by Sam Crescent
“Your father?”
“My father wouldn’t intervene if I chained you in the basement, keeping you spread and ready for my dick, or locked up. So long as you ate and were physically capable of having a baby, he doesn’t care how I get the deed done. Your life belongs to me. No one, not even your family, cares what happens to you now. They’ve already paid for their sins, and this is them. Do you want to test me?”
She wanted to, but looking into his eyes, she knew he’d do it. He’d keep her locked up, and this was already bad enough.
“Please,” she said.
“Please what?”
“Please, let me keep my dog. He’s never been in any pen, and I don’t see why keeping him will be so hard. He’s a good boy.”
“I’ll be the judge of that. He doesn’t sleep in our room, and if he makes one bad move, he’ll be outside for the rest of his life.”
****
“I didn’t expect a visit so soon,” Marcus said, leading his father into his office. He already ordered the maid to get them a hot drink. His father sat down on the sofa, and he leaned against his desk.
Having time off was … exhausting.
Marcus wasn’t used to doing nothing, and right now, he was avoiding his wife. Lucas was inside his home at his request, and the dog spent time between him and Laura. He wondered if his wife knew of her dog’s lack of loyalty. If Lucas had been a guard, he’d have killed him.
As it was, having Lucas around gave him an easy way of finding Laura. For most of the day, she’d been in the library, reading one of those romantic books that had been put there.
“I wanted to see how you were adapting to married life.”
“Laura is alive and well.”
“When you’re given an order, I expect you to fulfill it. I cannot have you failing me now.”
“The Davis fortune will be back with The Boss.”
“The only way to guarantee it is with a son. We need a son, Marcus.”
“I cannot control what she gets when I knock her up. You know that. Laura has always been volatile.”
“She’s a woman. All you have to do is let her know who owns her.”
Marcus laughed. “You mean beat her into submission.”
“Every woman I’ve encountered doesn’t like pain and will do whatever it takes to avoid it. If she doesn’t like pain, use it to get what you want. She’s your wife, take it. She has no say in the matter.”
Marcus stared at his father, and for a long time, he’d always respected the man. “I know what you’re trying to say without using the words, but I’m not going to do it.”
“You’re disobeying me.”
“Women don’t like pain. A lot of people don’t like pain. We’ve been trained not to react to it. To take it and to push it to one side so we don’t break under the power of it. You need kids from Laura. More specifically we need a son. If I hurt her, push her past a limit, break her … some women don’t always become subservient out of fear. They take their own life, and seeing as you dealt with her mother, you’d have to wait for someone else to take the fortune and a new daughter.”
“You believe Laura to be too weak.”
“I believe every single person has a breaking point. It only is matter of time before it snaps. If that is all you’ve come to talk to me about, I’m doing my duty. Laura will be pregnant soon, but I won’t risk her taking her life in the name of violence.”
He could have easily hit her, hurt her, and punished her, but there were more ways to get what he wanted.
What he would never do was tell his father the real reason he wouldn’t hit Laura. The last thing he wanted was for his wife to cower away from him out of fear.
“Then my job here is done. We look forward to your progress.”
“I want one of the pups like we discussed,” Marcus said.
“I will have it delivered to you right away.”
They left his office, and he stopped when he caught sight of Laura. She was coming downstairs, and he saw how her grip tightened on the rail.
“Laura, you look stunning,” his father said, the lie falling from his lips. Laura was dressed in sweats and a shirt two sizes too big. She hadn’t changed from her walk, and his father was used to women trying to look their best around him. Laura had never been the kind of woman to impress a man.
“Hello, Mr. Giovanni. I wasn’t aware we had company.”
“I’m just leaving.” He gave Marcus a pointed look and left. The door closed.
Without a word to Laura, Marcus turned on his heel and made his way back into his office.
Picking up his bottle of whiskey, he poured himself a generous glass as Laura entered his office.
“Why was he here?” she asked.
He lifted the glass and took a large gulp, staring at her.
“You’re not going to tell me.”
“You don’t need to know the answer. I reserve the right to not tell you.” It was none of her business, and it wasn’t important for her to know. “Care for a drink?”
“It’s not even lunchtime.”
“And do you really care what time it is and when we have a drink or not?” He raised his brow, watching her.
“What did he say?”
He smirked. “Have a drink and I’ll tell you.”
Her gaze drifted down his body, but there was no look of disgust on her face. She liked what she saw, and he didn’t have a problem with her checking him out.
“Come on, Laura, have you always done as you’re told, or do you still like looking in doorways to see me getting off?”
“I didn’t look to see that.”
“Keep telling yourself that, you may just believe it.”
“Why are you insistent on believing I like watching you?”
“You’ve always been there at the most unfortunate of times.”
“Do you remember any of the women you sleep with?” Laura asked.
“None of them were important. You wouldn’t understand. Being a virgin and all, you don’t know what it means to have needs. You’re too prim and proper to take a good, hard fucking when you need it. The women, they weren’t important. Taking care of my dick, that was important.” He didn’t know why he was pushing her.
They never talked about what she’d seen or the threats he’d given her.
She stepped over to him, taking the glass of whiskey and sipping at it. “Tell me.”
“I said to have a glass, not take a pathetic sip. Your dog could do better than that.”
She stared down at the dark amber liquid, and drank deeply from it, drinking it all down before handing him the glass.
Tears filled her eyes as the burn, and he was a little turned on.
“There, tell me.”
He put the glass down, cupping her face and tilting her head back. Staring into her eyes, he was mesmerized by them. She really was a beautiful woman when he actually took the time to look at her. Her brown hair was long, glossy, and he loved how it fanned out across his pillow. Her eyes were so dark and brown, but they were an open book. He knew what she was thinking and feeling, and it wasn’t hard to guess, not with how she licked her lips, and the flush rushing up her body. His woman was aroused, and it turned him on to know he was the cause. Of course he was the cause—who else would be?
As he ran his thumb across her lips, she opened her mouth just a little and gave a little gasp.
“He wanted to make sure I was fucking you, Laura. He wants this baby so much, and he wanted me to be between your legs as many times as possible.”
He leaned down, dropping a kiss to her lips, taking the kiss he craved.
She gave into him easily, moaning as she wrapped her arms around his neck. Her fingers sank into his hair, holding him close, but he wasn’t going to fuck her in his office, now. Even as his dick hardened at the feel of her close to him, and knowing he could take her, he pulled away.
This need wasn’t going to go away with a cold shower.
“Where are y
ou going?” she asked.
He turned to look at her, seeing the question in her eyes. “You’d have to take another drink to know that answer, and I’ve got a feeling you haven’t got what it takes.” Leaving her alone, he made his way back to his basement and began to press weights again. This attraction he had with Laura was a welcome relief, but at the same time, he didn’t like it. This gave her power, and he didn’t want any woman to have any kind of hold on him. Once his family had the son they wanted, she could stay here, and he’d go back to living his life and never having to go near her.
After he’d done his duty, his father could do with her as he wished, but until then, he needed to get control of himself.
Chapter Seven
Four years ago
Marcus cleaned the blood from his hands and removed his clothing where they would be destroyed. He’d been with his father when he got the word there were three rats attempting to sell their secrets to the cops. It had been up to him and his father to remove the problem. Three men, and two cops, along with two civilians had been killed. For Marcus, it was the bloodiest night of his life, and he doubted it would be his last.
What made it even more crazy was he didn’t give a flying fuck. During his first kill—so many years ago, it felt like a lifetime—he’d had a smidgen of regret. He’d cared about what he’d done. As the years had gone slowly by, and with each kill, he had felt his emotions shatter until tonight, where he didn’t feel a thing. There was no guilt, no anger, not even contempt for the people who had planned to wrong them.
His father had told him many times how it would get easier. He’d never opened up to him about his feelings. No one ever did.
With the blood gone, he got out of the shower, changed, and made his way out of his home. He had to find a woman, to fuck someone, to get this feeling out of him. He had to feel something.
Entering the city, he parked his car and walked across the road, going to the nightclub but stopped when he heard a feminine scream.
In a weird part of his brain, he recognized the sound of that scream.
The call of the nightclub and the pussy he’d get was strong, but he couldn’t ignore the scream.
He walked toward the sound, finding himself at the entrance to an alleyway. It was dark, but he saw one man, holding a woman who was trying to fight. His hand was across her face, and as she turned, he knew exactly who it was.
Drawing out his blade, Marcus approached.
“Hold still. This won’t hurt at all. Damn, you’ve got some nice tits on you.”
He grabbed the man’s hair, yanking it back and sliding the blade across his neck, and shoving him to the ground.
Laura let out a cry, her hand covering her own mouth this time as she looked up at him.
“What the fuck are you doing here?”
“I was walking home.”
“In the dark?”
“I was at the library. You killed him.”
He slammed her up against the wall, putting a hand over her mouth. Tears were falling down her face, and she looked terrified. “You will keep your fucking mouth shut.” Pulling out his cell phone, he dialed his father and organized a cleaning crew. Once he was done, he put his cell phone away and stared at his other problem, and Laura was indeed a problem. “That fucker was going to rape you.”
“What about the cops?”
He held her arm tightly and marched her out of the alley, just as the cleaning crew arrived. She tried to fight him, but she knew better than to scream for help.
Shoving her into the car, he buckled her seatbelt. “Try anything funny, and you’ll end up like that bastard.”
Slamming the door closed, he rounded his vehicle. The call of pussy muted as he thought about Laura.
She was enough of a distraction for him.
****
Laura stared at the basement door, thinking about the one time she had seen Marcus kill for her. She didn’t know why the memory appeared. For a long time, she’d had nightmares about the man in the alley, but always, Marcus was there to save her. She didn’t know why he had, or why he’d spent the night with her.
It was the one and only time she’d seen in one of his penthouse suites within the city. He’d called her father, explained what happened, and then he’d ordered her around once again, telling her how important it was to keep secrets.
She didn’t need the pep talk or the long explanation of why she had to keep quiet. After he’d taken her home, she tried to put the event in the back of her mind, and she’d succeeded for a long time. Being around him, seeing the violence simmering beneath the surface, the man who’d killed was still there, would always be there. What scared her the most was she didn’t care. She knew who they all were, and her father, many times, had told her never to speak about them or their association.
This marriage, he wanted something out of it. For his father to be paying a visit, she knew it was important but didn’t know exactly why.
Putting her hand to the door, she pushed it open and stepped through.
Walking downstairs, she stopped, watching him as he attacked a punching bag. His suit was gone, and she saw it neatly folded in the corner on a chair. His large, muscular body was on full display for her to admire. She sat down and waited, not wanting to interrupt his fighting. His body was heavily inked, but with how fast he moved around the bag, she couldn’t make out the ink.
“What are you doing here?” he asked.
“I don’t know.” It was the truth.
He stopped punching, grabbing the bag and staring at her.
His sharp blue eyes were intense as they watched her.
“Do you like hitting bags?”
“It takes the edge off.”
“Do you need to do it often?” she asked.
“I normally fuck.” He hit the bag again. For the first time since they’d been together, Laura felt the first spark of jealousy. Never had she felt anything but hatred when it came to this man in front of her.
Staring down his body, she didn’t like that anger at another woman feeling him, knowing his touch, liking his cock sliding into her.
“You’ve never hidden anything from me,” she said.
He stopped hitting the bag. “Your point?”
“The women in your world, they’re not allowed to know the kinds of things you’ve told me.”
“You’ve got that right. Their place is doing as they’re told, and you would fail to do that at every single turn.” He wiped his forehead with the back of his hand.
“Why do you treat me differently?”
“You want to have a little heart to heart?”
“I want to understand.” She was starting to regret going to see him. This was pointless if all he wanted to do was argue. If she wanted to argue, she could have waited for him to be in a well-dressed state.
He hit the bag a couple more times before stepping back. “You want to understand?”
“Yes.”
“You’ve never been brought up to be like other women, have you? Your mother didn’t spend her entire life telling you how you should conform or do as you’re told.”
“No.”
“Then that’s why I treat you differently. You’re not one of them, and you’ll never be one of them. You think if I was to talk about fucking, my cock, their pussy, they’d react the way you do?” He walked around the punching back. “Like now, I know you didn’t come down here to ask me about why I treat you differently. The truth is, you couldn’t give a fuck. You think I don’t know a woman aroused when I see one?”
“You think this is because I’m aroused?”
“You’re not denying it.”
“I was trying to have a normal conversation with you, and you’re turning this into—”
“Shut up.”
He didn’t yell or raise his voice. It was two simple words, spoken as if they didn’t have a single meaning, and she guessed for him, they didn’t. Why would they have any meaning? There was no significance to them.<
br />
“I’m not turning this into anything. Tell me, Laura, do you want me to fuck you right now? To push you back against these stairs and show that pussy what it needs to be satisfied?”
“You’re a pig.”
He laughed. The sound wasn’t one of amusement, far from it. It was just noise. “You didn’t answer my question, but that’s okay, I can play this game.”
He went to push past her, and she watched him take the first step, the second.
The moment she caught his hand, she hated herself. Why did she have to do this? Marcus stared at where she held him, brow raised.
“I … I don’t know what it is I want,” she said.
He pressed her up against the wall, his hands on either side of her head, and he smirked. “Then how about you come and tell me what it is you want when you’re ready.” He leaned in close, and she felt the evidence of his arousal pressing against her hip.
She sank her teeth into her lip, wanting to find out more, to know more, but he pulled away.
“Soon, Laura.”
He left her alone in the basement with all of his gym equipment, aching, aroused, and hating him just a little bit more.
****
Marcus didn’t have to wait long for Laura to come to him. He left her two days. During that time, he watched her walk Lucas while he waited for his father to drop off another pup, with his incessant questions. His days were spent waiting for her to seek him out, and when the hours passed, he went to his basement gym to deal with his need.
No woman had ever made him wait this long, and as he sat in his office on the sofa, sipping at his whiskey, Laura finally made her appearance.
It was late. His men would be stationed where he needed them. He had no doubt his father demanded some of them to report back to him on what was happening. Being Antonio Giovanni’s son had never been easy, and he’d always been expected to answer to his father, to always be ready to take on the role of capo.
He didn’t trust anyone, and it was the way the capo was.
Laura wore a robe that ended at her knees.