He shouldn't have felt that unnerved by coming there, it was the same house he was raised in after all. But his reaction couldn't really be helped at all, given that he never saw the place as his home. Even since he was a little kid, it had always been just Salvatore's house, never Dominic's. As long as Salvatore was still around, the house would never be big enough for both of them.
The place was not much different from any other expensive mansion. Its interior was less gaudy than the exterior. Inside was lit up with expensive light fixtures that only seem to draw more focus to the fancy decor that artfully decorated the house's interior but none of it was enough to disguise how dull and devoid of love the home was.
He barely paused to talk to anyone as his feet took him straight to his father's study. He was locked into a single minded focus . The plan was simple; the sooner he got it done, the faster he could leave.
Soon he found himself at the door to his father's study. He knocked on the thick wood before he thought twice about the action.
The voice that came from inside wasn't Salvatore's. It was one Dominic would recognize in his sleep, one Dominic was taught to fear and hate at such a young age.
" Enter." The voice said. A single word. The threads of anxiety that were slowly twining around him suddenly grew taut and snapped. In its place was a different emotion, something that simmered slowly. He had felt it for years. Rage.
He pushed the door open but paused at the doorway. Lorenzo was behind their father's wooden desk, sitting on their father's chair while sifting through documents that most likely also belonged to their father as well. Lorenzo didn't bother being subtle about wanting to be Salvatore's replacement. Why would he when their father basically encouraged his behavior.
Dominic might have entered the room but by the way Lorenzo barely acknowledged his presence afterwards, he might as well be invincible. Not worth his brother's time. Useless, like Lorenzo loved to tell him he was.
Dominic chose to speak first since Lorenzo wasn't going to.
" I came here to speak to father." Dominic said, his voice as strong as his stance. His brother was a vulture when it came to weakness and vulnerability. Lorenzo could spot it from miles away, eagerly waiting for the right moment to pounce and sink his claws in. Dominic knew this. He wouldn't give his brother the chance.
" Our father isn't here." Lorenzo didn't look up from the papers in his hands. " Anything you have to tell him can be said right now. To me." Those words would have sounded innocent coming from anyone else. Never from Lorenzo though. There was too much bad blood and animosity between the both of them for it to not mean something. His brother was always very deliberate with his barbs, especially while he was sober and when he got drunk, he rarely used words at all. Just his fists.
" I will wait for him to get back then." Dominic moved to turn around and leave but Lorenzo's words stopped him.
" It's about tonight's job, isn't it? The same job I sent you on." Lorenzo lifted his gaze for the first time since Dominic stepped inside. And there it was, the reason for all this. It was a reminder that in a few short years Dominic would have to answer to Lorenzo and be at his beck and call like a dog. Lorenzo would like that. He would enjoy wielding all the power. Even now, with their father still firmly the head of the Italian Mafia in New York, Lorenzo still found ways to exert his power over people in every way he could.
" Viktor De Luca is dead. I shot him in the head. Watched him go down with my own eyes, there's no way he would survive that." Dominic said and Lorenzo smiled. The smile did nothing to soften the harshness of Lorenzo's face, it made him look scarier instead. Meaner. Unhinged.
" I hated that little fucker." Lorenzo said, setting the papers he was looking through down on their father's desk before running his fingers through his raven dark hair to push it out of his face. His hair color seemed to be the only thing he got from their mother because Lorenzo didn't have a lick of Fernanda's softness. " No one spotted you doing it, right? You are so used to fucking up and it would only make things messier if someone saw you."
Lorenzo's smile twisted into a derisive one Dominic recognized all too well. It never failed to raise his hackles and now wasn't any different.
Viktor De Luca was Lazzaro's oldest nephew and became an enemy of the Kane family for the sole reason that he shared blood with Lazzaro Dante. Viktor and Lorenzo had always hated each other, both engaged in the longest dick measuring contest known to man and Dominic was content to stay out of it. But everything changed when one of Lazzaro's sons was spotted in New York with his cousin, Viktor, who was helping him smuggle in drugs into a territory that wasn't theirs.
There was barely anyone on earth that Lorenzo didn't feel a certain level of hatred towards. Lorenzo's hatred for Viktor was well known, he never tried to keep it a secret but he never did much about it before because he couldn't kill him without starting a war between the families. But when the perfect opportunity fell into his lap, he barely hesitated and Dominic was the grim reaper sent to snuff out Viktor's life.
When Dominic didn't answer, Lorenzo rose from his chair and walked over. His gaze never left his brother as he ruffled Dominic's hair and patted his face, once, twice. Like the way one would pat a dog on the street.
" You did well." Was all Lorenzo said after that before walking out of the study, leaving Dominic alone in there.
Dominic was about to leave as well when something on the desk caught his attention. A photo. It was nestled in between the documents Lorenzo was sifting through and must have slipped out when he set it down. Curious, Dominic moved closer to the desk to take a look. He shifted the papers aside and picked up the photo. He felt something lodge deep within his chest, a feeling he couldn't describe in that very moment because he knew the woman in the photo.
Her name was Claudia Santoro and she was everything.