Morally Corrupt: A Dark Romance (Morally Questionable Book 1)

by Veronica Lancet

  "Yes, that is correct. I have been campaigning religiously to get the people off the streets. Studies have shown that places rife with homelessness and prostitution are most likely to provide a conducive environment for other crimes. My goal is for my constituents to feel safe in their homes and in their neighborhoods."

  "Ahh, I knew you'd understand." Enzo claps, "It is hard, no, to get the people off the streets." I don't have to reply as he continues, "What you need is someone to do the groundwork for you."

  "That's why we have NYPD," I add dryly.

  "And you've had NYPD for almost two hundred years. Tell me, has it helped all that much?"

  "It is the way it is. I won't sit here and sing praises to the police. I know there is bureaucracy involved that simply weakens the system, but what else can be done?"

  "Mr. Hastings, I trust you are familiar with the protection system in Sicily?"

  "You mean mafia protection?" Oh, here we go to the root of the issue.

  "Indeed. I've spent most of my formative years in Sicily, and I've gained a significant understanding of such practice's pros and cons. In fact, I can mostly see the pros."

  "Of course, there are pros." My words are perhaps too biting. "For the people offering protection, not those who truly need protecting."

  "Alas, that was in the past. It is a new century, a new era. We can learn from our mistakes and make it so that everyone benefits from such a scheme."

  "So, what are you proposing, in fact, Mr. Agosti?"

  "We can help you with your goals of emptying the streets and keeping the crime rate low."

  "We... who is we?"

  "At this point, our family has entered a partnership with Gallagher's family. By joining our forces, we can supply enough manpower to ensure the streets are safe and that residents are no longer fearful."

  "And what how will everyone benefit from this, exactly?"

  "As I've said, the neighborhoods will be considerably safer. We will gain from the proceeds from the protection fees, while you? Well, you will certainly benefit from having such a perfect record of keeping your promises."

  "But that's not all, is it?"

  "Well, we would certainly appreciate it if our businesses stay, shall we say police-free?"

  "That is a lot to ask for meeting for the first time, Mr. Agosti."

  "Certainly." Rocco leans forward and takes over. "My son has done a great job of explaining the issue so far. We plan on being most accommodating, should you decide to help us."

  "One thing I am not entirely certain of. What is Mr. Gallagher's interest in New York? And what does he stand to gain? So far, he's only been the one supplying in this scenario."

  I expect Matthew Gallagher to be the one to take the floor this time, explaining his side. It’s still Enzo, however, who does the talking. Again.

  "Mr. Gallagher is famous in Boston in the underground fighting scene. He wants to move some of his arenas here, in NYC, and our family has offered up the venues."

  "I see..." I say, and I more than see. They are merely scratching the surface with the information they are giving.

  "Then you see how beneficial this would be for all of us. Martin's told us about your wife's foundation too. I am certain that certain allowances can be made regarding that as well." Enzo says, eyeing my wife once more. It also doesn't escape me that he is on a first name basis with Martin out of everyone here.

  "Then allow me to say I have no interest in this scheme of yours," I say, standing up to leave.

  "Bianca, let’s go!"

  She gives me a questioning look, maybe because what I'm doing is rude and probably because I've never behaved in such a way with her father. I don't know if she gets it or not, but both men sitting next to her are mobsters. Quinn, I know, and he's a deadly bastard. Enzo, while I’m not familiar with him, I can tell from this short interaction that he's shrewd, maybe too intelligent and that he is the brain behind everything. Bianca stands up to follow me when Martin finally speaks up.

  "Theodore, Bianca. SIT DOWN." His voice shows he isn't playing around, yet both Bianca and I are still on our feet.

  "Theodore, I think you forget who got you your current position." Martin looks at me, daring me to go against him. "You," his gaze moves towards his daughter. "You forget the shit I buried for you when you were younger." Bianca's face falls.

  While I do indeed need his support, I could do without it meant going against my principles. I'd done that once in life, and I'd promised myself never again.

  "I don't care about your money or connections," I say, and he smirks.

  "Then how about your wife going to prison for murder?"

  "Excuse me?" I exclaim. Bianca's face is now blank, devoid of any feelings. Everyone around the table turns to look at her expectantly.

  "Auch lass didn't peg you for a wild one." Matthew Gallagher finally speaks, chuckling.

  "What do you mean?" I ask him and then look at my wife. "Bianca?" She doesn't react.

  "Tell him. Tell him, my darling daughter, how you poisoned your nanny when you were ten. You do remember, right?"

  "Bianca, is this true?" I look at her, begging her to say no. She finally raises her head to look at me.

  "I'm sorry, Theo."

  "No... no..." I mutter.

  "So, let's try again. Are you amenable to what was discussed here?"

  I don't speak for several seconds, still looking at my wife. I'm still hoping she will deny it. But she doesn't. She just sits down again, as if nothing happened.

  "Fine." I eventually answer, taking my seat once more.

  Slowly, bit by bit, I'm not only losing the person I thought I loved, but I’m also losing myself.

  CHAPTER XIV

  Theo looks at me as if I disgust him.

  After my father lets that bomb drop, we both sit down once again, and negotiations start. I'd always known my father's businesses weren't legal. Hell, if he could get rid of a body so quickly, it made sense that he wasn't a model citizen. But now? He’s blatantly flaunting his connection to the Italian mafia. If that wasn't enough, he had to also get involved with Gallaghers.

  Now that Enzo revealed their plans and how the Irishmen would be involved in the business, I am sure the arenas they wanted to install in New York are for to-the-death matches. I'd heard about them before; their type is prevalent in Boston and Philly, with some pop-ups in New Mexico and Nevada. They have an impressive audience, and the fighters can make big bucks in the ring. I can see why they'd want to move this to NYC too; the reach would be incredible.

  Still, I can't help but worry about Theo and how they're forcing him to conform. For a moment, I wonder if Vlad knows about this since he always has the scoop on everything that happens in the city. He’s got to have known, so why didn't he say anything?

  The men are now going to my father's study to hash the details over a drink. I'm almost tempted to follow them, but I know they wouldn't let me in on the private talks. I am left with Enzo's wife, and better than nothing, I decide to take advantage of this to get more information on Agosti.

  "We didn't really get the chance to talk before, with the men going about their businesses." I start, plastering a smile on my face and hoping it looks genuine.

  “Oh, please!” She replies, and unlike Enzo, she has no accent. "You don't need to butter me up for information."

  "I don't?" I raise my eyebrow at her, surprised by her candor.

  "You think I didn't notice Enzo making eyes at you? He wants to fuck you if you didn't catch on by now." She says flippantly as if it was the most normal thing.

  "And you're ok with that?"

  "Why wouldn't I be? We're only together to maintain an image. We both have separate lives." Allegra huffs. "I'm going to give you a piece of advice. What Enzo wants, Enzo gets. If you want to save your husband, you know what to do."

  "This is a very odd conversation," I add, trying to lighten the mood. What the actual fuck? Is she seriously playing wingman for her husband, hoping to guil
t me into sleeping with him? Odd doesn't begin to cover it.

  "I prefer direct. I'm sure you're a smart girl. Enzo will be the head of the Agosti family soon. There are a lot of benefits to becoming his mistress."

  "I think I will pass." I murmur and redirect my attention to my cup of tea.

  Her lips curl into a malignant smile.

  "You might want to reconsider."

  Realizing that Enzo's wife might be just as crazy as the rest, I quickly extricate myself from the dining room and head towards the study, hoping to eavesdrop on their conversation. But as luck would have it, I leave the devil's mate to come across the devil himself.

  "Just who I wanted to see!" Enzo exclaims, his gaze moving up and down my body with interest. I want to snort, but I remember I have to keep up appearances. It won't do me right to get on Enzo's lousy side so early on.

  "Mr. Agosti." I incline my head and try to move past him.

  "Enzo, please." He grabs my arm, holding it firmly. I squirm a little to let him now I want him to let go, but he doesn't. I almost sigh out loud. Fine, let's see what he wants.

  "Enzo, if you would, please release me." I bat my eyelashes at him.

  "If you ask so nicely..." He lets go of my arm, but not before he backs me into one of the hallway's rooms.

  "Enzo..." I say again, with a little more frustration than before.

  "I have to say I didn't expect Martin's daughter to look like this." One of his hands comes up to my face to caress my cheek, and I catch it mid-air.

  "I must remind you I'm married."

  "So what? So am I." I purse my lips. This isn't going to be easy.

  "Yes, but unlike you, I love my husband." I try again to move past him, but he has me caged.

  "I loved my wife too..." He almost whispers. "And yet it that didn't stop her, or me for that matter." Why do I feel like there's more to their marriage than meets the eye?

  "I can't give you what you want, Enzo." I try to be more direct, hoping he will understand.

  "And that's exactly why I'll enjoy the challenge. Must admit." His hand goes to my throat, slowly tracing from one side to the other. "I've never had a lady killer before. You got me curious... How will you taste?" His head dips down, and before his lips meet my skin, I manage to flip him around so that he's the one backed into the wall. He laughs.

  "I knew you were feisty."

  "You're not used to no, are you?" I ask.

  "Can't say I am." He's still sporting an amused expression. He's playing me. He hasn't even tried to overpower me.

  "Then, I should make it clear. I am not interested. I am not playing hard to get." I enunciate each word.

  He studies me for a few seconds, probably deciding the veracity of my words, and then he smiles again.

  "Don't worry, cara, I don't force myself on women. Should you ever tire of your husband, though..."

  "Yeah, sure, I'll give you a call," I reply sarcastically before stepping away from him and watching him leave.

  I don't understand what his game is. Enzo Agosti is an enigma. And I don't like enigmas.

  CHAPTER XV

  "What the hell Bianca? Do you realize what I just agreed to?" I bellow when we are back in her childhood room. She's currently sitting on the bed, staring towards the wardrobe but not really seeing anything.

  "You killed your nanny?" I ask, disgusted by what I'd learned. "At fucking ten years old?" The more I learn about her, the more I realize I have no idea who the woman in front of me is.

  I'm pacing the room, shouting expletives, but she just remains silent her face blank.

  "Say something for God's sake." I plead. "Just say something!"

  There is a momentary silence where we just stare at each other, breathing hard from my frustration and Bianca looking entirely unbothered by anything.

  "I was eight." She finally says. "I was eight when she started being too friendly with me." I look at her, a feeling of dread taking shape in my gut. Please let it not be what I think it is...

  "Before that, she never bothered me. She said I was a devil child and that no one could save me. I didn't really care if she interacted with me or not; at least she wasn't in my space. I think it happened when she realized that no one cared about me or what happened with me..."

  I finally go over to the bed and sit down, putting my hand on top of hers to comfort her.

  "At first, it was just light touches. She would undress me and study me. And when I'd refuse, she'd hit me. I didn't back down for a long time, but I think at some point, I realized that the pain wasn't really worth it. It was just a few minutes of her touching me. Nothing more. I could just bear it and think of something else. But then, one day, she brought her boyfriend with her." The way she recounts the events is mechanic, but I can see her left eye twitching as she's staring at the wall. She is affected.

  My heart weeps for what I know she's about to say, yet I have to listen.

  "She ordered me to sit on my knees, naked, and with my arms raised in front of the bed." She points to the spot in front of the bed we are currently sitting on, and I don't even want to imagine a young Bianca doing that.

  "I didn't know what was happening back then. I was too young. They made me sit like that while they had sex on my bed. I couldn't move or make any sounds until she allowed me to. I had to watch them rut like animals for minutes on end. When their grunts stopped, I was almost afraid of what would follow..."

  "Babe..." I say, trying to let her know she doesn't need to continue.

  "She stopped him before he finished. Instead, she told him to ejaculate on me. It will be fun, she said. And he did. He came all over me. Of course, I didn't know what that meant, but it still felt wrong. I felt gross."

  My own eyes feel damp as I listen to her talk. I want nothing more than to embrace her and make her forget everything.

  "Someone called my name in the house, and they somehow stopped. I don't know if they were going to do anything more or not... But I knew I couldn't allow it to go on. I tried going to my father, but he ignored me. I just knew that if no one would help me, I had to take things into my own hands. I put rat poison in her food. She died almost instantaneously. My father had to finally man up to do something, so he just made her disappear, I think. That's when Drew came into my life. And partly the reason why I needed a bodyguard."

  "B... I don't even know what to say." I take her hand and entwine our fingers. "I'm so sorry you had to go through that. If anyone's guilty of anything, it's your father." She finally looks at me. "I'm a monster, Theo, I've always known that. But now I'm dragging you down." She averts her eyes, almost as if ashamed.

  "B, don't you dare say that! It's not your fault. None of it."

  "How can you say that when I've gotten us trapped like this? My father... he owns us."

  "Don't worry, we'll figure something out." I put my hand across her shoulders and tug her head under my chin.

  "We're a team, remember?"

  "Even if one half is a monster?" She repeats the word monster as if that's all she is.

  "Even then."

  "I wish it were that simple, Theo," she whispers. "We just got thrown into the middle of a battle that neither of us wants any part of."

  "We'll get through this. I promise."

  "What about your integrity, Theo?"

  "There are things that are more important than that..."

  CHAPTER XVI

  I'd finally admitted to Theo a truth about myself. At least this was a truth he could live with.

  It's weird though, I hadn't thought about Jenna, my former nanny, even once in quite a few years.

  Over time, I'd grown increasingly frustrated that I'd chosen poison to dispatch her. She should have suffered far worse for what she'd done. The regrets had piled up for years, always thinking of how I could have tortured her and made her pay. It was also probably why a lot of my assignments during those years had been child molesters. I'd been able to choose some of my targets based on those specific criteria. Every p
erson I'd killed during that time had been a stand-in for Jenna. They hadn’t gotten a quick death, but a long, drawn-out one.

  For the first time ever, I preferred blades to guns, for their ability to inflict consistent damage and pain.

  The most extended bout of torture had lasted eighty days. Eighty days in which I made sure that the predator rued the day he first looked upon a child. Eighty days in which I'd removed all semblance of humanity from him, stripped him of his skin in small stripes, and turned it into