by Rina Kent
The motherfucker must think he’s so invincible that they kept the sons of his enemies alive. Not only that, but he makes them believe he’s their benefactor, too. It’s his God complex.
That day my foster father was beating me the fuck up until he broke my nose, I hit him back and ran away. That’s when Lucio appeared like a savior — or more like a grim fucking reaper. He was waiting for the chance I’d be on my own so he could pounce, and I gave him just that by running away.
Well, Lucio. You’re not the only one with hidden cards.
Once I’m outside, I retrieve my phone and dial his number. On the way here, Enzo provided an untraceable phone. Mine was, but Lucio knew about it, so I don’t trust it anymore.
Not that I completely trust Enzo either, but we share a tragedy and there’s company in that. The need for revenge in his eyes matches the same that’s flowing in my blood.
He answers after two rings. “Lucio Costa.”
“Alessio Vitallio.”
There’s a pause before he speaks in a calm tone. “You figured it out.”
“You thought I never would?”
“I knew there would be a day where you connected the dots. I just thought I would use your dog skills for a bit more.”
I clench my teeth but force myself to remain composed as I speak, “Is that why you sent me to kill Luca? Because he figured it out, too?”
Luca, Lucio’s earlier hitman and number one man, suddenly fell from grace. Lucio told me he betrayed him and therefore he needed to die. I didn’t question it at the time and finished him off.
Now, I’m sure Luca belonged to a family Lucio hurt at some point and he made the mob killer think he saved him, too.
Lucio’s booming laughter echoes through the phone. “Exactly. An animal finishing an animal. Don’t you think it’s poetic?”
When I don’t reply, he continues, “Just like it’s poetic how you saw me as your savior when I shot your whore mother in front of your face. The only reason I didn’t kill you is because it was easier to use you.”
I’m going to kill him and I’ll make it fucking hurt.
It’ll be torture.
No, worse than torture.
There’s this urge inside me to fly to him right now and slice his throat open, but I have enough self-preservation to know it won’t be that easy.
That doesn’t mean I’ll stop. After all, I have the perfect way to provoke his weakness. “How is your search for Paolo’s son going?”
Silence. It goes on for long enough that I know he’s calculating right now.
“That’s none of your business now, is it?” He finally says.
“Maybe it is. Maybe I have him and maybe he’ll be my perfect revenge.”
“Killing him will be doing me a favor, Jasper, not the other way around.”
“Hmm. Curious. I never said anything about killing him.”
“You have no other choice. If I see him or you, both of you will be fucking dead.”
“Who knows, Lucio. Maybe the next time you see us, we’ll be both reigning over your empire.”
I hang up before he can say anything.
A small smile lifts my lips. Lucio won’t know what’s happening to him until it hits him in the fucking face.
My plan is already in motion. I’ll stay under the radar for a while. Lucio will go out of his mind — no doubt, he’ll send men and be frantic, and that’s when I’ll strike.
I’m about to go back to my little Petal’s side, take care of the precious Costa heir, when a black car comes speeding in the distance.
Enzo.
He stops in front of the house and comes out of his Jaguar, appearing smug like he owns the entire place.
“You should get guards.” He leans against his car, crossing his feet at the ankles.
I retrieve a cigarette, light it and blow smoke in his direction. “Why would I do that?”
“Because you’re a Vitallio and Vitallios rule around here.”
“Still don’t see what’s the point.”
“Aside from the fact that Lucio might come here?”
“He won’t.” I blow another puff of smoke. “If he wanted Sicily, he wouldn’t have planted you in his turf. The Costas aren’t liked around here.”
“Doesn’t mean he won’t send mercenaries.” He releases a breath. “You still have loyal men who would do anything for you.”
“Why would they?”
“Again. Because you’re a fucking Vitallio. Your family’s favor toward them precedes you.”
Nonno’s and Padre’s favor, not mine. I, on the other hand, abandoned the people here and forgot they even existed. Fuck, I even forgot my own damn name.
Still, as my gaze strays on the half-dead fields, there’s some sort of purpose that explodes in my chest.
I want to return to those times where people worked the earth, where this house was open for anyone who loved rich meals and summer festivals.
I want to breathe life back in this place, drink its wine and add its olive oil to my Italian dishes.
And on that table, I’ll be sitting with the woman who has black hair and porcelain skin.
I frown. Where the fuck did that image come from?
“I’ll meet them,” I tell Enzo. “A few at a time.”
“Speak Italian,” he says. “Don’t you dare speak English around here.”
“They’re traditional as fuck. I know that.”
He smiles. “And loyal as fuck, too. They’ve been working the lands with little to no pay just to keep the earth alive.”
I raise an eyebrow. “Is that so?”
“You even have a wine cellar. Try it.”
I nod. “Make plans for a small gathering.”
A small smile grazes his lips and his weird eyes with heterochromia flicker between gray and green. “Tonight.”
“Tonight.” I crush my cigarette under my shoe, turning to leave.
My little Petal has been alone for long enough.
“Let’s go to my office.” Enzo’s voice stops me in my tracks.
I glimpse at him over my shoulder. “Why?”
“For preparations. You did well as a killer, but you also need to know who you’re dealing with business-wise.”
He’s right.
Not only do the Costas’ power go beyond borders, but their business arm is as strong as their criminal one. If I want to bring them down, I need to consider all possible angles.
After one last glance at the house, I get into Enzo’s car. My little Petal will be fine until I return.
The vibrator will keep her on the edge for me until I come back to stake my claim.
My lips curve at the thought.
“What do you plan to do with the girl?” Enzo asks me once we’re out of the property.
When we came here, I told him she’s related to Lucio because it was the only way he’d agree to smuggle her back with us on his jet.
I only said she’s a card I’ll use, and that’s all he fucking needs to know. Enzo might be my ally, but no one is allowed near my little Petal.
“She’s on standby for now.”
“On standby,” he repeats, his fingers tapping on the steering wheel.
“You have a problem with it?”
“She’s a liability, Alessio. Women always are.”
“Let me worry about that.”
“You should get rid of her,” he says. “Or I can do it for you.”
In a second, I have my knife against his throat so close to cutting his artery. “You won’t go within ten meters’ range of her. Is that fucking clear?”
“Dio Mio.” He chuckles.
“I said, is that fucking clear, Enzo?”
“Fine, stronzo.”
“I’ll cut you a new asshole if you go near her.”
He arches a brow. “But if she poses any liability to our plan, she’s out.”
I retrieve my knife from his throat.
Even I recognize how much of a liability she can be.
Pet is a threat to my fucking life.
And I still can’t get over this obsession I have with her.
4
Georgina
What seems like forever passes.
Jasper doesn’t let me go and he doesn’t seem like he ever will.
Every day, he tortures me. Every day, he makes me beg him to fuck me every way possible.
Every day, I feel like I’m disappearing and losing myself to him. I wake up and plan to defy him, to continue my quest to run, but the moment he touches me, it’s like I can’t live without him.
It’s dangerous.
He’s dangerous.
And I need to get the fuck away from here before I have no way to escape. Before my life flashes and finishes right before my eyes.
There’s a woman, Salli, who takes care of me. And by taking care of me, I mean she brings me meals and clean clothes, but she always leaves them in front of the door. She only comes in when Jasper gives her permission.
Whenever I’m bound and gagged and waiting for him, I’d make sounds to draw her in, to ask her to untie me, but she doesn’t dare to step in.
Jasper is scary, even to her. Jasper is a power all on its own, I felt it and I still do with every step I take.
He doesn’t only own my body, but he’s also reviving those messed up parts of my brain. A part of me enjoys it — more than it should.
A part of me looks forward to what he’ll do to me when he walks in the door, or what toy he’ll thrust inside me before he leaves.
Today, he seemed to be in a hurry so he left without pushing anything inside me. And I don’t know why I’ve felt disappointed since this morning.
He slowly started to give me a walking room, so I’m not always tied to the bed, but I’m not allowed to leave the room either. He even has the door locked. I tried and there’s no way to open it.
I watched him through the window. I do every day. I watch how his face turns stone-cold the moment he steps out of the house. Many men have started to gather around the mansion. Most of them gesticulate wildly while speaking and they seem to respect Jasper more than I could ever imagine anyone would.
You’re a Costa.
His words play in my head on a loop. That man, Lucio Costa, is my uncle. My father is the other Costa whom I heard and read about in newspapers when I was back in Chicago. Paolo Costa. He’s the father who used to visit Mom and me when I was a young child.
I’m a mafia princess.
The reason why Mom hid me the entire time when I was a kid makes sense now. The fact I have a family member alive, my father, has been making me giddy inside no matter how much I try to fight it.
I have a dad.
And Jasper doesn’t get to keep me away from him.
I don’t believe whatever he said about Dad hurting his family. If there’s anything I learned about Jasper, it’s that he won’t stop at anything to get what he wants.
What’s more than that is that he gets out of control when things don’t go his way. He’s not only ruthless but also unapologetic.
What’s stopping him from lying about Dad and my family? He could be making all of that up to keep me glued to his side.
That won’t happen.
The whole time I’ve been locked here with only the bathroom and the balcony as a getaway, I’ve been searching my surroundings and looking for a way to unlock the door.
I’m no lock picker, but I worked as a surgery nurse, so I’m good with small sharp objects.
There’s a razor Jasper uses that I kept on the side. Near the balcony, I break the plastic end and burn it with Jasper’s lighter. It takes me a bit of burning the pad of my forefinger to turn it pointy at the tip, but I do it.
Then I go to the door, bend my weapon in front of the lock and jam it inside. It’s still too big to fit, so I burn it a bit more, praying that Salli doesn’t smell the burning odor.
Once it’s good to go, I jam it inside and it takes me a good ten minutes, but the lock finally gives way.
I release a breath and tiptoe outside. The hallway appears elegant and clean. I almost don’t recognize it from the first time Jasper brought me here. There’s new flowery wallpaper and a few landscape paintings hanging on the walls.
Since I have no shoes in this damn place, I settled on the shower flip-flops and a black dress. It’s better than nothing.
My hair is pulled into a ponytail and I’m ready to go back to Chicago, to my job, my dad, my cats, and my damn life.
I descend the stairs, astonished by more of the renovation that’s been put into place. If it were up to me, I’d bring in more furniture and —
I shake my head, killing that thought. It’s not up to me and I don’t care what Jasper does with his house. This isn’t my home.
It is not.
The sound of humming in Italian comes from the far right. I cease breathing as my back glues to the wall. If Salli finds me and tells Jasper, I’m done for.
Or I can hit her. I don’t care what she thinks because I’m getting out of here whether she and her master want me to or not.
I tiptoe around the table near the stairs, keeping my attention on where the humming is coming from, which I assume is the kitchen.
My leg hits the table and I wince, then slap a hand over my mouth to hide the sound.
Salli says something in Italian.
Damn it. Damn it.
I don’t wait for her to find me and run toward the entrance. The moment I’m about to embrace my freedom, a tall man blocks the only way out.
My feet come to a screeching halt as I stare up at him.
He’s wearing a pressed suit that stretches against his broad shoulders, making him appear like a model. His hair is styled and his cuffs are neat and elegant.
Everything about him is. Elegant, I mean.
Everything except for his eyes. They’re green, but they have some sort of anomaly with gray rings surrounding them. They don’t look like an anomaly, though.
They’re beautiful in a savage kind of way.
I caught a glimpse of him from the window before. He’s one of Jasper’s men or partners or whatever, which means he’s my enemy.
He tilts his head to the side, watching me with manic interest as if I’ve killed him in cold blood in a previous life. “Why, hello there, Costa.”
I didn’t expect the smooth English. There’s a hint of Italian there, but it’s not the heavily accented English like the one Salli speaks when I’m around.
Grabbing the burnt razor, I point it at him. I’m getting out of here and no one will stop me.
He laughs, the sound long and booming in the entrance. “Do you really think you can hurt me with that?”
“Get out of my way.” I stand my ground.
He steps closer, but I don’t step back.
“Or what, Georgina? You’ll hurt me with that?”
“Don’t think I won’t. Because I fucking will.”
He’s smiling, but he doesn’t seem amused. If anything, he appears as if he summoned his demons. “Your father used guns and it didn’t kill me, do you think that toy will?”
“You’re lying. You and Jasper are only saying that so I’ll turn against my father.” There’s no way in hell the father who doted on me as a child is the monster they’re describing him to be.
“I have no interest in you turning against your father. If anything, I want you to go back to him so Jasper finally sees that he should fucking kill you.”
He advances into me and I wiggle the razor in his face. “Stay the fuck away from me.”
“Why don’t you stop me?”
“Don’t come any closer or —”
My words are cut off when he grabs me by the arm and twists, causing the razor to fall to the ground. I cry out at his brutal clutch; he’s going to break my arm.
“Ow, let me go.” I grind out through clenched teeth.
“What have you done to him?” He stares down at me with a cold expression and it scares the shit
out of me more than his hold. “Why doesn’t he kill you already?”
I contemplate kicking or biting him, but the way he’s threatening to break my arm stops me. I have no doubt that he’ll do it; that he’ll actually snap my bones.
This man is dangerous, just like Jasper. The only difference is that Jasper doesn’t intend to hurt me, at least not in this way.
This man looks like he’s about to rip my heart out and feast on it raw.
Jasper. Where are you?
“Your family killed his, do you know why?” he asks in a low tone that draws goosebumps over my skin. “Because his father killed your mother.”
My lips part. Jasper’s father killed Mom? Why would he do that?
“No,” I gulp. “You’re lying.”
“Ignore the truth all you want, it doesn’t mean it’ll go away.”
The door swings open and both our attention trails to Jasper. A long breath escapes me as my eyes meet his icy blue ones.
He’s here.
I’m not alone.
It’s almost a déjà vu from those days in the boarding school when he used to protect me from the stronger and bigger boys.
Jasper studies the scene before he strides between us with his hand curled in a fist. “What the fuck did I tell you, Enzo?”
Enzo answers in Italian and he goes back and forth with Jasper. My head spins trying to get a gist of the conversation. There are a lot of clipped words and neither of them seems amused.
“Let her go.” Jasper orders and Enzo steps away as if he wasn’t just about to break my wrist.
I massage the assaulted skin as Jasper clutches me by the arm and pulls me to his side.
“Touch her again and I will kill you,” Jasper threatens in a low tone.
“I was only stopping her from escaping,” Enzo says in a suave tone then motions at my joke of a weapon.
I swallow as Jasper’s jaw hardens, but he doesn’t look at me. Not even once.
“Get out,” he tells Enzo.
“You’re dick-whipped, my friend.” Enzo smiles a little. “One day, you’ll wake up and see her for what she truly is. A fucking Costa.”
And with that, he’s out the door.
Jasper continues glaring at him as if he’s still there. I remain silent, not wanting to trigger him in any way.