The Dictator

by Penelope Sky

But he continued to stand there.

  “Can I help you with something?”

  He tilted his head as he examined me. “I think you’re a pain in the ass, but you’re still a beautiful pain in the ass. Maybe I should bend you over this counter and fuck you.”

  Cato wasn’t there, but I still felt protected by him. “Cato would kill you.”

  “He doesn’t give a damn about you.”

  “He’s not a monster like you. Of course he cares.”

  Without telegraphing his intentions, he grabbed the blade from the cutting board and pointed the tip right at my neck.

  I stilled when the point of the blade pressed hard against my skin. I could feel how cold the knife was. I could even feel the lime juice on it burn my skin when he slightly pierced through. “It’s very difficult to eat lunch when a knife is held at your throat.”

  “It must be more difficult with a slit throat.” He gripped the back of my head and held me still. Like an asshole, he played with his prey before he actually made the kill.

  “I’m still pregnant, asshole.”

  “Yes. It makes you think you’re invincible. Well, bitch. You aren’t.” He poked the knife harder until I started to drip blood.

  Giovanni held his position, still at the counter, and watched in horror as Bates tortured me. “Mr. Marino, I really don’t think Mr. Marino would like this.”

  Bates pressed his lips to my ear, the smile in his voice. “I don’t think he’d mind.”

  Giovanni looked at the door then eyed his supplies on the counter, obviously wanting to interfere, but he didn’t know how. Hopefully, an idea came to mind because he walked out of the kitchen in a hurry.

  And left me alone with the asshole. “Cato will hurt you for hurting me.”

  “He doesn’t care about you enough. You overestimate your value.”

  “And I think you’re blind to what’s right in front of you.” Even though it was dangerous, I threw my elbow into his gut and made him hunch forward. The knife cut me across the neck in the process, but at least I was free. I hopped off the stool and kicked him in the knee.

  This time, he was ready for me. The knife was still in his hand so he turned on me with it raised. “I was just playing games. But now, I think I will bend you over the table and fuck you—while this cold steel presses against your neck.”

  “You really don’t want to do that.” I held both hands up, ready to get my fingers chopped off as I protected my stomach.

  “No. I think I do.” He charged at me with the knife aimed at my throat.

  At that moment, Cato ran through the door with Giovanni close behind him.

  “Oh, thank god.” I dodged to the side and fell to the ground, knowing Cato would handle his brother.

  “What the hell are you doing?” Cato threw himself at his brother, punched him so hard in the face, Bates flew back against the other wall. The knife came loose, and Giovanni snatched it from the floor before he rushed to me.

  Bates chuckled from his position on the floor. “That little bitch was talking back to me. Decided to punish her.”

  “Liar!” I let Giovanni help me up. “I was eating lunch, and he held a knife to my throat and threatened to rape me.”

  Cato suddenly turned rigid, his ferocity palpable. His presence took up the entire room, along with his rage. He slowly inched toward his brother, his broad shoulders thickening as the muscles tightened. “Get to your feet so I can push you back down.”

  Bates chuckled again, like this was a game. “Come on, who cares? I was just having some fun.” He moved to his feet. “It’s not like she actually means something—”

  Cato slammed his fist hard into his brother’s face, making blood explode from his nose.

  “Fuck.” Bates stumbled back against the wall. “Fine, I deserved that. But I couldn’t help it—”

  Cato hit him again. “Don’t touch her again. I mean it.”

  Bates’s face dripped with so much blood, he was hardly recognizable.

  Cato walked to Giovanni and snatched the knife out of his hand. “You did that to her?”

  He must have seen the blood dripping down my neck. He’d examined the situation so quickly it was almost impossible to believe he could be that fast.

  Bates squeezed his forefinger and thumb together. “It’s just a little tiny slice—”

  Cato snatched his arm and sliced him down the forearm, cutting through his expensive suit and making him bleed.

  “Shit!” He yanked his arm back and gripped the wound. “Come on, that was my favorite suit.” He made a joke like this was funny, but he gritted his teeth with pain.

  “Touch her again, and I’ll kill you. Do you understand me?”

  “Until she has your baby. Got it.”

  “Not even then.” Cato didn’t raise his voice, but it seemed like he was yelling. “I mean it, Bates. I understand you don’t like her or respect her, but if you like or respect me, then you’ll listen to me. That woman is carrying my child, and I will do everything necessary to protect her. So fuck with me, and I’ll put you in the ground. Alright?”

  Blood dripped from Bates’s arm and onto the ground. It got all over his hand as he kept pressure on the wound. “Yeah, whatever.” He moved to get around Cato.

  Cato got in his way. “That’s not good enough. Do you understand me?”

  Bates rolled his eyes. “Yes…I understand you. Now if you’ll excuse me, I gotta take care of this.”

  This time, Cato let him pass.

  Bates walked out.

  Cato watched his brother go before he walked over to me. “Fuck, this looks bad. You’ve got blood all over your neck.”

  “It’s not as bad as it looks,” I said honestly. “It feels like a paper cut.”

  “I should take you to the doctor.” He grabbed a towel and wiped away the red blood that had smeared all over my neck. When he’d cleaned most of it away, he held the towel over the small incision.

  “Really, I’m fine. It doesn’t even hurt.” I didn’t just say that to be brave. It was a small injury, nothing I wouldn’t recover from. It wouldn’t even leave a scar. “And I’m sure the baby is fine. The whole thing lasted less than five minutes.”

  Cato pulled the towel away to see if it was still bleeding. “Looks like it’s stopped.”

  “See?” I said in relief.

  Giovanni grabbed a bandage from the first aid kit and handed it to Cato. “Sir, I have to tell you that Miss Siena was provoked. The two of us were just talking when Mr. Marino came inside and turned hostile.”

  Cato placed the bandage across my neck. “Don’t worry, Giovanni. I know my brother better than you do.”

  “And he threatened to rape me—twice.” I could deal with being knocked around a bit, but being threatened like that bothered me the most. It was barbaric and made me think of Damien—the man I hated the most.

  Cato met my gaze, the rage entering his expression. “He did?”

  “Yes,” Giovanni said. “Said he would bend her over the counter.”

  Cato’s nostrils flared like an enraged bull. “I’ll handle him. Don’t worry about it.”

  “I’m not.” There was no doubt in my mind that Cato would take care of me. He would never let his brother hurt me—and not just because I carried his child.

  “You’re sure you’re alright?” he asked. “I know you like to act tough, but you don’t need to do that with me.”

  “I’m fine, Cato. I got some good hits in.” When I looked down at my shirt, I saw the bloodstains had ruined my blouse. Even though my injury was small, I really looked like something worse had happened. “I should probably take a shower and get rid of these clothes.” I walked away from the two men and exited the kitchen.

  Cato started speaking once I was gone. “I don’t know what to do about him…”

  “You better do something,” Giovanni said. “Because Miss Siena deserves better.”

  “Didn’t know you were so fond of her.”

  Giovanni was
quiet for a while. “She’s the best thing that’s walked into this house in a long time.”

  I stood under the warm water in the shower and tried to forget what had happened. If I’d had a gun, I would have hit him right between the eyes because I was an amazing shot. I could lock on to my targets within two seconds and hit the mark. My father and brother always told me I had a knack for it, regardless of the distance to the target or how quickly it moved. If I’d been armed, I wouldn’t have missed.

  I’d survived worse, but I knew Bates was a real problem. Maybe Cato could forgive me in time, but Bates never would. He saw me as a traitor and a nuisance, and the second my baby was born, he’d want to get rid of me. If Cato couldn’t pull the trigger, Bates would make it happen. I believed Cato wouldn’t hurt me, even though he’d pledged he would.

  But Bates was a whole other story.

  If Cato hadn’t stopped him, Bates might have beaten me to death.

  The sound of the running water cleared my thoughts. The steam kept my skin warm, and it was easy to forget about the nightmare that had just taken place. But remembering what Giovanni had said about me made me smile.

  Such a sweet man.

  I rubbed soap over my stomach and thought I felt a subtle change in my belly. It’d only been a few months since I’d gotten pregnant, but my fingers detected a slight curve to my stomach. I looked forward to the moment when I really started to show, when I could really feel my baby inside me. I would finally get to know them, to share every moment with them.

  The door opened and Cato stepped inside, tall, buck naked, and sexy. His blue eyes took in my figure and the way I lathered soap against my stomach. He joined me and shut the door behind him.

  His fair skin had a slight tan, like he ran shirtless outside in the morning. I’d never witnessed him work out, but he obviously did if he looked like that—like the sexiest man in the world. Just his arms alone were enough to get me off. So muscular and ripped at the same time. His lats were perfect, like two walls that hugged his spine. Only a man committed to physical perfection could look like that.

  My hands slicked my wet hair out of my face as I moved over to share the hot water with him.

  He stepped under the steam and let the drops lick his body. His narrow hips had a dramatic V in the front because the tightness of his abs was remarkable. Farther down, his limp cock led to a well-groomed sac. He kept his package manicured, which made it easy for me to suck him off often. He tilted his head and let the water soak his short hair.

  My nipples started to harden the longer I stayed out of the water. The humid air was warm but not as comfortable as that hot water.

  Cato looked at me as the water hit his shoulder, his blue eyes staring at my hard nipples. I’d just been assaulted, but his mind always went to sex.

  “You’re hogging the water.”

  “There’s room for both of us.” He positioned me tight against his body so we could feel the water dribble over our skin. His hands rested around my hips, but they slowly made their way down to my ass cheeks. He squeezed them both in his big hands.

  “It’s the middle of the day. I’m surprised you don’t have work.”

  He shook his head slightly. “I work when I feel like it. And right now, I don’t feel like it.”

  “Because you’re worried about me.” I couldn’t picture this man ever hurting me, not after the protective things he’d done. He always seemed to be my savior rather than my tormentor. As much as he wanted to make me disappear, he knew he would be miserable without me.

  He didn’t confirm it or deny it.

  “I’m fine, Cato. Really. I’ve been through worse.”

  His eyes moved to the wound at my shoulder, the scar I would carry for the rest of my life. “Bates is complicated. He comes off as a violent psychopath, but he’s just—”

  “Trying to protect you. I understand.”

  “He doesn’t go around raping and beating women.”

  “I figured. When you’re handsome and rich, you don’t really need to rape anyone…”

  “He sees you as a threat to me, someone who hurt me and disrespected me. I brush things off better than he does. With him, he just can’t let things go.” Cato was definitely the pragmatic one of the two. He described his brother with astute observation, speaking about him without rage in his tone. “I’m not justifying his behavior. But that’s how he feels.”

  “I get it. But when the day comes you’re supposed to execute me, watch him. If you don’t pull the trigger, he will. If you don’t want that to happen…I suggest you be prepared.” I turned my head into the water so I could rinse out my conditioner. Bates was definitely the adversary I needed to be wary of, not Cato.

  Cato didn’t respond to that.

  “How does your mother feel about all of this?” He hadn’t mentioned her in a long time. “Have you told her?”

  “I told her a few nights ago. Actually, Bates told her. I still owe him another punch for that.”

  “And what did she say?”

  “She was happy. Excited to be a grandmother.” He obviously had no intention of washing his hair or soaping his body. He just stood under the water with me, enjoying the comfort that surrounded us both.

  “Really?” I asked in surprise. “What does she know about us, exactly?”

  “Mostly the truth. We’re having a baby together, but we aren’t together.”

  “And that didn’t make her angry?”

  “She would prefer we were a family. But no, she’s not angry about it. I’m a thirty-year-old man, so it would be ridiculous if she threw a fit. I think she’s just excited that I’m starting a family. She wants me to settle down. She says I work too much and thinks I let life pass me by.”

  “You do work too much.”

  The corner of his mouth rose in a smile. “I think she’s going to like you.”

  “I would hope so. I’m carrying her grandchild.”

  “She wants to meet you. I tried stalling for some time, but my mother can be aggressive.”

  “Well…now we know where Bates gets it from,” I teased.

  Just like he did before everything went to shit, he smiled slightly. It was a charming look on him, a hint of happiness that he never showed outside the two of us. To the rest of the world, he was always deadly serious. “Strong men come from strong women. And she’s one of the strongest women I’ve ever known.”

  “And who are the others?” I asked, genuinely curious to know what other women he admired. It seemed like he only liked to screw dumb bimbos who wanted to suck his dick for money.

  His hands glided up my body, past my stomach and to the area right below my rib cage. His thumbs pressed against the center of my stomach while his remaining fingers dug into my back. “Just one woman. You.”

  My lungs immediately sucked in a breath, making the area below my ribs rise against his fingertips in response. His thumbs pressed harder into me, hitting me in the sternum. This man said the most unexpected things, sweet things that contradicted his cold nature. That made everything he said much more potent because it was sincere. He spoke the truth no matter how hurtful it was, so when he gave a compliment, it was that much more meaningful. I moved into his chest and kissed his skin at the top of his sternum, the place where my lips naturally landed, given his height.

  His arms wrapped around my waist, and he rested his chin on my head, holding me under the warm water.

  This was what I missed most of all, those nights when he held me. Having a strong man in my bed became the best part of my life. The sheets always smelled like him, and he radiated such heat that I never got cold. I never worried about someone stepping inside the house because he chased everyone else away. Maybe he might kill me someday, but being by his side was also the safest place in the world.

  His hand moved up the back of my neck and underneath my wet hair. “I promise I won’t let anything happen to either one of you. I let my guard down when I shouldn’t have, but it won’t happen again.” />
  Never in my life had I felt so safe. The second my mother was gone, I slept with one eye open. I used to think my father was powerful enough to protect our family, but then I realized he was the problem. I went on my own path, but I slept with a gun under my mattress. I constantly looked over my shoulder to see who was following me. But with Cato, I stopped worrying about that. If there was any man in the world who could keep me safe, it was him. “I know.”

  We hadn’t had sex in a week.

  The last time we did was when he fucked me in the ass. It hurt for three days before it returned to normal. I didn’t think it would be that big of a deal, but since Cato had such a huge dick, it was definitely a big deal.

  I still had a scratch on my neck from the knife. With every passing day, it became less visible, but the scar was still fresh enough to be seen with the naked eye. Bates hadn’t returned to the house since that horrid afternoon.

  And Cato didn’t touch me.

  It was the last week of summer before fall officially started. I didn’t mind the fall because the temperature was mild and the colors became brilliantly beautiful, but I hated winter. It was so damn cold, my bones ached. Good thing this place had much better heating than my old house.

  I was looking up different cribs on my phone when Cato entered my bedroom. I sat on the couch with my back to him, but since no one else ever stepped inside without knocking, I knew it was him. “I’m looking up stuff for the baby.”

  He came up behind me and looked at the screen. “That’s a girly crib.”

  “Which is fine because we’re having a girl.”

  “What makes you so sure?” He took the seat beside me. I had my back against the armrest with my feet stretched out over the cushions, so he lifted my legs and placed them on his lap. He was in his sweatpants without a shirt, the signature outfit he wore late in the evening before bed.

  “A mother’s instinct.”

  “You’re barely pregnant.”

  “Doesn’t matter. I just know.”

  He rested one hand around my ankle while his other arm lay over the back of the couch. “Even if it’s a girl, that crib is way too girly. I’m not raising a spoiled princess.”