Graziani gave us the reason why his daughter was taken, and he’ll have to live with that knowledge forever. If it was my kid, I’d be the one hunting for her, no matter what.
Graziani clearly doesn’t share my control issues.
But he sure was pissed off enough to go running to Alek with his grievances.
“Tommy, why didn’t you open your damn mouth in there?” Alek demands. “You’re supposed to be the voice of reason, for Christ’s sake. You could have sugarcoated shit for him!”
“What did you want me to say? He fucking blindsided me, too,” Tommy grunts. “Trying to shut Ant up is like trying to fuck a wall.”
I can almost see Alek sitting in his office chair, back straight, teeth clenched. I bet he’s playing Angry Shark, too, clenching his fingers around the mouse as he devours his on-screen enemies, pretending they’re me. It’s his favorite video game and he plays it to de-stress, which is pretty much all the time.
“Listen, Alek. This is serious shit and I wanted him to understand what we’re up against. Graziani is your friend, not ours. You can feather his ass all you want, but I’m a straight shooter. Besides, Fortunato’s crew is dangerous. Fucking sadistic. We don’t have a location on Nic. And if his son really is involved with this, he’s a loose cannon ready to erupt at any second.”
“Why the hell do you think I called you in?” he grumbles. “I’d like nothing more than to take down those cocksuckers and slice off all of their dicks myself, but I can’t. You guys can.”
“Thanks for the vote of confidence,” Tommy quips. “Not that I ever doubt my skills, but it’s still a nice compliment.”
I cover my face with my hands and let out a loud groan. “Alek, tell us what we need to know. What are we walking into?”
“I’ve had guys on Elia Fortunato since Nic went underground, watching him and waiting to see if Nic would reach out to him since you killed Via. I figured Nic would make an appearance at some point to have Elia manage the day-to-day operations, but he didn’t. The guy is very fucking elusive. Nic runs his trafficking operation alone from obscure places and keeps himself pretty well-hidden. And because of that, we haven’t been able to take him out. But my cyber experts were able to help me find Elia.” He sighs. “Guys, it turns out that Elia is a sick exhibitionist fuck. He live streams rants on the Dark Web for a disturbingly large number of twisted and depraved followers and that’s how we tracked him to the address I just sent you.”
“Who are these experts?” I ask. “How do you know that they aren’t working against you?”
“Look, they’re huge in the online gaming space. Legends in Silicon Valley. You ever hear of that company LazerShark? They created it and about ten others since then. They pretty much own cyberspace and the Dark Web.”
“And you trust them?”
“Almost a hundred percent.”
“Are you fucking kidding me?” I groan.
“Come on, you can’t even trust family a hundred percent.”
“What?” I yell. I knew I needed to keep a tighter grip on this guy!
Alek snickers. “Relax, I’m fucking with you. They freelance. We deal with each other on the Dark Web on an as-needed basis. They help me remove obstacles from my business deals and I tell them only what they need to know.”
“So, in other words, they help you find and eliminate criminals so you can launch your own illicit activities?”
“Well, yeah, not that I tell them about my illicit activities. But we’re getting off-topic. Let’s get back to Elia.”
“What’s he ranting about?” Tommy asks.
“Nic, mainly. Guy hates his father and makes it damn clear that he wants to destroy him. Julia is a part of his plan. Like I said, he’s a loose cannon and I have no idea what the hell he’s gonna do next, so we need to get her the hell away from him, immediately if not sooner. So you need to find Elia and make sure he knows if he fucks with Graziani, he fucks with us.”
“Great. This is like the war that never ends.” I scrub a hand down the front of my face.
“We live in a perpetual warzone, Ant,” Alek says. “Every day and night, we fight to protect what’s ours. It’s the only way to survive. You know that. There is no escape from it, so the only way to keep winning is to make new allies. Allies who have something to contribute to our cause. Allies who need something in return.”
“So you’re building forces now.” I sigh.
“Always. Now lose the logic and try to see the big fucking picture.” Alek grunts. “You do this and everyone walks away a winner.”
I press my fingertips to my temples. I can think of only one prize and she’s worth more than any amount of money. And if I find her, I’ll make sure she knows that. I will make her believe it, believe me, no matter what. “Okay.”
“My guys were able to pinpoint a location just outside of Rome. Private house, vacant for years.” He pauses. “Nic Fortunato’s wife was killed there and the family vacated it afterward but never sold it. Our digital surveillance shows that Elia is there alone with Julia.”
“Wait, if your guys have been watching Elia, how come they didn’t see this whole attack coming in the first place? You sure you can trust your information, Alek?” Tommy asks.
“Look, I know the experts in all of this cyber shit. But they’re only as good as the digital footprint left by our target. Elia went dark for a few days but popped up on the radar again in the location I just sent. That’s why we didn’t catch word of the attack. He’s at the house now, live streaming everything. You need to get there before anyone else figures out where he is, otherwise, we risk losing Julia. If Nic gets to her before you, our plans go to shit and we lose everything.”
I turn on the ignition, expelling a sigh through my gritted teeth as nagging thoughts fester in my mind. We’re relying on information from some random cyber ‘expert’, but can it really be trusted? Is she really safe?
If Julia is dead, I know I’ve already lost.
Chapter Eleven
Julia
“Please don’t do it. Don’t rape me!” Tears sting my eyes, his thick fingers digging into my throat. I guess trying to knee him in the groin when I can barely feel my own legs was kind of a stupid idea.
He recoils slightly, his eyes wide with horror. “My mother was raped before she died,” he says in a quiet voice. “I would never do that to you, Julia. I’d never violate you like that. My pleasure will come when you finally realize that I’m the man of your dreams. I haven’t laid a finger on you because I respect you too much. And I love you,” he rasps against my ear, his voice cracking. “I’ve done my best to make you comfortable and warm. You’re safe here with me, so don’t act like I’m some kind of monster.”
Monster. There’s that word again, the one that turned him into a raving lunatic the first time I said it. I think I’ll reserve it this time.
He thrusts my violin at me. “Now let’s try this again. Play this for me.”
“I’m just scared,” I whisper. My teeth chatter as I struggle to draw in oxygen. “You keep drugging me…why?”
“There is no reason for you to be scared. You’re here because I can’t live without you, and once you realize that, I will stop drugging you. The injections stop you from running away from me. But I don’t want to force you to stay. If you keep fighting me, we can’t be intimate, and more than anything, I want us to be connected at that level. I need you, Julia. But I need you to want me, too,” he says simply, as if his words make all the sense in the world.
“But you don’t even know me.”
He nods. “But I do. I know you very well. I’ve studied you. I’ve followed you. And I’ve watched you.” He drags a finger down the side of my face. “Your expressions. Your smiles. Your tears. Your sensuality. And I want it all to myself.“
“People are looking for me,” I say in a trembling voice as he raises a knife to the side of my head and slides the cool steel against my prickled skin. “You can’t get away with keeping me here
against my will.” Speaking those words sucks so much energy from me and I have the sudden need to sink to the floor. Jesus Christ, what has he been drugging me with? My memories are spotty as hell, and I have no idea how much time has passed since he took me from my parents’ house.
But my mother collapsed on the floor in a pool of her own blood, the gunshots that claimed her life when I tried to make a run for it…fuck yes, I remember all of that. That horrifying image is forever burned into my memory, drugs or not.
He says he can’t live without me, says he’s in love with me.
And yet, here he is, holding a knife to my skull, which tells me that if I have any shot of surviving this nightmare, I need to be patient.
If I do anything rash, that maniacal love will turn to hate and he might kill me.
Or worse.
I’ve seen him become the very monster he’s trying to destroy.
And while I sure as hell don’t want to awaken the beast, I need a plan. I need an escape!
The problem is that every time I’m lucid enough to make a move, he’s sticking another needle into my arm and my body instantly morphs into a pile of goo.
“Nobody is going to find you here, Julia. You’re like a beautiful bird, one that is too precious to be let out of its cage. Here, with me, you’ll be protected. Safe.”
“You’re holding a knife to my head,” I say through gritted teeth. “How is that safe for me?”
“You need to understand that it’s dangerous for you out there. Away from me.” He leans close. “They’ll find you if you leave. And they’ll do horrific things to you to punish your father for the actions he took against them. The way I punished you by killing your mother when you went against my wishes.”
The room spins, and I clutch the sides of my head. My stomach rolls, waves of nausea crashing over me.
“Don’t be afraid of me,” he murmurs. “I saved you from all of the danger, Julia. I am going to make a new life for us. Together. You’re going to have my baby and there’s no way I’d ever let anyone take you away from me now. We’re going to be so happy together. You’re going to give me exactly what I’ve been missing for so long, love and a family of my own.”
Baby? What the fuck is he talking about?
I blink fast, but my mind is perpetually cloudy. Events of the past few days are blurred beyond my comprehension. Or has it been weeks or months? I can’t keep track anymore.
Bile rises in my throat and the room spins faster and faster, like a carousel on steroids. I see flashes of color and light zip past my eyes as my breathing becomes more and more labored. This guy is fucking delusional!
“I would never give you a baby! I would never even touch you unless it was to cause you massive, crippling pain!” I hiss, clutching the robe around myself.
His dark eyes flash, his lips twisting into a demonic grimace. He gives a quick look at the cameras and pushes his pajama pants to his ankles, gripping his already-hard cock in his free hand, the knife tip still glittering in the other one.
He wants me to watch.
Again.
“What kind of a sick fuck are you?” I scream.
And then he smiles, his chest heaving as he pumps his dick harder and faster. “You’re so perfect,” he murmurs. “Your reactions. Fuck, they make me want to come. Do you know how many times I’ve spilled my hot cum all over your naked body, Julia? How much I love when you moan in your sleep, how fucking arousing it is to think you’re dreaming about me and my cock throbbing against you?”
My eyes can’t possibly open any wider or else they’ll just pop out of my skull.
He moves closer toward me, backing me against the wall and blocking any chance for escape. I recoil, but there’s nowhere for me to go. He closes the space between us, his bare chest grazing the thin fabric covering my breasts.
Good God, touching me makes him even crazier.
And harder.
Sicko.
I’m the only one who can help me.
And right now, I’m trapped.
My eyes fall to the knife in his limp hand, the weapon he’s all but ignored since he began jerking himself off against me only seconds ago. I draw in a deep breath, swallowing hard as his eyes float closed in his very twisted version of ecstasy.
I haven’t felt this mobile in what feels like years and suddenly, every limb is active and alert. That knife is my only shot, my only chance to escape this nightmare existence. I’ve been plunged into hell and nobody is going to ride in on a white horse to pull me out.
I’m the fucking horse!
My skin crawls as he leans farther into me, positioning himself between my quivering legs. But I know I can’t move right at this second. I know I need to hold it together if I have any chance of grabbing that knife.
My vision blurs with tears as my legs and arms go limp. I still have line of sight to the knife and all I need him to do is shift just a little bit so I can slide my hand around him and grip the handle.
He lets out a loud roar as cum spills from the tip of his cock.
I open my mouth and a bloodcurdling screech slips out. “Get the fuck away from me!”
If there were any windows in here, they’d have shattered for sure.
But unfortunately for me, there’d be nobody around to hear the glass explode anyway.
The piercing sound startles him just long enough for me to grip the knife.
He lets out a growl and grabs my wrist. “You’re going to be sorry you did that.”
“Fuck you!” I shout, using every ounce of strength I have in my body, which is basically nothing but pure adrenaline at this point. I slice into the air, the knife making a whirring sound as it pierces his side. I dig the blade into him, and he smiles.
He fucking smiles.
“Do you really think you can hurt me worse than I’ve already been hurt?” he says, covering my hand with his and pulling the steel out of his bloody flesh with barely a wince.
Deranged doesn’t even begin to describe this monster.
I gape at the knife dripping in his blood, my final shot at survival.
He glares at the drops of blood coating the blade and then turns his hardened gaze toward me.
“You tried to hurt me. Do you know what I did to the last person who hurt me?” He leans close enough so that his breath is hot against my cheek. “I gutted him like a fucking fish before feeding him to a pack of rabid dogs. The gutting didn’t kill him, but the dogs did. Slowly. Painfully.”
“Y-you wouldn’t hurt me. Y-you said you l-loved me,” I stammer as he hovers the tip of the knife over my eye. “T-that you’d p-protect me from d-danger.”
He nods. “Yes, I did say that.” His expression darkens. “But that was before you defied me…for the last time.”
Chapter Twelve
Antonio
I peek in the rearview mirror. Nothing. Not a single flash of light.
There are no cars, no visible signs of life in the large, dilapidated house.
I rub the back of my neck. “I don’t know about this, Tommy. Smells like a trap to me.”
Tommy twists his head in all directions, letting out a deep sigh. “Alek isn’t stupid. He wouldn’t take information unless he vetted it himself about fifty times. He wouldn’t send us in there unless he was sure it was the right place.”
“I’d have liked to talk to the cyber geeks who supposedly tracked him here,” I grumble. “And show them firsthand what they can expect later if they’re fucking with us.”
“That’s because you’re a control freak.” Tommy snickers and pushes open the car door.
“It’s done well for me so far. I’m still alive.”
The hairs on the back of my neck stand at attention. I stare up at the house one last time before stuffing two guns into the waistband of my pants.
I open the car door and step onto the gravel covering the driveway, my feet crunching the ground with each tentative step I take toward the house. I hid the car behind some bushes so that if
anyone does show up, they won’t know we’ve already crashed the kook’s party.
“How do you wanna do this?” Tommy whispers, creeping along next to me. “You think we should be polite and ring the bell and then just shoot him in the face? I mean, that’d be pretty fucking unexpected, yeah?”
I give him a quick punch in the arm and he snickers, jogging ahead of me. “Come on, let’s get your girl. Maybe if you rescue her that’ll be enough to convince her to give you a real shot.”
“You’re a dick,” I whisper.
He flips me off with a sinister grin.
Perspiration drizzles down my spine.
What if Julia is just bait for us?
Are we making it that much easier for Nic?
What if Alek’s guys gave him this address, knowing we’d trust our brother-in-law and show up like the dark knights we are? Anyone can be bought. How do we even know those guys are on our side?
We’re long-awaited prey for Nic Fortunato and his gripes against our family.
Sitting ducks in the middle of Nowhere, Italy.
Fortunato is the kind of guy who likes to make a big show of strength, to make them cower and follow, to prove he always wins against any enemy.
I scrub a hand down the front of my face.
I’m not in the mood to play the part of that enemy, and I don’t like walking into the unknown.
But it’s been a long time since Nic’s had a win.
Maybe he’s itching for a taste of victory.
Or maybe he just wants to put a bullet in my brain for killing his daughter, Via.
Yeah…so there’s no shortage of reasons why the guy wants me dead, that’s for sure.
Tommy, on the other hand, thinks of this shit as a game, a game he knows very well how to win. He plays the hand he’s dealt, calm and cool, doesn’t sweat ever, and never thinks about consequences of his moves. He doesn’t overthink, he just acts. He takes risks when he needs to and always has a strategy. That’s why I like working with him. He’s not a fucking wild card like my brother Cristian who has gotten me shot at more times than I can count because he doesn’t know when to keep his damn mouth shut. Cristian is the exact opposite of calm and cool. But for as even-keeled as Tommy appears to be, piss him off and he’ll go off the deep end and erupt like a fucking volcano. Even he has limits, and if someone pushes them, they’re screwed because Tommy is a vicious motherfucker when he wants to be.
Coveted: Men of Mayhem: Book Two Page 11