Royal Mafia Box Set: Books 1-4

by Bella J.

  Torture.

  Hate.

  Tears slipped down my cheeks. “Please. Just don’t hurt them. I’m here. I’m back. There’s no need to hurt anyone else.”

  He cocked his head to the side, his hands brushing up and down the steel bars. “My dear, naïve, little Nessuno. What kind of man would I be if I let the Valenti heir live after he stole from me?”

  “He didn’t steal from you. It wasn’t him.”

  Vadik let out a maniacal laugh. “Naïve. Naïve. Naïve. Of course, I know he wasn’t the one who stole you from me. But unfortunately, word on the street is Antonio Valenti, boss of Boston’s notorious crime family, was the one who took you from me. My reputation is already tarnished. I have no choice but to demand he pay for his crime.”

  More tears slipped down my cheeks, soft whimpers rolling over my lips. “There was no crime,” I whispered.

  “Of course, there was.”

  Anger simmered.

  “Stealing is a crime, Nessuno.”

  And then it exploded.

  “I wasn’t stolen from you because I was never yours! I don’t fucking belong to you!” My voice came out loud and hard, slamming against the walls. Tears streamed down my face, but it was a mix of anger and pain. Fear and rage. My nostrils flared as I launched forward on my knees, grabbing the steel bars. “You were the one who stole me ten years ago. It was you! You are the thief!”

  Vadik stepped back, his wide eyes focused on me. “My, my, my. Seems like the Valenti heir managed to fuck a spine into you.”

  My chest rose and fell, my rapid, shallow breathing causing my lungs to expand even though it didn’t feel like I was breathing. I was too busy concentrating on the rage, turning it into courage so I could have the strength to not show weakness.

  Vadik tilted his head the side, studying me. “I will kill him for that, you know. For putting his filthy hands on you, touching what’s mine. Even if my reputation wasn’t at stake, I’d still drive my knife through his heart.” He leaned forward, cold, hard eyes pinned on me. “Then I’ll spend the rest of my life fucking him out of you in the most unimaginable ways. You think you’ve seen the worst of me. You’re wrong.” The hate in his eyes caused me to shudder, and I felt the strength I had a few seconds ago evaporate.

  I stepped back, and he smiled. “Not so brave now, are you?”

  “Please,” I whispered. “Don’t hurt them.”

  He rubbed the stubble on his chin, eyes dark and vicious. “I might let the Valenti girl go…after I’ve fucked her.”

  “No!” My heart ached, my ribs feeling like they were being cracked one by one. I knew him. I knew what to expect from his evil touch. But Karina didn’t. There was no way she’d survive him.

  I heard the sound of a motorboat engine, and my gaze cut to Vadik. The corners of his mouth curved into a smirk. “I give you one guess who that is.”

  No. No. No. I shook my head, fear clawing into my lungs. “Don’t do this. You don’t have to hurt him.” I wanted to plead. I wanted to beg. I wanted to go back in time so I could stop myself from ever defying him. Maybe if I had obeyed him from the start, never disobeying him, he would have had mercy right at this moment. But the way his eyes darkened, the sheer satisfaction and excitement plastered across his face, told me there would have been nothing I could have done to stop him.

  “You have me back. You don’t have to hurt him. Please.”

  Vadik snorted. “He corrupted you, fucked up all the years I invested in breaking and molding you into the perfect puppet. And for that, he will die.” He leaned forward, still wearing that vicious smile. “But not before he witnesses me ruin you over…and over…and over again.”

  “Dear God,” I whispered. Vadik hadn’t even touched me yet, and already I could feel him break me, little by little.

  I fell back on my ass, pulling my knees up to my chest. Slowly, I felt myself falling, being pulled back to the past. My mind was already starting to sort through the emotions, through the pain, readying to compartmentalize. It was the only defense I had. The only escape.

  “Remember this?”

  I looked up and sucked in a breath when I saw the diamond studded collar he held in his hand, a golden ring attached to the front. “No.” I shook my head.

  “Yes.” He smirked. “It’s time, Nessuno.” He bent down, pushing a key into the lock on the cage door. “Now, be a good little girl, and let’s put on a show the Valenti heir will never forget.”

  Chapter 19

  Antonio

  I was going into this completely blind. There was no plan, no goddamn blueprint of how everything was about to go down. All I knew was I had to get to her. The longer I was apart from her, not knowing what that son of a bitch was doing to her, I was dying inside. I was already thinking about a hundred different ways to torture and kill the bastard once I get my hands on him.

  I drove into the harbor. It was just after midnight, and apart from the security guards at the entrance, there wasn’t a person in sight. As I slowly drove along the road, I saw a black SUV parked just ahead. I pulled up and switched off the ignition, the car lights shining on the men in front of me sporting huge ass rifles, trying their best to look like mean motherfuckers. If I didn’t have so much to lose, I would have flat-out laughed in their faces.

  Glancing down at my phone next to me on the passenger seat, I prayed to God Lucio had enough time. But since time wasn’t on my side, I got out of the car.

  I held my hands up. “Gentlemen.” I glanced at their rifles. “If your Russian good looks didn’t give you away, those life-size guns sure would have done the trick.” Sarcasm. A man’s best defense mechanism.

  Naturally, no one laughed, all of them stoic, their faces unreadable. One guy merely tipped the muzzle of his gun in the direction of a motorboat, silently telling me to move my ass and get on. My glare raked from one guy to the other, trying to assess my current situation. Since they had weapons and I didn’t, I’d say my current situation was, well…less than favorable.

  Without saying a word, I walked in the direction of the motorboat. Just as I reached the edge, someone pushed me from behind, causing me to fall face first into the boat.

  Fuckers said something in Russian as I righted myself. I guessed it wasn’t compliments they were spitting my way.

  One man climbed onto the boat, his gun aimed straight at me. I kept my hands in the air. “Where is Vadik? Where is Doe?”

  Another guy got onto the boat, while the other moved in behind the wheel. As the boat started to move, the salt water smell surrounded me, the cool wind ruffling through my hair while I reached out to hold on to the barrier. Within minutes, we were out the harbor, and I saw the lights of a yacht in the distance.

  “Is that where we’re going?”

  No one answered me.

  My stomach was slowly turning inside out while my heartbeat remained steady, even though it felt like it would creep up my throat at any second. Doe and Karina better be there, and unharmed. I might not have a gun, and I knew my odds of survival were probably slim. But if Vadik so much as hurt a hair on their heads I would die trying to pull his spine from his fucking body.

  I kept my gaze on the yacht in the distance, my shoulders squared and jaw clenched. One thing my father had taught me was to never show fear. Assholes like Vadik fed on it. It only made them stronger, giving them more power.

  The boat came to a stop next to the dock connected to the yacht. When I read the name on the side of the yacht, I almost snorted. Master VI. Fucking original. Son of a bitch probably had one of these babies anchored at every goddamn port.

  They cut the engine of the boat, and one of the SOBs shoved me forward, forcing me on the dock. All I did was glower at him over my shoulder. What I really wanted to do was rip his tongue out and shove it up his ass. But I was keeping my eyes on the prize, and that was doing everything I possibly could to get Karina and Doe away from this twisted motherfucker. A part of me felt thrilled to finally meet this Vadik fuck so I co
uld carve his goddamn heart out. I just wished I had a little more of an upper hand than I did now.

  There was a winter chill in the air, but the adrenaline in my veins kept me warm. It could have been three degrees outside; I still wouldn’t have been able to feel it. The salty scent of the ocean came in waves with the breeze, and I hoped like fuck this wasn’t the last time I’d smell the sea.

  “Walk,” the fucker with the mean-ass tattoos ordered from behind me. Getting inked up his neck and over his bald head had to hurt like hell. “I said walk.” He shoved me again, and I growled in the back of my throat.

  “Push me again, and I’ll slit your throat.” Seriously, there was only so much a man could take before he lost his shit.

  The guy laughed, and then true as fuck, he shoved me again.

  I stilled, closed my eyes, and bit my lip. There was a click, a heartbeat, and I swerved, flicking my wrist. My aim was perfection, the thin slice across his throat starting to bleed the second I brought my arm back down. He gargled, choking on his blood as crimson poured down his chest. The other son of a bitch watched in horror. I, on the other hand, watched in sheer fucking delight.

  The guy turned to face me, eyes wide, completely shocked. He moved, and so did I…only my knife was jabbed into his gut before he even had a chance to raise his rifle. Fucking idiot. Everyone knew rifles were shit short distance. Vadik really needed to get himself some security with a little less muscle and little more brain.

  I took my five seconds, watching my victims bleed. Watching them die. It was so easy, so simple to take a life—especially when the life of someone you cared about depended on the death of another.

  I heard them before they reached me, the rest of Vadik’s crew. There was no doubt I would pay for the lives I had just taken, but at least it was two fuckers less I had to worry about.

  A hard body slammed into mine, sending me face first to the ground. And then…nothing.

  ***

  From the ache in the back of my skull, it was painfully evident I had taken a blow to the head. That also explained how I ended up bound to a chair, ankles together, wrists tied to the armrest. Immediately, I remembered the image of those two guys I killed. They could strap me down in a straitjacket, or twist chains around my body from head to toe. It was still fucking worth it, taking the last breath of those arrogant fucks.

  “You sure know how to make an entrance, don’t you, Valenti heir?”

  I glanced to the right, then to the left, finally seeing the fucker leaning against the wall looking all dapper and shit in a fucking suit. The long trench coat with fur lapels totally gave him away. Russian fucker.

  “Vadik, I presume.”

  He nodded.

  I cringed, a sharp pain shooting up my skull. “Yeah, your pictures don’t do your ugly face justice.”

  He pushed himself away from the wall. “As the leader of one of Boston’s most powerful families, you should know that sarcasm is a very unbecoming quality to have.”

  “So is raping little girls.”

  That shut the fucker right up. In fact, the way he frowned, those freaky as fuck blue eyes scowling at me, I knew he was envisioning my head on a stake. Well, the feeling was fucking mutual.

  “So, Valenti heir, do you make a habit of going around fucking other people’s property?”

  “Now, see,” I winced trying to get rid of the crick in my neck, “that sentence brings two very big issues to my attention. First, you’re one fucked-up individual. Second…you’re one fucked-up individual.”

  Only one corner of his mouth curved up. “Oh, you haven’t seen the worst of me yet.”

  I heard steel rattling from behind me, and as I peered over my shoulder, my heart fucking stopped. “Doe.”

  Jesus Christ. Doe was caged, steel bars keeping her in. She was on her knees, naked, except for a gold collar around her neck, a gold chain looping through a ring on the collar, fastened against one of the cage bars. Her head was bowed down…in submission. Fuck.

  “Doe. Jesus. Vadik, you motherfucker.” I glared at him, my mind on the brink of exploding along with the heart that was no longer beating. “Let her fucking go. Get her the fuck out of that goddamn cage now!”

  He leaned his head to the side, blond hair falling just above his shoulders. “How did it feel?”

  “You listen to me. Let—”

  “How did it fucking feel?”

  A heavy silence settled around us, and I took another glance over my shoulder at Doe before looking back at Vadik. Losing my shit wouldn’t help the situation. It was easy to see Vadik was a theatrical fucker. If I wanted to buy time, I had to play along. Give his goddamn spotlight.

  I took a breath. “How did what feel?”

  “Fucking her.”

  My nostrils flared. “Well, I’ll tell you this much. It felt good knowing she wanted me to fuck her…which isn’t something you can say.” It would have taken a special kind of stupid for him not to hear the animosity in my voice.

  I tugged at the ropes around my wrists, testing them. His gaze flitted down to the movement then back up to meet mine. “Willing or not, her body, her pussy, it belonged to me long before you decided to piss all over my property, trying to make your goddamn mark.”

  “She’s never been yours.”

  “Oh, I beg to differ, Valenti heir.”

  I groaned. “For God’s sake. Stop with the heir thing already.”

  “Since you’re the one currently tied to a chair, I reckon I can call you whatever the fuck I want.”

  I snorted. “Sure. Whatever. Call me Rapunzel, for all I care. Just as long as you let my sister and Doe go.”

  “Her name is Nessuno.”

  “Nope. Her name is Alessia, as a matter of fact. But I guess you already knew that.”

  He never took his eyes off me. He simply stood there, staring at me, making me wonder what kind of twisted shit ran through his head on a daily basis. I was willing to bet his head was like a giant swimming pool of evil, a demonic fucking playground.

  Vadik walked up and down in front of me, swinging a set of keys around his finger. “I know exactly who she is, Valenti heir. And so do you. Question is, why haven’t you told her yet?” He eyed Doe over my shoulder, still silently sitting in the cage.

  I narrowed my eyes, not liking the direction this conversation was headed. “Stop with the bullshit, Vadik. Where is my sister? We had a deal.”

  He stilled then glanced my way. “You didn’t answer my question.”

  “You didn’t answer mine either.”

  Vadik pursed his lips, seemingly amused. Then he lifted his hand and pointed behind me. A guy I didn’t even notice was there opened the door. I heard moans, shuffling of feet before I saw her as they placed her on her knees next to me.

  “Karina. Jesus.”

  Her hair was a tangled mess, dirt and blood smears covering her face and arms. The dress she wore was torn, barely hanging by a thread, the black fabric of her bra clearly visible. There was a gag in her mouth, her hands tied behind her back, and all I could think about was what the fuck they did to my sister.

  My heart pounded, fury burning like a fucking inferno inside me. “What the fuck is this? Jesus, Vadik. You better not have—”

  “Relax.” He waved me off. “No one touched her. Your sister just needed to be…contained since she wouldn’t stop assaulting my men.” Vadik pointed at Karina. “Did you know she bites?”

  I looked down at her, and she growled while keeping her glare on Vadik. At that moment, my heart swelled with pride. My sister. A fighter. A Valenti.

  “As a matter of fact,” I turned to face him again, “I happen to know firsthand that she bites.”

  I struggled against the ropes again, feeling them cutting into the flesh of my wrists. Even though I was proud as hell over the fact that Karina didn’t stop fighting, I was growing restless. I wanted her out of there. Her and Doe both.

  “Vadik, we had a deal. I’m here, so let my sister go.”

&
nbsp; “A man is allowed to change his mind.”

  “Fuck that! You let her go. We had a motherfucking deal.”

  Vadik cocked a brow. “You of all people should know deals can be broken.”

  “What?”

  He kept swinging the keys around his finger. “The night you killed Stefano Mancuso, you made a deal with him, only to go back on your word. Didn’t you?”

  Karina stilled, dark brows furrowed as she stared at me. I ignored her.

  “How the fuck do you know?”

  “I know everything, Valenti heir. I have eyes and ears everywhere.”

  “The situation with Mancuso has nothing to do with you.”

  “But it has to do with her,” he pointed over my shoulder towards Doe, “doesn’t it?”

  My jaw clenched, and I bit my lip. “Don’t,” I warned.

  “I think little Nessuno deserves to know the truth, don’t you?”

  “Her name isn’t Nessuno!” I pulled at my restraints, the chair skidding across the wooden floor.

  Vadik laughed. The fucker was so amused, his entire ugly motherfucking face lit up. Still swinging the keys around his finger, he walked around me, back to where Doe was. I glanced down at Karina beside me, her eyes filled with panic.

  “Don’t worry,” I assured her. “I won’t let him hurt you.” But judging by the big blue bruise beneath her jaw, someone already had.

  I heard the turn of a lock, the creak of steel hinges. With my eyes closed, I tried to brace myself for what was to come. Jesus. This was all spiraling out of control. And we were running out of time.

  The rattling of chains made me open my eyes, and I was suddenly sucked through a vortex of horror, spewed out in a fucking twilight zone of sheer and utter agony. Doe was on hands and knees, crawling behind Vadik while he held the chain in his hand like a goddamn leash.

  My heart, my stomach, my entire fucking inside felt like it was being ripped apart by shards of glass, tearing at my soul. It hurt. It fucking hurt watching the woman I loved being treated like a fucking animal. Crawling on the floor, naked and humiliated—it was too much for me to witness.