by Ashley Jade
He kissed my neck and his fingers found their way inside me. “You're unbreakable and that's what makes you so beautiful.”
My heart hammered in my chest as he bent me over the bed and kissed down my spine. I closed my eyes and leaned into his touch, my body at odds with itself.
I heard the sound of his zipper lowering and felt the head of his cock at my entrance as I fought for air. I opened my mouth to tell him that I needed a moment in order to process what was happening, given it was my first time and all, but his voice cut me off.
“This will hurt,” was my only warning before he pushed himself inside me in one single hard thrust.
I screamed out in pain and clutched the bedspread for dear life as he began thrusting inside me even harder. “Stop, it's too much.”
He tugged on my hair until my head fell back against him. “You're strong. You can take it, bambina. I know you can.”
I squeezed my eyes shut and tried to push whatever weakness I had far away.
The pain didn't let up, it only magnified each time he slammed into me.
I reached behind me and touched his face. “Please, mio amore. Please be more gentle. For me, Bruno.”
He felt for my hand and held it firmly in his large one, the force of his thrusts slowing down to something much more bearable.
My heart squeezed because I knew what that meant.
No one had the power to deter Bruno DeLuca. No one had the power to make him stop doing anything.
No one but me.
Bruno might not ever say it, but I knew he loved me.
His big body shuddered before he grunted his release.
Then he swept me in his arms and positioned me on the bed, my head falling against the pillow.
“Don't move.”
I couldn't even if I wanted to, my entire body was so sore I felt like I'd run a 20-mile marathon.
A few moments later he came out of the adjacent bathroom with a washcloth.
“You're bleeding all over my bedspread,” he said.
I pursed my lips. “Gee, I wonder why that is.”
The corners of his eyes crinkled and his lips twitched. “Because you're mine now.”
“For how long?”
His gaze traveled over my still naked body. “Forever.”
That's when it hit me. “Bruno, you didn't use any protection. What if―”
“Good,” he said. He brought the washcloth between my thighs. “My son still has another 5 years left on his contract. I'm counting on the fact that he won't make it out alive.”
I gasped but he clicked his tongue at me. “I don't give a fuck what you think about that, Lucianna. Your feelings on the matter are irreverent. He agreed to the deal, he knew the stakes.”
I leaned against the headboard. “You only did this so you could get me pregnant, didn't you?”
He shook his head and reached for my hand. “No. That's not why. But, it would please me all the same.”
“What if I never get pregnant with your child, Bruno? Will you get rid of me?”
He put the washcloth down and kissed my hand. “That's the thing, Bambina. I'm afraid it matters very little to me in the long run whether that happens or not. I'm perfectly content to have you by my side for the rest of my life.”
I propped myself up on my elbows. “Because you love me?”
He didn't answer, instead, he closed his eyes. “You know my thoughts when it comes to that. However, there are exceptions to every rule.”
“You won't ever tell me you love me. Will you?”
“No.”
“It's because I'm the one person who makes you feel vulnerable, isn't it?”
He opened his eyes and they narrowed. “Yes.”
Well, hell that was just as good as a declaration of love as far as I was concerned.
Bruno DeLuca was never vulnerable.
I tilted my face to try and kiss him once again but his hand wrapped around my throat. “But don't you ever forget who holds the power in this relationship, understood?”
I couldn't respond because he was cutting off my air supply.
“The day you do is the day I make you wish you were dead and I show you what I'm capable of doing to you. Got it?”
I nodded and he finally released his hold on me. “Answer me.”
“Yes,” I choked out.
“Yes, what?”
“Yes, mio amore.”
He smiled and nuzzled my neck. “Good. Now you may sleep.” He kissed my cheek and I closed my eyes. “I'll never let anyone hurt you again. You're mine forever, my beautiful Lucianna.”
I stormed into the room where Bruno was holding a meeting with his men.
I couldn't believe he would do this to me.
I'd been good to him for the last 3 years since I gave him my virginity. I fucked him when he wanted, kept every single one of his secrets, and loved him deeply without abandon.
And still, he was doing this.
The men in suits looked uncomfortable when they saw me coming but Bruno paid me no mind.
I marched through the wooden doors of his conference room with my hands on my hips. “How could you?” I screamed.
He rubbed his temples and leaned back in his chair. “Can't you see that I'm busy? I don't have time for your shit.”
I stood over the conference table and jabbed my finger into the wood. “Make time, now.”
The men stared at me wide-eyed but I steeled myself and lifted my nose in the air.
Bruno's jaw worked and he looked me up and down.
No doubt, he was pissed at the fact that his almost 21-year-old girlfriend was not only interrupting a crucial meeting, but making him look like a downright fool in front of his men.
Had the matter not been so important to me, I would have known better.
“No. Not now!” he barked as he stood up and crossed his arms over his chest.
I matched his stance. “Yes now,” I hissed. “Or I will walk right out that fucking door and never look back, you shit head.”
Some of the men gasped but I ignored them.
His eyes became tiny slits and his nostrils flared. Now I'd done it.
I was playing with fire, but I welcomed it.
“Everyone out!” he boomed. “With the exception of the little bitch standing in front of me.”
The men quickly dispersed and closed the door behind them.
Bruno advanced toward me and bent me over the conference table.
“What the hell are you doing?” I screamed as he began lifting my dress up.
“Checking out the set of balls you acquired between last night and this morning.”
He then tore my dress off me but I didn't care, I needed to confront him about this. “My father's running for Mayor. I just saw it on the news. How could you do that to me? How could you help him?”
His grip tightened around me. “That's what all this is about?”
“Yes,” I said. “You betrayed me!”
A cruel smile spread across his face. “I didn't betray you, Lucianna. Your father has kept up with his end of the deal for the last 6 years.”
“So?”
He forced my legs apart and I slammed the table with my palm. “Stop. You don't have permission to do this to me, not until you explain yourself.”
His teeth scraped my back. “You really think I give a fuck?”
My stomach dropped. “No.”
“Smartest thing that's come out of your stupid mouth since you walked in here.”
He grabbed my hair and entered me in one swift motion.
“How could you help him, Bruno?” My voice cracked with that statement.
“Just because he's running doesn't mean he's going to win,” Bruno informed me.
“I don't understand.”
“Stupid girl,” he taunted before he grunted and slammed into me again. “I only promised your father that he would run for Mayor. I never promised him the win. I wouldn't do that to you. Trust me, I have something up my
sleeve.”
His hand wrapped around my throat. “And I would have explained that to you had you not come walking in here like you owned the goddamned place. Like you were some form of authority over me.”
The hand around my throat tightened. “Did you forget who holds all the cards in this relationship, Puttana?”
I couldn't answer him because I was too busy gasping for air.
I didn't regret much in my life but I was definitely regretting the decision to confront him.
He pulled out of me just as quickly as he entered me. I knew he wasn't finished yet, so I didn't understand what was going on.
I soon found out when he slammed into me again, so much harder than he ever had before.
“Fucking bitch,” he sneered. “Who the fuck do you think you are?”
He rammed into me savagely again and I yelped in pain.
“Apologize, now,” he ordered.
I'd never apologized to him before, but I would do whatever he wanted to make this pain go away.
“I'm sorry, Bruno. Mio amore. Please, stop. It hurts so much.”
He paused and straightened himself.
I breathed a sigh of relief
Until he pressed me against the table again and forced himself inside my other entrance.
I dug my nails into the table and screamed out at the top of my lungs. My previous pain was nothing compared to this.
I couldn't believe he was violating me this way, especially when he knew everything my father did to me.
He didn't relent with his brutal thrusts and tears made their way out of my eyes as I felt my heart shatter.
My tears only made him madder and he pulled my hair harder. “One more tear, Lucianna. Shed one more fucking tear, Bambina. One more tear and I swear, it will be the last one you ever shed. I will kill you. No matter how much it may pain me to do so.”
Oh, my god.
It happened.
For the first time in almost six years, Bruno had threatened my life.
For the first time since the night I first met him...I was scared of him.
My eyes dried and I went limp, the fight drained out of my body. The only movements I made were from the tremors washing over me since I couldn't cry.
He then pulled out and sprayed his release all over my back, similar to how a dog pisses on a fire hydrant.
“And for the record,” he said, zipping his fly. “You'll never walk out that door until I say you can. You'll never be free of me. Now don't move from the floor until I tell you to.”
I slumped down to the floor as his men reentered the room.
They murmured amongst themselves, embarrassed for not only my state of undress but what had obviously transpired.
Bruno cleared his throat and stood at the head of the table. “Pay no mind to my disrespectful whore, gentlemen. We have a meeting to continue.”
That night he walked into my old bedroom. The one I hadn't returned to since the night I turned 18.
I rolled over because I couldn't bear to face him.
I wasn't quite broken yet...but I was certainly cracked.
Even worse than that? I was officially a prisoner.
Which was just downright mind-boggling considering how often I used to worry he would get rid of me one day.
“Look at me,” he ordered.
“I can't.”
“Lucianna.” He said my name softer than he ever said it before.
“You did something to me today, Bruno.” I stared blankly at the wall. “I thought you loved me but―”
The bed dipped from his weight as he sat down. “Have I ever told you I loved you?”
“No. You haven't and now I finally believe you.”
I hugged my pillow and curled up in a fetal position. “It doesn't matter that you don't love me...because after today I love you less. You can take your love and shove it because I don't need it anymore. I don't need you anymore. I'll make it on my own without you, just like I did before.”
He grabbed my shoulder and I flinched. “You don't mean that,” he whispered. “You're not leaving me, bambina.”
“I do and I am.”
I heard the door slam and I told myself not to cry.
I felt so worthless and ruined. I felt like nothing more than a stupid, naive girl who thought the man she loved had felt the same way she did this whole time.
I didn't know which hurt more, hating him for not loving me...or allowing him to prove just how much he didn't.
Or the hardest truth of all...hating myself for still loving him―all while knowing he would never be capable of giving that back to me.
All while knowing he destroyed a part of me today that my father never did.
The part that still believed in fairy tales and happy endings.
The part that still thought I deserved true love despite being damaged goods.
The heart is the most peculiar and complex structure in the world.
It could endure so much pain, but yet it still continued to beat...still held on to hope...and still continued to go on living when the rest of you would rather be dead.
Moments later I heard his footsteps enter my bedroom again.
He sat down and rested his hand on my hip. I tried to move away but he latched on.
“Look at me,” he whispered.
I shook my head.
“Please, Bambina.”
He never said please. I turned my head slightly and he cupped my cheek. “I love you, Lucianna. You're the only person that I love. Now tuck it away inside yourself and take it for what it's worth because I'll never utter those words again.”
I nodded my head but hearing the words had the opposite effect on me.
They only made me feel worse about myself. Like it was bad to love me.
And it didn't erase what he did this morning or what he threatened to do to me.
He seemed to sense this because he pressed his lips to my forehead. “I won't apologize for what I did. You needed to learn. You became too bold, Lucianna. I can't have that.”
He reached for something on the nightstand. “I'm not letting you leave me but I can give you something to ease the pain.”
I sat up and he grabbed hold of my arm. I didn't understand what he was doing until he pulled out a syringe and I immediately drew my arm back in fear. “You only administer heroin to those you're trying to kill. Those you once cared for. Is that what you're doing, Bruno? You're gonna kill me?”
No wonder he told me he loved me, this was the end of the road for me.
His fingers traced my cheekbone. “No, Bambina. I thought about it, but I know now that I could never kill you. I love you too much.”
He yanked on my arm again and it was then that I knew exactly what he was doing.
He needed something to make me depend on him. He needed something to make me weak, so I didn't have control over him. He needed something to control me instead.
This was a fate worse than death. This was the cruelest thing to ever do to another person.
I grabbed his face with my free hand. “Please, Bruno. I'll be good. I'll do whatever you want.” My voice shook, but I continued, “You don't have to turn me into this. Please, mio amore. Don't do this to me.”
He ignored me and plunged the needle into my vein.
My ears rang, my head spun and I leaned over the side of the bed and puked.
He stood up and stroked my cheek. “I'll be back in 24 hours. This isn't what you think. I'm not turning you into a junkie. I would never do that to you. I'll only be using this when I see fit. You'll still be completely functional.”
I began to doze off. “Where are you going?”
“Down to the fight club. Evidently my son made it through his last fight after all. But unfortunately he has left town and I have another proposition for him.”
He laughed and the sound made me sick. “You see, just like you, he'll never be able to get rid of me either.”
3 years later...
Chapter 1
(Ricardo)
He trapped me again. I thought I was free of him, I should have known he had one more trick up his sleeve.
I thought I lucked out when he didn't bother showing up during my last fight.
I hopped on a plane and got the fuck out of New York, but he eventually ended up tracking me down in Houston.
I was there for almost a full year and I was enjoying my freedom.
But my freedom came with a catch.
Because being in the fight club had hardened me in a way I never expected it to. It brought my darkness to the surface.
It made me more like DeLuca than I ever wanted to be.
For 10 years straight, I watched while strong men failed and dropped like flies.
Death was like a poisonous fog that loomed all around me...but still, I fought.
Sometimes I used what happened to Graham to get through the fight.
Sometimes I used what happened to that poor little girl.
Sometimes I used watching my mother die.
But every time I used my hatred for DeLuca to push through when I felt like I wouldn't make it.
At the end of my 10 years, I was the only one left standing.
Everyone else had died. DeLuca made sure of it.
A big part of me wondered if that had been his intention all along, to ensure no one completed their deal.
No one except for me. In the back of my mind, I wondered if he did that on purpose, but I didn't want to believe it.
I earned my fucking freedom. The bastard could kiss my ass as far as I was concerned.
A deal was a fucking deal.
No matter how much someplace deep inside me missed that club. Missed pushing myself further and harder than I ever thought was possible.
Missed feeling the sense of power and control in the cage. Missed letting the darkness roam free and burn through me.
Missed being a DeLuca.
Fucking hell.
I'd never forget the conversation with DeLuca after he tracked me down in Houston.
I was working in a small shop that I purchased with some of the money that I saved from fighting.
I glanced down at a pair of metal tipped shoes and my anger bubbled through me. “I see you bought that mustang after all,” he said.