Dynasty

by Jen Davis et al.

  Castello didn’t leave. I could feel him watching me, feel the crackle of electricity buzzing around us.

  “Why are you doing this to me?” I whispered, still staring at the ceiling. “All I did was fall for a man who lied to me about everything.”

  “Unfortunately for you, that man was my brother.”

  I sat up, not caring that I was naked. Modesty was no longer a concern of mine.

  “I didn’t know.”

  Dark eyes kept my gaze for two seconds longer before he turned toward the door. “Then tell me, Tatum,” he started without turning back, “do you still believe knowledge is power?”

  Just like that, he turned my own words against me. I couldn’t answer him, and he didn’t wait for an answer either. The door closed, and I was left alone inside the room, my body naked, my mind feeling more broken than ever before.

  When I first woke up in this room surrounded by fear and the unknown, I had all these nightmarish ideas of what Castello would do to me. But never did it cross my mind that I would actually want him to do the unthinkable, that my body would crave it.

  Even now, with him gone, I could still feel him touching me between my legs. My body still wanted him. He might look like Carlo, but he was nothing like his twin brother. Carlo’s touch was warm, but it didn’t set me on fire like Castello’s. And no matter how hard I tried to fight the feelings that were starting to consume me, turning my soul into nothing but rotten desires, it was no use.

  Castello was turning me against myself, ruining me by making my mind and body mortal enemies. Was this part of his game? Was this his plan all along, to seduce me then bury me in my own shame?

  Tugging the towel back around my naked body, I crawled onto the bed, cradling my legs against my chest. There were no threatening tears or dark, foreboding feelings running rampant inside my gut. For the first time since this nightmare started, I felt empty, blank, void of any emotion. And it felt good not to feel. For the first time in months, I didn’t feel a thing. No pain of a broken heart, shame of a tainted soul, or fear of the monster holding me captive. There were no frightening thoughts of what the new future held for me, whether my parents would find me in time. Nothing. My mind consisted of nothing.

  The lights went off, casting complete darkness over me. It didn’t frighten me. I didn’t fear the dark anymore. In fact, I was starting to embrace it, to acknowledge the darkness that thickened inside me every time Castello’s touch set my body on fire.

  I didn’t know what to think, what to feel. He showed mercy by stopping Vico from beating me. Then concern when he wanted me to shower in order to ease the pain on my back. And then there was desire, the lust that consumed us both, where he showed no mercy as he turned my own body against me, only to lower his guard by letting me witness the pleasure that wracked through him when he let himself go by pulsing his release on my stomach.

  Tonight was a night of many revelations.

  His mother’s deep-rooted hate for me.

  A united family’s need for revenge.

  A psychological battle between brothers.

  The many, deeply hidden layers of my captor, and the sordid levels of exposure finally showing me that I had a tainted attraction toward the darkness.

  Chapter 16

  Castello

  The door locked in place behind me. I switched on the monitor and saw her huddling on the bed, curling herself into a tiny ball. It was working. I was busy breaking her. The only problem was I was breaking alongside her. She was clawing her way in, trying to expose what I so desperately wanted to keep hidden. The role that was now mine to play within this family demanded a hard, ruthless leader, which was what I was determined to be.

  But the woman who started out being the prey now turned into the threat. I had to try harder. If I let her in, allowed her to dig deeper, she would ultimately destroy me before I could destroy her. My body wanted her, my soul screamed for her, and my monster demanded to have her. But I couldn’t allow it. I couldn’t let that happen, because once I let the monster have her, he—I wouldn’t ever let her go.

  I pressed the button on the keyboard, and the lights went out. With a heavy sigh, I exited the room, closed the door, and pressed in the security code, locking her safely behind two doors.

  “Here you are.”

  I jerked around to find Nicollo standing behind me, his hands tucked casually in his pants pockets.

  “What are you doing here?”

  “I was looking for you. You were gone so long and missing one hell of a party.”

  “Well, you found me.”

  Nicollo remained stoic, but his eyes spoke volumes of malice and spite.

  He lifted his chin toward the door behind me. “Is that where you keep her?”

  Warning bells chimed in the back of my head, my skin crawling as my defenses went on high alert.

  I took an intimidating step forward, never taking my eyes off his. “Let’s get one thing straight, cousin. I don’t like you, never have. Why my little brother has the need to always be around you is beyond me. But if I so much as suspect you’re dragging your ugly ass into my business, I will cut you in fucking half.”

  That twisted, ugly-ass smile of his didn’t falter as I spewed out my threat. In fact, the little shit took a step toward me, not backing down in the slightest.

  “You don’t have what it takes to be a Boss, Castello. Everyone knows it. The only person keeping your ass from being tossed down to Capo is your mother.”

  My muscles twitched, my veins bulged, and my fist tightened. With a tick in my jaw, I ground my teeth, thinking about how fucking gratifying it would be to slam my fist into his ugly motherfucking face.

  A throat cleared, and both Nicollo and I looked in the direction. Uncle Gino was standing a few feet away, staring at us.

  “Nicollo, your father is looking for you.”

  Reluctantly, my cousin backed down and straightened the lapels of his suit jacket, glared my way with a promise that we weren’t done, then made his way down the hall.

  Muscles relaxed, the tick in my jaw eased, yet my fist remained balled and the anger still simmered. “I don’t trust him.”

  Uncle Gino smiled. “I don’t think anyone trusts Nicollo. The key is to always keep your eyes open whenever he’s around, make sure that what’s yours is protected at all times.”

  I narrowed my eyes, staring at him with confusion. “Like what?”

  Uncle Gino shrugged. “Like whatever you deem as yours.”

  “Which in this case is…?”

  He feigned a look of ignorance. “I have no idea. But I’m sure you do.”

  Shifting from one leg to the other, feeling agitated and annoyed, bordering on losing my shit after the whirlwind of fuck-ups this night has conjured so far, I rubbed the back of my neck rather than punching my fist into the damn wall.

  “Tell me, Uncle Gino, you jumped in to save the day three times tonight. Why?”

  He cocked a brow. “Three times? I only know of two.”

  The knowing look he gave me proved he knew exactly when the third time was…back in the goddamn bathroom when I was a split second away from kissing Tatum’s lips raw, which would have been a bloody catastrophe. As if it weren’t enough that I had my fingers inside her, then jerking off while she watched, I wanted to completely devour that delicious-looking mouth of hers. I was such a greedy bastard.

  “Listen, Castello,” he stepped closer, “I know this is all hard on you, but—”

  “What gives you the idea that this is hard on me?”

  He snorted. “Stop the bullshit, Castello. You’re not made for the curse of the new role you got shoved into overnight.”

  Bitterness coated my tongue. “So you agree with Nicollo that I don’t have what it takes to be the Boss?”

  “I do, yes. But not for the same reasons.”

  Newly lit anger flared fiercely inside my chest. I’d always been fond of Uncle Gino, even though he could be annoying as shit sometimes, but right
now he was pissing me off.

  “Mind enlightening me as to what your reasons are?”

  He stepped closer, not caring that I was nearly combusting with anger, putting him in the line of fire.

  “You are a lot of things, Castello. But you are not the ruthless monster your mother is trying to turn you into.”

  I recoiled. “My mother?”

  “Yes, your mother. She has poisoned you with her hate, infected you with her need for revenge. All this anger, this rage, and need for retaliation you’re feeling isn’t yours. It’s hers.”

  I held up my hand. “Stop. You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  He stepped forward, stupidly not backing down, placing him right in the middle of the ring of fire. “Your mother has always been a master manipulator—”

  “I will not let you insult my mother in front of me.”

  “Are you telling me that you’ve never suspected your mother of influencing the people around her into doing her bidding?”

  I took a step back, afraid the rage currently simmering inside my veins would erupt. “She’s my mother.”

  “Yet she’s hardened you, putting you in this impossible situation.”

  “There is nothing impossible about this situation. I’m in charge of avenging our family.”

  “No!” he blurted, and I was momentarily stunned by how enraged he sounded. “That’s what she wants you to think, that you’re doing right by our family, when in fact you’re only doing right by her.”

  No longer backing down, I stepped forward. “There is nothing wrong with doing right by my mother. She is my flesh and blood.”

  “She might be your flesh and blood, but she’s deceiving you with her lies, and you are too wrapped up in your need to please her, to prove to everyone that you can fill your father’s shoes. And you know what?”

  Biting the inside of my mouth, I glowered at him, not saying a word.

  He took a step back. “You can’t fill your father’s shoes, because you are not him. You are not your brother. You are you, and all this”—he held his arms out wide—“is not you. This is not the life you want for yourself, which is why this role will kill you before you’ve had the chance to prove to everyone that you’re a ruthless leader, a coldblooded killer.”

  My blood ran cold. Every word that came out of his mouth struck me like a punch to the gut. “What do you mean she’s lying to me?”

  Uncle Gino straightened. “I’ve already said too much. But what I will say is that you need to figure out for yourself what is right for you and stop focusing on what is right for everyone else. Right now, you’re letting your mother control you, and you need to control your own life. Look what happened to your brother because he allowed her to control him.”

  Bewildered and confused, I launched forward and grabbed him by his collar. “I will not let you stand there and insinuate that my mother had something to do with Carlo’s death.”

  “That’s not what I’m doing at all. Carlo’s death was because of his own stupidity and lack of a fucking spine. If he had the balls to live his life by his own rules, he would still be breathing today.”

  He jerked out of my hold and turned to walk down the hall.

  Holy shit, what the fuck is he saying? “Uncle Gino, come back here. We’re not done.”

  “We are…for now. If you have questions, I suggest you ask your mother.”

  Without looking back, he strutted down the hall, leaving me utterly confused and enraged. A thousand and one questions rolled through my head like credits of a goddamn horror movie. What did he mean by all that? By insinuating it was my mother’s control over Carlo’s life that killed him? It was the fucking Linscotts who pulled the trigger, not my mother. It was because of the woman back in that room that my brother now lay ten feet below the ground, his corpse rotting, turning to dust like he never even existed.

  Suddenly, my mind was spinning out of control, my thoughts flowing in a thousand different directions. Uncle Gino was a lot of things, but I’d never known him to be a liar. It was because of his raw honesty that he annoyed most of the family.

  I glanced at the door behind me then back down the hall, which led to the dining room. I couldn’t allow an old man’s opinion to cloud my judgment—and that was all it was, an old man’s opinion. There was no proof, no substantive evidence that what he said had any merit.

  Then why did I now feel the sharp jab of doubt against my chest, thinking about Carlo, Tatum, my mother, and the entire situation that surrounded us all?

  I couldn’t allow it. Protecting our family, providing for them, and being the leader they all needed was my number one concern…no matter how much doubt currently choked the life out of me. No matter what happened, I had no choice but to see this through. I’d come this far, and I didn’t plan on failing now, not even when the woman whose life I was supposed to take was busy cracking through the stone surrounding my fucking soul.

  ***

  The next morning, I stood by my bedroom window staring out. Tatum was right. It was because of Carlo and childhood memories that I hated the fucking view. In fact, I didn’t just hate the view, I hated the garden and the house too. I hated everything that reminded me of how my life once was.

  With a sigh, I glanced at my wristwatch. It was almost eight in the morning. It would be a few more hours before my package arrived on the Linscotts’ doorstep, which would lead them straight to me. I wasn’t concerned they would go to the cops. My instructions that would be delivered with the severed hand missing a finger were clear. No cops, or the next package delivered would contain their daughter’s head.

  I just hoped the Linscotts weren’t fucking stupid by not following my instructions to the T. The thought of cutting off Tatum’s head amused me for a while, but now, not so fucking much. For some weird and wonderful reason, I was growing attached to that pretty face of hers…and smart mouth. Unfortunately, I’ll have to work on that, get rid of that sense of attachment I was feeling, since in the end, she would die.

  Making my way to Tatum’s quarters, I tried my best to ignore how my heart beat faster and faster and the anticipation that started to brew inside my stomach the closer I got to her. Images of her naked, wet body squirming against mine while rocking to the rhythm of how my fingers thrust inside her spread through my mind like the fucking black plague. It slowly, surely consumed me, infecting me, making me feel like having her completely was the only fucking cure to release me from the disease of raw lust pulsing through my groin. What was this woman doing to me?

  The trolley carrying the breakfast I had ordered was already standing in front of the door. It had been days since she ate. She couldn’t go without food for much longer. I had to get her to eat something. But while I was doing that, I was going to use the time to break down that iron will of hers and in turn bring out the woman craving domination.

  God knew I was going to enjoy every moment of it.

  Chapter 17

  Tatum

  The lights went on, blinding me. Somewhere between thoughts of Vico finishing what he started by beating me to a pulp, and Castello setting my body on fire with his touch, I fell asleep. It wasn’t a peaceful sleep. I didn’t experience those two seconds when you woke up thinking the hell you’d been through was only a bad dream, and you were back in your own room living your normal life. The instant I woke, I knew exactly where I was…and I knew he was standing next to me.

  “Good morning, Tatum.”

  I moaned, my head pounding, my body aching, and my stomach complaining as if my throat had been cut. The hunger pains returned…with a vengeance.

  I pushed myself up and wiped the hair out of my face.

  “You look like hell.”

  I glowered his way. Like always, he looked dapper in a gray suit, his ink-black hair groomed to perfection. Along with his familiar scent of cedarwood, amber, and peppermint, I also caught the smell of the citrus shampoo—the same shampoo I used yesterday.

  “So after our
very eventful evening last night, I’m sure you are famished.” He glanced to the door, and my gaze followed, settling on the same trolley he brought in yesterday.

  And then the smell hit me, ricocheting right to the center of my gut. Every instinct I had told me to launch at that trolley and stuff my mouth with anything and everything I could find. My blood was already pumping vigorously, adrenaline surging through my body, readying me to fight and kill if I had to.

  “God, you’re about to turn into a savage, aren’t you?”

  I looked up at him, unable to open my mouth since I might end up tearing through every ounce of food on that trolley.

  Castello grabbed a chair, sat, and opened one of the silver domes.

  “Come, eat.”

  I wasn’t about to make him invite me twice. I jumped to my feet, the towel dropping from my body to pool around my feet.

  “Not so fast.” He held out his hand, and I crouched to pick up the towel.

  “Stop.”

  I didn’t move.

  “Leave the towel.”

  “But I—”

  “Shut up. Leave the towel and get on your knees.”

  “Excuse me?” I glared at him.

  “Let me assure you, Miss Linscott, now is not the time to be stubborn. Now, leave the towel and get on your knees.” He cocked his head. “That’s if you want to eat.”

  I swallowed hard. “Why do you want me on my knees?”

  “Just do it.”

  “Why?”

  He smirked then reached for something on the trolley. I watched as he popped one of the reddest, ripest, most delicious-looking strawberries I had ever seen into his mouth. Licking my lips, I imagined how the sweetness would burst in his mouth as he bit through it. The tiny little pips crunching between his teeth.

  “Please,” I heard myself say. It wasn’t my intention to beg, but my body was ravenous, starved, and it took precedence over my need to fight and to be stubborn.