by S Williams
I stare down at my toes at the end of the tub. “You said I would be protected. That nothing would happen while I’m here, under your protection.”
“I know what the fuck I said.”
So why weren’t you here!?” I snap, and I don’t realize how loud I am until I hear my voice echoing off the walls. I stand up rapidly and the water drips down my bare body. “He raped me, Draco! He took from me, to hurt you! And Bain! God, Bain! He was in on it. And so was Francesca! But you leave him here as your eyes and ears while you’re away?”
He looks shocked to hear this, as if he didn’t know Bain and Francesca were a part of this. I shake my head from side to side. How can he be so fucking stupid? They were doing shit right up under his nose and he didn’t even notice.
“The very people that you claim loyal and respectful are your biggest fucking enemies. You have them roaming this house—Bain calls me names and threatens how he wants to fuck and then sell me! Francesca hates me because she loves you and I’m stealing the attention away! She wants to see me dead!”
I step out of the tub, storming towards him.
I’ve had enough of this life.
I’ve had enough of trying to please him and belittling myself just to make him feel better.
After what just happened, I’d much rather be fucking dead than bowing down to him.
“Why the fuck didn’t you tell me about Bain before?!” His voice is angry.
“I didn’t think there was anything to tell. You are their boss and they all think I’m just your play toy. You punish me, fuck me over, bully, and torture me. You claim you will protect me, but that’s bullshit. If you treat me like shit, why wouldn’t they do the same?”
He’s breathing raggedly through flared nostrils. I’m panting way too quickly, fire brewing in my veins.
“You knew my father,” I go on. “You knew him well, and that is probably the only reason I am still standing here. But if he was here right now, he would fucking murder you with his bare hands for what has been done to me. He would rip your fucking tongue out and feed it to his hounds. He would make sure that you are nothing and will never amount to anything again. He. Would. Fucking. Destroy. You.”
Draco’s eyes fill with ferocity. He takes the last step forward, and as his head cocks, he says, “But he isn’t here anymore…is he?”
My hearts drops.
“He can’t do any of that shit. So ask yourself who’s in charge now? Who is the only person you can rely on?” He cups the back of my neck, angling my head up so I can look at him. “It’s not Toni. It’s not Lion. It’s me, Gianna. Me. You know it. Lion knew it. Everyone knows it. I made a mistake by thinking I could leave you here without extra protection and I am admitting my faults. But don’t think I will take this lightly. Don’t think I will be gentle about this.”
“You’re right. You did make a mistake!” I shove him on the chest, furious now. “You say that you want to make me yours—that you want me to yourself. You tell them I’m off limits, but you don’t have the heart to prove it! You want me to be yours, then make me yours! That means you shouldn’t let anyone touch me! Don’t let anyone near me! You should be making me so sacred to them that they worship the fucking ground I walk on!”
He doesn’t speak, and his grip slacks on the back of my neck. This is the first time I’ve seen Draco speechless. Utterly speechless.
“What I saw—what he did to you—it was unacceptable and he has paid for it…and so will they,” he says, and it sounds like cheap words to me.
“How?” I demand. “Tell me how!”
He drops his chin, his hot gaze holding mine. “You are the woman I want and I am probably the most wanted man in the fucking world. I am being chased, watched, and hunted by people I don’t even know. And you know what? I don’t give a single fuck. Because that makes people afraid of me. So afraid that even you, Gianna, should be afraid of what I am going to do to them. Pico was only the beginning. He got out of it way too easily, and that is only because I was too furious to hold back.”
“What will you do to them?” I demand again, jutting my chin out.
“You’ll find out soon. But you have to promise me one thing.”
“What?”
“Accept your fate. You are not weak. You are strong, and I can tell by the way you stand here, facing me after what just happened, that you are a lot stronger than you’d like to believe. You are a powerful, bold, and relentless woman, and you are right. You are mine.” He cups my ass in his hands. I don’t wince, even though I feel raw and exposed there. I let him do this, and I burn inside with some sort of passion I haven’t felt in ages.
“Accept me, and I will accept you,” he murmurs. “Devote yourself to me, and I will be sure that this never fucking happens again. I will make that vow to you. I will swear it on my father’s grave and my mother’s soul. As long as you say you are mine, I will do whatever your heart desires.”
“Did you let him do that to me just so I could accept this—whatever this is?” I’m still angry, and untrusting, shoving his hand away.
He’s pissed.
He pushes me against the wall and his forehead presses down hard on mine. “I cut him to fucking pieces and I will do it again in a heartbeat to anyone that tries to fuck the woman I want.”
I swallow hard, the pit of my belly fluttering.
He lowers his gaze to my lips, grabbing my shoulders. “It was too quiet when I walked through that door, Gianna. I didn’t see him or you. There was only one place he’d hide. He was lingering around the den. He had this planned—they had this planned. But what they’ve failed to realize is that they have fucked with the wrong man. They all did…and they know it. And now they will fucking pay.”
“I want them gone—I don’t care how,” my voice trembles.
He catches my quivering bottom lip. “And that will happen. You’ll see.”
I nod, dropping my gaze.
“Accept,” he whispers against my lips. “Let me truly make you mine.”
I pick my head up, locking eyes with him. Something swirls inside them. Something hot and desirable. I’ve never seen this look on him before. It’s desperate—almost hopeful.
My teeth clamp into my bottom lip, but without any hesitation at all, I run my hands down his forearms and then entwine our fingers.
“I accept, Draco.”
His sculpted lips incline at the corners. Instead of taking me victoriously like a savage would, he squeezes my hand and leads the way back to the tub.
“Get in.” I step forward, looking up at him. I guide my body into the warm water. It’s not as hot as before.
He walks towards a small cabinet and takes down a body sponge. When he comes back, he squats down beside the tub and then reaches across me to pick up the bar of soap.
After lathering the soap on the sponge, he reaches forward and starts to wash me. I watch the suds surround me and then look up.
His face is concentrated. Stern. I can’t read his expression. He runs the sponge from my neck to my breasts, scrubbing me gently around them, and then under my arms. He continues down to my sacred area, but then he pauses, eyes flashing up to me.
“Did he touch you right here?” He asks this in Spanish.
I shake my head. “He tried,” I respond. “I fought.”
He swallows thickly, and then continues down, running over the mound. His hand disappears into the water, but I feel him there, his fingers. The sponge.
His eyes flicker up to mine as he washes me around the sensitive area.
“Lift up,” he commands, and I rest my elbows on the edge of the tub to lift my hips. He runs the sponge over my plump cheeks and when he lowers down to the crease and runs it through my raw bottom, I wince. “It’s okay, niñita. Let me take care of you.”
I barely nod, watching him intently. Our eyes hold for the longest time, and something swims inside of his. He’s angry, yes, but there is remorse there. The guilt—it’s eating him alive.
D
espite my bad behavior and foul mouth, he hates what has been done to me.
When he finishes up, he drops the sponge and then leans forward. His mouth is less than an inch away from mine, and he studies me carefully.
“I will make sure they beg for your forgiveness and then die a vengeful death for their disobedience and lack of respect.”
I bob my head.
“I mean it, Gianna. I won’t be easy on them. I will make them fucking suffer.”
“I know,” I whisper. And really, I do know. I’ve witnessed his wrath firsthand.
He sighs and draws back, standing to his feet. He walks to a cabinet and grabs a small black box. Opening it, he digs through it and takes something small out. “I think it’s time to explain some things to you,” he murmurs as he places it back on the shelf inside the cabinet.
“Things like what?”
He comes back in my direction and when he lowers his hand, he places the object down on the edge of the tub. I look down at it, and when I see the familiar diamond ring, my chest squeezes tight. “About your ex-husband…” he says.
I freeze for a split second, pulling my line of sight away from it. “What about him?”
“You’ll find out as soon as I take care of this. I need to send someone to clean that mess in the cellar. I will be back, though. Just make sure you stay in this room—my room. Don’t go anywhere else.”
He steps forward and tips my chin, stroking my hair back. Sincerity runs deep in his brown irises. He feels awful, I think. That’s what it seems. His devotion is too fierce.
He feels bad that Pico took from me, something that I will never get back. He’s probably fueled with jealousy and spite.
“I have no doubt that you fought.” His voice is low and even. “You are your father’s daughter and one thing he told me and my family is that, boy or girl, he would never raise a coward.”
A coward, I am not.
He pulls away and stands up straight.
I want to thank him, but for what? I was still taken.
I felt so weak down in that cellar. So vulnerable and…used.
I already want to forget it, but it’s too fresh in my mind. His hot breath, his greasy sweat, his disgusting mouth on my skin. I squeeze my eyes shut, lowering my head.
“I will be back as soon as possible, niñita. Wait for me.” He pulls his hand away and plants a kiss on the top of my head, exhaling deeply. He walks towards the door, glancing back once. “Don’t leave this room,” he commands lightly. “I mean it.”
“I won’t.”
He nods once, and with slight reluctance, he finally walks out of the bathroom while stripping out of his bloodstained shirt. When he’s gone, I fear the loneliness. The quiet. I hope he really does come right back. I need his protection.
I look at the ring again, blinking slowly. I stare at it for a while. He’s giving it back, but the question is do I want it?
The past. The memories. The heartache.
I flick the ring and it clinks loudly on the tile floor. I then sink down lower in the tub, staring at the water. My knobby knees are quaking. My hands are trembling.
I accepted my fate.
There is no turning back now.
I sink down further, until the water has enveloped me whole. I stay this way for nearly one whole minute, not breathing. Not thinking. Not moving.
Eyes shut.
Airtight.
Heart booming.
And then I rise.
I gasp.
Water falls past my lips. I taste blood.
And I know…I know what I have to do.
I must become the woman to match Draco’s exterior.
The one thing I’ve learned is that weak people don’t last. And maybe he was right. Love is useless. Compassion is pointless. Mercy is redundant.
I’ve been kind.
I’ve understood.
I’ve been helpful.
I’ve been trying to stay positive, even through the worst of times.
But no more. I have accepted my fate. And that fate is to become just as dangerous and ruthless as Draco Molina.
My new partner.
My new king.
He can have all of me, just as long as I get to call the shots. Mind, body, and soul—it’s all his. He can take it and cherish it because there is no looking back for me.
Toni…he is my past.
Daddy, he is in my heart. But Draco is right. He’s gone too.
I am his heir.
I was passionate. Passion was what I knew. Passion and hope were what kept me going. But passion and hope have constantly fucked me over.
This princess is ready to snatch up the big crown and become the one thing she was deathly afraid of.
A queen. With veins full of venom and a heart full of ice.
A queen who will no longer bow down, but have everyone else kneeling at her feet.
The games are over.
I can’t leave now.
The malevolence has only begun.
Gianna Ricci is no more.
But Gianna Nicotera is here, and she is hungry for a massacre.
The boss thinks he’s safe, but he’s far from it. I have accepted, but that doesn’t make him a winner. I will own that man. I will make him do things for me he never thought he would do for a woman. And as soon as he’s comfortable—as soon as I see he has fallen for me—I will end him. The most wanted man in the world will be dead.
I will be free.
And he will be nothing.
The fangs. The claws. The rage.
Passion or venom? And you ask me what my choice is?
The venom.
Every. single. fucking. ounce of it.
Afterword
Thank you so much for taking the time out to read Passion & Venom. I know going all dark and twisted is very rare for me, but if you enjoyed it, feel free to join my mailing list and Facebook group for fun, exclusive updates on Draco and Gia!
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If you are looking for the early sneak peek of UNTAINTED, you’ve found it. Just flip the page and start reading. I hope you enjoy it. :)
Please remember that what you read may be changed in the final version.
UNTAINTED SNEAK PEEK
Chloe
After Kim finished cooking dinner and we chowed down on her amazing shrimp scampi, I cleaned the dining room and kitchen while she worked on papers a little more.
“Still nothing?” she called from the living room.
I scrubbed the pan, glancing over my shoulder. “Nothing.”
“Think he’ll actually call?”
He’d better. “I don’t know,” I said instead.
“Crazy fox.”
Around 10 p.m., as Kim was packing her things and collecting her keys, I finally got the call I had been waiting for all day.
I wasn’t familiar with the number, but it was a San Francisco area code. Kim paused on everything she was doing, straightening up as I literally jumped out of my seat with my phone clutched in hand.
“Is that him?”
“I don’t know,” I said hoarsely. “I hope so.”
“Oh shit. Well, let me go, but make sure you call me and tell me everything!”
“I will!”
She walked towards the door and wriggled her eyebrows at me before shutting it behind her. I stepped back and hurried up the stairs, entering the bedroom.
It continued to ring as I sat on the bed’s bench, staring at the number. I had already memorized it, just in case.
My heart was hammering down on my ribcage now. With clammy palms, I pressed the answer button and then lifted the rec
eiver up to my ear.
I swallowed the thick emotion in my throat before speaking.
“Theo?”
“How’d you know?” he asked, and his voice was smooth and deep, and so fucking sexy.
“The number says San Francisco under it. You told me before you left Bristle Wave that you were moving there…with her.”
He was quiet for a moment. “Yeah, I remember.” I remained just as quiet and he sighed. “Do me a favor?”
“What?”
“Look out of your window.”
My eyebrows dipped after he said that. “What?” I looked towards the window, confused now.
“Look out of your window,” he repeated, and I stood slowly, tiptoeing across the carpet. I pushed the sheer white curtain aside and peered out. I didn’t see anything at first, but then I saw the black Chrysler parked across the street.
I’d never seen anyone next door or across the street with that car. And it was black. All black. Black rims. Black paint. Tinted windows.
That car proved he was here.
I looked down towards the sidewalk where my mailbox was, and he was standing right on the curb, one hand in his front pocket, the other used to keep the phone to his ear.
“Oh my God, Theo, what are you doing here?” I asked quickly.
“I’m here to see my Little Knight.”
“But—Izzy,” I stammered. “Aren’t you supposed to be with her?”
“She’s rehearsing her script. She told me she would be at it all night so I told her I’ll be at Dane’s. I guess I lied and wanted to come here instead.”
I cleared my throat, my heart beating a mile a minute.
“Are you going to let me in?” he asked, and his head tilted. “Or is that fiancé of yours lingering around?”
I stepped away from the window, staring down at the ring on my finger.
“Chloe?” he called.
His voice sent a swirl deep in my belly. I was all wound up—not thinking clearly. My stomach was in one big knot, and I knew the only person that could undo it was him.
