“It was just strange, and I did block him,” she snapped back. “I’m going to bed.”
Her irritating high heels clicked on the hardwood floors as the bitch left him in peace.
Finishing his drink, he slumped back down in his chair, dozing off.
The urgent need to take a piss had him jerking awake. He unsteadily left his office to go to the powder room, almost not making it. When he was finished, he splashed cold water on his face. He was getting old. His heavy drinking was beginning to affect his appearance.
Unable to stare at the man in the mirror any longer, Maxwell exited the powder room, going back inside his office.
Throwing the empty liquor bottle into the trash can beside his desk, he went to the liquor cabinet for another one.
He was reaching for the brandy when his cell phone rang on his desk. Taking the liquor with him, he picked up the phone, seeing it was an unidentified number. He almost didn’t answer, but the thought of another pesky telemarketer calling Elaine if he didn’t had him hitting the accept button.
“Hello …?” he slurred out.
“Do you know where your wife is?” The male voice sent a chill down his spine.
Trying to fight through the self-induced alcohol haze, Maxwell asked, “Who is this? Do I know where my wife is?” Maxwell snorted sarcastically. “She’s in her fucking bed. Next time, ask me if my refrigerator is running.” Maxwell ended the call. He thought prank calls had gone out of style decades ago.
Pouring his drink, he was about to sit back down in his chair when he heard Elaine calling his name from the kitchen.
He almost didn’t respond to her, thinking it was just the prankster calling her now. She would never shut up about it. However, after downing the glass of brandy in one swallow, he walked toward the kitchen.
“Is it another tele—” Maxwell blinked owlishly at the man standing in his kitchen. “What are you doing here?”
“Shut up and sit the fuck down,” Lucca ordered.
Paling, Maxwell went to the table and clumsily sat down before turning to look at his wife, who was sitting next to him.
Her normally styled hair was in disarray, and it took him a few drunken moments to realize that each of her hands were zip-tied behind her back.
“Why the fuck is she tied—?”
Maxwell lurched forward when a hard hand pressed against his back before it twisted his hands roughly behind his back. When he would have tried to stop him, Lucca punched him in the side of his face.
Dazedly, Maxwell started to fall out of the chair, but Lucca held him upright as he zip-tied his wrists to the arms of the chair.
He nearly pissed himself when Lucca tugged the chair away from the table and started zip-tying his ankles to each leg of the chair. Then he began crying.
“Tell me what you want. You want more money? I can get it for—”
“This isn’t about money,” Lucca said as he stood up, pushing Maxwell’s chair back toward the table when he was done. Then he moved to the other side of the table to stare at them.
“Then what do you want!” Maxwell cried.
“Shut up, Maxwell,” his wife hissed. “Lucca, we have a profitable relationship with the Carusos—”
“The Carusos will no longer be doing business with you. Your dealings with Lucifer voided any promises we made.”
Maxwell started sobbing as he stared at the boogieman’s heartless, frightening eyes, knowing he was fucked.
Lucca’s cold voice cut through his tears. “I got a new dog, and he told me a story about how you sold your daughter’s soul to the devil. That he would get her when she reached the age of eighteen.”
Maxwell’s crying sobs turned into whimpers.
“Shut the fuck up!” his wife screamed at him, her chair nearly tilting sideways. “You’re going to get us killed.” Then she turned her attention to Lucca. “I told Lucifer he could have Chloe when she left for college. I would have given her to you if tha—”
Lucca backhanded her across the face, effectively shutting her up.
“Not another fucking word out of your fucking mouth unless I address you,” he sneered.
You could see Elaine’s fear now as she realized she would not be able to talk her way out of this.
Lucca walked over to the counter, picking up a briefcase and placing it on the table in front of them. Then he adjusted his arm, making his black suit jacket rise up as he looked down at his watch.
Staring at the demon in front of him, who was dressed in an expensive, black Italian suit, Maxwell felt the impending doom. I’m going to die.
Lucca set a cell phone down on the table in front of the briefcase. “Before I forget, where do you keep your chili recipe?”
“Huh?” Maxwell stared at him, not sure he was hearing him right.
“Your chili recipe. I want it. Now,” he demanded from Elaine this time.
Maxwell stared in horror as Lucca grabbed a fistful of Elaine’s hair and slammed her head down onto the table when she didn’t answer fast enough.
“I don’t know!” A trickle of blood ran out of her nostrils. “I don’t do the cooking anymore!”
Maxwell lost control over his once again full bladder, and he pissed himself when Lucca turned toward him.
“Lana’s recipes are in the cabinet by the stove.”
As Lucca walked away from them, Maxwell twisted his neck to see Lucca take the recipe box out of the cabinet. Then he watched as the boogieman went through the recipes until, with a smile of satisfaction, he found the one he was looking for, putting the rest of the recipes back in the box and leaving it on the counter.
When he returned to stand next to them, tears were burning Maxwell’s face. Even his wife started crying when Lucca cut one of the zip-ties off one of her arms, then turned to do the same thing to one of Maxwell’s.
“Listen up; I’m only going to speak my instructions once.” Lucca moved to the side, opening the briefcase.
If he hadn’t already pissed himself, Maxwell would have then at the sight of what was inside the case. His wife was crying as hard as he was now.
Lucca pushed a button, triggering a light to go from red to green. Closing the briefcase, he then twirled the tiny numbers on the handle. “You have five minutes to get yourselves loose. Then call Chloe; she has the combination. If you don’t have enough time to get all the ties off, Chloe is your only chance.” He set a disposable phone on top of the case.
Neither of them turned to look at Lucca when he left with the recipe. Maxwell had already started struggling to get the tie off his free hand. When he did, he quickly lunged toward the phone, still zip-tied at the ankles.
Grabbing the phone, he dialed Chloe then held it shakily up to his ear. He heard one ring after another, wondering if she would ever pick up. Fucking answer!
Finally, when the phone was answered, they both screamed her name, “Chloe!”
A deadly voice came through the line, making Maxwell lose control of all his bodily functions. “Sorry, Chloe’s busy.”
His eyes went to the suitcase as flames engulfed his skin.
Maxwell had sold his daughter’s soul to the devil to escape Hell, only for the boogieman to send him straight to Hell in a ball of flames.
The naked man in the corner of the room sat up slowly, using the pipe he was chained to and grimacing as he did.
Lucca stepped closer to the bloodied man, his eyes scanning the hundreds of knife cuts that had been given to him.
Every single mark he had given to Chloe meant fifty for him.
“You did it, didn’t you?” Lucifer’s black eyes took in his attire. “You killed her parents.”
Lucca nodded. “You were right; they did give her to you.”
Lucifer’s maniacal laugh had blood spitting out his mouth before his ominous gaze went back to his. “Did it help?”
“Some,” Lucca admitted. “But we both know it never gets satiated.”
“No, it doesn’t. Not for men like us.” Lu
cifer smiled evilly, clearly remembering a fond memory.
Looking at the scar that had almost taken out the devil’s eye, Lucca admired how he had gotten closer than he thought he could without actually taking it.
“I still remember it like it was just yesterday—the day you proved yourself and became a made man. It was the first time I saw you in a suit.” Lucifer smiled, wiping the blood away from his mouth and causing it to smear across his lips. “At first, I thought Dante was crazy to let you try to get the information out of that rat who had stolen our money. But then, when I looked into your eyes, I could see it … The darkness lurking behind them. You put on quite a show for only being seventeen.”
“Imagine how fast I could get him to speak now,” Lucca said.
Seeing this was going to take longer than expected, he pulled out a cigarette, lighting the end.
“Do you know what I thought when you were done with him?” Lucifer asked.
He exhaled deeply, smoke filling the room as he asked, “What?”
“I wish he were my son,” the devil revealed. “We could have ruled this city together.”
Lucca smiled as he squatted down, stopping at eye level with the crazed black orbs. “I do … with your son.”
“Ah, the great Salvatore!” The devil raised his hand like the name was on a billboard. “The son your father stole from me.”
“You mean, the son who would have fucking starved to death if he had waited for you to realize he’s a genius.”
Lucifer shrugged. “He doesn’t have our trait, though. Me and you, we could have done some great things together if you had just been born on the opposite side of the tracks.”
The burn from the cigarette glowed off his face when he inhaled harshly.
Black eyes blazed back at him. “How does it feel to know you could be me someday?”
“You know that’s not true. Not anymore.” Lucca stared at the demented man before him, knowing it could have very well been a mirror between them, showing him what he would have looked like many years down the road if I hadn’t met Chloe. “I met her before I walked down that path alone for too long … Unlike you.”
Lucifer’s maniac face changed into one of jealousy. “I made her beautiful!”
“No, you just framed her beauty for me to see.”
The jealousy grew worse in his eyes. “I still touched her fir—”
Grabbing his face, Lucca held the devil’s mouth open as he shoved his smoking cigarette down his throat, making him swallow it.
Lucifer coughed, puffing out smoke while the hot, burning stick slid down the inside of his body. Then the maniacal laughter came back.
“When will you do it? When will I serve the boogieman’s purpose so you can finally send me to Hell?”
Lucca was now the one to throw his head back in maniacal laughter as he stood up from the ground.
“Take a look around, Lucifer.” He spanned his arms out. “You’re in Hell, and this is your final purpose.”
For the first time since coming here, the black, soulless eyes finally showed an ounce of fear as he watched the boogieman walk away.
Pulling back the huge sliding metal door, Lucca walked through it, putting himself on the other side. When he then spoke, it made the devil himself turn cold as the metal door started sliding back into place.
“And we are just getting fucking started.”
Forty-Nine
Off into the Beautiful, Dark Abyss
When Lucca came up the stairs, Chloe’s heart jumped at seeing him in his all-black suit. So much so that he literally took her breath away.
“Y-You’re back early,” she said, holding the music box securely in her hand.
“I finished early.” Closing the distance, he kneeled in front of her, staring at the cracked gold box. “You’ve never showed me this, darlin’.”
Chloe opened the delicate box, showing him that it no longer played. “It belonged to my aunt. She birthed me for my mother, but … she died in the process.” She remembered the words she had once heard her mother say to her father: You can thank your daughter for killing her.
“I’m sorry you were never able to meet her, darlin’.” He pushed her hair back so he could see her face better. He seemed like he had already known what she was telling him.
Me, too. “I think she must have been really sweet. I think my father was in love with her.”
“I’m sure she was.” He smoothed his hand over the crack in the box like he always did to her scars. “How did it break?”
Taking a deep breath, she told him the truth. “My father broke it one night after he had too much to drink. I used to listen to it every night, over and over and over, letting the lullaby sing me to sleep, like a mother would her baby.”
Lucca stayed silent, still rubbing the box with his fingers as he let her finish the story.
“I searched forever, trying to find another one so I could hear the tune again. Then one day, I finally did. So, I went to the little shop and was able to hear it once more.” Chloe put the box in his hands. “Now I’m happy he broke it, because it led me to you.”
Leaning in, Lucca gave her a hard kiss, swiping his tongue along her bottom lip before he pulled back.
“I want you to have it now.” She told him the reasoning behind why she had pulled it out.
“Are you sure, darlin’?” he asked, already holding the box like he cherished it, like how he cherished her.
“Yes.” She pressed her forehead against his. “Besides, I have the one you gave me.”
“I missed having the box sitting on my desk.” He revealed where it had sat for those seven months as he carefully placed the box on the bed before he picked her up.
She twisted her legs around his waist. “Where are we going?”
“I need a shower, and you’re going to join me.” He carried her into the bathroom and put her back on her feet as he grinned down at her. “Did you do what I asked?”
“Yes.” Chloe blushed, her cheeks burning red. “It wasn’t easy. I’ve never shaved myself bare before.”
He leaned down to her short stature, taking a bite of her lip. “Next time, I can help.”
Um, no. “That is never going to happen. Ever.”
“We’ll see.” He winked at her before he started shrugging out of his suit, setting his watch on the vanity. “Get undressed.”
A fire immediately started burning inside of her from his demand.
Her body obeyed, pulling the black clothes away from her skin. Then she stood there, vulnerable in front of him, as his dark eyes caressed her porcelain skin then to her cleanly shaven pussy. Chloe was able to see the pleasure he found just looking at her when his hardness grew.
The man before her hadn’t been satiated enough from the first time; that she knew. Tonight, her body, mind, and soul hoped to help satiate his hunger.
Lucca gave her a scary smile as he opened one of the vanity drawers and took out a bottle of mousse. Then he wet a cloth under the water.
Coming toward her, he then pulled her into the shower and urged her down onto the bench before kneeling in front of her.
She was confused that he hadn’t started the shower, and even more so when he revealed he also carried his lighter and a hair tie.
“Tie your hair back.”
Chloe pulled up her long mass of hair, securing it with the band.
“What are you doing?” she asked curiously when he made her lean back until her abdomen was more level.
Her question went unanswered as he sprayed the mousse into a small heart shape on her belly. Lucca then flicked his lighter open, weaving it between his fingers and causing the flame to dance.
“Do you trust me, darlin’?”
Staring at the mesmerizing flame, she answered with, “Always.”
“Stay still,” he ordered while he drew the flame close to the mousse.
Chloe’s mouth dropped open when the flame danced right above her skin, following the pattern of the mousse.
It was somehow even more mesmerizing than watching the tricks he could do with his Zippo. She guessed this was how he felt when he would touch his fingers to the flame. All she could feel was a small tingle of warmth.
“Did you like it?” he asked as he drew the flame close again, lighting the same pattern once more. Except it burned out much quicker this time.
“Yes,” she breathed when the flames had disappeared.
Instead of lighting it back on fire, he took the damp cloth and wiped away the mousse. Then he drew an even bigger heart on her stomach with the mousse. The top curves of the heart were closer to her heavy breasts while the bottom point rested on her shaved pussy.
“Now do you trust me, darlin’?” His green eyes flashed while he spun the lighter through his fingers.
“Always,” she repeated the word without hesitation.
The flame drew closer, and she could already feel herself practically panting. When the heart-shaped pattern went up in flames, her head fell back, resting on the glass. She moaned as the flames licked between her thighs.
Holy fu—
Lucca kept it going, relighting the mousse over and over until it burned no more.
Her heart raced when Lucca wiped away the design, letting the cold, damp towel linger over her warmed skin. Then he turned the water on after he had moved the nozzle, waiting for it to warm before he put it back in its normal position.
Lucca’s impressive body stalked up to her. He brought his hand to her hair, releasing the hair tie and letting her hair wildly fall back down. Then he slid his hand down to one of her huge globes, wiping away a trickle of water that rested on her nipple with his thumb, making it peak.
“Do you still like it after I set you on fire?”
“Yes …” Her body became putty under his hands. “I’m not afraid of anything you do to me.”
“Darlin’ …” He twined a wet strand of her hair around his finger. “Those are dangerous words to use around me.” He tugged the dark strand down, forcing her head to lower and sending her a silent message.
Chloe’s gray eyes grew as she stared down at his enlarged cock.
Lucca (Made Men #4) Page 23
