Claimed By The Ruthless Don

Chapter3

Dominic’s POV

I have never really been the kind of man who needed much.

Being in control came easy and naturally to me, a second nature. I had built the DeLuca empire into something my grandfather could be proud of, through precision, patience and a reputation that preceded me into every room before I even walked in.

Emotions were a luxury that gets people killed in this world, one I could never afford.

The men sitting across from me in the boardroom had been trying to hide their discomfort for the past hour and failing miserably at it.

Old money and even older grudges, the Marini family had requested this meeting pretending a new territory agreement was to be discussed, but sitting here watching them fidget only increased my irritation considering the long flight I’d had.

Lorenzo sat beside me, quietly observing the room and the men we both knew couldn’t be trusted.

“We feel the southern docks should be shared territory,” Marco said, holding my gaze with a confidence I found almost amusing. “It only makes sense given our history.”

“Our history,” I said quietly, fueling the thick tension in the room. “Is exactly why that will never happen.”

I watched him shift pathetically in his seat and scoffed silently at how much of my time had already been wasted on this.

“There are ways we can make this beneficial for both of—”

“I didn’t come here to negotiate what already belongs to me,” I stood, slowly buttoning my jacket. “I came here as a courtesy. Don’t make me regret it.”

Sliding a cold gaze over him, I made my way to the door with Lorenzo following closely behind.

The drive back to the hotel was quiet, just the way I liked it, until Lorenzo decided to open his mouth.

“There’s one of your clubs around the corner. You haven’t checked it out in months,” he said without looking up from his phone.

“No.” I shut it down immediately because I knew what would come next.

“Dominic.” He looked at me with a blank expression. “We just got off a long flight this morning, sat through an hour of the Marini family wasting our time, and it’s barely ten. Two hours, that’s all I ask for.”

I looked at him for a moment, then turned back to the window. “Two hours only.”

He didn’t say anything else, but I caught the surprise on his face before he quickly recovered and smirked.

The music hit me the moment we walked in, low and heavy. As we made our way to the VIP section, I noticed a bottle of whiskey had already been placed at our table.

My brother wasted no time calling over a few of the dancers, and I shook my head watching him, looking like a man having the time of his life.

Sometime during my second glass, a young woman approached, dark-haired, bold red lipstick, confident in a way that told me she was used to getting exactly what she wanted.

Without a word, she lowered herself onto my lap and began to move, watching me to see if I’d give anything away, but I didn’t. My jaw tightened slightly, but my face gave nothing away.

Lorenzo caught my eye from across the section and raised his glass with a satisfied smirk, but I looked away.

She leaned in, her lips grazing my jaw. “You’re not easy to read.”

“No,” I agreed quietly. “I’m not.”

She pulled back, something like intrigue in her eyes. “You want to go to the private room?”

I looked her over but said nothing, then stood, adjusted my jacket and followed her.

When it was over, I straightened myself, fixed my jacket and left enough on the table beside her before walking out without looking back.

Lorenzo was exactly where I’d left him, that smirk wider than before.

“We’re leaving.” I said before he could open his mouth.

“You didn’t even break a sweat, did you.”

“Lorenzo.”

“I’m just saying—”

“We’re leaving.”

He stood with a quiet laugh and fell into step beside me without further argument.

We arrived at the estate just past midnight, everything exactly as it should be. Lorenzo made his way into the mansion while I did a sweep out of habit and spoke briefly to my men.

Rafaele found me in my office shortly after, closing the door behind him, which told me what he had to say was important.

“How did the meeting go?” he asked, stalling a bit.

“What is it Rafaele?” I stared at him with a blank expression.

“The Moretti debt has been settled,” he said, standing across from me.

“And?”

“The man had nothing. No money, no assets, nothing worth taking.” Rafaele paused, just barely, and in twelve years I had learned that when Rafaele paused, something had unsettled him.

“He willingly offered his daughter instead. Just handed her over without hesitation, like she was nothing.”

I was quiet for a minute, taking in what he’d said, though it wasn’t the first time something like this had happened, and it wouldn’t be the last.

“His daughter.”

“Yeah. I kept her in the east wing, she’s been there for three days.” His eyes held mine.

After a moment, I told him, “I’ll deal with it.”

Rafaele nodded once and left without pushing further because he knew better than to do so.

When I got there, the east wing was quiet. I stood outside the door for one second, then opened it.

She was sitting at the edge of the bed and the moment the door opened she stood up, quickly and without hesitation, like she had already decided exactly how she was going to hold herself when this moment came.

Her beauty was hard to overlook. Petite, with those big brown doe eyes, full plump lips and curves that made me question my taste in women.

There was no fear in her eyes, none she was willing to show anyway, and something about that made me look at her a second longer than I intended to.

I turned and walked out before I could stare any longer.

There was something about her. I didn’t know what it was yet.

But I intended to find out.