Noah had cringed at that. Although he hadn’t denied it.
After dinner, Alex dragged Noah into the living room to game with him for a while, leaving me alone with Emma. Even though she insisted that I didn’t have to help clean up, I cleared the table and loaded the dishwasher.
“You really didn’t have to do that, Dominik. You’re the guest here. Can I get you anything else? Do you want more pie?” Emma motioned to the pie plate on the counter.
“No thank you. I’m stuffed. I couldn’t eat another bite. It was so good.” I got the feeling she wanted to say something more now that we were alone. Like she’d been waiting for a chance like this.
She started the kettle to make a cup of tea. A few times she opened her mouth to speak before finally saying, “Do you mind if I ask you something?”
“Not at all. Go for it.” Here it comes. I wasn’t sure what to expect, so I braced for anything.
“Are you and Noah serious? I mean, is this relationship something you’re both deeply invested in?” When Emma met my gaze, worry shone in her brown eyes.
I understood. She needed reassurance. She’d watched Noah suffer in the past, and she didn’t want to see it happen again.
“Noah and I had a strange start,” I said honestly. “The fact that we’re even together now is kind of a miracle. I’m completely in love with him. This is real. I’ve never been more serious about anything in my life.”
Her shoulders visibly relaxed. She released the breath she’d been holding. “Good. I’m relieved to hear that. Noah’s had it hard in the past. I’m not sure if he told you about his father.”
“He did.”
“Then you understand why it means so much to me for him to find his happiness. He’s never dated anyone for long. Nothing long-term. When he first started dating, I saw him used and tossed aside by those he believed cared about him. I can’t watch him get hurt, Dom. Not again.” Emma twisted her teabag between her fingers, almost tearing it.
She was the mom every kid deserved to have, especially every gay kid. I wondered if she had any idea how amazing she was.
“I’m sorry if this comes out sounding a little scary and intense, but if anyone fucks with Noah while I’m around, they won’t live to see another sunrise. And I sure as hell won’t be the one to hurt him.” There was no other way to say it. She needed to know exactly how I felt.
Shock filled Emma’s expression. It quickly gave way to relief. She nodded, dropping her teabag into her cup before filling it with hot water. “That’s all I needed to hear. Thank you for loving my son as much as I do.”
In that moment I knew that I’d been accepted. Completely and wholeheartedly welcomed into her family. She could have asked me to hunt down her shitty ex-husband and take his head off, and I would’ve done it. Even though she would never do such a thing, I think she knew I wouldn’t hesitate to protect Noah, no matter what the circumstances.
By the time we left later that evening, I was feeling really good about our visit. Emma sent me home with the rest of the pie, telling me to come back anytime. Noah couldn’t have been happier with how everything went.
When we were snuggled up in my bed together that night, he poked me in the ribs and grinned. “So when do I get to meet your family?”
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
NOAH
“Are you sure you’re up for this? I know it’s not your usual type of job.” I double checked the address on my burner phone.
Dom angled himself toward me in the passenger seat. “Of course. Why wouldn’t I be? I’ve done worse shit than this. I’ve cut out human organs.”
Shoving the phone into the console, I started the car and backed out of his driveway. “Are you trying to turn me on? I’m driving here.”
I shot him a flirtatious grin before turning my attention to the road. Tonight I was taking Dominik with me on a job. A woman had approached me about her cheating husband. She wanted me to catch him in the act and beat the shit out of him. Give him a good scare. I had offered to kill him for the right price. She didn’t want to take it that far. Insisting she wanted to destroy his life instead.
Now that Damon and I were officially working with the Kings, I thought it would be a good chance to bring Dom along. For him to be part of what I did. On the flipside of things, Damon was accompanying Stray and Casper on an organ pick up.
After the deal with Morgan Teller fell through, the Kings had managed to secure a deal with someone else at theprison. They would be receiving a steady supply of organs from maximum security prison inmates in a city a few hours from here. I’d given up on finding Teller for my client. With everything else going on, it had dropped to the bottom of my to do list.
Dom chuckled, giving his head a shake. “You’re a sick man, Noah. If I was trying to turn you on, I would do something like this.”
His hand slid onto my thigh, angling toward my cock. It didn’t take much for my body to respond to him. My stomach tightened as my pulse quickened.
“Don’t tempt me with a hand job while driving. I’ll probably drive off the road and kill us both.” I reached down to grab his hand before he convinced me to pull over and take him in the back seat. We were due at the mistress’s house within ten minutes. We had to catch the husband before he left.
“Not a bad way to go.” Dom pretended to consider the scenario. “Although I am not ready to be done with you yet, so let’s not.”
