Franklin reached forward and snatched the dark glasses from Dominic’s face. Winced before thrusting them against Dominic’s chest. “Looks like a hell of a fender bender.”
His father looked aghast at Dominic’s fading bruises. Tracy shot a wary look at his brother.
“Airbags,” Dominic commented wryly.
“Are you sure the lovely Ava didn’t give you a black eye?”
“Why would I do that?” Ava asked in confusion.
“Funzies?” Franklin downed another glass of Champagne. Dominic tried to remember an occasion when his brother hadn’t been drunk at a family get-together and couldn’t.
“Leave Ava alone,” Dominic told him.
“I can handle myself,” Ava insisted.
His brother scoffed and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. Franklin was either an alcoholic or well on his way to becoming one. But it didn’t explain why he was so vindictive toward Dominic. Or maybe it was his way of keeping everyone at arm’s length. Of not being devastated again should something happen to any of them. Drive everyone you loved away so you never got hurt again.
Dominic’s mouth went dry as he recognized the tactic.
“I like this one,” Franklin said, as if that mattered. “She’s feisty. Not like the last one you brought home. What was her name?”
Dominic glared at his brother. “Ainsley.” Whom his brother had seduced and then dumped. The only reason to bring her up now was to drive a wedge between them.
“She,” Ava said with a spark in her eye and angle to her chin that Dominic knew spelled trouble, “is a federal agent with powers of arrest, so feisty is the least of my personality traits.”
Dominic put his arm around Ava’s shoulders and felt the tension vibrating through her bones.
Franklin grabbed another drink off a passing waiter and Dominic saw the tightening of his father’s features. Then he heard a squeal behind him that could only be his sister.
He turned around and she jumped on him, clamping around him like a koala, blissfully unaware of his sore shoulder and ribs.
He wrapped his arms tight around her and squeezed. Maybe his problem in the past was he’d always let himself be pushed away from these gatherings by his older brother’s bitterness and his own self-doubt.
“Hi, Gwen,” Dominic mumbled when she didn’t release him.
“I am so happy to see you.” Gwen sniffed into his neck. “I’ve missed you so much.”
His hands formed fists as he met Tracy’s soft gaze.
“You could always come visit,” he objected.
“You’re never there. Whenever I say I’m coming to stay you suddenly have important business out of town.”
Dominic grimaced. That was probably true. “That’s my job, Gwen. It’s hard to plan time off.”
She finally let go and stood back.
“Good thing you didn’t join the law firm after all, Dom. I can see why you didn’t.” Franklin raked Ava up and down with a leer. Then he reached out and ran his knuckle over the slope of her breast. “We certainly don’t have pussy like this in the office—”
Dominic punched Franklin so hard his brother was out cold before he hit the deck.
Shit.
Dominic squeezed closed his eyes, mad with himself for reacting. His brother had deliberately provoked him, knowing how much their father hated creating a public scene. Goddamn it. Why did Franklin always have to push him?
“Sorry, Pop.” He shook the pain out of his hand, then bent to drag his unconscious sibling somewhere private. His father stopped him. He waved over two of his security guards. “Get him out of here and one of you stay with him until he sobers up.”
Dominic backed away a step. “I’ll leave.”
“No,” his father exclaimed. “What Franklin did was reprehensible.” His dad’s hands trembled. “I’ve ignored his faults for too long. He’s always been jealous of you even when you were a baby. Nothing your mother or I ever said changed that. Now his drinking has exacerbated the issue.”
Dominic blinked, as much by the mention of his mother as anything else. He didn’t remember the last time they’d spoken about her. “Well, I’m sorry for causing a scene.”
“I need to get him the help he needs and pray he’s smart enough to accept it. I’m sorry, Ava. Sorry, son.” His father wrapped him in a fierce hug that Dominic was helpless against. Then Gwen joined in, and he broke out in a cold sweat at the pain radiating from his ribs, but still he didn’t break away.
A ball of emotion swelled in his throat, and his eyes burned. All those years of holding back so as to not upset anyone, all the suppressed resentment and grief. Maybe it was the car crash, or being targeted for death by some madman, but suddenly he felt like he could start over. He didn’t need to repeat old patterns or failures. He could control his future. His family was flawed, but the relationships weren’t irreparable.
Ava watched him, expression uncertain. He could tell she was about to run.
“I warned you my family was crazy,” he said as his father and sister finally let him go.
“Hey.” She held up her hands dramatically. “My family is Greek. All you need to do is to start tossing crockery, and I’ll feel right at home.”
He laughed and pulled her towards him, knowing she was self-conscious but wanting her to understand he cared about her, that she was important to him even if he didn’t know how to say the words. They’d take the time to figure this out. He didn’t want to lose her. They’d do it right.
He kissed her full on the mouth. An open mouth if-we-were-alone-I’d-be-nailing-you-to-the-wall kind of kiss. When he pulled back and looked up, his whole world crashed around his feet.
Chapter Thirty
Bernie watched Dominic Sheridan kiss the bitch he was with not once, but twice. And the way he’d stared at her, all smoldering passion and hot lust.
It was so perfect. So fucking perfect. Killing Dominic had been the plan all along but that was too easy. Too…linear. Not enough suffering considering all the harm Sheridan had done. Not enough torture or pain.
Bernie had planned to put something nasty in the punch. Not enough to kill anyone, probably, but enough to have them shitting themselves as they all rushed for the restroom at once.