I didn't bother looking back and I didn't bother answering. I left the room, more pissed off than I had been for a long time. Danny knew just how to get under my skin, but he also knew that I would always put this family first. Now my loyalties were being questioned and I didn't appreciate that one bit.
By the time that I made it upstairs, Vanessa was passed out early. She had changed into a pair of cotton shorts and a pink tank top. The casual clothes on her thin frame were kind of cute. I stripped down to my boxers before I joined her in bed, wrapping my arm around her before I pulled her back against my body. I kissed her shoulder and sighed. I couldn't be for sure, but I could swear that I was falling in love with her.
Chapter Six
Vanessa
We spent three days of bliss fucking each other into the bed. Food was always brought up to us and we never left our spots except to shower and screw there too. Dave was all over me every chance that I got and I began to see a future in which I could be with him. Where I could be normal. I would do anything to make that a reality.
“I gotta go check on something.”
I rolled over in the bed and watched as he slipped into a pair of jeans and a dark, snugly fitting t-shirt. He pushed his fingers through his hair. I loved watched all of his muscles rippling and rolling beneath his clothes. Even better when he was on top of me.
“Check on what?”
“The new girls. They came in already, but there's been some kind of issue.” He leaned down and kissed my forehead. “Stay in the room and I'll be back in a bit.”
I nodded and stretched. “Okay, see you in a bit.”
I watched him leave before I slipped from the bed and showered. Once I was out, I used the expensive moisturizer that he'd purchased me before I had an idea. I had to get stuff for Vinny. I started going through his drawers one by one, before I looked beneath the bed. There was a safe underneath. Pushing a few buttons, I gave an exasperated sigh as each answer came up wrong. I had to get into that safe.
Since I couldn't do anything else, I dressed myself in a tight little green dress he'd brought me the other day and waited. Usually when he said he'd be right back, it took only a few moments or an hour at best. He never lingered. However, I watched the time tick by. One hour, two, three. I switched off the TV, concerned that maybe something had happened to him.
I slipped into my flats before I felt the room and headed down the stairs. No one was on the first floor and I was grateful for that. Running into Danny would just be a disaster right now. I walked through the kitchen and left through the back door. There, I walked down a paved path before I saw another house.
This was where they kept the girls. I had to admit that I was curious about it. Since Dave wasn't around, I didn't see the big deal with going and taking a peak. I walked to the front door and froze. Through the window, I could see Dave. On his lap was a thin blonde, but she was no doubt younger than me, just 18 or so. She was kissing his neck and he was grinning.
My hands shook. Without thinking, I pushed my way inside and slammed the door after me. I knew I had no right, I was just a whore. He could have anyone he wanted, whenever he wanted, even if that someone wasn't me. And yet my brain wasn't being rational about it at all.
“Get off of him, bitch!”
Dave looked shocked and the girl even more so. “Who the hell are you?”
“None of your business. You need to back away from him, now,” I snapped.
“Or what?”
That did it. I walked up to the girl and grabbed those blonde locks between my fingers and tugged. She came off of Dave's lap with a pain filled howl as I yanked her to the floor. My fist was balled up before Dave yanked me off of her.
“What's gotten into you!”
Panting, I glared at him. “You said you'd be right back!”
“It doesn't matter what I said, I can do what I want. You are not my wife. You're-,”
“Nothing to you?” I interrupted bitterly. “Of course I am.”
I turned on my heels and fled the whore house. I couldn't take another moment of this. Already Dave had lost interest in me and I was no closer to gaining any information. I might as well just pack up and leave. I'd take my chances on my own.
I threw my clothes into the suitcase, leaving behind the things that he'd brought me when he stormed in. He slammed the door and it rattled the windows, but I didn't stop. He grabbed my arm and yanked me away from the bed.
“You will stop this stupidity now.”
“Let go of me,” I growled.
I saw him raise his hand to strike me and I snapped. Tears burst from my eyes and choked me up. I shook my head at him.
“Don't you hit me, don't you ever fucking hit me!” I screamed at him.
I was full on sobbing at this point and I couldn't get the stupid things to stop. I'd thought that he was different. Some part of me had wanted so badly for him to be different, but he was just like Mikey, just like Vinny, just like all of them. They only wanted to hurt me.
Only, the hit never came. Dave dropped his hand as I covered my face, ashamed of how I was acting and how for once, I couldn't control myself. I could feel his eyes on me and I didn't want his pity. I wanted no one's pity. All I wanted was to be treated like a human being. Was that such a hard thing to be granted? I couldn't stop shaking as the tears rushed down my cheeks.
What must he think of me? Standing there, crying in his room. I had acted as if I owned him when I was nothing to him. I had done poorly and clearly there would be no turning it around. Vinny would be called, I would go back to him and he would torture me, fuck me and then kill me before moving on with his life. I would quickly be forgotten. Nobody cared if a whore disappeared.
I felt Dave's hands pulling mine from my face. I tried to keep staring at the ground, trying to hide the embarrassment and shame that I felt, but he wouldn't let me. He gripped my chin and tilted my head up. His eyes bored into mine. I was scared and then he spoke.
“It’s not like that,” he thundered. His eyes didn’t just bore, they were crackling with lightning like a stormy sky as if to match his intonation.
I knew in my heart I’d overstepped my boundaries. Maybe I didn’t know my place and it was all the assumption that maybe we had something more than fucking.
With the swirling jealousy in my mind and the fear of the punishment I’d face for my failings, I almost hadn’t really heard what he said. It came upon me like a slow, crashing wave. What did he mean? If it wasn’t like that, then how was it really?
My eyes widened as the words tumbled out of my mouth, “You’re not going to hurt me?”
I realized his eyes weren’t filled with fury. I’d seen fury in nearly everyone I’d known but this wasn’t it. It was softer than any look she’d seen in a long time. The storm wasn’t rage, it was passion.
Dave shook his head, but his expression hadn’t changed. He exhaled slowly and replied, “No. I should, shouldn’t I? I fucking should.”
Once again fear gripped me. His stature and strength could have me lying on the floor in a pulp with almost no effort. If it wasn’t back to Vinny, it would be death right there in our room. I couldn’t let myself relax yet.
He pushed me away and I felt relief, but by no means did I feel rest. I let him have his space, and I didn’t say anything in the risk of fueling this fire. He seemed to be mulling over the whole situation as he paced back and forth.
“No, Vanessa. You’re not nothing to me,” he said, after his long silence. “I don’t know what you are but you’re not nothing.”
It occurred to me in that very moment that I had him. I couldn’t estimate how deep my grip on his heart went but I had him, even just a little. The information I sought could be at my fingertips if I played my cards right. I could take it all, I could take it back to Vinny.
Then it struck me that I didn’t necessarily want to take it.
Life wasn’t roses with Dave and maybe it wouldn’t ever be no matter what happened, but I couldn’t
deny that it was all better than the alternative. I didn’t like anything about Vinny. He made my stomach turn with disgust. Even if I complied as a loyal spy and did everything he’d asked to the letter there was no guarantee he wouldn’t kill me anyway. Worse yet, I knew that if he didn’t kill me, he’d make me his personal sex slave. Even the idea of that made me want to vomit.
I had a lot to think about. Nothing about Dave promised sunshine all the time any more than anything else. Still, I knew something in my heart had changed. Maybe I couldn’t call it love yet but it had to be akin to it. If I’d been so upset at seeing him with someone else then I’d already betrayed my own emotions.
I was playing a dangerous game and I knew that. Letting myself get too attached as I walked the fine line between espionage and romance could get me killed in a heartbeat. There was a life I hoped we could have, but maybe it was just a fantasy.
My thoughts were a whirlwind, rushing through my head faster than I could contemplate. I had to say something quickly to indicate that I felt the same degree of uncertain emotion.
“I know that you’re better than them,” I said, trying to choose my words with care. “I could see myself with you for a long while, Dave. Maybe I even love you.”
Dave ceased walking back and forth, stopping dead in his tracks. He did a quick turn and made his way over to me. My fear never stopped but it lessened as he pulled me up off the floor and kissed me. It wasn’t any kind of kiss anyone touched my lips with in my life. It was a wedding kiss, soft yet burning with the desire of both the bride and the groom.
It was over all too soon.
“God, Vanessa. I feel it too,” he whispered.
My voice became softer as well. “What are we going to do?”
“Danny’s pissed. He said all these things about you, like how you’re just here to snoop around for Vinny. Now I know none of that’s true.”
I tried not to freeze up or betray what I was thinking. Danny was on to me, and I had to make a choice. I decided I was going to come clean. I’d be at Dave’s mercy but maybe I’d be saved by the fondness he had for me.
“I need to tell you something,” I said, barely audible.
“What is it?” he asked.
I took in a deep breath.
“Well… Danny was right. I did come here to get information for Vinny. But it’s not like that now, I promise! I can’t go through with it anymore, I can’t –”
As his expression changed, I cut myself off. Something was wrong. He backed away from me and shook his head.
“You fucking whore!” Dave shouted. “I can’t believe you. I even trusted you!”
“No! No, I promise, I don’t even know anything!”
“You’re a goddamn liar. All this time you were going to betray me. I shouldn’t have let myself fall for you…”
Now true fear washed over me, rendering me somehow paler than I was already. I was going to die, there was no doubt about that. I shouldn’t have said anything. I made a mistake and I was going to pay for it with my life.
I didn’t know what to do. I felt glued to the floor. All I could do was stammer, “I – I changed my mind. Really!”
“I’m going to give you a thirty second start,” Dave snarled with true Pisano temper. “When my boys and I catch up with you, you’re dead.”
My heart felt like it was going to beat out of my chest. All this time I spent with him – all my newfound feelings for him and his for me seemed to crumble like dry clay. I couldn’t risk a single second. It was time to run.
I bolted out of the room, losing a shoe in the process like a regular Cinderella. I barreled through the halls, down stairs and out the door as fast as I could go. I shed my other shoe to make running easier. I never even looked back. I had to go back to Vinny despite no assurance that he’d even protect me.
Tears began streaming down my face, blinding me. I found myself slamming into something hard and tough. A hand gripped my throat, and through the water in my eyes I saw Danny’s sneer as he lifted me up and then slammed me against the ground.
I blacked out.
Chapter Eight
Dave
It hurt more than I was willing to admit. I bared my feelings to a woman who would have jeopardized not only me and my brother’s empire, but my life as well. Vanessa didn’t seem to care if I lived or died. Everything was a ruse to get to me, and to get to the details of the assassination we had planned for Vinny.
I had to brush it all off like I’d never even fallen for her. I walked into the room where she was held. Danny caught her outside just as I was catching up. He hadn’t stopped rubbing it in my face since. I wanted to punch him but I didn’t want to piss him off so I held my anger inside.
Danny had her tied up to a chair and gagged. I knew I still loved her because I felt guilty for letting him do that to her. I felt the same over my death threat to her. Love didn’t just disappear instantly. I realized it was going to just have to fade over time.
“Hey. Hey, look at me you stupid bitch,” Danny spat. “Look at me!”
The back of his hand struck her face. Violence never fazed me but something lurched in my guts as fresh tears poured out of her eyes. She couldn’t scream loudly but I could still hear her sobbing against the rag in her mouth.
“Danny, stop. If we send her back to Vinny too bruised up, he’s going to suspect something more than dissatisfaction.”
My brother looked over to glare at me. “Still soft for her, huh? We can’t let weakness stop us, Dave.”
I knew he was right but I didn’t want to admit it. “Just go easier on her, alright?”
“Fine.”
Danny turned his attention back to Vanessa.
“So, little miss secret agent… I’ve got a new job for you,” he said.
I watched him bend down to her level and look into her eyes. He looked like he was enjoying her fear. She quivered like a leaf pushed by wind. I felt sympathy for her – a rarity from me. I used to believe that I couldn’t feel something like that. Vanessa changed me on some level.
She fought against her bindings to no avail, but I had to admire her spirit.
Danny continued to speak, “You’re gonna take down Vinny for us. We owe a favor to someone who’d like him out of the way.”
Vanessa stopped struggling. I figured she must have realized the gravity of Danny’s words. If I had to guess, I’d say she’d never killed anyone in her entire life. When would she have had the chance? It’d be dangerous. She’d be risking everything.
I saw Danny pull out a vile from his pocket. He waved it in front of Vanessa’s face. It was crushed arsenic in all its metallic, glimmering glory. There were easier ways to eliminate someone but poisoning was suited to the situation. Handing her a gun she could easily kill us with would have been a stupid move.
“This is your weapon. Arsenic. Be a good slave-whore and make him something nice to eat, but add some of this stuff. You get to watch the bastard writhe on the floor as his organs fail one by one,” Danny said, topping off the order with a grin.
He ripped the gag out of her mouth. “You got that?”
She looked at me, broken. Part of me wanted to set her free, but there was no going back. I tried to act cold. As icy as I attempted to be, she could probably tell there was warmth for her left in me. I looked away.
“Yes,” she said in response to my brother. “I’ll do what you ask.”
Danny smirked. “If you fuck this up, you’re dead.”
I decided to interject. “But if you do everything we’ve said… We’ll take you on as one of our girls. You’ll be protected but that doesn’t mean you’re off the hook. You’ll be expected to bend to the whims of any of our clients. You’ll do anything they say. Anything.”
At first Danny looked like he was going to object. Then I saw a devilish smile cross his face. “A great deal for the traitorous whore,” he laughed. “Yeah, I like that. You’ll cry all the time thinking about who’s going to fuck you next and what they’
ll do. Perfect.”
Vanessa’s tears continued to flow. I was so angry at her but I wanted her to get the best she could get despite her treachery. Danny would never agree to anything better without an argument, and I didn’t want him to snap and make things worse. I should have listened to him in the first place anyway. He didn’t have misplaced emotions like I did and I was in the wrong for failing to control myself.
Danny used his pocket knife to saw through the ropes that held Vanessa in place. I saw that her wrists were red and peppered with cuts. She wiped the wetness from her eyes. He grabbed her hand and shoved the bottle of poison into it, then he folded it closed.
“Don’t fuck this up,” he growled. “You’ve got three days to off him, so be quick. If you don’t get it done before midnight on day three, we’re coming for you. I’ll blow your brains out.”
I reached out and gripped Vanessa’s wrist. I yanked her up from the chair and then let her go, stumbling backwards. I knew I needed to chime in with some vitriol as well, if only to throw her off from thinking that I might be passive with her. I’d already said too much by asking Danny to ease up.
“She knows better than to fuck with us,” I said.
Vanessa’s beautiful blonde hair had a spattering of blood in it. Her head was down and so her locks covered her face. She looked up and made direct eye contact with me.
I clenched my fists. “What are you looking at, whore?”
“I was wrong,” she choked out. “You really are a monster.”
It felt like a gut punch. I couldn’t tell heartbreak from anger, and maybe I was feeling the pain of the two at once. I raised my hand with the threat to strike her, but yet again I couldn’t make myself do it. She put her hands up to protect herself. I stepped away from her, much to Danny’s disappointment.
Triple Pass: An MFMM Reverse Harem Romance Page 31