by Rose Harper
“What are you doing?”
Smiling sheepishly, she licks her lips, then takes the bottom one into her mouth before replying. “Um, this is how I sleep. I can’t stand anything constricting me. I can sleep with clothes on, but I prefer not to in case I need to fight.”
“You fight naked?” I think my heart just skipped a beat.
“I sleep naked. If I have to fight, no nightgown is going to get in my way.”
I don’t know why, but that causes a smile to pull at my lips. It seems we have some things in common. I wonder what else there is that we don’t know yet.
“Not complaining,” I sigh, feeling my cock jerk when she pulls her pants down her legs, her flimsy excuse for a thong coming into view. They’re fire engine red and completely see through as it hides the treasure of her perfect little cunt behind it. “But don’t cut my dick off if he salutes you for the rest of the night.”
Smiling softly, she slides between the covers, and I waste no time to pull her into my body, her back to my front. My hips rock forward of their own accord, my hardened shaft resting between the cheeks of her ass. She doesn’t say anything about it, just releases a breathtaking laugh that rocks me to the core, causing my member to jerk once more.
“Duly noted.”
12
CARINA
Sweat. Blood. Tears.
Secrets. Death. Power.
Kill. Kill. Kill.
Nothing but the smell of sweat, blood, and tears surround me as I continue to focus on the bag in front of me. First one punch, then a punch and a kick. My feet are black and blue from doing this for hours and hours a day, but it’s nothing new. I have to keep at it. I have to be better, stronger, and faster than others like me.
Secrets steal away my attention. The smell of death envelopes me as I continue hitting the bag. One punch, then a punch and kick. One punch, then a punch and kick. It’s the same, same, same. Over and over and over. From day light until dark, I’m stuck doing this. Doing this all with only one thing in mind. Power. I will have the power to overcome all of them. I will have the power to end it all.
Killing my father. I have the need to kill, kill, kill. Kill everything that’s ever caused me nothing but harm. Kill everyone who thinks they know better.
Kill every-goddamn-ONE who believes they can take it away from me like they have the right.
Sweat. Tears. Blood.
Secrets. Death. Power.
Kill. Kill. Kill.
They don’t know the monster they created will one day turn on them. They don’t know the monster they created views them as nothing but weak, mindless drones that do a higher power’s bidding.
I’m the monster, and the only person safe with me is the one person that can cage me. The one person they made me kill, kill, kill. The one person whose throat they made me slit when he wanted nothing more than to help, help, help.
He wanted to be there for me. He wanted to save me from this life. He didn’t want me to turn out to be just like him.
Too late. I’m already on the path my father set before me.
Only, I’m not going to be like Luca …
I’m much worse.
“Goddammit! Stop, Carina! Fucking stop!” In my haze, I keep pelting the bag in front of me. I keep barreling all my emotion into the bag or lack thereof if I’m speaking quite frank.
I hate them. Hate all of them. But right now, I’m numb. I’m numb to it all, and I want nothing more than to feel again. I want to feel the sun resting across my face. I want to feel my heart beat in my chest with the warmth of love. I want to feel, but I’m incapable. They broke me. They broke me in like you do a horse you want to train.
And I fell, fell, fell.
Fell harder than anyone has before.
“I am nothing; I mean nothing. I am nothing; I mean nothing.” I recant over and over, continuing my assault on the bag. My hands ache, but it’s nothing new. My body feels like it’s been run over by a Mach truck, but I relish the feeling because that means I’m still alive. It means I still have the one chance to get even for what they took away from me.
“Daniel! Goddammit! She’s phased again! Daniel!” Rossi screams, but his voice is nothing more than a haze in my mind. I’ll get him, too. I’ll get all of them.
Feeling a hand touch my shoulder, I turn around, swinging … I’ll kill them all.
“Carina!”
My eyes slowly blink open, feeling the phantom pressure on my shoulder. Glancing around, nothing is remotely familiar to me, but something about the urgency of that voice carries an uneasy feeling with it. It causes my heart to stall in my chest and sweat to pepper along my skin, which has me out of the bed and in a defensive crouch within an instant.
No one is going to get the best of me ever again. I refuse to go down that path of death and destruction without a fight.
“Carina!”
That voice sounds familiar, but I’m having trouble with my mind computing who he can be. It’s not until I glance over to my right, seeing Mateo’s eyes thinned into tiny slits of fury as he stares at me through his reflection. He’s in the process of tying his tie around his neck, but he stops when he sees my wild eyes and untamed mannerisms.
“What? What’s wrong?!” I yell.
Sighing, he gives me a once-over, a secretive leer tugging at his lips before he replaces it with his infamous stoic mask once more. “Nothing. You were just having a dream,” he says flippantly, resuming his morning routine as if nothing is out of the ordinary, and he didn’t just scare the shit out of me. “You kept repeating something about kill, kill, kill and secrets, death, and power. Is there something I should know?”
“You ass,” I growl. “Don’t you know you’re not supposed to wake someone up from a nightmare?”
“I think you’re talking about sleep walking. You’re not supposed to wake anyone up when they’re sleep walking.”
Shaking my head fervently, I reply, “No, I meant what I said. Waking me up mid-nightmare would be cause for getting your ass kicked.”
“Are you always this delightful in the morning?” he deadpans, glaring through his reflection at me.
What does he expect me to do? I was trapped in one of the few memories that still haunt me to this day. It’s the only time my father had to sedate me that I remembered. The thoughts of death—of taking someone’s life that I felt deserved it put me into a trance.
A trance of need, desire, and bloodlust to see the ones that wronged me get what they have coming to them. My list of targets began that day. There were four of them all together, but now, it only consists of three people, two of which are already dead, and one I no longer see as a target but under my personal protection. So, that leaves one. When I finally take that asshole out—that raping, murdering asshole—I’ll be able to breathe easier.
Rossi.
Coming back from my thoughts, I don’t answer him. Instead, I start looking on the floor for my clothing. When I don’t find what I’m looking for, I hear a voice clearing that draws my attention.
“What?” I ask, frustrated.
Those nightmares always get me this way. I’m a raging bitch the next day until the remnants of them get out of my system. The fragments of fear, anger, sorrow, and complete helplessness always fuck my head up even more. I was only fourteen when the torment from Rossi started. Torment my father looked the other way over. He didn’t come to my aide when Rossi took my innocence. Didn’t come to my aide when Rossi wanted to play games with me.
He pretended like I didn’t exist just so he could get a few hours away from me, with my bitch of a mother who demanded to be wined and dined like a queen she clearly wasn’t. While they were having the greatest goddamn time of their lives, Rossi was using my body for anything he wanted, which further solidified my persona as Reap.
In order to get through something like that, I needed to make sure no emotion was left so I wouldn’t be hurt by it. So, there was no way he would be able to leave a lasting effect on me.
/> “What’s going through your mind right now?” he asks.
Confused, I blurt it out before thinking better of it. Growing up like I did, there’s no time to think about filtering anything you say, because you may very well not get the chance to say it later. “The times Rossi would rape me, so my parents could go out on the town and rub elbows with your father.”
“Who. The Fuck. Is Rossi?!” he thunders, turning away from the mirror, his devil eyes locking on mine.
“No one for you to worry about,” I say, finally looking up at the bottom of the bed and seeing my clothes. Picking them up, I start putting them on as if my ass is on fire. “So, can we stop by my room before going downstairs. I need to shower and change.”
“Carina, who the fuck is he? And don’t make me ask again.”
Breathing deeply, I make eye contact with him as I straighten my appearance. “He’s the man that used to help my fath … Daniel. He used to help Daniel in training me when I was younger.”
“Do you have an idea where he’s located? What he does for a living?” he asks, sliding his jacket over his broad, muscular shoulders.
“No. And when I do, no one will be able to find him because I’ll leave him in pieces.”
Growling, Mateo stalks toward me. I know he’s not doing it to intimidate me because we both know that would be a waste of time. He’s doing it because he’s barely restraining himself and his anger.
“You won’t have to worry about that, Carina. You are in this house, so that means you are under my familia’s protection. If anyone has crossed you, I will be the one to take them out.”
Annoyance simmers just below the surface at his words. Mateo has no goddamn ties to me anymore; he no longer has to marry me. Yet, he thinks it’s his job to fight my battles for me. Like I’m some weak, little woman that can’t protect herself. Bullshit. If he wants any type of cordial behavior between us, he’s going to have to stop treating me as if I’m some coward that runs from her problems. He needs to realize that he’s no longer the deadliest one in the room.
Because I’m far deadlier than he can ever realize.
13
MATEO
My mind roams over and over what Carina said this morning. The more I think about it, the angrier I become. That goddamn guy had enough nerve to touch her when she couldn’t protect herself. He had enough goddamn nerve to touch what’s mine, knowing that one day I would find out what he did.
This man, whoever he is, clearly has no value for his life. Because now, he’s a dead man and doesn’t even know it. You don’t touch what is mine and expect to get away with it. I may be an asshole. A bastard. A son of a bitch. But there is one thing that has always been crystal clear when it comes to someone like me.
You do not fucking touch the wife, soon-to-be wife, fiancée, or girlfriend of a made man. Doing that is a death sentence that I fully intend to seek out.
“I know you’re still fucked over Vin, man. But, Jesus, you need to pay attention to this just in case we need to get in his computer again.”
Breaking free of my thoughts, I turn toward the sound of the voice, seeing Dom staring at me. I’ve been a bit scatter brained today, but can you blame me? I lost my brother, got motherfucking roofied, and found out Carina was systematically raped from a young age until we got her out of her parents’ house. I don’t know, but something tells me I’m allowed to be a bit fucked over this situation.
“Let me spell this out to you, Dom,” I say, clearing my throat. “My brother died. We have to find out who this fucking Marco man is. I got motherfucking drugged last night. And now, I need to find someone named motherfucking Rossi because he’s just been added to the shit list of targets I’m going to kill.” Giving him a blank stare, I slowly blink as he tries to process it all.
Disbelief blankets his face before rage shortly takes over. “You were drugged?! What the fuck?! Why weren’t any of us alerted?”
“That would be the only thing you caught.” Rolling my eyes, I glance back over at Giovanni, seeing him fail, yet again, to get into our brother’s computer.
“Answer me.”
Jerking my attention back toward him, my eyes narrow in warning. “You don’t order anyone in this goddamn house around, least of all me. We may be friends, but I’m the boss first and foremost. And yes, you little shit, someone fucking roofied my scotch.”
“Do you know who it was?”
“Yes.”
“Are you going to tell me?”
“No.”
Giving me a side eye, his dark orbs shooting daggers at me, he sits back in his chair and stews in his anger. “You’re just a bucket of fucking sunshine and rainbows this morning, aren’t you?”
“Seems that way,” I say, clipping my words.
“Quit fucking doing that!” he yells as he jumps up from his chair, his chest heaving with anger. “You’re blowing me off with your short responses and your lack of a … fucking … shit … goddammit, motherfucker. You’re pissing me the fuck off right now! Give me more than what you are!”
“Do I need to leave the room for this lovers’ quarrel?” Giovanni asks, flicking his gaze between Domino and me. Real fucking class clown, he is.
“Just break into the damn thing. Why Vinny insisted on having this thing so protected, I’ll never know.”
Just knowing my brother wanted to hide anything from me hurts. Especially after all we’ve been through. You’d think he would be able to trust me. I’ve been there for him since day one and took care of him when our mother died, and Pop couldn’t bring himself to care about anything other than the familia business and taking Lucio with him wherever he went.
I did anything and everything I could to take care of him, Gavino, and Giovanni, and this is the thanks I get. A fucking locked computer with information on it that could be detrimental in finding out who Marco is, and why he went to John Stewart the way he did about Carina.
For all I fucking know, Vinny could have this entire mess mapped out on his computer from beginning to end, and we would be none the wiser.
Jesus, just thinking about all the shit that could be trapped on this damn piece of technology makes me want a stiff drink.
A stiff drink and a hard fuck.
Preferably at the same time.
With preferably the one chick that drives me blasted insane.
“Mateo, answer me something?” Giovanni asks.
“Sure.”
“What would you do if you had very sensitive information you wanted to protect? Before you answer that, don’t come back with what you know we know because that’s bullshit. I’m talking about information no one can find out.”
Sighing, I don’t even bother replying. Giovanni knows I would do the same Vinny did, but that doesn’t make it any less frustrating. The one time we actually need to disrespect his privacy, and he’s got this laptop on lockdown.
“Maybe we should call someone that’s a bit more technologically inclined?” Dom asks, finally over his minor hissy fit from earlier.
“I would, but this needs to stay in-house. No one needs to know about the information that’s on this computer other than family and people Vinny trusted,” Giovanni replies, sighing when the error message pops up once more.
Glancing over at the clock above the fireplace, I see we’ve managed to waste the entire day trying to get into Vinny’s laptop. Where our resources could be better used, we’ve been squandering it away on something that seems to be impassable. At least, at the moment.
I just want to know what else Vinny could be holing away on this computer. You’d think if he wasn’t hiding anything from his family he would give, at least one of us the password to all his accounts, laptop, and email accounts. But it seems whatever is on this computer he didn’t want to get into the wrong hands, and that makes me want to get into the son of a bitch more.
All of these secrets are spiraling out of control, and the one thing we need to straighten up a majority of them is a password out of our reach. It�
��s frustrating, unnerving, and makes me want to pull my hair out.
Turning away from the desk, Giovanni crosses his arms over his chest, regarding me with a stern look.
“What?” I ask
“Now, back to this roofied incident. I know you don’t want to talk about it, but you need to. What if it has a connection to this other stuff?” he asks, gesturing to Vinny’s computer. “If it does, we need to be prepared for anything. The last time we weren’t, someone died—Vinny died. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to lose any more of my brothers to some crazy fucking assassin or whatever the fuck it is. We are so used to being top of the food chain, we’re acting like sniffling cunts because we don’t know how to act when there’s a bigger fish swimming in our pond. Now’s the time for no secrets. So, spill it. What happened?”
Recanting everything that happened the night before, horror etches across both their faces as I pour more salt into the wound stupidity made. I tell them about Carina coming to check on me. About me falling apart in the aftermath of our brother’s death. I let them in on the fact that Carina said I was her target to kill, but that she sees my family as the ones that need protection.
I spill every ounce of information I have, pushing through the nausea and anger that someone is specifically targeting my goddamn familia.
Slipping into our native tongue, I allow what happened this morning between Carina and me to become more than just a thought in my mind, but a puzzle piece added to the board. “She said she was continuously raped by some dipshit named Rossi. That she refuses me the motherfucking right to kill, even though I have every right to. Just because we don’t have to get married because of my father’s asinine wishes doesn’t mean I don’t want to align myself with someone like her. She’s fucking fearless. Strong. Proud. Intelligent. Loyal. She’s every damn thing someone like me needs at their side.”
