Taken by the Boss: The Ruzzo Family

by Belle Winters

  I frowned confused. “Baby girl, it’s not your fault. It’s mine. I’m the one that’s sorry Sof. So fucking sorry.”

  She shook her head. “But you don’t know what I did!” she screeched.

  Fuck, these girls were going to be the death of me. If someone didn’t start talking soon, I was going to lose it. They both got kidnapped, but they’re both acting like they're the guilty ones. “Ok, calm down Sof.”

  She began blubbering again, and Michael grabbed her to console her this time. I walked over to pops and talked to him in a whisper. “Did she say what happened?” I asked.

  He shook his head. “She mostly cried. We wanted to wait for you to ask any questions.” He paused. “Did Julie?” I asked.

  I shook my head frustrated. “No. She was doing the whole guilt trip too though. I don’t fucking get this shit. But, I had to leave her alone. She was trying to deal with the whole death and rebirth of Taylor.” My dad nodded in understanding.

  “Let’s get some answers then son.”

  Shit, this was going to suck. I’ve no idea what the hell transpired, but both of the girls seemed worse for wear. I steeled my nerves and had to mentally prepare myself for whatever it was I was going to hear from the both of them. I didn’t see any physical scars, but the worst scars ran deeper. I motioned to Michael to take this to the living room over Sofia’s shoulder. He gave me a small nod in acknowledgment and took her out. I filled a glass of ice cold water and gave myself a minute before following behind.

  *****

  Sofia

  I was feeling so many things at the moment I didn’t know which was right so I tried to block off all emotion. I knew I would have to talk about everything and although I wasn’t ready, it was needed.

  “Princess, we need to know what happened to you.” My father prompted softly.

  I sighed. “Ok. I’ll tell you, but I have to start at the beginning.” I looked back over to Giovanni and gave him a pleading look. “You have to forgive me,” I begged him.

  He gave me a confused look and opened his mouth as if to argue with me, and I grew frustrated. “Shut up Gio! You’ve no idea what I did. It was my fault they got me.” I took a deep breath and began.

  “It started a few weeks ago. I was on my way home from school, and this guy approached me. He was nice and cute and said all the right things. On a whim, I’d given him my number even though I was sort of nervous. From there, we would cross paths once in a blue moon, but we mainly texted and spoke on the phone a few times. He was sweet. And nice. He was very different from the guys that normally try to talk to me. He told me he was a freshman in college and after the first week…” I shrugged. “I don’t know. It’s like we were talking all the time. I couldn’t wait to have to switch classes to see what he’d sent me. He called me beautiful, and said things about how I was smart and nice… and god everything a girl wants to hear. It was nice. I wasn’t being treated like a child. This cute, mature guy seemed really into me. I mean, he never ignored me, and I believed that he was always thinking about me the way he’d always write me even when he knew I couldn’t respond.”

  I reached for the water that Gio made for me and took a sip. “I knew we weren’t supposed to leave the house, but I didn’t know. You all had just told us Julie was laying low because she was in trouble. I didn’t know that Gio had enemies and that they’d taken her. God, I feel so stupid…” I felt the tears reforming threatening to spill. “we were texting each other. He was being his usual charming self, and I was acting like a schoolgirl with her first major crush.” I shrugged. “He asked me on a date, and I told him I wouldn’t be able to make it.” I put my head down knowing I wouldn’t be able to face anyone in the room when I admitted what finally pushed me to go out. “He told me that he’d been thinking about what it would be like to kiss me and I just became extremely excited. I figured, if I snuck out for only a few minutes to see him I would be back before anyone even knew it. I didn’t see any harm. I had him meet me next door, and I got into the car to him. I thought it would be likely that I would get caught and be in major trouble if we stayed by the house. I thought we’d just go to the corner.” I sighed. “He drove down two blocks to the market parking lot where we could pull over. He suggested that we get in the backseat to be more comfortable. I was so excited that I wasn’t paying attention. When he finally joined me, I didn’t realize until it was too late that he didn’t intend to kiss me. Instead, he covered my face with a cloth and the next thing I knew I was out.” I shrugged. “I don’t know how long I was passed out, but when I woke up, I was back in that warehouse or whatever it was. Julie was there… and those guys and their guns.”

  I looked up to my brother. “I’m so lucky Julie was there. You have no idea… I know I wouldn’t have survived otherwise. They weren’t hiding what they intended to do to me… to us.” I explained.

  Gio crossed his arms and stared at me confused. He scratched the back of his head. “Baby girl, that’s where I’m confused. We don’t know what happened and how you both ended up back here… seemingly unharmed.”

  My body instantly began to tremble as visions of the rest of the day played out in my mind. I felt a hand on my shoulder and a slight shake. I looked up to realize that Michael was touching me and talking to me and I hadn’t heard him. I closed my eyes and shook my head to clear it. “Holy shit, she’s freaking out.”

  Gio began pacing and pulling his hair. He bent over and roared out “FUCKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!”

  My father went over to him. “Son, you have to calm down.”

  Gio spun around to face dad. “Calm down? How the fuck do you expect me to calm down. Did you just see the same shit that I did? She tapped the fuck out of reality in fear of whatever the fuck happened, and it was all because of me.” Gio argued pounding a fist against his chest.

  “Stop,” I muttered. When no one seemed to hear me, I repeated myself louder. “Stop!”

  Everyone turned their attention back to me. I needed to get this out, and they needed to know what I had to say. “Let me finish. I’m ok.” I reassured them.

  Slowly everyone calmed down and crowded back around me. I cleared my throat. “They waited until I was awake to blindfold me and take me somewhere. They sat me in a chair, and I was so, so scared. Then Julie started speaking to me. When they’d taken off the blindfold, I saw a bunch of men in the room. I have no idea where Carlos had gone…” I groaned. “Then they called you, and the guy with the scar started to taunt Julie. She didn’t give in though, and she fought him back. Then, he said he was going to rape me and make her watch…” I gulped. I believed that he would’ve in every inch of my body. “So Julie asked him to take her instead.” I looked at Gio and watched as he froze in place and the blood drained from his face.

  “Please tell me…” he couldn’t even finish the statement. He looked horrified.

  I shook my head. “They didn’t. One of the guys untied her, and the man with the scar started to get his pants off then everything was a blur. It’s like Julie transformed into another person. They were careless not paying much attention to her, seeing that she wasn’t a threat. The guy who untied her just had his gun hanging loosely from his hand and she just snatched it. She hit him, and he stumbled back, and she just started shooting. All hell broke loose because no one knew what to do. They were stunned and late to react, by the time it seemed that people realized what was happening she’d already taken out more than half of them.”

  I felt myself begin to tremble as I thought of all the blood. The smell in the air. The dead bodies. The fear that they were going to eventually take Julie down. “The man with the scar, she’d shot him a few times and made sure he was down but wasn’t able to attack. She’d left him for last. She talked to him, telling him all the ways he went wrong as she slowly tortured him. Breaking bones after bones. Right before she was done, she’d said something about him killing her sister…” I looked up questioningly, but no one responded to my uns
poken question. “Then, she crushed his head with her foot.”

  I let out a deep breath. “She untied me, and I just sat there shaking and afraid.” I shrugged. “At first, she seemed lost. She was taking in the scene and was standing like she was waiting for more. Eventually, she noticed me, and she changed instantly back to her normal self. She looked horrified, and I think she thought I was afraid of her. I was just scared. I wanted to just get out of there.” I frowned confused. “It was weird though because she seemed sad and almost regretful then as she examined what she did… and maybe even a little sick?” I shrugged. “After a few, she seemed to be itching to get out of there and got that guys phone and called you. She was acting weird, but I think it was mostly because she didn’t want anyone to know what she’d done. I don’t think she was happy at all that she did it.” I finished.

  Everyone had varying looks of shock on their faces. I bet that wasn’t the story they’d been expecting.

  Chapter 19

  Julie

  I knew I wasn’t going to be able to avoid Giovanni forever, so when he came back to Taylor’s room for me, I went with him. He looked like he’d aged a few years since I’d last seen him and extremely tired. When we got in the car, I was surprised it was just the two of us. When I asked him about Dante and Angelou he just briefly shook his head and said he needed to be alone with me. I felt the same but alone meant privacy. Privacy meant talking. I really didn’t want to talk.

  He held my hand all the way from the car and to his place. He didn’t release me when we got inside and pulled me down the hall to his bedroom. He sat on the bed and pulled me down onto his lap. He wrapped his arms around me and just held me as he sat silently. I ran my fingers through his hair as I let him take what he needed from me.

  Eventually the last few days caught up with me, and I was itching to get out of these clothes. Get that place off of my body, clean my hands from all that I’d done. “Gio, I need to wash,” I told him softly.

  He looked up at me with tired eyes. “I’ll come with you.”

  He followed me into the bathroom and turned the shower on. Wordlessly, we both undressed as the room began to fill with steam. He waited for me to pull off my last piece, before opening the shower door and followed me inside. He reached for the shampoo, and poured a generous amount into his hands. “turn around.” He murmured and I obeyed.

  With strong, sure fingers, he began to wash my hair. He took his time and made sure he did a thorough job. When that was done, he used the shower head to rinse my hair and repeated the process with conditioner. When I reached for my loofa, he shook his head and grabbed. Once again, he picked up the soap and began to wash my entire body from head to toe. He went as far as making sure that I was clean between each toe and finger. When he was done, he gestured for me to wash off, and began to quickly wash himself over.

  When we were both clean, we dried off and made our way to the bed. He cut the lights, and we both got in naked. That was perfect, I needed to feel his skin on mine. I needed to breathe him in. I needed to be in his arms. God, I just needed him. And here he was.

  I immediately sought him out under the covers, and he didn’t disappoint. He immediately wrapped his arms around me pulling in close to him. It was close enough for me though, so I crawled on top of him so that every part of my body touched him. I squirmed for a bit trying to get on him and so that we’ll both be comfortable.

  “Shh…” Gio whispered and reached down to help me get on him.

  I pushed my nose deep into the crook of his neck and took a deep breath. I missed how he smelled. “I missed you,” I whispered into Gio’s skin.

  He began running his hand up and down my back. “I know baby, I missed you too.” Then I felt his lips press against my forehead, and the world felt right again. I sighed and gave him a kiss of my own to his chin. His arms tightened a fraction, and just like that, I went to sleep. Safely back into the arms of the man that I loved.

  *****

  Giovanni

  After hearing my sister retell what happened, all I could do was hold my girl. I was horrified, and I hadn’t even been there. Not to mention, that was only since Sof had been there. Lord knows what happened before that, I didn’t think I could handle anymore yesterday. I felt like I was got hit for each word that tumbled from her lips. I knew I needed to talk to Julie, but I don’t think either of us was in a place to handle anything more last night.

  I held her all fucking night, and I slept maybe all of thirty minutes. I had to stay and watch her, hold her. I needed to be sure she was here, and nobody got to her. It seemed irrational knowing those fucks were dead, but there was a part of me that couldn’t give a flying fuck.

  She slept like a baby, clutching onto me the entire night. It only made me think about how much she needed me the past few days. She felt I would protect her, and I failed her. Never again.

  She finally began to stir awake, and I looked down into her face waiting for her pretty blue eyes to meet mine. Finally, her eyes blinked open and she gave me a sleepy smile. “Morning.” I murmured.

  “Good morning.” She stretched, and her stomach growled.

  “You hungry?” I asked.

  She nodded. Fuck had they not been feeding her either? I felt rage beginning to take over. I placed her on the bed and got up. I threw on a pair of sweatpants and made my way to the door. “I’m going to go get breakfast started,” I told her.

  She nodded, yawned, and stretched. I felt like a mother hen because I didn’t even want to leave her to go to the kitchen. It was that fucking bad. Just as I was getting the food on, she emerged wearing one of my t-shirts. She came up behind me and wrapped her arms around me.

  “What are you making?” she asked casually.

  I turned my head to look at her and frowned. She seemed so normal, almost as if nothing ever happened. Her reaction wasn’t normal, and I was concerned. “waffles, and bacon.” I informed her.

  She smiled. “Can we have strawberries too?” she asked with big eyes.

  I nodded. “Sure.”

  She took a seat at the table and flipped through a magazine as I finished the food. I plated it and took a seat across from her. She immediately dug in and groaned out loud. “Did you eat the past few days?” I asked.

  She nodded. “Yes. It wasn’t good food, but it was something.” She answered with a shrug.

  I kept pushing. “How are you feeling?”

  She frowned in thought. “I’m ok I guess. I’m just happy to be back.”

  That was something. “Did they hurt you?” I asked and held my breath.

  She sucked in her bottom lip. “Not really no. They knocked me around a bit when I wouldn’t shut my mouth, but they didn’t hurt me.” I understood the unspoken message. The most she’d gotten was an ass-kicking. I hated that even that happened, but I was grateful that it wasn’t anything worse.

  She began nibbling on a piece of bacon and frowned. I watched her over my own forkful. She stopped chewing, froze, and popped up from her seat and took off. I immediately chased behind her and was just running into the bathroom when she dropped to her knees and began throwing up into the toilet.

  I cringed, not entirely comfortable in this situation, but I wasn’t about to leave her. Unsure of what to do, I stood and patted her head awkwardly. When she finally finished dry heaving, she let out a chuckle. “I’m not a dog you know.”

  I shrugged. “I didn’t know what else to do to make it better,” I admitted.

  Another small laugh. “For future reference, I think I can manage a trip like this alone.”

  I frowned. “Why?”

  She looked up at me with a look that clearly said ‘are you dense?’ “No woman actually wants the man that they’re with to see them in one of the most unflattering positions. Puking my guts out in front of you is not exactly on my top ten favorites list.”

  I rolled my eyes. “You can be such a girl sometimes.”

  Her eyebrows shot up, and she pointed to herself. “Hel
lo, girl sitting right here.”

  “Come on baby, I have some stuff to do today. Do you think you can tell me where they held you so I can go back and get the place cleaned up?” I asked.

  She frowned. “What…?”

  “I already know. Sofia told us.” I knew that’s what she was wondering. She looked at me warily and began wringing her fingers together. I didn’t forget she needed to do some explaining, but this seemed a bit more important. “Your prints are probably all over the place. I would like to get the place cleaned before someone else stumbles upon it.” I arched an eyebrow at her.

  She sighed. “I think I can give you the area.”

  I nodded. “Baby, you ok to hang at my parents with the girls while I handle shit today?” I asked.

  She nodded again. “Of course. I'm sure your mother is cooking… or has leftovers in the fridge.”

  I shook my head. “I'm starting to feel like you’re using me and my mother for her food.”

  She batted her lashes. “I adore your mother. Her cooking is just a plus.”

  I shook my head again. “Ok smart ass, let’s get out of here.”

  Breakfast has seemed to be forgotten so as she got in the shower I went to clean up. I wanted to join her, and fuck did I want her last night, but I wasn’t a fucking animal. I know she was threatened with rape, so I’d wait for her to make a move and let me know she’s ready. She seems to be taking this all in stride which was odd… and I didn’t know if it was genuine or not. I cant keep putting off talking to her, so I made my decision.

  Tonight.

  We were going to finally talk, tonight.

  We made our way over to my parents, and my mom practically dragged Julie away from me. Taylor was still there recuperating, and I couldn’t help but wonder what the fuck was up with their mom. Both of her daughters have been gone for days without a peep, and she doesn’t seem to be concerned. I had a guy on their place since we found out, in case someone went back. From the reports, their mother was just going on about her days as if there wasn’t anything wrong. The bitch was fucked. Had that been one of us, my mom would’ve had the fucking national guard out looking for us. For the sake of sparing my mother a heart attack, we told her Sof had snuck out to hang with friends. That’s where she was. If she knew the truth, lord knows what would’ve happened.