“Of what? The fact that I care whether or not you get hurt? Did you think I was some heartless bitch?”
He gnashed his teeth. “Don’t ask me stupid questions. Matter of fact, just stop talking altogether.”
He made sure I couldn’t say another word by sealing our mouths together.
Calling it a simple kiss would be insulting.
What Luka did with his mouth in that moment was completely demolish my willpower. He desecrated my independence. Because I knew from that moment on, my soul would forever be dependent on his. Interconnected. Intertwined. The way his tongue swept into my mouth, wrecking and consuming in equal measure, was devastating to my self-preservation. Because it proved that I could no longer survive without this man.
The moment his stiffening cock brushed against my thighs, we both scrambled into action. Frantically shoving his shorts down and my panties aside, I wrapped my fingers around his shaft and guided him to my throbbing opening.
He pulled back.
Whimpering, my eyes pleaded with him to move. “Why did you stop?”
His fingers flew to the nape of my neck and tore at the metal chain of the collar I still wore. “Get that thing off now. I’m not going to fuck you with it between us. I’ve hated seeing something so ugly around your beautiful neck.”
Struggling to catch my breath after those intense statements, I tore at the metal clasp, finally releasing it after several attempts. Luka stripped the offensive piece of bondage off and tossed it to the floor, without giving it another thought.
Pinning my leg to his hip, he pushed inside me. He fucked me raw, hard, and dirty against that wall. There was no romantic ambiance or soft sheets beneath our feverish bodies. Coarse language and salacious promises mingled with the lewd symphony of slapping skin and breathless grunting. I inhaled the smell of blood and sweat instead of vanilla-scented candles or roses in full bloom.
I didn’t need him to be tender.
Didn’t need to be romanced.
I only needed to feel his desperation for me. Needed to feel how wild I drove him. Taste his obsession on my tongue and know his urges were so powerful and so singular, that only I could quell them.
“I need you to understand,” he panted as he pounded.
“Understand what?”
His fingers pinched my chin and held it still, forcing me to meet his blazing eyes. “That what you saw back there was child’s play compared to what I’m capable of if someone comes after you. I came close to killing him for just saying shit about you I didn’t like. Imagine what I’ll do if someone touched you. Hurt you. Fucking stole you.”
I don’t want to imagine that.
“Why are you saying this?”
The lines around his mouth deepened. “Because I need you to feel safe with me. To know that no one will protect you like I will. And if that means ending someone’s life in order to keep you breathing, I’ll do it without batting an eye. I need you to understand how far I’m willing to go for you.”
I swallowed around the rising lump in my throat. “I’m not asking you to do that.”
He scowled. “No woman should ever have to ask her man to protect her.”
My heartbeat stuttered in my chest.
My man.
That sounded right.
His hips pistoned faster. “If I want the privilege of calling you mine, I’d better be willing to keep every other man away by any means necessary. If I left something like your safety up to chance, I wouldn’t deserve to have you in the first place.”
And we weren’t the type of people to have conversations like this while wrapped cozily around each other in bed as we fell asleep. We didn’t discuss our relationship over a bottle of wine and an expensive steak dinner, holding hands across the fancy tablecloth.
We made demands of each other while rutting against a filthy wall.
We laid claim to each other while he slammed inside my pussy in the darkness.
We solidified our connection while fucking in the middle of a slaughterhouse.
“I know I’m safe with you, Luka.” I cupped his cheek in my hand. “I understand.”
His gaze cleared of the concern that burned in it moments before. “Then show me. Milk my cum from me right now with that unbelievably tight cunt. Do it, because even though anyone could walk up and find us fucking, you know I would never let anyone else see you like this. Show me how much you believe that.”
“Oh, I’ll show you hard.”
He growled. “Fucking do it, baby.”
It only took a few more of his powerful thrusts to hurl us into mutual orgasmic ecstasy. After catching our breaths, he laid a final searing kiss on my lips. Then he pulled out, straightened my dress, and tucked himself back inside his shorts. Without a word, he took my hand and led us out of the shadows.
That was enough for me.
Feeling his hand in mine as his seed coated my inner thighs, while his words ran on a loop inside my head… That was us.
And it was more than enough for me.
Before we could leave that tunnel, though, disaster struck.
Footsteps rapidly pounded down the tunnel toward us. Tensing, Luka yanked me behind him and prepared for another fight. Only, it wasn’t an enemy that appeared out of the darkness.
It was Rome.
The panic in his eyes was alarming enough. Because it was a look I’d never seen him wear before. My heartbeat had taken off at a sprint before he was able to utter a single word.
“Gia’s missing,” he rushed out. “We can’t find her anywhere.”
My heart plundered to the deepest depths of the earth, while the rest of my body went into full paralysis.
Luka’s spine stiffened. “What?”
The twin brothers wore twin expressions of stark fear.
“She’s been taken, Luka.”
“They got her outside of The Velvet Room after her set,” Bryce stated with all the air of an executioner just before he lowered the guillotine. “We got the van’s plate number off the security cameras and were able to track down the owner.”
“And?” Cris bit out.
He was as on edge as every other person in this room.
Bryce’s expression added to the dread churning inside my gut. “The vehicle was traced back to a man named Carl Ortiz, who reported it missing three days ago. In Texas.”
I frowned. “Texas?”
That could very well mean…
Bryce nodded. “His brother-in-law is reportedly a member of the Garcia cartel, and from what my sources are saying, a very ambitious member. One that volunteers for pretty much any job.”
“He got a record?” Nico asked in a grave voice.
Bryce scrubbed a hand down his wan face. “He’s an encyclopedia criminal. Done just about everything in the damn book. Multiple stints in prison. He just got released a few months ago after doing two years for aggravated assault.”
“So, we can assume the Garcias are the ones who took Gia,” Rome concluded. “And based on what we’ve learned, they’re likely working with or for Raphael.”
“Which means one of two things.” I was pacing so furiously in front of the fireplace that my feet were burning a hole through the Persian rug. “The mafia Boss is either planning on holding her for ransom. Or he’s putting her in one of the trafficking auctions as payback.” It felt like I’d swallowed a pound of fucking cotton balls. “Raphael is finally enacting his revenge.”
“Which is exactly why I should have been told about these performances of hers the second you lot found out about them!” Dad shouted at the top of his lungs. “She shouldn’t have been running around in bars all over the fucking city at night by herself!”
The man never lost his temper. He’d been vibrating with furious energy while, he too, paced behind his desk. It was a completely different side to him that none of us had seen before.
Then again, his little girl had never been kidnapped before.
“She’s twenty-two now, Dad,” Ace said
in a low voice. “And she’s still living with you guys in order to appease you. She’s desperate for more freedom. What were we supposed to do? Lock her up in the basement forever?”
With a quick swipe of his arm across his desk, Dad sent all its contents flying onto the floor. “And look where that freedom got her! In the trunk of fucking human traffickers!”
I could barely stand to hear those offensive words, let alone associate them with my innocent sister. I couldn’t let myself think about what was happening to her, what those cocksuckers were doing. The only form of comfort I had—and it really wasn’t comforting at all—was that if they intended to sell her, then they wouldn’t want her…damaged. Bruises and broken bones wouldn’t look so good to potential buyers.
But they could do a lot of damage in ways you couldn’t see.
Leave scars that were invisible to everyone but her.
Please, God. Don’t let them break her. Not my sister.
“Were your sources able to tell you anything about where they might take her?” Cris asked Bryce.
“I’ve got teams raiding several locations the cartel has been known to use as a base of operations here in New York, but they haven’t turned up anything yet.”
“If the mafia and cartel are in this human trafficking shit together, they probably delivered her straight to Raphael,” Ace pointed out.
Not that we had any idea where the hell that was. We hadn’t been able to pinpoint Raphael’s location. I rarely ever felt this helpless and it was tearing me to shreds. I was a man of action, and inaction when someone I loved was in danger was a horrendous nightmare.
I needed a fight.
Needed to hurt the people that took my sister.
The urge to draw blood was so demanding, it was starting to obscure my entire reality.
Maybe this is the moment my sanity finally snaps.
The narrow double doors of Dad’s den suddenly burst open. Everyone shoved to their feet and drew their weapons, preparing for attack. All of us were always carrying. And right now, every gun in that room was aimed at—
Our mother.
Mom, with red eyes and tear-streaked cheeks. She’d been surrounded by Jaz, Roxy, Lexi, and Cat ever since we all converged on their brownstone. There had been tears shed and hugs shared, but these women were tough as nails. Every single one of them, including mine. Matter of fact, they held their shit together better than us men most of the time. Even as our attention shifted to the five of them, they stood strong—a united front—as the males in the room felt the irrational need to treat them with kid gloves.
Nico went over to his pregnant wife, laying his hand protectively on her belly. “Legs, you need to go sit down and try to relax. The stress isn’t good for you or the baby.”
Her blue eyes sparkled with determination. “I’m not relaxing until we get my sister back. The baby and I are fine.”
Cris and Ace both gravitated toward their women, as if drawn by some invisible force. They couldn’t seem to help it. Nor could I, apparently, because I moved closer and closer to Cat without even realizing it. Before I knew it, we stood only feet apart. I hated seeing that fear in her eyes. She was terrified for Gia, just as she was terrified for her own sister.
But the guilt in her eyes was what really tore me up.
Because there was absolutely no reason for it to be there.
Mom, on the other hand…she was pissed. I knew she was scared out of her mind too, but she was also the unflinchingly strong matriarch of this family. If you were going to be a Rossetti woman, you had to be willing to stare death in the eye and give it the middle finger.
Then you laughed as you emptied a full clip into that bastard Grim Reaper.
“Have you found my daughter yet?” Mom demanded of Dad.
He blew out a slow breath. “We’re close. We’ve got the vehicle that took her—”
“I don’t want the vehicle, I want names!” she screamed, stomping further inside the room. “I want to know where she is and what your plan is for how the hell we’re going to get her back, Lorenzo.”
Dad ran his hands through his hair. “I’m trying—”
The ringing of my cell phone sliced through the tension in the room.
Everyone’s heads snapped to me. When I pulled the device out of my pocket and saw the blocked number, I shot my family a look. A look that said this phone call could mean something. Because no blocked number called you in the middle of a clusterfuck to ask if you’d like to renew your cell phone plan.
I put the phone to my ear, readying for the worst. “Yeah?”
“Hello, Undertaker.”
Ivanov. The Romanian.
When my gaze automatically sought out Cat’s, I couldn’t help but inwardly flinch at the hopefulness shining in hers. I wasn’t positive I would have good news for everyone by the end of this call.
Turning my back to my family, I stared into the fire. “Ivanov. Something I can help you with this evening?”
His raspy chuckle came over the line. “I think it’s perhaps something I can help you with.” He paused. “Can I assume this line is secure?”
Adrenaline shot through my veins. “My lines always are.”
“I suspected as much. After what I saw tonight down in The Slaughterhouse, I think we might have more common interests than I thought.”
“Meaning?”
“Your property, Undertaker,” he specified. “She was quite stunning.”
My hand tightened on the phone. “And you saw what happened to the last man who showed too much interest in her.”
His chuckle turned into barking laughter. “Not to worry. I have my own preferences. The collar around her neck suggested you aren’t a novice at collecting property. Would I be correct?”
I gripped the fireplace mantel, feeling my blood pressure rising. “I have pretty varied tastes. You could say I might keep a few different options around to choose from, depending on where those tastes are leaning. Why are you asking?”
“Because I have a local supplier who serves up the most tender of prime meat. For the right price, of course.” He waited a beat to let that sink in. “Would you also say that might be of interest to you?”
Not to appear too eager, I let the line go quiet. “Possibly. Depends on if all that meat is locally sourced or not. Tends to cause more issues if it’s all coming from the same farm.”
A chair creaked in the background on his end. “Let’s call it free range meat, shall we? Comes from all over, untraceable. There are no loose ends by the time it reaches New York.”
In other words, the women being sold won’t be missed, and the feds won’t be able to track their movements to the owners who eventually buy them.
“Do I need a special invitation in order to meet with your supplier?” I asked.
“That’s precisely why I’m calling. There’s a party happening tomorrow night. Many of my friends will be there. And there will be a lot of meat on sale. From what I understand, the entire stock will be sold off. An inventory clean-out, if you will.”
This was it.
A fucking doorbuster sale of human beings.
If Gia and Luciana were among those women and we didn’t get them back before they were sold off, they could very well disappear forever. We wouldn’t know which end of the earth to search for them if we didn’t reach them in time.
“Does my invitation come with an address?”
“You know there are no addresses underground,” he chortled. “The entrance is near the abandoned 91st subway station. There’s an aqueduct tunnel system down there you need a code to navigate in order to reach the sales floor.” He rattled off the code of right and left turns to take through the tunnels that I immediately committed to memory.
Already a plan was forming in my mind. Years of tactical training and special ops missions with the Army Rangers had gifted me with a certain skill set. To look at close quarter combat situations like this from all angles and strategize for every possible scenario. A p
lan of attack. Escape routes. It was all about the prep work.
That didn’t mean you wouldn’t take a few bullets in the process.
Unfortunately, no plan omitted that possibility. It was always there.
But a good soldier knew how to keep pushing and complete the mission, even if his body absorbed some lead.
“Just remember to come with heavy pockets,” Ivanov tacked on pointedly.
“It’s rude to show up to a party empty handed, isn’t it?”
He laughed again. “I knew I liked you, Undertaker.”
“That everything I need to know?”
“Your invitation has a plus one. Feel free to bring your pet from earlier tonight. Proof that you’re in the club, so to speak. Suppliers like to see that.”
I was seconds away from crushing the device between my fingers. Pain radiated throughout my chest at the thought of Cat being anywhere near those men. But if her presence was the key to getting my sister back—and Cat’s sister—I knew she’d insist on coming along.
“As long as it’s understood that she’s not for sale,” I growled into the receiver. “If it wasn’t obvious by what happened tonight, I’m very proprietary of all of mine.”
“Your ownership will be respected, I assure you.”
After ending the call, I worked to get my breathing under control before eventually facing my family. They all watched me with anxious expressions. I met Cat’s gaze first, then Rome’s. That was his battle-ready look. One I’d seen too many times, but one we needed now. We all had to be at our coldest and most lethal for tomorrow night because that’s exactly what we were going up against.
In order to get Gia and Luciana back, we’d all have to be ready to fight without mercy.
To spill blood.
To take lives.
“It’s all going down tomorrow night. And I think I have a plan.”
I never thought I would prefer stripping for strangers over…anything.
But I would much rather have been in one of those back rooms at Rumors with a horny drunk than down in the gothic, subterranean world I was descending deeper and deeper into. At least Luka was the one leading me.
Glitter and Greed (Brooklyn Brothers #4) Page 24