Leaving me with enough time to catch my breath.
Sink me in the ocean?
How many people had Teo killed in this house and disposed of in the ocean view I’d been enjoying?
6
Mateo
I cracked the door open. “This better be good.”
I saw Lyle standing outside with a phone in his hand. “It’s Mrs. Emilia--.”
I ripped the phone from him. “Shit.”
I looked back at Miss Pettigrew all chained up for me and sweating like a dog. Her face, flushed with a need she didn’t want to admit. Her legs, parted for me, with her juices dripping down her inner thighs. I licked my lips as I took one last look at those puckered tits. The one thing on her body that always gave her away, no matter what her mouth said.
I slipped out the door. “I got it, Lyle. Thank you.”
He nodded. “Of course, Mr. Emiliano. I’ll be down the hall if you need anything.”
I drew in a deep breath before putting the phone to my ear. “Hello, darling.”
My wife snickered. “I swear, you never pick up your phone when I need you. It’s like it’s on silent mode or something!”
Because it is. “My apologies, Rosana. It’s been a long day at work.”
“I’m sure it has been. I need to see you. Are you free?”
I peered over my shoulder at my bedroom door. “I’m in the middle of something. Can it wait?”
“Actually, no. It’s a bit of an emergency.”
My spine tingled. “The kind of emergency you can’t handle?”
She giggled. “I know, I know. Not often that happens, right? But unfortunately, I’m going to need a bit of your expertise. And quickly.”
I blinked. “Someone’s there right now, aren’t they?”
“I swear, my love, it’s like you can read my mind.”
My neck bristled as those two words sounded off in my ear. ‘My love’. It was an established code word between the two of us in case shit went south and we needed one another quickly. I cursed myself in the back of my mind before I started down the hallway. I rushed up to Lyle and tapped him on the shoulder before pointing down the hall at my bedroom door. Then, I pressed the phone against my shoulder and spoke softly.
“I need to leave. Make sure Miss Pettigrew gets back to her room. Got it?”
He nodded. “Of course, Mr. Emiliano.”
I pointed at him. “And don’t you dare touch what isn’t yours.”
He grinned. “I’ve grown fond of my fingers, thank you very much.”
I put the phone back to my ear. “Rosana?”
“I’m here, my love.”
“Give me ten minutes. I’m on my way.”
It’s like my fucking wife knew when I was about to be happy and knew just how to crash the party. But, if something happened to her, I was as good as dead.
I just hoped Miss Pettigrew would forgive me for it.
I puffed out my cheeks with a sigh as I tried to close my legs a little bit. My clit was aching out of control. My wrists were aching to be freed so I could rake my nails down Teo’s muscly back. I wanted him to come back. No, no, I needed him to come back. But, the longer I stood there--chained up in his bedroom--the more I began to wonder if he was ever coming back at all.
“Teo?” I asked.
Nothing but silence greeted me as I watched for shadows underneath the door, wondering if anyone was out there. But, I didn’t hear or see anyone moving around.
“Teo?” I called out.
Confusion rushed over my body as I began tugging at the restraints. Maybe there was some sort of fail-safe option where I could get myself out, if need be. But, the more I fumbled around with them, the more tired I grew. The muscles in my arms were beginning to throb. My legs were beginning to fail me, threatening to buckle and leave me dangling by my wrists.
“Teo!” I exclaimed.
The door inched open. “Ma’am?”
I blinked. “Hello? Who is it?”
The door inched open a bit further. “It’s Lyle, ma’am.”
The bodyguard. “Please don’t come in anymore. I’m kind of, uh…”
“I’m aware, ma’am.”
Embarrassment washed over me. “Oh.”
“Mr. Emiliano sends his apologies. An emergency has pulled him away. He’s instructed me to get you back to your room.”
“I don’t feel very comfortable with that. Is there a woman that could help me out?”
“I thought you might ask, so I’m sending in one of the maids. She’ll make sure you get out and get clothed.”
Tears rushed my eyes. “I appreciate it.”
It was still embarrassing when some random woman I’d never seen before walked in and saw me dangling the way I was. But, if she wanted to stare, she did a damn good job of making sure she didn’t. She walked over with her eyes cast to the floor and started with my legs. And when my ankles were free, I got my legs underneath me enough to give slack to the chains attaching my wrists to the ceiling.
Which made them easy to undo.
“Got it,” I said breathlessly.
The woman held out a robe. “I thought you might want something like this.”
I took it from her and tossed it over my shoulders. “Thank you so much.”
When her eyes finally met mine, I saw nothing but sorrow behind them. Whether it was sorrow for herself or for me, I wasn’t sure. But, I quickly covered myself up and tied a bow around my waist. With a nod of her head, the maid exited the room, and in her place stood Lyle. Ready to escort me back to my bedroom.
“With me, ma’am,” he said.
The walk back up to my apartment was silent and awkward. I could tell Lyle didn’t enjoy being put in this position any more than I enjoyed being in it. But, at least he hadn’t been the one to see me like that.
I would’ve died if another man saw me that way.
After Lyle ushered me into my bedroom, he closed the door behind me and I quickly shed the robe. With tears dripping down my cheeks I went in search of my phone like I usually would have, only to be met with the stark realization that I had no idea where the hell my phone was.
I hadn’t seen it since my abduction back home.
“Jesus,” I whispered.
Someone knocked on my door. “Ma’am?”
I sighed. “Yes, Lyle?”
“I have a present for you that Mr. Emiliano wants me to go ahead and give you.”
I paused. “What kind of present?”
“The kind that requires a response, I’m sure.”
I walked back over to my door and opened it, only to be met with the stacked bodyguard with a bag in his hand. The bag kept vibrating, and I looked at it curiously before I plucked it from his fingertips.
“What is it?” I asked.
But, Lyle only turned his back to me. “Have a good evening, ma’am.”
I blinked. “Right. You, too.”
This place is so weird.
I closed my bedroom door and locked it for good measure, then I took the present and sat on the edge of my bed. It vibrated again and I figured it was some sort of sex toy or some shit like that. But, when I pulled out a brand new iPhone 11 Pro Max, my jaw dropped open.
Teo got me a phone?
I saw that I had four missed text messages and I scrambled to get them open. It wasn’t until I got them open, though, that I saw Teo’s name at the top. I worked my way over to my contacts and saw that I had only one number programmed into the phone. His. But, when I went to add another contact, or even dial another number, it wouldn’t let me.
“Of course,” I murmured.
So, I flipped back over to the messages and read them one by one.
Teo: I figured this was our next step in showing that I trust you. Don’t take offense to the lockdown of the number pad, though. It’s only precautionary.
Right.
Teo: My apologies for the emergency. I hope Lyle got you back to the room in one piece. And if he didn’t, a
ll you need to do is let me know and I’ll deal with him accordingly.
What? Like toss his dead body into the ocean?
Teo: I had to jack off in the car on the way to my emergency, though. You really should see the things you do to me.
I felt my pelvis warming as I read the last message.
Teo: What do you think?
Finally, the message that had been downloading came through. And while I usually recoiled at the idea of dick pictures, I couldn't help but stare at the one Teo sent me. His massive girth, ripe with veins and leaking from its tip. I couldn’t stop staring at it.
Until he sent me a video behind it.
“Shit, Char. Holy fuck.”
My jaw went slack as I watched him jerk off in what I figured was the back of his town car.
“Holy hell, the things you do to me,” he grunted.
I cupped my clothed tit and tweaked my nipple as my thighs pressed together. Hearing his sounds and watching his cock grow in his hand made me want to taste him all over again. I ran my fingers through my hair, gripping my tendrils like I thought he might. I pulled my head back and parted my legs, listening to the growing sounds coming from the video as my fingers began sliding between my legs.
“Don’t you dare touch yourself, Char. Don’t you do it.”
Even his recorded voice stopped me in my tracks as I whimpered.
“Please.”
He growled on the video. “You wait for me to return. You wait until I can make--you--oh, shit. I’m coming. I’m coming. Char! Don’t you dare come without me!”
I scrambled to pick up the phone just in time to watch him blow his load. Arousal shot everywhere, coating his pants and his shirt and his skin. I felt dizzy in my head from all of the excitement. I wanted nothing more than for him to turn around, come back, and fill me up until I orgasmed so much that I begged him to stop.
My head started to hurt, I needed a release so badly. But, if waiting for Teo got me that tongue of his again, I’d gladly do it.
No matter how long I had to wait.
7
Charlotte
I paced the floor of my bedroom, waiting for him to come home. I watched the clock on my cell phone, sighing with every minute that ticked by. At first, I convinced myself he’d be back by dinner. But, the food arrived and it grew cold as I sat there, waiting for him to knock on my door.
“Miss Pettigrew,” I said mockingly in his accent, “I thought you might like company for dinner.”
I switched my voice to my own. “Well, of course I do, Teo. I always enjoy your company.”
Back to his voice I went. “Now, where did we leave off? I was about to claim that pussy as my own, right?”
I smiled brightly. “Right you are, Teo! And use some of that whipped cream, if you know what I’m saying.”
A knock came at the door and I jumped. “Ma’am?”
Of course, it’s Lyle. “Yes?”
“Would you care for another plate of food? Or are you okay?”
I blinked. “I didn’t know I could get another plate of food.”
He chuckled. “Mr. Emiliano isn’t one to starve someone.”
Yeah, he prefers drowning them. “Well, thank you for offering, but I’m okay.”
“If you need anything, let me know.”
I scooted the tray of untouched food over so I could sit. “I will. Thank you.”
“Of course, ma’am.”
I looked at the time on my phone and it was damn near nine-thirty at night. So, finally, my heart gave up the goose. I felt the hope I’d been clinging to quickly fade away as I tossed my phone onto the bedside table with a clatter, and part of me wished it would break.
“I’m not his number one,” I whispered.
As I gazed around the room, my reality slowly dawned on me again. I’d let my feelings and my hopes that I directed toward Teo to manifest as some sort of alternate reality I thought I was living in. When really, I was still just as much of a hostage as the night he purchased me off that damn stage. I swallowed down the bile creeping up the back of my throat. I forced my tears to stay at bay, refusing to shed another droplet for some bullshit man that was married, of all things!
I snickered. “You’re definitely not his number one, Charlotte.”
As I curled up in bed with that robe still around me, I slid beneath the covers. I felt more confused than ever before, and I hated feeling that way. One of the reasons why I became an attorney--personally--was because attorneys always had the answers. They always got the truth out of their client, even if that truth wasn’t what we were defending in court. I enjoyed being familiar with all of the moving pieces in any given scenario. I enjoyed being able to look at someone and know their whole truth even though they might not know that I knew.
On the one hand, I wanted Teo for myself. I wanted him to be the man in my life that made all of this worth it. He turned me on so much I could barely think straight and when he wasn’t threatening me, he really was pleasant to be around.
But, on the other hand, I didn’t want to ruin his life.
Fucking wives.
There was a small part of me that knew I could utilize my knowledge of his personal life against him. But, that wasn’t what I wanted to do. Contrary to what he still thought of me, I wasn’t going to go head to head against him or anything like that. If he let me go, it would result in me going home and trying to put all of this behind me. The more time I spent with him, though, the more I wanted to stay.
So, that only gave me one course of action.
When I see him next, I’ll tell him to choose a lover and be done with it.
He could either divorce his wife and be with me, or send me home. Those were his only two choices. I knew my worth, and I knew I was better than this. Better than all of this. And while he might not trust me enough to give me the full freedom I knew I deserved, what he didn’t know was that I’d die for my own moral principles. Not even his basement-dwelling death threats would make me waver on those principles.
I’d never be the ‘other woman’. I’d either be his woman, or no one’s woman.
Those were the only two choices.
I sighed as my eyes fluttered closed, and my mind began to swirl with thoughts as I laid there, trying to sleep. As much as I hated the idea of leaving, I couldn’t continue to be the bad person in this triangle. All I’d ever wanted to do with my life was make changes for the better. All I ever wanted to do was take over my mother’s firm and do some good in this world. And to know that I was hurting people in the process of merely existing in this beach house with this man made me sick to my stomach.
This wasn’t the kind of change in my life I wanted to influence.
“Damn it,” I hissed.
Teo compromised me in ways that were no longer okay. I couldn’t let his sensuality and his sultry accent deter me from the moral boundaries I established for myself long ago, when I was nothing but a child coming up through law school. I told myself there were certain things I’d never do for anyone, like kill. Or lie to get my way. Or project myself as more than I was.
Or willingly be the other woman simply because I was selfish.
There were parts of me that hated Teo for making me compromise my beliefs. There were parts of me that hated him for keeping that secret from me, as if it weren’t important or some shit. But on the other hand, part of me was glad he did. Part of me was glad I didn’t know right from the get-go that he was married, otherwise all of this would have gone down much, much differently.
For all I knew, him withholding that information until we bonded the way we had saved my life.
Because had I known that man was married? I would’ve let him kill me the first time he tried.
I tossed and turned as I dwelled on the idea of that ultimatum. In my dreams, Teo would choose me. He’d divorce his wife, cast her off to the side, take me in his arms, and proclaim how much he loved me. How much he had always loved me from the first moment we ran into one another at
that client party. I felt him staring at me at that party. I knew what my body alone did to his mind and his cock.
I wanted to be able to do the same to his heart, though.
Like he’d done with mine.
“You’re an idiot, Char,” I murmured to myself.
That nickname would forever be associated with him, too. No one else in my entire life would ever be able to call me that again. If I ever did make it home, I’d have to correct my mother the first time she called me that. And I knew it would plunge us down a rabbit hole of questions she’d be relentless with until I gave her the truth.
“I’m so fucked,” I said flatly.
I rolled over onto my back and started at the ceiling. I had no idea how long I’d been laying in bed, but I knew tonight would be a sleepless night. Every time I closed my eyes, it was as if they were spring-loaded. Opening as quickly as I closed them and nowhere near ready for sleep. I knew why, too. It had something to do with the pesky knot in my pelvis that still hadn’t released itself yet.
I mean, would he really know, though?
I slid my hand between my legs and parted my swollen, wet pussy lips. I felt the cool air from the fan above me tease my swollen clit, making me suck air in through my teeth. I dipped my fingers against the sensitive tip and jumped with shock. Just the slightest touch sent my mind spiraling into the deep, dark depths of salacious desires.
Then, my cell phone vibrated against the bedside table.
“God, it’s like he knows,” I whispered.
I reached for the phone and put it in front of my face. I saw I had another text from Teo and I decided to move my hand away from my pussy. For all I knew, he had cameras in this fucking room, watching my every move.
Wait, are there really cameras in this room?
My eyes darted around the corners of the bedroom before I opened the text message staring at me on the phone screen.
Teo: Just checking in. You haven’t been a bad girl, have you?
Liar : An Enemies to Lovers Mafia Romance (Sold to The Don Book 2) Page 4
