Dominic (Made Men 8)

The engine was all she could hear through Dom’s silence. She could tell he was thinking carefully about what to say.

“Your father has yet to earn my respect,” he answered rather truthfully to the Caruso boss’s daughter.

He’s got a set of balls on him …

Smiling to herself, she thought about how she could get him killed for those words alone. Luckily for him, she appreciated not only his brutal honesty but that he trusted her enough to tell her that. Her smile, however, quickly faded with another thought. “How exactly did Lucca earn your trust? By killing Kayne?”

“Trust and respect are two different things, princess.” He shot her a look so she’d know that he was being truthful. “Lucca earned my respect the day he was made, but I’ve yet to give him my trust completely.”

That answer only showed Maria just how much Dominic disliked her father … but the feeling was mutual at the moment.

“Maria”—Dom gripped the leather of the steering wheel tighter—“I might not be sorry about Kayne, but I am sorry about the part I played in hurting you. I should have put my pride aside and told you who he was. You had no way of knowing when he had the whole city fooled.”

Maria looked forward, to the dark city road ahead, only able to manage a nod to let him know she accepted his apology. It wasn’t easy, considering every made man treated her the same, but she accepted it because she could see he meant it.

My own brother couldn’t even fucking apologize to me.

“Why did you come?” he asked curiously, changing gears again. “Lucca let me know that he told you he was the one who did it … and you didn’t come to see me then.”

That was another reason she had accepted his apology—Maria was starting to see that she might be able to trust Dom after all. “Leo finally told me that you didn’t lock the door.”

“I see.” Dominic’s voice couldn’t hide its smile like his face had. “Do you mean by finally told you, you finally asked if I did it instead of assuming?”

You know what … She decided it was best not to tell him that she hadn’t asked Leo; he’d been correcting her when she did exactly as Dom said—assumed.

Maria turned on the radio to avoid answering, which most likely told him all he needed to know.

Hearing the song playing, she immediately changed the station.

“What are you doing?” he asked, giving her the side-eye as he changed it back. “That’s Johnny Cash.”

Maria looked at him dumbly. “So?”

“Jesus.” The look on his face showed that he was more offended at her music taste than her choice in men. “You don’t change it when one of his songs come on. It’s a rule.”

“That you made,” she told him, raising her hand to change the station again.

“Maria.” Dom let go of the shift to grab her hand before she could do it. “Don’t make me pull over.”

She slowly drifted her emerald eyes to the strong, tatted hand that held her slender one. “What are you going to do?” she asked with a heavy breath.

“There’s only one way to find out, princess,” Dominic said, letting his own eyes drift off the road to gaze down her body. With his hand still capturing hers, he brought their connection to her lap, placing their hands on her exposed thigh until he abruptly let go. “If you’re brave enough to try it.”

Keeping herself from rolling her eyes was near impossible. Dominic was proving to be a lot harder to pay back for that “almost kiss.” She thought she had him, until Dom made her think that he was about to hold her hand. Clearly, she needed to crank up the heat.

Shifting in her seat, her baby blue dress rose higher up her toned thighs as she pointed her knees toward Dom. “I like your car.”

Dominic might not have turned his head from the road, but he certainly shifted his eyes, being less obvious as he dragged his depths up her tanned legs.

“Thanks. I worked on it for a long time before I finished it.”

“Really?” Maria asked seriously, forgetting her mission for a moment. She didn’t know much about cars, considering whenever someone in the family needed one, they just bought it brand new off the lot. She hadn’t taken Dominic as the mechanic type. Looking around the interior of the car, it all seemed new to her. “I thought you just bought it like this.”

“No.” Dom laughed. “Every car you see in Blue Park has been pieced together in some way. Most of them with duct tape and a prayer.”

Looking at his hands, she admired the lettering of his tattoos as he held the wheel and gear shift. “Does that mean everyone knows how to fix them?”