Blood & Lies (A Twisted Duet Book 1)

by Bella J

  Her lips parted, her warm breath dancing across my wet lips, making me inch closer and closer.

  “Sweet,” she replied softly. “I taste…sweet.”

  Jesus fucking Christ.

  Just as I readied myself to take her mouth with mine, to taste her, a hard knock on the door resounded through the room. I recoiled, instantly pulled back down from wherever the fuck Tatum and I just went.

  “Castello, are you in there?”

  “Uncle Gino,” I whispered, before treading back, far back, getting as far away from her as possible.

  “Yes. I’m in here.”

  The door creaked open and Uncle Gino peered inside. “Is everything alright?”

  I inhaled sharply thinking that everything was far from fucking alright.

  “Everything is fine, Uncle Gino. I just let Miss Linscott in here to take a much needed shower.”

  He turned his gaze to her where she still remained plastered to the wall.

  “Turn around, my dear.”

  Tatum hesitated, and her eyes found mine. I nodded, and she turned around slowly.

  I watched as Uncle Gino stepped closer, pulling the towel down just an inch until he saw the marking of the first lash. Immediately he removed his touch and stepped back.

  “Those marks will need some ointment, but should heal fully.”

  All I did was nod, unsure how to interpret Uncle Gino’s concern for Tatum. He was a part of this family. He lost a brother through her and her family, yet the entire evening I never picked up on any animosity or hatred directed at Tatum from him. And here he was telling me that Tatum’s markings would need ointment to heal.

  I squared my shoulders. “I’ll take care of her.”

  “I know you will.” He turned to face me. “They are looking for you in the dining hall. I suggest you take Miss Linscott to her room, and make sure she’s secure, at least until all the guests have left.”

  Secure? I knew what he meant by secure. Keep her away from the other men.

  “I will be there in a minute.”

  “Good.” He turned to face Tatum. “Good evening, Miss Linscott.” And then he left, leaving Tatum and I, and the sexually laden atmosphere around us, alone.

  “Come on.” I waved, summoning her closer. With slow, tiny steps she approached me, and I grabbed her arm as soon as she came close enough.

  “You’re not taking me back there, are you?”

  “Not tonight.” I gripped her arm tighter.

  “If not tonight, when?”

  “Soon.”

  How was I supposed to tell her that it would be in that exact same dining hall that she will take her last breath…along with her father?

  Soon.

  15

  TATUM

  We stepped out of the bathroom, Castello clutching my arm with his tight grip. We walked into a bedroom, and I couldn’t help but admire the décor.

  It was a beautiful, elegant room decorated with shades of gold, beige, and light browns. A huge king-sized bed stood right in the middle of the room with soft, cream-colored curtains hanging from the roof draping the sides of the bed. The walls consisted of dark cherry-wood and light oak panels that contrasted beautifully with the rest of the room. Large windows were draped with the same curtains surrounding the bed, and the moon was shining directly through them casting a silver light across the room.

  “Whose bedroom is this?”

  Castello stopped for a second before answering, “Mine.”

  Dumbfounded and confused I glanced around the room and back at him. “This is your room?”

  “You look surprised.”

  “Well, yeah.” My gaze swept over the bedroom once more. “I did not imagine your bedroom to look so…so…”

  “So what?”

  I looked up at him. “So light.”

  “Is the bedroom too light for a monster like me?” Dark eyes, filled with so many secrets, yet determined to keep them hidden, stared down at me. For a moment I allowed myself to see past the hard edges of my captor to find the soft frames of a man who lost a brother, a father—the life he had known. The more I stared at him, the less he started to look like his twin brother. The physical resemblance was undeniable, but besides the scar, it became easier for me to know them apart just by looking into Castello’s eyes.

  Carlo’s eyes were always sharp, carefree, zealous, and full of life. Castello’s were hard and cold, trying to hide sadness that he didn’t want anyone to see.

  My gaze fell to the plush white carpet beneath my feet. “Are we not all monsters?” I whispered. If my time as his prisoner has taught me anything, it was that there was a monster hidden in all of us. Some suppressed it, some hid it, and some embraced it.

  “I suppose we are.” He tugged on my arm. “Come on.”

  “Wait. Can I look at it?”

  He stared back at me questioningly. “At what?”

  “The view, from your bedroom window.”

  “You want to see the view?”

  I nodded. “Please.”

  With a calculating gaze he stared at me, and I wasn’t sure he would allow it. But he nodded, and started to guide me toward the window.

  Judging from how high up we seemed the house had to be huge, at least three levels.

  The full moon was high, breaking the dark of night, allowing me to see parts of what looked like a huge backyard filled with tall standing trees, a vast landscape of grass, pebbled paths, and sleeping flowers.

  “It looks beautiful.”

  “Yes well, looks can be deceiving.”

  I glanced up at him. “You don’t like the view?”

  “I don’t like the memories.”

  “Which memories?”

  He sighed, rubbing his hand at the back of his neck. “It doesn’t matter. Come on, I have a party I need to get back to.”

  “Carlo? You don’t like the memories of Carlo?” I pried while he pulled me away from the window and toward the door.

  “Now is a good time for you to shut up.”

  “I bet the two of you played for hours in that garden when you were little.”

  He tugged me hard against his chest, angry eyes glaring down while he tightened his grip on my elbow. I flinched.

  “Do not speak of things you know nothing about.”

  “I miss him too.” There was no rhyme or reason for me saying those words, but I wanted, no, needed him to know that even though the Carlo I knew wasn’t the real Carlo, I still missed him. In a way, I mourned him too now that I knew he’d been dead all these months.

  “You know nothing of my brother. The Carlo you knew was a lie.”

  “Which only aggravates my wounds even more, the fact that the person who told me day in and day out that he loved me lied to me from day one.”

  “That makes you a fool.”

  I lifted my chin. “I might be a fool for trying to love someone even though he lied to me, but at least I’m not blaming anyone else for my pain.”

  A slow smile crept up at the corners of his mouth. “Do you think because of what happened in the shower that you know me? That it changes things? That you now have the right to pry into details of my life?”

  “That’s not—”

  “Do not think for one second that because I came on your motherfucking stomach it changes anything. You are still the woman responsible for my family’s loss. You are the reason I hate the fucking memories whenever I look out that goddamn window. And you are still the woman who will pay for my brother’s death,”—he leaned down closer—“with her life.”

  The anger in his eyes swirled like black smoke, his words piercing my chest like a thousand daggers. My retort burned the tip of my tongue, but I knew that I had pushed this man far enough…for now.

  Within seconds he had hauled me out of his bedroom and down the hall. For a few moments I was sure that he was angry enough to want to take me back to the dining hall, to let Vico finish what he started with his belt. But he didn’t.

  The relief
that flowed through me when Castello took me back to my room rather than the dining hall was indescribable. I never thought I’d be glad to go back to the room that had become my prison. There was no way I would have been able to survive another round of being exposed to all those men—especially Vico.

  Castello stopped in front of the closed door with a security padlock and glanced my way. “Turn around.”

  What did he think I could do with the security key? It wasn’t like I had a keypad on the inside of the room.

  I turned around looking down the hall. For a second I pondered the thought of running, trying to escape. But where would I run to? I didn’t know the house, and I definitely didn’t want to risk ending up in the dining hall of horrors again. And with all the men currently occupying the house with their whiskey and cigar breaths, I was much safer back in my room, locked and tucked away.

  I clutched the towel tighter around me. “You believe me.”

  He glanced over his shoulder. “Excuse me?”

  “You believe Carlo lied to me.”

  “What gives you that idea?”

  There was a beep and the door opened.

  “In your room, you said the Carlo I knew was a lie. So you believe me?”

  Castello grabbed my arm. “Whether I believe you or not, it seems like lies swarm around you like flies, little mouse.”

  My skin tingled under his touch as he dragged me inside. I mentally cursed my body for reacting yet again—even after the scalding words he had just spat out at me moments ago.

  Closing the door behind us, Castello led me toward another door, but not before I noticed the huge monitor to the right which was currently turned off.

  “Is that where you sit and watch me?”

  He glanced at me. “Ignorance is bliss.”

  I cocked a brow. “Knowledge is power.”

  “Not for you.”

  He pushed a red button and the familiar sound of air escaping sounded before the door opened. Castello stood to the side. “After you.”

  “How chivalrous of you, allowing me to enter my prison first.”

  “It’s not chivalrous. It’s called manners.”

  “Now there’s something you don’t see every day. A kidnapper with manners.”

  Two strong hands grabbed my shoulders pushing me forward and shoving me on the bed.

  “You need to learn your place, little mouse.”

  With a jerk he twisted me onto my back and straddled me. My arms and legs flailed trying to fight him, and punch him, anything to protect myself from him.

  “Get off me!”

  His thighs squeezed tighter, holding me in place just as his hands gripped both my wrists. With a hard jerk he pinned my hands above my head, black eyes fixed on mine.

  “That smart mouth of yours is going to get you killed.”

  “You plan on killing me anyway.”

  “Well your snarky remarks sure aren’t buying you any fucking time, I can guarantee you that.”

  I squirmed beneath him, pulling my arms as hard as I could, trying to get free.

  “Stop moving, Tatum.” He tightened his grip, and pushed his body harder down on mine. “Your fight is doing nothing but turning me on.”

  My squirming ceased, my heart stammered, and like a fucking light switch my body went from rigid fear to burning desire.

  I swallowed, and his gaze caught the movement. “Did you enjoy it? When I had my fingers buried inside you, making you come?”

  “No.”

  “Liar.” A smug grin appeared on his face, drawing all my attention to his lips. “Even though I’m sure that’s probably the best orgasm you’ve had in your life so far, you’re still not fully satisfied, are you?”

  Taking both my wrists in one hand, he brought the other down to where the towel was tied just above my breasts, and he licked his lips as he slowly started to loosen it.

  “Your body wants so much more. It needs to be fully used, and utterly fucked, doesn’t it?”

  I gave another jerk, more squirming in an attempt to at least look like I hated him having me restrained, when in fact, my body relished it.

  His dark eyes remained on my chest as he pushed the towel to the side, my nipples hard and already sensitive, craving his touch.

  I glared up at him, lifting my chin. “Whatever my body wants, I can promise you it’s not you.” It was such a lie. The lack of conviction in my voice was proof of that.

  His grin spread even wider. “There’s only one way to find out.”

  Oh God.

  Slowly, torturously he dragged his finger down between my breasts, over my middle leaving a trail of burning flesh in its wake. Every inch of flesh he touched sent bolts of electricity straight down between my thighs, and I knew exactly what he would find if his fingers continued their voyage south.

  Lifting himself just an inch to the side, his hand dipped between us. All I could do was give another jerk, another tug in a bid to fight the hankering and the yearning—the anticipation of his touch, but it was no use.

  The second he cupped me between my legs, my head fell back, my eyes rolling closed as the most intense sexual need flared up with such force it possessed me completely. As one finger slipped through my slit, my body shuddered and my hips bucked shamelessly, wanting more.

  “Like I said”—he pushed his finger inside me and I moaned—“your body can’t lie to me.”

  Then his finger was gone, and he lifted himself off me, leaving my body screaming and yelling and swearing while my mind went blank with relief.

  I didn’t move. I just stared up at the ceiling trying to get the fire in my belly under control.

  There was a long pause, the deadly silence doing nothing to tame my wildly beating heart—or the heat that pooled between my legs.

  Castello didn’t leave. I could feel him watching me, feel the crackle of electricity buzzing around us.

  “Why are you doing this to me?” I whispered, still staring at the ceiling. “All I did was fall for a man that lied to me about everything.”

  “Unfortunately for you, that man was my brother.”

  I sat up, not caring that I was naked. Modesty was no longer a concern of mine.

  “I didn’t know.”

  Dark eyes kept my gaze for two seconds longer before he turned toward the door. “Then tell me, Tatum,”—he started without turning back— “do you still believe knowledge is power?”

  Just like that he turned my own words against me. I couldn’t answer him, and he didn’t wait for an answer either. The door closed and I was left alone inside the room, my body naked, my mind feeling more broken than ever before.

  When I first woke up in this room surrounded by fear and the unknown, I had all these nightmarish ideas of what Castello would do to me. But never did it cross my mind that I would actually want him to do the unthinkable, that my body would crave it.

  Even now, with him gone, I could still feel him touching me between my legs—my body still wanted him. He might look like Carlo, but he was nothing like his twin brother. Carlo’s touch was warm, but it didn’t set me on fire like Castello’s. And no matter how hard I tried to fight the feelings that were slowly starting to consume me, turning my soul into nothing but rotten desires, it was no use.

  Castello was turning me against myself, ruining me by making my mind and body mortal enemies. Was this part of his game? Was this his plan all along, to seduce me then bury me in my own shame?

  Tugging the towel back around my naked body I crawled onto the bed, cradling my legs against my chest. There were no threatening tears, or dark foreboding feelings running rampant inside my gut. For the first time since this nightmare started I felt empty, blank, void of any emotion. And it felt good not to feel. For the first time in months I didn’t feel a thing. No pain of a broken heart, shame of a tainted soul, or fear of the monster holding me captive. There were no frightening thoughts of what the new future held for me, whether my parents would find me in time or not. Nothing. My mind con
sisted of nothing.

  The lights went off casting complete darkness over me. It didn’t frighten or scare me. I didn’t fear the dark anymore. In fact, I was starting to embrace it, to acknowledge the darkness that thickened inside me every time Castello’s touch set my body on fire.

  I didn’t know what to think, what to feel. He showed mercy by stopping Vico from beating me. Then concern when he wanted me to shower in order to ease the pain on my back. And then there was desire, the lust that consumed us both, where he showed no mercy as he turned my own body against me, only to lower his guard by letting me witness the pleasure that wracked through him when he let himself go by pulsing his release on my stomach.

  Tonight was a night of many revelations.

  His mother’s deep rooted hate for me.

  A united family’s need for revenge.

  A psychological battle between brothers.

  The many, deeply hidden layers of my captor, and the sordid levels of exposure finally showing me that I had a tainted attraction toward the darkness.

  16

  CASTELLO

  The door locked in place behind me. I switched on the monitor and saw her huddling up on the bed, curling herself into a tiny ball. It was working. I was busy breaking her. The only problem was I was breaking alongside her. She was clawing her way in, trying to expose what I so desperately wanted to keep hidden. The role that was now mine to play within this family demanded a hard, ruthless leader, which was what I was determined to be.

  But now, the woman who started out being the prey now turned into the threat. I had to try harder. If I let her in, allow her to dig deeper she would ultimately destroy me before I can destroy her. My body wanted her, my soul screamed for her, and my monster demanded to have her. But I couldn’t allow it. I couldn’t let that happen, because once I let the monster have her, he—I won’t ever let her go.

  I pressed the button on the keyboard and the lights went out. With a heavy sigh I exited the room, closed the door and pressed in the security code, locking her safely behind two doors.

  “Here you are.”