Guns n' Boys: Homicidal Instinct (Book 2) (gay dark mafia erotic romance) (20 page)

“Try me. And I was only
promised money for the contract. From you I want something more. I can’t get
that if you’re dead. I don’t need all that much money anyway.”

“So what, an
apprenticeship
?”
Domenico gave her a half-smile. “What’s in it for us?”

“I can be an extra set
of eyes. With all the attention on you two, I would say you need that. I know
how to deal with wounds since I have medical training. I also have a degree in
chemistry, so I know a lot about drugs as well. It comes in handy when
disposing of bodies.”

Seth slouched in the
driver’s seat. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to know that.

Domenico slowly pulled
out a cigarette and lit it. “How far are you willing to go for this?”

“I need to be the best.
I don’t like to be lacking. Like that German accent? I want to learn that.”

Domenico took a drag of
the cigarette and Seth could almost see him tickle the filter with his tongue,
like he so often did. “Would you risk your reputation for this?”

“If you give me an
opportunity like this, I would get a new reputation. I kinda like the concept
of being someone who fucked over Mr. Tropico.”

Seth straightened up
behind the wheel. “You got this assignment from Mr. Tropico?”

Domenico slowly exhaled
the white smoke, shielding himself with the mist. “Have you met him in person?”

Dana shrugged. “Nah,
nobody knows his real face, but he’s this powerful drug lord. He has close
connections to some of the cartels.”

Domenico nodded and fell
silent before leaning forward to poke the center of Dana’s chest. “I’d try
you.”

Seth’s mind was in a
frenzy. As far as they knew, Vincente, his fuckwit of a brother, was ‘Mr.
Tropico’, so it made sense that he was the one trying to get to them like a
hungry Doberman, but Vincente was no ‘powerful drug lord’. Or was he? Did the
fucker run some side business and just play dumb? Seth needed to fill Dom in on
this when they were alone.

“How can I prove
myself?” Dana asked. “I told you about the tracker. I didn’t have to.”

Domenico’s face
stretched into a wide, self-satisfied grin. “There’s something I need you to
do, Dana.”

Chapter 13

They split from Dana two
days later.

Seth was glad to be
alone with Dom again, far away from the woman who crushed the bones in his nose
and tried to kill them both. Domenico was oddly calm about all this, but Seth supposed
it came with the job. When Dom was still a young, inexperienced assassin, he
must have had his body thrashed more than once. There were scars to prove that.

With the tracker off and
the new license plates, Domenico relaxed as they drove farther south, following
local roads and staying as far from CCTV cameras as possible. They had long
conversations about everything and nothing, and Seth could spoil his man with
good food they always ate together without any distractions. There was no TV,
no newspapers, and no Internet to take their attention off each other. As much
as he enjoyed the modern media, he rather liked that. It was some much needed
reconnecting.

Seth told Domenico
everything he could remember about Mr. Tropico, and Dom squeezed him for all
the information on Frederico, Vincente, and their father. Those memories
weren’t pleasant, but if Domenico was to make the right choices, Seth had to
fill in as many gaps as possible.

But a week after the
fiasco with Dana, his nose wasn’t swollen anymore, and the bruises on his neck
were fading. Seth was ready to breathe in the fresh air and work.

They arrived in the
suburbs of Memphis, Tennessee, for a big country market. The weather was sunny,
an amazing fifteen degrees Celsius, and for the first time in a long while Seth
was beginning to feel that his life with Dom was becoming normal again. Or at
least as normal as it got for the two of them.

Dom could be both
annoying and romantic, as he used to be, and whenever they kissed, it brought
back all the emotions that got them together, the unbelievable closeness of
knowing there would never be anyone else for either of them. Seth knew such
thoughts should be scary, but he wasn’t afraid. Didn’t most people only dream
of this kind of relationship? Well, without the danger, but still. He was the
one to get this absolute love, and he was ready to sacrifice a lot for it. The
need to show Dom his appreciation was overwhelming.

Seth would make tonight
special, and Dom didn’t even know what was coming. When they got to the
marketplace, Seth made up some extremely boring activities to have Domenico
agree for them to part and meet up for coffee later. As soon as Seth was alone,
he went over to a massive area full of livestock. The mix of smells and sounds
had Seth excited to be a part of something so big. He got local produce, got
talked into buying new knives, but his prize waited at the end of the
marketplace, close to the parking lot and a massive slaughterhouse which held a
meat market as well. Live pigs.

This was the day when
Seth would step up his game, and take fresh food to a whole new level. His
heart beat so fast when he watched the piglets for sale and got to choose his
own. Seth would make a true feast for Dom. They have already planned camping
out in the fields, so it was the perfect time to roast something big under the
stars, on the first warm night in ages.

He wasn’t planning it,
but as he was making his way back to the RV to hide the piglet, he made a
detour to the chicken section, and fulfilled his dream of getting an amazing
young hen. They would have fresh eggs. All they needed to do was figure out
where to keep her, but it couldn’t be that much of a problem. He was sure Dom
would be happy to have fresh eggs every day.

It was on his way to the
car park that a young, pretty woman with heavy makeup assaulted him with a fat
microphone. “Hi, would you like to talk to us?”

He looked into the
camera behind her and hesitated for a moment, but figured that he looked good,
so he could give it a shot. With the weather so great, after so many days of
rain, he wore a hoodie under his leather jacket, and with the dressing now off
his nose he actually bothered to get his hair in order. “Sure, yeah. What’s
up?”

The woman’s eyes
twinkled, “Oh, where are you from?” she asked, gesturing at the bored cameraman
to come closer.

Seth gave them a wide
smile. “I’m from Italy. But I lived in New York for a while. I wanted to make a
henhouse for a while now, so my dreams have come true.” He laughed and pulled
up the cage with the hen.

The woman gave a
ridiculously fake laugh as she took a step closer and hovered her hand over the
cage. “Oh, will it live with its pink friend?”

Seth looked at the
piglet. “Nope, I’m afraid that little piggy’s gonna get roasted. Circle of life
and all that.”

The woman made a sad
face. “Ow, poor little guy. Are you having a cookout with friends?”

“Yep, but it’s gonna be
a surprise party, so…” Seth put his finger against his lips and made a shushing
sound.

The woman narrowed her
eyes. “Are you cooking for a special someone?”

Seth laughed and looked
away from the camera. “Yeah, for my boyfriend. It’s kind of a second honeymoon
sort of thing.”

She blinked but never
lost her wits. “Oh, in that case it’s all fine. I was about to maybe advise you
on getting a lighter option for your girl, but I suppose pig roast is perfect
for the two of you.”

“I gotta go before he
finds me, and the surprise gets spoiled.”

The woman stopped him
with a gesture and faced the camera. “Would you like to tell our viewers why
everyone should visit this market?”

Seth raised his
eyebrows. “It probably has the biggest density of Elvis impersonators per
square mile in all of the USA.”

“And lovely men who buy
fresh food to wow their loved ones,” said the woman, facing away from Seth to talk
to the camera. She went on, so he took the hint and disappeared out of the
frame. It was high time to meet up with Domenico.

He rushed back to the RV
and left the animals in their cages at the back before heading toward the diner
they’d agreed to meet up at. The sun was so bright he actually had to put on
sunglasses. The warmth on his skin made him feel so alive as he strolled into
the colorful 1950s style diner. Domenico waved at him from a booth by the
window where he was already drinking coffee. Seth was surprised to see him
gently sway to the sound of rock ‘n’ roll ballads.

“Hey! What have you been
up to?” Seth asked as he sat opposite Dom with a wide smile. It made him giddy
to see Dom with his gorgeous hair down.

“I was thinking we could
go and watch a Marlon Brando movie. They have this cinema specializing in old
movies,” Dom said. “I wanted to go and see his birthplace, but apparently you
can’t actually do a tour of his parents’ house, or anything like that.”

Seth’s breath caught in
his throat. “You remember where he was born? Are you getting back memories?” he
asked, excited.

Domenico leaned back and
had some more of the coffee. Sunlight was making his skin look almost
translucent, and Seth took off his sunglasses to see him as he was.

“It’s like knowing Elvis
was from Memphis,” he said, looking over to a man in the iconic white costume,
who sat by the bar reading a newspaper.

Seth ordered a coffee
from a waitress passing by and looked back to Dom. “But… I mean… maybe there’s
other things you remember?”

Dom’s eyebrows shot up.
“Like what? That magnesium’s a chemical element?”

“Anything else…? From
the past.” Seth swallowed and nudged Dom with his foot.

Domenico swallowed and
put two spoonfuls of sugar into his coffee, stirring it ferociously. “I remember
this tiny detail, but, you know, it could be false memory.”

“Yes? Go on.” Seth held
his breath, giving Dom all of his attention. Dom had a slight frown on his
face, as if he were intensely racking his brain for details.

“A sentence. Something
about it being a small step for a man, but a big one for mankind?” asked
Domenico with a face made of stone.

Seth kicked his foot.
“Oh, for fuck’s sake! Seriously? This is so not funny.”

“Well, I need to make
the best of it. You just acted like you’re jealous of Marlon Brando. He’s
dead.”

“Well, you jerked off to
his movies, so whatever.” Seth groaned and didn’t even thank the waitress for
the coffee. He had to stop having false hope for Dom ever remembering their
time together. “Don’t toy with my emotions.”

Domenico swallowed, and
Seth noticed something brushing against his ankle under the table.

“It’s bits and pieces.
This Gus guy, I know him. I had this weird flashback when he approached me. And
I immediately knew what persona to use, but I have no idea how I met him or
what we dealt with together.”

Seth looked out of the
window, to a sea of goats being herded down the road. “I’m sorry, I just kinda
hoped you’d remember a bit of… me.”

Domenico’s breath
rasped, and he reached across the table, covering Seth’s hand with his warm
palm. “There are things I remember, but it’s just pictures in my head. Not
actual events. Like you whipping some kind of cream by the window,” Domenico muttered,
swallowing.

Seth took a deep breath.
“I made these lemon cupcakes for you once. Maybe I should make them again when
I get the chance. I suppose there’s some stuff not worth remembering anyway.”
Like the humiliating blow job in a glory hole, or being pinned to the table and
getting hate-fucked.

Dom’s hand squeezed
around his. “What do you mean?”

Someone gave them a
weird look, so Seth pulled his hand away. “I just mean that… we weren’t exactly
the perfect couple.”

And just like that,
Domenico’s eyes shut down, and he pulled away, sipping on his coffee. “We
weren’t?”

Seth pursed his lips,
unsure how much he wanted to say. Talking of this only gave him an unpleasant
feeling in the pit of his stomach. “It took us a while to work things out. You
can be a bit brash.”

Domenico smirked, but
the expression looked more like a twist of muscle than a smile. “Was it so bad
you’d rather not remember? Why would you want to stay with me then? Just to get
away from death?”

Seth licked his lips and
met the gaze of Dom’s amber eyes. Such a good fucking question. The connection
they had was about so much more than desperation and lust. “I guess I must like
the danger. It’s like letting blood into the water, just so you can see the
shark up close.”

Domenico’s Adam’s apple
bobbed rapidly as he considered that answer. “Do I hurt you?” he asked softly,
looking up.

Seth didn’t like how it
sounded. He was no one’s victim. He had some coffee to stifle his nerves. “You
almost broke my nose two weeks ago, so… I suppose we have ugly fights
sometimes.”

“You’re talking about
only one shark,” Dom pointed out, somewhat stiffly.

Seth nervously played
with his fingers. “I’m not as ferocious.”

Domenico exhaled.
“Sorry.”

Seth looked into his
eyes and dared to reach out for Dom’s hand. “It’s fine. I like to be devoured.
Dying makes me feel I’m alive,” he whispered, feeling each word in his hasty
heartbeat.

Domenico’s nostrils
flared as he looked at Seth, his fingers squeezing hard around Seth’s hand. “I
love you.”

Seth returned the grip
on Dom’s hand, with his heart beating like crazy. He believed it. Even without
Dom knowing their past, Seth believed that right now Domenico was on the same
wavelength as him. Their life was entwined and always would be. “I love you
too,” he said with a small smile, fighting back the stinging in his eyes.

Domenico got up without
letting go of Seth and sat next to him, with an arm around his shoulders.
Slowly, he rested his forehead against Seth’s ear and whispered, “I can’t
promise I’ll get back any memories, but I really want to.”

“I know. We’ll make new
memories.” Seth had to force himself not to kiss Dom. They were getting enough
nasty glances as it was. “I have something special planned for tonight.”

“Yeah? Tell me,” asked
Domenico, giving Seth a soft peck on the cheek.

“The ingredients are in
the RV, so you’re gonna have to wait and see,” he said as his heart melted.

“A romantic dinner? I’m
so lucky.” Domenico grinned and had some more coffee, still hugging Seth with
his other arm.

“Wanna skip lunch and
come see?”

“Can’t wait.”

They downed their
coffees and left a nice tip. Seth couldn’t wait to see Dom’s face when he realized
what a feasts awaited him. The walk to the parking lot felt to Seth like
walking on air. He was so excited, so happy, and so in love. Their intertwined
fingers were all the proof of happiness he needed. They would soon be in
Mexico, safe.

Domenico put his hands
in his pockets as they reached the RV. He seemed giddy to know what Seth
prepared for him.

Seth walked in first and
moved over to the back where he left the cages by his motorcycle. “Close your
eyes!”

Domenico followed, but
stopped in his tracks. “What’s this smell?”