least, it’s not the fucker’s face… yet,” Mack murmurs.
My lips tilt up into a small smile. This shit should disturb me, but it only makes it feel more like home.
Slater turns, bat in hand and makes purposeful strides for the house. Mack takes my hand and leads me inside.
I glimpse to my right and spot Pacer and Kelso standing guard over Dom. Their arms crossed over their chests, staring daggers at him. Dom sits on a sofa that’s been shoved into the corner of the room. He watches me and Mack walk through with a steady and alert gaze. There seems to be no emotion over Slater smashing up his car.
Mack halts and tips my chin up to look at him. “Stay in here, Lana. Slater’s fit to make the walls red with that rat’s blood, and I don’t want you within seeing or hearing distance if that happens.”
Scrunching up my nose and wrinkling my brow, I prepare to disappoint him. “Well see, now that plan doesn’t work for me. Yes, I want to stay safe, but Dom said Frank Lucini was my mother’s uncle. I know nothing of my family. And only a few seconds ago, I found out… first, that I have a great uncle and… second, who he is. I want in when Dom explains everything.”
Mack’s brows drop over his narrowed eyes and his face turns intense as he readies himself for battle with me.
I exhale loudly. “I really don’t want to fight over this, Mack. I trust you. If at any time things start getting out of control and dangerous, say the word, and I will head straight upstairs. But until then, please give me this. Everyone else in my life has hidden this part of my life from me, please don’t do the same thing,” my reply comes out thick, with a pleading edge to it.
“Christ,” Mack murmurs more to himself than to me. When his eyes drop to the floor and I realize he won’t deny me this, I smile, give him a quick kiss on the lips. Turning on my heel to head back into the living room, I arrive just in time to see Slater barrel across the room, bat in hand aiming to strike it right at Dom’s head.
Well, that didn’t last very long.
Mack’s warm hand wraps around my bicep as if he’s about to throw me out of the room. However, Slater halts suddenly.
“Talk and if I even sense you might be lying, I’m going put a dent into your face,” Slater rasps out, his tense body and voice revealing how hard he’s trying to hold onto his control.
Dom sits back on the sofa and appears to be unaffected by Slater’s threats. However, his arms are stretched out on the sofa and his fingers are digging into the material, as if ready to move or pounce at any time.
“I was contracted to work undercover with the Kings and Poison Boys until I found out who killed Jae Scavello. Rex knew nothing about who I was, he was never told anything by the enforcers who he was meeting with.” Dom’s expression turns sincere. “Fuck, Slate, you told me you were the killer three weeks in. And as weak as this is going to sound, it’s the truth. I couldn’t do it. And every month that passed had me sending Lucini and Bone more unimportant information and lies. I got lost in your world. This is the first time I’ve taken a job like it before and I thought I was prepared, I was wrong. I’ve battled black market monsters and sat on the front lines of a war.” Dom lowers his eyes and shakes his head. “None of those situations prepared me for this sort of war. Living with the enemy, falling for the enemy,” he whispers the last part, and his achingly sad tone causes my heart to skip a beat. Della.
Dom lifts his head and his sorrowful gaze goes directly to Slater. “I got no family left in this world, but I got good friends. Friends who are also like brothers to me and I saw in you all, what I see in them. Good men, tough situations, and no fucking around to protect what you love. I belonged here; you all belong in my real life with my real friends. It didn’t take me long before I saw you all trying to survive and live a respected life, by working hard and playing hard.”