Chapter Fifteen
Aria
“It was so dark, like a hidden labyrinth of death,” I whisper, rubbing the sides of my head as if I needed to focus to let the horrifying memories swell into my consciousness. Like I didn’t see the scene every time I closed my eyes at night. Like it didn’t haunt me every second of every day since I witnessed it. “The air was stale and thick and there were girls everywhere. Some lay on the floor along the hallways, whimpering and praying. Some lay on mattresses in rooms on each side of the hallway. There were so many of them. Some cried, some screamed, some were too drugged out to even move. I’ll never forget their eyes. They were glassy and vacant. Hopeless.” My shoulders quake as the images ripple through my mind. I want to shut them out, I want to bury them down deep forever and never remember the screams, the blood, the desperation, and the fear. “I couldn’t believe what I was seeing and my only thought was that I needed to get help. I had to save them.”
“What happened?” Vince asks, his jaw tight. I can see his struggle to remain somewhat calm. Looks like a losing battle. I’m fighting the same one myself.
“Nobody expected me to ever find that place. It was an accident that I ever did.” I take a deep breath. “And before I could make a move to help any of the girls, I saw my uncle in one of the rooms. He was naked from the waist down, having rough sex with one of the girls. She’d been one of the pregnant ones, and he was so violent.” A shudder makes my body tremble. “I grabbed a lamp and ran up to him, but before I could crack it against his skull, he stopped and leaped at me. He turned into a complete lunatic, throwing me against the wall and choking me until I was sure he was going to kill me. I remember not being able to breathe, thinking it was the end for us all. And then he let go, threw me on the bed, and—and—" The words trail off at that point because they don’t need to be said. Vince already knows. It’s why he pounds his fist into the wall of the house with a guttural roar.
“So, he…?” Vince looks at me.
I nod, tears spilling down my cheeks. “He threatened me, just like my father always had. Said if I told anyone anything, he’d kill me and my mother. I didn’t even care about myself at that point, but I knew if I didn’t play it smart, the unspeakable torture they’d unleash on my mother would destroy me. She’d already suffered enough. So he continued to take me down there and abuse me any time he wanted to make it clear to me that I was being watched, and one false move would destroy everything I loved.”
“How did you escape?” He swipes away the tears streaming down my face and gets me a bottle of water.
I twist off the cap and take a long gulp. “I made a plan for us to leave Croatia. I knew the only way we’d get out without being caught was to distract my father and my uncle, to expose everything they did in their sex den. I had to save those girls so I could save myself and Mama. So I did. I helped them get away. And then I torched the place.”
“So badass,” he murmurs.
“I didn’t feel that way. And I was so scared I’d screw something up and that we’d get caught. But we didn’t. We got out and came over here. I thought we were finally free, but my father and his goons found us. They knew we’d run straight to Paolo. He was all the family Mama had left. That’s why I didn’t want to go to him in the first place. I didn’t want to bring that to his doorstep, especially with Mama being gone.” I take a deep breath. “It was worse than any hell you could imagine, Vince. And my uncle…he’s going to come back for me. He hates me as much as my father did. And I can’t keep looking over my shoulder, waiting for the day he finds me.” I grasp his hands, desperation creeping into my voice. I hate that it gives me away, making me sound weak and panicked. Merely rehashing my sordid past makes my terror level rocket.
“You’re so strong,” he says, his fingers tangling in my hair as he gently massages the back of my very tense neck. “Aria, trust me, I know better than anyone that we all have our own demons, but you can’t let them rule you forever. You’ve gotta make peace with them or they’ll destroy you.”
I know this is my battle to fight, but I can’t do it alone. I need help, strength. And Vince has resources. He knows people. Paolo is already in the line of fire by association. There’s no way he can get to Nikola without backlash blowing all over his family.
But Vince doesn’t have the same involvement.
Or the same risks.
I know he’s worried about his family, but Nikola wouldn’t care about them.
He wants me — to punish me, to hurt me, to get his revenge on me.
And once I get a location on him, then I can finish this once and for all. I can finally move on and leave those demons behind.
“Is that what you’ve done?” I snip, my throat tight.
He furrows his brow and his gaze hardens. “I do the best I can, but I’m still a work in progress,” he mutters, maybe a little too defensively. But can I blame him? I know I struck a nerve with my own harsh tone. “At least I stick to my plans and my priorities as much as possible, just like I told you before.” He walks past me, his spine stiff. With a swift motion, he opens the oven doors and pulls out the steaming trays, setting them on the granite to cool.
“I know.” I press a hand to my forehead. “I shouldn’t have snapped like that. It just scares me that the threat is still out there.”
“I get it,” he says, his back to me once again as he pulls out some plates and forks. “But you have plenty of people who are looking out for you.”
He’s not biting at all. Stupid me. Did I really think he was just going to fall at my feet and beg his undying devotion to me just because I rode his cock? I swallow my next words and bottle up my frustration. He’s made it painfully clear that his priorities are the people who share his name.
Period.
I’m just a warm body to fuck.
I chew on the inside of my mouth as he dishes out the food and brings the plates over to the table. The conversation is clearly over, and if I have a brain in my head, I’ll take the hint, eat something, and maybe come up with a different type of temptation, one that he won’t be so quick to dismiss.
I glance at him from under my eyelashes. He is quite possibly the most gorgeous man I’ve ever laid eyes on, but my God, I want so badly to smash in his beautiful jaw right now. Either he can’t see the inner turmoil festering in my brain, or he just doesn’t want to acknowledge it.
I expel a sharp breath and join him at the table. My stomach clenches at the sight of all the food, but I shovel in a few bites, trying to smooth over the grit I’ve just sprinkled all over the place, ruining the energy we just created only moments earlier.
And what blissful energy it was.
My foot creeps over toward his and I tickle his toe with mine until he cracks a smile. Vince Marcone isn’t the type of guy who likes to be questioned, and stupid me didn’t get the memo in time. I won’t get him to help me if I act like a crazy bitch. He shuts down when my alter ego comes around.
I need him happy.
Relaxed.
Euphoric.
And sated.
That’s when I’ll get him.
Chapter Sixteen
Vincenzo
I push through the surf, my arms propelling me farther into the deep blue water. Moonlight dances along the tops of the waves, the only light I have out here. My heart pounds as the strokes get faster, my legs kicking furiously to keep up. I take a deep breath before dipping my head into the water, muting all of the voices in my head. They’re finally quiet because I’ve drowned them out.
Literally.
And it’s about fucking time.
My heart pounds against my chest as my strokes get bigger and my body moves faster through the choppy water. It’s probably not my smartest move, coming out for a swim alone in the dark, but I need a minute to figure out what the hell just happened with Aria back at the pool house, what really happened to make her come running back to me, her arch-nemesis.
And of course, how we ended up in be
d together.
I stop in the middle of the sea, treading water and staring up at the sky.
Yeah, that.
I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t the hottest sex I’ve ever had.
But I never thought I’d see the day when she’d open those legs for me.
I was sure I’d see her swing a machete at my head…or my cock…way before that ever happened. Until she showed up at the restaurant looking to make amends instead of hurl more insults.
Something between us shifted today, and it was completely unexpected.
She let me in.
And damn, I didn’t realize how badly I’d wanted her to open that door.
Being inside doesn’t close the book on our past, though.
She’s still holding back. I can sense it…feel it.
I don’t like it at all.
Everything I’m doing right now is bad for my future and the future of my family. Sleeping with her, bringing her out here, associating myself with her…it exposes all of us. And the worst part is that nobody knows. Sure, they’ve all asked, the nosy fucks that they are. But my brothers and sister know nothing about that night, nothing about what happened to Uncle Sil by Aria’s hand, and they sure as hell know nothing about her being here with me now.
Naked for the better part of the day.
My feet finally hit the sand, my toes curling as I stagger to shore after my grueling workout. I collapse onto the sand, stretching out on the large towel I left before diving into the water. I scrub my hands down the front of my face, muffling the grunt of frustration that makes its way out of my mouth.
I should be with my family right now.
I should be cleaning up the cartel mess right now.
I should be doing a million other things right now, focused on a million other things right now.
Like preserving my life and our legacy.
But my dick is singing a very different tune. It has no interest in things like legacies or livelihoods.
Its needs are simple, its desires very apparent by the way it strains against my board shorts.
It wants Aria.
I grit my teeth.
So do I.
But she’s broken.
Desperate.
Alone.
Her past, her issues — none of it gives her the right to pass judgment.
I fist my hair. Challenging me about how I handle my shit? Like I invite the goddamn demons over for espresso and cannoli because I can’t figure out how the fuck to end them once and for all?
As much as she tries to hide it, I can see through her like she’s a clean window.
She thinks I’m just like her.
Desperate for control and power to make up for where and whom I’ve failed.
Maybe that’s what pisses me off the most.
Because deep down, I know she’s right.
I expel a sharp breath, the cool night air prickling my skin.
And what’s worse is that I’m falling for her.
Playing right into the hands of the goddamn devil.
There’s no way I come out of this whole thing unscathed.
I shouldn’t have brought her here.
Her presence only drags me deeper into a deadly quicksand that I’ll never claw my way out of.
Power and control?
I have none right now.
Dangerous and reckless emotions have me caught in a vise, and if I don’t escape now, it’ll crush me into oblivion.
Me and everyone I love.
I’ll call Paolo. She needs to go, now, before I can do any more damage to what I’ve tried so hard to rebuild after Pop.
I drag myself off the sand, pulling myself up to a standing position. My muscles ache, but my mind works in overdrive trying to figure out the next move.
For all the good I’ve done for my family, I’ve made a shit-ton of mistakes, the most deadly one being my partnership with Juan Salazar. And because of that, because I jumped into bed with him, I opened myself and my family up to attack. It was because of me that Tommy’s place was shot up today — my need for control over every fucking thing in my life. It was me who teamed up with Paolo and ended up tumbling into his extended family cesspool. And it was me who killed one of the most notorious sex traffickers in Europe out of pure rage, putting my head, and the heads of my family members, on a silver platter for whoever might show up to avenge his death.
Aria’s right.
I didn’t just invite the demons in for dessert.
I let them butt-fuck me without lube.
It doesn’t feel great.
And I’m still damn sore.
I stagger toward the pool house, running a hand through my wet hair. I just want to collapse on the bed and let sleep numb the toxic thoughts plaguing my mind.
I need to break whatever the hell ties are binding me to this woman, whether I can explain them or not. I know what happens when emotions run rampant, and if I have any hope of regaining some sliver of control over my life, I need to squash them.
I pull open the door, padding across the tile floor. I can hear a din from the television in the bedroom where I left Aria before my bout with self-imposed swim torture. I told her I needed to clear my head, and now I’m back with one that’s more cluttered and clogged than ever.
I bypass the bedroom, heading straight into the bathroom. Maybe if I let scalding hot water rush over my body, it’ll melt away some of the lingering anger about how I let myself get to this point, as well as the fear that I’ll never escape.
Twenty minutes later, my skin is bright red and my body is drained.
But the cloud hanging over me never dissipates.
Maybe it never will.
It never did for Pop.
The curse of being a Marcone, I guess.
I grab a towel and wrap it around my waist, straining my ears to hear any movement in the bedroom. Still, it’s only white noise from the television that greets my ears. I walk into the dimly lit room and pick up the remote, flipping off the television before turning toward the bed.
Aria’s body is wrapped around a body pillow, the sweatshirt riding up to expose her ass. God, that ass. I want to sink so deep into it, to feel her pussy quiver at my touch while I bend her over the bed—
My dick hardens beneath the plush towel and I grit my teeth, squeezing my eyes shut for a second.
Fuck! This is why I fell into the goddamn rabbit hole in the first place.
And that perfect pink pussy rubbing against the pillow is why I’m doomed to stay buried at the bottom forever unless I get a grip on myself and my wayward cock.
She stirs, letting out a tiny moan as her eyes flutter open. They blink fast, as if she’s trying to remember where she is and why she’s here. A slow smile lifts her lips and she whispers, “Hey.”
“Hey,” I reply, not moving any closer.
I know what can happen if I do.
What will happen.
“What time is it?” she asks in a sleepy voice, shifting so that her sweatshirt now covers the parts of her that can get me in a lot more trouble than I’m already in.
“About nine at night,” I say, walking over to the window overlooking the sea.
Aria sits up in the bed, quiet for a minute. My back tenses, the silence deafening. “How was your swim?”
I shrug. “Wet.” I glance back to see a smile lift her lips and my resolve falters.
No. Scratch that.
It doesn’t just falter.
It’s completely deserted me.
“Vince, look, I—”
“You commented on something you don’t understand, something you can’t possibly relate to,” I say, my voice low and tight. “I get that you’re hurting, but you don’t have the right to judge me. You’ve gotten tiny glimpses into what I deal with every day, what I need to protect and defend, and who I need to battle in order to win the war.”
“All I was saying is that you should practice what you preach,” she says, sliding toward the edge of
the bed. “You’ve been in this war for a long time and mine only just started, but the end result is the same. The baggage we carry will bury us if we don’t burn it to the ground first.”
“You think I haven’t tried?” I growl, stepping toward her. “You think I want to carry this shit with me, day after day? The luggage cart gets heavier and heavier, Aria, and I don’t have a fucking porter to follow me around constantly. I can’t rely on anyone to do that work for me. It’s my burden to handle, mine to carry!”
“And you think that letting it all pile up is the answer? You think shoving the past into a box is going to erase it from being?”
“Keeping it boxed up means it can’t hurt anyone. That’s my answer,” I say, my fists tight against my sides. And my cock is stiffer than an iron rod right now. Go figure. Traitorous bastard that he is.
She stands up and rubs her hands down the sides of my arms. “I didn’t mean to judge you. I just wanted you to understand why I can’t just bury my head in the sand.”
I take in a sharp breath. “And you’re implying that’s what I do? Bury my head in the fucking sand?”
She narrows her eyes. “I think you’re getting a little defensive.”
“I think I have good reason.”
My chest is right against her, my fingers tingling with the uncontrollable urge to rip that sweatshirt off of her body. With a throbbing pulse, I hiss into her ear. “I don’t like it when outsiders make comments about the way I do things…things that are none of their goddamn business.”
“So now I’m an outsider? I thought you said I was family,” she murmurs, her hands toying with the towel locked around my waist.
Fallen: A Dark Italian Mafia Romance (Men of Mayhem Book 4) Page 14