SAVAGE POET: A Dark, New Adult and College Romance

by Jax Hart

  He lifted my chin and I nodded fighting back tears. I never thought I’d choke on despair for him leaving me. I knew it was just business. But something in my gut just didn’t feel right.

  “I’ll call you later, okay?”

  I nodded and he sighed, bending down to grasp my head and kissed me like a dying man. Our mouths opened and parted over and over again. He stole my breath. We kissed until we couldn’t breathe. Both of us were heaving and angry when we parted. He seemed almost feral as he fought himself not wanting to leave. “No matter what happens, know you’re the only girl I could ever love.”

  “What does that mean? Why are you really going?” Frustrated, I lunged off the bed and beat my fists against his chest. He caught me in his arms and sighed into my hair, stroking my back as you would a child before finally letting go.

  “Three days, okay?”

  “Okay.”

  But it wasn’t three days and things would never be okay.

  20

  I breathed in deep. It was good to be home despite the fact it felt like I left every piece of me back in the room with the tiny girl with bright blue hair. Vito picked up Johnny and me from the private hanger at O’Hare and it wasn’t long before we noticed the dark SUV tailing not far behind,

  “They think they can tail me? On our home turf? Fuck that!” Johnny grinned as he checked his clip and slid the wrack.

  I crouched down so no one could blow my head off and undid my gun holstered by my ankle. “It’s so fucking on!” Vito cut the wheel and we exited the freeway, banging left and right turns as the SUV followed in hot pursuit.

  “Get down!” Johnny barked, as he noticed the passenger in the car behind us lower their window and started firing. The first spray of bullets ricocheted off the back glass.

  Our SUV’s glass was bulletproof, so they lowered and went for or tires. “Turn! They are trying for the tires!” Johnny roared.

  Vito turned and hit the gas; the SUV tottered on two wheels I crashed into Johnny throwing all my weight to the opposite side hoping to stop a rollover. When the car tipped back on all four wheels, I lowered the window next to me, aimed for their gas tank and emptied my entire clip.

  “Fuck!” Vito roared as the explosion of the car behind us rocked ours. He lost control and we hit a row of parking meters and cars but kept going. Our tires blew, but we didn’t stop. Sirens were wailing all around us.

  “We gotta dump out here!”

  Vito entered an underground garage. Johnny loaded another clip and shot out the security cameras. I took off my suit coat, ripped off my shirt and dipped the white linen fabric into our own gas tank. Pulling it out halfway, I took out my lighter and lit the fabric as we ran. Our shoes smacked against the pavement as we ran for cover before the blast would blow us off our own feet.

  Vito opened the door to the nearest stairwell, and we made it inside just as the friggin’ car exploded. The blast sounded like a warplane dropping a bomb.

  “That was a bit dramatic,” Johnny drawled.

  I shrugged. “We couldn’t leave prints.” Then I slid out my burner and texted Geno that we needed a safe pick up and to move to our underground bunker until further notice.

  I holstered my gun, ran a hand through my hair and straightened my suit. We rolled out of there like three executives who could give two fucks about the sirens and screaming people.

  We walked a few blocks then waited under a nondescript awning. Like clockwork, Geno rolled up to a stop and we got in the car.

  “You just killed Vince’s top dog. He’s pissed AF.”

  “Fine. He started this.”

  “No, actually you did when you murdered Constantine and cleared out half of the Castellione cash.”

  “I’m not done with that family yet. Where’s my bride?”

  “Change of plans. Vince wants you in Palermo.”

  “Guess that punk has no balls after all. He can’t face me on our turf, so he had to run home to the five families and hide behind their skirts,” I scoffed.

  “Fuck it! A trip to the homeland it is. I wanna see this bridezilla of yours anyway.” I pinched the bridge of my nose feeling a massive headache coming on Johnny is such a fucktard sometimes. “Fine. We go to Palermo. It’s my ground zero anyway.”

  Johnny grinned like a mother fucker and made the calls to the jet and his crew in New York. We were going and bringing a kick-ass killing crew with us.

  I walked in the darkness—something I was used to but hadn’t done for a while. I never had problems seeing in the dark either. Maybe it’s because my eyes glow. Maybe I was born part man, part monster. Hell, I’d believe it.

  So many things happened in these walls. So many people that once roamed them were now ghosts themselves.

  Everything was just how I had left it.

  The dishes were still on the table.

  Clothes still hung in closets.

  Only the office where I had taken down my uncle was cleaned, although layers of dust covered everything.

  “Ashes to ashes… dust to dust,” I murmured, as my finger ran along with the old books in my father’s study.

  The weight of it all felt heavy. The duty and sense of responsibility I had felt for so many years weighed too much at times. But I was the next in line. So many before me never faltered when it was their turn. I couldn’t either. I felt my legacy, my bloodline was the only link left to those who’d shed this earth for the next realm. They died horrible deaths. Especially my aunt, my brothers, my mother… the sense of duty I felt to avenge that never left me. That’s what brought me back to Palermo, not the Castellione’s. I needed to end the five families forever and be the only Don. The only absolute ruler. It was the only way I could fathom keeping Blue safe.

  I imagined, gutting this mausoleum to the studs and building something better with Blue.

  My cell chirped. It was Vince. “What?” I barked.

  “You’re pissing off your bride. Five hundred people are waiting for the groom to make his appearance at the engagement party.”

  I snorted. “I haven’t signed the agreement. My lawyers are still looking it over.”

  “It’s simple. Fuck my sister. Put a baby in her. Unite our families in flesh and blood. We take over.”

  “Put a bag on your sister’s head and I’ll consider it.”

  “Fuck you!”

  “No, fuck you!” I snarled, throwing my phone against the room. I lost it. I wanted to blow them all up. Anything to get back to the life I had weeks ago. The life I deluded myself into believing I could actually have. In a fit of rage, I swept my hands across the bookshelves toppling everything. I didn’t want to be Roque Salvatore. I wanted to be Ralph Smith. The guy playing spin the bottle and ten minutes of tongue time in a frat house. A guy who could be whoever the fuck he wanted.

  But that was a pipe dream and I knew it. The best I could hope for is settle shit with Vince and be such a cock to Julietta that she wouldn’t want me anymore. I left the ghosts lingering in the dark and called Johnny. “I’m on my way.”

  “Don’t. It’s a trap.”

  “This whole life is a trap.”

  “What are you saying? Don’t blow it all now just because you got your first taste of heartache.”

  “It’s not that.”

  “Like hell, it’s not. That damn girl. She’s done nothing but fuck everything up since the night you met.”

  “She has, in the best possible way. I love how she fucks up my world.”

  “You’re so far gone. There’s no talking any sense into you.”

  “Just get there. I need to meet this bitch and dispose of her so I can get back to Blue.”

  He breathes out hard. “I’m already here and you are in for a surprise.”

  “How so?”

  “I’ll fuck her for you. Just make the room dark. She’ll have no idea.”

  I shake my head. “Be my guest. You really fuck anything, wouldn’t you?” Johnny was an animal. But he was the best fucking friend ever and
I knew no matter where life would take us, we’d always have each other’s backs.

  I continued walking down memory lane literally and figuratively. The Castellione’s had a place in Palermo. It was set high on a hill and constructed the year I left. From my vantage point below, the opulent mansion was lit up. Expensive cars lined the streets.

  I stood for a moment.

  It felt like a huge moment. I knew once I stepped inside, my life would change forever. Either I’d be trapped in marrying some cunt or I was going to make my biggest hit tonight by detonating the trigger inside my pocket. My cousins still had connections here. When you grow up poor, you make unbreakable bonds. My cousins sent money back here not only to blood relatives. They helped out so many who in turn were willing to help us. The catering company was infiltrated with such people. The whole foundation was rigged with explosives.

  Boom. I could end it all right here, right now. But curiosity got the better of me and I walked toward my new, strange destiny.

  Time stopped when I opened the doors. I entered through the garden, effortlessly vaulting over an iron fence. The guards knew me by face. Hell, I was infamous.

  The crowd hushed. Drinks paused halfway to their lips. The sea parted. And there she was, my bride. She was beautiful and cruel. It was in her face. In her stance. She was me. The female version of me. And suddenly I hated myself. She was exquisitely made for me. The uglier half of my ugly soul. Raven hair swung down her back. Her eyes were dark, round and large and framed by long lashes. Her breasts were full and ripe and pushed up by the bodice of her glittering gown. Her hourglass shape alone could bring a man to his knees. Hell, Johnny was already there.

  She crossed the room to me, and I grinned. She would come to me, her reluctant king. I would not go to my evil queen.

  She bowed low at my feet. An involuntary hiss escaped me. Her submissiveness was a carnal aphrodisiac. One I would use against her. Maybe this very night even.

  “Rise,” I commanded.

  “I’ve waited my whole life for you,” she breathed, pressing her pouty lips against mine. I stiffened and tilted my head away.

  “Really? That explains why you reek of desperation.”

  Her nails scraped against my skin, threatening to draw blood to match her crimson lips. “Hardly. I’m just a woman who knows what she wants—you. The most powerful Don yet.”

  “Me? Hardly. I’m just some scrub living in a frat house.”

  She looked me squarely in the eyes, “That’s a joke and we both know it.”

  Smirking, I lifted a glass of champagne off a tray and handed one to my bride. “Till death do us part,” I mocked, lifting an eyebrow.

  She purred low in her throat as her nails drifted up and down my forearm. “You have no idea… the things I’m going to do to you.”

  I swallowed the fizzy drink half wondering if I hadn’t met Blue what kind of match this would be. This devilish woman would surely be the best type of fun, but I’d always sleep with one eye open.

  “I’m taken,” I muttered, brushing her hand away.

  “By me. I know all about your underage lover.”

  “She’s not underage anymore.”

  “She’s dead. Face it, the minute you touched her you signed the certificate yourself.”

  “You signed yours by summoning me.”

  “Hardly. Just wait my dark king, we’ll chat later. Smile!” I looked away and was momentarily blinded by a flash as the Italian paparazzi got in our face.

  “Your whole family will pay for this,” I hissed in her ear.

  She responded by digging her nails into my arm, like a cat with claws.

  Vince walked up to us with a mic, “I’d like to say a few words to congratulate my sister and her intended. This union was destined by our families. As you know we pride ourselves by tradition and living by our words…”

  I downed my drink and tuned him the fuck out. I knew what was going on. They wanted to make this as public as possible to try to make sure I didn’t back out or if any of them ended up dead, I’d be the sure fall guy.

  Fuck that.

  It was going to go down anyway.

  “Roque.” Johnny managed to get through the crowd to me.

  “What’s up?”

  “We have a code Blue. She keeps calling and texting me, bro.”

  “My burner is in pieces. I threw it against the wall.”

  “I’ll call her later. Just tell her I’m busy.”

  “I already did about twenty times.”

  I tried to take Johnny’s phone but as I reached for it my bridezilla grabbed both my hands. “We need to talk, upstairs.”

  “Not now.”

  “Now It’s business.”

  “Text her I’ll be in touch as soon as I can.”

  Twisting through the crowd, I let her think she’d won. I let her lead me up wide marble stairs to an opulent bedroom connected to a study.

  “What the fuck?” I muttered as glossy pictures of a stunning redhead were spilled all over a mahogany desk. Blue was there too. I picked up two photos and held them side by side.

  “She’s not who you thought she was.”

  It hit me like a ton of bricks. Their noses. Their stature. The curve of their cheeks. Blue was… Red?

  “See my Don. I’m the one who is perfect for you. She is nothing but a lie. She wormed her way in and poisoned your heart. My poison is out in the open you’ll see it coming.

  My world tilts on its axis.

  Rage burns fast and hot like a river overflowing after a torrential rain. She made my black heart bleed. Now there was no choice but to go to war.

  My hands lifted the veil. Her eyes glowed with triumph. I was all fucked up inside. Rage billowed around me like a cloud. Most days I wore it, proudly. She got off on it. Julietta my dark bride loved it. She craved turmoil. I spoke the vows knowing I’d break them. But I’ve had an unusual relationship with God. I stood in the same church my father and grandfather did, in the same spot they took their mafia brides, I took mine.

  It was a union of bloodshed.

  “You’re mine.”

  “No one will ever claim that,” I warned.

  “The vows you speak will say otherwise.”

  “I won’t mean them, and you know it.”

  To everyone watching, our tilted heads looked romantic. As if we were whispering love words.

  “I have a special gift for my new husband… my men have her… their cutting her heart out as we speak. She’s gone… accept it and move on.”

  My heart hammered. Blue. I hated her… loved her… craved her. I wanted to be the one to give punishment. And I already had it all planned. She’d be my slave. My submissive and she’d serve a lifetime sentence.

  “Pathetic,” she hissed. “How you still drool for her like a dog with a bone. She betrayed you, I saved you and yet you stand here at the altar still hungering for a Fiorelli when you are about to take me as your queen?”

  “My queen?” I sneered, “the only way I’m fucking you tonight is if I down a box of Viagra and hallucinogens.”

  The priest cleared his throat, my bride was trembling with rage, her bare neck was red with it.

  I spoke the vows. Said the words, all the while pretending I was gripping the hand of another. Instead of brown eyes, I saw bright blue. Instead of espresso hair, I imagined the screaming shade of the ocean at dawn.

  Damn her.

  As soon as I could get out of Italy, I was going after her. She kept giving my tail the slip, but that shit was ending as soon as I was stateside. I wanted answers and I’d get them even if I had to wrap my hands around her throat again…even if I had to do more. My fury demanded I do more. All I could think about was fucking her senseless, collaring her like a dog and making her beg for my love.

  Romina. Blue. It fucked me up that they were one and the same. Somehow, I got through the cake cutting, the dance… Julietta must’ve known what was coming but she wasn’t afraid. If anything, she acted as if she c
ouldn’t wait.

  A large hand clamped on my shoulder, I turned finding her brother’s pot-mocked face too close. “Fuck my sister over and you’re a dead man.”

  I shook my head. “You’re the dead man, Vince. Fuck off.” I flung his hand from me and nodded to Johnny.

  He downed his drink and smiled. He slipped from the room while I still shook hands with well-wishers.

  “I have a surprise for my bride.”

  Her brows rose. “A thank you for enlightening me about the Fiorelli girl…”

  The Castellione’s weren’t taking any chances. They knew I was a man unhinged looking for any outlet to unleash my fury. A bodyguard followed us into the bedroom suite in the villa on the opulent Castellione estate. They thought they had me cornered. Little did they know every worker in this place was on my payroll. And I paid more.

  “Are you gonna watch?” I turned, taunting the made man.

  “Yeah, I got instructions to make sure it’s consummated.”

  “I think I’d know,” Julietta laughs, already popping the buttons on her gown.

  I slammed the door and faced her. “Eager to get fucked?”

  “By you… yes… I’ve waited forever.”

  “When did this sick fascination with me begin… exactly?”

  “When my father told me, he made a deal with yours. Then I saw you at Constantine’s… I watched you with the maid after your… illness.”

  “My nostrils flared, “You watched? You were there?”

  “Of course. Whose idea was it to make you sleep on the floor? Zio Constantine promised me he’d break you for me.”

  “Strip. Get on all fours and crawl to me, your king.” I commanded. My eyes were hooded, watching as she licked her lips. I pretended to be bored as I calculated all the ways I was going to make this bitch pay.

  I left men in Jersey; I knew she lied. Blue was on the run. Julietta did send a cleaning crew but by the time they got there, Blue had already fled. I was itching to get back and find her, but I had to deal with this shit first. Besides, I knew Little Red now Baby Blue could handle herself. Afterall she bested me twice.