by Cora Reilly
Kiara chewed slowly then swallowed. “It’s was a shock at first. The Camorra doesn’t have the best reputation.”
I huffed. “They are monsters.”
“The monsters in my family hurt me. I haven’t experienced any kind of humiliation or pain in Las Vegas,” she said firmly.
“Still. I was already nervous on my wedding day. I can’t imagine how it must have been for you.”
Kiara shrugged. “What about your fiancé? What kind of man is he?”
“He’s Underboss of Indianapolis.”
“That doesn’t answer my question ... or maybe it does.”
“I didn’t know him very well,” I said when Remo stepped outside. “But I have every intention of getting to know Danilo better once I’m finally married to him.”
Remo gave me a hard look. “I’m sure he’ll be a delight.”
I narrowed my eyes. “He is.”
“I’m taking Serafina for a walk around the property,” he said to Kiara. She nodded and he turned to me. “Come on.”
Despite my annoyance at his commanding tone, I stood, glad to move my legs. Remo’s eyes scanned me from head to toe as he led me past the pool. “Kiara got you clothes.”
“I need to workout,” I said, ignoring his comment. “I can’t sit around all day. I’m going crazy. Unless that’s what you want, you need to let me run on a treadmill.”
Remo shook his head. “No need for a treadmill. I run every morning at seven. You can join me.”
I allowed myself a quick scan of his body. Of course he worked out. His body was all muscle. I knew he and his brothers were into cage fighting and running was a good way to improve your stamina. “That sounds reasonable.”
Remo’s mouth twitched. “I’m glad you think so.”
“What did you demand of my uncle for my freedom?” I asked him after a while.
“Minneapolis.”
I jerked to a stop. “That’s ridiculous. My uncle won’t give you any part of his territory. Even my father wouldn’t give up his city to save me.”
Remo’s smile darkened. “I think your father would gladly give me his city if it were up to him.”
I swallowed. I didn’t want to think of my family. Not when Remo was watching me closely. I’d cried enough in front of him yesterday. “You know Dante won’t meet your demands.”
Remo nodded.
“Then why make them?”
“This is a game of chess, Angel, like you said. I need to bring my pieces in position before I strike.”
Remo sounded so awfully sure of himself, it made me worry that maybe he’d really win in the end.
I turned away from him and continued walking. “I’m surprised Luca Vitiello agreed to your plan. I used to think the Famiglia was honorable, but apparently they are stooping as low as the Camorra now.”
Remo touched my shoulder and pulled me to a stop. “Tell me, Serafina, what’s the difference between an arranged marriage with Danilo and being my captive?”
I stared at him incredulously, but before I could deliver a reply, he spoke again.
“You didn’t choose Danilo. You will be given to him like an unwilling captive and the ring around your finger will be your shackle, the marriage your cage.” His dark eyes held triumph as if I couldn’t possibly argue my defense. My eyes darted to the ring around my finger. Its sight didn’t hold the same pride and excitement it used to.
“You will have to surrender to his body, whether you desire him or not, and your body and soul are at his mercy. Tell me again, how is your arranged marriage different to being my captive?”
Remo leaned down, holding my gaze the entire time, and I didn’t step back. His lips grazed my chin, then my cheek, and finally my mouth. “Your ‘no’ means nothing in a marriage. Do you call that freedom?”
Pressing my lips together, I glared at him, too proud to admit his words made sense. Remo had a way to twist things the way he wanted them until you believed they were the truth.
“Did you ever fantasize about Danilo? Do you desire him?”
I glared. “That’s none of your business.”
Remo shook his head as he stroked my throat, then my collarbone with his rough fingertips. “You didn’t. Your mind said yes to him, and you hoped your body would follow.” His fingers on my skin made thinking straight difficult, but I didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of pulling back. “I wonder how long it’ll take for your mind to say yes to me because your body has been screaming yes from the very first moment.”
I ripped away from him. “You are insane. Neither my body nor my mind say yes to any part of you, Remo. I think being the undisputed ruler of Las Vegas has made you a megalomaniac.”
Remo’s dark eyes sent another shiver down my spine, and I stalked off, running as much from his terrifying expression as the weight of the truth. Despite my hate for the Camorra’s Capo, his kisses and closeness wreaked havoc within me.
I suspected it was due to my captivity, a form of Stockholm Syndrome. I made sure to keep my distance as Remo led me back to my room, and he didn’t try to touch me again. Before he locked me in, I asked, “What do you really want, Remo?”
He regarded me with unsettling intensity. “You know what I want.”
“Body and soul,” I muttered.
One corner of his mouth lifted. “Body and soul.”
He closed the door and I was left with the whirlwind of thoughts in my head. I needed to figure out a way to get away. Maybe my family was already planning some insane hostage rescue. Samuel surely was. If not openly then definitely in his head. There was no way anyone would survive an attack on Camorra territory. And I didn’t kid myself into thinking that Remo would release me any time soon. He was making demands, but he didn’t want them to be fulfilled. Yet.
REMO
As promised, I picked Serafina up at seven so she could run with me. Usually I preferred to do my morning run alone, but I couldn’t resist her presence.
Serafina had put on shorts, a T-shirt, and sneakers.
She followed me quietly through the house but stopped when I led her toward the driveway. “Where are we going?”
“We’re going running, like I said. Did you think I do my laps in the garden?”
I opened the door to my Bugatti SUV for her, and she got in without another word. I got behind the wheel and pulled down the driveway, feeling her eyes on me. I enjoyed her confusion.
I took us to a trail in a nearby canyon where I’d run before. Soon it would be too warm, but this early in the morning the temperature was perfect for running. Serafina followed me out of the car and looked around the gravel parking lot. We were the only people around. Her eyes were assessing and attentive. She’d try something, and I had to admit I couldn’t wait for it.
We jogged beside each other for a while before she spoke up. “Aren’t you worried I’ll run?”
“I caught you once before.”
“I was stuck in my wedding dress, so I was too slow.”
“I’ll always catch you, Angel.”
After thirty minutes, we stopped for a drinking break. I could tell that Serafina was scouting the terrain. Taking a deep gulp of water, I watched as she got down on her haunches and laced up her sneakers again. When she straightened, I knew from the tension in her limbs that she was about to do something. She threw sand at my face and actually managed to get some of it into my eyes. Through blurry vision, I saw her dashing off. Chuckling, despite my burning eyes, I took chase. I’d dealt with worse.
Serafina was quicker than last time, and she didn’t stay on the trail, which was a huge risk on her part. If she got lost around here, she’d die of dehydration before she found her way back to civilization. I picked up my own pace. Serafina jumped to avoid rocks and practically flew over the ground. It was a beautiful sight. So much more beautiful than having her locked in a room.
Eventually, I caught up with her. Her legs were much shorter, and she was less muscular. When I was close enough, I slung my arm arou
nd her waist like last time. We both lost our balance from the impact and fell. I landed on my back with Serafina on top of me. She rammed her knee into my stomach and kicked to get out my hold. Before she could do real damage, I rolled over and pressed her into the ground with my weight, her wrists pushed up above her head.
“Gotcha,” I murmured, panting, dripping sweat.
Serafina’s chest heaved, her eyes indignant and furious. “You enjoy the chase.”
“Actually, I don’t,” I said in a low voice, bringing our lips closer. “But with you I do.”
“You knew I’d run,” she muttered.
“Of course. You are meant to be free. Which makes me wonder why you allow someone like Danilo to cage you.”
She wriggled under me. “Let me go.”
“I’m enjoying being on top of you and between your lithe legs.” I rocked my pelvis slightly.
She stiffened. “Don’t.”
I licked a droplet of sweat off her throat before I pushed off her and stood. Serafina ignored my outstretched hand and stumbled to her feet. Her hair had fallen out of her ponytail, and she was covered in dirt and sweat.
“I prefer you like this.”
She frowned. “Dirty?”
“Untamed. Seeing you in that white atrocity can’t compare. Too perfect, too groomed, too fake. I bet Danilo would have loved it, though.”
She didn’t say anything, and I knew part of my words got through to her. My eyes were drawn to her forearm, which she was rubbing absentmindedly. A small part of the cut had opened again and was bleeding.
A flicker of guilt caught me off guard. It wasn’t an emotion I entertained very often. I took her arm and inspected the wound. Dirt had gotten in it. “We need to clean that to prevent infection.”
Her blue eyes searched my face, but I had trouble reading the expression on hers. I led her back to the car. It was getting hotter and after the chase, we both needed a shower. I took a fresh bottle of water from the trunk and poured it over Serafina’s wound, cleaning it carefully with my fingertips. She winced occasionally but didn’t say anything. “The silent treatment isn’t your usual style,” I commented.
“You don’t know me.”
I smirked. “I know you better than most people. Better than Danilo.”
She didn’t contradict me.
“Hate can set you free,” I said.
“So can love,” she said. “But I doubt you’d understand.”
Serafina was silent on the way back to the mansion, her gaze distant as she peered out of the side window.
I returned her to her room, knowing she had a lot to think about before I headed into my own room for a shower. When I came down into the game room later, Savio was lounging on the sofa, typing on his phone. Upon spotting me, he set it down and grinned.
“Nino isn’t happy that you took the bitch running.”
I sank down beside my brother. “It offends his logic.”
Savio laughed. “But honestly, Remo, he has a point. That girl is unpredictable.”
“That makes her all the more fun,” I said.
Savio gave me a curious look. “You’re enjoying this more than I thought. And you haven’t even fucked her ... or have you?”
“No, I haven’t. Serafina is a surprising challenge.”
“Too much work for my taste,” Savio said with a shrug. “I prefer girls who shut up when I tell them to, who suck my dick when I want it. Less hassle.”
“Eventually, you’ve had it all. You’ve fucked in every position possible, have done all the kinky shit you can think of. It becomes more difficult to get the thrill from the beginning.”
He leaned forward on his knees. “You’re not thinking of keeping her ... are you?”
“No.”
I called Dante in the afternoon. He picked up after the second ring, his voice cold and hard but with an underlying tension that gave me a thrill.
“Dante, I wanted to ask when you were going to fulfill my demand.”
“I won’t, just as you intended. I don’t have time for your games, Remo. This is between us, between you and me. Why don’t we meet in person, Capo to Capo, and settle this like men.”
“You want to duel me? How archaic of you, Dante. You didn’t strike me as the primitive type.”
“I’ll gladly convince you of the contrary.”
I almost agreed because the idea of shoving my knife over and over into the cold fish was too fucking enticing. Fighting Dante would have been a highlight. Since cutting Luca into bite-sized pieces was out of the question for now, Dante was the opponent I longed for. There was only one thing I wanted more than killing Dante: having Serafina in every way possible and destroy the Outfit through her.
“We will have to postpone our duel to a later point, Dante. For now, I have demands I want you to fulfill if you want to have your niece returned to her family in one piece.”
“I won’t negotiate with you, Remo. You won’t get an inch of my territory. Now say what you really want. We both know what it is.”
I doubted he knew what I really wanted. Maybe only Nino did. “And what do I want?”
“You want my Consigliere. Fabiano is your Enforcer and I assume the deal you struck with Vitiello entailed your promise to deliver Scuderi so you can all have him dismembered together.”
“I doubt Luca will be part of Scuderi’s disembodiment. He’d rather chop you into pieces, Dante.”
“Vitiello isn’t the ally you think he is. His Famiglia is prone to betrayal. It’s unwise of you to make me your enemy.”
“Dante, we’ve been enemies from the moment I claimed power. And the moment your fucking soldiers breached my territory, it got personal. I don’t need Luca as an ally as long as I know his hatred for you trumps his hatred for me.”
“One day his and your rashness will be your downfall.”
“Very likely,” I growled. “But until that happens, your conscience will have to live with Serafina’s gradual downfall.”
I hung up. With every day that Serafina was in my hands, my position got stronger.
CHAPTER 12
SERAFINA
The next few days after my attempt at running away, I fell into a strange routine. Remo picked me up for a run in the morning. Sometimes I wondered if he wanted me to risk escaping again because the chase gave him a thrill, but I didn’t waste my energy on it. Remo was too strong and fast. I had to beat him with wit. Unfortunately, he was as intelligent as he was cruel. He could twist my words faster than I thought possible, and I occasionally caught myself enjoying our strange debates.
I didn’t have to hold back when I was around Remo. I didn’t try to present my best side to him like I had done with Danilo because I didn’t care about his approval. I was myself, unfiltered, careless, and strangely enough Remo seemed to get a sick kick out of it. The Capo was a mystery to me. He hadn’t tried to torture me or force himself on me like I’d expected, and I couldn’t help but be wary because Remo’s motives were cruel.
“Once I set you free, you’ll return to Danilo like a well-trained carrier pigeon.” Remo said as we jogged along the canyon trail one day.
“Your bird analogies are starting to get old,” I muttered. I was glad Remo didn’t know Dad called me dove. He’d only use it to his advantage.
“But they are so very fitting, Angel.”
I slanted a look at him. He had a strange smile on his face. His shirt clung to his body with sweat and showed the outline of his muscles and his gun holsters. “What are you in your ornithology scheme? The vulture waiting for the poor pigeon to drop out of the sky so you can tear into her?”
Remo let out a deep chuckle, which sent a shocking shiver down my spine. I sped up, trying to force my body into submission. “I don’t think you’ll ever fall from the sky. I’ll have to snatch you out of the air like an eagle.”
I snorted, not caring if it was an undignified sound. “You are insane.”
He fell silent, easily following my faster pace. Remo w
as fit to the point of admiration, I had to give him that.
After we returned to the car, we shared a bottle of water. “Why are you doing this?”
He cocked one eyebrow. “Giving you water?”
“Treating me decently.”
He smiled darkly. “Why do you sound almost disappointed?”
Part of me was because I knew the man in front of me was ruthless and cruel to the very core. More monster than man. The weaker part was relieved and didn’t want to question his motives. “When will the torture begin?”
Remo propped his arm up against the roof of the car and stared down at me. “Who says the torture hasn’t already begun? Just because I’m not torturing you doesn’t mean I’m not torturing others through you.”
I flinched. My family. They were suffering because they imagined the horrors I was going through, horrors that weren’t taking place—yet.
“You are a monster,” I bit out.
Remo leaned even closer, radiating heat and power, the scent of fresh sweat and his own forbidden aroma wrapping around me. I returned his gaze. Dark eyes. Monster eyes, but God help me, they always kept me frozen with their intensity.
“You know, Angel, I think you enjoy my monstrosity more than you want to admit.”
I didn’t have a chance for a comeback. Remo’s lips crushed mine, his tongue sliding in, and my body reacted with a wave of heat. I clutched his shoulders, meeting his tongue with the same fervor.
Then realization struck me. I tried to shove him away, but Remo didn’t budge. He wrapped his arms around me, molding our bodies together. Breathtaking, terrifying, intoxicating.
I bit down on his lower lip, but Remo didn’t pull back. He growled into my mouth and tightened his hold, his kiss turning even harder. The taste of his blood swirled in my mouth, and I pulled away in equal disgust and sick fascination. Remo’s mouth was covered with blood. He truly looked the monster then. A dark smile curled his lips, and I opened the door and got into the car, trying to catch my breath, trying to escape his overwhelming presence. I caught sight of my reflection in the rearview mirror and cringed. My lips, too, were red with Remo’s blood. In that moment, I didn’t look any less a monster than he did.