LORIK
If someone had asked me two weeks ago if I had any plans to sit in the study of the Valenti mansion while plotting a rescue mission with both Valenti brothers, I would have killed the poor sod. It would have been a mercy kill because that person was clearly fucking crazy.
But true as fuck, there I was, staring at Dante after I got all the fucked-up details of how Enzio used Karina in the worst possible way. I suspected all along that Enzio had hurt her somehow, but never did it cross my mind he had purposefully seduced her, made her fall in love with him as a ploy to get leverage on the Valenti family. This war went much deeper than I thought, since the one person who remained innocent in all of this was the one who got hurt the most. And now that I knew what Enzio and his family were capable of, I understood why Anderson always suspected the Mancusos sat behind the crime statistics of this town.
I balled my fists, trying my best not to go bat-shit crazy while my mind tried to digest everything I’d heard. The thought of that son of a bitch’s hands on Karina, tainting her body, taking something he didn’t deserve, had me seeing red. It was like there was this demon-possessed beast inside me wanting to claw its way out, begging to tear Enzio Mancuso into nothing more than pieces of rotting flesh.
“So, you’re saying you suspect he’s blackmailing her with a…” I swallowed hard as the words got lodged in my throat. I dragged my hands through my hair. “A sex tape?”
Dante nodded.
I shook my head. “Jesus. What is he blackmailing her for? What does he want from her?”
Antonio, who hadn’t said a single word throughout the entire conversation, finally turned away from the window and faced us. “What do you know about our family, Detective?”
“I don’t understand what this has to do with anything.”
Antonio crossed his arms. “I’m going to assume you know enough, then.” He sauntered over to the couch and took a seat. Was I the only one thinking we were wasting fucking time, that sitting around and looking at each other was not going to bring us any closer to finding Karina?
Antonio stared at me, unblinking. “Loyalty, pride, and respect are what we build our entire existence on. An Italian man is nothing if he doesn’t have his dignity and the loyalty of those closest to him. Our women, Detective, are the most fundamental parts of our pride. There is nothing as powerful as having a beautiful woman’s support and unquestionable loyalty, which is why you never fuck with another Italian man’s wife,” he pinned me with his serious stare, “or his daughter.”
I didn’t like the feelings settling in my gut while I listened to Antonio trying to let me see the bigger picture. In fact, the clearer the picture got, the more my insides twisted into painful knots of nerves.
Antonio leaned forward with his elbows on his knees. “My guess is he’s planning on using Karina to get to my father.”
“How?”
Antonio glanced at Dante, and they gave each other knowing looks before he turned back to me. “To bring the ultimate shame upon our family, upon my father, it only makes sense that Enzio plans on taking Karina.”
I looked at them questioningly. “What do you mean, take Karina?”
Dante stood, the sleeves of his dress shirt rolled up to his elbows. “What Antonio is trying to say is we’re guessing Enzio plans on forcing Karina to marry him. That way, he strips every ounce of respect and pride from our father. If news spread that Karina married the enemy, the shame it will put on our family will destroy our reputation and credibility.”
“Who says he’s not planning on killing her? Wouldn’t that be the bolder move to make?” The words burned like acid in my throat.
Dante shook his head. “He won’t kill her. If he does, it would give us enough reason to declare a full-out war. It would give us the right to kill each and every last one of them without losing the support of our allies.”
I stared at him blankly. “I have no idea what the fuck you just said.”
“Listen.” Antonio pulled his palm down his face. “To you, we are nothing more than criminals who go around doing what we want. But we have rules. We don’t go around killing members of other Italian families just because we don’t like their faces.”
I shrugged. “Why the fuck not?”
“We aren’t savages, Detective. If we kill our own people just because we wanted to, that would be a disgrace to our heritage. And like my brother said, respect and pride are most important to us.”
Slowly, I started to make sense of it all. “So, Enzio won’t kill her.”
Antonio leaned back in his seat. “Not unless he wants to open the gates of hell and give us all the reason in the world to wipe out their entire family.”
“Like an eye for an eye thing?”
“Exactly. But if Enzio forces Karina to marry him, forces her to say she loves him, it would make our family seem weak, and we can’t do shit about it because to others it wouldn’t seem like the Mancusos did anything wrong.”
“It would mean checkmate,” I muttered as Enzio’s motivations became clearer. “Karina is one pawn he needs to ensure your father has no more moves left. He would lose the respect of others.”
I looked at Dante, who nodded before turning to Antonio. “What do we do, brother?”
Antonio got up from the couch. “We have to tell him.”
“No fucking way, Antonio.” Dante began to pace. “We’re not telling Dad. He won’t understand, and besides, we can’t do that to Karina.”
“What do you suggest we do, then? You know our sister, man. She won’t ever let Enzio go public with that tape.”
“Whoa, whoa,” I interrupted, holding up my hands, forcing my stubborn ass into the conversation. “What are you saying? You actually think she will go through with this?” I stared at Antonio in disbelief.
“Obviously, you haven’t known our sister that long.”
I shrugged. “Granted, this thing between us hasn’t been going on for that long.”
Suddenly, both brothers had their eyes on mine, and it felt like all the oxygen got sucked out of the room within a nanosecond.
“So, there is a thing between you and our little sister.” Clearly, Antonio wasn’t asking.
Under normal circumstances, I’d probably try to deny it, knowing I risked getting my balls cut off. But these weren’t normal circumstances, and I cared more about Karina than keeping my balls attached to my body. Yeah, pussy-whipped did not even begin to cover it.
“Listen, man,” I started, not backing down an inch, “I know you have your rules and whatnot, but yeah, there is something between me and Karina, and I don’t care if you approve or not. It’s happening. And nothing, and I mean nothing, will stop me from finding her. Not you or your goddamn rules.”
Both brothers stared at me, not saying a word. For the first time in my career, my detective instincts failed me, because I had no fucking clue what to expect from them next.
I glanced at Antonio. “And like your brother said earlier, let’s find Karina first, then we can kill each other, okay?”
No answer.
“Good. Now that we understand each other, why in the name of fuck do you actually think she’ll go through with this?”
“Because no matter how hard she tries to distance herself from us, we are still a family, and family comes first.” Dante walked over to the table and poured himself a glass of bourbon. “Plus, she won’t do anything to hurt him. Yes, she fell in love with Enzio and was willing to give everything up for him, but she was young and secretly hoped our father loved her enough to accept her decision and to respect it.”
I couldn’t fucking believe what I was hearing. “Surely, she won’t be considering this.”
Dante downed his drink and slammed the empty glass on the table. “Right now, I think she doesn’t have to consider anything. In her mind, she doesn’t think she has any other option.”
“No way. We can’t let her do this. We have to find her.”
I stomped toward the door as my determination burned like an inferno inside my chest. There was no way in hell I was losing her after I just found her. I didn’t give a shit if it had only been such a short period of time that we’d had this thing between us. All I knew was I was not willing to even think about not being able to finish what Karina and I started.
“Where are you going?” Antonio called after me.
“I don’t fucking know, but it’s clear you two jerk-offs don’t intend to do shit about finding her, while that son of a bitch is doing God knows what to her. So, I guess it’s up to me to find her and convince her that letting this motherfucker manipulate her won’t save anyone anything.”
God, I was so fucking angry, I could punch my fist through concrete. “I came here thinking her brothers would be willing to help me find her. Guess I was wrong.”
As I turned to open the door, Antonio called after me. “What gives you the idea we’re not going to help you?”
“Well, we’ve been sitting around here doing nothing but talk for the last hour while she’s out there, fuck knows where with Satan himself, and we’re no closer to finding her.”
“Hold up.” Dante rounded the table, clearly thinking something, and I hoped that something was a motherfucking plan.
Funny, I’d always thought Antonio was the brainy one with the skill to run a very successful crime syndicate. But lately, I wasn’t so sure, not when I took into consideration how Dante had been handling all this. He was cool, calm, and seemed like he was thinking straight, while Antonio appeared more on edge.
I walked back into the room. “What are you thinking, Dante?”
He rubbed his chin with his thumb and forefinger. “Earlier, at the restaurant, I told Karina that Enzio sees her as his. In my head, if I try to put myself in his shoes, Enzio thinks because he was her first, she belongs to him. And I don’t know, something just tells me this is more than a chess move toward checkmate for him. For his father, maybe, but somehow I think Karina is more to Enzio than a pawn.”
Antonio walked closer, eyes narrowed. “Where are you going with this?”
Dante bit his bottom lip before his eyes widened, like he just figured it out. “It happened at the beach house, right?”
“What?” I asked, confused.
“The night Enzio tricked her and taped everything. It was at the beach house.”
“So?”
Dante grabbed his jacket and keys. “Come on. I think I know where they are.”
***
KARINA
I didn’t know how long it had been since Enzio left. He locked the door, leaving me inside the room I used to see in my nightmares. It was in this room I willingly gave up the best part of me, and he shoved it right back in my face, tearing my heart apart in the process.
I wondered if Enzio had contacted my family yet, informed them what was about to happen. My heart ached just thinking about it, thinking about the betrayal my dad would feel once he heard what I was about to do. And, yes, it was going to happen. I had no choice. Enzio made sure he had the ultimate hold on me. He made sure there was no way I’d even consider not following through with his twisted idea of a marriage. But I was screwed; I had no choice. If I wanted to spare my father the worst pain a daughter could inflict, I had to do this.
It had been hours since I saw Lorik, since Enzio ripped me from his arms. Was he looking for me? And if he was, how would he even know where to start?
God, my heart ached. Thinking of Lorik and what we shared earlier when we made love, I realized how quickly hope could be torn away. For all but a few hours, I had myself convinced that maybe, just maybe my luck had changed. Maybe the time had come when I could finally be who I wanted to be. But that feeling of freedom was short-lived.
There I was, flat on my ass on the bedroom floor with not a single ounce of hope left. I refused to go near the bed across from me. If I had my way, I’d burn it, along with the horrid memories that came with it.
The sound of the door being unlocked made me jump to my feet, my heart pounding wildly inside my chest. My blood ran cold as the door slowly creaked open. With my back flat against the wall, I watched as Enzio sauntered into the room. The sleek black suit and crisp white shirt he wore made him look like the epitome of sophistication. His hair neatly tied at the back of his neck, and his face cleanly shaven, gave the impression he was nothing more than a confident businessman. But I knew the evil that lurked behind the expensive clothes and that pretty face. There was no way he could ever hide his true colors from me again.
He placed a wrapped box with a big red bow on the bed. “I brought you something.”
“I don’t want it.”
Coolly, he placed his hands in his pockets and took a deep breath, never taking his eyes off me. Then he reached for the box and untied the ribbon. In horror, I watched as he opened the box and pulled out a pearl embroidered, white, knee-length dress.
“What is that?”
He held it up. “It’s your wedding dress.”
My stomach turned, and I placed my hands flush against the wall behind me, clawing my nails into the wallpaper. “I’m not wearing that.”
He shrugged, completely unaffected by my refusal. “Well, it’s either the dress, or you get married naked. Either way is fine by me. Although I’d prefer you naked, since that would make it so much easier afterward.”
“Make what easier?” I had no idea why I asked that stupid question, since I already knew the goddamn answer.
A smug grin appeared on his face. “Well, we consummate our marriage, of course.”
My knees went weak, and I trembled as panic flared up inside me like a disease. The thought of him touching me again, claiming me, moving inside me, made me sick to my stomach. There was no way I’d survive it.
“Enzio, please don’t do this,” I pleaded as a tear slipped down my cheek. “I’m begging you.”
With sheer determination beaming from his dark eyes, he walked toward me, and with every step he took, I felt a piece of my soul wither away.
When he stopped, there were only a few inches of distance between us. He slanted his head and studied my face, staring at me like I was his most prized possession.
“It’s already done, little lamb. It’s all arranged. We’ll be married within the hour.”
I gasped as my entire world crashed down around me. An hour? A fucking hour?
He wiped a tear from my face with his thumb and placed his finger in his mouth, sucking off the moisture like he was relishing the taste of my pain. And then his eyes turned black, every contour of his face painted with lust and desire.
“I’m starting to think I don’t want to wait until we’ve said our vows before I claim you again.” He grabbed my hand and forced it against his crotch, making me feel how hard he was. “Feel that? That’s all you, little lamb. That’s what you do to me, so maybe I should give it to you right now.”
I yanked my hand out of his. “Stay the fuck away from me.”
Enzio jerked forward and wrapped his hand around my throat, pushing me harder against the wall. “What did I say about you talking to me with respect?”
I grabbed at his hand squeezing around my neck. “Enzio—”
“Do you want to beg? Do you want to beg me not to touch you?” He leaned forward, his cold lips hovering over mine. “Do you want to beg me not to kiss you?” With a vile stroke of his tongue, he licked all the way over my chin and lips, my insides coiling tight. “Do you want to beg me not to flick my tongue all around your slick pussy until I can taste your cum on my lips?”
“Please…” I could hardly get the word out with his fingers tightening around my throat.
“Maybe I should just fuck you now, get it over with. After you’ve felt me between your legs once more, you’ll forget all about that cocksucker detective.”
With a violent jerk, he let go of my neck and took a step back. I coughed and gagged, my body desperate for air.
“But I have a better idea. Take off your clothes.”
I was still gasping, my throat burning with every breath.
“I said, take off your clothes.”
I couldn’t move. My feet were frozen to the spot. And then his arm swept through the air before the back of his hand lashed against my cheek, sending me straight to the ground. I cried out as I tasted my own blood.
Enzio towered over me as I lay helplessly on the floor before him. “When I tell you to do something, you do not fucking hesitate. Get the fuck up, and take off your clothes. Or would you like me to rip them off you?”
Dark, menacing eyes glared down at me, and all I could do was listen. Obey. Submit. The metallic taste of blood was proof enough that I would not survive otherwise.
Slowly, I pushed myself off the floor, my knees shaking beneath me. My body felt like it weighed a thousand pounds, my gut nothing but concrete. And as I started to unbutton my blouse, soft sobs escaped over my lips.
Enzio moved back, his gaze fully focused on my hands. “You’re making me wait. I’m sure you can get undressed faster than that.”
Shaking and shivering, I pulled the blouse off my shoulders before removing my skirt, allowing it to pool around my feet.
“Hold up.” Enzio came toward me, and I froze. “I want to do this part.”
Please don’t touch me.
As he lifted his hands, I closed my eyes, bracing myself for what was to come. The second he cupped my breasts in his hands, I bit the inside of my mouth, wishing I could somehow leave my body. With every second that passed, I died a little more.
“Your tits are so much bigger than I remember.” He squeezed hard, and I turned my face, my eyes closed while my body rejected his touch in every way. It was like poison, slowly infecting me, killing me, destroying the woman inside me.
I felt his hands move, and he pushed the cups of my bra to the side, exposing my breasts.
“Jesus fucking Christ. Your tits are exquisite.”
“Please stop this, Enzio. Don’t do this to me.”
He brushed his knuckles across my nipples. “I just want to give you what you want, little lamb.”
I opened my eyes and turned to face him. “This is not what I want.”
Like an animal, he pushed me back against the wall, air rushing out of my lungs.
Demon-possessed eyes glared at me. “You don’t know what the fuck you want. And frankly, right now, I don’t care what you want.” He bit into his bottom lip before cursing under his breath. I watched him, too afraid to think about what his next move would be. Every bone inside my body quivered with fear.
Enzio took a few breaths, his chest rising and falling. It seemed as if he was trying to calm himself. “Just a few more hours,” he muttered to himself. “I just need to wait a few more hours, and in the eyes of God, I will fuck you as my wife.”
Jesus Christ, help me.
He turned and headed toward the door, but not before glancing over his shoulder.
“Just think about it. We’ll be one again before the clock strikes midnight. I look forward to it.”
The second he closed the door and I heard the lock, I crumpled to the floor. I wanted to scratch and claw at my own skin to remove the filth his touch had left behind. My body no longer felt like my own. It was just a shell, and my soul was trapped inside. The worst part, after tonight, there would be no escape. He would own me…in every way possible. Fear was now my only companion, the only emotion I’d feel for the rest of my life.
Images of Lorik bombarded my mind, taking my pain, morphing it into an excruciating ache I felt deep within every bone. He came like a hurricane and swept me off my feet, making it impossible for me to ignore the extreme impact he had on my soul. But that was all over now. Never again would I experience the intense fire by a simple touch. Never again would I know how it felt to be made love to. It was all over for me. Happiness was no longer written in my destiny. I chose Enzio years ago, wanted to be with only him. This was me getting what I thought I wanted…in the most sordid, twisted way.
There was a knock on the door, and I lifted my head off the floor.
“You have ten minutes,” Enzio said, and I heard his footsteps as he walked down the hall. How is that even possible? It felt like I had been on the floor for no longer than five minutes.
Pulling together all the strength I had left inside me, I pushed myself off the floor and worked my hands through my tangled hair, staring at the white dress waiting for me on the bed. It was nothing spectacular. It was nothing more than a white cocktail dress. Obviously, it was a last-minute purchase, but I couldn’t care less. In fact, if it had been an extravagant gown, it would have made this entire situation even more ridiculous—a fucking joke.
As I reached down and felt the embroidered fabric, gliding my fingers over the soft pearls, I realized the only way I could get through this was by compartmentalizing. I had to sort through my emotions, suppress the pain, and feed the hatred. The only way I would be able to survive was to harden myself—to not feel anything.
Compartmentalize.
Like a robot, I slipped the white dress on and pulled the zip up on the side. I wasn’t surprised it fit perfectly. I wouldn’t expect anything less from Enzio.
Turning, I caught my reflection in the mirror. It was amazing how within the span of a few hours I’d become nothing but a shadow of my true self. I guessed that was what reality did to a person, when you realized you had no future. It ripped everything good out of you in the blink of an eye. My hair was a mess, my face red and tearstained. My tears had washed off every trace of makeup, the bags under my eyes proof of the heartache I’d be carrying for the rest of my life.
Compartmentalize.
Well, he wanted me to wear the damn dress, and that was what I was doing. But I wouldn’t fix my hair, and I wouldn’t fix my goddamn face. This is what he turned me into, so this was what he would have to live with.
The click of the lock resounded through the bedroom, vibrating down my spine. The door opened, and I turned to face who I knew would be standing on the other side.
“Enzio,” I whispered when I noticed him staring at me with a smug, victorious grin on his face.
His gaze slithered down my body and back up to my face. “You couldn’t fix your hair? Your face?”
I shrugged, trying my best to keep my shoulders straight. “I figured you should get used to this image, since this is what you’ll have to look at for the rest of your life.”
He held out his arm like a fucking gentleman. “Oh, do not fool yourself, Karina. You’ll look your best whenever it’s required, and you will act exactly as would be expected from the wife of a very powerful, wealthy man.”
I suppressed a snort, a laugh, a sarcastic remark that would tell him exactly what I thought about this powerful, wealthy man image he portrayed. He was nothing more than a poor excuse for a man.
I caught him glancing at my bare feet. “Yeah, you forgot the shoes,” I sneered.
“No, actually, I didn’t. I want you to get used to your new role as my wife.”
“So, what, I’ll be your barefoot wife?”
He peered down at me, his eyes beaming with satisfaction. “Barefoot…and pregnant.”