𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐑𝐄𝐂𝐊𝐋𝐄𝐒𝐒

𝟐𝟓 || 𝐌𝐈𝐑𝐀𝐂𝐋𝐄

"Dominic?" She questioned again, her green eyes widening. I would never, ever get used to my name in her mouth.

"Stay here, don't make a sound," I told her, already out the door by the time I had finished my sentence. I locked it, then descended the stairs with a cautious silence, every step calculated to minimize any noise. My arms were locked, gun lowered with a tight grip.

The possibilities raced through my mind. Had someone found a way to break in? Or perhaps just a random accident of a fallen object? Regardless, I couldn't afford to take chances. My heart hammered in my chest as I reached the bottom of the stairs, my senses alert to the smallest sound.

As I neared the kitchen, a few faint and light footsteps along with careful muttering was heard. I furrowed my eyebrows when I saw a blonde woman kneeling next to a broken dish. "Lena?"

Her head spun in my direction, and she briefly glanced at me. "I never knew you slept in for so long," she remarked, her hands gathered a decent amount of broken dish shards. My eyes followed my wrist to check the time on my watch, 10:33AM, it read. Holy shit.

"What the hell are you doing here?" I asked, annoyed with her. Waking up to thinking a Russian was had invaded my home wasn't exactly an ideal way to start the morning.

"I called you three times last night, but you never picked up," she said, almost upset with me.

I was busy last night. "And that gives you permission to break into my home?"

She answered me by sliding her spare key from the counter, dangling the metal from her fingers. I tensed when I saw it, quickly taking it back. I had already taken Alec's key away after he walked into Violet and I. Now that I didn't live alone, it was time to confiscate their unannounced entries.

"What do you want?" I questioned.

"My mom has invited you and Violet over for dinner." That was the last thing I wanted to hear.

I suppressed a deep breath, signifying my annoyance without saying a word. It wasn't unknown that I had never been the biggest fan of Lena's mother, Celeste. She was too observant, too chirpy, too happy.

"She heard you were married, Dom. She doesn't know that it's arranged, and Antonio wants to keep it that way," Lena explained.

It made sense for Celeste to not know about the arrangement, of course it did. Antonio had hid every little spark of violence around her, she didn't know a thing. She didn't know that she wasn't his first wife, that she married a killer, that her husband put both his son and his daughter through viscous and unspeakable violence, only for the sake of continuing the never ending cycle of his tragic bloodline.

"When?"

"Next friday, 6:00PM." She apprised.

My jaw clenched at the idea of Violet being anywhere near Antonio. Even if she didn't know the details of my childhood, I couldn't stand the thought of him breathing in the same air as her.

"I can talk to Violet about it." I told her, not quite agreeing to the dinner yet. If she didn't want to go, I sure as hell wouldn't force her.

Lena's blue eyes lit up at the mention of Violet in an almost teasing way. "Good. Her parents are also invited."

"What?"