Dirty Revenge

by Ella Miles

  Because that’s what I am, a monster. I may pretend I’m a princess who hides away in a tower and has no control over my life or what my family does, but it isn’t true. I have power. I could change my life if I wanted to. Stop participating in the evil my family partakes in.

  I’m a Carini though. Carinis are powerful, dark creatures, incapable of real love.

  Roman knows who I am. I don’t know how, and I don’t care. He wants me as I am. And I plan on giving him everything I have. The light, the darkness. My heart, and soul. And maybe with him, I’ll find a way to be the real Gia Carini. The one I’ve kept hidden beneath the pretty dresses. With Roman, I can learn to love.

  1

  Gia

  Months Later

  I sold you.

  Roman’s words play over and over in my head.

  The light trickles in, striking my face, so all I can see is the light. I can’t see the arch of the doorway overhead made of dark gray marble stone. I can’t see the sharp edge of the windows next to me that open up the living room to the garden below. I can’t see the beauty of the green oak trees that have been here for hundreds of years, the only things on this property entirely untouched by darkness.

  All I can see is the weak shit standing in front of me. Asshole, cunt, manwhore, gold-digger, scum of the earth, piece of shit… Words keep coming, but they make no difference. I can call Roman whatever I want in my head, but it doesn’t stop what’s happening. And I won’t give him the satisfaction of seeing my anger.

  Roman doesn’t get to see my pain. My regret. Or my anger.

  He means nothing to me.

  He used to be my entire world.

  Now, he’s nothing.

  I sold you.

  Roman was the one. He’s sexy, charming, and despite how he dresses, he owns a string of wineries. He has money, not Carini level money, but he isn’t poor. I thought he loved me. I thought I was special. I thought I was his everything.

  He fucked it up once.

  I thought today was about fixing his mistake.

  Instead, he’s fucking my life up forever.

  I shield my eyes, as I see the men approaching me. I stand stoically because I know there is nothing else to do at the moment. Running is useless, I’ll just end up hurt. I’ve seen it happen to too many women before.

  I will look for an opportunity to escape once they have me, but I know that won’t be more useful. In this world, there is no escaping. Even Nina and Eden didn’t escape. They remained. They just changed their circumstances in their favor until this world no longer terrified them.

  My only hope is that Matteo and Arlo save me. That they realize I’m gone and still have enough power in this world to save me. If they can’t, I’m as good as dead.

  I feel the cold, rough hands on my arms as they are jerked backward.

  I sold you.

  Roman’s words play again.

  I should focus on the men tying rope around my wrists. I need to learn as much about them as I can. Find their weaknesses. Study their faces so when I’m free, I can come back and get my revenge. But I can’t focus on anyone but Roman.

  Roman stands stoically as he watches the men tighten the rope around my wrists. He seems pleased with himself. His lips curl up into a wicked grin, while his eyes deepen with a mix of lust and greed, watching me lose my freedom. He thinks he’s won. But the war has only just begun. He may have won the battle, but the war is long. Carini’s hold grudges, and we always get our revenge in the end.

  I smirk.

  “Happy to be taken? Oh, that’s right. You are desperate for a man’s attention. Any man. Even a demon like Dante.”

  Dante. That’s the first time my captor has been mentioned. It doesn’t ring any bells. He didn’t run in our immediate circle of friends.

  I continue smirking, shaking my head. “I’m not smiling. I’m smirking. You think you’ve won, but you forget that I’m a Carini. My days aren’t numbered, but yours are.”

  Roman narrows his eyes at me and laughs, glancing at the men holding onto my arms. Arms that are now firmly tied behind my back. I pull at the rope, and I know there is no way my hands will break free.

  “I don’t think so. You are the one whose days are numbered. I’d bet good money you don’t survive the week where you are going. I not only made sure to get the highest price for you, but I made sure you went to the most ruthless owner in all of Italy. Dante Russo will beat you, rape you, and kill you when he realizes how ordinary you are. You have no fight in you. Your brothers will quickly forget about you. No one will save you. And when you are dead, no one will come after me.”

  I search his eyes, and I find exactly what I would expect from scum like him.

  “Then why is there fear in your eyes?”

  Roman clears his throat and then walks toward me. “If there is any fear in my eyes, it’s simply the reflection of your own.”

  I spit in his face.

  My head whips to the side as I feel the sting of the slap against my cheek. I take a deep slow breath as the bite spreads across my cheek and to my eye.

  I will not cry.

  I will not show anger.

  I will not show my pain.

  Roman will get nothing from me.

  I slowly turn my head back. I can’t stop my hand from reaching instinctively to calm my cheek, which is no doubt turning redder as the seconds pass. The ropes stop me before I remember my hands are tied behind my back.

  Roman’s jaw spasms as he notices my hands squirming against the ropes. I know the rope is digging into my delicate skin, and will undoubtedly leave a burn in its wake, but I can’t stop fighting against it. Not now that Roman has me so worked up.

  He takes a step back, while the men hold me back. One of the men’s hands clenches my arm so roughly the pain pulls my attention away for a second from Roman. I feel the nails digging into my flesh, and I want to cry out in pain. Tell him to stop, but I don’t.

  Instead, I keep all my wrath for Roman. Giving him my full attention assures him I will come after him. I will watch the whites leave his eyes as he slowly slips away from this earth to hell. Everything that happens to me from this point forward is because of Roman. And I will make him hurt for every prickle of pain I endure.

  “Everything going okay in here?” a man says from behind Roman.

  I force my eyes away from the snake before me and stare at the man who just entered. Clive is standing in the entryway with a cup of coffee in his hand, like this is a typical morning. Erick enters behind him, and he smirks at me.

  “Yes, just about to have the garbage taken out,” Roman answers.

  I snarl. I can’t help it. At this point, I want the men holding onto me to drag me out, so I don’t have to look at Roman for another second.

  Clive stands with a raised eyebrow, no doubt waiting for me to beg him to rescue me. He’ll be waiting forever. I will never ask for his help. Matteo may have been willing to ask for his help to save Eden and kill my father, but I’m not willing to ask this slime for help. The cost would be too high. Matteo had to give up everything he worked for to get Eden. If I asked for Clive’s help, I would merely be trading my life from Dante to Clive. I still wouldn’t be free.

  Roman turns from me and walks into the kitchen before returning with a stack of money. He holds it out to Clive who isn’t surprised to see the money. He takes it from him eagerly.

  “Thank you, Clive, for assisting me. I wasn’t sure if the pull of old love would be enough to persuade Gia to come back. But I knew she couldn’t resist coming back to her old home.” Roman turns his head to me, and the evil oozes out of his dark eyes. “But then again, I think Gia is desperate enough that she would have come back just for a chance at my attention.”

  The men chuckle as if he made the funniest joke.

  I hold my tongue, keeping my snark remarks to myself. Whatever I say won’t help. But I will remember every word. And every bone I break on his body, every cut I inflict into his flesh, every bulle
t I shoot into his body will be my revenge. I will not let him live. I’m a Carini. It may take me a week, a month, or even years to escape my fate, but when I do, revenge will be sweet.

  I pull on the ropes again as Roman turns away. Maybe if I can get free for a second, I can inflict some pain right now. I can’t wait.

  I get one arm free of the man’s grasp, but the other man holding onto me jerks me back.

  “Gia’s feisty. She won’t go easily, but it won’t take long to break her. Tame her. She’s already broken.”

  “You fucking asshole!” I yell, no longer caring what Roman thinks. I can’t contain myself any longer.

  Roman turns around and walks back to Clive and Erick. None of them pay me any attention as I continue to curse and yell out my threats. I will come for them all. They think my family was evil before. That Enrico was the worst, and my brothers were demons that would fight to the death. They have no idea I’m worse than all of them.

  Roman, Clive, and Erick ignore me as they turn the corner and disappear into the shadows of the house. My house. They may occupy it now after Matteo gave it to them in exchange for their help, but I’m getting it back when I take all their lives. I’m not as forgiving as Matteo and Arlo. Clive and Erick may have little to do with me being taken, but they could have done more to prevent it. They didn’t. They are just as culpable.

  “Time to go, whore,” the man on my left says. He has dark eyes and a scruffy beard. His biceps bulge, covered in a sleeve of tattoos. He’s meant to look menacing, but he doesn’t realize I’ve dealt with men like him my entire life. Grew up around them. His looks don’t scare me. He’s nothing but muscle working for his boss, Dante. He follows orders, nothing more. He won’t touch me or hurt me as long as I behave.

  He thinks a word like ‘whore’ will degrade me. Make me feel like I’m nothing. Start the process of breaking me. He doesn’t realize I’ve been called much worse. I don’t easily break, despite what Roman says.

  Roman was an important lesson. One I learned far too late, but will never repeat. I will never fall in love with a man. I will never be that vulnerable again.

  The other man holding my arm doesn’t say anything as they start leading me to the back door of my house. This man isn’t the leader. He’s smaller and therefore seen as weaker. I need to wait until I’m left alone with the weaker one, then I’ll make my run for it.

  They don’t have to pull me hard as we walk. I go willingly. Or at least that’s what I make them think. Really, I’m planning in my head for when I return and slaughter all of them.

  We walk out into the hot sun. Will this be the last time I see the sun? For how long? Days? Weeks? Years?

  Will I be locked away in a dark dungeon? Or will I be given the freedom to walk around the house like my family always gave their slaves?

  I have no way of knowing. So I lift my face up and soak in every drop of warmth. Letting the sun warm my heart and provide a memory of something positive I can take with me.

  The door to the back of an SUV opens, and I’m quickly tossed into the back, just before the door is thrown shut behind me. I take a deep breath and wiggle myself up into a sitting position, recovering from falling on my face on the chilled leather seat.

  Both men climb into the front without a word to each other. The car is started, and we drive off. I don’t dare turn around or look in any of the side mirrors to get a last glance of my home. I refuse to let it be my last glance.

  My heart beats rapidly in my chest, but other than my heart, I can’t feel anything. Not fear or pain. Nothing.

  But they made their first mistake. They tied my hands together, but not my legs. They sit in the front and not the back. They don’t think I will run. They believe I’m already broken as Roman said. That I’ve relented to being someone’s slut already.

  I try to keep my lips thin, my expression blank, as if I’m in shock. It doesn’t matter though, because the men in front pay me no attention. They think there is no way for me to escape. They’re wrong.

  2

  Caspian

  I lift the cup of coffee to my lips, scanning for any signs of Dante Russo or his men. I spot one man at the bar, out of the corner of my eye. Another member of his security team strolls down the quaint, brick sidewalk that has been here for hundreds of years.

  I shake my head. Dante’s men stand out like a sore thumb. They need to learn to at least wear clothing that helps them to blend in. Look inconspicuous. Otherwise, they might as well stand at Dante’s side and look as menacing as possible to try to keep people away.

  “Mr. Conti, a pleasure to meet you. I’ve heard many great things about you. Although, I’m surprised to learn you didn’t bring a security team with you since that’s what you specialize in,” Dante says, towering over me at my table.

  I resist the urge to roll my eyes at this man. I simply stand and hold out a hand. “Just because your men haven’t identified my security team, doesn’t mean I don’t have one.”

  “Touché, Mr. Conti,” Dante says, as we both sit back down.

  He scans me up and down, and I wait for the comment about my age.

  “You seem young to have become such a leading voice in security, Mr. Conti.”

  Yep, there it is. I do roll my eyes this time. I’m sick of men like him thinking because I’m young, and I didn’t inherit my company from my father like he did, that I’m not capable.

  “Why did you take this meeting with me, Dante, if you didn’t think I was capable of delivering?” My eyes burn into his as I speak. I hate men who waste my time.

  “I never said you were incapable, just young, Mr. Conti.” He repeats my formal name. He wants me to give him the same respect, but he hasn’t earned it. Dante Russo may be a powerful man, but that doesn’t mean I’m willing to cower at his feet like everyone else in this country. I may not have his money, but everything I earned, I built on my own. I was given nothing.

  I take another sip of my coffee while I wait for him to speak again. I’m anxious, too anxious. And if I let him know that, he will realize this is more than just a deal for me. So much more. Dante doesn’t understand I know exactly who he is.

  “As I said, I’ve heard many great things from you, Mr. Conti. And as you know, security and discretion are of utmost importance to me. Money isn’t an issue. I will pay you well, if you are, in fact, the best.”

  I don’t care about his money. But I don’t tell him that. It’s time to impress. “You have two men at the bar. One on the street. Four in cars around the perimeter. And one sniper on the building across the street. They all use a Retevis RT21 system to communicate with, which can easily be dismantled…” I pull out the device from my pocket and press the button. “With the touch of a button.”

  Dante scans his men, all grabbing for the earpieces in response to the loud fog sound blowing out their eardrums.

  I nod at my sister behind me, and my team moves in on all of his men. His men drop to the ground, put there by my team. My team knows how to blend into the shadows.

  Dante freezes as a gun presses against his temple, but only after his gun in the back of his pants is pulled free and tossed to the side.

  I smirk as I lean back in my chair, and Dante glares at me. “Meet my sister, Mr. Russo,” I say, using his last name to make a greater impact.

  Dante lets out a breath and chuckles.

  I nod to Adela who slowly lowers her gun.

  “I’m impressed. I didn’t realize your team was here, or that you had a sister.” Dante eyes Adela with lust. This is why I never tell anyone I have a sister. She is fully capable of taking care of herself, but I can’t handle creeps staring at her like a piece of meat.

  “That’s all, Adela,” I say.

  She nods and disappears again.

  “Like I told you when I contacted you last week, I’m the best. I believe in being discreet and working with the best technology around. Technology that no one but me owns.”

  “How long to get your systems and
my team up to your level?”

  “I can have my system installed in your home as soon as payment hits my bank account. A week. Shorter, if you prefer. And your team? I would recommend firing them and starting over. If I hire your team, I can have you the perfect team within two weeks.”

  Dante frowns. “My men are good men. They have been with me for a long time. I trust them.”

  I glance over at the man slowly dusting himself off after my team tackled him to the ground. “Ezio there? He’s been stealing money, drugs, jewels, anything he thinks he can take from you without you noticing for years.”

  I glance toward the man at the bar. “Gareth has been getting paid by Domenèc for any interesting tidbits about you. Do I need to continue?”

  “No.”

  “Would you like me to find you a better-qualified team and fire your current team?”

  “Yes, hire me the best you can find. No women, though.”

  I snigger. I wouldn’t expect anything less from a chauvinist like him.

  “It’s not good for the business I run. Women bodyguards are too emotional to handle the work I require.”

  I nod. I don’t doubt women get too emotional when they realize he smuggles women like drugs. Although, I bet most women, if they worked with Dante, wouldn’t say anything. They’d be too afraid they might face the same fate if they told anyone.

  “No women. Got it.”

  Dante scowls as he looks at his men with his hands folded on the table like this is a simple business meeting, and we aren’t talking about men’s lives. “No need to fire them. I’ll take care of it.”

  A chill creeps down my spine at his words. I know how he will ‘handle it.’ They will all be dead by morning. Not that they don’t deserve it, or that I disagree with his tactics. I would do the same if he left the firing to me.

  His phone buzzes, and he pulls it out. “One moment, Mr. Conti. I need to take this. Then, we can discuss your price.”