Men of Mayhem (29 page)

Dominic bolted through
H20’s
doorway, running to his brother. Dropping down next to him, he checked Vinnie’s pulse, exhaling when he found one. After doing a quick check for bullet wounds, not finding any, he glanced back at his bodyguard. “Call the car around,” he said,
praying
his other bodyguard wasn’t dead, since their enemies had escaped the building.

As he waited, he yanked his jacket off and slipped it onto Vinnie, covering his brother’s bare torso. Seconds later, his car appeared around the corner, coming to a stop next to them. Gio jumped out of the front passenger seat.

“Why the fuck were you out back?” Dominic snapped at his bodyguard, wondering why he looked unharmed.

Gio grimaced. “There was a fucking sniper firing at me. I couldn’t get around the corner.”

“Then who the hell was firing at the Landi inside?”

“No idea.”

Vinnie glanced back at his other bodyguard. “Go check.” His gaze returned to Gio. “Help me get Vinnie into the car.”

They picked up Vinnie and slid his unconscious brother onto the backseat. The other bodyguard returned a few moments later, carrying a bleeding D in his arms.

“Where’s she been hit?” Dominic barked, surprised to see her.

“Her arm, but it’s a clean shot, gone right through.”

“Then why’s she unconscious?”

“Looks like she’s taken a blow to the back of the head. Her hair’s matted with blood.”

“Get her in the car.”

As Alanzo slid her in next to Vinnie, Dominic jumped into the front passenger seat, wondering what she’d been doing at the club so early in the morning.

Looking furious, Ricardo pushed up from his chair. He was Dominic’s oldest brother as well as the Don of their family, a harsh motherfucker with a giant chip on his shoulder.

Ricardo walked around his desk, his violet eyes locking onto Dominic’s blue ones. “Until Irene’s eliminated, Vinnie will remain in the compound for his own safety.”

“I want Vinnie to stay here too,” Dominic said. “The problem is, once he wakes up he’ll leave. You know he can’t be in the same house as
Mamma
after what she did.” Vinnie had discovered that their mother had paid one of their brothers to seduce his first love, so she could bribe the woman into leaving him. It had devastated Vinnie, causing him to move out of the compound.

“He doesn’t have a choice now, and if he tries to take off we’ll lock the thick-headed
imbecille
in a cell.”

Dominic’s eyes widened. “You can’t do that to Vinnie!”

“It’s either that or risk Irene kidnapping him again. Not only that, he’s become too reckless. You have to admit he’s out of control, Dominic. Consider this an intervention.”

Dominic started pacing the room, which was in the office wing of their huge mansion—a classical-styled structure their family had built after World War Two. “How about getting him to a safe house instead?” he replied, trying to think of something that wouldn’t cause Vinnie to lose his shit.

“Irene’s men will track him down. You forget they’re real soldiers, nothing like our
soldati.
”

“They didn’t do such a shit hot job back at the club. They left without him.”

“Only because D slowed them down enough for you to stop them.”

“Did you pay her to watch Vinnie?”

Ricardo shook his head. “She’s obviously still hung up on him.”

Dominic exhaled. “I just wish Vinnie felt the same way about her.”

“He doesn’t need a woman, he needs a fucking psychiatrist. And back to those Landi
bastardi
. Sooner or later, they’ll succeed in snatching Vinnie if he’s not safely behind our walls.”

“There has to be another solution.”

“There isn’t! And will you stand still for one fucking second, you’re driving me insane,” Ricardo snapped, his expression strained.

Dominic came to a stop, although it took all of his willpower, because everything inside of him was screaming to veto imprisoning his twin, especially with Vinnie’s sanity teetering on the edge. He didn’t want to risk pushing Vinnie over it, but he knew Irene wouldn’t stop coming after him. The psycho bitch was relentless. Without a doubt Ricardo had been
right, because securing Vinnie at the compound was the only safe and logical solution.

Ricardo started massaging his temples, looking like he was trying to calm himself down, his temper fraying badly. He had IED—Intermittent Explosive Disorder, which meant he was easy to anger, no, not just easy, much, much, more so. He would lose his temper at the drop of a hat, yelling and hollering at people, even getting violent. Though, it was getting worse of late, making Dominic wonder whether Ricardo had stopped taking his medication.

Ricardo dropped his hands and resumed talking. “If you do your job and find Irene fast, Vinnie won’t need to stay here for long.”

Dominic scowled, finding his brother’s words a slap to his ego. He was damn good at his job, which was flushing out people who didn’t want to be found. But the Landi were always one step ahead, the bastards obviously using a spy to outplay him.

“I think there’s someone in our employ that’s working for the Landi,” he said. “They must be tipping them off. We need to flush the rat out.”

Ricardo grimaced. “I’ll get Luciano onto it.”

“
Bene
, because I really don’t want to lock Vinnie up. Putting him in a cell will only cause him to go even more nuts.”

“It’s not a matter of choice, and we’ll give him the nicer, furnished cell. We’ll even bring in his stuff, anything to make him feel more comfortable.”

“It’s still a cell.”

“What do you suggest we do, then?” Ricardo snapped, looking frustrated. “Because we’re running out of options here, Dominic.”

“Put him in the studio. Station guards around it.”

“It’s still imprisoning him and he’ll probably attack them in an attempt to get away. If he’s in a cell, there’s only one door, not a ton of windows he can climb out of, like in the studio.”

Dominic pushed his messy brown hair back, not liking the situation one bit…but he couldn’t allow Vinnie to live at the club anymore, not after what Irene had done. Also, his twin was wreaking havoc. One of their half-brothers had managed to bribe the band into not quitting, while the soldiers were working overtime, trying to combat the media attention Vinnie’s striptease had created.

Ricardo placed his hands on Dominic’s shoulders. “I know this is hard on you, but if you want him to start getting better, he needs to be in a safe place, where he can’t get his hands on booze or drugs. While he sobers up in the cell, you’ll continue searching for Irene. Once you find her, don’t wait—kill her, then bring her body back for Vinnie to see. Hopefully, her death will give him closure.”

Dominic nodded, knowing Ricardo was right. They had no choice. Vinnie had to be transported to one of the cells.

“I’ll make it happen,” Ricardo said, appearing relieved with Dominic’s acceptance. He pulled out his cell and called his head soldier. After ordering Vinnie’s transfer, he hung up, returning his attention to Dominic. “Go help them. You know what Vinnie would like in the cell.”

Dominic nodded and headed out of Ricardo’s office, not sure Vinnie liked anything anymore, other than booze. He entered the lounge, aiming for the back door. Two Vipers were sitting on the couch, watching TV. The female assassins looked up as he passed by, the Korean one asking if everything was all right, his bad mood probably radiating off him. He shook his head, finding nothing right about this whole fucked up situation.

He exited the main house and crossed the courtyard, entering his and Vinnie’s studio a moment later. He came to a stop in the small lounge, where three soldiers were waiting by the couch. He started snapping out instructions, telling them which items to take to the cell, then returned to the main house, aiming for the doctor’s clinic. He stopped in the lounge as two soldiers emerged with his unconscious twin. D was following them, asking where they were taking Vinnie. She’d woken up on the ride back to the compound while one of Dominic’s bodyguards had been bandaging her arm. Gio, a trained medic, had also bandaged her head.

Ignoring D, the soldiers continued on their way, heading for the stairs that led to the cells.

D continued to follow them, yelling, “What the hell are you doing?”

Dominic ran after her, grabbing her uninjured arm. “Go back to the clinic,” he said, pulling her away from the stairs. “You shouldn’t be out of bed.”

She jerked her arm free, her expression furious. “No! Why the hell are they taking Vinnie to a cell?”

“To stop him from leaving the compound.”

“You can’t imprison your own twin!”

“I don’t have a choice.”

“Yes, you do!”

“No, I don’t!” he yelled back, his emotions getting the better of him. “This is killing me, fucking killing me! He’s my twin, the person I love the most in the world, and I’m going to lose him no matter what I do. But I
have
to protect him from the Landi—
from Irene
, because she fucked him up bad. What she did is destroying him.
Dio!
Seeing him like this is destroying
me
.” Unable to handle it anymore, he spun around and took off for his studio, everything becoming too much.

D ran after him. “Stop, Dom,” she said, grabbing his arm.

He yanked free and continued out of the house.

She ran in front of him, placing a hand on his chest. “Stop!”

He went still, but couldn’t look her in the eyes, ashamed he’d lost his shit in front of her—ashamed of fucking everything.

“Oh, sweetheart, I’m sorry.” She reached up and pulled his head to her good shoulder. “I didn’t mean to upset you. This isn’t your fault. You’re doing your best for Vinnie.”

Dominic buried his face into her shoulder, knowing his best wasn’t good enough.

D

D directed Dominic to his studio. He looked both distraught and exhausted, Vinnie’s behavior having worn him down. He’d taken care of his twin, doing everything he could, but now
he
needed taking care of.

She gave him a sedative, then settled him in bed. Within seconds, he fell asleep. She was sure he hadn’t slept for weeks, because whenever she saw him he had dark rings under his lovely blue eyes.

She exited his room, spotting a soldier removing Vinnie’s guitar and amp. She followed the man out of the studio and into the main house, coming to a stop as the Don emerged from the office passageway. His hard violet gaze fell on her. Lately, Dominic’s oldest brother seemed to have a permanent scowl on his face, his demeanor making him unpleasant to be around.

He headed over to her, his raw power intimidating. “Why were you at
H20
so early in the morning?” he asked, coming to a stop in front of her.

“A woman tried to poison me there. She was mouthing off about Vinnie being her husband. I was worried she would target him next, so when you didn’t return from your meeting, I went back to the club and camped out. I just didn’t realize the woman was Irene Landi. She looked nothing like the images on the internet.”