I fall back against the desk, and Caterina sinks to the floor. With trembling hands, she pulls my cock free. “Scared?” I murmur, tangling my fingers through her silky hair.
She shakes her head again. “Just nervous about doing this right.”
“You can’t do anything wrong so long as you don’t yank on the piercing or try to chew on my cock like a dog with a bone.” She laughs, her eyes sparkling, and I’ve never witnessed anything so lovely when anticipating a blowjob. I don’t expect expertise. I don’t want it. I just want Caterina to do this and do it willingly.
But, just as I start to worry that perhaps it’s the alcohol making her act rather than her own desires and decide to suggest we continue at home when she’s sober, the doorknob rattles and then we hear a key pushing into the lock.
“Goddammit,” I grunt before quickly lifting Caterina off the floor by her armpits and placing her behind me.
“Bring her in here and keep her quiet,” I hear Beso saying as the door starts to open. “I need to make sure De Luca is still distracted by his pretty little whore on the dancefloor before I pay you for this treat.”
Whore? He called my wife a whore?
The club owner walks in with another man, one of the dealers who works for us at the club, and a girl dressed in filthy rags. She’s gagged and wearing a blindfold. What the fuck?
Beso’s toothy grin vanishes when he sees us, and he turns pale as his eyes flick to my wife and back to me.He called my Caterina a whore.I lose my shit for the second time tonight and, this time, I don’t reign in my rage.
***
Dawn has just arrived. Hopefully, my wife is still asleep, safely tucked into our bed and dreaming about sweeter things thanwhat I’ve been doing since I got Armando to drive her and Gia home from the club.
“You won’t kill them, will you?”she’d asked when I’d had my gun trained on Beso and the dealer.
I smiled at her and lied through my teeth.“Of course not.”
Caterina had stared at me, sensing the truth, but turned her attention to the girl.“What about her?”
Ungagged and with her blindfold removed, it was obvious how pitifully young she was. We’re the opposite of saints, but the Trio doesn’t traffic women or minors. Beso’s so-called treat obviously belonged in both categories. Any men who break that rule suffer a traitor’s fate.“I’ll make sure she’s sent back to her family.”
Except she has no family here and doesn't speak English fluently. At least I can carry a conversation in Italian. I’ll need to figure out what to do with her, but Beso and the dealer were my first priorities.
“You insulted my wife. I’ll bet you’re regretting that,” I tell Beso after I finish with the dealer. The club owner has had a front-row seat to the entire gory spectacle. “It smells like shit in here. Did you make a mess?” I smile cruelly, ignoring his pleas and salivating over the thoughts of his upcoming pain.
I’ve shed my shirt, knowing he can see the Grim Reaper tattoo as I select my tools. “Pliers. An excellent place to start. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth,” I mutter under my breath.
“Here,” Armando says, less than pleased when he joins me at last in the converted copper mine and passes over what I requested from the mansion.
“Thank you,” I reply, opening the pearl-handled jack knife Caterina hopefully won’t miss for a few hours. “It will be perfect for cutting out his nasty tongue later.” After I remove every single tooth, he can choke on his own blood. “Did you contact the jeweler for me?”
“Yeah,” Armando snorts, giving Beso a glance without pity, before lowering his voice. “You’re sure about this? There’s already lots of rumbling about Lorenzo going missing. And Beso’s not some lowlife dealer-turned-pedophile trafficker either. He’s not part of our thing, but he’s an important man in Vegas.”
“He insulted my wife. He may have been an important man but, by the time I’m finished with him, only the vultures will mourn him.”
23
Caterina
Sunshine is creeping in around the bedroom curtains when I wake very late in the morning. Like the music last night, my head is pounding. A shot and two cocktails, I was so sick last night by the time Armando drove us home. I’m a lightweight. It takes me a moment to place the sound I’m hearing. It’s Alessio and he’s… humming? I’ve never heard him socheerful.It makes me smile.
“She lives,” Alessio drawls, carrying over a tray when he notices I’m awake. Such an incongruous image, my scary mafia man carrying a silver tray instead of a gun. How long has he been watching me sleep?
“Alessio, I’m glad you’re safe. I was worried last night.” He’s trying not to smirk. He was one man against two, but Alessio was the one holding a gun. “What happened after we left with Armando?”
“Lots of talking, nothing to worry about.” I’m not sure why he’s lying to me. Probably trying to protect me from things I wouldn’t truly wish to know.
“Did you get sick?” Embarrassed, I nod. “I’m sorry I wasn’t there to hold back your pretty hair. Better now?” Another nod. “Good. You should eat,” he says, uncovering the tray. There are eight pieces of toast covered in butter and strawberry jam along with coffee. The coffee is still hot.
“Is that my knife?” I ask, noticing the gift from my brothers tucked under the plate.
