EL DIABLO II

by M. Robinson

  Chapter 23

  —Sienna—

  He deviously grinned again, and I resisted the urge to call him a dick.

  “Whether you like it or not, I’m your husband and I expect to be treated with common courtesy.”

  “Or what? I’m not scared of you.”

  Out of nowhere, he jolted forward, and I jumped back.

  Fucking asshole!

  In a cocky tone, he taunted, “You sure about that, Sin?”

  “It was a reflex.”

  “Are you always this sassy?”

  I shrugged. “Are you always this much of a cold-hearted bastard?”

  “I’ve been called worse things.”

  “Oh…I know. Trust me, every girl at my academy knew who Crucifixio Martinez was. Your pompous reputation proceeds you, and now that I’ve met you…well, I can surely say the horns fit.”

  He scoffed out a chuckle while his fingers moved to his mouth. Back and forth his thumb started rubbing along his bottom lip with nothing but intrigue written all over his face. Studying my stance, wanting to know what I was thinking, what I was feeling. His regard quickly turned predatory and I suddenly found it difficult to breathe.

  “Stop looking at me like that.”

  “Like what?”

  “Like you want to get in my panties. I will never willingly let you in them.”

  “Do you really want to test your will against my reputation?”

  “Ugh! Great. It’s our wedding night and you’re already talking about your whores.” I rolled my eyes. “Do they know you got married today?”

  “Jealousy doesn’t suit you, Sienna.”

  “I’m not jealous. I don’t care what you do with your cock.”

  “Hmm…”

  “What? I don’t.”

  “I’m not sure which amuses me more, you talking about my dick or you thinking I give a fuck what you care about.”

  I didn’t want to keep stroking his ego, so I changed the subject back to what I really craved to know. “So, explain yourself. Our arranged marriage was your idea?”

  “Not that I owe you any explanation for my dealings, but I’ll answer just this one time when you say please.”

  “Oh my God. You can’t be serious.”

  He pushed off the wall, ignoring me. It was as if he already knew everything about my personality. I hated being ignored.

  I watched him pour himself a drink at the bar until finally I deeply sighed, blurting, “Please.”

  Our eyes connected.

  “Now was that so hard?”

  “Painfully. Are you going to answer me or just stand there and gloat?”

  “Is that what I’m doing?”

  “What the hell? Must you answer everything with a question? Just answer mine.”

  Raising the glass to his lips, he drank it down in one gulp.

  “By all means, Cruz, take your time.”

  “Are you in a hurry for something?”

  “Yeah, your fucking answer.”

  He scoffed out another chuckle. “You’re going to have to work on that feisty attitude of yours if you’re going to persist on knowing about my business affairs.”

  “And you’re going to have to work on how to respond when you’re asked a question.”

  He set the glass down, finally divulging, “I want you, Sienna. It’s that simple.”

  “And what? My father was just keen on giving me away to the first gangster who had the balls to ask for his daughter’s hand in marriage?”

  “I know your worth, he knows mine. End of conversation.”

  “Really?” I gazed around the room. “Here I thought we were just getting started.”

  “Come here.”

  I side-eyed him. “No.”

  “I won’t ask you again. Come here.”

  “No, I’m not a dog.”

  “Considering you’re still acting like a bitch, it’s debatable.”

  “I wouldn’t be acting like a bitch if your last name didn’t sign off on my death certificate. I’ll tell you how I’m so sure about my fate since I’m now tied to you. My mother’s last word to me was, ‘run.’ I didn’t understand, but I did as I was told. I ran as fast as I could back into our home. The same one I still lived in before my father handed me to you. He couldn’t bear to part with it. My mother lived behind those concrete walls. Even after her death, her presence was still there. She knew, Cruz. She fucking knew there was a bomb in that limo. She wasn’t supposed to be with me, I was supposed to be going to school by myself.” I remembered that day like it was yesterday. It played out right before my eyes.

  He stepped in my direction. However, I put my hand up, stopping him dead in his tracks.

  “Do you have any idea what it’s like knowing she died for me? She gave her life for mine. She knew they’d never stop until they killed one of us, so she made damn sure it was her instead of me. So now all I can do is wait until it’s my turn to meet her fate. What do you think, Cruz? Huh?” I challenged. “Will it be another car bombing? I escaped death once, and we both know death doesn’t like that. I don’t think I’ll be that lucky again.”

  “Sienna—”

  “Don’t. Don’t you dare promise me things that are out of your control. I’m not weak, husband. I don’t need to hear your bullshit lies on the protection you’ll offer me. My father had dozens of guards surrounding my mother day and night, and she died right on our property. So fuck you, and your mafia life. I didn’t ask for this. I didn’t want it. The title of Mrs. Martinez just cost me my future at the hand of your demise. This is what you want right? Me? My virgin blood?” I unzipped my dress and it pooled at my feet. “Well, I don’t need to put on a silk nightie for that.” Viciously, I kicked my gown at him.

  I was over this bullshit. I’d give him what he wanted as long as it kept me in control of some aspect of my life.

  I was left in my corset.

  Panties.

  Thigh-high stockings.

  Heels.

  His eyes drank me in, and my impulses didn’t falter. If anything, the expression on his face stirred my will to show him up. Proving I could have just as much power if not more than he could.

  Slowly, I sat on the edge of the bed and seductively scooted my way to the middle. His daunting, hypnotic green eyes never wavered from my face.

  My stomach fluttered.

  My heart dropped.

  When he began striding over to me. Cruz didn’t walk, he swaggered.

  Determined.

  Pronounced.

  Looking every bit the part of the devil.

  Until he was standing at the foot of the bed, right in front of me. Cocking his head to the side, he tapered his sinister stare to bore into mine. His appearance took on a whole different demeanor now. In one swift move, he grabbed ahold of my ankles and roughly dragged my body toward him.

  I yelped, caught off guard with his brute force rendering my silence. In less than a second, he spread my legs and crudely gripped onto my thighs. My ass was now on the edge of the bed, he placed me where he wanted me…

  His dick against my core.

  My chest heaved. I was beginning to walk a very thin line between lust and loathing. Except, I wasn’t going to back down. I knew what I was getting myself into by provoking him. At the end of the day, I’d take his demons over his sympathy. I didn’t want his kindness. In my eyes, he would forever be my enemy.

  He wanted a wife, I’d give him a whore.

  “Fuck me, Cruz, so my blood can attest your loyalty to La Famiglia.”

  He arched an eyebrow before leaning forward. With his mouth inches away from my lips, he rasped, “Is this what you want, Sin?”

  I held my head higher. “Like it would matter to you if I said I didn’t. Just do it already. Steal another thing from me, but don’t for one second think this isn’t rape if I’m not screaming or begging for mercy. You’ll never see my weaknesses. Ever.”

  Growling from deep within his chest, he sat up and reached for the zip
per of his slacks. I turned my head, tightly shutting my eyes. Mentally preparing myself for his assault on my body. The pain that I knew was coming. Fisting the sheets, I bit my lower lip until I tasted blood. He was stripping away one more thing I held so sacred to me.

  My soul.

  After everything I’d been through, it was always mine. It was all I had left. I welcomed the Hell he’d burn in for eternity with more blood on his hands.

  Mine.

  “Sienna, look me in the eyes when I’m talking to you.”

  Reluctantly, I did. Stunned by what I saw. There was a pocket knife in his grasp.

  “What are you doin—”

  Crudely, he slid the blade down the palm of his hand.

  “Oh my God! Are you insane?”

  Lifting his arm to the side of our bodies, he quickly fisted his hand over the sheets beside us.

  “If La Famiglia wants blood, then it will be mine they receive.”

  I loudly gasped, shocked as shit by what he was doing for me. I opened my mouth to speak, but his phone rang.

  “What?” he roared, answering it. “Yeah…mmm hmm…I’ll be there in thirty.” He hung up, placing his phone back into the pocket of his slacks before looking at me again.

  With an expression of utter disgust I’d never seen on his handsome face, he spewed, “I want a wife, not a goddamn whore. I’ll never fuck you without your consent.”

  “I…I…I…”

  He got off of me, and I instantly felt the loss of his touch. His warmth. His hatred.

  Or was that love?

  “I’m a lot of things, Sienna. But I’m not a fucking rapist.” He threw the comforter on my body. “And don’t you ever fucking treat me like one again. Unless you want me to prove to you how wet I can make your pussy until you beg me for mercy.”

  “Cruz, I—”

  Deliberately backing away, his glare spoke volumes. “You got what you wanted, Princesa. For me to leave. You’ll be all alone now, so you can continue on with your pathetic pity party.”

  Everything happened so fast, one minute he was there and the next he stormed out. Slamming the door behind him. I stayed lying right there, frozen on the bed for I don’t know how long. Cold and abandoned on my wedding night. Hours could have gone by as my head spun around and around with no end in sight.

  My prayers were answered.

  I won.

  He left.

  But why did it feel like…

  I lost instead?

  Chapter 24

  —Cruz—

  Three months later

  “I swear I don’t know where the fuck she is!” my victim bellowed, screaming as if his life depended on it.

  It did.

  Torturing motherfuckers never got easier and I wasn’t talking about the actual sadistic act of what I did, it was how I’d do it. I’d show up strapped with a few men by my side, but there was only so much I could do with a fucking gun.

  I had to get creative. Carlo, who was one of my main men, tied the piece of shit to a chair while I wired together a couple of car batteries with jumper cables attached to them. My options were limited, we were at his shop and this was all I could fucking find. After Carlo dumped a bucket of water on the son of the bitch, I used the end of the frayed jumper cable to shock the shit out of him.

  This wasn’t like something you see in the fucking movies, this was burning his flesh from the intense voltage running through the water. It was hot enough to melt metal. I had to be careful not to kill him, having maybe a second to touch him anywhere on his body before he died of a heart attack. So, I began at his dick and worked my way up. I ripped the gag out of his mouth which was preventing him from swallowing his own tongue, or shattering his teeth from the impact of the shocks.

  “Please! I swear!” he bellowed. “All I heard was she was taken from Italy! I don’t know where they took her!”

  “Wrong fucking answer.”

  I placed the gag back in his mouth, although this time, I set the cable right over his throat. Right above his Adam’s apple. His body convulsed, shaking uncontrollably while he foamed at the mouth.

  Between La Familia, Sienna, and still trying to find Adriana, I was beyond exhausted. Every day it felt as if one target led to the next. Fully aware every breath could be my last as the grim reaper lurked in the shadows. Merely waiting to make his presence known.

  I’d eventually pay the repercussions of my sins, but I didn’t give a flying fuck. I’d become a sadistic motherfucker who thrived on pain, obedience, and power. Putting a bullet in someone’s head was too easy, I enjoyed the chase, the torture, the pleading for my compassion.

  I had none.

  I climbed every fucking mountain and searched every fucking cave for the men who took my sister. Always trying to tell myself they still existed to begin with, and she wasn’t sold off to the highest bidder yet.

  I raided homes.

  Businesses.

  Properties on top of fucking properties.

  Gaining as much information as I could that in the end led us nowhere but chasing our own fucking tails. I sniffed out enemies like a fucking trained rabid dog. Using any measures necessary to get the cocksuckers to fucking talk.

  The craziest part about all of it was these cruel attacks almost felt like home. Being a mafioso was much easier than being a decent human being.

  My heart turned cold.

  My soul black.

  My future not promised in any path.

  This life fucked me up to the point where nothing made sense when I walked through the front doors of my house. My mind was always in the battle zone, along with the lives I now owned. Re-adjusting to normal life was the hardest fucking pill to swallow. It was so fucking difficult to turn off the “kill or be killed” mentality at all times of the day.

  The smallest things triggered me to react violently. All it took was a momentary lapse in judgment and my Glock was in your fucking face. I lived and breathed blood for the last six months since Ari was kidnapped, crafting constant assaults.

  Bombs.

  Bullets.

  I killed enemies.

  I lost men.

  The long periods of violence I went through were a psychological beating. I was constantly suspicious, tightly wound, and easily angered. If you thought my temper was bad before, you’re sadly mistaken. I’d wake up several times throughout the night, freaking the fuck out that I couldn’t find my gun. The fight or flight mentality I had, became just fight.

  It was now my life.

  Always waiting for the other shoe to fucking drop, always on alert, always waiting to kill what I couldn't fucking see. These undertakings all required the same thing, finesse and stealth-like abilities. I was the one in charge of a group of ruthless motherfuckers who feared nothing. Creating the worst possible situations known to man and coming back for more.

  Daily.

  I said goodbye to my humanity to be a part of this world. It was the only way I could survive. I was barely sleeping and when I did, it was a restless slumber. After all these years, I finally understood why my father couldn’t close his eyes long enough to find peace. His demons wouldn’t let him.

  Too many lives taken.

  Too much blood on his hands.

  He didn’t bury his enemies, he simply took on their souls.

  Days were long and the nights even longer. I was never home and when I was, my fucking bitch of a wife was exactly that. I don’t know how it was possible but over the last three months, she hated me more than I could have ever imagined.

  My mere presence had her coming for my throat like a wolf in the night. Jesus Christ, even if I looked in her direction, her mouth would snap and there was no shutting her the fuck up.

  Yelling obscenities.

  Demanding to know where I was.

  We fought endlessly.

  It was obvious she was trying to prove to herself, I was nothing more than the fucking gangster she painted me out to be. It didn’t help that I regularly ca
me home with someone else’s blood on my clothes.

  The only thing my pain in the ass Italian wife did was cook. There was continuously a plate of food sitting on the stove waiting for me. She never ate in my company. However, dinner was always served.

  Most of the time, I watched over her while she slept. Desperately craving to find some sort of refuge through her tranquil, illuminated frame laying on the bed. I’d sit there in the chair, closest to the canopy bed frame. Battling the desire to hold her, to tell her I wanted to claim her body over and over again. To fuck her all night long then hold her in my arms, before I weathered the storm again.

  Fucking worshipping her.

  Fully conscious of the fact I was ruining her for days to come, and not giving a fuck while doing so. But it wasn’t enough…it would never be enough. Nothing between us would be.

  With each passing day, I yearned for her more.

  Over the last month, I started finding her asleep in different places around the house. On a random night, I picked her up off the couch, thinking she would throw a fit as soon as she felt my arms around her. To my surprise, she didn’t. I cradled her against my chest and carried her up the stairs to our bedroom. We had yet to sleep in the same bed together, but since that night, that’s where I’d take her.

  We never talked about it, in fact, she didn’t even mention it. I decided to let her bring it up on her own. One thing I quickly learned about Sienna was if she had an issue with something, she’d make it known. I waited and not one fucking word. Until she said otherwise, I carried her up to our bed and watched over her while she slept.

  Our connection was brought on by darkness and still, she became this beacon of light in my dark life.

  Her pouty lips.

  Her big brown eyes.

  Her pure heart.

  I wanted her soul. It had to be mine.

  My frustration with her only added to the fury searing through my blood day in and day out.

  The bastard in front of me started dozing off, dragging me back to the present, instead of where I ached to be.

  With Sienna, my wife.

  I forcefully gripped onto his face, tearing the gag from his mouth. “No, no, no…you don’t get to fucking die this quickly.” I didn’t hesitate, needing to bring his ass back to life, so I shot him in the kneecap. He jolted out of unconsciousness, shouting bloody murder.