Dom swallowed. “I don’t know if the guys who roughed me up outside your club would’ve killed me or not…” He smoothed Sergei’s hair. “But I’m glad they didn’t. At least I got to find out what it was like to fall in love.”

Sergei laughed to keep himself from breaking down, and pressed a soft kiss to Dom’s lips. “Now you’re just being sappy.”

“I don’t think most sappiness starts with ‘that time those *s tried to kill me.’”

And it usually doesn’t end with one of us having to kill the other.

He banished that thought and leaned in for a longer kiss. “I’m glad it brought us together too. Even if things are…”

He didn’t know how to finish that thought.

He didn’t have to—Dom drew him down.

Kissed him again.

And held on.



*



For once, the nightmares didn’t come. It wasn’t a surprise, though—Sergei couldn’t dream unless he was asleep.

And sleep wasn’t happening. Not with Dom lying next to him, alive and well.

Every breath Dom took was dangerous. If he didn’t kill him, Sergei would find himself very high on the family’s shit list. Another day or two, and there’d be a contract on his head as well as Dom’s. These were orders written in blood and carved in stone—there was no rescinding a contract, and no backing out once accepted.

But the whole point of being a contractor for the Mafia was to take out those who’d killed his family. Killing the only person he loved besides Mama? He couldn’t. No way.

Question was, how did he keep Dom alive and stay alive?

Dom shifted, and then rolled on his side, facing him. “Still awake?”

Sergei turned toward him, just barely making out his silhouette against the darkness. “Not the only one, apparently.”

Dom laughed and kissed Sergei lightly. “Big shock, I guess. Kind of hard to sleep after…”

“Yeah.” His conscience clawed at him. Finally, he reached for the bedside light and turned it on. They both winced, covering their eyes for a moment until they adjusted to the brightness. “There’s something you need to know.”

Dom chewed his lip. “I get the feeling there’s a lot I don’t know yet.”

“Probably a lot you don’t want to know, but…” Sergei propped himself up on his elbow. “Remember the night I had the bends?”

Dom shuddered. “How could I forget? Scared the hell out of me.” He inclined his head. “Wait. Why?”

Sergei took a breath. “I wasn’t just out f*cking around in the water that day. I was on a job. On… your cousin’s yacht.”

Dom’s eyebrows rose slowly, as if the pieces were coming together. “You’re the one. You killed Privitera.”

Sergei nodded. “The thing is, I was under orders to kill the second highest ranking man on the boat.”

Dom paled.

“No one specified who that was, so I assumed someone was trying to send a message to Felice. But once I realized you were the mark…” He shivered. “I couldn’t do it. Not even then.”

Dom put a hand on his shoulder. “You could’ve been killed.”

“So could you. You were supposed to be killed.”

“But you didn’t.”

“I had the opportunity. I… I thought about taking it, but…” He shook his head. “Not a chance. I couldn’t do it. Can’t do it.”

Dom was quiet for a moment, as if absorbing it all and trying to make sense of it. “How did you—” He stopped, eyes losing focus. “How did you even get on and off the boat? We would’ve seen scuba gear just lying around.”

“It was under the boat. Against the hulls. I put it there the night before, then hid on the boat until everyone boarded. After I’d made my move, I went off the back, swam up in between, and got my gear.”

“That’s…” Dom laughed softly. “That’s actually pretty impressive.”

Sergei chuckled halfheartedly. “There’s a reason I stayed alive.”

Their eyes met, and they both sobered.

Dom touched his face. “Does it ever bother you?”