Wicked Liar by Faith Summers

Chapter Thirteen

Dominic

Holy fuck.

As the elevator reaches the top floor and I step out I feel like breathing fire.

I should have gone after Candace.

The reason I didn’t isn’t because I’m supposed to be having my first meeting with the glorious Jacques Belmont. It’s not fucking that at all. The reason I allowed her to get away from me was because of what she said.

That, and the conflict in my head that’s screwing with me.

That kiss refuted everything and told me she still has feelings for me. If the fucking elevator hadn’t started working again, I would have taken her right there up against the wall.

Fuck. What the hell am I doing?

My sketchy plan was to stay away from her, but clearly, I don't want to.

I never stopped wanting her. That never changed. I just don’t know what to do about it now.

Gritting my teeth, I proceed down the corridor. I already wasn't looking forward to meeting Jacques. Now I really don't want to. He’s dating my girl and I want to kill his ass.

It also hasn’t escaped me that Massimo has been particularly non-conversational when it comes to him. Granted we’ve had a lot to deal with and discussing clients is at the lower end of the priority list.

I’m not really sure what this meeting is about, but it was important to Massimo. He wanted the three of us to meet with Jacques and he wanted us to meet before the next Syndicate meeting.

Massimo and Tristan are already in the room when I get there. Thankfully, I’m not late. I’m on time and the prick arrives two minutes after me.

I’m trying really hard not to have any ill-fated feelings toward him, but one look at him has me conjuring up images of him with Candace. I’m sure he slept with her. Why wouldn’t he? She’s beautiful. And I think she likes him. She must do. She wouldn't go anywhere with him if she didn't.

He’s well dressed, like most French men I’ve met. A closer look in those eyes, though, as he smiles at us reveals the criminal he’s trying to tamp down. A little like all of us in this room with money and power.

“Good morning,” he beams, shaking each of our hands as we stand to greet him.

“Good morning, Jacques,” Massimo replies. “I’m glad we could meet today together like this.”

“As am I mon ami,” Jacques replies.

Smooth talker. I can just bet he uses that accent to charm women out of their panties.

I could laugh at myself. I’m the fucking pot looking at the kettle. Didn’t I do the same thing years ago?

“It was important to me that all my brothers meet you before we do further business," Massimo states. "My youngest brother, Dominic, has returned home and is very much a part of the Syndicate as I am as the leader.”

My interest piques at the mention of the Syndicate, and I cut Massimo a sideways glance.

“I can understand that perfectly.” Jacques looks to me.

“Good, well Dominic, I wanted you to meet Jacques today because he approached me last month about joining the Syndicate. We've been contemplating accepting him. He'd be the first to join us in two years.”

Fuck me. My gaze snaps to Massimo once more. When he said he had something in mind for this guy I never thought he meant this. The Syndicate? I assumed this to be a business meeting. Clearly, I must have lost my touch if I never even guessed this could be his intention.

“That’s interesting,” I state. Instantly I think of Pa and all that happened in the previous Syndicate. The aim of reforming was to first of all make sure we all trusted each other, and here I am trying to tamp down the rage that makes me want to kill this guy.

“I feel I’ll be an asset to you,” Jacques says to me with a confident smile that reaches his eyes. “I bring with me the vineyards of France and the racetracks and casinos of Monte Carlo and LA. All have run in my family for generations. In addition to that, I have my private airline company sporting a fleet of two hundred planes. I practically own the sky.”

“It sounds like you have a lot to offer.” I can’t lie. It’s wealth. But there’s more. There’s always more when it comes to these people. “What else do you do Jacques Belmont?”

He knows what I’m asking him. It’s a simple question of what kind of criminal he is.

“I import and export various things for government and other clientele.”

Various things. That could be anything.

“Are these things likely to attract feds and other law enforcement friends?” I challenge and Tristan tenses next to me.

“Not in the last fifty years. I don’t see why it should start now.”

“Jacques has a set up similar to us, that’s what encouraged me to give him a shot.” Massimo rests his hands on the table. “He also has the strength in an alliance I’m looking for. It is important to me that all my brothers agree with my decision, especially Dominic as he is my consigliere.”

I can see his point. I just wish he wouldn’t entrust me with such a task.

“Of course. Please take your time but know that you would have the stronghold that comes with all my alliances in Europe.” He looks to me. “Dominic D’Agostino your reputation precedes you. So, it would be interesting as you say to work with you in this capacity. I’m glad we had the pleasure to meet.”

I’m sure if my reputation preceded me as he says he wouldn’t think it was any sort of positive thing to meet me, so I’m interested to hear more details.

“What did you hear about me?” I ask and Massimo cuts me a sharp glance.

“You were in the year beneath me at M.I.T.”

I don’t miss a beat, so I don’t miss the slight edge to his voice when he said the words beneath me.

“Is that so? And you heard of little old me?”

“I do my checks on the people I’m thinking of working with too.” There’s that tone again. That suggestive tone that shows he might know more about me than I want. Like my recent situation. “I must say I’m quite impressed. I heard you did a whole other degree because you were bored. I’d bet that must have pissed off a lot of people. I’ve never heard anybody say that about M.I.T.”

I don’t know who this guy is trying to fool but it’s not me with his fake compliments.

“Each to their own,” I simply say, and because I want to drop the subject I add, “it takes a lot to impress me.”

That doesn’t just change the subject it shuts him down and makes him think he’ll have to do more than impress Massimo if he wants in on the Syndicate. The partially phased look in his eye suggests he knows exactly what I mean.

“I don’t doubt that Mr. D’Agostino,” Jacques replies with a forced smile. His endless dark gaze bores a hole into me.

“Okay.” Massimo’s voice breaks our contesting stare. “Well, this was supposed to be brief, just to give us a chance to all meet. It’ll be some time before I can get back to you Jacques.”

“That’s no problem.”

“Perfect.”

“Good to meet with all of you.” Jacques stands and tips his head for a curt nod. “And welcome home Dominic.”

“Thank you.”

He leaves and I know as the door closes that Massimo is going to chew me out, so I look too him and get ready for it. Of course, he’s already looking at me.

“What the hell was that about?” he spits.

“How comes we didn’t talk prior to this meeting about him?” I answer.

“Time. We don’t have the luxury of it, so I thought I’d kill two birds with one stone plus get your first reaction on meeting him.”

When I stare back at him and far too many seconds pass Tristan shakes his head. “Dominic, please for fuck sake don’t tell me you don’t like this guy because of Candace.”

I turn to him. “I’m trying not to make that be a factor.”

“Oh my God,” Massimo sneers. “Dominic, this is important, and it’s more important now in light of recent shit. That letter warned me to form alliances with the strongest people, and that’s what I’m trying to do. Look at the past. I’m not a fan of the way the previous Syndicate was set up, but I have to give them some credit because to destroy them their enemies came at them from the inside, not the outside. So please, for fuck sakes give the man a chance. I think he would be perfect. He has what we’re looking for. You heard him; he owns the sky. He would be an asset to us just for that. We don't have an airline company.”

I grit my teeth and stifle a groan. Acting like an immature bastard isn’t going to help me, and that’s not what I should be focused on now. There are more important things to worry about.

“Okay, sure.”

“Yeah?”

“Yes.”

“Can I ask you to think about it? All my checks on him came back clear. Gibbs looked into him. That's as good as having the seal of approval from the Lord himself.”

I can't refute that. If Gibbs investigated someone I'd trust his findings. I'd even go as far as accepting he might be the only guy who could surpass my methods. We have different ways of doing things though.

“I will think about it,” I promise, and Massimo seems happy with the answer.

I just wish I could shake the feeling I have about this guy, but I’m a man of my word. I’ll think about it.

To do so, I’m going to do things my way.

* * *

The second I get home, I’m around my computer looking for dirt. I bring up the file we have on Jacques at the company first and look at it.

Jacques Belmont

Age: 33

Net worth: 2.5 Billion USD

CEO: Belmont Aircrafts and Belmont Vineyards.

Prick…

At least he’s not worth more than me.

I run my usual checks, and everything looks legit, and that’s the problem. He’s clean. As clean as Massimo alluded to. To me though it's too clean. I know that sounds like bullshit and like I’m trying to be a bastard and hate the guy, but if it’s one thing I know it’s that the best criminals are the ones that look legit. I’m a good example of that.

On the surface, I look like the good kid who excelled in his computer science and accounting degree at the prestigious M.I.T. Underneath that I’m pretty sure my extracurricular hacking activities could land me on the most wanted list for all sorts of cybercrimes.

As for this fool, I don’t believe he’s as clean as he says he is, or what the evidence looks like. Something feels off about him and if I’m honest, I don’t particularly want him joining the Syndicate.

I don’t like his ass, but… maybe that’s because he wants my girl. He wants my angel.

I stop what I’m doing and switch off the computer. I look at my reflection on the screen and I contemplate the problem that’s truly up my ass.

I know exactly what it is.

Deciding to face the conflict, I go upstairs to the attic. I haven't been up here since I got back on purpose. I switch on the lights when I go through the door and stare at the thing I came up here for.

It's a painting I did. Like the others in this room. Art was one of the talents I suppressed because it reminded me too much of my mother. Art flowed from her soul and she used to paint us all the time in the meadows of Stormy Creek. She always said to me, you can't run away from who you are. She used to say that to me when she found me hiding and painting. I used to hide because I didn't want my brothers making fun of me. My parents were the only people I shared this talent with.

After Ma died, I found myself painting whatever fascinated me.

What fascinated me was Candace Ricci.

I walk over to the painting and pull off the white sheet covering it. It's half-finished and was the last painting I did. It was done a little over thirteen years ago, so she would have been fifteen. It was months before her parents died.

The reason it isn't finished is her father. He caught me doing it.

William Ricci was no fool, so he knew my seventeen-year-old ass was in love with his daughter and he wasn't happy about it.

The old man could see straight through me, and my acts that fooled everyone else were lost on him.

I'm not the kind of person to allow people to push me around but when he pointed out that he wanted better for his girl than the darkness of our world and a life with a crime family, I listened.

When he pointed out that being part of that life was what broke my mother and caused her to kill herself, I paid attention and it wasn't hard for me to promise to stay away from Candace if I wanted the best for her.

At that time we didn't know it was Riccardo Balesteri who threw my mother off Ridgemont cliff. We thought she killed herself and I know Pa blamed himself because life was so hard, and it was that way because of who he was.

There were a lot of similarities between my mother and Candace. I think my mother took a shine to her because of that. Both are gentle creatures, women of light with kindness in their souls. Neither belonged anywhere near Stormy Creek nor with people linked to organized crime.

By talking about my mother, William Ricci hit me where he'd leave a mark, knowing I'd fucking listen.

I think it was easier for me to make the promise because I already thought Candace deserved better than me.

She never knew what her father made me promise and I never told anybody. My brothers grew up thinking I wasn't into her, but it wasn't true. That comment of hers about her not being enough for me in the past and present was far from the truth.

Now it feels like I'm faced with the same situation with the same options. I could have defied her father back then and been with her.

I defied him two years ago when I couldn't resist being with her and look what happened.

I'm a changed man now, and at the point where it's getting harder to resist her again.

I'm at the point where I don't want to have this promise hanging over my head anymore, and I most certainly don't want to lose Candace to Jacques.

The thought sends me straight back to the roof again, opposite Candace’s building where I can see her in her bedroom. I assume my role as the stalker and watch her.

She’s on the phone talking to someone and I wonder if it’s him, Jacques Belmont.

Meeting him today makes me question what the hell she could see in him. Then again, I can guarantee anybody his pompous ass wouldn’t be up here watching her the way I am. I really have fallen to a new low.

She just got back from somewhere and she’s undoing her buttons to take off her clothes. I look at her feet as she slips off her heels. She sits on her bed laughing and hangs up. The clothes start coming off and I feel like an asshole again.

Memories of how she tastes float into my mind and as I look at her naked body, I want to taste her everywhere.

I’ve been dancing around what I truly want, telling myself I shouldn’t have it, shouldn’t have her, shouldn’t have the life I wanted for us.

But I want it.

I want her back.

I want my angel back.

So I'm going to have to break that promise one more time.