“Dominic, don’t you think it’s about time you tell me why there are people after me? And please, I don’t want to hear the same bullshit answer about you having enemies.” He puts his knife and fork onto the table and leans back into his chair. And sighs. “Elle, the less you know the better.”
“How has being kept in the dark so far worked out for me. I couldn’t protect myself Dominic. And do you know why? Because I didn’t even know that I was in danger.” His jaw clenches briefly. He then shakes his head and has a look of resolve on his face. “You’re right of course.” Dominic combs his fingers through his hair and he sighs again.
“Elle, we aren’t supposed to reveal ourselves to anyone who is not a part of our world.” He lets out a breath. “I’m the head of the Italian mafia in New York, the Don of the Cosa Nostra.” He looks at me as if he expects to see disgust. As if at any minute I would lose my shit and start to throw the dishes at him. Dominic probably expected me to demand that he let me go home.
Throwing up my hand I smile at him in relief. “I knew it!” Then I laugh. “I suspected from the beginning that you all didn’t live like normal people. Dante’s refusal to take you to the hospital when you were injured. The silence when I enter a room. The talk of shipments. All of it now makes sense. I had a feeling you were involved in some sort of nefarious activities. So, are you like Tony in the Sopranos?” I smile at him. Dominic seems to be completely baffled by the reaction to his revelation.
“Ah, I really didn’t expect such a response from you Elle.” “I’m not stupid Dominic. I knew that you were involved in something. I just couldn’t figure out what.” “You’re one of the smartest women, I know Elle.”
“So, tell me who’s after me.” “I think that you owe me an explanation as it’s my life that has been upended.”
“You know that my uncle had me kidnapped and tried to have me killed. He wants me out of the way and he hasn’t been satisfied with how I run things. I’m not sure how they found out that you saved me. After I sent you back to your life, I left a couple of my men to guard you.” When I jerk in surprise, he reaches across the table to take my hand in his. A light squeeze expressing his need for my understanding.
“Please understand that I had to make sure that you were safe. But when it appeared that the bastard wasn’t aware of your existence, I believed you to be safe…so I took them away.” I raised an eyebrow at this. So, I wasn’t going crazy or being paranoid. No wonder I felt as if I was being watched.
“The night you were attacked, I was informed that the Albanians, who I suspect are allied with my uncle, were after you. If it wasn’t for the warning, I wouldn’t have been able to get to you in time.”
“I remember my attacker saying that ah ….Alban wanted me.” As if to comfort me, Dominic gently rubs his thumb along my palm. "I think that they realized that you meant something to me.” My heart skips a beat. “I believe that they were going to use you as bait.”
What! I mean something to him. No, it can’t be. He was only grateful that I saved him. “Why would they think that you would come after me? I mean, I’m just a stranger who was taken to save you when you were injured.” He shakes his head. “I had my men protecting you Elle. I cared. I would’ve gone after you.” I look at him startled by this admission. We stare at each other. The heat in his gaze makes me tremble. What does this all mean? Why would he come after me?
Ana reenters the gazebo again, before I could ask him to clarify. She seems pleased with the empty plate in front of me. She clears the dirty dishes from the table. Dominic looks down at his cellphone when it vibrates. Then he stands up suddenly.
“Anna, please show Elle around the house. Elle I’m sorry, something urgent has come up. I’m needed in the office. Please don’t leave the compound, it's not safe.”
Then he’s gone.
Chapter 15
~Dominic~
“Who the fuck leaked the information of our route? Dario, other than the four of us, who else was privy to this information?”
Dario, Dante, and Nico are all meeting with me in my Manhattan office. I’m already pissed off that I had to leave Elle back at the mansion. I wanted to be the one to show her around my home and hated leaving her so abruptly. To sour my mood further—it looks as if we have a snitch. I’m livid.
Only our most trusted soldiers are given the shipment schedule and route. And this information is only ever disclosed at the latest possible time. To avoid exactly what has occurred, we change the route all the time. This makes it difficult for anyone to predict our movement. In addition, we have multiple warehouses and docks that we make use of.
“Dominic, only the ten men who were in charge of securing the route between the warehouse and the docks knew.” Dario oversees security, and he vets all our guards. “They’ve all been with us for years and have already proven their loyalty.” Nico Morelli says. He’s in charge negotiating the Family’s arms deal. Out of all my capos, he’s the one that I’m closest to. We've known each other all our lives.
“Look into all of them. See if anyone has come into money recently. Most men can be bought for the right price.” I remind them. “I'll speak to Pavlov about this fuckup. Hopefully he will overlook it with an incentive. I’ll propose to him an offer to replace his entire shipment of assault rifles which has been lost. An offer an additional one hundred pistols and rounds of ammunition at no additional cost. Hopefully, it’ll be enough to appease him.”
They all agree that this was the best course of action. “During our meeting with him, he certainly appeared to be invested in making our alliance work Brother.” Dante reminds me. “He did. And he upheld his promise to share intel with us.” I’m irritated by the fact that I now owe the cocky Russian a debt. “Yes, if it wasn’t for him, we wouldn’t have been on time to save Elle.” I admit.
Nico, who’s occupying an armchair in my office, looks between Dante and me with confusion. “Who’s Elle?” He inquires. “She is the doctor who Dante brought to save me when I was kidnapped and tortured by Salvatore’s men.” He raises his eyebrows at this. “But why did they target her?” When I don’t respond, Nico looks between my brother and cousin. “I’m still looking into how they made the connection, Dom.” Dario says.
“We need to solve this problem quickly, because I’m not sure how long I’ll be able to keep her at the mansion. Now that she knows about the family—she’s in even more danger than before.”
“WHAT! You told her about us?” Dante by now is pacing in front of my desk clearly agitated. I lean forward in my chair with my hands resting on the desk and my fingers interlocked.
“She deserved to know why she was attacked and almost violated. And let’s not forget, which one of us kidnapped an innocent woman and dragged her into our world? By this time, I’m fighting to keep my anger in check. Anytime I remember what those monsters almost did to Elle, I want to break something.
Since the attack three days ago, her screams at night have been disturbing. The first night I heard it I was horrified at her inner turmoil and was genuinely worried about her mental health. The thought of her remaining isolated in her bedroom and wasting away had me panicking. If anyone were to find outthat Don Vitelli was this worried about a woman's well-being, they would laugh.
It was my memory of the photo of her during her morning run that had given me the idea of how to coax Elle out of her room. “Dom, you know that I had no choice. It was the only way to save you. You had lost a lot of blood and none of our doctors would have been there quickly enough.” Dante's voice snaps me back to our conversation.
“Do you have feelings for this girl, Dominic?” The glare that I send Dario’s way has him raising his eyebrows. “She’s in danger because of us. We owe it to Elle to keep her safe. What I feel for her doesn’t matter.” No doubt, they all realize that I don’t deny that I have feelings for Elle. “She mentioned to me today that Alban was the one who sent his men after her.” I steer the conversation away from any talk of my feelings for Elle.
“Those bastards have not gotten the message yet—that I don’t want them operating in my city. Pavlov has admitted to the same problem as us. The Albanians have also been trying to encroach on his territory in Chicago. Ever since those scumbags decided to expand their operations from Europe to the United States, they’ve been trying to carve out more of our territory for themselves. Our predecessors made a grievous mistake by doing business with them.”
