“Stop fucking shooting, you stupid son-of-a-bitch!” Tony hollered through the excruciating pain. “That just missed my ear, you idiot!”
“Sorry, Tony. I can’t see a fuckin’ thing in here,” Frank replied.
“Exactly, dumb ass! You can’t see a fucking thing… so STOP shooting! Aaaagghh, my arm hurts so bad.”
“Where are you, Tony, and where’s W—” Frank’s question ended abruptly when an iron fist smashed into his stomach out of the darkness, sending him reeling backward to the wall just behind him. Doubled over in pain and gasping for breath, his gun fell to the floor, clattering against the concrete. Frank looked up, searching for who or what had hit him, and as the smoke began to clear, a figure appeared out of the gloom. Pulling off a gas mask, the sight startled him, making him jump.
“Looking for Willy?” the man said. “Let’s just say he’s tied up at the moment. Having a little nap in the corner there. Seems he slipped and hit his head. That was some wild shooting, Frank. I think I’d better look after your weapon until you learn a little gun safety,” he said, tucking it into his belt.
“I don’t know who the fuck you are, but you are going to get whacked, you sorry son-of-a-bitch,” Tony yelled. Without thinking, he instinctively reached for the gun nestled under his left shoulder, then yelled out in pain when he tried to move his broken arm to grab it.
“The name’s Carrington. Michael Carrington, and I’ll take that, if you don’t mind. We don’t want any more accidents, do we?” Michael, dressed completely in black, approached Tony, looked him in the eyes, and calmly took the thug’s gun from him. He disassembled the weapon like he’d done it a thousand times before and threw the pieces down the other end of the corridor. Tony watched as they skidded across the concrete floor into the darkness, and before he realized what was happening, he felt cold steel against his left wrist and heard the familiar click-click-click of handcuffs closing around it. He tried to pull away, but the sudden movement jarred his injured arm, and he yelled out in pain again. Michael yanked his left arm up and after a jangle of metal-on-metal, and another click-click-click, Tony was handcuffed to a heating pipe above his head.
“Fuck you!” Tony cussed. “Don’t you know who I am? You’re going to be sorry you messed with me. You are so fucking dead, my friend.”
“Big Tony, isn’t it? Gambino crime family? I know all about you,” Michael said.
“That’s fucking right, Carrington. And you know what we do to people who fuck with us? They end up as dog meat,” Tony barked.
Michael gave Tony a wry smile, ignoring his threat completely. “You don’t mind hanging around, do you? Is my girl in there?” he mocked, pointing to the doorway.
Tony glared at him and said, “Her? She’s just a fucking whore who sucks dicks for a living. What is it with you and that slut, anyway?”
The corners of Michael’s mouth twitched. He got down on his haunches and came right up in his face. Tony grinned back at him, pleased with himself that his acid comment had hit the mark. Michael just stared at him then poked his broken arm, making Tony scream in excruciating pain.
“She may be a whore… but she’s my whore. You boys made a big mistake coming to my house, threatening my staff, and worst of all… taking what’s mine. Now, if you’ve hurt her… even one tiny hair on her head… I’m going to come back out here and break the other arm… and then your legs. Understood?”
Tony’s attitude changed in an instant, and he looked apprehensive, scared even that Michael would carry out his threat. “I didn’t touch her, honest. Frank slapped her once and she hit her head, but I didn’t touch her, okay? We were just following Willy’s orders.”
Michael stared into Tony’s dark eyes, his own flicking left and right, searching the man’s soul to decide if he was telling the truth. Silently, he stood tall and walked over to where Frank lay crumpled on the floor. His lungs felt like they were going to explode as he desperately gasped for air, still catching his breath after the mammoth blow minutes earlier had left him badly winded. Michael dragged him by the back of his collar to a steel support, pulled a length of thin rope from his back pocket, and tied his hands tightly around it.
“I’ll be back,” Michael said and headed toward the gymnasium doors.
Chapter 23
Stella looked down at her feet, her mind racing as she wondered what the hell had happened outside in the corridor. Suddenly, her train of thought was broken as the doors flew open and hit the walls on either side of the frame. She looked up and saw a figure dressed in black with beautifully sculpted muscles walking toward her. Her vision was a little blurry from the knock to the head and the lack of food, but she recognized who it was in an instant.
“Michael? Is that you, Michael?”
“Yes, Stella, it’s me,” he said as he briskly strode to where she sat and began untying the ropes that bound her. “Christ! They left you here naked? Are you okay? What have they done to you?”
She wanted to tell him everything, but Stella just couldn’t answer. She wanted to be strong, but she broke down, her body convulsing uncontrollably as she burst into tears. She wanted to bury her face in her hands, but they were still tied as Michael continued loosening the knots. Tears streamed down her face like waterfalls, and all her emotions came rushing to the surface as she trembled and shook.
“You came for me,” she sobbed. “You came for me. I can’t believe it. You came for me, Michael. You fucking came for me,” she sobbed through her tears.
“Yes, Stella. I came for you,” Michael said as the last restraint fell to the ground. He came around to the front of the chair and massaged her limbs where the ropes had been tightly wrapped around them, helping her circulation return to normal. She shivered, feeling his warm, sensitive touch soothing away the pins and needles.
She wiped her eyes with the back of one hand, still sobbing, her body shaking with the emotion that the man she called Sir had come to rescue her from a horrible fate. Her—a common street whore. If everything hadn’t felt so real at that moment, she’d have thought she was dreaming.
Michael stood tall and pulled a trembling Stella up on unsteady feet. She felt weak, numb, and exhausted in every sense of the word. His hands cupped her face, and he wiped away her tears with his thumbs. He kissed her forehead then looked into her glistening eyes, and her heart simply melted for him all over again.
“I still can’t believe you came for me,” she said and threw her arms around his neck, hugging him tight with her face against his.
“Of course I’d come for you, Stella. You’re mine. Now, are you okay? What did they do to you? Tell me,” he said, looking at the red mark on her face and the bump on her head.
“That Frank guy hit me, but I’m okay. Just a bit sore and bruised… and hungry,” she said. “All I’ve had is water.”
“Did he now?” Michael said, raising one eyebrow. “Get dressed, Stella, quick as you can. I’ll be back in a minute.”
“Where are you going? Don’t leave me,” Stella said with pleading eyes.
“Don’t worry. I won’t be long. Now, put some clothes on.” She walked back to where she’d been forced to undress hours earlier and started pulling on what few clothes she had. She turned, needing to see Michael, and silently watched as he strode toward the corridor. She was so overwhelmed with elation that her legs released her weight, and she slumped to the floor. She was safe now, and she just needed a few moments to release the emotions of what she’d just experienced. This could have gone south quickly, and she never imagined that Michael would come for her… But he had.
Once outside the gym, Michael pulled out his phone and punched in a number. The call was answered immediately. “Bring the car around, Maga… and my black cat. I’ll meet you at the front of the building.” He hung up and headed outside, leaving the two thugs nursing their wounds.
Two minutes later, Maga arrived. She opened the driver’s door and passed him what he’d asked for on the phone. “Leave it there and co
me inside,” he said. “I think Stella’s going to need you.” Michael pulled the tail of the cat through his fingers, over and over as they walked inside to find Frank, still groaning and rubbing the huge bruise on his stomach.
He looked up at the two of them silhouetted in the entrance and as they approached, he sneered, “What the fuck is grandma doing here? Did she bring you soup?” he sniggered.
“That’s disrespectful, Frank.” Michael said. “Maga, Stella’s in there. Go and help her. We’ll be leaving as soon as I’ve finished teaching these two some manners.”
*****
Stella had just finished getting dressed when out of the corner of her eye, she saw Maga appear in the doorway.
“Maga! Oh, Maga! Are you okay? What are you doing here?” She ran to her and wrapped her tightly in her arms.
“I’m fine, honey, but what about you? Did those filthy pigs touch you? Did they hurt you?” Maga braced her hands on Stella’s small shoulders and checked her over for any injuries.
“Oh, I’m fine. One of them gave me a slap on the head, but I’m all right. It’s you I was worried about after they threatened you at the house,” Stella said.
“Let’s not worry about that now. Mr. Carrington’s waiting for us so if you have all your things, let’s get out of this nasty place. It smells awful in here,” she said, scrunching up her nose.
Stella didn’t need to be told twice. Maga wrapped a protective arm around Stella and led her into the corridor. Stella looked over to Michael, and her eyes grew wide at what she saw. Even in the gloomy light, they lit up like a Christmas tree when she spied the beautiful black leather cat ‘o’ nine tails in Michael’s hand. How many times had she seen that image of him in the dungeon with her? A warm feeling came over her, and she felt her pussy become wet just from the sight of him.
“Good, you’re here,” Michael said.
His words jolted Stella out of her fantasy and back to reality. She turned to Michael and said, “You brought Maga with you? Wasn’t that kinda dangerous with these guys having guns? And what the hell went on out here anyway? Sounded like someone got shot.”
“Questions, always questions, Stella. Maga’s been quite safe parked out of sight around the corner, and you should know by now I’d never risk her getting hurt.” Stella said nothing, nodding silently. She knew he was right—she’d seen for herself that he cared a great deal for Maga. “And no one got shot,” he continued, “though Frank here almost killed his own partner at one point. The noise you heard was a flashbang smoke grenade, since you asked. A little souvenir from my time in the military.”
He was in the freakin’ military, too? Stella looked at his body, his muscles rippling beneath the tight black polo. Jesus, this sex on legs sure had done a lot of stuff with his life!
“Anyway, as touching as this reunion is, it’s been a long day, and I’m sure we all want to go home.” He turned to the man lying on the floor and sternly said, “Frank, I want you to apologize to Stella and Maga for your ungentlemanly behavior today.”
“Go fuck yourself, Carrington, and that whore and grandma there can go fuck themselves, too,” he snarled, defiantly.
“Now, you will do as I say,” Michael said as he ran the tightly-knotted tails of the cat between his fingers. Maga knew what would happen if he didn’t, and a smile crept across her face. She was normally a kind and gentle woman, but after what they’d put her through at the house, she couldn’t help feeling revengeful.
“You wouldn’t,” Frank said, smiling back. “You know who I am, right?”
“Yeah, you tell him, Frank,” Tony shouted from the other end of the corridor. “We’ve got connections. Bad ones for you, my friend.”
“Yes, I know all about you two and Willy, but trust me, after three tours in Iraq, and two in Afghanistan, I’ve seen too much already. Things I don’t ever want to see again, so for a lowlife scumbag like you, I definitely would. Now apologize.”
“I’m not apologizing to those bitch—aaaaaggghhh, fuck!” Michael brought the cat down hard on Frank’s legs, the pain instantly showing on his contorted face. The smirk had changed to a wince, his eyes closed tight from the multiple stings burning into his flesh. Stella felt her excitement level rising at the sound of that whip swooshing through the air, and her pussy began to throb with want.
“Learn to control the pain, Frank. Isn’t that right, Stella?” Michael said as he untied the rope that shackled Frank to the building.
“Yes, Sir,” Stella said with a coy smile.
“Now crawl over here and apologize to these ladies for what you did. And don’t try anything funny. I still have your gun, and I will shoot you if I have to.”
“You sick fuck, Carrington. Willy told me you were into some kinky shit. I won’t do it,” Frank said as he tried to stand. Whoosh, thwack. Another nine biting stings across the back of his legs had them buckling under him, and he fell to his knees screaming with the pain.
“Yes, you will,” Michael said, grabbing the tails of his jacket and ripping it up the back seam to the collar.
“What the fuck? This suit cost two grand, you—”
Whoosh, thwack.
“Aaaaaaggggghhhh! Fuck you!” The cat landed on his back, tearing his shirt in a couple of places, and a few spots of blood appeared through the fabric. “Okay, okay, I’ll do it. Fuck! Just lay off with the whip, will ya? How you freaks get pleasure from that I’ll never know, but I am so going to make you pay for this. You’re a dead man walking, pal.”
“You’ll never understand, Frank. Now if you don’t want another stroke, you’ll do it.” Frank reluctantly crawled over to where Stella and Maga stood, all the while muttering under his breath, cussing and threatening death and vengeance on Michael. Maga couldn’t stop herself smiling when she saw the man humiliated. She covered her mouth with her hand to try to stifle her laughter, but she couldn’t hide it.
“What are you laughing at, you old hag?” Frank asked. “I am going to cut you up good when I get—aaaaaggghhhh! Fuck!” The unmistakable sound of the whip landing on his body again stopped him mid-sentence, causing him to arch his back with the pain. “You bastard, Carrington! Will you stop doing that?”
Tony made a half-hearted attempt to save his friend. “You’d better not hurt him again, Carrington. You’ve got what you came for, so why don’t you just leave?” Michael turned toward him for a second, then back to Frank, ignoring the question.
“Apologize,” came the reply. Frank hung his head in resignation, staring at the concrete floor beneath him, he knew to refuse again would bring the most painful retribution. The man hesitated for a second, never raising his head while Stella and Maga looked upon him in disgust.
“Sorry,” he mumbled. “There ya go.”
“Say it like you mean it, Frank, and I want them to hear you. Louder,” Michael said calmly, all the while stroking the tails of the cat.
Frank’s back felt raw and stung like crazy. He knew it was futile to continue with his defiance. He looked up and turned from Maga to Stella and back again. “I’m very sorry, okay?” he said with a glare then looked down to the floor once more, defeated and humiliated.
“Very good, Frank,” Michael said as everyone’s heads turned toward the groaning coming from the far end of the corridor. “Ah, Willy. Nice little nap? Glad you woke up in time to say goodbye.”
“Wh—what? Is that you, Carrington?” Willy said groggily.
“It is. I came to get what’s mine. We’ll be leaving now, and we won’t be meeting again.”
“You’d better think again on that, you stupid fuck! I’m gonna hunt you down and kill you very slowly! You don’t realize who you’re dealing with, you—”
“Oh, but I do,” Michael interrupted. “In fact, I know your syndicate boss, Vincente Gambini, very well. His nephew and I were buddies in Special Ops. Imagine that?” Willy’s jaw dropped to the floor in shock, speechless, as did Maga and Stella’s who just turned to look at each other with open mouths.
&
nbsp; “When you took Stella, I called in a favor from Vincente. You see, I saved his nephew’s life in Iraq, and he was more than happy to tell me about this place. Turns out you boys have been running prostitution and protection rackets outside of the family business. He’s been watching you for a while, Willy, and he seemed pretty pissed at you.” Willy’s face contorted from a look of rage to one of concern as he thought about what he’d just heard, then a smug self-satisfied grin curled his lips.
“You’re bluffing,” he laughed. “Nice try, Carrington, but I’m not falling for that. Everyone knows his name around here, and you just pulled that out of your ass guessing what I’m doing. He doesn’t pay me enough, so I gotta do my own thing. Nothin’ wrong with that. I’m going to cut you into little pieces and feed you to those dogs when I get out of here.”
“I don’t think so,” Michael said as the sound of several cars screeching to a halt at the front of the building and doors slamming echoed down the corridor. “Come on, ladies, time we leave. Goodbye, gentleman. I would say have a nice life, but…”
“You fucking bastard, Carrington!” Willy shouted as Michael left the building with one arm around Stella’s shoulder and the other around Maga’s. The other two men just hung their heads, resigning themselves to their fate for disloyalty to the infamous crime family.
Outside were three black cars surrounded by men in suits. Stella and Maga peeled away from Michael and got into his car—Maga in the driving seat and Stella in the back. They both craned their necks around to watch Michael approach one of the men. He shook hands with him and exchanged a few words before he, too, approached the car and got into the back seat with Stella.
“Okay, Maga, take us home.”
Chapter 24
No one said much on the drive home, and Stella didn’t even notice the scenery as it passed by. She did ask what was going to happen to the men who’d threatened Maga and kidnapped her. Michael just put a protective arm around her shoulder and pulled her close to him, kissing the top of her head. Deep down, she knew the answer, and she didn’t care. Willy and his men had planned to put her back on the streets as a whore, and that was a life she never wanted to experience ever again.
Shameless Submission: A Dark BDSM Romance Page 15