Marc…only Marc, the Chef from her father’s restaurant, would do something so stupid…
Suddenly her mind flittered back to the previous year when “someone” had leaked naked photos of her online.
Her father had been furious, demanding answers from her, but Celina had been just as shocked as him.
She had tried to explain to her father that the pictures were at least five years old and done in a moment of youthful indiscretion, but he was hearing none of it, and for months, Giovanni refused to talk to her. Celina knew that most teenagers thought they were impervious to repercussions. The old “it’ll never happen to me” was like Celina’s calling card back then. She had grown up fast the day the photos came out online.
There were few things worse than her father’s silence though. Celina waited and waited for the explosion from him, the threat to throw her out, disown her. She deserved it, really. She had brought shame to the family, and in her world, there weren’t very many sins that were worse than that. But maybe because he was just as embarrassed as she was, Giovanni never mentioned the incident again.
But Celina never forgot. Or forgave.
It had taken some time, but she learned who had leaked the pictures; Marc. The high school friend who had chased her relentlessly for about six months and who had also been at the party that night when a bunch of them had all gone skinny dipping.
Celina hadn’t known he had been filming her or her friends, but it didn’t take too long to connect the dots, especially when she offered a good chunk of money to anyone who had proof of the posting.
It had cost her ten thousand dollars, but everyone knew a friend would turn on another friend for enough money – at least in Celina’s world. And Jordan had needed cash quickly to deal with a “problem” of his own.
He had traded her the cash for Marc’s phone. The one that still had the original unedited version of the video from that night.
She had bided her time, waiting for a night when she knew he would be alone in the restaurant before stripping off her clothes in the office and setting the scene for his downfall. She knew that Marc would need to come into the office before he locked up for the night to shut down the computer system in there, so she arranged herself, naked, with her front pressed against the cold plank wall. Her hands were “locked” into a pair of fake handcuffs at her back, and her face was turned to the side, away from the security camera in the opposite corner of the room.
“Woah, what the fuck! Celina?” he breathed when he came into the office. She looked at him over her shoulder, smiling alluringly.
“I’ve been waiting for you forever, Marc,” she whined pathetically. “I need you so bad right now.” She almost gagged as she forced the disgusting words from her mouth. She felt a shiver work through her as she felt his eyes fix on her exposed rear. It’s nothing he hasn’t seen before, girl, so suck it up and get this done. He won’t see anything else anyways.
“Celina, what are you doing?” he choked out.
“What? I thought you liked me, Marc,” she purred alluringly. “Remember when you followed me everywhere in high school? Even into the girls change room before gym class.” She gave her butt a little wiggle.
“I- I don’t know what you’re talking about!” he squeaked.
“Oh,” she sighed. “I think you do. Sarah Coffrey said she saw you spying on me.”
He shook his head, visibly swallowing. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw him adjust his growing hard on.
“Look, whatever you heard – “
“Don’t worry, Marc, I’m not mad. It’s just that…well, I’m kind of embarrassed, but…I could really use your help.” She paused again, waiting for him to take the bait.
“Yes! Of course, anything you need!” he stepped toward her.
“Well… you know how you have a kink? Watching naked girls, I mean?” she rushed on before he had the chance to deny it. “Well I have a kink too…I like – “ she stopped dramatically.
“What?! What do…like?”
“Do you see that paddle on my Daddy’s desk, Marc? I want you to…come over here and…” she had to force the words out before she hurled “spank me with it. Once. Just once.” Because if you wind up to do it again, I’m going to kick your balls so far up your peeping Tom throat, you’ll be able to suck them yourself. Damn, this had better be worth it!
“Yeah, yeah, of course I can do that for you, Celina!”
Again, she glanced at him over her shoulder and saw him reach for the phone in his pocket. The little fucker!
“If you take out your phone, Marc, I’ll kill you,” she said pleasantly.
He froze as her soft words sunk in and shoved the phone back into his pocket. “I wasn’t taking out my phone! I was just…adjusting myself,” he lied.
He grabbed the paddle and walked up to her, his breathing heavy in her ear. “I always knew you wanted me. I knew you were just trying to tease me when you kept saying no.” He squeezed her ass hard as he spoke, making a squeak escape from her unexpectedly. Don’t kill him! she warned herself. Not yet, anyways.
Before she could draw a breath to rail at him, he wound up and smacked her ass. Hard. Air she didn’t think she had in her whooshed out harshly as her whole body stiffened.
She paused to the count of three, making sure she had enough data to use. Then she unclenched her fists and slipped her hands out of the cuffs. Without turning her body, she grabbed the trenchcoat that hung on the hook a couple feet to her left, and swung it over her shoulders, slipping her arms inside and belting it quickly before she turned to Marc.
He looked confused, as if she had pulled his favorite toy away from him for no reason.
“Wait! What are you doing? Where are you going?”
“I’m finished, Marc. Thanks for your help. I’ll be sure to give you credit for the video.” She turned to grab her purse and slip on her shoes.
“I don’t understand! Aren’t we – going to…” he looked about, as if his playroom had suddenly disappeared.
“Marc, do you remember that video you took at Lina’s house party?
“No! I – “
“Oh, don’t bother denying it,” she said, rolling her eyes.
She sighed and stopped in front of him.
“How much did they pay you?” she demanded. He shook his head and shifted his eyes downward as if trying to bury his gaze inside his hipster beard.
“Celina, I’m sorry! I swear to – “
“Do you know why I’m standing here naked right now?” she demanded, her voice like a whiplash. “Do you think I like being looked at by a slimy, sick pervert who has no issue snapping naked pictures of barely legal girls and selling them to an internet tabloid?” Her voice was rising in pitch as she finally confronted the guy who had humiliated her and her family. “I’ll tell you why I’m here, Marc,” she got herself under control as she delivered her retribution.
“I’m here because I have access to the off-site security tapes for this place.” She paused, letting the information sink in. “And right now, the tape that’s recording me and you in this room, it’s going to find it’s way into my hands. And from there…who knows where a copy of it’s going to show up? Like the forty-five seconds of the recording where my hands are cuffed and you’re smacking me? Well, that could very well end up in my father’s in-box. Anonymously, of course.”
“Do you know what that means, Marc?”
She didn’t have to explain it to him. The translucency in his skin told her he understood just fine.
“Now, I want you to tell me how much you got paid for those pictures,” she snarled.
“Ten grand,” he choked.
“Well I hope you still have it,” she sighed. “You’re going to use it to pay off Samantha Clover’s student loan.”
He gaped at her in shock.
“I – what – I don’t have it!”
“You better get it,” she replied smoothly. “Because you ruined a perfectly good girl’s reputatio
n and home life with those pictures. The least you can do is try to make it right.”
He gaped at her.
“But…I can’t…” he blustered, then caught the narrowed look in her eye. “Fine! Fine! I’ll fuckin’ do it. But what about you?” he demanded. “What are you going to do with the tape if I pay off her loans?”
“I’m going to hold onto this evening’s tape so that your gut clenches every time you see my face – just like mine did whenever I had to look at your face, ever since I got proof of what you did. That’s good enough for me. Oh and Marc, don’t even think about quitting. My father’s men could find you anywhere you go, if he tells them to.”
****
No way. There’s no way that even Marc is this fucking stupid, she thought, shaking her head and continuing to try to wrench her arms free.
In reality, Marc was nothing but an opportunist. He wasn’t a criminal. He didn’t work for her father in that capacity at all, and she didn’t think he had it in him to try to make her “disappear”.
So, who was in the room with her? Whoever it was, was playing for keeps because everyone knew that her father would tear anyone limb from limb if they dared to lay a finger on his only child.
You’re Giovanni DiMarco’s daughter. You’re in one of his warehouses. Whoever has you here means to kill you, there is no doubt. So, smarten up and save yourself! After all, you’re the one who did this guy a favor and evaded your own security detail. But if I’m in my father’s warehouse, that has to mean that whoever took me, must work for my father. But who would do that?! Everyone tried to curry favor with him, not put a bull’s eye on their own back…
Abruptly, a memory came flooding back to her of the altercation at her car in the parking lot after the Uber driver had driven away.
It had been an exchange she’d had with her kidnapper while she fought against the drug he had injected into her neck.
He grabbed me at my car. He pricked me with the drug and dragged me back to his car…
“Now you’re going to get what you deserve, you little slut. Did you think no one would find out you’re spreading your legs for that outsider?” he spat.
No. No, he wouldn’t. He wouldn’t dare…
But as the sound of the rasping voice filled her mind as if he was there with her again, Celina couldn’t deny the truth which was staring her in the face.
And he called you princess. That dumb fucker! Is he on a suicide mission?
Fear seized her belly as Celina knew that there would be no placating, reasoning or threatening Alex.
He was obviously unbalanced.
Finding out she had gotten away from him and spent the night at Ari’s had pushed him over the edge. It had meant that Ari had won – not only the promotion, but the girl too.
She realized with a sinking heart that the only way that she would make it out of this alive would be if someone found her first – before Alex killed her.
I fucked up things so badly with Ariano that he doesn’t even know I’m missing. He thinks I’m just avoiding him, being my usual pouting self, just to teach him a lesson. He’s probably glad he doesn’t have to deal with me right now.
A strangled sob escaped her throat.
For someone who had rarely been by herself, Celina had been alone for most of her life, overlooked, underestimated, undervalued.
But never had she felt so lonely or terrified.
This is how it all ends, she thought mournfully. Not with a bang but with a whimper. She steeled herself as she felt Alex’s rough hand grasp her breast and squeeze painfully, his triumphant laugh echoing through her mind as she tried to draw into herself.
Chapter Twelve
It was noon and he still had not heard from Celina.
This is not fucking good.
Ariano checked the Vizcaya Gardens, some of her usual haunts and anywhere else he could think that she may have disappeared to, but as the day dragged on, the sense that she was in trouble had grown into an almost sickening panic.
I have to tell Giovanni, he thought, the idea only fuelling his dread.
His mind racing, he picked up his phone to contact Celina’s father, but before he could hit the numbers, he paused. He had another idea and he dialed Alex once more.
“Holy fuck, Ariano. I’m working. You have a crush on me or something?”
“Tell me again what happened last night when you saw Celina leave.”
There was a long silence.
“You really can’t find her?” he asked, unable to keep the gloating note from his voice. “The boss is going to be pissed.”
“Which entrance did she go through into the condo?”
“Uh…the back entrance.”
“What time was that?”
“I don’t fucking know, puttana. You tell me what time she got off her knees for you.”
“Alex, if I have to come down there – “
“Midnight maybe? One? I don’t fucking know, Ariano. Fuck off.”
The line went dead and the hairs on the back of his neck rose.
Pulling an abrupt U-turn onto Killian Drive, Ariano raced back toward the condo building.
There’s one way to find out if Alex is lying to me, he thought, screeching into Celina’s visitor lot.
Ensuring he had his gun in his waistband, he ran toward the front entranceway, his heart pounding.
“May I help you, sir?” the concierge asked and Ariano cringed, realizing how old the man was.
“I need to see your security tapes from last night,” he explained without preamble. “I need to know if Celina DiMarco came home last night through those back doors.”
The old man blinked at him and Ariano reached for his weapon but before he withdrew it the guard shook his head.
“I’ve been working since six last night. Harry called in sick this morning, so my replacement should be here right away. She left around seven and never came home. I’m sure of it.”
Ariano wasn’t about to take his word.
“I need to see those tapes,” he insisted and the man shrugged.
“I’m not gonna argue with the mob,” he grunted. “I knew the day would come when one of you guys would come here looking for that girl.”
Ariano let his comment slide and waited for the ancient man to pull up the footage from the previous night.
“What time?”
“Anytime after eleven,” he replied, peering over the counter to stare at the screens.
He watched as the frames at the back door showed Alex’s Mercedes coming and going but there was no sign of Celina.
At seven a.m., his own car appeared and Ariano sighed, his head beginning to throb.
“Thank you,” he said, spinning away.
“Hope you find her,” the concierge called after him. “She’s a nice lady, even though she’s the daughter of that man.”
Ariano paused and glanced at him.
“She is a nice lady, isn’t she?” he replied quietly.
“Last year she gave my wife an anonymous gift of fifteen thousand dollars,” he answered gruffly. “So she could get a hip replacement. Medicare only covers so much, you know?”
Ariano stared at him.
“She did that?” he choked.
“She’s a nice lady,” the guard said again. “I hope you find her.”
Ariano nodded slowly.
“Oh, I’ll find her,” he promised. “Bet on it.”
He raced out to the car, trying to piece together what he knew.
Celina left my house, she took an Uber and Alex knew about that…
Sighing, he leaned against the car, shaking his head.
But how did he know where to find her? Then the thought struck him out of the blue. He tracked her cell phone. That’s how he knew where she was. And the bastard is just crazy enough to take out his anger on her, too.
Ari knew that Alex had been getting into more and more trouble at work lately. His frustration at not securing the promotion was showing, and he had sta
rted taking stupid risks, trying to impress the boss. Just a few days ago, Giovanni had had to pull Alex in to ream him out for another unprotected shipment that had been taken.
Then his mind travelled back to the day Giovanni had given him Celina’s detail, the way Alex had looked at her as if he wanted to devour her, right in front of their boss. A heavy dread settled in his chest as he thought about what Alex could do to her.
He’s angry at me, he wants Celina…did finding out we were together last night send him even farther over the edge?
Ariano knew he didn’t have time to wonder. He just needed to find Celina; dead or alive.
The idea that he had failed her filled him with remorse. How could have let her leave his place alone last night? It was literally his job to protect her. He should have known that Alex would threaten her somehow. He refused to succumb to the anxiety threatening to slow him down.
If she’s hurt, I’ll never forgive myself, he realized, wondering if that wasn’t what Alex had in mind all along.
Yet Ariano realized that for once, his first concern wasn’t for himself and what would happen to him if Celina got hurt. For the first time in his life, his main concern was for someone else. He didn’t care that he would be taken out if Celina was gone, all he cared about was that she was okay.
He would never be able to live himself if he had let something happen to her.
Hang on, baby, he called out to her silently. I’m going to find you. I swear it. And I’m going to make Alex pay a hundred times over for any pain he’s caused you.
“Woah, what the fuck, Ariano?”
“Get on your computer and track Alex’s GPS yesterday. All day.”
Carmello backed out of the entranceway as Ariano stormed in, kicking the door shut behind him as he kept the Beretta firmly on the hacker.
“Are you crazy? I can’t track his – “
“Just fucking do it!” Ariano yelled. “Celina is missing and I think he took her.”
Carmello’s face shifted, concern filling his eyes.
“Are you sure, Ari? I mean she always – “
MAFIA BOSSES - The Box Set: An Enemies to Lovers Trilogy Page 10