Guns n' Boys: Homicidal Instinct (Book 2) (gay dark mafia erotic romance) (5 page)

“Who fucking cares what
the hat looks like?” Seth snarled and dove under the bed to pull out their
stuff. “Put some shoes on.”

There was something
about Seth ordering him around that felt completely unnatural, but there was no
use arguing, and Domenico sat down on the bed to pull on the only pair of shoes
he had. They were polished to such perfection it was almost as if he’d just pulled
them out of a box.

“What do we do? Do you
want to just go out the window? I thought the mafia was after us, not the
police.”

“We shot people in the
street two days ago,” Seth said, throwing medical supplies into the suitcase
full of money. “I brought you here after you were shot, and someone could have
seen us.” His voice was raspy, but Dom’s mind went a bit blurry when Seth
pulled on a leather jacket so familiar Dom could recall its scent.

He stared at it,
dumbstruck by the déjà vu. “I need a shirt,” he muttered, looking down at his
naked chest.

“There’s no time for
this. You shouldn’t have thrown out the one you had.” Seth shoved the elegant
coat at him. “What are you waiting for? We need to go. Deal with your face.
Wear the hat, come on.”

Domenico cursed beneath
his breath and put on the woolen coat, along with a soft scarf, but it still
felt weird to wear it on bare skin. A bandage and a balaclava later, Domenico
opened the window and looked down the fire escape. The cool air hit him like a
shower of spikes sinking into his skin. At least it was dark outside.

Seth was right behind
him. “I have a motorcycle in the basement. We’ll pick it up and find somewhere
else to stay.”

Domenico gasped,
touching the cold metal of the fire escape. Was there more police around? He
couldn’t see anyone. The stairs seemed so long, and the building so high. Was
this the way they got here?

“Do you need help?” Seth
went out first and held out his hand to Dom.

Domenico stared at him.
He couldn’t rely on his brother all the time. He was fine. With a low exhale,
he crawled outside and started descending toward the ground. He was careful to
put his feet flat on the floor not to make too much noise. “Where will we go?”
he whispered.

“I don’t know… But we’ve
got the passports now, you’re up, so let’s just get out of the city and find
someplace secluded.” Seth was right behind him, and there was an unpleasant
familiarity to the metal of the steps under Dom’s feet.

Last time, he could
hardly walk, his legs were numb, there was blood on the steps. Seth’s back felt
as solid as a rock.

Domenico stood still,
his hand squeezing the banister hard. He remembered. It was vague, just a
snippet, but it was something he remembered. Blood trailing down his face and
dripping from his chin. Seth carrying him up the neverending stairs.

“Wait here, I’ll check
if it’s safe,” Seth whispered and pulled down the stairs. Dom waited as he
watched Seth disappear in the darkness of the alleyway. The whisper of the city
was ripe in Dom’s ears as he slowly reached underneath his coat where he could
feel something weighing him down. It was cold and hard, and yet the gun handle
fit into his hand perfectly. How good of a shot was he anyway? What was his
best score?

When the ladder was
down, he turned around and started a careful climb down. The metal was biting
his fingers with every touch, but he held on, not caring about the ache in his
joints.

“Come on, come on,” Seth
urged, but then asked again, “Are you all right?” He held out his hands to Dom.

Domenico sighed. Men
with bodies like his didn’t need help. Each scar was the sign of something he
did on his own, a map of wrong choices, but then again there were only a few.
He put his feet down on the ground, and it felt like being out of the danger
zone. He turned around only to crash into Seth’s chest.

“Whoa,” Seth grabbed him
under the arms. “Are you okay? Is your leg okay? Can you stand?”

Seth’s hands were huge,
no wonder he could carry Dom all the way up to Peter’s floor. Domenico closed
his eyes, breathing in the cold and the leathery scent of Seth’s jacket. It was
all beyond confusing. “Yeah. We need to go.”

“You just stay here, and
I’ll get my bike.” Seth let go of Dom and for a heart-stopping moment Dom felt
as if he was about to get a kiss from Seth, but it was gone half a second
later.

Domenico gave a slow nod
and withdrew to rest his back against the wall. He couldn’t see much of Seth’s
face in the dark, but maybe it was for the better with how confused he felt.
“Okay.”

Seth disappeared, and it
left an emptiness Dom didn’t expect. Wasn’t he some badass with a gun? He knew
he was. Yet without Seth there was no one to answer his questions, and no one
to tell him who to shoot at in the first place. Even with the lies Seth had fed
him at first, at least Dom had something to hold on to.

Domenico hugged himself
to conserve warmth and be as little visible as possible. How could he possibly
explain his presence at the back of the building, in the dark, in a girly
balaclava? He’d probably get arrested on suspicion of molesting local children,
or some shit like that. He closed his eyes, listening. He didn’t know what Seth’s
motorcycle sounded like. There were plenty noises around anyway, and time
seemed to stretched like bubble gum.

But when the engine
roared at the end of the alleyway, he didn’t even need to check to know that it
was Seth’s. It sounded raw and violent speeding his way. Was Seth a violent
man? He seemed like the kindest, sweetest mafioso Dom could ever imagine. Or
not a mafioso at all.

He watched the beast on
two wheels stop in front of him. Seth’s mount was sleek and modern, powerful
just like its rider. Domenico smiled behind the balaclava and stepped closer.
“The police?”

“There’s no police car on
this side. I haven’t seen anyone else either. Hop on.” Seth pointed to the
backseat, and Domenico complied, sitting down behind him. The machine was still
cold, especially through the sweatpants, but there were other priorities than
warmth now so he leaned closer and slid his bare hands into the pockets of
Seth’s jacket, holding on. And once again, the scent of leather became almost overwhelming.
Familiar.

Chapter 5

Seth was slowly
relaxing, and with Dom holding onto him, he could almost forget that the love
of his life didn’t know who he was. For now, the touch of Dom’s hands would
have to do. In the future, if Dom’s brain didn’t unscramble itself, Seth could
hope that maybe Dom would be attracted to him again. The thought of Dom never
being interested in him crushed his heart. But as much as Seth craved the
emotional closeness, he’d do everything to keep Dom safe, no matter what their
relationship ended up being.

They drove on, already
out of the city and speeding down a local road. Now that they were out of
immediate danger, all he cared about was Domenico trembling against his back.
It was winter, and even without snow Dom was bound to be cold on a motorcycle,
wearing only wool and cotton. They needed to find someplace to crash soon. At
least he had the money to buy Dom a hot beverage. Dom needed to be in a hot
bed, not on the open road. He was wiggling about quite a lot so maybe something
was hurting him. At the nearest motel, Seth would stop.

“Seth?” Dom yelled to
get through the noises of the motorbike. “There’s someone following us.”

All of Seth’s senses
went aflame, and he turned his head to have a better look. He didn’t want to
seem paranoid, but when the bike behind them sped up, he pulled out his gun.

“Hold on,” he said to
Dom with his heart thudding in his chest. Now that Domenico was so vulnerable,
he needed to protect him at all cost. There were no excuses because failing would
mean death for both of them. After what Domenico did for him, killing his
mentor and leaving behind all he knew, this was the least Seth could do. Now he
wished he had been a better student and hadn’t distracted Domenico with sex so
frequently.

”What do you want to
do?” called Dom.

“I’ll
react
!” Seth
yelled back. The empty road ahead would hopefully allow him to look back every
now and then. Before Dom could answer, there was something to
react
to.
The man on the bike behind them approached and shot. The familiar noise had
Seth’s hands briefly turning into goo, and only a quick reaction saved them
from falling over. He held on to the gun in his hand and blindly fired back.

Domenico stiffened
behind him. “Stop. Stop the fucking bike! Or get off the fucking road!”

With just a small
fraction of the road ahead well visible in the headlight, it felt as though they
were running into some kind of trap. Seconds stretched into minutes as they hit
full speed and rushed forward. It took all of Seth’s attention to move around
without falling down. Dom sitting behind his back like a live shield was
constantly on his mind.

“I’m not stopping!
You
fucking shoot him!” Seth yelled with another bullet flying past them. He
shuddered when Dom leaned back, and then something hard and long brushed Seth’s
spine. The grasp of Domenico’s hand on his stomach got harder, the weight
tugging Seth back and forcing him to practically lie down on the motorbike for
balance. There were hundreds of horrific scenarios storming through his head as
he rushed along the open road. Domenico’s helmet exploding into a million
pieces after a bullet hit him in the head being one of them. Seth would pray
for it not to happen if he weren’t too busy keeping the bike upright.

Then came the noise Seth
already knew so well, and this time it was comforting like a song you knew from
your high school disco. Domenico shot, and then his arm was back where it
belonged, repeating the move from seconds ago, only on rewind. He put the gun
back under his coat.

The rattle and crash of
the bike behind them was music to Seth’s ears, and only an explosion could have
made it better. He exhaled, feeling safe in Dom’s embrace even if Dom’s hands
were there just to keep warm.

“Still got your
reflexes,” Seth yelled with a stupid grin under his helmet.

“He’s still alive, I
think,” Dom said without even a bit of remorse. “We need to go off the radar.”

“Fuck,” was all Seth had
to say about that, but he sped up and after riding a few miles farther, he
turned into a smaller road among trees, which later changed into a forest
trail. Darkness swallowed them up like in an episode of the
X-Files
, but
despite the cold, despite not knowing where to go, being alone with Dom felt
safer than hiding in the hornet’s nest called New York City. Domenico had just
shot a guy while they were on a bike. This meant something. His brain would get
better soon, and he’d know what to do. Dom had their escape planned in detail.

Seth slowed down as they
dove deeper and deeper into the woods. He wondered what strategy he should opt
for - going into the woods and risking freezing to death or just speeding ahead
to eventually find shelter in some nondescript building. For now he still
wasn’t sure, and he didn’t know what the normal Dom would think. He pulled into
another tiny asphalt road and continued along, hoping it would take them
somewhere near civilization.

This strategy was good
for a while, but Seth’s blood went cold when he began running low on gas. This
was the last thing he needed.

“Come on, you fucking
thing,” he moaned, cursing every deity known to man. Please, not when there was
no trace of a person within a few miles. Were they to find shelter with a
family of boars?

“What is it?” Domenico asked,
squeezing him harder.

“We’re almost out of
gas.” Seth was embarrassed to admit it, but there was no way around that.

Domenico hit the front
of his helmet against Seth’s back. “Fuck. And now what? Where are we going
anyway?”

How was Seth to answer
that? Where
were
they going? ‘Away’? That wasn’t an answer good enough.
There was no way to avoid talking about it though because the bike slowed down
and then stopped with an unpleasant rattle. “Forward?”

Domenico went silent and
just dismounted the bike, then walked over to the middle of the narrow road. He
faced away from Seth and looked into the darkness between the trees. It was so
thick, so complete, Seth hardly saw the border between Dom’s form and the
background.

Seth sighed. That
silence was the sound of disappointment. He got off the bike and lit himself a cigarette.
“We just need to push the bike up the road, I’m sure we’ll find
something
.”

“Is it safe for us to
just be on the road? Do you have a map, or something? A GPS?” Domenico turned
around, falling completely silent as he watched Seth.

Seth took a big draw of
smoke to avoid answering for a few seconds longer. “We can get a map at some
gas station.”

Domenico took a few
steps back, and Seth could see the frown on his face much clearer now with the
tiny light providing a gentle glow.

“I smoke.”

Seth looked at the last
two cigarettes he had in his packet. “I thought that maybe it changed. A lot’s
changed.”

“You fucker,” Domenico growled,
snatching the cigs out of Seth’s hand as he pulled part of the balaclava under
his chin. He got two cigarettes and stuffed both in his mouth before lighting
them with the Zippo. The fire set his mad-looking eyes aglow, and soon the two
burning ends were staring at Seth like the eyes of the monster living in
Domenico’s lungs.

“What? It’s my fault you
don’t remember that you smoke? Fuck.” Seth groaned and walked around the bike.

“And where will we go
from here? What will we do once we have the map?” Domenico’s words were like
thorns cutting deep into Seth’s flesh.

“I don’t know, okay?”
Seth spread his arms, watching the ridiculous image of Dom smoking two
cigarettes at once. “I’m trying my best here! It was
your
plan! Maybe if
you hadn’t assaulted our hosts, the police wouldn’t have knocked at our door.”

“Oh, so now it’s all my
fault?” Domenico spread his arms only to pull the coat closer around himself
again. He was moving around to keep warm, pacing over to the edge of the trees
and back. In the eerily quiet night, even their breaths seemed to join the
sounds of the woods.

“How am I supposed to
take care of you if you pull such bullshit stunts, huh?” Seth’s anger melted
with the feeling of uselessness, creating a cocktail he was not about to drink.

Domenico stopped moving
and stared at him with all his four eyes, the red burning ones included. “Do
you have
any
clue what I wanted to do?”

“Go to Mexico…” Seth
uttered. Dom was like a pair of pliers, trying to pull out stuff Seth didn’t
even have. Every question felt like a pinch to his flesh, like a big fat
insult. He was trying his best, and because he knew the old Dom would have been
so efficient, so well organized, made him squirm even more.

Domenico nodded and
ashed the cigarettes. “Okay. But we’ll take the road?”

Dom’s stupid purple
balaclava wasn’t making him look any less menacing. “Yeah. As soon as you get
better. Just leave it to me.” It was an empty promise. He couldn’t take care of
shit.

Domenico kicked an
invisible stone. “I’m cold.”

Seth looked around,
completely lost. If Dom got sick in his state, God knew what could happen. He
walked up to Dom and took off his jacket on the way, inviting goose bumps to
swallow him whole. He’d be fine though, it wasn’t him who was injured. “Take
this for now. Please tell me if you remember anything,” he added, hoping it
didn’t sound too whiny.

Dom shook his head. “You
can’t just stand here in a T-shirt,” he said, pushing the leather jacket away.
He exhaled. “We need to move. At some point we’re bound to get someplace that
has people.”

“Take the jacket, you’re
the one injured.” Seth needed to know he’d helped
somehow
. He refused to
be a waste of space.

But Dom shook his head
again. “It’s okay. I just need to get someplace warm.” Domenico was by no means
small, but his body was slimmer than Seth’s, so he was bound to be cold,
especially in the clothes he was wearing.

Seth swallowed when a
few snowflakes fell on his face. This was the last thing they needed now. Dom
would freeze and die because Seth was too stupid to come up with a good
solution. “Christ, just take it!” Seth pushed the jacked against Dom in
frustration. “I’ll get warm pushing the bike.”

“Oh, for fuck’s sake,
I’m not made of sugar, you know,” Domenico growled, already limping forward.
“Put your damn jacket on.”

“Take the jacket or I
won’t give you any more cigarettes.” Seth followed the stubborn goat. It was a
bluff though, he didn’t have any more cigarettes anyway.

“Fuck you,” Dom muttered,
pressing forward, limping step after limping step. “I can live without food,
shelter, sex, and I sure can live without cigarettes.”

Seth took a few steps to
catch up with him and put the jacket over his shoulders. “Why don’t you just
let me help you?” he groaned.

Domenico pushed it off
his shoulders, and it fell to the asphalt. “Are you daft?” he asked, turning
his head with so much rage that the purple ears flapped about on top of his head.
“I said ‘no’.”

“Whatever! Freeze then,
what do I care?” Seth put on his jacket, and made his way back to his bike.
“What else can you live without? Air?” With their luck they were probably in an
area with no houses within miles. He hadn’t thought of taking a map, he didn’t
even have a fucking flashlight. Seth rubbed his prickling eyes before pushing
the bike forward. The thing was fucking heavy.

“I’m injured, so having
you ill is really the last thing I need,” Dom said, watching Seth’s approach
before walking on alongside him.

At least the darkness
would hide the tears forming under Seth’s eyelids. This was too much. Even if
it was him who had to do the planning, Dom would have hugged him and told him
everything would be fine. With the way things were developing, the new Dom
would probably hate him by the end of the week. “I’ll be fine,” he whispered,
more to himself than to Dom.

Domenico pressed on, not
as efficiently as Seth was used to, but he never slowed down. The road was
completely empty and dark, and throughout the fifteen minutes they’d been
walking, not a single car drove past them. At least the moon shone in the strip
of naked sky over their heads, showing them what lay ahead. Not that it
mattered much anyway. Unless they stumbled upon a wolf, a bear, or whatever
else lived around here, it didn’t change a thing. It was Dom’s voice that broke
through the gloom in Seth’s head.

“Do I have someone?”

Seth looked up at him,
so shocked by the question pulling him out of his miserable thoughts that he
didn’t know how to answer. Should he straight up lie?

“You… used to. But
you’re not together anymore,” Seth muttered. It couldn’t have hurt more if Dom
stabbed him in the heart.

Domenico looked ahead,
stuffing his hands deeper into his pockets. “What happened?”

Seth pushed the bike
harder, ignoring his stone cold fingers. “You couldn’t tell him the truth about
yourself, so you drifted apart.”

Domenico was completely
silent for a longer moment before speaking again, “I suppose someone like me
would be lonely.”