Code of Silence

by Tessier, Shantel

  I swallow nervously and look away from him.

  He grips my chin and forces my attention back up at him. “Is that what you want, Haven?” He lets go of my chin and trails his knuckles down my neck. “Want me to call Bones back in here so he can bend you over the desk and fuck you?”

  My eyes narrow up at him, and my chest tightens.

  His eyes darken. “Or maybe I should call him back in here so he can watch me fuck you.”

  “Fuck you, Luca!” I shout, slamming my fists into his chest.

  He grips my wrist and places my hand to his slacks. He’s hard, and my already wet pussy tightens. “Hmm?” he asks. “Were you remembering the time we watched him fuck Emilee?”

  “Luca …” His name is whispered, and a slow smile spreads across his face. If he was guessing, he just got his answer.

  He reaches down and raises the hem of his shirt that I wear. His brows rise when he sees I’m not wearing anything underneath. I close my eyes in embarrassment.

  “You were thinking of him and her.”

  “Luca …?”

  “As much fun as that was, I want you to know that will never happen again, Haven,” he growls.

  I nod.

  “You belong to me. And I won’t share you. Do you understand?”

  “Yes,” I whimper.

  “Not with him. Not with anyone. I will be the only one to see you come. To see my cock in your mouth. Or in your pussy.”

  “Please,” I beg, not sure what I’m begging for.

  “You need me, baby? Is that why you barged in here?” He doesn’t wait for me to answer. He grips the back of my neck and shoves me over the desk. I breathe onto the surface as I hear him unzip his pants. He fucks me, violently. He doesn’t cover my mouth as I scream out his name, and I know he did it on purpose. He wanted the house to hear him dominate me. And I was one hundred percent okay with it.

  LUCA

  Haven exits my office as Bones re-enters. He sits down in the seat across from my desk and crosses his arms across his chest.

  My office now smells of sex, and I’m still hard. I could totally go another round, but I have work to do. I have a feeling I won’t get shit done now that she’s living here with me.

  “You were saying?” I clear my throat.

  “Word on the street is that retaliation is coming your way.”

  This is why we intertwine our lives and business with the Kings. They have eyes and ears everywhere. They reach places we can’t.

  I lean back in my chair. “We knew it would happen.” You don’t slaughter six men and expect to get away with it. It’s taken time for them to rebuild their army, and I took out their frontline. Leaving their dismembered bodies behind didn’t sit well with them. “They have sat on their asses long enough. I figured our appearance at the wedding chapel would get our message across.”

  He nods, and his eyes slide to the closed door before they return to me.

  “What?” I ask.

  “Haven.”

  “What about her?” I ask, sitting up straighter. Was he daydreaming about me fucking her too? That was all fun and games when we were younger, but I was telling her the truth when I said it wouldn’t ever happen again.

  He leans forward, placing his tatted arms on the surface of my desk. “My father always says, ‘Show me a man in love, and I’ll show you his greatest weakness.’”

  I tilt my head to the side. “You think they’ll go for her?” It’s not unrealistic.

  “You did just announce your engagement. It’s all over the papers and on social media.” He sits back. “It’s exactly what I would do. A woman is helpless compared to a man. Especially one with no training.”

  “I have guards on her.” Rossi will never get the opportunity to touch her.

  He arches a brow. “Are they enough?”

  I slam my fists down on the desk, not happy about him second-guessing me. “Of course.”

  “Enough to bet her life on?” He goes on.

  “Bones!”

  He shrugs. Bones doesn’t give a fuck. He has a careless attitude. Only three people matter to him and that’s the Kings. And his Kingdom. Anyone else is fair game, women included. As he said, they are easy targets.

  “I’m just asking if there are holes where someone could slip through.”

  I run a hand through my hair. “Nite is covering it.”

  He nods. “Then I guess we’re done here,” He stands and walks over to the door.

  “Bones?” I ask, and he pauses, turning to face me. “Set me up a meeting with Titan later on today,” I order.

  “I’ll have him call you.” Then he exits the room, leaving the door open.

  Nite enters immediately, and I look up at him. He stands before my desk, dressed in black dress pants and a white button-down. His shoulder holster has a gun on each side. I don’t doubt his loyalty. He’s proven it to this family once before.

  We enter the cabin, and a man lies on the floor in the living room. His right hand grips his bloody left arm. A snake had bit him. He’s also bleeding from his right thigh. And a snake is still wrapped around his left ankle.

  I remove my gun from my holster and shoot the snake, the bullet going right through his ankle. He screams out, his body jerking.

  I reach down, grab the snake, and toss it to the corner of the room.

  He looks up at me through watery eyes. He takes in my clothes, and how they are covered in Bernard’s blood. “You’ll pay for this.”

  “Funny, that’s exactly what Bernard said.”

  “Fucking pay!” he shouts. “They’ll find her.”

  My hand tightens on the gun.

  “They will fucking send her back to you in pieces!” he screams. “When they’re done with her, you won’t even have a body to identify.” He sucks in a breath through his teeth.

  My jaw clenches, and my muscles tighten. No! They will not! I won’t let them.

  He smiles up at me. “That’s after they use her, of course.”

  My body begins to shake with pure anger. My muscles tight, and my mind seeing a hundred different scenarios of her bloody and dead.

  “Don’t worry, they’ll make sure to give her exactly what you deserve.”

  I drop to my knees and wrap my hand around his throat. “They’ll never touch her,” I growl.

  Nite makes his way up the old wooden stairs and tosses a rope over the banister before tying it off. I wrap it around the guy’s wrists and stand. Nite pulls the rope tight, hauling him up. He dangles in his restraints, fighting for leverage with his feet, but he can’t get it. They’re no longer touching the floor.

  I remove my knife from my boot and flip open the blade.

  “I’ve seen it before.” He smiles at me, enjoying the fact that he’s getting to me. “The way they use them. The way they torture them. She’ll be the perfect revenge on the Bianchi family.” He leans his head back to look up at Nite who still stands upstairs. “You should have just given her up.”

  I look up at the man I consider my brother. We haven’t spoken about what exactly happened when they removed his tongue seven days ago. He was dumped on the doorstep with a note that said forever silent. We knew he had been taken. For the three days he was missing, I was skipping my classes to look for him. And honestly, we never expected to find his body. But instead of death, they wanted him to suffer by never talking again. To know what it’s like not to be able to speak for yourself and only take orders.

  I thought he protected my father. Our family. But he protected one person, in particular. And at this very moment, I realize that I can never repay him. No matter how many guys I kill for him, it’ll never be enough.

  No one talks about her. No one mentions her. We keep her hidden so she remains untouchable. “I’m going to gut you like a fish and leave you here to rot,” I say to him.

  He laughs like I’m fucking funny. “Go ahead and do your worst, you sorry son of a bitch. Whatever you do to me, they will make sure to do to her.”


  “Over my dead body,” I growl.

  He throws his head back, this time his bloody body shaking with his laughter. “After you see what they do to her, you’ll wish they would have just killed you.”

  That was four years ago.

  Now the time has come, and we need to be ready. I look up at my best friend. “Pack a bag. We’re leaving.”

  A look of dread washes over his face before he masks it and nods before exiting my office.

  I stand, place my hands on my desk and close my eyes. I will not allow anyone to touch her. As long as I’m alive, I will protect her with my life. “Goddammit!” I shout.

  CHAPTER NINE

  HAVEN

  I EXIT THE shower and hear him enter the bedroom. After wrapping the towel under my arms, I step into the bedroom.

  “Are your bags still packed?” Luca asks, storming to his closet.

  “Yes,” I answer, following him.

  “Where are they?” he demands.

  “In my closet,” I say, entering his. He’s throwing shit into a suitcase. “What’s going on?”

  “Here.” He reaches into his pocket and tosses me my phone. I catch it in the air. “Get dressed. We’re leaving in twenty.”

  Leaving? “Where are we going?” I ask.

  “To Kingdom.” Then he storms out of his closet and into mine. I run after him. He grabs a couple of my bags and sets them in the middle of the bedroom.

  I frown. “Why do I need bags to go to Kingdom?” I ask confused. “Are we staying there?”

  “No,” he snaps as his cell begins to ring. He looks down at it and hits answer. “Titan …” He pauses, then exits the room, shutting the door behind him.

  I look down at my phone in my hand. He hasn’t been charging it, so the battery shows eight percent. Biting my bottom lip, I go to my call log and pull up Jasmine’s number. Before I can second-guess what is happening, I press call.

  She picks up on the third ring. “What up, ho?”

  “I don’t have much time,” I say in greeting. Staring at the closed bedroom door, I wait for Luca to return. He wouldn’t have given me my phone back if I wasn’t allowed to use it, right? “Whatever you’re doing, stop. And meet me at Kingdom in twenty minutes.”

  _______________

  I sit inside Empire, the steakhouse that sits on the twentieth floor of Kingdom. My knees bounce, and I chew on my bottom lip nervously. I have no clue what is going on. I hurried to get ready after Jasmine agreed to meet me. And when Luca returned to the bedroom, he was off his phone and telling me it was time to go. Nite brought us here. But the moment we arrived, Luca told me to mind Nite and left me. Just as I had hoped he would. For some reason, I knew we were coming here for him to meet Titan. And Luca wasn’t gonna allow me to be involved in whatever they wanted to discuss. I figured that out earlier in his office when he was having a meeting with Bones. He may be forcing me to marry him, but he wants to keep me in the dark when it comes to business. A part of me is okay with that because nothing involving the Dark Kings is good.

  I look up from the booth and see Jasmine enter. I jump up and run to her. She wraps her arms around me and picks me up off my feet like she hasn’t seen me in years.

  “Oh my God,” she shrieks, putting me down. She looks the same as she did when I saw her a few weeks ago. She’s been dying her hair red for the past couple of years. She wears it up in a high ponytail today with a Neffex T-shirt on and holey jeans with a pair of Converse. You wouldn’t think her dad is a millionaire. I’ve always loved that about her.

  We sit down, and her eyes slide over to the entrance. “Is that Oliver Nite?”

  I sigh. “Yeah. He’s my babysitter.”

  She lifts her chin to him. “Hey, Nite?” she calls out. “Do you charge by the hour? How much for an overnight?”

  “Jasmine …”

  “I’m serious.” She whistles looking him up and down. “Damn, he’s hotter than he was in college.”

  He doesn’t acknowledge her in any way. With his arms crossed over his chest, he stares straight ahead.

  She laughs, giving me her attention. “I’m pretty sure he’s gay.”

  “What? No …”

  “Yep.” She nods. “You never saw him with a girl back in school. Never heard of him with a woman. Then he took that vow of silence.” She looks back over at him. “You can be my bitch, Nite. If that’s what you’re into.”

  I choke on air as his eyes slam to hers at her words. She blows him a kiss. “I have a strap-on. No judgement.” She throws her hands up in the air. “I’ve experimented with girls before. I know how to use it.”

  He looks at her like he’s about to body slam her ass into the ground. And not in a good way.

  I run a hand down my face. “When was the last time you got laid?”

  “Well, my hoodie got caught on the doorknob as I was leaving the house yesterday and the collar choked me. My nipples got hard and my cunt wet. It was the most action I’ve had in three weeks.”

  Same ole Jasmine. I smile at her. I miss her. I miss both my best friends. “Have you spoken to Emilee lately?”

  “She was in town a couple of weeks ago.”

  I look down at my cell that sits on the table. It has officially died. “What? She didn’t tell me.”

  She nods. “I gave her a call, and she sounded out of breath. I asked her if she was fucking. She went silent for a second and then explained she was boarding a plane back to Chicago.”

  I sit back in the booth. “Why didn’t she call and tell me?”

  “She was just in town for the day. It’s her mom … She’s sick.”

  My chest tightens. “Sick how?”

  “Lymphoma. Stage four.”

  I gasp.

  “Gave her six months to live. She was heading back to Chicago to pack up her things and place her apartment on the market so she can move back here and help her father take care of her.”

  “Why …?” I swallow. Gripping my phone, I wish I could call her and tell her I’m sorry. That I love her, and that I’m here for her. “Why hasn’t she told me this?”

  She shrugs. “You know how Emilee deals with things. I’ve tried calling her since, but she never answers.”

  “How did we get here?” I ask.

  “Celibate?”

  It makes me laugh at how she deflects. “No. So distant. We used to be inseparable.”

  She shrugs again. “Life happens. We get older, and everything goes to shit.” She reaches for a piece of calamari off the plate I ordered in the middle of the table and shoves it in her mouth. “You should see my tits. Time has not been nice to them.”

  I doubt that. They’re fake. But instead of reminding her of that, I say. “I’m getting married.”

  She looks up at me through her dark lashes. Her hands pause with more calamari. “My hearing must be going to shit as well ’cause it sounded like you just said you’re getting married.”

  I hold up my left hand to show her my ring.

  Her eyes widen. “You’re gonna be a …”

  “Bianchi,” I finish for her.

  Sitting back in her seat she releases a heavy sigh. “What? How …? When did you get back together?”

  Tears sting my eyes, and I lick my lips. Taking in a deep breath, I fill her in.

  _______________

  “Say something,” I prompt, hating sitting here in silence.

  She blinks. “I … uh …” Clearing her throat, she shifts in her seat. “What’s the problem here?”

  “Jasmine,” I growl.

  “What? Haven.” She reaches across the table and grabs my hand. “I honestly don’t see the issue. You love Luca. You’ve always loved him. Now he’s all yours.”

  I remove my hand from hers. “Only on paper.”

  “You don’t know that. Have you given him a chance? Sat down and really spoken to him?”

  My mouth falls open. “Unbelievable.”

  “Haven …”

  “You’re supposed to be on my
side. He slept with another woman.”

  “Made you think he slept with another woman,” she corrects me. “This is all you’ve ever wanted. Why are you fighting it so much?”

  “Because he didn’t want me,” I say softly. “It’s all about money. Power.”

  “I don’t believe that for a second.” She shakes her head. “I think you’re just afraid.”

  “Am not.”

  “You’re afraid that for once in your life, it’s not falling apart.”

  I roll my eyes.

  “Look at you.” She gestures to me. “You’ve been a total mess since he left for Italy. You spent most of your time in a bottle of wine or drowning in a tub of ice cream. Your life is a mess …”

  “Thank you.” I snort. “We both know that yours is just perfect.”

  She tilts her head to the side. “I’m not about to say I have my shit together. But we both know this isn’t about me.” She looks down at her hands knotted on the table. “I have my own issues when it comes to love, and I know that if I was offered the same opportunity as you, I’d jump on it without thought. Even if it came with a contract and a payment.”

  She’s referring to Trenton. After all these years, she’s still hung up on him. Even though the guy is now married.

  Her eyes meet mine. “Just give him a chance. Maybe it’ll turn out to be the best thing to ever happen to you.”

  “Or the worst,” I add.

  I feel a set of eyes on me. I look up, and Luca is standing beside Nite. His eyes on mine as he speaks to him. And I know my time with my friend is over.

  LUCA

  An hour later, we’re boarding my private jet. Nite sits down across from me, and Haven sits to my right. Two men by the name of Max and Gabe sits on either side of Nite.

  Titan gave them to me. He said that they are the best he has, and he trusts them with everything. So I told them to pack their shit they were going on a trip. This is their training. Maybe I’ll bring them back alive, maybe I won’t. That depends on them.

  Haven pulls her shade down and cuddles up with her pillow. Closing her eyes, I watch her breathing even out as she falls into a deep sleep.

  Nite gets my attention when he runs a hand through his hair. He looks nervous.