23
TATUM
I woke up in an empty bed. It was still dark, but the bathroom light was on. I was still wearing my cocktail dress, so I must have fallen asleep in the car.
I got up and walked to the bathroom expecting to find Castello there, but he wasn’t.
It wasn’t unusual for him to be up in the early hours of the morning. In the beginning I hated waking up to him not being next to me, but I quickly got used to it. The safer I started to feel in the house, the more secure I felt in our relationship.
Yet now, I didn’t like it. There was this slight chill that ran up my spine, the back of my neck prickling with warning.
I pulled on my nightgown and decided to go look for him. It was the only way for me to calm the paranoia slowly eating at my brain.
The halls were dimly lit, and I started with the study. Usually I would find Castello in his uncle’s study taking care of business. When he worked in the middle of night, he would sit behind the desk wearing sweatpants and a T-shirt. But whether he wore a five thousand dollar suit, or pair of faded denim jeans, he always looked the part of a boss, of a confident business man.
Castello wasn’t there.
I searched the dining hall, the kitchen, even went to the living room to see if he wasn’t sitting outside on the deck. He was nowhere. And what was even stranger was the serious lack of muscle and ammo around the house. In fact, I hadn’t seen one security guard while I was searching for Castello.
Something wasn’t right. I could feel it in my gut, slithering all the way up my spine.
Deciding it would probably be safer in the bedroom, I made my way back up the stairs. But then my eye caught sight of a dim light shining underneath the door of my studio.
Would he? Even after he promised me that no one would go in there without my permission?
As I got closer to the door, I noticed it wasn’t closed properly. The hinges creaked eerily as I slowly opened it, finding Castello standing in front of the table, his back turned toward the door.
“What are you doing here?” I closed the door behind me.
He didn’t turn around. The only light in the room was the table lamp in the corner, shadows creeping all around us.
“Castello? Is everything okay?”
“That’s a funny question,” he replied without turning around.
“Why is it a funny question?”
Slowly I moved toward him, and as I reached him he stepped forward staring out the window into the belly of darkness outside.
“I just think it’s a funny question to ask when you know that everything is not okay.”
“Is it about what happened at The Capitol?”
The broad expanse of his back moved under the white dress shirt as he shrugged his shoulders. “It’s about everything. You. Me. Us. My family.
I narrowed my eyes, not liking the way he sounded or his choice of words.
“Castello?”
He turned slightly and glanced at me over his shoulder. “Nothing has been okay since you walked into my life.”
My heart started to race, panic slowly creeping up my throat. “What are you saying?”
He turned around, and when I saw his face I knew everything was about to change. Shadows fell across his face, his eyes hard and cold. Even the scar along his eye seemed more prominent, angry.
“What is going on?” My voice quivered, my spine tingling.
With his hands in his pants pockets, he stood firm in front of me, his eyes as stone cold as the expression on his face.
“I’m sorry, Tatum. It has to be done.”
“What are you—”
Two strong arms came up from behind me, fabric being shoved in my face.
And then there was…nothing.
***
My head pounded against my skull. My mouth and throat felt like I swallowed sandpaper. I moved, and my muscles protested with an ache that moved from my arms, down my spine to my legs.
Confused and disorientated I sat up and tried to open my eyes. Heavy eyelids caused me to blink a few times before I was able to open them. I wiped at my eyes, trying to get rid of the fog in my vision.
Dear God, I wish I hadn’t done that.
The second I saw where I was, my heart crashed to the soles of my feet, my stomach turning upside down inside my gut.
This is not happening.
Gray, unpainted cement walls surrounded me, the cold seeping through my skin causing my bones to shudder. The sheets beneath me scratched my skin while my mind reeled, unable to make sense of all the panicked thoughts rushing through my head.
Then I heard it. The god-awful sound, the familiar sound…of air escaping a tube.
I was back.
I was back inside the room where I woke up months ago only to find out that my life would never be the same again. The room where I first met Castello Fattore.
My chest felt like it had cracked wide open, my insides turned and squeezed with barbed wire. The panic, and the fear that took hold of every bone in my body caused me to breathe rapidly. The wall moved, and I scurried back, pressing my body against the wooden headboard. Only then did I realize I was wearing an exact replica of the rag I was clothed in when I woke up in this god forsaken room for the first time.
Please God, this is not happening.
As the hidden door opened I held my breath. I was reliving this entire nightmare from the start again. Every image, every memory forced its way into my mind, and I couldn’t stop the panic from choking me.
“Hello, Tatum.”
My heart stopped. My throat closed. And my blood turned to ice. It was him.
I shook my head. “No.”
He walked closer, the corners of his mouth turned up in a smirk. “Yes.”
I kept on shaking my head, denial keeping my mind from making sense of what I was seeing.
He cocked his dark brows. “Cat caught your tongue?”
“Why?” I breathed out the word, unable to find my voice.
“Why? Now that’s an interesting question.”
My blood boiled. “Why?” I shouted, and he pinned his dark gaze on me.
“Because this is how it was supposed to be.”
I shook my head again, my heart nothing but splinters and daggers piercing and breaking through my ribs.
“Castello.” His name came out of my mouth in nothing more than a whimper. My eyes struggled to convince my mind that what I was seeing was real.
“What are you doing, Castello?”
He placed his hands in his pockets, his eyebrows slanting down. Everything about his face was dark and cold. Even the scar around his eye seemed different.
“I’m doing what needs to be done.”
I stared at him with disbelief, my heart barely beating inside my chest. “What exactly is it that needs to be done.”
“You need to learn.”
“Learn what?”
He smirked. “Your place. Who you truly belong to.”
“I belong to you. I know that, and so do you.”
Then he started to pace leisurely in front of the bed. He looked the same, but seemed completely different. Determined.
“I’m afraid you’re wrong, Tatum.”
Confusion made my mind spin into a thousand different directions. “Castello, please. You’re not making any sense. Why are you doing this? Why am I here?”
He stopped and glanced at me. “Oh, poor Tatum. You really have no idea, do you? Can’t you see? You thought you had me all figured out. You thought you knew the truth.” He walked closer and stopped right next to me on the bed. “But the truth is you know nothing.”
I hugged my knees against my chest, wrapping my arms around my legs. “I know that I love you, and you love me.”
He snorted. “God, you’re even more naïve than I thought.”
Anger and panic swirled together, a slither of courage forcing its way through my veins. “Naïve? Fuck you, Castello.” I jumped off the other side of the bed. “Tell me right now what the fuck is going on! Have you been playing me all along? Was this all part of your plan? To make me fall in love with you so you can break my heart along with my soul?”
Dark eyes stared at me, the expression on his face unreadable. It seemed like he was actually thinking about what I had just said.
He rubbed his chin, and then replied, “Yes. That is exactly what I was doing.”
Even though I still refused to believe a word that came out of his mouth, I heard the amusement in his voice, like this was all just a game for him.
I placed my hand on my belly. “And this? Was this part of your plan as well?”
His gaze dropped to my hand, then narrowed as he looked back at my face. “Was what part of my plan?”
“Our baby. The life growing inside me. Was that part of your fucking plan?”
Dark eyebrows slanted inward, his eyes narrowed as he stared at me with confusion. “You’re…” His voice drifted off, as if he couldn’t form the words.
“What is going on with you?” I braved a few steps closer to him, my soul crying for this all to be just a huge misunderstanding.
Seemingly dumbstruck, Castello held up his hand, stopping me in my tracks. He rubbed his chin as he started to pace, mumbling incoherently.
“Castello?” I couldn’t take it anymore. The fabric of the rag I was wearing irritated my skin, the room making me feel like the walls were closing in on me. “Castello, please. I don’t know what is going on, but please stop. Stop whatever this is.” Tears threatened to escape, my face flushed with panic.
He stopped, and fixed his gaze on mine. “This changes everything.”
“What? What are you talking about?”
His gaze dropped to my belly, and then he let out a maniacal laugh. “Oh God, I can’t do this anymore,” he said between laughter. “This is just too fucking insane…and funny.”
He reached inside his pants pocket and pulled out a piece of cloth. “I wanted to drag this out a little more, but I’m a little gobsmacked to be honest. I really didn’t expect this.”
I couldn’t talk. I couldn’t move. My blood was ice, my bones frozen.
He held the cloth to his face, then smiled before wiping at his scar. Amused, dark eyes stared back at me while I watched the scar next to his eye disappear with every wipe.
What the fuck?
The smile remained on his face, a flawless face.
“What is this?” The words burned my throat.
He held his arms out wide. “Oh, come now, Tatum. Is that any way to greet your longtime lover?”
I stumbled backward, my mind refusing to make sense of what I was seeing. It took me a few seconds before I could manage to find my voice. “Carlo?”
His smile grew wider. “In the flesh.”
Chills erupted from my neck down my spine. “You’re dead.”
“Nope. I’m very much alive.”
“How?”
“I see you let the cat out of bag sooner than planned.” Vico came walking in, and out of pure instinct I rushed to the wall. Vico grinned. “I see she’s taking it well.”
Castello…no, Carlo smirked. “She’s a little lost for words, yes.”
Vico stepped in next to him. “I always knew the cunt never had a backbone.”
Abruptly Carlo snapped his arm toward Vico, grabbing him around his throat. The way he squeezed, the veins in his hands bulged. “Don’t call her that.”
Vico grabbed Carlo’s hand that kept on tightening around his throat. “What the fuck, man?”
“Call her that again and I’ll crush your goddamn windpipe.” Carlo let go of Vico, shoving him backward.
Vico coughed. “What is it with this woman that she managed to get yours and Castello’s balls in a twist?”
Carlo stared at me, almost dreamlike. “She’s a very special woman.”
“I don’t fucking see why.” Vico rubbed his neck. The sight of him made my stomach turn, every hair on my body standing up. He was still every ounce of evil I remembered him to be. He was shorter than Carlo, than Castello…oh God, Carlo was still alive.
“How are you still—”
“Alive?” He smiled, then looked at Vico. “Should we tell her?”
“Sure. Why not. It’s not like she’s going to live long enough for her to wrap her head around what’s really happening.”
Carlo shrugged, and all I could do was stand as silent as a mouse, staring at the two men in front of me.
Carlo gestured toward the bed. “Sit down, Tatum.”
“I prefer to stay right here.”
“You sure? It’s a long story. I wouldn’t want you to exert yourself, you know, in your current condition.”
“Condition?” Vico looked at Carlo questioningly, and then my heart tried to make its way up my throat.
Carlo waved his hand in my direction as if what he was about to say was no big deal. “The cunt, as you so eloquently called her, is, in fact…pregnant.”
My survival instinct started to kick in as I watched Vico’s expression turn from stoic, to feral.
“Pregnant?” His voice boomed through the room, and I closed my eyes as fear erupted inside me. “The bitch is pregnant?”
“She says so.” Carlo smiled, and I hated it. I hated the look on his face, the way he stared at me. It was hard to believe that I walked around for months with a broken heart because of him. I couldn’t see it then, but I saw it now…the look of deception, lies, and pure malice. It was easy to believe he and Vico were brothers. That the same blood ran through their veins.
I wrapped my arms around my belly, and Vico glared at me. “Castello knows this?”
I refused to answer him, my glower the only kind of response he would get from me.
Vico snorted. “And I bet the fucker is real glad about it too.”
“Now, now,” Carlo walked up to Vico. “He’s still our brother, Vico.”
“Who betrayed his own fucking family. Who shot his own goddamn mother!”
Carlo remained eerily calm, as if nothing could rattle him. “That’s true.”
“Where is he?” My voice quivered. “Where is Castello?”
Oh God, they did something to him. How else would they have managed to get to me if they didn’t take Castello out first?
“Truth is, we don’t actually know where he is.” Carlo walked closer stopping a few feet away from me. I could not believe he had me fooled earlier. Now that I looked at him, really looked at him, I saw the difference. Besides the fact that he lacked the very prominent scar, his face was a little longer, his eyes slightly more apart than Castello’s. Amazing how I didn’t spot the difference when I first saw Castello, but now that I knew Castello’s face better than the back of my hand, I could see the man in front of me was not the man I had fallen in love with.
He slanted his head to the side, staring at me, his gaze studying my face. “Last night when I entered my dear uncle’s estate, pretending to be my brother—which was incredibly easy, by the way—the security guard at the gate seemed quite surprised to see me…well, him. My brother. He said something about me being back so soon, asking if I forgot something.” His lips curved up at the sides. “I have to admit, I couldn’t have asked for it to go any better. Even though I had my brother’s head of security, what’s his name?”
I gasped. “Giovanni?”
“That’s the name, yes. Giovanni. Even though I had him on my payroll, I didn’t need him actually. Although, he did come in handy by giving most of the security guards the night off.”
Betrayal stung my insides. “Giovanni helped you?”
He reached out and traced his finger down my face. “Ah, my dear, innocent little Tatum. You still have no idea how things work in our world, do you? Money talks, baby. In our world money can buy anything, even loyalty.”
I jerked my face away from his touch, and for a moment it seemed like he was hurt by it. But I didn’t care. “Does Giovanni not know where Castello is? Where he went?”
“Don’t tell me you’re worried about my twin brother.”
“Of course I am. I love him.”
Carlo’s face grew taut, his jaw ticking—just like his brother’s would do. He scrunched up his nose, shaking his head as if trying to get rid of a thought. “Do you love him the same way you loved me?”
“I never loved you!”
He cranked his neck from side to side. “If you didn’t love me, then why did you act all broken hearted after I left?”
What?
“You watched me?”
“Of course I watched you. You were a major part of this plan. I had to keep my eyes on you.”
I stared into his eyes, and the absence of an elongated pupil caused my heart to crack. Where was he? Where was Castello?
Carlo leaned closer, placing his hand next to my head on the wall. “I bet your little brain is about to go into overdrive trying to figure all this out.”
“Just tell the bitch so that we can move on,” Vico chimed in from the other side of the room. Every time he spoke, my body shuddered.
Carlo turned and glowered at Vico over his shoulder. “I think you should give Tatum and me some time alone.”
Dear God, no. As much as I hated Vico, I didn’t want to be alone with Carlo.
Vico shrugged. “Whatever. And don’t let the fact that she’s breeding a bastard child fuck with your head. It just has to die with her.”
“No!” My survival instinct kicked in, and I glared at Vico, wishing I could skin him alive. “You are not going to hurt my baby.”
“Sorry sweetheart, we plan on hurting you so the baby will be collateral damage.”
“What do you want from me?” I bit out between clenched teeth.
Carlo stood up straight and moved back. “Let me explain exactly what’s going on here. You sure you don’t want to take a seat?”
“Fuck you.”
“Ooh, I see my twin brother turned you into quite the feisty one.” His eyebrows lifted, an amused look on his face. “Okay then. So here’s the story.” He started to pace again, but I decided that my attention needed to be on Vico. He didn’t leave as Carlo requested, and he was the devil I needed to fear.
Carlo clapped his hands. “So, where do I start? Okay, so I’m not dead…obviously.” He snorted, and I just glared his way for a second before turning my attention back to Vico.
“See, when I found out about the hit your father had put out on me, I decided to use it to my advantage. I let my family think I was dead, except for Vico here, and my mother.” He cringed. “Unfortunately none of us figured dad’s heart would stop. Oh well, we would have killed him eventually if he didn’t die. So I guess it worked out great.” He smiled, and when he noticed neither Vico nor I were smiling with him, he pulled his face straight. “Anyway, as you know, Castello was supposed to kill you, and your father. But we all know how that turned out. I always knew he was the weakest link in this family.”
“So you faked your own death. And what did you hope to accomplish with that?”
Carlo walked up and down the room. “The plan was to kill you and your father after he paid the ransom, and then once all the dust settled, Vico here would have driven a knife through Castello’s heart, and I would pretend to be him.” He gestured to the side of his face. “I even had a fantastic make-up artist in the bag, or should I say in my bed, to help me look like my brother. I would have eventually pretended to have the scar surgically removed. But yeah, it never got to that because you managed to hook your claws in my twin brother.”
I shook my head. “You’re not making any sense. Why would you want to pretend to be Castello? You were the rightful heir anyway.”
He placed his finger on his lips. “True, but see…our worthless father and his gambling addiction put me in a position where I had to step up. If I didn’t pretend to be dead, Castello would never have wanted revenge. I knew your father wouldn’t give me the money I had asked for in order to assure I stayed away from you, so this was our only option to get our hands on your family’s money. I pretend to be dead, my twin brother demands revenge, we get paid, kill my twin brother, and then I rule. It’s simple.”
I swallowed hard. “Why did you need Castello to kidnap me? Why couldn’t you have just done it yourself since being a stone-cold, lying son of a bitch is your forte?”
That goddamn annoying smile that seemed like it was permanently plastered on his face grew wider. “God, I have to say, I love what he did to you.”
Vico snorted, but remained still.
Carlo sat down on the bed, his elbows on his knees. “You see, Tatum, if I had to just kidnap you, hold you for ransom, and in the end kill everyone in your family, what would that say about me?”
“The truth.”
He cocked a brow. “And that is?”
“That you’re an evil, manipulative bastard.”
He shook his head. “You see, that is your perception of me.”
“It’s the fucking truth.”
“That’s it. I’m slitting her fucking throat right now!” Vico stormed toward me, eyes wide and evil. The look of hatred on his face should have scared me, it should have intimidated me. It was probably his intention to create fear inside me. But he didn’t know that Castello helped me conquer my fear. He made me envision Vico’s face and feel rage, and power rather than panic and dread.
I squared my shoulders, made myself taller and kept my glare on him. I refused to cower. But as he rushed forward, Carlo jumped up and grabbed Vico by the arm.
“Did I not tell you to leave us?”
“I want her dead.”
“I don’t care what you want. I call the shots.”
Vico clenched his jaw. “She killed our mother, Carlo. If it weren’t for this bitch our mother would have been here to see this plan through with us.”
“I get that. And Tatum will be punished in due time.”
Vico leaned closer to Carlo’s face. “Funny, that’s exactly what Castello said, and look how that turned out.”
Even as determined as I were to not show fear, shivers spread along my body. But I tried my best to remain still as I watched them. They stared at each other in silence, Vico’s face clouded with anger while Carlo’s face remained stoic, yet firm.
“Leave us.” Carlo let go of Vico’s arm, and Vico straightened his suit jacket.
He glared my way. “I don’t know what the fuck it is about you, but I’m starting to think you have unicorn pussy.” His eyes were black as he licked his lips, slowly approaching me. “But before you die, before I slit your fucking throat, I’ll taste that cunt of yours to see for myself if it’s really that good.”
He stopped in front of me, his face inches from mine…and then I spat right in his face. The blow that followed happened so fast. His hand collided with my face, my cheek instantly on fire, and I tasted blood in the corner of my mouth a second later.
Vico seethed. “That little stunt just earned you a slow, painful death, bitch.”
The hate that coated each and every word sunk straight down to my soul. Every bone in my body felt it. Even after he left, walking out the door, I still felt his loathing for me. It was toxic, threatening to break the courage I was so desperate to cling on to.
“Okay, now that he’s gone, let’s continue.” Carlo turned around, his entire demeanor calm and under control. He looked at me with a cocked brow. “Dear God, Tatum. Seeing this fire in you is making me so fucking hard right now. No wonder my twin brother chose fucking you above loyalty to his own family.”
My nostrils flared as my anger only continued to rise, causing me to take quick, shallow breaths. Carlo adjusted his filthy cock in his pants. “So, as I was saying, I …no, we needed a real good reason for us to want to take out your family. Despite what you might think, we can’t just go around killing people in cold blood with no reason. We had to make it seem like we had the right to kill the Linscotts. We couldn’t risk an uprising against our family because we started killing people for money. Besides, being bankrupt is not something we wanted the entire world to know.”
I wrapped my arms around my waist. “So what now? Obviously your plan didn’t work.”
“Because my brother thought with his dick, and not his head.”
“Nevertheless, your family has been torn in two. Everyone thinks it’s war between Vico and Castello. How do you plan on re-entering the world with…”
And then it all came together. Everything clicked, my mind finally piecing together the puzzle. “You still plan on killing Castello. Still plan on pretending to be him.”
Carlo started to clap his hands, his eyes beaming with pride. “My, my, but you are a clever one.”
“But you don’t know where Castello is. No one does.”
“Oh, I assure you, news has a way of traveling very fast in our world. And once word gets to Castello that Vico has you, he’ll come rushing back. Believe me, I’ve tasted that pussy between your legs. Men would kill—or die—for it.”
My insides coiled tight, my body cold as ice, yet I refused to show it. “What are you going to do?”
Carlo stalked toward me, and I pressed my back hard against the wall when he leaned into me his scent making me nauseas. “I’m going to kill him.” Again he traced his fingers down the side of my face, his touch making me sick. “But first, I’ll fuck you in front of him, show him that my cock can make you scream louder than his.”
Bile rushed up my throat as he kept on touching my face, but I swallowed hard before spitting out the words, “I know from experience you don’t have what it takes to satisfy me.”
A huge smirk tugged at the corners of his mouth. “Oh, Tatum. It certainly didn’t sound that way last night.”
I stiffened. “What are you talking about?”
He leaned down, the tip of his tongue dragging all the way up my cheek my body on the verge of convulsing. He moaned softly before whispering in my ear, “It was me.”
He stood up straight, his eyes searching my face. I couldn’t…dear God.
“You?”
“It was me, Tatum.”
Denial shook me at the core. “No.”
“Yes. Last night, at The Capital, you came against the wall…and it was my cock inside you. Not my brother’s. Mine.”
I vomited. I coughed and gagged as images of the night before flashed through my mind like a goddam Powerpoint presentation. Carlo laughed while he stood to the side, watching me throw up. The more I thought about it, the more my stomach churned…yet the more it started to make sense.
That’s why it felt different. Not because of the drugs…because it wasn’t Castello.
“I’ve missed this pussy.”
“No matter what my brother does, he will never erase…us.”
He wasn’t talking about Vico. He was talking about Castello.
Carlo’s laughter sounded like the squeals of demons as it echoed through the room. I kept vomiting until there was nothing left inside me. Tears streamed down my face as I wept, sobbing while everything started to sink in.
Everything hurt. My soul cried while my heart withered into nothing but dust. The pain, the betrayal, the lies. All of it came crashing down and choked the life out of me.
I didn’t even realize that Carlo had left the room until I heard the familiar sound of air escaping a tube, and the door moving into place, camouflaging itself within the walls.
I was alone.
I was hurt.
And I knew nothing would ever be the same again.