The Mafia’s Queen: Entangled With A Psycho - Chapter 156

Stifling the undermining thoughts, Damien permitted himself a few minutes to douse in the fake illusion his father’s words forged, to relish his father’s presence because deep down, he knew it would be short-lived. Leo, one way or another, would find out about Damien’s misstep today, and then it would all be over, everything.

” Let’s go home. Ernesto must be anxiously waiting and Thiago hasn’t seen you since he turned eleven. ”

Right from the start, Damien was more than aware of the fact that Leo had men mounted everywhere, men that fed him with information about everything so it would be easier to facilely observe them— it was his special way of keeping an eye on things and Dominic’s case was no different. Leo kept an eye on him throughout these years he spent in that asylum, watching him crack slowly. Leo might have more power than Damien does, that he could concede. But when money wasn’t an issue for either of them, it was Damien’s negotiation skills that truly tipped the scale.

It did cost him though, a lot. He had to bribe his way into the facility detaining his father. He had to triple the payment now that he intended to take Dominic back home with him, all to hush Leo’s informants up for as long as possible. And truly, he did shut them up, every single one of them.

Indeed, loyalty was purchasable, especially when a suitable price was presented.

Without waiting a moment longer, Damien ushered Dominic out of the room to the car. They didn’t bother packing anything, not that Dominic would even want to take anything from there. Damien reached for the driver’s seat door but his father beat him to it, grabbed the handle, opening it.

He arched a brow in question and Dominic smiled, surprisingly the widest he had smiled in quite a long time.

” I haven’t driven in seven years, let me have this one,” Dominic answered the question being posed by his son’s risen brow.

Damien relented with a shrug, walked around to the other side, and got in. He shot Dominic a glance as he watched him shut the door and started the car. Though the first few minutes of the drive were silent, Dominic kept glancing in Damien’s direction every now and then, never once able to impede the shivers from skidding down his spine.

Aside from the identical blue eyes they both have, the only thing Dominic saw when he stared at Damien was Lorenzo. And the more he stared, the more overt the irrefutable similarities became. So much so that he momentarily thought he was gazing at a portrait of his brother instead of his own son.

And it was as though with each passing year, the resemblance became more vivid to the point that it was simply appalling.

Dominic gritted his teeth, of all the ways God saw fit to chastise him for his misdemeanors, making his son an identical copy of Lorenzo— the brother he loathes— was effortlessly the most annoying.

” Why are you so quiet?” Dominic asked in an attempt to deter thoughts of his brother from crawling onto the surface.

” I’m praying so you don’t get us into an accident. Your shoulders are tense and if it’s not obvious enough, seven years without any practice can leave one a bit rusty.”

Dominic listened to Damien’s torrid sarcasm with dangerously narrowed eyes.

” You do know I have been driving long before you were born, right?” Somehow the shrinking of Dominic’s eyes was concurrent with the slanting of his lips.

Damien grinned. ” Yes, and my heart goes out to all those poor, unfortunate cars you have driven.”

Dominic rolled his eyes and made a smooth right turn as if to prove his son wrong for questioning his driving skills.

” Hilarious.” Dominic scoffed, a smile still gaping his lips.

” Oh, I’m sure it is.” Damien chuckled. ” What about you?”

” What about me?”

” Yes, you were always full of incredible stories back then. Any you care to share about your stay at rehab?”

Dominic struggled to retain his smile.

” That place was a mental asylum, not rehab. Call it what it is. And as for my stay over there, all I can say is that I would rather go to prison than spend another month over there.”

It was a glorified captivity, it was a cage with golden bars. There he was isolated from the world, away from his children, left alone to wither to dust in confinement, to crack and crumble. And if that wasn’t heinous enough, the only people he was permitted to see were the doctors, people who claimed to want to help, to cure him of the ailment they all declared he had but deep down, all they did was make it fester.

Lost for words, all Damien could do was stare.

” I’m sorry that had to happen to you.” He truly was sorry. He was even more sorry for letting it happen.

” There is one person who should be sorry and we both know it isn’t you.”

The ride went silent once more. No one spoke for what felt like ages.

” pullover, I’m getting off.” Damien finally said and Dominic shot him an incredulous look, confusion written boldly on his wrinkled forehead. ” I have something I have to pick up.”

Damien had the decency to clarify. Dominic parked the car at one side of the road but before he got the chance to ask further questions, Damien was already out the door, striding towards a nearby building.

Letting out a sigh, Dominic sank deeper into his chair, his eyes staring straight ahead at the open road, at the sky that was slowly darkening as the night unfurled. In short, he was staring at everything but at the same time, nothing in particular— nothing until his gaze fell on a woman, two actually. One more familiar than the other. They were hugging.

The unfamiliar one broke the hug, stepped in her car, and drove off, leaving the seemingly recognizable one alone. Dominic stared keenly at her, trying to jog his memory.

Where has he seen her before? He asked himself. Or perhaps he hadn’t, perhaps due to his lack of contact with the public for years, his brain had resulted to mashing up familiar faces with strange ones in order to confuse him.

Maybe that was it but still, he could have sworn he had seen her before.

Just then, as if noticing his stares, she spun around to face his direction, her long red hair falling to her back like curly waves. That pair of gleaming blue eyes and that face, they were just too… unforgettable.

Regina…

She shivered. He smirked, thrilled by the shock and fear on her face.

Finally, he was free.

For those who are a bit confused, the events in these last three chapters happened on the same day Becca met up with Regina at a restaurant. Thanks for supporting my work and sorry for the inconsistencies, I have been dealing with quite a lot later. Sometimes I feel like I’m not worth anything and other times, it is just my negativity that is talking.. Comment your thoughts and stay safe.