“I know of him,” I say. There’s really no point in telling him how I know of the sicko and his handiwork. Graziani already knows what he’s up against, and I don’t need to throw gasoline on the flames.
“What about Enzo? Where is he?” Tommy asks.
“I hope they sank him to the bottom of the goddamn Mediterranean!” Graziani rubs a hand over his shiny bald head. “How could he have done this to the family? He killed his sister! His own blood!”
“He’s collateral damage,” I mutter to Tommy. “They don’t give a shit about him. He served his purpose. He’s probably in a shallow grave right now. In pieces.”
“They’re going to come for me,” Graziani says in a low voice. “The money he was funneling through my charity foundation? He was also skimming. They want their cash and they think I can get it for them. They’re using my daughter as leverage.” He covers his face with his hands. “The charity foundation was the one good and legitimate thing I’d done. I built it with Julia because of her passion for music. I wanted it to be her legacy when I was gone. And I did a shit job of protecting it for her,” he weeps. “And of protecting her.”
My heart stills. Music. Charity foundation. Julia. What the fuck?
“Back up,” I croak. “You said your daughter’s name is Julia?”
Graziani nods.
“And she loves music?”
“She’s a violinist,” he replies in a somber tone.
I can feel heat creeping into my face as memories from that night in the airport lounge wallpaper my mind. Bright, expressive green eyes that glowed like candles when she spoke of her parents and her music, melodic sounds of her laughter rippling through the air, and a refreshing aura of pure innocence and honesty.
A dull ache in my chest assaults me as my own words replay in my mind.
The daughter is dead.
I put a hand to my temple.
Please, God, no.
Please let me be completely fucking wrong!
“What’s your problem?” Tommy hisses.
I turn to him, my lips stretched into a straight line. “The airport lounge.”
He shrugs. “Yeah?”
I turn to Graziani. “Is there any possibility she performs under a different name?”
He sighs. “Her middle name, yes. Loren.”
My gut knots, twisting so tight, I almost yelp in pain.
“She’s the girl, Tommy.”
“Fuck,” he says in a low voice.
“What girl?” Graziani demands.
I scrub a hand down the front of my face. “I met your daughter over a week ago in Palermo after a concert. In the VIP lounge at the airport. She didn’t say where she was going, but it’s obvious now that she was headed to Rome.”
“And she was by herself?” Graziani leaps up from his couch.
“Yeah.”
He paces the room. “That must have been the night when they grabbed her head of security, Pietro Mulino. Elia’s crew brought him to my house the day she was taken, his throat slit ear-to-ear. She’d never told me he disappeared from the concert venue.” He covers his face with his hands. “My baby! My poor baby, what did I do to you?” He turns to me, tears in his eyes. “How long were you with her?”
I sigh. Not nearly long enough is the truth, but I don’t think that’s what he wants to hear right now. “About an hour. But there wasn’t anyone else with her or sniffing around, if that’s what you’re wondering.”
“Fortunato’s people were tracking her from Palermo. They infiltrated her security. And I knew nothing about any of it.” Graziani sinks back onto the couch, visibly shaken like a mob boss should never, ever be.
With a pounding heart, my mind shuffles through scenarios involving Julia and her captor, none of which comfort me.
In fact, they all make me fucking sick to my stomach.
“You have to find her,” he tells us, his voice shaking. “I will pay you anything you want. Just please find my baby girl and bring her home to me.”
Tommy gives me a long look and he can tell my mind is in a million different places right now, none of them here. He turns to Graziani. “Can you get the money they’re looking for? Do we have anything to offer them?” Tommy asks.
He shakes his head. “I don’t know what Enzo did with it. He took millions, the slimy bastard. But it wasn’t just the money. He stole whatever he could get his hands on, stockpiled the goods, and sold them. He’d been doing it for years. He must have warehoused hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth since getting involved with the foundation.”
“And they want to know where to find their shit.” I let out a deep sigh. Jesus Christ, how do you not know when someone is raping your livelihood like that? And how the hell do you lose track of your only daughter when she’s such a goddamn easy target for your enemies? “I don’t suppose you know where any of it is.”
Graziani shakes his head. “No,” he whispers. “And when they come for me, I know they’ll try to use Julia to get the information they want. But I don’t have it to give. Enzo was a conniving piece of shit. I helped him as a favor to my wife. And these guys he got tangled up with…I know them. They’re animals who kidnap women so they can sell them to other animals. They won’t think twice to torture her and kill her to punish me if I can’t get them what they want.” Graziani walks over to me, his eyes heavy. He puts a hand on my shoulder. “Please. I need your help. I need to find her and get her out of Rome. It’s the only way I can protect her. She can’t stay here with me. It’s too dangerous.”
“What about the polizia?”
He shakes his head. “I couldn’t risk them getting involved. And Alek assured me you’re the best at what you do.”
I fold my arms over my chest. “He’s right.”
Graziani nods his head. “Good. So can you help me find my little girl?”
A deep breath floods my lungs. Find her? He should be more concerned about whether or not she’s alive once that happens. “Just be aware that you let a lot of time pass before making the call to get us over here. You only have a small window to work with in cases like this, which I’d think you already knew.” I swallow hard, not wanting to hear my own next words. “And there’s a good chance we’re going to be too late. So prepare yourself for that.”
Chapter Nine
Elia
“Where’s the girl, Elia?” Nic shouts through the phone lines.
A smile tugs at my lips as I watch Julia sleep, her naked body tangled in silk sheets, her long, dark hair splayed across the pillow.
I must have given her a little too much of the sedative last time, but she’s finally beginning to stir.
It won’t be long now.
I’ve jacked off no less than a hundred times while watching her, a treat for all of the viewers tuning in from the numerous video camera feeds set up around the house — walking around the room, praying for mercy, weeping for her family, even playing her prized violin as tears stream down her beautiful face.
I’m glad I remembered to grab that violin case from the Graziani house.
I let Julia touch me on every level, but it’s on the most primitive one that I crave more than food, water, or air.
That’s what I need, what I’ve yearned for since the first time I saw her, performing on stage in an outfit that had me rock hard with one long look.
But until she accepts me, I can only show her what she does to me.
And watching the expressions on her face — the shock, the fear, the curiosity, the panic — I lose myself completely.
I can only imagine how it will feel to lose myself in her.
I never wanted to drug her, but until she stops running, I can’t give myself to her the way I want.
The way I need.
I want to feel her tight and wet pussy clench around my fat cock as I drive into her.
I want to fill her with everything I have, to claim her as my own, and to put my baby in her belly.
I want her to scream my name becaus
e the pleasure I give to her is that intense.
And most of all, I want to destroy my father’s grand plan for taking over the goddamn world. I’m going to make sure he pays for all of his sins.
My dick thickens and I palm it, stroking it hard as her perfect ass tents under the bedsheet. Cum pools at the tip, and I smooth it around with my thumb, pumping my cock harder.
I clench my teeth, the deep ache in my balls making my gut clench. God, I want to pound her ass right now, to sink into that tight rim of muscle as she drives her hips against me.
She’d be relaxed and calm, her body would melt into mine…
But she still wouldn’t accept me.
She needs more time.
And I just have to convince her she wants me as much as I want her.
My hand slides up and down my thick shaft as I half-listen to my father’s angry voice spouting bullshit threats into my ear. I know time is short and he’ll eventually find me because by my own design, my digital footprint is pretty easy to track if you have a clue as to what you’re doing. I want him to find me so I can execute the next part of my plan.
Him, being the next part.
But right now, I’m only focused on Julia.
I lean back against the wall in my bedroom, opposite the camera, my chest heaving as the orgasm builds.
Harder, faster, tighter…
I want everyone watching this live stream to see what she does to me.
Maybe my father will see it, too.
“Did you really think you’d get away with it? Are you fucking crazy?” Nic screams when I don’t answer him right away. He doesn’t like to be ignored.
Well, fuck him.
Neither do I.
I thrust my hips forward, fucking my fist, my eyes squeezed shut. I throw my head back against the wall as the cum spills over my hand, dripping onto the floor at my feet. I let out a deep breath, my pulse throbbing against my neck.
“Oh, so now you finally decide to pay attention?” I shout, my pulse throbbing against my neck. “Because one of your own has changed the game. Someone has pulled the rug out from under you for the first time in your fucking life, your weak son, no less, and you don’t like it, huh?”
“Don’t you dare try to go up against me, Elia,” my father seethes. “You will lose. I guarantee that.”
Fucker. I’ve already lost plenty because of him.
Now I’m playing to win.
“I think I’ll take my chances,” I say. My lips curl upward, and I’m practically hard again just thinking about how filled with rage my father is right now because he’s realizing he can’t control me.
Not anymore.
I played my part perfectly so that he’d trust me with this job.
And I delivered.
But Julia is more than just the spoils of war between me and my father.
She represents my victory over him and the dark existence I’ve been forced to suffer over the past years.
Alone.
Ignored most of the time, belittled and berated the rest.
I’m no longer part of his army.
I’m forming my own.
I won’t let him use Julia as leverage for what he wants.
I’m going to take it myself.
With her by my side.
Her family will have no choice but to align themselves with me, especially once she falls in love with me.
Which she will.
I’ll make sure of that. I’ll give her everything and she’ll give me a baby who will unite us against the evil that is Nic Fortunato.
“I knew you wouldn’t be able to deliver,” he snarls. “You’re fucking pathetic! I’ve given you so many chances over the years to prove yourself and you blew them all! Sometimes I wonder if you even are my son with all of the fuck-ups you’ve caused.”
He lets out a snort and my fingers clench around my phone. The only image that calms me is the one where I’m digging a fork into his chest and dragging it down to his groin as he screams and wails for mercy like the bitch he is.
He thinks I don’t know.
He says shit like that to make me angry, to belittle me.
And I let him because I know it’s only a matter of time before I strike, before I get the revenge I’ve been craving.
If he wanted to handle that scumbag Enzo Tallerico, he should’ve done it himself.
Now he’s going to pay the hefty price of outsourcing the job.
“Well, I definitely surprised you this time, didn’t I?” I snicker. “Maybe you’re not as smart as you think, and maybe I’m just fucking brilliant.”
“You forget who you’re dealing with, Elia. I can crush you like a fucking roach if you don’t watch yourself and deliver what we agreed upon. I don’t want to know what the fuck you’ve been doing with her over the past week, or what little fantasy world you’ve concocted in your sick and twisted brain. I just want you to hand over the girl. Tonight.”
“So many demands. I don’t think you’re in any position to tell me what to do, not now, when I’ve pretty much taken a machete to your plans.” I shake my head, my eyes glued to the camera. Julia shifts in the center of the bed, the sheet falling away from her perfect tits, exposing hardened nipples.
My cock jumps, and I immediately start stroking it again. The urge to finally be inside of her after months of watching and wondering crashes over me like a tsunami.
I’m so close…
I hear him mumble something to someone in the background, but it doesn’t matter. He’s probably got a team combing the city for me, but it doesn’t matter. I’ve taken the first step into battle and there’s no fucking way I’m going to let myself be derailed now, when victory is within my grasp.
Nic Fortunato’s reign is over.
It’s time to pass the torch, Father.
“I wasted so much time trying to prepare you and you challenged me every step of the way. Are you surprised that I trusted your sister Via with so much and you with nothing?” he yells.
I smirk. He’s pissed. Desperate.
Good.
And that comment about my half-sister…did he really think spouting that out was going to do anything to help his cause?
It only feeds the flames that will ultimately consume him and his grand plans, turning it all to fucking ash.
“And how did that turn out for you? You trusted her and she wound up dead because of you. Opposing you kept me alive.”
“You’re insane. Fucking delusional! When I find you, and believe me, I will find you, I’m going to make you wish you were dead!”
“Well, isn’t that ironic? For years, that’s exactly what I did wish. You made my life miserable. You took away everything that I loved, you stripped me of what was good. What was real! You filled me with hate and anger. And after drowning in all of that shit for so long, I found a reason to live.” I pause, my chest tight. “To make you suffer the way I have and watch you fucking die with nothing!”
A silence follows, my breaths labored. A shiver bolts through me, rage coursing through my veins.
Then a low chuckle follows, the sound sending a chill down my spine. My fingers turn white from gripping the phone so hard.
“You would know about that, wouldn’t you?” His voice drops to a caustic growl. “Since that’s exactly what you are and what you’ll always be. Nothing. To me or anyone else in the fucking world!”
I let out a strangled roar and hurl the phone against a wall. It clatters to the floor but doesn’t shatter. It’s not enough to satisfy me though. I stomp over to the dent the phone left in the wall and punch right through the sheetrock. I ignore the sharp pain that shoots up my arm, the blood drizzling through the scrapes on my knuckles from the impact. My shoulders quake, short, sharp gasps slicing away at my lungs.
I eye the hole, my eyes narrowing.
He thinks he can scare me into submission.
He thinks I need him and his fucking money.
He thinks, but he doesn’t know shit.
<
br /> Nothing.
You’re nothing!
I grit my teeth and launch my arm backward before unleashing my other fist on the wall. I punch it over and over again, my fury exploding through the sheetrock as if it’s his smug-ass face I’m pummeling.
I stop when I’ve exposed the studs behind the wall, when my skin is raw and cracked. Bloodstains streak my handiwork and I stare at my fists, still clenched tight.
He thinks he can predict what comes next.
He thinks he can stop me.
But he has no fucking idea.
Chapter Ten
Antonio
“She was taken over a week ago! Why the fuck did Graziani wait so long to get to you? If she’s alive, and that’s a big if, she’s gonna have guys all over her to make sure that people like us don’t snatch her back!” I shout into the phone. “This is a suicide mission, Alek, because whoever has her is prepared and waiting for us! And by the way, your ass is in Monaco right now, not in Rome ready to face Christ only knows what!”
“I can sense your displeasure, Ant,” Alek says in his sickeningly calm voice. “But that doesn’t mean you need to be so goddamn logical and heartless. The guy is suffering.”
“Fuck you!” I scream, slamming my hand on the steering wheel.
“Look, just relax, okay? I brought you guys in because I trust you and know you can do the job in my place.”
“Alek, Ant isn’t just having a meltdown right now. He knows the girl. Likes the girl,” Tommy says in a low voice, watching mourners file in and out of the funeral home.
“How the fuck do you know her, Ant? Since when do you listen to anything besides that pounding club shit? When did you become such a fan of the violin?”
“Screw you, Alek.” I suck in a breath. “We’re going into this too fucking late,” I mutter. “You catch assholes like this by surprise when they least expect you. Days later, and they’re on their guard. With an army.”
Coveted: Men of Mayhem: Book Two Page 10