Guarded, Dom held his cousin’s gaze. “You really need me out there?”
“Dom, come on.” Felice laughed and clapped Dom’s shoulder. “It’s business. You gotta know all the players, and this boy’s a big player. He’s going to be bringing you some people soon.” He raised his eyebrows, letting that convey the unspoken meaning.
Dom’s stomach roiled. Another smuggler who moonlighted as an “immigrant transporter,” as Corrado and Felice liked to call them. More like human trafficker.
While he didn’t like the idea of being out on the water with his hothead cousin, he couldn’t let on. So, he shrugged. “Sure. Yeah. I’ll come meet him.”
“Great. I’ll text you with the time once I talk to the crew.”
“Perfect.” Felice clapped his shoulder and kept walking.
Dom watched him for a moment. Then he continued down the hall with Biaggio.
“Weird,” he muttered. “He’s being awfully friendly lately.”
“He’s probably heeding his father’s advice for once,” Biaggio said. “Realizing he’s a grown man and not a teenager anymore and needs to behave accordingly.”
“I don’t know.” Dom chuckled. “When it comes to Felice maturing, I think I’ll believe it when I see it last longer than a week or two.”
Biaggio laughed as he reached for the door to Corrado’s office. “You and me both, Domenico. You and me both.” He pulled open the door but went no farther.
A private meeting, then. Just what Dom needed today.
His uncle was at his desk, perusing the contents of a thin file folder. When the door closed behind Dom, Corrado looked up. Closing the folder, he said, “How did your evening go with Ms. Passantino?”
Dom stopped in front of the desk, hands behind his back. “You called me in here to ask me about my date?”
“I couldn’t care less about your date, Domenico.” Corrado’s features hardened as he and Dom locked eyes over the desk. “But your intentions with her are important. An alliance with the Passantinos would be… timely. Because things are getting hot all over. There is definitely a war brewing—I can smell it.”
Dom nodded. “Yeah. Me too.”
“Which means men are going to start questioning loyalties. Smoking out potential moles.”
And killing them to be on the safe side. Dom shuddered. When things got hot in this town, it wasn’t at all out of the ordinary for people to shoot first and ask questions later.
“Anything that can be used against you will be used against you.” Corrado’s eyes bore right into Dom. “And we’ve discussed this—being unmarried at your age? It doesn’t look good. It doesn’t look good at all. A man of your stature who hasn’t settled down and committed to a woman…” He shook his head. “You’ve got too many decks stacked against you to—”
“I get it. I do.” Dom sighed. “But I’ve never met a woman who—”
“That’s part of the problem.” Corrado’s voice was low and almost threatening. “Even Felice has found a wife. And yet you’ve barely given any woman a second look. You’re barely showing a bit of interest in a lovely, connected woman like Brigida.” His gray eyebrows pinched together. “I don’t need to tell you what kind of rumors that produces.”
Dom’s heart dropped. “People think I’m—”
“Yes.” Corrado shifted, nose wrinkling slightly. “And remember, this organization is more than a business. This is a family. If the men don’t think of you as a family man, then you’ll never make it.”
I don’t suppose bowing out gracefully is an option.
“Understood,” he said flatly.
“I need you and Brigida to make a decision.” Corrado folded his long fingers. “Sooner than later, Domenico.”
Dom nodded despite the ball of lead in the pit of his stomach. “I’ll see her again soon. And we’ll… we’ll discuss it.”
“Good.” The word was made of both approval and dismissal. We’re done here—get out.
“I’ll keep you updated,” Dom said, and started for the door. His uncle didn’t stop him.
Out in the hallway, he paused, wiping his hand over his face. Just what he needed. More pressure to marry, and more pressure to marry this woman specifically.
Sure, Brigida was a nice woman, but the chemistry was nonexistent. Even if she were attracted to him—and maybe she was; he had no idea—he didn’t have even the slightest bisexual tendencies. He was as gay as he was Italian. Any woman unfortunate enough to be his wife would be treated well, and she certainly wouldn’t want for anything that money could buy, but the nights might get cold, and he hated that he wouldn’t be able to give her what she needed. Enough to have children, he hoped, but passion?