Why the hell couldn’t he even pretend he was happy to see me?
I looked down at him, hardening my heart. “I plan to, as soon as we can get these chains off you. So if you really want me out of here I suggest you tell us who has the key.”
Before he could reply, Chris cut in. “Dom, we’re here with Lucca, Nero, and Marcus. Our guys are infiltrating this shithole as we speak, so instead of fighting with Tori why don’t you help us out and tell us how to get you out of here?”
“You can’t. Caterina has the fucking key. She wears it around her neck,” he said in frustration, pulling helplessly at the chains.
I stared at the chains bolted to the wall. I knew that the only way to get him out of here was with a blowtorch or with the key. I pulled my scalpel from the body next to me then a knife from another that I held out the knife to Chris. “We have to get rid of those guards in the hall area. I’m going to send them in one at a time,” I said, before heading for the door.
Ignoring Dom’s curses, I waited for Chris to join me and Dom to shut up before I pressed the button next to the door. As soon as the door opened enough for me to slip through I did, startling the guard. “You go in there, get him ready to be moved,” I told him. Thinking I was Caterina, he quickly opened the door and went in, not even questioning where I had come from. I waited as long as I dared and pointed to the other guard. “What the fuck are you waiting for? An invitation?” I barked, before turning to the door. Once I felt him close enough behind me I opened it and hurried in, stepping to the side. Turning at the sound of the thump I quickly caught the door before it could close.
I grabbed a chair and used it to prop the door open before slipping out. We didn’t have time to argue, and I knew that they’d never let me do what I was about to do. I put my mask back in place and walked down the hall back to the main room. It was even worse than before. The lights had been turned off and strobes flashed through the room, providing brief images of the horrors.
Even in the dark I could still find Caterina. Though naked, she hadn’t removed her jeweled body piece that wrapped from her neck to her torso, making her glitter in the dark. Men and woman swarmed over and around her. I moved forward before I lost my nerve, dodging the hands I could and tolerating the ones I couldn’t. When I got close to Caterina I went to my knees and worked my way in. I reached my hand out and groped around until I finally found what I was looking for. The cold metal of the key attached to her necklace slid over my fingers. Wrapping my hand around it I gave a sharp tug pulling it free. I scrambled back, waiting for her scream of rage, but it didn’t come.
I was swamped with terror at the thought of being caught, but I walked slowly so as not to call attention to myself. Once out in the hallway I couldn’t hold back any longer. I sprinted to the room, pushed the door open, and quickly sealed it behind me. I ignored the gun pointed at me and pushed past Nero, who looked ready to strangle me. Not even remotely curious how he had found the room I went straight to Dominic, ignoring the strange look that Lucca was throwing at me. “What the fuck did you think you were doing?” Dominic railed as I uncuffed him.
Ignoring him I tossed Lucca the key so he could undo the other side. “We have to hurry and get out of here before Caterina realizes the key is missing,” I said, stepping away from the bed when Dominic sat up. I was not ready to be anywhere near him, given how out of control my emotions were. I went over to Nero. “Have you seen any of our guys?”
“No. ”
“So how are we going to get out of here?”
Chapter 26
I’m going to fucking strangle her, right after I kill her brother. What the hell was he thinking, letting her come here? I rubbed my wrists and sat up, throwing my legs over the side of the bed. Chris held out a pair of pants to me, and I put them on. When I stood up I felt something wet on my foot. I looked down. The body of the last woman to buy me, lay there, her vacant stare giving testament to something I had never thought Tori capable of doing. I had really thought she was Caterina with how coldly she had killed. I knew that I had hurt her when I called her Caterina but there was no way I was taking it back. Her anger was better than pity or disgust. Shame coursed through me as soon as I knew that it was her. Shame at her seeing what was being done to me, at what I had become. A whore, bought and sold. A soulless killer. Tori deserved better than something like me. I wasn’t going to let her stay with me out of a sense of misplaced guilt.
It felt strange not being encumbered by the chains. My body felt off balance as the only time I wasn’t chained was when I was let loose to fight. I turned my head at Tori’s question to Nero and realized she was right. It was time to get her out of here. I had no intention of leaving until Caterina was dead, but Tori needed to be safe. “Tori’s right. You have to move. Caterina will be coming soon to collect me, and if you’re caught in here there’s no way out.”
“Marcus is watching Caterina. If she makes a move we’ll know,” Lucca said. I looked at my brother. I was relieved that his gaze wasn’t filled with pity, but I didn’t think that the guilt I caught a flash of before he hid it was any better. As much as I hated that Lucca hadn’t trusted me, I understood why. At least that’s what I told myself. In truth had the tables been reversed and it had been my wife almost murdered, I don’t know what the hell I would have done.
“You all need to leave first,” I said. “I’ll go later, so that if the guards recognize me they won’t realize who you are.” My words didn’t fool Lucca for a second. He knew that I had no intention of leaving. But instead of calling me on it he walked over and handed me his gun.
Lucca pulled out his phone and stared at it for a moment before speaking. “Our men are almost in position. We have three minutes. Chris, you go now and get Victoria into the garden. Once the shooting starts get her over the wall and into a car. The rest of us should spread out into the main hallways to make sure Caterina doesn’t have a chance of escaping.”
I could feel Tori’s eyes boring into me, but I ignored her. There was nothing to be said that could help either of us. After sharing a few quick words with Nero, Tori and Chris left. I could feel Nero’s disapproval at the fact that I hadn’t told Tori good-bye, but I ignored it. He should be happy that I was giving her a clean break. Whether I died or got out of here, it was all the same. That part of my life was done.
In silence we waited as long as we dared before moving into the hallway and splitting up. Lucca took the main hallway, thinking it was the fastest way out of the house, so the best chance of catching and killing the bitch, but I knew better. Moving quickly I made my way to where I knew Caterina would really go. The woman was a greedy bitch, and she’d never leave without her jewels. I slipped into her room as the first shot fired. I moved into the shadows and waited. Tonight was ending for me, one way or the other. Either she’d be dead or I would.
…
Chris moved us out a side door, unwilling to risk the main room, knowing that it would soon be filled with gunfire. I slipped off my heels and left them, needing to move quicker than they would allow. We hadn’t even reached the back of the house before the shooting started. Screams filled the night as guests ran outside, fleeing for their worthless lives. The mass of people plowed into us, separating me from Chris. Unable to break free, I had no choice but to move with the crowd or be trampled. Seeing an open door I dove for it, knowing that I couldn’t be taken to the front of the house. Lucca and Nero’s men would be waiting to kill anyone who tried to get through those gates.
Scrambling to my feet I knew that if I went back out without Chris I could be shot, so I pulled myself up and decided to find a place to hide within the room. I should have risked the crowd. When I turned I came face to face with Caterina.
Raging hate filled her face as she looked at me. Barking to her men to “bring her,” she hurried forward, slamming a panel that opened to reveal a passage. I screamed for help but was silenced by a hand over my mouth and roughly pulled into the darkness. We didn’t get far be
fore I saw light ahead. Pulling me out into a hall with a set of double doors at the end the guard gripped my hair and dragged me with him. The gunshots sounded faint in this part of the house. Where the fuck were we? A sharp tug had me unceremoniously thrown over the threshold of the room to land in a lump on the floor. Gunshots filled the room and three of Caterina’s men went down. The one left standing scrambled and grabbed me, to use me for a shield. Wildly I looked around the room for the shooter, and found him with a gun at Caterina’s head.
Instead of being afraid, like a normal human, my sociopath sister laughed at Dominic and the gun pressed to her forehead. “Oh pet, this is rich. What a choice you have to make. Your revenge or my sister’s life.” Leaning forward she pressed her head into the gun. “You know I’ll never stop until they’re all dead, don’t you? I’ll never stop until each one of them pays. Until each one of them experiences every single delicious thing that you have experienced,” she whispered in a sultry voice, smiling when Dominic tightened his hand on the gun.
“There’s no choice, Caterina. I’ll die happy, knowing that you have finally received what you’ve earned,” I said, earning a squeeze to my throat.
Ignoring the gun as if it wasn’t there she turned to me. “What I earned, dear sister,” she shrieked. “There is nothing I have that I haven’t earned. You and Nero stole what should have been mine. Enzo left everything to me. It should have all been mine. It will all be mine,” she finished with a snarl before looking back to Dominic. “Drop the gun and get on your knees now, pet.”
I closed my eyes at the sound of the gun hitting the floor. I had to grit my teeth when I reopened them to hold back my own snarls of rage. Seeing Dominic forced to kneel to that bitch because of me broke something in me, especially when Caterina placed her hand that wasn’t holding the gun on his head and patted him like a dog. “Good boy. I see that your training has finally paid off.” She laughed sharply and pushed his head forward. Stepping away, Catherina grabbed a bag off a chair and began filling it with jewels and money. “You know Tori, I might just take you with me. Dominic is so much more docile with the right incentive. The only one who’s ever fucked me better than him was Enzo.”
Ignoring her taunts, I slowly moved my hand, sliding out the scalpel I had hidden in my sleeve. There was no way that I was ever going to let Caterina take us with her. I gripped the wrist at my throat, brought up the scalpel and slashed the guards hand. The bastard released me and howled in pain. I turned quickly, knowing that I wouldn’t get another chance and slammed the scalpel straight into his chest.
A burning near my shoulder had me falling forward as my ears rang. Breathless at the pain that filled me, I lay on the floor, watching Dominic wrestling Caterina for the gun. Through blurred vision I saw him throw her back, knocking over a table and causing its contents to spill across the room. Dancing flames filled the room as the curtains caught fire from the rolling candles. Caterina, gun still in hand, stood before them, pointing it at Dominic. “No,” I whispered weakly, trying to pull myself to him.
With the flames behind her, Caterina looked like a demon sent from hell. I saw the gun in the hand of the body I was sprawled atop. I pulled it free, gripped it with both hands and fired. I missed, but Caterina swung her gun toward me and took a step back. Flames from the curtain caught the bottom of her robe. She dropped the gun and screamed in horror as she beat at the fire engulfing her robe. The whole room was now ablaze.
Dominic gathered me into his arms and raced through the house. The fire, like Caterina’s screams, seemed to follow us, spreading to every evil corner. Bringing us out into the night, he dropped to his knees and laid me upon the ground. The last thing I saw before the darkness took me were the blazes of hell’s fire as it consumed the kingdom of one of its own.
Chapter 27
The smell of vomit and sweat filled my nostrils as I struggled to open my eyes. In the midst of discard liquor bottles and clothes, Angie sat next to the bed, staring at me. She raised her hand and motioned to her left. It hurt to turn my head, but I did seeing Chris and Marcus coming forward. “Get him cleaned up and dressed, and then bring him to the living room,” she said, before walking from the room.
I yelled out to her, trying to figure out what the fuck was going on. I was stopped when I was rudely pulled from the bed and dragged to the shower. Unceremoniously dumped on the shower floor the water was turned on, but I was still so drunk it took me a while to react. As I struggled to my feet a washcloth was thrown in my face.
“Clean yourself up or we’ll do it,” Marcus told me, leaning on the counter next to Chris. Cursing them with every word I knew I did what they told me, knowing that they were serious. Finished, I stumbled out of the stall, nearly falling on my face. Rough hands caught me and dragged me back into the bedroom. It smelled even worse now that I was clean. I used the towel pushed into my hands and dried myself, trying to stay awake. They helped me into fresh sweats and took me to the living room and put me on the couch. My last sight before I passed out was Angie watching me.
The smell of food cooking had my stomach rolling. Bleary-eyed, I pushed myself up so that I was sitting. As I looked around the room I knew that something was different, but I couldn’t figure out what. I shot my hand out and reached for a bottle, confused when it wasn’t there. I looked up at the sound of clicking heels and watched Angie as she brought a plate and a glass and set them down on the coffee table in front of me before taking the seat across from me. She stared at me with a look I had never seen on her face before and quietly told me to eat.
My stomach rebelled at the idea but I didn’t have enough strength to argue with her. I forced a bite into my mouth and chewed gingerly, surprised when I was able to swallow it. Hunger pains replaced the nausea, making me wonder when was the last time I ate. Keeping the bites small in case my stomach changed its mind was easy; since my shaking hand seemed to knock half the food off the fork each time I lifted it. After eating as much as I dared I fell back against the couch, exhausted. As if the little bit of food started my brain working I realized what about the room had been bothering me. It was clean and smelled good. For the first time in a month discarded food wrappers and liquor bottles didn’t litter every surface. “You cleaned my house?” I asked stupidly, wondering how long she’d been here.
“I cleaned your house the day before yesterday,” she told me sharply. “This is the first time you’ve been lucid enough to realize it. Chris, Marcus, and I have spent the last six days drying your ass out.”
“Who the fuck told you to? I don’t remember asking for your help.”
She leaned forward, eyes blazing. “You were too drunk to ask for anything. You’ve spent the last two months curled up in a bottle, and I’ve had enough of it. The pity party’s over.”
“You fucking self-righteous bitch, who the fuck are you to judge me?” I spat, picking up the plate and throwing it at the wall. “Get the fuck out of my house.”
“And what is a drunk like you going to do if I don’t?” she sneered, making me want to leap across the table and attack her. After everything I went through, who the fuck was she to talk to me like this? I stood up to get a drink but I didn’t get more than a step before she was there, slamming her palm into my chest and pushing me back onto the couch. She leaned over me and shoved her finger in my face. “You sit your ass right there. I didn’t spend the last week drying you out for nothing. You’re going to be sober, so you understand ever word I’m about to say.”
I straightened myself up. “Then say what the fuck you came to say and get out,” I said defiantly, knowing that I sounded childish, but not giving a fuck.
I thought for a moment that she might beat my ass, but she seemed to gain control. “I understand that the things that happened to you are something that you don’t want to face, but you have to.”
“You don’t understand shit.”
Coldness filled her face. “If anyone understands, it’s me, Dom. You saw only a part of one of those tapes.
I lived those tapes for ten years. I lived the torture and degradation each night until only a bottle could drown it out. I know the rage you feel for your family. It’s the same rage I felt for my uncle when he murdered my parents. I know the crawling your skin feels. I feel it every time I remember Enzo’s hands on my body. So don’t ever think for a moment that I don’t understand what you’re going through.”
I squeezed my eyes shut to block out the sight of her and the pain that filled me at her words. The dip in the couch told me she was there. She wrapped her arms around me and pulled me to her chest. Stroking my hair she continued in a soft voice. “I was right where you are now before your sister Maria found me. I was almost lost to the darkness but she wouldn’t let me go. She was such an annoying brat, that I didn’t know what to make of her. No matter how mean I was to her she just ignored it. I’m going to tell you something I never told anyone before. That night that Lucca called me to tell me that Maria needed me I drove to your house and almost left. Sitting at the gate to be let in I realized what your family was and it terrified me because I understood why I had let Maria in.” She pressed her lips to my head. “I let her in because I recognized her as family, and no matter how far you run from it or try to hide from it, family is forever.” She cupped my face and forced me to look up at her. “As much as you might not like it you’re my family, Dom, and I will never let you go. So you don’t have a choice but to talk to me. I know that you’re angry at Lucca and your father. I even understand why, but I won’t let you leave us. I don’t expect you to get over what happened in a day. I mean given my history, it would be a little hypocritical,” she said dryly. This forced a laugh out of me.
I sat up and pulled her under my arm. “You do know you’re every brother’s worst nightmare of a big sister.”
Dominic (The Family Book 2) Page 14