I slid the shower door open with trembling fingers then glanced back at him to find him watching me without any hint of him leaving.
“Can’t you wait outside?” I asked with as much strength as I could muster.
“No,” he said simply. “Start the shower in the next two seconds, or you don’t get one.”
I clenched my jaw, glaring at him for a beat longer before stepping into the shower and turning the hot water on. It burned against my frozen skin and I had to ease into the stream to adjust to it. But when I did, it was a godsend. It felt crazy to appreciate anything right then, but just a couple of hours in that freezing cellar had driven ice into my bones and I was finally about to thaw out.
I sighed, placing my hand against the wall as I let the water run down my back and soak into my hair. I didn’t know what would come next, but I hoped the ruined cellar meant I wouldn’t be going back down there. Being out of there wasn’t even close to freedom, but it was something.
“Out. Now,” Rocco commanded and I shut off the water, a prickle of fear running over my skin at this beast watching me.
I’d only had one man’s eyes on my naked flesh before. A boyfriend in Italy who could have besmirched my name if anyone ever found out about him. I’d risked it for freedom. I didn’t want to covet my virginity like some precious flower, I wanted to make my own choices when it came to my body. Choices I knew I’d be unlikely to get again when I came home to America.
Ironically, I was now left with even less choices than I’d had just yesterday. My whole life I’d felt like a prisoner and now I knew what it was really like to be bound and chained. Had I tempted fate with all my thoughts of being a captive?
Rocco tossed a fluffy white towel at me and I wrapped myself up in it as my wet hair hung around my shoulders.
“Dry off. Don’t do anything stupid.” Rocco walked out the door and I cursed his name. If he was happy to leave me in here, he could have done so before I had a damn shower.
The door clicked shut and a key sounded in the lock.
I immediately hurried to the window. It was frosted and small, but maybe I could wriggle through. I didn’t know what lay beyond it though. We were on the second floor.
I jumped up onto the toilet seat, my fingers trembling as I twisted the catch and pushed it wide. I stuck my head out as an icy wind crashed over me, my stomach swooping at the sight of the drop below. But there was a ledge beneath the window and the roof of the porch was just beyond that. I could make it.
Footsteps pounded along the hall and I dragged the window closed, hopping off the toilet with panic in my heart as I grabbed another towel to start drying my hair. My pulse pounded wildly as Rocco stepped back into the room, his eyes sweeping over me, assessing. Something about him was so penetrating, like he could see beneath my skin and peel apart my darkest secrets.
He tossed a large black T-shirt at my feet along with a pair of white boxer briefs. I eyed them with my nose wrinkling, looking up again to find him smirking.
“Unless you want to stay in that damp underwear – which is entirely transparent when wet by the way – I suggest you put these on.”
My mouth fell open and I gaped at him in horror. “You looked,” I accused.
“It was hard to miss your pointy nipples, one of them nearly took my eye out.” He grinned like a wolf and I scowled at him.
“Leave me to change,” I demanded, hugging my towel tighter to my chest. I do not have pointy nipples.
“No one tells a Romero what to do. Least of all a Calabresi. So I’m going to stand right here.”
“Like a pervert,” I muttered and his eyes flashed with hate.
“As if I’d lust after the daughter of my mortal enemy. You repulse me.”
His words were as sharp as knives, but I hoped they were true because I didn’t want this man or any of his brothers laying a finger on me.
I turned around, pulling my towel up and over my shoulders to give me cover then slid my lacy panties off. When I’d put them on this morning, I’d imagined laying beneath the weight of Nicoli’s muscular body, giving myself to him as his wife. The thought had been kind of terrifying. I’d barely had any time to get used to the idea of him being my husband and I’d been more than a little nervous about what he’d expect on our wedding night. And though I’d resigned myself to that fate, I’d never wanted to have those kinds of choices made for me. But I’d take a marriage bed over this any day.
Stupid Sloan, you wished away a miserable life for an even worse one.
The bra was more difficult to shimmy out of and I swear Rocco laughed at me under his breath as I tried to keep my body hidden from him. It was stupid as he’d already seen through my underwear, but I hadn’t chosen that. I didn’t want his eyes scouring my flesh. He didn’t deserve to look at me.
I tossed the bra aside with a small flutter of accomplishment before wrapping the towel back around myself and turning to find Rocco had the T-shirt in his grip. “You’re taking your sweet fucking time, principessa. This isn’t a spa retreat.”
“Oh I must have wandered into the wrong mansion, I thought this was a five star hotel. I’ll just be leaving then.”
His brows lifted ever-so-slightly and his mouth twitched at the corner. A beat of tense silence passed. I made a mental note that my kidnapper had a sense of humour and wondered if I could use that to my advantage.
He came at me so fast I didn’t manage to stumble back two paces before his arms were around me. He ripped the towel off of me and I screamed half a second before he dumped the T-shirt over my head, leaving my arms trapped beneath it. He bent down, lifting one of my ankles and I forced my arms through the T-shirt then clung on to the sink for balance. My eyes fell on a brass toothbrush holder. It didn’t look like it could do much damage, but I’d sure as hell give it a try. As Rocco forced my foot into a hole in the briefs, I smashed it over his head with a yell of defiance.
He growled in anger, dropping my foot and lifting the other one, forcing it through the hole without reacting further to what I’d done. He stood up fast, yanking the briefs over my ass and pushing the T-shirt up to my hips. They were too big even though the elastic waist held them in place, but god whose were they?
Rocco’s burning fingers lingered on my outer thighs as he leaned into my face with a sneer. “You fight me again and you won’t get clothes.”
A sharp lump formed in my throat and I nodded as I tried to swallow it back.
He grabbed my wrist then tugged me out of the room. Fear skittered through me as he led me downstairs and a breath of relief passed my lips as he pulled me away from the cellar door. He guided me through to a huge kitchen with a marble-top island at the heart of it.
Enzo sat on a stool, holding a bag of frozen peas to the back of his head, his eyes narrowed on me. “Frankie’s cleaning the cellar,” he told me with a twisted smile. “Won’t be long and you can go back down there. Maybe this time we’ll lock the door and throw away the key. The rats will have a feast.”
My blood ran cold and I took an instinctive step back, immediately regretting it as I knocked into Rocco’s hard chest. He pushed me toward the seat beside Enzo. I didn’t want to sit anywhere near him, but Rocco gave me no choice as he lifted me up and dumped me on it.
“If she moves, shoot her,” he commanded Enzo and his brother grinned.
“Gladly.”
A sandwich sat in the centre of the island and despite myself, my stomach growled for it. I hadn’t eaten anything today and I must have burned through countless calories on adrenaline alone.
I looked away from it, fixing my gaze on the window instead. A mountain stood in the distance and I scoured every inch of it as I search for a house, a line of smoke, any indicator that someone lived there. If I got the chance to run again, I needed to know which direction to take.
Enzo placed the peas down then took a huge hunting knife from his hip, admiring it casually like he wasn’t threatening me. But it was clear he was.
Rocco made coffee and the scent of it reached me as he filled his mug from the machine.
I endured a full ten minutes of watching Rocco nurse half the cup of coffee before pouring the rest of it down the sink. I was so thirsty I could have swallowed a gallon of water in one go.
Frankie finally appeared with a mop and bucket, frowning as he strolled into the room and his eyes fell on me. “All finished. You just cost our father a lot of money in wine.”
“She’ll pay for it when he arrives,” Enzo said excitedly and a shiver clutched my spine.
I had to get out of here before he showed up. Martello Romero’s name amongst our family was a curse. And I did not want to come face to face with the man who’d produced these three ruthless boys.
“You should eat,” Frankie said, moving to the island and pushing the sandwich towards me. The scary glint in his eyes was absent now and I hoped that meant he’d gotten over what I’d done to his brother.
My gaze fell to the sandwich. It looked like cheese salad but it didn’t matter what it was, I was desperate for it.
Frankie nodded in encouragement and I pulled the plate towards me, picking up one of the triangles. I lifted it to my mouth but before my teeth closed around it, Rocco slapped it out of my hand. I blinked in surprise then flinched as the plate and the rest of the sandwich followed it onto the floor with another swipe of his palm. “If the principessa is hungry, she can eat like the chained dog she is.” He marched away across the room, reaching into a cupboard and taking something out. I couldn’t see what he was doing, but a foul scent reached my nose and a second later he slammed a metal bowl of dog food under my nose.
I inhaled in horror, looking up to find him smirking like it was the funniest thing he’d ever seen.
“You pig,” I hissed, pushing the bowl away, but he shoved it firmly back at me.
“Time to go back into your cage, pup.” He snared my arm, holding the dog bowl in the other hand and I screamed as he forced me back to the cellar door out in the hall.
“No!” I yelled, trying to twist my wrist out of his grip, but it only caused me pain as his hand didn’t yield. He pulled me down the stairs so fast I almost fell and when I reached the bottom, I was terrified of what I found there.
A wine rack had been pushed back against one wall, the floor still glistening with the residue of the wine around it. Attached to it was a chain and a padlock.
I shook my head in a panic, knowing as soon as I was tied up, I was never going to get out of here.
I swung toward Rocco, jamming the heel of my palm against his jaw hard enough to throw his head back as adrenaline crashed through my veins.
He snarled, catching my other wrist and forcing me along. I kicked his shin then went for his balls, but he was too fast, swinging me around and shoving me to my knees in front of the rack. He dropped the dog food and the bowl clanged on the ground as he fell on me.
I fought furiously, but he used his knees to pin me down while binding my wrists together then chaining them to the rack. I reared forward and sank my teeth into his shoulder, but he just laughed like he enjoyed it.
“Bastard!” I spat as the padlock clicked into place and he stood up with a satisfied look. He kicked the bowl of dog food toward me, reaching up to his shoulder then bringing his fingers away wet with blood.
“What did I say about fighting back?” he asked in a deadly tone.
I curled my legs to my chest, desperation filling me as I thought about him leaving me down here naked and chained. I clenched my jaw, refusing to give him an answer.
“Come on,” he purred. “I know that mouth does more than bite. Did you enjoy the taste of my blood, little vampire?”
I kept my lips sealed, refusing to rise to his bait.
He leaned down into my face with a smirk, a crazy glint in his gaze. “Answer me and I won’t punish you.”
My throat closed up from the dare in his expression. I didn’t want to invoke the wrath of this ox of a man. But he didn’t say I had to answer nicely.
“You taste delicious, give me a knife so I can try some more.” I stared him dead in the eyes, refusing to flinch.
His face twisted into a grin that was half maniac, half clown. “Looks like you’ve got a lot of spirit for me to break.” He headed toward the stairs, jogging up them and flicking the light off. A chill ran through me at being alone in the dark. “Eat up, principessa, or you’ll have to share with the rats.”
I groaned as I woke, the stiffness in my body reminding me of just how many times I’d been hit by Nicoli Vitoli’s hammer fists in our fight yesterday. Not to mention the wounds his bride had given me too.
I rolled out of bed, a shiver running along my bare chest at the kiss of cold air which hung in the room. I snatched a pair of sweatpants from the chair beside my bed and drew them on as I glanced at the clock. It was half nine so I guessed Enzo wouldn’t be up, but Frankie might be.
I never closed the curtains over my window and one look out of it showed a thick frost and a new thin layer of snow coating the ground. Everything sparkled and glimmered with the power of winter and I released a slow breath as I looked out over that view, letting the peace of our surroundings wash over me. I always felt calmer when we stayed here, away from the rush of the city and the pressure of the family business.
I quickly brushed my teeth in the en-suite and headed out onto the balcony which adjoined this room before taking the twisting staircase down to the bottom floor of the living area.
The fire had died down but a few embers lingered in the grate and I stirred them with a poker before adding some kindling and some new logs to them to get the blaze going again and warm this place up. We had the central heating running but nothing could really banish the cold in this house like a good fire once winter had set in.
I yawned as I padded out into the hallway, heading for the kitchen and wishing I’d grabbed a shirt before coming down.
I pushed my way into the kitchen and found Frankie buttering a slice of toast which I instantly snatched from his grasp.
“Stronzo,” he swore as I bit into his breakfast with a wide grin. “That wasn’t even for me,” he added.
“Aww were you gonna bring me breakfast in bed, bella?” I teased.
“No, idiota, we have a house guest now and thanks to you she hasn’t eaten in over a day.”
“I gave her dinner,” I joked, wondering how long that dog food would go uneaten if I didn’t give her any other options.
“Well now you can stop being such a jackass and give her something real to eat. Unless you want her starving to death and us losing our leverage against her father?” Frankie gave me a judgemental look and I rolled my eyes at him.
“Fine. Let’s feed the principessa,” I agreed with a sigh like the idea of it bothered me. Though in all honesty he had a point.
I made myself some coffee while Frankie put some more toast on for her and I looked out over the drive as a few more flakes of snow tumbled lazily from the sky.
“Here,” Frankie said and I turned to find him holding a plate with two slices of toast on it and a plastic sports bottle filled with water.
“Why am I the one going down there?” I asked.
“Because you’re the idiota who snatched her,” he replied flatly. “And you know what Papa always said about bringing strays home. If you wanna keep it, you gotta feed it. And clean up after it. So you should probably check her bucket too.”
I rolled my eyes and took the food and water from him before heading out into the hall.
I unlocked the cellar and pulled the door wide, a rush of cold air washing over me even before I’d gone down there.
I flicked on the lights and headed down the stairs at a casual pace, my feet thumping heavily on the wooden steps and the cold wrapping around me, making goosebumps rise along my arms.
I stilled at the foot of the stairs as I spotted her huddled in the corner beside the wine rack I’d chained her to, her arms wrapped around her legs as shivers wra
cked her body. Her wide eyes fell on me and her jaw locked tight as she forced herself to raise her chin in defiance.
It was fucking freezing down here. Like, take your balls and dip them in dry ice ‘til you hear them pop cold.
Fuck.
I moved towards our little prisoner at a casual pace and she fought to control the chattering of her teeth. Her lips were blue and she looked on the verge of hypothermia. The cellar had clearly been a terrible fucking idea. Not that I’d be admitting that to her.
“Good morning, principessa,” I said casually like we’d just bumped into each other at brunch in some swanky restaurant in town.
The hatred in her eyes hardened, but she didn’t deign to respond. Or maybe she couldn’t stop her teeth from chattering long enough to do it.
“I brought breakfast,” I said, waving the plate of toast at her. “Assuming you’re not still too full after your dinner?”
Her scowl deepened and I glanced at the untouched dog food on the floor.
“F-fuck you,” she hissed, fighting hard against the chatter. In all honesty I was fairly impressed she’d made it through the night. It was as freezing as the fucking Antarctic down here.
“Thanks for the offer, bella, but I’d sooner cut my dick off than stick it in a Calabresi. So are you gonna eat or what?” I took a piece of toast from the plate and held it out in front of her where she knelt on the floor before me.
“I c-can feed myself,” she growled.
I smiled like the honest to god asshole I was and lifted the piece of toast out of her reach as she tried to take it from me.
“No, no,” I said. “You’re my little doggy. And I’m gonna feed you like a good little doggy.”
I pushed the slice of toast close to her full lips again and the scowl she gave me was so full of venom that I couldn’t help but laugh.
“Eat it my way or go hungry again,” I said, taking a step back.
“Wait!” she bit out, her gaze on the food and her pride burning away to nothing in the face of her hunger.
I smirked cruelly at her as I offered the toast again. “Open your mouth then, sweetheart.”
Beautiful Carnage: A Dark Mafia Bully Romance (The Boys of Sinners Bay Book 1) Page 6