by CJ Bishop
She felt Flynn’s presence as he’d trailed them to the bedroom and now waited just outside in the hall. The man, Riccardo, lingered by the door and made Caterina uncomfortable. He clearly wanted to fuck her and she had no doubt intended to do so once Caterina became free game. Would Flynn try to stop him? Or was she no longer of interest to Flynn now that they had her in their custody?
Do you really think he’d let Riccardo rape you?
Caterina didn’t know what to think regarding Flynn. She felt empty inside and wondered at it; she’d only spent two nights with the man. Not even two full days and nights, just the nights. Added up, she couldn’t have known the man more than twenty-four hours. Which meant she didn’t know him at all. Had they been together a few weeks or a month or two before this happened, then maybe there would have been some real feelings to get in the way of Flynn going along with all this. But a mere twenty-four hours? That wasn’t enough time for Flynn to have developed any concrete emotions for her.
Yet you felt them developing for him. Why not vice versa?
What did it matter now? Whether or not he cared about her was no longer the issue. He wasn’t the issue. Cruz was. Her family was. They were going to use her as leverage against the people she loved. Because of her—Cruz, and surely others, were going to die.
“I’ll leave the room key with Riccardo,” Terrell said. “He’ll bring you some refreshments and a light snack.” He glanced at the man. “You don’t mind servicing the young lady, do you?”
Servicing. Caterina’s stomach turned.
Riccardo smiled and stepped forward. “Not at all.” His lustful eyes crawled all over her body and she swore she could literally feel it—like a million tiny bugs skittering across the surface of her skin. “It would be my pleasure.”
Flynn entered the room. “I will bring her whatever she needs,” he insisted, his hard eyes boring into Riccardo. “You stay the fuck away from her.”
One part of Caterina wanted to lash out and tell Flynn she didn’t need him to protect her, that he was the one who should just stay the fuck away from her. But as her skin continued to crawl beneath Riccardo’s hungry gaze, she had to admit she’d rather deal with facing Flynn than be at the mercy of a potential rapist.
Really? And it took you more than a split second to come to that decision? Get your head out of your ass, girl—Flynn may not be who you thought he was, but at least he doesn’t pose bodily threat.
“I said Riccardo can do it.” Terrell stared at his son, eyes stony. “You have too much of your uncle in you. I don’t trust you to think with the proper head. Your cock is your leash, and she’s the one holding it.”
Flynn glanced at Caterina anxiously, then drilled his father with a steely glare. “If this fucker touches her in any way, I will cut off his balls and shove them down your throat. Capisce, daddy?”
Terrell stared at him a long moment, then smiled sourly. “If it wasn’t for the fact that it took a woman to bring out this side of you,” he murmured. “I might be proud of you right now.” He sighed. “As it stands, though, it’s still your cock doing the talking.”
“I don’t give a fuck who you think is doing the talking,” Flynn spoke low, cold. “What I said stands. He is not to touch her.”
“Relax, my man,” Riccardo chuckled. “I’m not going to hurt your girl. Just thought I’d keep her warmed up for you. No harm in that, is there? I’d have thought you’d be appreciative.”
Flynn shot him a fierce look. “Fuck you.”
“Thanks, but no,” Riccardo smiled. “I don’t swing that way. I’ll stick with sticking it to the pretty ladies.”
Caterina shuddered as Riccardo winked at her.
Turning back to his father, Flynn said stiffly, “I want to talk to Caterina. Alone.” When Terrell started to protest, Flynn added, “Look. There’s bars on the fucking windows and you can post fuck-face here outside the door, I don’t care, but I want to talk to her alone.”
Terrell replied dryly, “Who am I to interfere with young love?” He smiled coolly at Caterina and walked to the door, motioning Riccardo to follow.
Flynn watched them until the door closed and locked from the outside. Caterina hadn’t had a chance to respond to Flynn’s impassioned question about her father earlier before Riccardo had returned to the living room. Was that why he wanted to talk to her now? To make her answer his question? What would her answer be?
You know damn well what it would be—you would want Cruz and Sanchez to kill the fucker who murdered your father.
She stared at Flynn as his eyes lowered to the floor and his hands clamped lightly to his hips, his brow pinched and troubled. She was too close to Cruz to consider Flynn’s side of the matter. Too close to believe that Cruz could have committed this horrendous crime against Flynn. But whether or not he was guilty—Flynn believed with all his heart that he was. After nine years, Caterina still recalled the heart-shattering pain of losing her father…still felt it. If it turned out that he had been murdered, then yes—she wanted the fucker dead.
Even though she couldn’t side with Flynn on his intention to harm her brother…she understood his side of it. Deep in his heart, he was still that thirteen-year-old boy caught in that horrifying moment when his whole world came crashing down…just as Caterina, in her heart, remained that twelve-year-old girl, sitting in numb horror as she was forced to accept the death of her beloved father; the most important person in her life.
Had the very blood that ran through their veins not rendered them enemies…she and Flynn would have healed one another, she was certain of this.
And maybe that’s what truly hurt them both the most about losing one another.
CHAPTER 25
“Harnessed Heart”
______________________________________________
Flynn felt trapped. Confused. Lost. It was at moments like these that he missed his mother the most. She had been a wise woman with sound advice. He envied Caterina; her father had been replaced by a man who had taken her in and loved her as his own. There had been no replacement for Flynn’s mother. No one to help him deal with the loss. There had only been his father. And he had added to Flynn’s pain, rather than easing it.
He felt Caterina’s eyes on him and wished for the last two nights when she’d so eagerly held onto him, welcomed his touch. Fatigue consumed him and he longed to crawl onto the bed with her, fall asleep…and wake up to a new life where nothing stood between them.
Flynn turned slowly and looked at her. “Don’t fight him.”
She frowned. “What?”
“My father,” Flynn murmured. “Don’t fight him. He’s a dangerous man and he has no tolerance for those who challenge his authority.” He huffed dully. “Trust me on that.”
Caterina stared at him, uncertainty in her eyes. “Did he abuse you?”
“Not while my mom was alive,” Flynn said. “After she was gone…he took it upon himself to toughen me up. Said she had made me soft, weak. When I fought him, he got tougher with me. But I never quite became the cold-hearted, bad-ass son he’d always envisioned of me.”
Caterina blinked away a film of tears. “I’m sorry you went through that,” she whispered.
He shrugged. “That’s life. It fucks you then kicks you to the curb.”
The look on Caterina’s face asked if that was what he was doing with her. But those weren’t the words that made it to her lips. “What happens now?” she asked with a slight tremor. “What’re they going to do with me?”
The woman was shaken by these recent events and revelations, but she was no coward; the Santiagos had raised her well. She wasn’t someone who wanted to be coddled or have the truth sugar-coated. “They will use you as bait,” Flynn said. “To catch Cruz Santiago.”
She stared at him, tense, eyes damp. “And then you’ll kill him?”
Flynn rubbed his hand slowly back and forth across his mouth. “Not immediately,” he murmured. “Once they have him, then he will become the bait to draw
in the most dangerous men of both families. They attacked us before—the day my mom was killed—and nearly wiped us out completely. It’s taken my father years to regroup and rebuild, and now that we’re growing strong again, it’s rumored the other two families are coming together to try and wipe us out again—maybe completely annihilate us this time.” He stared at her. “So, what’re we supposed to do? Just stand back and let them do it? Not fight?”
Doubt masked Caterina’s face. “Why did they attack your family the first time? There had to be a reason.”
Flynn nodded. “There was. They wanted to run the city. Merged together, the two families would be impenetrable. They did it for the power, and greed.” He swallowed hard. “My mom died so they could be the big dogs of the dog pound.”
Caterina frowned and shook her head. “I don’t believe you,” she whispered. “My family wouldn’t do that.”
“You’ve been too sheltered, Caterina. You see them as a literal family. But under that façade is a crime family, and one that has done despicable things. Tortured and killed people. Butchered innocent people—like my mom. Of course, they treat you well—you’re one of their own. But they are not good people.”
“And your family is?” Caterina asked stiffly. “You stand right there and tell me what a dick your father is, how he abused you as a child, what a complete worthless piece of shit he is…and you tell me that my family are not good people? Bullshit. Just the fact that they don’t abuse their own makes them better than this family. And are you trying to imply that your father has never tortured and killed people? Never murdered an innocent person? I’m sorry, but I find that fucking hard to swallow.”
“This family has done its fair share of murder and mayhem,” Flynn admitted. “But it was your family and the Sanitini family that struck us first—with the intent of wiping us out. Every one of us.”
Caterina eyed him, puzzled. “If that were true, then why didn’t they kill you when they had the chance? You said the cowboy stopped you from killing Cruz. Why didn’t he just take you out then and there?”
That was the one question Flynn had never been able to answer. And honestly, it troubled him. Caterina was making a valid point—and one that didn’t entirely coincide with the story his father had told him about the past war between the families. But Flynn knew enough of the true details; he knew that Cruz Santiago murdered his mother. And that was the only truth of the entire matter that was of importance to him.
“I don’t know,” Flynn answered. “Maybe even they had enough of a conscience that they couldn’t kill a kid. Although they clearly had no qualms about killing women.”
Caterina turned away and walked to the window, and fell silent. She was through talking to him. Through listening.
Flynn stared at her back, a troubling ache in his heart.
Whatever ‘could have been’ was lost forever.
•
Riccardo chuckled at the dejected look on Flynn’s face when he stepped out of the bedroom. “I take it she vetoed that one last severance fuck, huh?”
Flynn looked at him through narrowed eyes. “You’re a piece of shit,” he muttered. “And you had better fucking stay out of that bedroom. I swear to God, if you touch her, I’ll invent new ways to hurt you.”
Another chuckle. “Your daddy underestimates you. I think you do have the heart of a gangster, you just need the proper inspiration to bring out the badass within.” He glanced at the door. “Apparently, she’s that inspiration. I saw what you did to her ex. I admit, I was impressed.”
“Like I give a fuck,” Flynn said. “I’m not trying to impress you or my asshole father. What anyone in this family thinks of me doesn’t mean shit. If you hadn’t taken Caterina, I wouldn’t be here now.”
Riccardo shook his head. “You’re a sad specimen, Flynn. And I had such high hopes for you. I tried to steer you clear of the perils of falling for a woman. Don’t you see what a trap it is? How they completely bind your hands and take control of you—body, heart, and mind? She might be our prisoner…but you are hers. Your father was right—your cock is your leash and she is leading you around with it like a whipped dog. Pull your dick from her hand, for fuck’s sake, and be a fucking man. Because this…” he swept his hand at Flynn. “…is fucking pathetic.”
Flynn’s fist smashed his jaw before he knew the guy had thrown the punch, knocking him against the wall. Flynn walked away and Riccardo straightened up, rubbing his throbbing face. He watched the young man until he passed out of view.
The kid was a lost cause, he deduced as he took out his cell and sent another text to Carter who had yet to reply to the last message or show up at the house. Where the fuck was he?
Riccardo snorted with disgust. Where do you think? Holed up in that stinking shithole fucking his little nasty boy whores.
•
‘Where the fuck are you? I told you to get your ass back here—now!’
Cruz read the message then showed it to Sanchez and Clint. “How stupid do you think this guy is?” Cruz asked. “Think we can lure him away and isolate him? He’s likely one of Pisano’s head guys. He may not be so easily fooled.”
“Would he know where they’re keeping Caterina?” Sanchez asked and glanced at Clint and the Egyptian.
Clint nodded. “That would be my guess.”
“Then we need to get our hands on him.”
Cruz nodded. “We’ll have to give him a good reason to come to where Carter is. And we should assume he will bring other men, a couple at least.”
“We can handle that,” Clint said. “Not a problem.”
After a short discussion of the plan, Cruz sent the text. Waited. Minutes later, the response came back; ‘Watch him like a fucking hawk and keep an eye out for others. Always assume it could be a trap. We’ll be there in twenty.’
“Gotcha, sucker,” Cruz murmured.
“Take his advice,” Clint said. “Always assume it could be a trap. He may not be buying it. Rule of the game, don’t show all your cards at once. But never forget—we’re not the only ones who know how to play the game. They may not be showing us all their cards, either. Be prepared for anything.”
•
“Not you,” Terrell told Riccardo. “Flynn can take some of the guys and go. He should be able to handle that. Maybe. If it goes bad, I’m more crippled if I lose you than him. We have his woman, so that should encourage him to get the job done quick and efficient and get back here in record time.”
Riccardo nodded. “I’ll tell him.”
He found Flynn in the small library where his mother had spent much of her time reading and teaching literature to a young Flynn. The young man sat in a high-backed armchair, resting forward, book open in his hands. The distant, troubled look on his face betrayed his lack of concentration. His thoughts were elsewhere and there was no prize in guessing where.
Flynn focused and looked up when Riccardo entered. He laid the book aside, his eyes hard and unfriendly. “What do you want?”
“Your father has an errand for you.”
“I’m not his errand boy.”
“You are if you want your woman to remain untouched.”
Flynn stood slowly, hands squeezing into fists. “Was that a threat?”
“Just a reality,” Riccardo said and glanced at his fists. “Put those way. That first one was free. You swing on me again and we’ll see who’s the alpha in this dog fight.”
“Let’s go,” Flynn challenged. “I’m not afraid of you.”
Considering the condition of the woman’s ex, Riccardo wasn’t entirely confident he could take the young man down—not without sustaining serious damage himself. And the fact that Flynn remained unintimidated by Riccardo strengthened Riccardo’s uncertainty of the matter.
“I didn’t come in here to fight you,” he said. “But your father insists you take point on this job.”
Flynn frowned. “Why me? He doesn’t trust me to do a job.”
Riccardo shrugged. “I guess he does
now.”
“What job?”
“Nothing too strenuous. Carter has one of the Santiago men apprehended, but the guy is giving him trouble and he needs some assistance getting him back here.”
Flynn looked uncertain. “Why can’t you hop on down there and help him?”
“Your father said you were to go. I don’t know why. Maybe you impressed him when you threatened to feed him my balls. Who knows.” When Flynn hesitated, Riccardo smiled. “Don’t worry about your lady. I’ll keep her company while you’re gone so she won’t be lonely.”
His face twitching, Flynn stepped toward him, fists clenching tighter. “I told you, motherfucker—stay away from her.”
“Hey,” Riccardo smirked. “It’s up to you. The longer you take to get down there and back, the more time I have to spend with the luscious Caterina. Just her and me, all alone…you not here to interrupt us.”
If looks could kill, Riccardo would have been a bloody spot on the carpet about now. But he’d gotten through and Flynn backed off.
“I’ll go,” he replied pithily. “Where the fuck is Carter holding this guy?”
Riccardo smiled. “Now, that’s a good little soldier. I like the new, obedient you.”
Fuck you, asshole, Flynn’s glare raged back at him.
Riccardo chuckled.
CHAPTER 26
“Vile Intentions”
______________________________________________
Caterina heard the man walk away from her door and she waited a few minutes to see if he would return. He hadn’t. Keeping a cautious eye on the door, she sat on the bed and dug out her phone. She was surprised that they hadn’t searched her and taken her cell. A stroke of luck? Though she didn’t know where she was, it made her feel safer that she had a lifeline to Cruz. She turned on her phone and found multiple voicemails from Lorenzo. She had expected as much; she wasn’t supposed to have left the house and had known her godfather would start trying to contact her as soon as he’d realized she was gone. Hence why she’d turned off the phone.