“You, sit,” I commanded, shoving Sloan so that her ass hit an armchair beside the fire.
She curled her legs up as she stayed where I’d put her and I helped Enzo toss the chip packets from last night in with the beer bottles.
Enzo headed out of the room with the trash and I straightened the cushions on the couch before throwing some more logs on the fire.
The sound of a car approaching along the drive came from the front of the house and I grabbed Sloan’s elbow and yanked her out of the chair again.
“Come on,” I snapped as I dragged her after me up the stairs.
“What are we doing?” she asked but I ignored her, pulling her into my room and releasing her as I kicked the door closed behind us.
I dropped my sweatpants and tossed them in the laundry basket before grabbing a clean pair of jeans from the closet and tugging on a red T-shirt followed by a thick, grey sweater.
“Your Papa doesn’t like sweatpants?” Sloan teased as she watched me.
“My Papa doesn’t like stupid observations so I suggest you keep your mouth shut in front of him,” I snapped.
She pouted at that and my gaze fell on her lips.
“Get on your knees,” I commanded, striding away from her so that I could style my hair in the en-suite.
“Why?” she asked, fear creeping back into her voice.
I ignored her question as I worked on smoothing my curls back, but I glanced in the mirror to see that she’d done as I’d said anyway. A smirk tugged at the corner of my mouth as I washed my hands then stalked back over to her.
“Do you know why I like it when you’re on your knees?” I questioned her as I stopped before her with her face right in line with my crotch.
“Because you’re an asshole?” she guessed, looking up at me beneath long lashes.
“No, principessa. It’s because it reminds you who you belong to now. You’re mine and that means you have to look up at me from your position down there.”
“So you’re just getting off on having a Calabresi at your mercy?” she spat.
“No, bella. If you want to get me off you’ll need to open your mouth a little wider.”
“Pig,” she growled.
“You don’t know the half of it,” I mocked. “But I do know you’re thinking about it, aren’t you? That virginal little mind of yours is wondering what it would feel like to suck on my cock.”
“Shut up!”
“Well you know what to do when you’re sick of tormenting yourself with imagining it,” I said, thriving on her rage and feeling my dick twitch at this talk of her full lips wrapped around it. “Just beg me for the real deal.”
“I hate you,” she growled.
“Yeah. But you still wanna fuck me.”
I reached out and grabbed the chain in the centre of her handcuffs just as I heard the front door open downstairs.
My brothers were greeting our Papa enthusiastically and I tugged Sloan after me to join them.
We made it into the living room just as Papa and my brothers entered too and I gave Sloan’s handcuffs a hard yank, forcing her to her knees again beside me.
She yelped in pain as her knees hit the rug in front of the fire and Papa closed in on us with a look on his face like he’d smelt something bad.
He was as tall as me, as broad too and years of brawling had scarred his striking face, painting a line through his left eyebrow which was now pale and white with age. Romeros fight their own battles. His black hair was streaked with grey around the temples and he wore an expensive as shit designer suit as always.
“So, this is the Calabresi principessa, is it?” he mused, inspecting her like she was a horse at a market.
“It is,” I agreed, keeping my voice level. Because fuck it, I wasn’t going to start regretting this choice to steal her even if she turned out to be a fucking liability. I swore I’d wipe the shame of sparing her life all those years ago from my name and I was determined to make this insanity pay off.
My Papa was a cold man with cruel eyes and a crueller heart. He had little time for love or affection, though we knew he felt both for us because of the fierce way he pushed and protected us in equal measures. I had faded memories of him chasing me and our dead brother, Angelo, around the park with a football and of him dancing with our mother in the kitchen, but either I’d dreamed them up or the man who had featured in them had been murdered alongside her. This creature left in his place was harsh and cold, distant and unforgiving. But he’d also taught us how to be strong in every way, made us proficient in dishing out pain as well as receiving it and forged us into creatures of war. And the battle we fought was against the family of the girl who currently knelt before us.
“Get rid of her so the men can talk,” he said, looking away from Sloan dismissively and I drew her back to her feet without a word.
Sloan didn’t even protest as I led her out into the hallway but she dug in her heels as she realised where I was about to put her. There was only one room in this house that was truly secure and if my father wanted her locked away then this was where he meant.
“But-” she began, her eyes widening with fear as she snared my wrist in her grasp. Her gaze caught mine like she was searching for some twinge of sympathy in me, but she’d be a long time looking if she ever expected to find that.
“What’s the matter, principessa? Did you think that just because we don’t want you to die just yet that we actually care about your wellbeing?” I taunted.
Her jaw tightened, her eyes blazing with the desire to hurt me and fuck it if that didn’t just make me want to break her more.
I grabbed her by the arms and whirled her around until her back was driven against the door to the cellar before I pressed my body flush with hers to hold her there.
I smirked at her as she cursed me and reached out to turn the key in the lock beside her.
“What’s wrong with you?” she hissed as the door swung open and I stood back to let her descend.
“If you want a full list we might be here a while and I’ve got a meeting with my family to attend. Suffice to say that I’m a special brand of fucked up, created in the depths of your darkest nightmares and dirtiest fantasies. But if you think you’ve seen the worst of me, then you really have no idea. So I suggest you be a good little hostage and start playing by the rules. Because the sooner you fall in line, the better it will be for you. And I promise that when I’m nice to you, it’ll hurt in all the right ways.”
Sloan stared at me like she didn’t even know what to make of this fucked up creature before her, but if she thought I was a mystery she might be able to solve then she was going to find herself severely disappointed.
I reached out and flicked on the light in the cellar for her and she slowly turned and headed down the first few steps.
I leaned against the doorframe and waited for her to descend, a smug sense of satisfaction filling me as I watched this enemy of mine bowing to my commands.
“Good girl,” I mocked as she made it to the cold floor at the base of the stairs.
I reached over my shoulder and caught the material of my sweater in my grip before dragging it over my head. It was thick and warm and would stop her from freezing quite so much while she was stuck down here again. I tossed it to her and she caught it with a frown that said my kindness only confused her further.
Lap it up, baby. You’ll be all mine before you even realise what’s happened to you.
I closed the door on her, locking it and tucking the key into my pocket as I strode back to the living room in my T-shirt, wondering if Papa would question my sudden outfit change.
“I say we kill her,” Papa said firmly, the moment I re-entered the room.
“What?” I asked, feeling like a little kid being chastised for doing the wrong thing. “But you haven’t even heard my plan yet-”
“Don’t try and fool me with your bullshit, Rocco, I know you didn’t have a plan when you took her. You fucked up and you just tried to save
face with the insanity. But it’s gone on long enough. Giuseppe Calabresi killed my child. I say we kill his in kind.”
“Wait,” Frankie said, stepping between Papa and the door like he might just march out there and murder Sloan right now.
My jaw ticked with fury. He didn’t even want to hear me out and worse than that; he’d seen straight through me as always. He hadn’t even been in the country when I’d taken it upon myself to snatch Sloan from her wedding, but he knew me so well he’d already figured out what had happened without even having to look me in the eye and ask.
“I have an idea,” I ground out, determined to make him at least listen before he overruled me.
“It’s a good one,” Enzo piped up, having my back as always.
“Fine,” Papa said wearily, folding his arms as he moved to stand before the fire. “Then spit it out.”
“I’ve already got the Calabresis backing out of Romero territory,” I began but he waved a hand to silence me.
“Don’t bore me with the details you’ve already given me, tell me what this plan of yours is,” he snapped.
“I say we use her to draw Giuseppe out somehow. Find a way to manipulate him into a situation we can take advantage of. We can use her to orchestrate his assassination,” I insisted, keeping it short and to the point. Papa would want to make any definitive plans himself anyway.
He sucked his bottom lip between his teeth as he considered that, his gaze flitting from me to my brothers.
“And the two of you agree with him on this?” he asked.
“Yes,” they both confirmed instantly and I suppressed a smile at that. The three of us may have disagreed constantly in private, but in front of our father we always stood united. It was the one tactic we could employ against him that got his attention.
As expected, his gaze flashed with pride at the three of us showing solidarity and he nodded curtly.
“Fine. I’ll work on a plan to use this to finish her father. Do what you want with her until then and once he’s dead we’ll have her head too.”
The tension in my posture fell slack as I got my way and I allowed him to see my smile.
Papa only rolled his eyes at me like I was some tiresome child. “Well in that case, I may as well get back to the city. I’ll be in touch with further instructions shortly,” he promised.
I raised my eyebrows at his sudden decision to leave again, but I wasn’t sure why I was surprised. He hated to linger in this house and the sweeping glance he gave the room we stood in only made the point more strongly. He damn near shuddered before turning and striding for the door.
We followed him into the hall and he pulled the front door wide, pausing as snowflakes swirled in around us on a freezing breeze.
“Make sure you don’t fuck this up, Rocco. It’s your head on the block if she escapes,” he warned.
The door slammed between us before I could reply and I was left in the wake of my father, feeling somehow like that little boy who’d just been told his mother was dead.
I sat at the top of the cellar stairs with Rocco’s jumper swamping me. I couldn’t put my hands through the sleeves with them cuffed together but in a way, that was better. My fingers drank in the warmth of his lingering body heat and I tried to ignore the freshly cut pine smell that always seemed to hang around him.
His actions had contradicted his nasty words. Giving me this sweater was screwing with my mind. But maybe that had been his intention. I didn’t imagine I could unravel the inner workings of a psychopath like Rocco Romero anyway.
It was warmer by the door and I refused to spend more time down in that icy pit. I tried not to consider the possibility that Rocco’s father would take charge now. That he’d insist I was kept down here, or worse…if he decided to kill his enemy’s daughter.
The hatred between him and my father was like rot, gnawing deeper and deeper into the bone until it infected every part of them. I didn’t even know why they hated each other so deeply. Our families had been in a feud for a hundred years over territory in Sinners Bay, but with them it was personal. And that was why I needed to escape this place as soon as possible. Because every day that passed meant I was drawing closer to the day the Romeros would kill me. There wasn’t a chance on earth they were going to let me return to my family. I knew it in the depths of my soul.
The door opened and I shot to my feet, looking up at Rocco as he stood barring my way out.
His shoulders were pressed back, his head cocked to one side. Enzo muscled in beside him followed by Frankie looking between their heads. I took an involuntary step backwards onto the lower stair as they leered at me like a three headed hellhound.
“What now?” Frankie murmured.
“We put her to good use?” Enzo suggested hopefully.
“Hmm, the kitchen floors need scrubbing,” Rocco said with a wicked grin.
“Do they?” Frankie frowned and Rocco threw his elbow back into his ribs.
I glowered at all three of them, refusing to react to their display of power. I didn’t care if they made me clean the entire house from top to bottom. That would just give me more opportunities to find a way out.
Rocco moved onto the stairs, a shadow falling over his face as he blocked the light of the bulb above. “Yeah, Cinderella had to earn her way to the ball. But in your case, you can earn your way back into my bed tonight. If you fuck up, you can stay down here again.”
He snatched a handful of the sweater and tugged me out of the cellar, the two brothers parting for us and sniggering as Rocco led me away.
“Cinderella didn’t earn her way to the ball,” I tutted. “Her fairy godmother showed up to help her.”
“Well maybe Frankie will sprout wings and Enzo will turn into a turnip for you.”
“Pumpkin,” I corrected, shaking my head. “If you want to threaten me with a fairytale, at least get the story right.”
Rocco gave me spine-melting look, leaning in close to my ear. “Fine, how’s this for a story? Three hungry wolves made a principessa clean their floors. Every time she fucked up, they took a bite. By the end of the day, the principessa was nowhere to be seen but the wolves all looked a little fatter. The end.” He shoved me to the floor in the kitchen and I huffed in rage as I found myself on my knees beneath him once again.
He tugged the sweater over my head, tossing it onto the counter and I immediately shivered. The house never felt truly warm, the vaulted ceilings too high and the rooms too large to keep the heat contained. He knelt down, taking the key from his pocket and unlocking the cuffs from my wrists. Then he set about filling a mop bucket with soapy water then tossed a scrubbing brush in front of me before dumping the bucket down and sploshing it over my knees. “Get cleaning or I might take my first bite.”
“Bet you can’t bite as hard as me,” I muttered, glancing behind me to see he’d paused beside the door, his fingers pressed to the place on his shoulder where I’d sunk my teeth into him.
A purely animal look entered his gaze and there was something so deeply carnal about it, I found myself looking away again. I cursed my body for the heat tingling right through to my core and the way a breath snagged in my lungs. He was too dark of a fantasy to dare indulging in and I forced my mind away from him in an instant.
“Don’t tempt me into a competition I’ll easily win, bella,” he said before heading out the door.
I sighed as I picked up the scrubbing brush and dunked it in the water. It wasn’t like I could refuse to do this and at the very least, it gave me something to occupy my time. Spending the day gazing at a wall wasn’t exactly much better so in a way, this was an improvement. The only issue was that it was also degrading as hell. Sloan Calabresi cleaning the Romeros floors. Humiliating.
My father will have your balls for this if I don’t get them first, Rocco.
I thought of Nicoli and wondered if he missed me at all. He was no doubt hunting me down on my father’s orders, but would he have done it for me alone? He’d always been my saviou
r as a kid, but would he still be that for me now?
I sighed, directing my frustration into every stroke of the scrubbing brush. Nicoli might have been coming for me, but I wasn’t going to wait here and hope for his arrival like a bird in a cage. I’d keep rattling the bars, checking every corner for a way out. And who knows, maybe I’ll save myself.
After an hour, the kitchen floor was clean and I was directed into the hallway to start scrubbing there. I could hear the brothers talking in the living room, apparently not giving a damn about watching me. I supposed if the scrubbing noise stopped, they’d notice.
I settled into cursing them with every stroke of the brush, coming up with as many colourful names for them as I could to stop me from going insane.
My hands were already sore from cleaning the broken bulb from Rocco’s bed this morning, but now blisters and bruises were added to the mix. I was working my rage out on the floor but it was only growing. The longer I cleaned, the angrier I became.
My blood mixed with the soapy water as I dunked the brush once more and hissed between my teeth as it stung my wounds. I cursed my luck as Rocco appeared the very same moment a blister burst on my palm and I winced.
His jaw was locked tight and his eyes narrowed to slits. “You’re done for the day,” he growled, striding forward and plucking me up from the floor.
I pushed away from him, marking his shirt with my soapy hands and leaving a patch of blood there too. He glanced at it with a scowl then dragged me into the bathroom across the hall.
“Clothes!” Rocco barked out at his brothers and someone’s footsteps sounded in response.
“Shower,” he commanded me, pointing at the unit. “Make sure you’re clean enough to cook for us.”
I glared at him in fury. “So princess is off the menu then?” I asked coldly.
Beautiful Carnage: A Dark Mafia Bully Romance (The Boys of Sinners Bay Book 1) Page 11