Guns n' Boys: Homicidal Instinct (Book 2) (gay dark mafia erotic romance) (8 page)

Chapter 7

Domenico stared at his
shoes on the dashboard of the secondhand RV they had bought after spotting it
in front of the owner’s house with a big sale sign. Paid in cash, no questions
asked. It was a bit beat-up, with an old-school interior in chipped wood, and without
a working toilet, but the moment Seth saw the oven in the kitchenette, the deal
was sealed. Their new accommodation was far from glamorous, but once they
stocked up on some cleaning products and used a room fragrance to kill the odor
of dying plywood, it turned out to be a very good choice. Seth had a place to
cook, and with the sofas converting into a double bed, they could avoid
spending too much money in motels once they got to places that weren’t as
freezing as the north. They still had a whole suitcase of banknotes, but
nothing lasted forever, and there was no way to predict how much time they
would spend on the road.

Domenico liked the RV.
He even liked cleaning the RV. It was something stable in his life. Since they
purchased it, he knew where he’d be sleeping and what would be for dinner, and
so he didn’t mind the lack of a toilet on board because they could do without
any funky smells. There were enough bushes on the sides of the road to take care
of this kind of business anyway. Traveling with Seth felt like being on
vacation.

Domenico looked at his
brother, who talked about the fry-up he was going to make. Still handsome.
Still unbearably sexy. Still smelling like a million dollars. How fucked-up was
it to get horny around your own brother? It certainly didn’t help that Seth was
the only person Dom spent time with, and then there were the moments of freaky
chemistry. Seth pulling close only to withdraw without a word. Seth smelling
him when randomly walking about. The way Domenico’s skin charged when Seth’s
body hair brushed his forearms. Sleeping next to him, huddled close under a
pile of comforters and blankets, was beyond difficult, even in the winter
sleeping bags. Seth was fucking hot even when wrapped like a larva.

“Oh, this looks good,”
Seth pointed to something to the left and turned into a little parking lot.

When Dom looked that
way, his heart filled with dread at the sight. A crappy looking standalone
building screamed ‘Discount!’, ‘Sale!’, ‘50% OFF!’. It was a thrift store, and
its smell reached Dom’s imagination before it could ever reach his nostrils.

“Does it?” Domenico muttered,
grabbing the side of his seat as Seth parked by the architectural monstrosity
made of concrete.

“Yeah, we can leave some
of the stuff we don’t use and get something new that won’t draw attention to
us.” Seth’s definition of ‘new’ had to be different from Dom’s.

Domenico looked down at
one of the things he loathed in his new life. The fucking aloha shirt Donald had
given him. He could practically feel its ugliness penetrate his skin and slowly
get into his system, no doubt to hijack his sense of style.

“I’m sure I’ll find
something for myself.” Seth pointed to the cowl on his neck with a smile. “You
got me this one, I wanna get you something now.”

Domenico frowned. That
sounded weird. Why would getting a scarf for your brother be a big deal? “Can’t
we just go somewhere nicer? If this will be anything like that music video you
showed me, I’d rather go naked.”

“No you wouldn’t, you’d
freeze your dick off.” Seth parked the RV and unbuckled his seat belt. The
sound had an air of finality to it. “Come on, it’s gonna be fun.”

Domenico didn’t move by
an inch. “Can’t we just get some nice shirts?”

“I’m sure we can get
something nice in there. Why do you always have to be so judgmental?” Seth got
out of the vehicle and looked at Dom from the ground.

“I just want to be
presentable,” Domenico muttered. It was fucking Valentine’s Day, and as stupid
as the holiday was, he wanted to get laid. There had to be places for that
around.

Seth looked at his face
with that concerned look. “It’s gonna heal, Dom…”

It was like getting a
fist in the gut. Domenico exhaled, looking away from Seth, careful not to look
into the rearview mirror. “I meant this fucking parrot costume, but it seems
all fades in comparison to my face.”

Seth cringed, silent for
a while, but his awkwardness didn’t make Dom feel any better. “I… I just
thought you’d be thinking about that. I mean, you can get new clothes later as
well. I just don’t think a brand-new Prada suit will let us remain unnoticed.”

“I wear Prada?” Domenico
stared at him, exhaling, and quickly pulled out a pack of cigarettes. He so
needed a smoke. “Good taste.”

Seth sighed. “Yeah, you
like to look classy, but it’s really not the time for this. You even look good
in this shirt,” Seth pointed to the disgrace to the clothing industry Dom was
wearing. “It doesn’t matter right now.”

Dom deflated. What if he
happened to meet a hot guy in there, and he’d be refused? He could get a hookup
with a dark and mysterious look, but a scar on the face
and
a Hawaiian
shirt? That just wouldn’t do. “Doesn’t it? I look like a bum.”

“I don’t care. At least
no one will pay attention to us. Get out of the car. Come on,” moaned Seth,
making annoyed faces at Dom. Seth was one to talk.
He
looked cool even
in tracksuit bottoms paired with a leather jacket. But it was no use. Domenico
did need more clothes, and so he got out of the RV and stuffed his hands into
Seth’s old tracksuit bottoms that made Dom feel like Aladdin. Too bad he didn’t
have the freaking genie to magically transform his closet, his ride, and even
his ugly-ass face.

“That’s the spirit!”
Seth cheered Dom on as if he needed that. “Who knows, you might find something
Armani or Prada in there. It’s very varied what you can get.”

“I want a footed pajama.
Flamingo, because I’m such a big gay,” Domenico growled, slowly approaching the
doors of the store.

Seth muttered something,
but it was too quiet for Dom to understand. He stuffed his hands in his pockets
and walked on with a big fat frown. He didn’t even smile at the shop owner when
he entered.

Domenico stopped dead,
overwhelmed by the labyrinth of racks, railings, and boxes of clothes. It was
the tie dye of clothing stores. Nothing matched anything, as if someone just
randomly put the items on hangers and got on with it. Did they have any
attendants here? And how would he find the same thing in another size?

To make things worse,
Seth just left him at the door and walked off to some racks farther on. Dom was
in garment hell, or at least in fashion purgatory.

No help. Domenico
pressed his eyelids shut, exhaled, and then walked over to the counter, where a
bored-looking teenager was busy filling her nails.

“Where can I get suits
and dress shirts?” he asked as politely as possible.

The girl looked up at
him, clearly assessing him, judging him on the flowery shirt he was wearing.
“Down there, by that guy.” She pointed to Seth’s tall figure at the back.

Domenico waited, for a
moment, wondering whether she would walk him there, but when she put the file
against her nail again, he guessed that was a no. He slowly walked between the
intimidating snakes of fabric and steel, but as much as he tried to spot
something interesting, with the garments pressed so close together and put on
the racks without any pattern, he was feeling increasingly lost.

“I heard they have
dressy stuff down here,” he muttered as he approached Seth.

Seth looked up at him
without a smile but indicated a few hangers in his hand. “Yeah, I’m trying to
find something for you.”

“You are?” Domenico
pushed his hands down his pockets and chewed on his lip. He really needed a
decent look for tonight. Something cool, maybe a bit dangerous. Maybe he could
work Seth’s bad boy look with that biker jacket? “Something hot to make up for
the face,” he joked, even though he knew it wasn’t funny.

“I am, because you won’t
stop moaning until you get something decent. You always push me until you get
what you want,” Seth grumbled and pulled out another shirt from the racks. As
much as it was interesting information, if he were Seth, he wouldn’t have told
himself that.

Dom smiled. “What will
it be? Any Pradas in there?” he asked, slowly moving his fingers over the
sampler of mismatched fabrics that was the row of hanged clothes.

Seth gave him the stare
of death and threw the clothes on top of the rack with a snarl. “You know what?
Let’s just forget it and go to a fucking Prada showroom instead. We’ve got the
money, right? Let’s just throw it around!”

“Yeah, tell everyone we
walk around with a bag of cash,” hissed Dom and picked up a red shirt. It was
on the small side, not fitted at all, but maybe, just maybe, it would do? A
Valentine’s Day color.

“Whatever. Just choose
something if you want, or don’t. I don’t care. You can make your own
decisions.” Seth shook his head. God only knew what bit his ass today.

“Of course you don’t,” Dom
muttered and started looking through the hangers with his heart in his throat.
“You’re just fucking burdened with me.”

“If I thought you were a
burden, I’d have shot you days ago,” Seth grumbled, but Dom was almost sure it
was a bluff.

“Nah, you love me too
much.” Domenico closed his eyes and swiped his fingers over what felt like
artificial silk. He would
not
be John Travolta tonight.

Seth turned around. “I
gotta take a piss. Meet you in the RV,” he said and walked off, leaving Dom
stranded in the sea of old clothes.

Dom blinked. “Don’t you
need anything to wear?”

“I’m fine. Who cares
what I look like?” And it had to be true, because that beard of his was growing
day by day. It looked good on him.

“Said the fucking Mr.
Gorgeous,” Domenico growled before going back to browsing. He needed to have
something to wear. His current supply of clothes was beyond ridiculous. He
looked like either a very sad hipster or a very lucky sixty-year-old.

Seth left the store. It
was becoming all too typical for him to just leave like that. Complete lack of
regard for how Dom felt about it. Not having Seth in sight, sort of
disconnected Dom from the world around him. Only Seth knew who he really was
and without that Dom felt like a random assortment of personality traits. The
fear that Seth would eventually get fed up with this shit was always at the
back of his mind. Would this be the moment? Would Seth go without him? He did
have most of the money on him.

Domenico shook his head
and resigned himself to shopping. As unglamorous as it all was, he managed to
find some decent clothes, including a good suit jacket and the red shirt. He
would wear it with his new jeans. The whole getup did look a bit nineties, but
a man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do.

When he got back, he
found Seth at the back of the RV, packing food into the fridge. He gazed at
Dom, looking more tired than ever. “I’m sorry. I think I’m just stressed out.
How about we rent some nice place today and chill out?”

Domenico exhaled,
dropping his bag to the sofa. Was this an apology? “Yeah, that would work. But
first I need new underwear. And I don’t mean the previously loved kind.” He
would
get to fuck tonight.

“Yeah, sure, we can drop
by a shopping center. I bought some food. I’m gonna make beetroot ravioli, a
pistachio pavlova, and then we can get smashed. How about that?” Seth waved a
bottle of tequila at Dom.

Domenico chuckled,
already pulling off the freaking aloha shirt. He’d prefer to wash the new
clothes first, but there was no way to do it now. He’d just use plenty cologne
to cover their chemical smell. “Wow, that’s some festive menu. What’s the occasion?”

Seth shrugged, but Dom
could clearly see something was off. He just couldn’t pinpoint what it was.
“You know, Valentine’s Day. We’re both single. Might as well eat something
good.” Did Seth have to leave someone to be on the run? Was he still hung up on
some guy and the V-day triggered that?

Domenico frowned,
pulling on the shirt. He would be a good brother. “Is there something you want
to tell me?”

“I guess I’m just a bit
lonely,” Seth muttered, and Dom was impressed by his own deduction skills. They
came so naturally. “I’m sure it’ll all cool down once we get to Mexico.”

Seth’s eyes had a gloss
over them Dom wasn’t expecting to see. Looked like his brother was softer than
Dom had thought. It felt wrong to just stand there. Domenico had given Seth his
space back in the woods when Seth went off to cry, but he couldn’t just leave
him now. Seth had been a great support and endured a lot for him. It made sense
to comfort him.

Slowly, he put his arm
around Seth’s hips and pulled him closer. A wave of the earthy aroma that Seth
always carried filled Dom’s nostrils, and he had to close his eyes. The weight
of Seth’s arms surrounding his neck almost had his knees buckle from the
familiarity of it. Seth was falling apart, and Dom needed to make sure they
were back on track.
He
was the one injured, yet he seemed to be taking
it better. Maybe Seth was the reason they left? Because Dom knew that if they
stayed, Seth would blurt something out at some point and compromise their
lives? Seth’s bulky body trembled soundlessly in Dom’s arms.