CHAPTER THREE
LUCIANO
“Georgio! È passato molto tempo da quando sei venuto a visitare.” Behind the friendly smile, the enthusiastic greeting, I could smell the frustration that was rolling off Sylvi’s shoulders. Leaning back on my heels, I eyed my brother with a growing scowl dragging down my lips. He was tense, his shoulder stiff under his fine suit and hair tousled from the raking of his fingers. Offering Georgio his hand, Sylvi stood tall and firm- but I knew the truth.
My brother was fucking pissed.
“Sylvi, my boy. We are in America! Let us speak English, yeah? So, explain to me what has been happening. I am to understand that with you in charge things have been… exploding.” I had to suppress a snort, and my gaze shifted easily to Georgio’s silver topped form. He might’ve been old, but he could give a good fight and proved it. Even just stepping away from Sylvi, the man screamed authority and power. His thick Italian accent settled heavily on the quiet tarmac, and my eyelid twitched in annoyance as Sylvi chuckled.
“Booming, Georgio. Business is booming. And yes, I like to think I’m an improvement over Luccia. Come. Let’s take a ride and we can discuss all that you want. I’m sure you remember Luciano, my best man.” Turning to me, Sylvi nodded his head even as my ire rose. Intelligent, blue eyes met mine, narrowing as they shrewdly skimmed my face and over my shoulders. Everywhere Georgio’s gaze lingered appreciatively I felt the urge to burn my skin off.
“Of course I remember. I was interested in him myself once, you know, Sylvi.” My pupils constricted to fine points at Georgio’s slight smirk, and my lip curled into a nasty snarl.
“I’ll never go back to Italy for you, old man.” If it had been anyone else, he probably would’ve had a heart attack as my voice ricocheted off the concrete. Georgio only nodded, his sharp eyes narrowing into slits despite the fact that he had lost this fight long ago.
“I’m very aware you prefer Sylvi to myself, Luciano. I can attribute your success here in America to his bond with you. I have no intention of severing it. Even the thought of you fighting cannot dredge up that casket.” Letting out a hot, hard breath, I pursed my lips together before Sylvi finally got between us. His cleanly shaven face was nothing short of bemused; he couldn’t hide the satisfaction that he had something Georgio would never get it hands on.
“Now, now. Let’s not get side tracked, Georgio. It’s good you two got this out of the way considering we’ll have an hour car ride ahead of us, though.” Easing the tension, Sylvi flashed a charming smile at his boss before holding his arm out. “Allow me to assist you. I would like to discuss the past few years better now that we’re face to face once again.”
Sliding into the passenger seat of Sylvi’s sleek, nondescript vehicle, I sunk in my seat and spread my legs wide. Taking up the entire space, my body relaxed slightly at the rumble and hum of the car beneath me. A divider separated Sylvi and Georgio from the driver and I, and my lungs finally deflated fully.
I hate that perverted, sick fucking bastard.
Even as a young man, not even into my own, I knew that Georgio was one crazy fucker. Never once had he disappointed me in the lengths he was willing to go for money or what he wanted. It was disgusting- the rumors I’d heard growing up in his Italy home.
That wisp of a memory had my hands clenched into fists against my thighs as it brought up a more recent scum I’d dealt with.
Trevor was a piece of shit, no doubt, but I had never expected him to hold a woman captive. He wasn’t charming or handsome enough to pick up a girl, and he hated working hard enough to kidnap one.
But Aya had been handed to him on a silver platter. A low rumbling sounded in my chest at the thought, and my nails bit into my palms. I almost hadn’t noticed her back in that shitty cesspool someone dared to call an apartment. She blended in with everything else- a dingy, gross brown coating her, bare skin or not. Turning to stare out the window through tinted glass, I let her puzzle fill my mind.
Aya’s parents had overdosed- I had been able to understand that much. They’d probably gotten their drugs from Trevor, too. It’d obviously been a long time since then.
Scowling at my faint reflection, I reached into the door to pull out a near full pack of cigarettes. Cracking the window, my hands knew what to do as my mind went back to my current problem.
There was plenty of evidence that Trevor was running for the Russians, but never once had any of Sylvi’s spies caught a whiff of a girl. Which means either no one knew about her, or she’s important to those ass fuckers somehow.
Sucking on the butt of my cigarette, I took the toxins deep into my lungs and held it. The taint seeped eagerly into my body, and I ashed my burden in the tray before blowing the smoke towards the window.
“Fuck it.” Grumbling lowly, I gnashed my teeth as smoke seeped from my nostrils to cloud my vision. Across the center console the driver shuffled, and my eye rolled in its socket to watch him. He was new, young, but if Sylvi was to be believed could drive like a maniac. Taking another drag, my lips upturned as the boy frowned before parting in an exhale.
The more uncomfortable the better; it was always fun to watch people squirm.
By the time the car rolled to a complete stop my window was all the way down, my arm flung out to hang against the door. The courtyard of Sylvi’s rather modest mansion was absent of all life aside from Lilli. Casting my gaze on her curvy, buxom form, I couldn’t help the irritation that clogged my throat. Of course she would be waiting with that power hungry glint in her eye.
Tossing my half burned cigarette onto the cobbled pavement, I popped open my door to climb out with a grunt. Instantly Lilli’s gaze was on me, and a small, innocent smile picked up the corners of her thick, plump lips. Rolling my eyes at the display, I left the door open just as Sylvi opened his. The woman had big dreams and even bigger tits no matter the thin, black turtleneck that kept them at bay. Sylvi really knew Georgio’s tastes.
“-ll admit, I didn’t expect you to live in such a… humble place.” Georgio fixed his suit jacket as he spoke, ogling the place his underling called home. Sylvi’s was a fraction of the size of the mansion we’d grown up in, but it was still more than enough. Baby blue siding covered the entire exterior; it looked like an abnormally large house from the front.
“You know I don’t like the pompous fanfare, Georgio. Anyway, let me introduce you to Lilli. She will be your hostess for your stay. Anything you need, just ask her.” Glancing back at the brunette, I almost felt bad for her as she played herself up. Her pale cheeks filled with red as Georgio gave her a once over, and she even did a small curtsy.
I wonder what Sylvi told you about Italy… Behind Georgio my friend caught my eye, and he let a small, sinister smirk peek through his businessman facade. I didn’t react; torturing women wasn’t my fancy, after all. Whether it was him or someone else, Sylvi got off on beating poor, defenseless women to death. There was no doubt in my mind Sylvi had put Georgio in a room he could monitor just for that purpose.
And Georgio was the type of man that could only get off watching pitiful creatures piss themselves in fear of him. It didn’t matter if he was inside them or simply pummeling them with his weapon of choice.
Taking the small, short step that led to the front porch, I shook my head free of the past three hours. Striding through the foyer and the living room, I shouldered my way into the kitchen. Chrome and stainless steel surrounded me instantly, the metal standing out against the dark orange that coated the walls and swirled into the marble counter tops. Easing my way around a wide, long island, my legs automatically carried me to the refrigerator.
Already the meals for this week were prepped, waiting for skilled hands. I pushed past it all, ignoring everything but the container of leftover chicken and pasta. Tomatoes squished against the side of the clear tub, and I shut the refrigerator door to grab a fork.
The house was quiet; only a few staff worked here after six P.M., and it was only Sylvi, a few trusted men, and I. As I shuffled up the stairs to the second floor there were no pictures on the wall to distract me. Instead, there was just a monotone eggshell color that was slowly but surely fading.
“Luciano, you’re back. How’d it go?” Glancing at Tyler, I only grunted in response as he swiveled in his chair. My gaze went straight to the wall of monitors he watched constantly, and he didn’t waste any time opening his mouth again. “I’ve been watching her like Sylvi wanted. I gotta say, Luciano- she’s a weird one even for me.”
Aya was on the main screen, her body prone as it sprawled across the floor face down. Her nakedness was flawless, but a frown still dragged my lips at how skinny she was. Jerking my head, I set down my burden and leaned against the desk before Tyler continued.
“I have no idea why she was with Trevor, but I really doubt the Russian’s know about her. She spent ten minutes just feeling the carpet with her feet. I could say she’s extremely sheltered, but the way she’s acting doesn’t add up. It’s odd. With the carpet, she acted like she never touched one before, but she could use the shower knobs fine. Even then… it was like she didn’t know what hot water felt like. She was in there for two hours, and a good chunk of that wasn’t even in the shower. She just let the water run along her hand and stared.”
Tearing my eyes from the monitor, I clenched my teeth as Tyler leaned back in his seat.
“I guess she’s really just a gutter girl, Luciano. Lots of suffering, lots of pain, lots of things she doesn’t understand about almost everything. And anything she does know are things she’s retained but rarely used. The Russians would have no use for her. She wouldn’t even be good for sex.” Tyler must’ve been seeing something I wasn’t, and I rolled my shoulders in the ensuing silence. Still watching the short, stocky man, I rolled what he said around inside my skull as he perched his glasses higher up his nose.
“So she’s not good for anything.” Those smart, inquisitive, brown eyes met mine at my statement, and Tyler lifted his arm behind his head. Heaving a sigh, he kept my gaze for only a moment before nodding.
“Pretty much. She acts like an abused animal. Everything she does is based on preconceived notions, and if she hasn’t encountered it before it takes her a long time to get over it. That being said, I’m sure she’ll make a nice slave for someone that likes that kind of new innocence.” Tyler didn’t sound convinced with his own suggestion, and I narrowed my eyes on him.
“And Sylvi?” Glancing back at the screen, I bit out the question as my eyelid twitched. Aya had to be useful somehow; there wasn’t a person on this Earth that couldn’t do anything.
“I’ll tell him the same thing I told you, Luciano. The fact of the matter is that even if she became more aware, she won’t do us any good. I doubt even Georgio could get any satisfaction from killing her. In my professional opinion you should just put her down.”