Cold & Deadly (Cold Justice: Crossfire #1)(97)

“Where’s Gwen?” Dominic asked when the silence lingered, and Ava started to worry she’d said the wrong thing.

“Over by the punch. She’s still dating that asshole Geoffrey. True love.” With a sneer, Franklin knocked back his Champagne like it was water.

Dominic blinked.

“I heard the crash you were involved in was pretty bad,” his dad said quietly. “Glad you’re still with us, son.”

“It was just a fender bender.”

“You totaled the car,” Franklin pointed out.

“The insurance company wrote it off. You know how they are sometimes.”

Ava’s brows climbed halfway up her forehead.

Franklin reached forward and snatched the dark glasses from Dominic’s face. Winced before thrusting them against Dominic’s chest. “Looks like a hell of a fender bender.”

His father looked aghast at Dominic’s fading bruises. Tracy shot a wary look at his brother.

“Airbags,” Dominic commented wryly.

“Are you sure the lovely Ava didn’t give you a black eye?”

“Why would I do that?” Ava asked in confusion.

“Funzies?” Franklin downed another glass of Champagne. Dominic tried to remember an occasion when his brother hadn’t been drunk at a family get-together and couldn’t.

“Leave Ava alone,” Dominic told him.

“I can handle myself,” Ava insisted.

His brother scoffed and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. Franklin was either an alcoholic or well on his way to becoming one. But it didn’t explain why he was so vindictive toward Dominic. Or maybe it was his way of keeping everyone at arm’s length. Of not being devastated again should something happen to any of them. Drive everyone you loved away so you never got hurt again.

Dominic’s mouth went dry as he recognized the tactic.

“I like this one,” Franklin said, as if that mattered. “She’s feisty. Not like the last one you brought home. What was her name?”

Dominic glared at his brother. “Ainsley.” Whom his brother had seduced and then dumped. The only reason to bring her up now was to drive a wedge between them.

“She,” Ava said with a spark in her eye and angle to her chin that Dominic knew spelled trouble, “is a federal agent with powers of arrest, so feisty is the least of my personality traits.”

Dominic put his arm around Ava’s shoulders and felt the tension vibrating through her bones.

Franklin grabbed another drink off a passing waiter and Dominic saw the tightening of his father’s features. Then he heard a squeal behind him that could only be his sister.

He turned around and she jumped on him, clamping around him like a koala, blissfully unaware of his sore shoulder and ribs.

He wrapped his arms tight around her and squeezed. Maybe his problem in the past was he’d always let himself be pushed away from these gatherings by his older brother’s bitterness and his own self-doubt.

“Hi, Gwen,” Dominic mumbled when she didn’t release him.

“I am so happy to see you.” Gwen sniffed into his neck. “I’ve missed you so much.”

His hands formed fists as he met Tracy’s soft gaze.

“You could always come visit,” he objected.

“You’re never there. Whenever I say I’m coming to stay you suddenly have important business out of town.”

Dominic grimaced. That was probably true. “That’s my job, Gwen. It’s hard to plan time off.”

She finally let go and stood back.

“Good thing you didn’t join the law firm after all, Dom. I can see why you didn’t.” Franklin raked Ava up and down with a leer. Then he reached out and ran his knuckle over the slope of her breast. “We certainly don’t have pussy like this in the office—”

Dominic punched Franklin so hard his brother was out cold before he hit the deck.

Shit.

Dominic squeezed closed his eyes, mad with himself for reacting. His brother had deliberately provoked him, knowing how much their father hated creating a public scene. Goddamn it. Why did Franklin always have to push him?

“Sorry, Pop.” He shook the pain out of his hand, then bent to drag his unconscious sibling somewhere private. His father stopped him. He waved over two of his security guards. “Get him out of here and one of you stay with him until he sobers up.”

Dominic backed away a step. “I’ll leave.”

“No,” his father exclaimed. “What Franklin did was reprehensible.” His dad’s hands trembled. “I’ve ignored his faults for too long. He’s always been jealous of you even when you were a baby. Nothing your mother or I ever said changed that. Now his drinking has exacerbated the issue.”

Dominic blinked, as much by the mention of his mother as anything else. He didn’t remember the last time they’d spoken about her. “Well, I’m sorry for causing a scene.”

“I need to get him the help he needs and pray he’s smart enough to accept it. I’m sorry, Ava. Sorry, son.” His father wrapped him in a fierce hug that Dominic was helpless against. Then Gwen joined in, and he broke out in a cold sweat at the pain radiating from his ribs, but still he didn’t break away.

A ball of emotion swelled in his throat, and his eyes burned. All those years of holding back so as to not upset anyone, all the suppressed resentment and grief. Maybe it was the car crash, or being targeted for death by some madman, but suddenly he felt like he could start over. He didn’t need to repeat old patterns or failures. He could control his future. His family was flawed, but the relationships weren’t irreparable.