Stalkers: A Dark Romance Anthology
Page 105
Gianni's whole body goes rigid. I pick up the bottle of whiskey, unscrewing the top, taking a swig of the rich, smooth taste. His eyes follow me around the room.
“I know you.” I smirk nodding, taking a seat opposite him, putting my feet on the desk. “Fuck, the garden.” he hisses, talking about last week when he bumped into me. He didn’t know I was there gathering information. A dark laugh passes his lips. “You got closer than anyone else.” I swear pride flashes in his eyes, makes my stomach turn, and my lips curl up. “So, what did we do to piss you off so much.”
The anger at his words flies through my veins, pulling my feet down, I lean closer. “You came into my house and killed my family. My father, mother, sister and baby brother, he was only eight.” The memory of Enzo's small body, his scream, still fills my head.
“Then you pissed on their dead bodies, on mine, but I wasn’t dead.” I stand, feeling every muscle move in my body as I stalk towards him. “That was a mistake.” I swing my fist slamming into his jaw, hearing the crunch beneath its force. Gianni blinks, and I can see his mind working, when his eyes widen as he swallows.
“Marchetti.” I grin a sick twisted smile as I nod.
Leaning in so close I can see my reflection in his eyes. “Hello, Gianni.” His whole-body shudders.
“Look, Remy, I didn’t want to hurt you! Ralph was my friend. Si--” I cut his words off with another punch to the face, grabbing his hair, I pull his face inches from mine, baring my teeth. “Don’t you dare speak their names.” My chest vibrates with the force of the words. “I still remember the way you made them scream.” My voice low, barely a whisper as I pull out the little device. I look up into his eyes, a calm settling over me. “Get ready to scream.” For each nail I pulled off, he screamed until his throat bled, until his body wouldn’t stop shuddering. Every time he passed out, I woke him to more pain, taking my time savouring it.
I walk around the house, spreading lighter fluid. Looking back into his office to see him crying, thick tears running down his face. I pour the whiskey over him, until his clothes, hair and body is soaked with it.
“No, please, Remy. I’m sorry,” he groans.
I flick the lighter, watching the flame dance in front of me. “See you in hell, Gianni.”
I throw the lighter, watching it catch alight, walking away to his screams as they fill the dark night.
Slipping through the back garden, and by the time I’ve made my way down the street and circled back to Gianni’s house, a small crowd is watching in horror. The house is engulfed in flames, and the smoke tickles the back of our throats, flames licking the sky. I grab my phone, filming it just as the house explodes, falling in on itself.
This little piggy got roasted. I send, with the footage. Crossing off another name. Three down two to go… I am coming for you.
Chapter Six
Romeo
I watch the video over and over, the house exploding, the plume of smoke, it's like I can taste the ash, feel the burn against my own skin. Gianni was my godfather, and my father’s best friend. I grit my teeth as my aunt Fiona walks in. Her demeanour is still of a strong woman, her eyes dry, but she looks like she has aged overnight. Luckily, she had been at the wives meeting last night.
“Romeo, what is happening? My husband is dead.”
I stand. “I don’t know, but it is my vow to you that I will make whoever is responsible pay.” I kiss her hand.
“Make sure you do, and Romeo, make it hurt,” she hisses as she leaves, passing Dante on his way in.
“You called, Sir?”
I nod. “Shut the door.” He does it instantly. “I’ve moved you up, you're a part of my team.” I run my hands through my hair, leaning against the desk. His whole body tenses.
“Are we lovers or are you my boss in this room?” The question catches me off guard. The word lovers causes my body to heat and cock to grow, but memories of my past also collide with them and turn my stomach sour. I bite back the anger.
“You can talk to me openly.”
In just a few short steps, Dante crosses the room grabbing my jaw. It paralyzes me for a second. The force he’s holding me with, how close his lips are, that feral look in his eyes. “Are you doing it because I've earned it or for protection? Last week no one knew my name. They couldn’t pick me out in a line, and now I’m their boss!” It isn’t until he says the words, do I realise why I want him by my side. There was always something between us; the way Dante’s narrow eyes watched as I walked through a room, the feel of them as they raked over my skin. It was as if we were each other’s gravity, constantly pulling one to the other. I held back for years, unable to give in to the sin of his lips, the dark promises his eyes held. Now, we had given in to our most carnal urges, there was no stopping us. The line hadn’t been blurred but swept away.
I watch as his lips curl up, seeing the answer in my eyes, he jumps back like I've burnt him.
His chest heaving as he blows out deep breaths through his nose, those dark eyes predatory.
He crosses the room, grabbing the handle. “I don’t need your protection. I don’t need anything from you,” he spits as if the words leave a disgusting taste on his tongue, face as hard as stone.
“Remember who you're talking to,” I snarl.
I watch as his lips curve. “No problem, Boss,” he says before the door shuts behind him. Everything in me wants to go after him, but I refuse.
Taking my seat, I pull out the photo from my hidden compartment. Rubbing my thumb over the worn and faded picture. The only man I will ever love. Those forest green eyes. My lip twitches. “Yeah, you would have hated Dant.,” I grin, because I intuitively know, they were so similar in certain ways. “You used to get so possessive of me.” I feel a warmth settle over me as if he’s standing behind me, the way his hands trailed over my body, how he would kiss and nip my neck making me moan. “I’m falling for him,” I whisper as if it’s a dirty betrayal.
The phone rings breaking the spell. “We’ve got him.” Alec's dark voice comes through the phone. Everything disappears apart from pure fury.
“I’m on my way.” Most boss’ left their men to do the dirty work, but that isn’t me.
I walk through the main room, turning when I feel my skin burn to see Dante's eyes following me. Instead of crossing the room like I wanted, so used to denying myself everything, I hold his stare for a second before turning to the staircase. Everyone knows where it leads; the pits of hell. Our very own torture chamber. The air is thick and damp. A stale odour soaks the thick bricks, but nothing can hide the dark copper smells. The smell of death. Souls locked forever in this room.
I see Alec, Matteo and Samuel gathered around a man strapped to a chair. Bruises already surrounding his eyes and jaw. I take my tie and jacket off, throwing it on a wooden chair as I roll up my sleeves.
“You dare strike against us?” I snarl baring my teeth. Blood pours from his mouth with nothing but muffled sounds. I frown as Alec scratches the back of his head.
“I cut the bastard’s tongue out.”
I grab Alec by the shirt. “And how the fuck do you think he’s going tell us who sent him now?” I slap his face, the ultimate sign of disrespect. “Get Out! I’ll deal with you later.”
I wanted to prolong his torture, make it last for days, weeks, maybe months. Hold his body in pain for the crimes he committed against my family. Starve him of his human needs, water and food. Turn him insane little by little. Instead, a sickening grin spreads across my lips.
“Lay him down.” The man's eyes widen, fear shining bright. His whole body shaking as sweat pours from his temples. “Matteo, get me a rat.” I don’t take my eyes off the man in front of me as realisation dawns on him. What I’m about to do. It’s an old version of torture, not used much these days. But it is still one of the best. The old ones always are.
Samuel struggles to get him laid down as muffled noise escapes him, blood still pouring from his mouth. Matteo returns, looking paler.
Surprised when both stay to help. Tying the rope makes sure it is secure. I take a step back, pushing my hair out of my face, placing on the mask that makes me look calm, my persona as the Don, head of the Russo family.
I click the blowtorch on, its sound filling the silent air. The bright blue flame, lighting up the dim room. “They used to use warm rocks, imagine how long that would last? The pain they must have been in as the rat dug to escape the heat only for it to cool down to start all over again.” My voice sounds dark even to my own ears. The anger I keep buried; I allow to fill my veins. As I place the flame against the metal, it only takes a few minutes for his screams to fill the air, echoing off each wall.
Chapter Seven
X
I walk around the back of the house; this one is the most dangerous. Watching him light a cigar, the puffs of smoke go into the air. I can see he’s distracted by the way he looks off into the distance, not taking in his surroundings, so he doesn’t hear me approaching until it's too late. By the time he’s turned, I’ve stuck the needle into his neck. His mouth opens but nothing comes out as his eyes roll back, and his body becomes dead weight.
I drag him along the ground, against the wall, knowing the guards change over time. A fifteen-minute clear window. By the time I get him to his car, sweat trickles down my back, and my breathing is harsh as I lift him into the boot. Slamming it shut, I don’t waste any time getting out of this place. Seeing the Russo mansion in the rear-view mirror makes my skin crawl. Bringing a fresh wave of anger boiling beneath the surface. My foot goes down heavy on the pedal as I try to fight back the crippling flashbacks.
I pull into the graveyard that Luca, Roberto, and Gianni’s funerals will all be held at tomorrow. The silence and stillness somehow calms the rage within me as I cross the gravel to the family grave. I fall to my knees in front of the marble stone, kissing my fingers before placing them on the coldness. Did they feel cold? Do they have the same gaping hole in their chest as I do from missing them? Will they forgive me my sins for revenging their names? Mama hated the violence of this world. I stoke my fingers over the fresh flowers. I don’t know who places them, but every time I come, they are here. Someone remembers them, hurts that they are gone, misses them.
“I’m nearly done,” I whisper, holding my breath, waiting for a reply even knowing one will never come. My father, mother, sister and little brother all lie here, their lives taken too early. My father was a part of this world; he knew the dangers that hid in the darkness. The evilness of this world. But Mamma, Sienna and Enzo didn't deserve the violent way in which their lives were taken. They were too pure, too good to know that hurt. To feel that sort of pain.
Sometimes I wish I had died with them, to feel at peace, to not feel this burning inferno inside that one day will destroy me.
“I will make them pay. I love you, always,” I whisper before standing and brush the dirt off my knees.
I walk back to the car with a new energy. The revenge in me stronger than ever with my family fresh in my mind.
I pop open the boot grabbing Alec, dropping him to the ground. Grabbing his legs, I pull him along the rough gravel to the wet grass. His head bumps over the stones and uneven ground along the way, and a small groan escapes his lips as the sedative starts to wear off.
I get to the freshly dug hole, and my lips tilt seeing the empty box at the bottom. I jump down pulling Alec along with me, his body landing with a thud. Another groan leaves his lips, only this one sounds painful as his senses start coming back.
Now I wait.
It takes around ten minutes before Alec’s eyes focus on mine. “You?” I can't help the twitch of my lips as I nod. His eyes widen. “How, you're dead?” My teeth bare as I look at him.
“You mean you killed me? You came into my family home, a friend, and betrayed me. Enzo loved you.” I lift my foot, slamming it into his stomach. The air is pushed from his lungs.
“Remy, I was a kid. We all were. That night...” the words trail off as his eyes glass.
“That night you left me for dead, you watched as Roberto raped my mother and sister, you watched as Luca slit their throat to stop the screaming.” My chest heaves as I try to get a deep breath. “You watched as they broke Enzo and as Gianni pissed on us.” Tears run down his face; remorse clear in eyes as well as shame, but it's too late. Nothing he can say or do can fix the past.
“What are you going to do?” Fear shakes his words as his eyes frantically look for a way out. Though there is none.
I bend down. “I’m not going to hurt you.” Confusion fills his eyes, and I tap his cheek as I stand up, pulling my phone out to use the torch to find the drill, the screws sellotaped around the handle. I walk back to Alec. “You can’t move, it's a muscle relaxer. It will wear off eventually, just not in time.” As my words register, he tries to move, realising he can’t move anything below the shoulders, only a little twitch of his fingers.
“Remember when we were younger, and we all went down to the cellar? Romeo was nearly sick seeing that man. But you didn’t care because there was only one fear you had. What was it again?”
“No, please. I beg you, anything. Mercy, Remy. Mercy,” he pleads as I place the lid on the box to silence his screams. “That’s right, buried alive.”
I start to drill in the screws, making sure they are as tight as they will go. Just as I get to the top, I lean down, speaking through the little gap.
“I’ll show you the same mercy you showed them.” I stand screwing in the last one. His scream muffled. I pull out the note, blackening the fourth name. Only one left.
Grabbing out my phone, I film the box and Alec’s screams getting weaker, but I don’t send it, that will come tomorrow.
Chucking the dirt on the coffin, I write my message.
This little piggy has no air.
The night soon falls silent again, and I close my eyes, taking a deep breath. One name left: the biggest of them all. The head of the Russo family. Romeo himself.
Chapter Eight
Romeo
The cars are turning into the cemetery, and Dante still hasn’t spoken to me. I wish it didn’t bother me, but the truth is it felt like sandpaper against my skin. He will drop his bratty behaviour later or I’d spank it out of him.
I watch from the blacked-out window as he gets out, straightening his cuffs and jacket. Those dark eyes turn towards my window for a split second, a dark look flashes across his eyes, letting me know his temper hasn’t disappeared. No time for this, I try Alec's number again, cursing when it rings and goes straight to the voicemail. I know he was pissed after I showed him disrespect yesterday, but in this world I can’t seem weak. That included Alec, my own cousin. I can’t believe he hasn’t turned up today. These men had been a part of the family, and Alec had worked under Gianni for years. Rico opens my door, when whispers instantly catch my attention, and I see Matteo and Samuel coming straight to me. Both look pale, their mouths opening and closing with no words.
“What is it?” I growl, today is not the day, especially as the family cars are only minutes behind us.
“Sir, there is already a coffin in the grave.” The words don’t register correctly. As I storm past them, towards the grave in question, I see some of the men’s eyes wide in shock, others in anger, but the fear is evident in the air, circling around like a hurricane.
I look down at the already dug grave to see a coffin, but the words written in the mud on top of the box send a shiver down my spine. This little piggy has no air.
“Get down there,” I roar, praying I’m fucking wrong about who’s in that box. The men just look at me. “Now,” I yell as a few men all jump in, lift
ing the box so it is beside the grave. “Get it open.” The fury building in my veins, shakes my whole body.
Matteo runs off towards a shed, kicking the door through in three heavy kicks. He returns, out of breath, with a crowbar. I grab it off him, unable to wait for the answer of who is dead because I already know.
I prise the lid open to see Alec’s face, eyes wide open, the colour already faded to almost white, and his mouth open in a forever frozen silent scream.
I stumble back, the air leaving my lungs. It is not seeing his lifeless body or the pain for my cousin's death. It's the box. This is Alec's biggest fear, and only three people knew. And two of them are dead.
It's not possible. “I need to leave.” My voice sounding strange to my own ears. Matteo and Samuel follow me to the car, and the rest of the men crowd around me on high alert. But how do you kill a ghost?
I pull the door open. “Stay, make sure the families don’t get in cemetery, send them home with an excuse.” They both nod. “Take me to my house.”
The driver looks up “Sir?”
“Not the mansion, my own house.”
Because I know his last little piggy is me, and that's where he wants me.
Twenty minutes later, we pull up outside my house. I know he’s watching; can sense he’s stalking his prey.
“Go home, tell no one to come here.” There's a moment of hesitation before he nods.
I walk up the path to a private house only a few people know about. It's a safe house with all the modern technology, but I turn it all off, disarming my security and protection knowing they are useless. Pulling off my jacket and tie, undoing a few buttons as I head for the kitchen, pulling out a glass and bottle of whiskey. Just as the first drop lands against the crystal, I feel the warm breath against the back of my neck, causing all the fine hairs to stand on end. It's too late to run.