Kat and Dom’s favorite character. She remembered Cassius’s words, knowing full well Dominic liked that show. It was his one and only lie of the night, but the question was: Why?
The dinging of the door sliding back open meant they were greeted by another Caruso who watched this floor and who now knew Dominic was here with Maria.
“Hi, Ed.” Maria grabbed Dom’s arm in order to pull him along.
Dominic gave the man a nod as they passed.
“Bye, Ed.”
Again, the Caruso guard did and said nothing, clearly shocked.
“You’re in for one long night, princess”—Dominic shot her a heated glance—“because I’m not fucking coming out of here alive.”
Doing what she wanted to do downstairs, she intertwined all her fingers with his. “I promise, I’ll make it worth it.”
Both quickly walked to her door, where she put her cell phone up to the lock, eager to get inside. Opening the door, Maria went in, letting her hand fall from his as soon as she crossed the threshold.
Maria gave him the sweetest smile, not letting him in any farther. “Have a nice night.”
Asshole.
Staring at the door that was slammed hard in his face, Dominic felt his blood begin to boil. He didn’t know who he hated more in this moment—the little man-eater who was proud of herself, or himself for fucking knowing better.
Sure, he might have started their little flirting game, but she damn sure finished it.
At first, Dominic wanted her to pay for what she’d done to him, make her realize the mistake she made by proving she felt something for him. But now his own game had turned on him, bringing back everything he felt for her in a rush.
Maria was fucking cruel. He had seen her with Ted-Teddy-Todd, or whatever the fuck, knowing she had turned him into a helpless puppy, but he’d bet everything he fucking had that she hadn’t flirted with him like that to get her way. That was not flirting; that was a con. She was no woman; she was one of the best conmen he had ever seen. Maria had just led him on—on a criminal scale. Sure, he might’ve led her on a bit, too, but he was actually going to fuck her, if that was what she wanted, because that was damn sure what he wanted!
The only goddamn reason Dominic had fallen for it was because in no way had he thought Maria would make him walk through the front fucking door of Dante’s business to fuck his daughter and risk his life ….
Banging on the door, Dom roared, knowing she could damn well hear him. “You’re going to pay for thi—”
“Girl trouble?” was asked from behind him in a cold but cunning voice.
Violently snapping his head back toward the man he knew, he made his eyes into slits. “If I did, I wouldn’t take girl advice from you, Ted Bundy.”
Lucca, who stood in the doorway to his place, gave him a sly grin. “Wasn’t Ted Bundy married?”
Dom told him what he thought of that by flipping him off. “I better get to walk out of here, or so help me Go—”
“You will,” Lucca assured him with a nod.
Starting to walk away, Dominic shot the underboss a serious look. “Prepare your men for the bad news.”
Lucca slightly drew his brows together. “What news?”
“That Maria Caruso is mine.”
Maria walked into her place, satisfied, with a smile on her face. Ignoring the beating on the door, she walked up the stairs, humming a tune to drown out Dom’s heated words that suddenly stopped.
Dominic had tried to play a game that Maria had invented. Sure, it wasn’t fair, as the scales were slightly tipped in her favor, but it sure had been a hell of a lot of fun.
Hell, even Maria was second-guessing leaving Dom out in the cold. Her harmless flirting was no longer harmless when she ignited a fire within, but that strange little lie that Dominic told her in the elevator had officially stopped her from making a mistake she could regret ….
This penthouse was the biggest one in the Casino Hotel, as it was built large enough for the Caruso family. She and her siblings had grown up between here and their family home, but Maria had always preferred it here. She’d thought it was fun navigating through the casino as a child; sneaking into the secret one in the basement when she wasn’t allowed had been even more fun. The sneaking around had stopped when she turned eighteen, and even though it wasn’t legal for her to gamble, she was able to gamble in the illegal one underneath. Being here made her feel closer to what she dreamed of, being in the mafia world and not outside of it—because she was a woman. This penthouse also had more personality and her favorite view in the world—Kansas City.