Ruthless Captor: A Mafia Romance (Corrupt Minds Book 3)

by Camille Alexander

  “So, babe, you got some stud lined up somewhere that I don’t know about?” Storm was always very interested in my romantic endeavors.

  “If I had, I certainly wouldn’t bring him here. You’d probably turn him and live happily ever after, you horn dog.”

  “Ouch! That’s it, you’re cut off. No more happy juice for the bitchy one, bartender.”

  Stella and I rolled our eyes and made a rude gesture. Storm was eying a cute guy at the end of the bar. The pretty boy had given him puppy dog eyes all night.

  “I’m going somewhere my talents are appreciated.” ‘He smirked. “See you bitches later.”

  We watched as he sashayed over to his object of desire. Stella and I checked our watches and agreed that it was time to go home. Another quick drink, done and dusted.

  GIANI

  My phone rang on Monday morning. It was Vinny.

  “So, how was she?”

  “How was who?”

  “The blonde with the great tits you lured to your den on Saturday night. She was hot.”

  “Young, dumb, with a tight bum. The usual.”

  “So, no intellectual discussions I take. Just hardcore banging.”

  “Vinny, you’re a creep, you know that?”

  “You better believe it.” He gave a gruff laugh. “By the way, I hear the Coli’s are in town.”

  “Yeah, Capo called me yesterday for a chat.”

  “Cool. I’m always up for a bit of action if you need me, Mr. Mechanic.”

  “Thanks, Vin. I’ll call ya.”

  He ended the call. I knew he didn’t need the money. Vinny loved me like a brother; he liked to keep an eye on me. I pretended not to notice, and he pretended not to coddle me. It was a healthy relationship.

  The downstairs buzzer sounded.

  “Hello.”

  “Hi, Giani. It’s Pedro. I have something for you from the Don.”

  I buzzed him in.

  He knocked on my front door and handed me an envelope. That was the extent of our conversation. Pedro wasn’t a kid anymore. He was tall, well-dressed, had slicked-back hair, and an air of importance. He looked more like an accountant than a Don’s delivery man. Pedro had been with Dominick since the early days. He never asked questions and always did what he was told. One of the last mob soldiers who knew their place.

  He left and I sat down at the table and opened the package. Inside was an itinerary, a map marked in places, and a money clip with cash. New crisp bills—my favorite kind. I memorized the contents of the package and made preparations for the week ahead. I like to be prepared for all eventualities. It served me well.

  I was on my way out when the phone rang a second time. I answered it in my apartment, just in case it was a delicate matter best discussed in private.

  “Giani, it’s Tony. I need to see you.”

  “Meet me at Dino’s in half an hour.”

  Tony was a friend from my days on the streets. Kids taking care of themselves created a bond with each other that few others understood. It was a brotherhood, and no one left behind a buddy. After I was taken in by the Coli Family, Tony joined another organization. We stayed in contact for years, occasionally doing a favor for the other. Tony never phoned me unless it was important.

  I locked the envelope Pedro had given me in a hidden safe in my apartment and drove to meet with Tony. He was seated in the corner at the back of Dino’s when I got there. He wore his usual jeans and leather jacket. The only item that changed was his shirt, depending on the season. He was a firm fan of expensive sneakers. He had a pair for every occasion.

  He got up when he saw me. We slapped backs and ordered a warm drink, and Tony waited for the waiter to leave before he started talking.

  “You look good, Giani. I see life is treating you well, my friend.”

  “You, too, Tony. How are the gang?”

  “I don’t hear much from them anymore. Occasionally, we have a drink together, but they’re all family men now. We singles don’t understand their world.”

  “Ain’t that the truth. What did you need to talk to me about, Tony?”

  He made a sweep of the joint before he started talking. “I accidentally overheard an ugly rumor. It’s from a reliable source, too, or I wouldn't involve you.”

  “Sounds serious, Tony. What’s up?”

  The next bit he practically whispered to me. “There’s a hit out on Dominick and his wife.”

  I was all ears. The Coli’s weren’t just my employers, they were my family. There was no fucking way I’d let anything happen to them.

  “Okay, tell me what you’ve heard.”

  “I will, but you’re gonna have to move fast. The hit is tomorrow. I know who the shooter is.”

  We talked for an hour. He told me everything he knew, and I made mental notes. There was no time for calls or elaborate plans. I had to take the cocksucker down, and fast. I drank my coffee, thanked Tony, and excused myself. I was on a mission.

  ***

  CELINA

  It was eight pm when I drove up to the gates of my family’s home. My mother called me earlier and told me she had one of my new sweaters and a pair of shoes in her bag from the trip. I told her I would pop in after work and collect them from her. The guards at the gate waved me in, and I drove to the west wing of the house where my mother had a studio.

  “Hey, Mama. Did you have a good day?”

  “My Celina. Yes, I did, thank you.”

  “Is this a new painting, Mama? It’s very beautiful.”

  “Si. I’m going to show it in the gallery next week. We’re working on a new theme. It’s very exciting. How about you? How’s work?”

  “I spent most of the day catching up on paperwork, but it’s all good. Stella and I went for a quick drink after work; that’s why I’m a bit late.” I smiled as she winked at me.

  “A quick drink, hey?” She smiled and kept on painting.

  Mama knew me so well. No matter how hard I partied, I was always up and ready for work the next day. The evening had been a mellow one—no down-downs.

  “I left your things over there, my darling; I’m not sure how they got into my luggage.”

  “Who knows? I did buy more than I should have. Probably forgot one of the bags in your room. Anyway, thanks, Mama. I better get home. Another long day tomorrow. Thanks for the call, Mama. Ti amo.”

  “Ti amo, mio caro.”

  My father was out for the evening. I usually found him in his office when I came over, so that night, I left the house after speaking to my mother and left the estate the same way I came in. I turned left after the gates. My apartment was close, so I didn’t put the music on in my car. A light dusting of snow fell onto my windshield, so I drove slowly. The last thing I needed was to skid off the slippery road and land in a ditch.

  As I drove, I thought about where I was the year before. My life was too complicated for such a young woman. Salvatore and I were in a relationship: not the Cinderella story I hoped for. The problem started with a few subtle hints about what I was wearing and why the outfit he’d picked out for me was better. Then, it morphed into interrogating me over the people I spent my time with. He was clever to make it appear as though he was very interested in my life, but after a while, I cottoned on. By then, unfortunately, it was too late to pack my bags and leave.

  Relationships were complicated without any outside pressures. Salvatore made damn sure that he was on his best behavior when he was around my parents. He was the consummate gentleman who adored their daughter and yielded to her every whim. Behind closed doors, it was a different ball game. The relationship hit a downward spiral when he started abusing me. He never laid a finger on me, but it was clear who was in charge. I was clever, but not brilliant; capable, but not enough to run my own business; and my friends were alright, but not up to his standards. He threw a hissy fit every time one of my male friends talked to me for too long. Even Storm was too nervous to talk to me, and he was as gay as they come for fuck’s sake.

&
nbsp; After nearly a year, I cut him loose, which wasn’t easy. I didn’t want my father to “permanently relocate” the asshole, so I made up some excuse as to why we just wouldn’t work out. Just before I kicked his ass to the curb, I made it very clear to him that if he didn’t leave me alone, I’d make sure to tell my father all about his nasty little quirks. He got the message, loud and clear.

  It was close to nine-thirty when I drove past Victor’s apartment. He was one of the guys who did odd jobs for Papa. He didn’t have a title, so I assumed he did this and that. It was better not to ask. We weren’t the Rotary. I didn’t mind what he did—he was always very friendly and respectful toward me. Never an unkind word or a lecherous glance. Not like some of the other dipshits that worked for my father.

  Victor was running toward his car. I figured he wanted to get out from under the snow. I hooted as I drove by, but he looked like he was in a big hurry. He was disheveled, which was out of character, his jacket was torn, and he was limping. I saw a flash; then, he dropped to the ground and stopped moving. I swung my car around and drove into his apartment parking area. I wanted to check on him, to see if I could help. As I opened my car door, I was suddenly aware of someone coming at me from behind. I didn’t have time to turn around completely before I was knocked out cold.

  ***

  GIANI

  Tony told me who the hitman was, so I followed him home. I waited in my car for him to get into his apartment. I was too messy hitting a mark out in a public place, so I watched to see which room he was going to. The staircase of the building snaked around the outside to each floor. I watched as he walked from one level to the next, stopping outside his door.

  I got out of my car and walked quietly to his door. It was snowing outside, so I wore shoes with a good grip and clothes that wouldn’t stand out against the white of the snow. I had my weapon concealed as I walked up each floor to where I watched him go into his apartment. I stood outside the door and listened for a while. I heard nothing, no other voices. The man switched his TV on, and I heard his phone ringing.

  “Hey! How are you? Yeah, I’m free now. Cool, I’ll see you in a bit.” He ended the call and opened the door while I stood against the wall. This was not part of the plan. I hid in the shadows as he closed the door and made his way toward the stairs. I knew I’d caught him off guard because he saw movement and ran like a jackrabbit to get away from me. I fired a shot at him, but it made a hole in the wall. The stairs were slippery, and as he went down the last few steps he slipped and tumbled to the bottom. He hit the ground hard, and I hoped he was out.

  In a flash, he jumped up and started running toward his car. I got down on one knee and fired at him, the silencer on my gun making two whistle-like sounds. He reached for the door as the bullets hit, taking him down like a sack of potatoes. As I got up to check his pulse, a woman ran at him out of nowhere. She was yelling his name, ready to bow down and touch him.

  I was still on a high, but something about her stopped me from killing her too. I had no idea why, but instead of shooting her, I clocked her. She went limp and hit the ground. There was no time to fuck around, so I checked the mark’s pulse to make sure he was dead, picked up the girl, and made for my car as fast as a man carrying an unconscious woman could. Fuck, Giani. Now, what are you going to do?

  Did the girl see me? She came out of nowhere; maybe she saw my face. I couldn’t be sure. I wasn’t in the habit of killing innocent bystanders, and I wasn’t going to start with her. She was out cold, so I drove around until I thought of a place to stash her until I found out how much she knew. I wasn’t exactly a skilled kidnapper with a collection of hiding options, so I took her to the only place I could think of on such short notice—home.

  I pulled into the underground parking garage and parked close to the door leading to the service elevator. I got out of the car, walked over to the door, and opened it to make sure no one was around. The woman was stirring, not yet awake, but getting there. There was no time to waste, so I threw her over my shoulder and made my way to the service elevator. This time of night the cleaning staff and delivery men had all gone home, so the passage was empty.

  Once inside the elevator, the woman stirred again. I pressed the elevator button and counted off the numbers as it moved up steadily to my floor. I held my breath as the doors opened. I prayed that there wouldn’t be anyone on the other side; I’d had enough cock-ups for one night. The passage was clear, so I walked as fast as I could to my front door. The door across from mine opened.

  “Hello, Giani. How are you, my boy?” It was Mrs. Palmer. The old duck had no one to talk to and all day to do it. She looked quizzically at the “package” over my shoulder. “Girls these days can’t hold their liquor, can they? When I was a young girl, we would party until dawn and still have enough energy to go to work the next day.”

  “Hi, Mrs. Palmer. Yup, this one is a lightweight, I’m afraid.” I unlocked my door and walked inside. “Good night, Mrs. Palmer.”

  “Good night, sonny. Take care of your girl.”

  “I will, thanks.”

  I closed the door before the woman over my shoulder woke up and blew my cover. Mrs. Palmer wouldn’t say anything to anyone. She was used to seeing a healthy stream of ladies come and go from my apartment, so it was nothing new. Well done, Giani, you promiscuous dog, you. For once, your sex drive came in handy.

  I set the woman down on the bed in my spare room. It was the first time I had a chance to look her over. She was gorgeous. She wasn’t like the women I was used to; they all had an air of “pretty but fuckable” about them. This woman was classy. I could tell from the way she dressed, the way she wore her hair, and her overall appearance that she came from money. Her jet black hair against her milky skin caused a sudden tightness in my groin. She smelled so good. I recognized the brand of boots she had on as that of Italian quality, expensive for sure.

  What the hell was I going to do with her? Who was she? There would be plenty of time to find that out, but I had to make sure she wouldn’t put up a stink when she came to. So, I gagged her and tied her hands and feet. What a fucking nightmare.

  Chapter Three

  CELINA

  My head hurt like hell. I tried to touch it to find out why, but my hand wouldn’t move. Was I lame? No matter how hard I tried to move it, I couldn’t. My mouth felt weird too—my tongue stuck to my pallet like bugs on sticky fly paper; I tried to call out but someone had evidently stolen my voice too. What the fuck happened? I opened my eyes, slowly; the light hurt, so I blinked a few times.

  A man stood in front of me. He had the most striking blue eyes I’d ever seen. Was I in the hospital? Was he a doctor? He wasn’t dressed like a doctor—not one I’d ever seen before anyway. It didn’t smell like a hospital either. I spent enough time in one to recognize the awful smell of disinfectant and death. When my grandmother was ill with cancer, I spent many days sitting at her bedside, holding her hand and singing to her. She was a sweet woman, and I missed her very much.

  It took me a few moments before I remembered what happened. When it came back to me all at once, my heart raced. Who was this man? What did he want with me? Did he have anything to do with Victor’s accident?

  He stood over me as I tried to speak. He spoke first.

  “Just relax. If you behave yourself, I’ll take the gag out of your mouth.”

  This wasn’t good. The fact that I was gagged did not bode well for me. Shit! Why did I have to get out of my car to help Victor? That was stupid.

  “Are you going to behave?” He gave me the hairy eyeball, clearly not used to obedient kidnappees. He didn’t look like the sort to fuck with too much, so I nodded my head.

  If I was going to find out where the hell I was and why, I’d play his game. He took the gag out of my mouth and stood close to me, presumably to shut me up if I yelled out like a banshee. I held my tongue, more in fear of my head exploding than for anything he might do to me. The corners of my mouth hurt but I didn’t say a word. I
had to know him a little better before I could formulate any bright ideas of escaping.

  “Who are you?” I asked gingerly as he sat down across from me.

  “That’s not important right now. I need you to tell me what you remember.”

  “I remember someone pummeling me—I assume that was you. Didn’t your mother ever tell you only cowards beat up on women? Or are you a coward?” I knew I was asking for trouble, but I couldn’t help myself. How dare he treat me so poorly? I wasn’t some commoner off the street.

  “I’d be more careful about how you speak to me if I were you. Now, tell me what you remember.”

  I glared at him. “Not much, actually. Why don’t you enlighten me?”

  I stared defiantly at him, disdain eeking from my pores. He wouldn’t get jack shit out of me. Not until I was ready to talk.

  “What’s your name?” He was irritated.

  “None of your business. You tell me who you are, and I’ll return the favor.”

  As quick as lightning he grabbed me by my hair and yanked. He glowered at me and spoke in a threatening tone.

  “I’m not playing, bitch. Who are you?”

  “Let go of me, you bastard.’ I shook my head violently to shake him off but he tightened his grip. It felt like he was about to rip a chunk of hair out by the roots.

  He eased up a little. “I’m going to give you one more chance. Who are you?”

  I kept my mouth shut. He’d pissed me off good and proper. Now, he could speak to the hand.

  “Okay, have it your way.” He shoved the gag back into my mouth and left the room, switching off the light as he went. I was terrified. I tried to remember what the room looked like; there had to be a way out. I tried to wriggle my hands free, but he used zip ties so that wasn’t going to happen. I stopped wriggling. Son of a bitch!

  There was nothing left to do but lie on the bed, pissed off and scared. The apartment was quiet except for the TV blaring in the background. This was a fine mess. No one would know I was gone until morning. Stella would be in her own little world crunching numbers until at least lunchtime show tunes when she’d call me to ask if I was coming in or traipsing off to Europe again. I had no option but to lay back and wait.