Cazzo: A Reed Security Romance (Reed Security Series Book 3)

by Giulia Lagomarsino

I knew Chris wasn’t really mad at Sam. He just wanted to let him know that it was okay to tell him he needed to stop. Chris had a funny way of showing his concern. In fact, every single one of these guys were like that. They just harassed one another instead of talking it out. Men were so strange. I felt like I needed a manual around them sometimes.

  After we got back on the road, it took another few hours of driving and then we were pulling into a cabin off a dirt road deep in the mountains. The cabin was set back off a long driveway that you could barely see because it was covered so heavily with trees. It wasn’t so much a driveway as grassy path with a few tire treads. When we cleared the trees, it opened up to a small, overgrown lawn that surrounded the cabin. There was a small shed set back further and the drive curved around the cabin. The guys pulled the SUVs to the back of the cabin, which I assumed was so we stayed hidden.

  Sam led me to the cabin and found the spare key, letting us all in to check out the dusty surroundings. It was small, but cozy. There was a kitchen with a few cabinets and an old fridge and stove. The living room wasn’t much bigger, with only a futon and chair with an old TV that looked like something out of the eighties. Straight inside the door to the back of the cabin was a bathroom and on either side, small bedrooms. There was no way we would all fit in here.

  “Where is everyone going to sleep?” I asked.

  “We’ll be on shifts. Don’t worry. There’s plenty of room,” Sam winked.

  “Chris, you and Jules walk the perimeter. I’ll get the equipment out with Rob and start setting up,” John said. Chris and Jules headed out and Rob and John set out to get the stuff.

  “I’m going to grab my bag out of the car. Is there anything you want right away?”

  “No, I’m just going to walk around and stretch my legs.”

  His legs were hurting again. I could tell he was in pain and didn’t want to say anything. He didn’t even want to come on this trip. He thought he would slow everyone down and be a burden. What he didn’t understand was that none of the guys saw him that way and neither did I. I felt safer knowing that he was the one watching out for me.

  After grabbing my bag and freshening up, I cleaned away some of the cobwebs in the cabin and made sure the bathroom was clean. It wasn’t dirty, but it obviously hadn’t been used in a while.

  “Whose cabin is this?” I asked Sam as he came in from a walk.

  “A buddy of mine. He’s deployed right now and asked me to come up and check on it a few times a year.”

  “Well, that explains the dust.”

  “Come with me. I want to show you something.” He held out his hand to me and pulled me into his side, giving me a swift kiss on the lips. He led me through a path in the trees and we hiked for a good ten minutes before we came to a clearing with a beautiful lake.

  “Wow. This is beautiful.”

  “Strip.”

  I looked at him like he’d lost his mind. “I can’t do that. What if someone sees me?”

  “Like who? Look around. There’s no one out here.”

  “What if one of the guys sees me?”

  “They won’t. They’re all busy.” He pulled me against his body and nibbled at my neck. “There’s no one here but you and me, sweetheart.”

  “Um, there’s just one little problem.”

  “Hmm?” He continued to nibble along my collarbone and then up my jaw line.

  “I can’t swim.”

  “We won’t be doing much swimming. I’ll hold you up,” he whispered in my ear.

  I lifted my hands above my head as his fingers skimmed my stomach and lifted my shirt. Slowly, he pulled the shirt up over my head, brushing against my breasts as he did so. He kissed a trail down my neck and pulled the cups of my bra down to nibble at my nipples. His hands slid to my pants and deftly undid the buttons. He didn’t pull down my pants, but slipped his hands into the back of my jeans and gripped my ass, pulling me against him.

  I could feel his growing erection against my stomach and I dropped my head back, closing my eyes and enjoyed the feel of him against me. His lips left wet kisses over my exposed neck. It was so sexy to be out here like this, in the open where anyone could see us. I wanted more of him now. I wanted to feel him inside me, pounding into me and making me come as he kissed me hard.

  Stripping me of my pants and underwear, he stepped away from me and pulled his own pants off. His erection was long and hard as it bobbed in the cool air. When he pulled his shirt over his head, I was practically drooling as his abs flexed with each movement. He grabbed my hand and pulled me down the bank and into the water. He waded in just far enough to cover us and then he kissed me long and deep. I couldn’t wait any more. I needed him. He lifted me and I wrapped my legs around his waist. Gripping his erection, I sank down on him, groaning as his length filled me.

  I tried to move, but sex in this position was not easy. Laughing, I tried to pull back, but Sam gripped my hips and lifted me off him and then pulled me hard against him again. I gasped when his cock hit me deep inside. He did it again and again until we were both shaking and on the verge of tipping over the edge. My core clenched around him as he pushed into me one last time and I screamed as I came around him. Resting my head against his, we let our breathing come back to normal.

  “You’re getting heavy,” Sam said with a shaky breath. I slapped him on the chest, but he just laughed.

  “Are you two done fucking?”

  I gasped and pulled myself flush against Sam to keep as much modesty as possible.

  “What the fuck are you doing here, Jules?”

  He was leaning against a tree with a lazy grin. “One of us has to be around at all times. Don’t worry. I didn’t watch, but I didn’t have any earbuds,” he grinned. “I kind of thought she’d be more of a screamer.”

  “Get the fuck out of here, asshole,” Sam said with fake anger.

  “I’ll just turn my back to give you two some privacy.” He turned the other way and Sam hobbled out of the water, carrying me against him. Once we were on land, I quickly dressed, not sure that Jules wouldn’t turn around for a peek.

  ✯✯✯✯✯

  It was like we were teenagers sneaking out of the house at night. Sam wanted some alone time with me and the guys were following us around like puppies. We had only been here one day, but it already felt suffocating because of the close quarters. Chris was the only one awake because he was on the first night shift. Jules and John had gone to bed an hour ago, so we waited until Chris did his perimeter check and we snuck out of the house and headed for the lake.

  Sam carried a weapon on him, so I wasn’t worried about anything. I held Sam’s hand as he led me down the dark path to the water. It took longer this time because we couldn’t see as well. Sam was leaning on his cane pretty heavily and I worried that he had overdone it today, but he pushed on as if nothing was wrong. When we reached the lake, Sam paused and pulled me in close to him. I looked around him to see what he was looking at, but I couldn’t see anything in the dark.

  “Vanessa,” he whispered. “I want you to run. Get back to the cabin as fast as you can.”

  “What? Why?”

  “Just go,” he said urgently. “Tell Chris there’s a boat docked out here. He’ll know what to do. Go!”

  I turned and ran, not wanting to leave him behind, but knowing that Sam would be pissed if I didn’t listen to him. I raced back to the cabin, pushing myself harder even when my lungs protested. After a few minutes, I could feel my legs shaking from exertion. My heart felt like it would pound out of my chest and I kept looking around wildly, assuming that at any moment, someone would jump out at me. I was almost back to the cabin when a hand shot out and grabbed me around the waist. Another hand covered my mouth, pressing so hard that it blocked my nose also. I struggled as hard as I could, but the more I struggled, the stronger the grip got.

  “Stop struggling. I’m not going to hurt you.”

  The cock of a gun said otherwise. I immediately stilled, not wanting to end
up with a bullet in my head. Since I no longer trusted my father, I had no idea what he had in store for me if I was returned to him.

  “Your father sent me here to get you. He’s been looking for you for months now.” I shook my head wildly, but he just squeezed tighter. “I’m going to move my hand, but if you scream, I’ll just knock you out and drag your ass out of here.”

  I nodded my consent and he slowly removed my hand. I considered screaming for a second, but if I wasn’t loud enough, I wouldn’t have a chance of escaping if I was unconscious.

  “Why does he want to see me?”

  “I just take the job. He said something about getting to you before someone else did. Seems you have quite a few people out looking for you.”

  “How did you find me?”

  He pulled me along behind him through the trees. We weren’t being that quiet, which meant that he wasn’t concerned about others hearing. What had happened with the guys?

  “Your father said that you had developed some kind of feelings for your last bodyguard. I figured that was a pretty good place to start. I’ve been watching you for close to a week now, but you never leave the house and those grunts never leave you alone.”

  He yanked on my arm when I started to slow down and I stumbled, falling over a log. I barely caught myself before I did a face plant into a bunch of broken branches. He hauled me to my feet and gripped my wrist tightly.

  “Keep up or I’ll throw you over my shoulder and carry you the rest of the way.”

  “How did you track us?” It didn’t make sense. Any one of those guys would have been able to spot a tail from a mile away.

  “One of the guys ran into town for supplies last night. I followed him and put a tracker on his vehicle.” He shook his head as if it was unbelievable. “You would think trained men like that would have caught it.”

  We came to a clearing and I realized that we were by the lake again, but further down the shoreline. He watched for a minute and then pulled me toward a boat that was tied to a dock. That must have been what Sam saw. Where was Sam? I hoped that he was okay, but right now I had to concentrate on getting away from this man. If he took me out on the water, there was pretty much no way I would get out of this.

  The closer we got to the boat, the more I started to panic. I swung my head around, hoping to see Sam or Chris. He was out on patrol and maybe he would see me. We reached the boat and that’s when I realized that this was my last chance to get away. I swung my elbow up into his face, satisfied when I heard a crunch, and then down into his stomach, causing him to double over. I turned to run, but his hand wrapped around my arm, snatching me back before I could make it more than a foot.

  “Help!” I screamed as loud as I could. Something hard hit me in the head and my vision swam. I stumbled a few steps, not knowing what direction I was moving, but then I was lifted and carried onto the boat. I couldn’t get my bearings and when he tied one of my arms to the boat railing, I knew I was screwed.

  The boat revved and I wanted to scream again, but my head was too fuzzy to think straight. I couldn’t focus. I couldn’t figure out what I was supposed to do. We pulled away from the shoreline and I looked back one last time. I saw what looked like three people running toward us, but I couldn’t be sure if they were all one person or three different people.

  Something thunked against the boat and my captor spun around, aiming his gun at the back of the boat. I shook my head, hoping I could make out something and after a minute of squeezing my eyes shut and trying to focus, I could finally see things a little clearer. Things weren’t swimming quite so much and objects were slightly sharper in my vision.

  My captor moved slowly to the back of the boat, swinging his gun around as if someone was going to jump out at him. While he was distracted, I got to work untying the rope around my other wrist. It wasn’t easy since my fingers didn’t seem to be working properly, but after a minute, I was able to get it loose.

  Movement from the back of the boat had me looking up quickly. Sam. He was hanging on the outside of the boat on the side and when the man stepped close enough, Sam yanked on his arm, pulling him over the side of the boat. I finished pulling off the rope and rushed over to the side of the boat to see what was happening.

  Sam had his arm wrapped around the man’s neck from behind, but something happened and they both went under the water.

  “Sam! Sam!” Bubbles came up from the water and then the man pushed to the surface and reached up, grabbing onto my shirt and pulling me into the water. The water filled my mouth, choking me and burning my lungs. I kicked and fought, trying to get to the surface, but I couldn’t tell what way was up. I could feel myself sinking and the more I struggled, the more my body ached. The gasping breaths I took slowed until there was nothing but the fading moonlight around me.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  Cazzo

  I SAW HER get pulled in as I broke the surface, but then she was gone and I couldn’t find her. Arms wrapped around my neck again and I flung back my elbow, hitting the man in the stomach. Enough of this shit. I didn’t care if the man lived or died at this point. I just needed to get to Vanessa. I grabbed the man by the head and the shoulder and flung him into the side of the boat. His head bounced off the side and he went still, but I wasn’t satisfied. I pulled back and flung him again into the side. He was limp and I let his body sink into the water, sure that he wouldn’t surface again.

  Spinning around in the water, I couldn’t see Vanessa anywhere. How long had she been under? I dove under the water and looked everywhere, but I couldn’t see her. I swam harder and harder, but she was nowhere. My lungs burned and I swam to the surface, looking around for her again as I took a deep breath and then dove back under. I started to panic when I couldn’t find her. This couldn’t be happening. I couldn’t lose her, not like this. She hadn’t had a chance to live her life for herself yet. I didn’t get to tell her how much I loved her or tell her that I wanted more with her.

  I needed more air and I was just about to go back up when I caught a glimpse of something deeper in the water. I swam down and that’s when I saw it. Her white shoe was floating in the water. She had to be close. I swam deeper and spun around, desperate to find her. Spots started to fill my vision and then I saw her. Her eyes were closed and she was just floating there. I got to her as fast as I could and yanked her to me, swimming as hard as I could toward the surface, but my energy was flagging. I was out of air and my arms were barely moving any more.

  Splashes. Several of them. I could feel them around me and then I was being pulled toward the surface. I felt Vanessa slip from my grasp, but the darkness was consuming me and then she was gone. I broke the surface of the water and choked as the air filled my lungs. Blinking heavily, John came into my line of sight. He was pulling me toward the boat.

  “Wait. Vanessa’s still there,” I said struggling to get back to her.

  “We’ve got her, Cazzo. Stop fighting me.”

  It finally clicked and I let him pull me the rest of the way to the boat. With shaky arms, I hauled myself up into the boat and Jules grasped onto my shirt, helping to pull me in. Chris was leaning over Vanessa and pumping on her chest. I couldn’t move. I counted out the compressions and watched as he tried to breathe life back into her. It didn’t work. He started again. One..Two..Three.. He continued on until he reached thirty and then he breathed for her again. Still nothing.

  Her blue lips finally snapped me out of my haze and I scrambled over to her, taking her hand in mine and squeezing tightly. I cupped her cheek with one hand and shivered at how cold her skin was. “No,” I shook my head. This wasn’t going to happen. She wasn’t going to leave me, not when we were finally getting past all my shit. We were supposed to make sure she was safe and then I was going to ask her to stay.

  “Vanessa, fight it. Come back to me,” I begged. “Please. It’s not supposed to end this way.”

  Still nothing. I could tell Chris was losing the energy to keep going, so when he breath
ed for her, I placed my hands on her chest and took over CPR when he finished. I willed with every thump on her chest that she would breathe again. “Come on,” I yelled. “Don’t do this, Vanessa. Don’t give up.”

  I leaned over and pressed my mouth to hers, pinching her nose closed. Two breaths. “Come on. Don’t do this to me. Don’t you fucking leave me.”

  I felt a hand on my shoulder and something broke inside me. I shook the hand off. No. I wasn’t going to give up. I still had a chance. She could still come back to me. I pushed on harder.

  “Cazzo,” Chris murmured from across from me. “It’s been too long.”

  “Shut the fuck up,” I growled at him. “She’s not gone.” Even as I said it, I wasn’t sure it was true. “I’m not giving up. Not yet.” My voice broke as little pieces of my heart started to shatter. Deep down, I knew the chances of bringing her back were slim and even if I did, at this point, she risked brain damage from lack of oxygen. But I couldn’t let her go. I couldn’t stop praying for a miracle. “Please, sweetheart. Please,” I whispered.

  Just keep counting. One..Two..Three..You can do this. I said it over and over in my head as I counted out the next thirty repetitions. Breathe for her. Repeat. “Come on.” Start over. Keep going and don’t stop. You can do this. I looked down at her as tears filled my eyes. There was nothing. She laid there on the boat looking completely lifeless. I looked around as I pumped her chest again. Chris’s dark eyes stared off into the water and Jules and John stared at the deck. Not one of them thought she was going to make it.

  I breathed for her one last time and prayed, but still nothing. I shook my head as I gripped my hair and screamed into the night. She couldn’t be gone. I couldn’t do this. Not without her. I balled up my fist and did a precordial thump. One last effort.

  Her body jerked and she coughed. I quickly rolled her to her side as she vomited over and over again. Her eyes fluttered for a moment and then she was out. I checked her pulse and it was there, beating under my fingertips. She wasn’t gone. I sagged in relief as tears stung my eyes. My head fell heavy against my chest as I let the weight of what just happened hit me hard. My shoulders shook violently as tears poured down my face. She had almost just died.