Quin's Dilemma

Ch. 13 - Two Steps From Hell

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"Fuck me...
And people say I'm the volatile one..."

- Dominic
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Chapter 13 - Two Steps From Hell

▪️V I N C E N T▪️

Even though it had been days since the party at Aleksandr's brothel, I was still fuming as though it had just happened.

I knew better than anyone that Dominic Giano Calvetti was a sadistic fuck. But I never expected him to do what he did to me. Setting Quintin up for a night with Marisha was a low blow, even by our standards.

Especially since he suspected my feelings, it only served to irritate me more that he would do something like that. I supposed he thought that it would have made me jealous, causing me to cave and give in to my feelings as that was what he would have done if this situation involved Jade.

Unlike him though, I knew how far to push him where circumstances like that were concerned. My best friend had crossed a line and even he knew it.

"Still mad?" Dominic asked as he poked my cheek.

We had been sitting side by side in his office for the last hour, going over the latest shipping manifesto for our incoming gun supply. Frowning, I considered ignoring him, but I just knew that would only make him more persistent. To which he proved my point almost immediately by pressing on further as he began to poke me a bit faster.

The fact that he was touching me with his bare finger let me know that he knew he had gone too far and this was his way of apologising. He was allowing himself to be vulnerable to me, at least in the only way he knew how.

"Oh, come on, Vincent! You said he didn't interest you."

Before I could stop myself, I slapped his hand away as I fired back, "So you decide to test my reaction by telling him to go fuck Marisha?"

Dominic's icy blue eyes seemed to light up as he exclaimed, "Aha! I was right! You do feel something for young Mr. Blake..."

"Look, just because you've decided to acknowledge your feelings for Jade, which I'm very happy about by the way... It does not give you the right to meddle in my private life!"

"I didn't–"

"No? So, what were you talking to Quin about earlier?" I asked as I cut him off.

Dominic fidgeted in the seat next to me before replying, "Nothing much..."

"Right... Is that why he looked so uncomfortable? What did you whisper to him at the end?"

Looking at me, he said, "I just told him not to hurt you."

Abruptly standing up, I walked over to the window, for if I stayed sitting next to Dominic any longer, I would not be able to hold back from punching him in the face. God, I loved him, but he was truly infuriating sometimes.

Being around Dominic at times was like being two steps away from hell, literally!

"Tell me you're joking, Dom..."

Standing up, he idly brushed at his trousers as he said, "I am not."

"Dammit Dom! Stay out of my business!" I yelled while turning away from the window to face him.

Raising an eyebrow at me, he commented, "Careful, Vincent, from that tone I'd think that you were about to hit me."

"The thought did cross my mind... Trust me, I'm more than throat-punching you in my mind right now..." I said, referencing our encounter from the garage a couple of weeks ago when I had pressed him about his own feelings for Jade.