Antonio
There she was. My fucking queen. God, she was beautiful. The strength, the power that radiated from her while she sliced the fucker from ear to ear was exquisite. I couldn’t take my eyes off her. The way her face went from soft innocence to cold, hard stone was the best sight in the world. Her eyes seemed more alive than ever before while Renato’s blood oozed from his neck, the red dripping down his chest. I knew this moment would be perfectly toxic, the moment when I finally witnessed my filthy, broken girl become a strong, resplendent queen. My cock was so fucking hard it throbbed.
I nodded toward Lucio, dismissing him. He retreated, taking every man in the warehouse with him. But I knew they wouldn’t go far. Lucio still had the place surrounded with enough ammo to start World War Three.
Doe straightened, still clutching the bloody blade in her hands. The second she turned, our gazed locked, and I lost it. I lost all control. The lust, the need, the ultimate desire to take what was mine was too fucking strong. And now that my queen had finally risen from the ashes, embraced what I knew was in her blood—strength—I was more in love with her than ever before.
I launched forward, crashing my lips against hers. I didn’t care that she had another man’s blood on her hands. I didn’t care that her clothes were stained with crimson. All I cared about was worshipping her.
While my tongue swept through her mouth, eager to consume her, I placed my hands on her ass, lifting her up, allowing her to wrap her legs around me. The way she met my hard kiss with the same vigor, the same desperation, I knew she was just as fucking turned on as I was.
What a fucked-up pair we were.
I slammed her back against the steel cage, the sound of metal chains echoing through the empty building.
“Sei la mia regina ora.” You are my queen now.
“E tu sei il mio re.” And you are my king.
I stilled, staring down at her. “You speak Italian?”
Her smile was sexy and wicked at the same damn time. I didn’t wait for her answer, slamming my lips against hers once more. One hand fumbled with her dress, pulling it up over her hips while my fingers tore at her panties. Her hands gripped my hair, pulling me close against her. We were like to starved animals finally able to feast…on each other.
The second I slipped my finger through her slit, I moaned. “Jesus, Doe. You’re dripping.” I pushed a digit inside her, and another groan sounded from the back of my throat as I felt her wet walls close around my finger.
With my other hand, I unzipped my pants and pulled out my aching cock. It was fucking torture, being this turned on—this desperate to fuck. But there was one thing I needed to do first.
“Lascia che ti adori.” Let me worship you.
I fell to my knees and spread her pussy wide before dragging my tongue in circles around her outer lips. The moans that came from her mouth were like porn to my fucking ears.
I looked up while sucking on her clit. Her head was leaning against the cage, her mouth forming the perfect O. She was reached back, clutching the steel bars of the cage above her head, the bloodstains still on her hands.
Jesus fucking Christ.
I sucked harder, my tongue moving faster all the way from her clit down to her opening and back up. The taste of her was like an aphrodisiac sent from the heavens. As if God himself had made her body and everything inside it just for me.
Just. For. Me.
“Antonio.” My name had never sounded so sweet coming from her mouth. Her hips started to move, forcing my mouth harder against her greedy cunt. “I’m going to come.”
“You better fucking do it on my tongue, Doe.”
With my thumbs, I spread her pussy wide fucking open, the tip of my tongue teasing her clit. More moans, more rocking of hips. When her body started to shudder, I knew she was at the edge. As I pushed two fingers inside her, my tongue still playing her pussy like a fucking violin, she came. My queen came on my fucking tongue, and it was the most intense, most beautiful thing I’d ever experienced.
I straightened and looked deep into her stunning dark eyes. “I love you, Doe.”
“I love you too,” she whispered.
And then I fucked my woman against the steel bars like there was no tomorrow.
***
In the car on our way home, I could practically hear the wheels turning inside her head. With a quick glimpse at her hands, I noticed how she played with her cuticles, still partly stained with dry blood.
“You okay?”
“Who is Mancuso?”
My heart stopped. My fucking heart just stopped beating. “Where did you hear that name?”
“Lorik mentioned it the other night at Vertigo when you all came rushing into the bathroom. I asked him about it after we got home, but he told me to ask you.”
I looked straight ahead of me, my eyes on the road, yet my focus was far from it. “Stefano Mancuso is head of a rival family.” My answer was short and clipped, hoping she would figure out the topic wasn’t up for discussion.
“He said his name too.”
I gave a sideways glance. “Who did?”
“Renato. Right before he bled to death. He whispered the name Mancuso.”
“Doe, the man’s tongue was cut out and his throat was slit. I doubt he was able to say anything.” There was a fucking reason I cut out his goddamn tongue. It wasn’t because I was angry. It wasn’t because I lost my shit and thought the best way to keep me from killing him was to cut out his tongue. No. He lost his tongue because I couldn’t chance him saying anything to Doe. Anything that would make her fit the pieces together and figure out who her real father was.
Doe turned in her seat to face me. “He said the name Mancuso. I heard it.”
“Well, you heard wrong.”
“I didn’t.”
I shot her a warning glare, not liking the way she challenged me. But what the fuck did I expect? It was because of me the woman finally got a backbone.
My silence was all I could give her. I was so taken aback by this, I didn’t know what the fuck to say.
“Why would Renato mention the name of your enemy while staring me in the eye?”
Frustrated and nervous, I rubbed my chin, one hand gripping the steering wheel. “I don’t know.”
Silence. But I still felt her gaze on me. It was burning a hole through my skull. The expectation was for her to push the matter, to try to get the answers she wanted, but instead, she stared at me for a few moments longer before righting in her seat.
I had to give her something. I had to try to satisfy her need for answers, otherwise, she would dig for them in places she shouldn’t.
“Stefano Mancuso has been the enemy of our family for years. This city belonged to the Valentis for fuck knows how long, and when the Mancusos moved in on our turf, they stirred some serious shit.” I took a breath, thinking about what I wanted to say next. “Our family, we’re not saints, Doe. We do our fair share of fucked up shit. But one thing about us Valentis, we don’t tolerate drugs. In fact, my father, my grandfather, they dedicated their lives to keeping the streets of Boston clean. When the Mancusos moved in, they started soiling our streets with their cheap cocaine, ruining lives, and it has been war between our families ever since.”
I wiped down my face with the back of my hand. Just talking about the fuckers had me on edge. Even though all of them were dead, their corpses nothing more than fish bait, it still irked me just thinking about them, about how much pain and suffering they had caused our family…and Doe.
“Where are they now?” she asked softly.
I shrugged. “They sure as fuck aren’t in this town anymore.” That was for fucking sure.
“Then why did Lorik think the guy who attacked me and Karina was working for Mancuso?”
“Jesus Christ, Doe. Is this twenty fucking questions?” I snapped. I fucking snapped. The heat was too much, and this conversation was treading on dangerous ground.
“I’m sorry.” She looked down at her lap, her fingers still toying with her cuticles. “I just don’t know why Renato would mention Mancuso to me.”
“The fucker was high on pain, Doe. Don’t read too much into it.”
Another moment of silence. Awkward silence. What was the use of cutting a bastard’s tongue out when he was able to mumble shit? For fuck’s sake.
The silence between us stretched until we reached the house. I hated the silence but appreciated it as well. It was fucking with my head, this giant secret I was keeping from her.
I got out of the car, and Lorik came rushing toward me. “Jesus, bro, where have you been?”
“Out.” I slammed the car door. “Why?”
“I was trying to get hold of you for the last ten fucking minutes.”
I pulled out my phone and saw what the problem was. “Fucking battery died. What’s going on?”
Lorik’s normal cocky looking grin was absent, replaced by a look I didn’t like. “Bro, you need to come see this.” He glanced over my shoulder at Doe, who had gotten out of the car, then back at me. “Alone.”
Immediately, my insides buzzed with alarm, warning bells slamming against my skull. “Doe,” I called over my shoulder, “go wait for me in the bedroom.”
She stepped in next to me. “Is everything okay?”
“I said go wait for me in the bedroom.” With a flick of my finger, I ordered one of the guards to escort her. It was another guy I didn’t know. I was getting really fucking tired of all the unfamiliar faces around here.
With wary eyes, Doe looked back at me as she reached the door. There was a fire in her eyes which hadn’t been there before tonight. I loved it. But I also needed to be careful with it. Her newfound courage could either be a godsend, or a ticking time bomb.
As soon she left, I glared at Lorik. “What the fuck is going on?”
“We found a body.”
“A body? Where?”
“Just outside the gate of the estate.”
“What?” My voice slammed like a boulder against the walls. “What the fuck? Who is it?”
“Dunno. But there’s something else.”
“Goddammit, Lorik. Would you start talking?”
“Come on. You have to see this.” Lorik rushed out of the garage, straight to the security room. The same room we took Doe to when she first came here. When I saw Dante standing outside the door, the worried look on his face, I knew shit was about to get real.
“What the fuck, man?” I demanded when I walked up to my brother.
Dante squared his shoulders. “Is there something we need to know, Antonio?”
“What the fuck are you talking about?”
He gestured with his head for Lorik to open the door. My heart was pounding, my throat starting to feel too fucking narrow to breathe. Even the hairs on the back of my neck were standing up, the air around me colder than usual. It was only when I saw the naked body on the floor that I actually stopped breathing.
“What the—”
“Antonio!” Lucio came rushing in. “I was trying to fucking get hold of”—he caught sight of the body and stilled—“you.” He pulled his hand through his hair. “What the actual fuck?”
I stared down at the body—Renato’s dead body with words cut into the skin of his stomach.
Does she know?
Jesus. How the fuck? I no longer had a pulse, but rather a raging tornado of fear and anger, rage and panic. It was like a goddamn war inside me. Does she know? What in the name of everloving fuck? I knew exactly what the question was referring to. But the real question was, how the fuck did he know?
“Lucio, how the fuck did he end up here?” I kept staring at him, the words carved into his flesh fucking with my head.
“That’s why I was trying to get hold of you. When you and Doe left, and we went back inside, the fucker was gone.”
My gaze cut to his. “What?”
“I dunno how. I dunno who. Jesus Christ.”
Dante slammed the door shut. “What the hell is going on, Antonio?”
My mind was struggling to make sense of what was going on. A half hour ago, Doe and I left Renato’s corpse back at the warehouse, yet here he was, in front of me, with a goddamn message.
“Antonio?” Dante pressed. “What the fuck is this?”
I looked at Lucio, and he looked at me. We had come to the end of the road of our secret. What I feared would happen, did. Vadik had managed to force me into a corner, and now I had no choice but to tell the truth.
Refusing to show weakness, I merely buttoned my suit jacket and turned to Lucio. “Sweep the grounds. Make sure we don’t have any unwanted guests. The fact that he ended up in front of our fucking gate tells me Vadik is right on our goddamn doorstep.”
Lucio didn’t respond. He just stormed out of the room like he had Lucifer on his fucking tail.
Dante cleared his throat and crossed his arms, a silent way of demanding an explanation from me.
I lifted my chin, a subtle way of showing authority. “There’s something you should know, about Doe.”
“What is it?”
It fucking burned trying to get the words out, but after trying my best to take this secret to my grave, I was finally forced into a corner. “Her name is Alessia. Alessia Mancuso.”