Guns n' Boys Book 1 Part 1 (25 page)

Inhale. Exhale. Inhale.
Exhale. Inhale. “Shoot.”

No hesitation. Before
Seth knew it, the deed was done, and he hit the target’s head, the kick from
the gun not as strong as before. His heart was pounding in exhilaration.

“Good. That’s what I
want.” Domenico didn’t move, but his words were like the sweetest petting, and
Seth was ready to purr like a satisfied cat. He actually did something right
for a change.

“I’m a quick learner.”
Seth smirked to himself.

“Again then.” Domenico
didn’t move an inch, keeping exactly the same position as before. It made Seth
imagine Dom competing in one of those exercises on the Biggest Loser, where
people had to stand on one leg and hold something in the same position for as
long as they could. He bet Dom would win even if he were fat. The thought made
him snort, but he said ‘yes’ and aimed again.

“Two breaths and shoot.
Try the fucker’s right eye,” whispered Domenico. It wasn’t clear why he felt
the need to be so quiet when they were the only people here, but Seth was far
from complaining.

He watched the target
for two long breaths and pulled the trigger, hitting the right side of the
painted figure’s face. “I did it,” leapt out of Seth’s mouth in glee, before he
could think. With Dom behind him, he felt as powerful as ever so when the
warmth of his body was gone, it felt like being deprived of half his muscle.

“Good, now try it on
your own.”

Seth turned his head
with his lips parted. He didn’t want to do it on his own anymore. It worked
better when Dom was there. No torture would force him to admit to that though,
so without a word, he turned back to the target, trying to mimic the way he was
standing before, the way Dom made him hold the gun.

“Breathe,” said Dom and
from the corner of his eye, Seth could see his dark silhouette. He was
watching, evaluating Seth’s performance.

And it wasn’t that Seth
didn’t want to ‘let him down’, because he couldn’t care less about that, but he
did want to impress him. Have Dom stop considering him a failure. He licked his
salty upper lip and aimed at the target’s chest, hoping he could at least hit
that. Only now, after having his hands held by Dom, he was realizing just how
unsteady his grip was. Good that he hadn’t had that morning beer after all.
Focus,
Seth
.

Two breaths, and a shot
managed to graze the side of the target board. He exhaled deeply, the
disappointment as hard to swallow as when he burnt his first cannoli. It seemed
that the cardboard man was mocking Seth with a Joker-like smile.

“Again.”

Seth groaned and
instantly shot again in anger, not even hitting the board this time. Again. And
again, without much success. He swore beneath his breath and smashed a nearby
tree with his elbow. He put the safety on the gun and slid it in the back of
his jeans, before walking off into a direction opposite to where Dom was
standing. Why couldn’t it work? He was so embarrassed his skull was about to
explode.

“Hey, Seth. We’re not
done yet.”

“I know, I need to cool
off,” he hissed and walked off the clearing, hoping to hide within the trees.

A sudden burst to his
left made him hug the nearby tree. Seth's eyes grew wide at the sight of a hole
in the bark.

“Don’t be a baby and
come back here,” said Domenico without any emotion in his voice.

Seth’s eyes went wide,
and he looked back with his heart thudding furiously against his ribcage. “Stop
being fucking annoying and give me a break!” he yelled, on the verge of
shooting back. Dom was so impassive, as if he didn’t care that Seth had a gun
as well, his face a mask of calm.

“You’re a fucking joke
if that’s what throws you out of balance. You’re at war with everyone but me
and your father.”

“Stop pissing me off
then, or I’m gonna be at war with you as well!” Seth pulled out his gun and
turned off the safety. He aimed at Dom and took a few steps his way, vision
blurring with steaming anger. It got even worse when no emotion appeared on
that handsome face. Domenico stood there like a statue, watching Seth’s eyes
instead of the gun, his gaze so intense, it was getting Seth's skin to burn.

Seth pulled the trigger,
though he did try to point it a meter or two away from Dom. He didn’t want to
blow the guy’s brains out, just scare him a bit, get a reaction. But there was
nothing coming from his gun. Seth looked down at the weapon. Out of ammo. Of
course.

All hair on his body
bristled at the unmistakable clang of the safety being turned off in a gun, and
his stomach plummeted. Seth swallowed and threw his own to the ground, putting
his hands up and taking steps back as fast as possible.

“I was just kidding. I
knew I didn’t have any ammo left.” He laughed nervously, watching Dom’s every move.
He was standing there, his favorite Beretta casually aimed Seth’s way. This was
what the angel of death had to look like. Burning amber eyes, long black hair,
a dead expression on his face. Seth’s heart was up in his throat when Dom
raised his hand and moved his fingers in an unmistakable gesture of invitation.

Seth was sweating like a
newborn piglet and slowly shook his head, taking another step back. This was
definitely not part of a rom-com scenario. “No,” he whispered to himself.

“Do as I say. You’ve
made me mad enough already,” muttered Domenico.

Seth swallowed and
looked around, but he knew no help would come. He looked up into Dom’s eyes and
reluctantly started approaching him. His legs felt as if they were made of
lead. Nauseated, he was forcing himself to take each subsequent step toward
Domenico, whose veiny forearms were just as deadly as the gun in his hand. They
reminded Seth of pythons, ready to wrap themselves around Seth’s throat and
squeeze until he choked.

By the time Seth got to
Dom, he was trembling, unsure of what would happen. He wanted to close his eyes
and have it over with, but was too afraid. “I said I didn’t mean it,” he said,
but the last syllable came out muffled.

He saw stars when
Domenico punched him in the stomach and followed it with a blow to the head.
Seth didn’t even notice how he got to the ground, but when he came to, he was
curling up with his face inches away from Dom’s shoes, a pair of pitch-black
combat boots he wore since morning.

“What the fuck…” Seth
muttered, not daring to look up. His stomach hurt like a bitch, all of his
muscles still trembling.

“On your knees,” rasped
Domenico in a voice as cool as before. Seth slowly looked up, but followed the
order, with his head ringing from the hit.

From this perspective,
Dom looked even more intimidating. Tense, strong, tall, a proper killing
machine. With a gun pointed at Seth’s head.

“No, no, no,” Seth
whined and leaned away as much as he could without falling over on his ass. Oh
God, did he cross a line he didn’t know was there? He was so scared he couldn’t
swallow. Without an idea how to weasel out of the situation, he held up his
hands in front of his face.

The cool touch of steel
against his forehead made his teeth clatter so loudly, they could rival a
woodpecker knocking on a tree.

“You little fucker.”

“I said I’m sorry!” Seth
moaned but didn’t dare push the gun away, no matter how much his heart yearned
for it. His eyes itched with held back tears, which tried to force their way
out. A part of him reassured him that Dom wouldn’t kill him, he had orders
after all, but another knew Dom was out of his fucking mind! The guy fucked him
for God’s sake. Him, the Don’s son. Why wouldn’t he kill him and claim it was
an accident? It wasn’t like Seth was the
only
son.

“I see I can’t trust you
anymore. Maybe it’s for the better. Before anyone notices you’re gone I’ll be
making a life for myself in Argentina.” Domenico’s eyes were cold and his face,
framed by the trees above, was a picture pretty enough to want to see before
you die.

As much as Seth didn’t
want them to, his eyes welled up. The wind in the dry autumn leaves whispered
of death, and he sniffed to try and hold the tears in. “No! No, you can trust
me!” he burst out in panic. “You don’t want to do this, Dom. You wouldn’t do
this to
Family
, right?” Seth had to fight for every breath of the cool
air, shivering like a kitten in the rain.

“You had no problems
risking my life just because you were fucking angry,” muttered Dom, as he moved
the gun slightly higher up Seth’s forehead. “I can make you paralyzed instead.”

A few tears streaked
down Seth’s face, and the frittata came up to his throat. “No, I’m sorry. I
wasn’t thinking!” he yelped and slowly stretched his fingers, attempting to
touch Dom’s thigh.

Domenico chuckled, a
dark, low sound that went right up Seth’s throat to choke him. “If you point
the gun at me again, whether loaded or not, I will kill you on the spot. Do you
understand?”

Seth tried to answer,
but relief choked him, and he nodded instead. ‘Again’ meant he’d live to get
the chance. Not that he wanted one. Ever. “I’m sorry,” he uttered, rubbing his
eyes, completely out of breath.

“You have no idea how to
use a gun, and you try to shoot it my way? You are brainless.” Domenico shook
his head, his nostrils flaring, and for the first time since the ordeal
started, there was a spark of rage in his eyes.

Seth nodded eagerly. The
worst thing was, there was some logic to Dom’s words, and Seth did regret what
he’d done but couldn’t take it back or explain his behavior. He had been so
freaking angry he snapped. Seth’s body was now Jell-O, and he wished he could
just dissolve into the ground. “I was… I don’t know what came over me.”

“Shut up. I don’t want
your excuses.” Domenico put the gun into the holster on his arm as he sat on
the ground.

Seth took that as being
allowed to stop kneeling, and he sat back on his heels. He hid his face in his
hands, fighting back a sob.
Man up, Seth
.

“Lie on your back and
breathe, for fuck’s sake,” came from Dom.

Seth inhaled deeply
through his nose and nodded. He was still shaken as he lay down and looked up
at the sky riddled with wispy clouds. Why did he keep getting himself into
those situations? Why couldn’t he just follow instructions and keep learning
how to shoot?

“I think someone should
teach you how much it hurts to be shot. That would cure your ego once and for
all.”

Seth scowled at the
words, but didn’t look Dom’s way, too engulfed in his little world of pain and
unhappiness. “My ego’s fine.” Though it certainly took yet another blow today.

“I could see that.”
Domenico sighed. “A fucking friend shoots at me. What a joke.”

That got so much of
Seth’s attention that he frowned and actually sat up. “You consider me a
‘friend’?”

“You’re a Villani. What
else should I consider you?” Domenico turned his head toward Seth, the sourness
on his face so prominent it seemed the further from the ordeal, the more
irritated Dom was getting. Which didn’t make much sense to Seth, who was slowly
learning to breathe again.

“I don’t know. A bull-headed
pest?” He shrugged.

“You are just that. You
owe me a blow job for that shit you just did,” groaned Domenico, folding his
arms on his chest.

It had to be adrenaline
because Seth was feeling light-headed, blood rushing through his veins. He nodded
slowly, focusing on Dom again. He never thought a near-death experience would
make him horny. Now that he wasn’t at risk anymore though, all the physical
reactions reminded him of when he went to do a bungee jump. He kept exhaling
deeply as he zeroed in on Dom’s eyes, which were now on him, half-lidded and
motionless. Dom’s chest was slowly moving up and down, stretching to his lungs’
maximum capacity, but Seth’s eyes were already straying lower.

“Like… now?” It came out
raspy, but Seth didn’t care and already inched toward Dom on all fours.

Domenico looked up. He
was just lying there as if nothing happened, with his legs slightly parted.
“Will that help your guilt?”

“Nothing will help my
guilt.” Seth bit his lip, watching Dom and slowly covering him with his body.
With the adrenaline still rushing in his veins, all he wanted was to fuck Dom
raw, here in the grass.

“Then suck,” said
Domenico, with a challenge in his eyes.

“How about I help you
relieve tension otherwise?” Seth whispered into Dom’s ear. He put his weight on
top of Dom. The sole fact that he was between Dom’s thighs had his dick
throbbing for action.

Domenico’s eyes
narrowed. “Fuck off, unless what you want is to ride my cock.”

Seth huffed, grinding
his hips into Dom’s. His face felt hot at the mere suggestion of such a
position. “No, I don’t do that.” Seth slid his hands along the body underneath
him. Dom's muscles were so tense and hard. It made Seth’s blood pulse with
adrenaline so intensely that even his gums throbbed.

“I don’t do bottoming,”
Domenico told him, as if he were talking to a child.

“Why not?” Seth sighed
and slowly rose to his knees to unbuckle Dom’s belt.