Michael lips quirked, but he managed to hold back his laughter. “You know you want to laugh.” I egged him on.
He looked away quickly.
The judge left the room, slamming the door behind him.
I wondered where Cisero had gotten off to.
“That was unnecessary.” Gabriel bit out as he continued to glare at me.
I shrugged,” but was it, though? I bet Franky boy will never answer your calls again.”
He dropped his head, shook it, exhaled really loud, then changed the subject.
“As agreed, upon, Justice,” Gabriel said.
I reached for my phone. Michael knocked my hand away.
I snatched my head in his direction and glared at him.
He ignored me, focusing his attention solely on Gabriel. He looked confused. “Are you seriously giving her phone back?”
“Shut up,” Gabriel barked and glared at him, daring him to say more.
He let his eyes cut to the phone in Gabriel’s hand once more, as if he was considering grabbing it and destroying it. I guess he thought better of it because threw his hands up in defense, but curiosity still knitted his brow.
“Fine,” he drawled.
Gabriel held my phone out for me to take. He knew it were safe. I only talked to my sister on that phone. And I would never talk to the police again. Not after the incident. I hated the police and hospitals. They represented loss.
When I reached for it, he snatched his hand back. “It’s official. Until death do we part, Just. I can’t wait until later.” His voice dropped an octave. He bit into his plump bottom lip lip. “I’m looking forward to fucking a baby into you.”
My skin tightened and tingled. I became instantly annoyed. When I responded I didn’t bother to correct him on my name. “I didn’t say I was fucking you. I promised you long ago I would never. We’ll be doing this the artificial way, with doctors and the such.”
If getting pregnant was all I had to do to get back to my life, I would. I could terminate—I would terminate it. I wasn’t fit to be anyone’s mother.
“No,” he shouted, slamming his hand down on the oak desk, the sound reverberated off the walls, echoing. “We don’t have time for, nor money for that. We have less than two months to prove you’re pregnant.”
“Then get me a fucking turkey baster and jack off into a cup. I’m not fucking you.”
Michael chose that of all things to snicker at. He obviously didn’t know how to read a room. Gabriel cut his eyes at him so sharply he immediately quieted.
With his attention back on me, Gabriel leaned over his desk. “I could make you.” His tone registered his annoyance.
I laughed and rolled my eyes. He could force me into a sham of a marriage but not to fuck him. He’d have to drug me and then I’d kill his ass after.
I leaned in over the desk until our noses touched, lips only inches apart. I ran one of my blood red fingernails across his cheek. “Do you remember what happened last time you tried to make me do anything?”
He blanched; his pale skin turned nearly white as a sheet of paper. He straightened himself. There had been several occasions where Gabriel thought he was going to make me do something I didn’t want to. Like when he cornered me in the girl’s locker room at school once. He thought because I had a thing for his brother that transferred to him.
No. I damn near maimed the boy. Back then he’d often forget, I didn’t grow up like the girls he was used to. I refused to cower under the weight of his family name or threats from him. So, when his hand found its way down my shorts, I returned the favor, but instead of a gentle caress, I’d squeezed until he was cowed, begging me to let him go.
“Good times, weren’t they, Gabriel?”
He frowned at first, then his eyes lit up and he gave me a smirk that was filled with condescension. “Some better than others.” His eyes dropped to my middle. He licked his lips, like he was remembering the taste of me
The center of me warmed. Memories of his entire face pressed into my pussy as he sucked my clit flashed in my head.
To be young, high and stupid. He caught me fresh out of the shower, and high on ecstasy one day, offered to eat my pussy. Out of curiosity I let him. Did I cum? Yes. Hard. I maybe would have even returned the favor, but he’d tried to shove his dick inside me. I broke his nose. He didn’t learn that we weren’t compatible and neither did I. There were several more sexual encounters after that. By several I mean nearly every day until I left. We just never got around to having actual intercourse.
“Touché,” I said blandly.
He snickered and stared at me like he was imagining fucking me where I stood. I shifted uncomfortably, feeling the heat gathering between my legs. I hated that Gabriel’s whole handsome serial killer vibe affected me. I’d blame it on memories of the past and the fact that he was undeniably gorgeous. He looked so much like his brother but in a different way.
Like the evil superman but wearing Clark Kent’s clothes. And Cisero was Superman too, if superman actually tried to disguise himself in something other than those stupid glasses or whatever. It was hard to explain.
Noticing my discomfort caused a shift in him. I watched his demeanor change. His eyes darkened. His face went stoic. He bit his lip and looked into my eyes. “You know I’ve missed you, right, Justice?” He asked out of the blue, with his voice soft and full of emotion. I could tell he really meant it.
His confession pulled at invisible strings in me. It made my heart ache for something. What, I didn’t know and though the desk separated us, I suddenly felt like we were too close. I backed away from him.
He laughed at my reaction and I thought he probably was just fucking with me on purpose. He was so fucking weird and annoying. When he stopped laughing, he eyed me strangely for a beat before he finally held my phone out for me to take. When I did, he dropped his eyes and dismissed me with a wave of his hand.
“Take her back to her room, Michael, then you can go until either I or Cisero call you.”
“I can find my way. Keep beady eyes away from me.” I snatched my arm away from Michael, pivoted and headed toward the door.
Just after opening it Gabriel called to me. “Don’t try to run.”
I threw him the middle finger. “Fuck you.” I slammed the door on my way out. I heard it open back before I took five good steps. I knew it was Michael. His smell gave him away.
With each step I took toward my old room the more I felt the new me being interrupted. All my progress slipping away.
I needed to talk to my sister. Michael stayed at my heels, twisting each hallway with me. The house was palatial, three floors, sixteen bedrooms, five bathrooms, three offices, and an industrial kitchen. It was at least a three-minute walk until I got to my room.
Silence stretched between us until I was nearly at my room door.
“So, you fucked both of them, like you say the judges daughter did. When’s my turn?” Michael asked from behind me. “Did you do them in chronological order? The oldest first.” He was trying to taunt me.
“Stop talking to me,” I mumbled, then proceeded to ignore him as he kept making snide remarks about my relationship with the brothers. I pulled my phone from my bra and checked my notifications. Like Gabriel had said, Lovie had left several messages.
The last one asked me if I was okay. That was the one I responded to.
Me- I’m ok, sis. Long story.
She immediately texted back.
Lovie- I have time.
I text her what happened.
Lovie- So you married your boy toy. I trust him more than Cisero and you already know he can make you cum. I don’t see a problem and I want a niece. I heard they have positions guaranteed to make a girl.
Me- Stop it and you don’t know him to trust him.
Lovie- I know you like him.
Me- The lies you tell.
Lovie- LOL. I know when you like someone. When you lived with them before you’d text me nonstop. Gabriel did this,
Gabriel did that. You like him, you just don’t like that he sees you.
Me- I don’t like him because he’s an asshole, violent and pushy, even worse one than Cisero.
Lovie- And that’s why he’s your favorite. That’s why you spent years sneaking around with him. Why you never played your hand with Cisero.
Me- Whatever.
Lovie- LOL Don’t get mad. I think you want someone just as fucked up as you. So y’all can be fucked up together.
By the time I made it to my room she was saying goodbye. She was crazy if she actually thought I had a thing for Gabriel. Sure, we’d been sexual before, but it was mostly because I’d been curious about sex and he was so willing to teach me.
Michael tried to follow me into my room. I shoved him then I slammed the door in his face, locked it and pressed my back against it.
He laughed and banged at the door once then twice. “See you later,” he threatened.
I heard his footfalls echoing down the halls. Fuck him. I looked around the room. Everything was the same as before I’d left, almost like they were waiting for me to return. Same sheets, same posters same furniture.
I fucking hate this place.
I pushed everything that happened to the back of my mind and headed to the bathroom. I was still wearing the dress I had on when they’d kidnapped me. They didn’t even have the common courtesy to wash me? I felt disgusting. I needed a shower. I had three days’ worth of grime and anxiety to wash away. I plotted my next move. I leaned into the spray, savoring the feel of the water cascading down my skin and over my hair.
I wanted to get back to my life, but I also wanted to make the brothers regret taking me. When I got out the shower, I felt fortified and ready to do what I had to do to get back to my life. I sang as I dried off to calm my frazzled nerves, brushed my teeth and left the bathroom with just a towel wrapped around me in search of lotion. I had seen my brand on the vanity earlier. One of the brothers had thought well enough to bring my things with me, probably Cisero.
Speaking of him, Summertime was waiting for me.
I asked, “How did you get in here?”
I knew dang well I’d locked the door.
“We need to talk.” The way he said it sounded like we were about to have a civil conversation when I knew we weren’t.
I kissed my teeth, then started braiding my hair down for bed. “We have nothing to talk about.”
He quirked a brow. “We don’t?”
“No, we don’t. You and your—” Whatever else I was going to say died on my lips when his gaze met mine.
His blue eyes were molten as he unbuttoned his shirt with an unbothered expression on his handsome face. He had tats everywhere, even on his knuckles. His torso and chest were all tattoo’s and muscles. A canvas of angels and birds all in red and black ink. It was mesmerizing. In the middle of all of it were the words: I sold my soul for freedom and it was worth it. My fingers itched to trace each one of them. I almost reached out and did just that, but I snapped out of the haze I was drifting toward when my brain caught up to the fact that he was undressing.
I dropped my hand and fisted it at my side and took a step back. “So, you’re no longer playing good cop? You’ve come to seduce me and get me pregnant?”
Ignoring my question, he moved toward me quick and aggressively backing me up until he was able to box me in. I was trapped between him and the wall. “I told you our time would come. This isn’t the way I wanted it to happen…”
“I’m not fucking you, Cisero.” I barely felt the urge to anymore.
“How else am I going to get you pregnant? I know you didn’t think I would actually let you carry my brother’s child?” he asked possessively.
I ground my teeth. I hated the way he felt that he had control over my persons
“Let me? I’ll fuck who I damn well please. Maybe I should fuck you, slit your fucking throat while you sleep for helping him bring me here.”
“I believe you capable, but you won’t. And I had no choice in the matter. Gabriel’s desperate right now, so he’s not listening to reasoning.”
“That doesn’t explain to me why you’re doing this. You’ve known where I was almost five years and told no one. Now you’ve decided to help your brother who you can hardly stand?”
Instead of responding verbally, he grabbed me. Pulled me to him. He pressed his body against mine, bringing his arms around my waist. He felt solid and familiar. But not warm and safe. It dawned on me that I liked the idea of Cisero more than I liked Cisero.
I shoved him away. “I don’t trust you, Cisero. You could have come to me yourself and told me before money was involved.”
He frowned and reached for me again. I sidestepped out of his reach.
“I tried to,” he said.
“Fine you tried to. But I mean it, Cisero. If I have to be here and do this, I don’t care which one of you is the father of a baby that’ll never be born. You and your brother can fight over who jizzes in the cup and bring me the turkey baster and we go from there.
His lips quirked but he didn’t laugh.
Both of us jumped, startled when the door came crashing open. Gabriel stormed through the door and over to the bed. A sneer on his granite face. He eyes volleyed between Cisero and me, then finally settled on me. For what seemed like forever he stared at me with narrowed eyes, looking me over. He frowned at the bath towel I had wrapped around me like it offended him.
His eyes didn’t leave mine as he spoke to Cisero. “Cisero, can I talk to you.” There was no heat in his voice, but a fire blazed behind his eyes.
Cisero spun away from me toward Gabriel. He sighed and left the room. Gabriel said nothing to me, but his eyes said it all. He’d be back.
Gabriel
My vision flashed red. I wanted to peel his fucking skin off. Anger burrowed under my flesh tightening my muscles.
That’s what always happened when I saw them together, unbridled fucking rage.
I shoved him against the wall. The sound of his back smashing into it reverberated. A oomph left his lips. He glared at me.
I sneered back. I never wanted to kill someone so badly.
“How’s your fucking fiancé going to feel about you being in there with my wife?”
I purposely mentioned his soon to be wife, since he supposedly loved her so much. He stole her from me, and I use the word stole loosely. I didn’t give a fuck about Ashley. She was like all the others. Cum dumps I used to pass the time.
He shoved me just hard enough to move me out of his space so he could right himself. He balled his fist at his side. “Lower your fucking voice,” he harshly whispered looking down the hall toward Justice’s room.
“What were you doing in her room after I made it very clear to you that I’d handle everything after the marriage certificate was signed?”
The question was rhetorical. I knew what he was doing. He’d been in a one-sided competition with me since we were kids. Cisero only wanted Justice because he knew I did. He was obsessed with one upping me. If I showed interest in something or someone, he wanted that something or someone. I said nothing when he stole my toys or fucked my girlfriend, because I didn’t care. The only thing he had managed to take from me that truly mattered was Justice. He’d hidden her from me for years.
He started buttoning his shirt. “If you want her to do what needs to be done, this is what I have to do. I told you I would get her to marry you. You’re married.”
“So you fucking her is what you think needs to be done?”
He shook his head, as if I was clueless before answering. “Yes. You’ve been creeping outside the halls of her bedroom since she was sixteen. Waiting on bated breath for her to acknowledge you, but you’ll never have her like you want, Gabriel. Only one of us has the chance. So just let me fuck her and get her pregnant. Then I can get back to my life.”
Disgust curled my lip. His perfect fucking superficial life. All Cisero wanted to do was pretend to be normal. None of us were normal.
We’d done things and still did things. Saw things that made us the opposite of normal. We were tainted, and we tainted other people. He was delusional, but I was fine with him living any way he saw fit as long as he left Justice be.
I slammed my fist into the wall right next to his head, the noise from the hit was deafening.
“No!” Cisero reached out and placed his hand on my shoulder.
I grounded my teeth. I could smell her on him. “Then prepare the turkey baster like she suggested, because she won’t let you within a mile of her pussy.”
I shoved his hand off me. I wanted to knock the smug expression off his face. I could, literally and figuratively, but I held my composure. Cisero had no idea what he was talking about. I had the smell and taste of her pussy committed to memory. I’d let him remain ignorant to that fact. He didn’t view me as competition and that worked to my advantage.
“Cisero,” I pointed in his direction and stressed his name, so he knew to listen to me. “My wife will not be fucking you ever. If I catch you in a room with her alone—”
He stepped forward again, invading my space. “And if you do find me in her room again, you’ll do what?” he challenged.
I sucked in a jagged breath. “I’ll flay that bitch I so graciously gave you.”
In response to my threat, his nostrils flared, and anger swelled in his gaze but it dissipated quickly. A forced grin split his mouth. He threw his hands up. He knew what I was capable of, especially when pushed. The idea of him even touching Justice triggered the dark parts of me.
“Fine. I hope you don’t wait too long before you change your mind. She has an OBGYN appointment set in less than three weeks. When whatever you have planned doesn’t work out, you know where I’ll be.”
Cisero Page 4