Gemma’s POV
I woke up entangled with the Capo who had destroyed my heart completely. His powerful fra pressed against mine, that intoxicating blend of expensive cologne and danger still clinging to my skin, and despite everything, desire pulsed through my veins like liquid fire.
When he whispered that he belonged to , sothing fractured inside my chest. For one foolish mont, I believed the beautiful lie this Thorne family enforcer painted with his words.
I needed to feel him once more before walking away forever. Without hesitation, I stripped away every barrier between us, positioning myself above him, seizing control of our connection. What consud in that mont terrified with its raw intensity. I craved his touch, needed him to ignite every nerve ending in my body, wanted him to claim with that devastating hunger that made him the most feared man in Port Serenity.
But Dominic had entirely different plans. Instead of the brutal, desperate encounter I expected from a man who ruled through violence, he worshipped slowly, tenderly, transforming our passion into sothing sacred. He lifted beyond the physical realm, beyond anything I had ever experienced with anyone from his world. That gentle devastation destroyed more thoroughly than any harsh interrogation ever could.
As he moved within , every caress beca a declaration of ownership. His hands, his mouth, his erald eyes branded as his exclusive territory. When pleasure crashed over him, words escaped his lips that changed the entire power dynamic between us forever.
He loved . And that revelation terrified him more than facing down rival families.
In that transcendent mont, he reached past every defense I had constructed against his dangerous world, rging our souls in ways that felt permanent and terrifying. What happened between those silk sheets rewrote the very fabric of who I was. Every wall I had built crumbled to dust, leaving exposed and vulnerable in ways I never thought possible around soone who commanded fear throughout the underground.
My emotions raged like a hurricane inside my chest, chaos and destruction spinning out of control. I desperately needed the calm waters of certainty, the peaceful flow of normal life. Instead, I found myself drowning in a tempest of conflicting feelings about loving a man whose hands were stained with blood.
After the most earth-shattering intimacy of my existence, I lay completely defenseless, my armor scattered like broken glass around us. I collapsed against his chest and wept, releasing years of buried pain through my tears, letting them cleanse the wounds I had hidden so carefully from his predatory world.
Dominic shifted our positions, pulling on top of him, his strong arms creating a fortress around my trembling form. His fingers traced gentle patterns through my hair while his other hand drew soothing circles across my back, a stark contrast to the brutal efficiency those sa hands showed in family business.
"My beautiful goddess, we can fix this together. You will find it in your heart to forgive . I will earn back your trust, no matter how long it takes. I will spend every day making you happy, proving that I will never hurt you again."
We remained entwined for what felt like hours, surrendering to the raw emotion flowing between us. He continued making promises while I cried, neither of us breaking the sacred silence with unnecessary words about territory wars or family obligations.
By the ti we finally erged from our sanctuary, the sun had climbed high in the sky. Xavier imdiately spotted us, his knowing grin spreading across his weathered face like wildfire.
"Well, well, look what the cat dragged in. Hope you two enjoyed testing out our hospitality." His eyebrows waggled suggestively, completely ignoring the fact that he was talking to a Capo.
"Xavier, shut your mouth," Dominic warned, though his own smile betrayed his amusent at his consigliere’s irreverence.
"Gemma, you look absolutely glowing this morning," Zoe added with a mischievous wink that made heat flood my cheeks.
"Enough comntary from the peanut gallery," Dominic declared, his arm tightening possessively around my waist. "My private monts with my goddess are off-limits to your entertainnt."
Xavier insisted we stay for lunch, and throughout the entire al, Dominic remained glued to my side, his protective instincts on full display. When we finally managed to escape, I knew I had no choice but to leave with him before the interrogation about family business began in earnest.
The drive to my apartnt passed in heavy silence. Dominic seed to be walking on eggshells, carefully asuring each breath like he was defusing a bomb. When he pulled up to my building, his hand captured mine before I could flee.
"Gemma, when can we sit down and really talk?" The anxiety in his voice was unmistakable, unusual for soone who commanded respect through fear.
"During the week soti. Call and we will figure it out," I replied, exhaustion weighing down every word.
"Can I at least call you tonight?"
"Dominic, please give so space to process what happened today. I need ti to think."
"All right." His heavy sigh filled the expensive car. "But rember that I love you."
"Dominic, please..."
Sothing shifted in his expression, like he was wrestling with invisible demons from his violent past. Suddenly, he pulled toward him, crushing our mouths together in a kiss that claid ownership of my very soul. His tongue invaded and conquered, leaving no doubt about his intentions or his territorial nature. Only when our lungs burned for oxygen did he release .
"I am already missing you, my goddess," he whispered as I stumbled out of the car.
My mother was waiting when I walked through the door. Desperate to hide the emotional wreckage written across my face, I mumbled sothing about needing a shower and escaped to my bedroom. After pulling myself together, I rejoined her in the living room and shared stories about Caleb and Ivy’s obvious happiness, carefully omitting any details about their true roles in the Thorne organization.
Mom had her bags packed and ready for her new adventure, though nervous energy radiated from her small fra. We talked until Ryder arrived to collect her. When the mont ca to say goodbye, I summoned my brightest smile and wished her nothing but joy in this new Chapter, far from the dangerous world I had beco part of.
Alone in the suddenly quiet apartnt, I welcod the solitude I needed to sort through the chaos in my head. When my phone rang, the unknown number made hesitate. Sothing could be wrong, so I answered.
"Gemma, gorgeous Gemma." The voice made my skin crawl with imdiate recognition.
"Oh for crying out loud, is it not enough that you exist? Do you have to be completely revolting too?" My patience had officially reached its limit.
"Co on, sweetheart, stop playing gas. I know you are curious. You have had a taste of the son, now let daddy show you what a real man can do."
"Exactly how delusional are you?"
"Do not pretend with , darling. You want this and I can give you..."
"Here is what you can do. Crawl back into whatever sewer you ca from and pretend I do not exist. Oh, and I will be sure to ntion this conversation to Jude."
I slamd the phone down and scread at the ceiling. This exiled family mber was draining what little sanity I had left. Pizza and ice cream seed like the only logical solution. I settled in with "Pretty Woman" and cried like my teenage self, wishing life could be as simple as Hollywood made it seem.
I woke up on the couch surrounded by empty containers, my phone screaming for attention.
"Good God, I was about to file a missing person report," Zoe announced without preamble.
"Hello to you too, Zo. What a lovely way to start the morning."
"Morning, sunshine. Now explain why you are not wrapped around Dominic right now. I called him and he said you wanted to go ho alone last night."
My brain was too foggy for this level of interrogation from the family’s intelligence coordinator.
"Mom moved in with her boyfriend, Zo. I wanted to be here for her big goodbye."
"Why did Dominic not stay with you then?"
"Because I needed so mother-daughter ti without distractions."
"That makes sense." Finally, she dropped the inquisition. "Dominic is coming to get you, obviously, but I wanted to call first with the big news."
"What news?" I asked, starting to clean up my disaster zone.
"Ivy and Caleb are officially moving in together, and we have been drafted as the moving crew for today."
"That is incredible news!" Genuine happiness blood in my chest for my friend, even knowing the complications their relationship brought to the organization.
"So get yourself ready, and save the romance for later. We need all hands on deck."
After hanging up with Zoe, I was about to call Dominic when he beat to it.
"Gemma, good morning. How are you feeling?" His voice carried careful neutrality, the tone of a man accustod to navigating dangerous conversations.
"Fine. You?"
"Missing you terribly." He sighed before continuing quickly. "Did Zoe fill you in?"
"Just hung up with her."
"I am downstairs right now."
"You did not need to co all this way."
"But I wanted to."
"Dominic, I literally just woke up. I need to shower, get dressed, drink so coffee..."
"I will wait as long as you need."
"Dominic, seriously..." I took a steadying breath. "Fine, since you are already here, co up."
Minutes later, the doorbell echoed through the apartnt. I opened the door to find him staring at with raw hunger blazing in those erald eyes that had intimidated countless rivals. Only then did I rember my current state of undress.
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