Lukas

by Josephine Jade

  He hardened himself against the tear that fell down her cheek under the blindfold.

  This was what she’d been trying to tell him at the restaurant and that night in his bed. He wanted to know all the details—know what the fuck she’d been thinking—but right now he needed to concentrate on crowd control.

  “She stole from us, Lukas. There’s no way around that,” Thomas, one of the most longstanding members of the club, and an important part of La Cosa Nostra, said from where he sat at the conference table. Thomas was also a sadist. Enjoyed making people hurt—had been quite an effective mafia member because of it. He and Lukas had managed to co-exist but had never gotten along.

  “And I appreciate you not taking matters into your own hands.” Although he couldn’t be sure they wouldn’t have if Brax hadn’t texted him. “And it sounds like she has the money still available to return.”

  “That’s not what matters,” Thomas said. “Word can’t get out that someone stole from us and we let it go unpunished. It would be an unacceptable sign of weakness.”

  “Reina will be punished, but it will be by me.”

  Thomas stood, fists clenching on top of the table. “If it was anyone else besides your new plaything, we wouldn’t even be having this conversation.”

  “She’s a hell of a lot more than my new plaything, and it doesn’t fucking matter what you want, Thomas, because I’m not letting you use your fists on her or break any bones.” Lukas was glad Reina couldn’t hear any of this.

  Thomas looked around to see who supported him. Lukas hoped Roman and Dominic got here soon, because he was telling the truth: he wasn’t going to allow anybody to hurt Reina in that way. And if that meant getting her out of here through violence, he would do that. But it would be a hell of a lot easier with his brothers at his back.

  “I support Lukas,” Victor said. “This is Reina Torres we’re talking about, a longstanding member of the neighborhood, not just some punk who broke in.”

  Some of the other people standing around the room nodded.

  “She stole from us,” Thomas all but yelled. “Got caught red-handed.”

  “And she’ll be punished,” Lukas said quietly. “But not like that.”

  Margo nodded. “I agree with Lukas, too. Our naked little pet over there broke the rules, but I’m not willing to see any permanent damage done to her. Especially not before we know all the details.”

  Thomas sat back down, eyes narrowed. “Fine. But I want her punishment to be public and done here tonight.” He turned to Lukas. “You’ll excuse me if I don’t trust you not to let your better judgement get blindsided by a pretty pussy.”

  “Fine. What exactly do you have in mind, Thomas?”

  “We were all here for Timothy and Melinda’s public punishment display a few weeks ago. I think the same will work. Paddled, plugged with ginger lube, paddled again in diaper position, then fucked as she begs for forgiveness.” The sadist smiled. “You can even do most of the spanking yourself, Rinaldi. We’ll each just have three whales on her pretty ass.”

  “Fine. My choice of paddle only. None of your whips, canes, or loopy johnnies.”

  “If she safe words, then the deal’s off,” Thomas continued. “She’s not getting out of here scot-free, just because she calls red.”

  It would be pushing Reina’s limits. Most of it was stuff they’d done before, but not all at the same time, and never in public. Could she handle it?

  She would have to. And if she couldn’t, he would have to get her out of there because there was no way in hell he was leaving her to a beating at Thomas and the others’ hands. He hoped his brothers got here soon in case he needed backup to get Reina out.

  “She won’t safe word.” He looked around at everyone else. “Is everyone in agreement?”

  They all nodded. It was time for Reina’s punishment.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Not being able to see or hear anything—knowing they were discussing her fate—ate at Reina. What had she done? These people were the mob, for God’s sake, and she’d stolen from them. They weren’t going to listen to her reasoning. No doubt every person who was stupid enough to steal from them had some sort of sob story about why they did it.

  Whether they got to tell it before they ended up dead in a gutter was a different matter.

  Reina knew how La Cosa Nostra worked; she’d grown up with them her whole life. They were strong and protective of those who were loyal to them. Ruthless to those who betrayed them. She felt another tear she couldn’t wipe leak out from under her blindfold.

  Just like Lukas—strong and protective, until he was betrayed. He was the epitome of La Cosa Nostra. Why hadn’t she just told him long before now?

  She thought she could get in and out of the server room without anyone noticing, was getting out even if she didn’t have the data she needed to prove what Peter was doing. But, evidently, they’d added more security, because she hadn’t been in there more than five minutes before she was caught, literally, in the act of stealing from them. At the very least, that would be a severe beating, the type that left broken bones and internal injuries.

  She knew the reason she was here only embarrassed and trussed up like a Christmas goose rather than seriously injured was because Margo knew Lukas cared about Reina.

  Or used to care about Reina. Another tear leaked out. If she could slump to the ground in despair she would, but Victor’s bindings kept her back ramrod straight and her legs spread wide.

  She blinked rapidly as the blindfold was ripped off her eyes and the headphones removed from her ears. The people who had caught her were leaving the room.

  Lukas crouched down in front of her, brown eyes cold. Empty. Almost like he didn’t recognize her. Her stomach filled with a rolling, twisting despair. He removed the ball-gag.

  “Lukas…” Her voice was hoarse, broken. “Please let me explain.”

  “No.” His voice booked no argument. “The only thing that will change your fate is if you didn’t steal the from these people of whom are highly connected to me and my family. Did you or did you not?”

  “I did. But—”

  “No. I don’t want to hear about it. Explanations have no place here. You stole. That’s all that matters.”

  “Are they—you—going to kill me?” Fear doused her in an icy downpour. She clenched her jaw to keep her teeth from chattering.

  “No, and I’m not going to let them have their own brand of justice either. Your punishment will be here at the club tonight.”

  She wasn’t going to die or be injured in ways that she might never recover from. She relaxed slightly in her bindings. “Thank you.”

  “You won’t be thanking me in a few minutes. Do you remember Timothy and Melinda’s punishment scene the first night you sneaked in? The group has agreed that will be your fate. You will be paddled by each club member you stole from, your ass plugged with ginger lube, paddled again by me while you hold yourself in diaper position, then fucked by me as you ask for forgiveness.”

  Oh God.

  “And you will not safe word, Reina. One, because if you do, you’ll face mafia justice rather than this much less painful version.” He reached down and grabbed her chin so she was forced to look into his flinty eyes. “But you will also not safe word for me, because I am commanding you not to. What will happen to you tonight will be at your limits, but you will take it for me. Do you understand?”

  “Yes, Sir.” The words came out of her mouth automatically, but she knew they were true. She would do this, would bear this, to try to make things right with him.

  “Lukas…”

  “No. Tonight I am your master, not Lukas.”

  God, that should not turn her on, but it did. Even worse, she knew he could see it. “Master… I hope you will let me explain, not tonight but sometime.”

  His eyes remained cold. “You’ve had six weeks to do so. And I have no doubt that your brilliant mind could come up with some very clever reasons for why you did
what you did, but regardless of your reasons, you lied to me, Reina. Every time we were together, there were lies between us. Believe me when I say you’re—”

  Margo broke in from the door. “We’re ready with the stocks and have quite a crowd out here waiting, Lukas.”

  Reina was glad Margo cut him off. She didn’t want to hear how they were over, how she’d ruined the best thing that had ever happened to her. There was no way she’d get through the next few hours if he said the words out loud right now.

  Just knowing they were true was bad enough.

  He gripped her chin between his thumb and finger. “No safe word. You talk to me only. And you damn well convince them you’re sorry.”

  “I am.” She longed for one second of closeness from him, but despite his physical nearness, he remained aloof.

  “Not as sorry as you will be.”

  Lukas refused to allow himself to provide any reassurance to Reina as Margo untied her and then put a collar and leash around her throat and led her out to the stocks in the middle of the big room. The crowd watched as Margo bent Reina slightly forward and placed her head and wrists in the padded sections of the stock before closing it.

  Reina closed her eyes as Margo moved away, and some of the crowd came closer to look at her. No one would touch without permission, but closeup viewing of all parts of her naked body was fair game.

  He hated seeing Reina so frightened but knew it would help her in the end. Thomas couldn’t have blood, so he would damn well want her honest contrition. Victor and even Margo did as well. Her bearing the weight of his displeasure helped get her there much more quickly.

  Reina had more she wanted to tell him, and she would. By God, he would understand every single detail of where, why, and how she had stolen from them. Tonight was not the only time ass was going to get paddled because of this stunt. Once a week for the next ten years ought to do it.

  But at least he would have her safe in his care when he did it.

  He was pissed. Not only for the stealing and lies, but for putting him in this situation where he wasn’t one hundred percent certain he could keep her safe.

  Some of the pressure in his gut eased when he saw Roman and Dominic come through the door. He moved to them quickly. There wasn’t much time.

  “My guy is still working on Reina’s software and exactly what it was doing,” Dominic said. “It’s complicated, definitely not just theft. Honestly, he’s not sure the end goal was that at all.”

  “Did Reina take money from the accounts of Thomas, Margo, Victor and the rest?” Lukas asked.

  Dominic shrugged. “Yes. There’s no doubt about that.”

  “I got Thomas and the others to agree to public punishment here at the club rather than just giving him free rein for street justice.”

  Roman looked over at the stocks. “You sure she’s up for that?”

  God, he hoped so. “Yes. She’ll do it, because Thomas has already demanded her blood if she safe words out. And I’m not going to let that happen. So, if she panics and safe words, I’m going to need you guys to intervene until I can get her out of here safely.”

  Dominic crossed his arms over his chest. “We can demand they wait until we get all the information. They won’t like it, but they’ll listen. Even Thomas. He doesn’t have a choice.”

  Lukas rubbed a hand over his face. “But what if all the information just proves that Reina is just guiltier? Thomas will… Jesus, we all know what he’ll do to her. I can’t let that happen. I don’t care if she’s a thief or have to chain her to my bed for the rest of her life to keep her out of trouble.”

  “What are you doing to her tonight to appease them?” Roman asked.

  “The whole wringer, at least it’s going to feel that way to her. But nothing that will mark her permanently or draw blood.”

  “We’ll be ready if we have to step in,” Dominic said. “But you know, she might actually have a legitimate reason for doing what she did.”

  Lukas shook his head. “That would’ve been coming to me with her concerns, maybe not right at first, but at some point in the last few weeks. Not sneaking behind my back. And believe me, she’s going to tell me every single detail once I get her home safe.”

  But right now, he would stay firm. Cold. Do his best to give the wronged parties their pound of flesh while making sure Reina lived through tonight with no permanent injuries.

  He could admit, he would enjoy plugging that ass and hearing her call him master while she begged for forgiveness. And he had no problem fucking her in public. He would’ve preferred it under different circumstances, but it was going to happen eventually anyway. “She can take it. But be ready, just in case. Tell Brax, too.”

  His brothers nodded, heading to the bar as Lukas made his way to the stocks. Reina’s eyes were still closed, her face without much color. They needed to start. Worried about what was coming was just making this worse.

  “This submissive,” he said at a normal volume—people could just shut the fuck up and listen if they wanted to; he wasn’t going to act as a ringmaster—before gripping Reina’s chin and tilting her face up from its place in the stocks, “stole from six members of this club. Is that correct?”

  “Yes,” she said, finally opening her eyes.

  “And you’ve agreed to be punished here at the club since, as your master, I’ve agreed to allow it?”

  “Yes,” she said again. He raised an eyebrow this time. “Yes, Master,” she corrected.

  “And what is your safe word?”

  “Red.”

  “We’ll begin with three blows from each of the other five people wronged in this matter. They will adjust the stocks to whatever setting they see fit.”

  Victor was the first to step up, bringing the medium-weight paddle Lukas had chosen with him. “I’m not really into spankings. I hope at some point you’ll agree to let me tie up your little submissive as a decoration, so you can play with her. I think a few hours of orgasm denial would be quite an effective punishment.”

  Lukas got hard just thinking about it. “Let’s just get through tonight first.”

  Victor didn’t adjust the stocks, just rubbed this hand over Reina’s rear end. “Last time this won’t be red for a while. I hope you remember not to steal any more, pet.” He brought the paddle down on her ass, three times quickly. She gasped and cried out by the third.

  “Thank Victor for your spanking.”

  “Thank you, Sir, for my spanking.”

  The next two people moved the stocks so Reina’s head was at waist level, which thrust her ass out further. By the time they were done—blows making a cracking sound against her skin each time—she was crying in earnest, her voice shaky as she thanked them.

  Margo moved the stock so Reina’s head was back at shoulder level, then stepped up and spoke lowly in Reina’s ear. If Lukas hadn’t been so close, he wouldn’t have heard. “I still plan to fuck you with a strap-on, pet. I’m sorry that won’t happen tonight, but it will soon.”

  If Reina thought a spanking from a woman might be less painful, she was obviously proven wrong. She wailed loudly as Margo brought the paddle down hard across the tops of her thighs, then her ass twice.

  “Th-thank you, Mistress.”

  “My pleasure, pet. I look forward to the rest of this show.”

  Thomas, of course, had waited until last. He brought a spreader bar up with him. Bastard. He knew what he was doing and planned to make the most of his three blows. He tilted the angle of the stocks and pushed it down to the very lowest setting, both uncomfortable and humiliating since it brought Reina’s face just inches from the ground. Her ass was high in the air, then even more exposed as Thomas attached the bar to her ankles and spread them wide.

  “You’re lucky your master chose the spanking implement,” he said, making no attempt to keep his words for her ears only like Margo had done. “Knowing you’re about to get a large plug up your ass, if it had been my choice, I would’ve forced you to hold your ass cheek
s open and caned you right on that little asshole. My aim is very good. Three strikes right on there would’ve had it swollen and burning before you even started the real punishment.”

  “Enough, Thomas,” Lukas said. “Get on with it.”

  “Fine. I would like thanks from her between each blow. And for her to ask for the next.”

  Lukas narrowed his eyes at the other man but nodded. It wasn’t an unreasonable request.

  Reina screamed as Thomas brought the paddle down—showing no mercy—right at the most tender area where her ass met the tops of her thighs. He had great access to it with how he’d positioned her.

  Reina was sobbing, obviously taking more pain than she thought she could manage. Fuck. She wasn’t going to make it through this. Thomas’s smirk told him he knew it too.

  Lukas was about to call the whole thing off. He didn’t care what she had done. This wasn’t worth it.

  “Thank you.” Her words interrupted his panicked thoughts. “Please spank me again.”

  She sobbed again, going up and down on her toes as Thomas brought the paddle down on the top of her ass that had received the most abuse. Jesus. One more. Could she take it?

  Her words were barely intelligible as she thanked Thomas again and asked for the final blow.

  He stepped back, bringing the paddle down again, the crack against her skin resounding through the room, followed by Reina’s wails.

  She’d made it. The rest of the punishment would still be hard—and damn humiliating—but at least Lukas would be in control of that. The worst was over.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Reina had thought the worst was over at Thomas’s last blow, but she’d been wrong.

  The ginger lube burned her ass, making the plug seem much larger than it really was. It hurt, but in a good sort of way. Not at all like the searing agony of the paddling, especially the last three blows.

  She’d only hung on because Lukas had commanded her to. Had told her in no uncertain terms that she would not safe word, otherwise she would have, unable to take it.