“Glad we’re clear,” I said with a smile. She turned her gaze away from me as a couple of tears fell, her entire body trembling with both fear and unrestrained anger that she couldn't do a damn thing about. “Anything you'd like to say?”
She cut her eyes to me before quickly dropping them to the floor.
“No, sir,” she whispered.
I took a few steps closer to her and squeezed her soft breast. “I told you good things will happen for you when you behave,” I murmured, smiling when she whimpered again. She squirmed under my touch when I squeezed a bit harder, biting her bottom lip to keep from making a sound. “But when you don’t, we both know what will happen.”
“Please don’t,” she whispered.
I loosened my grip around her breast and skimmed my fingers down to her nipple. She inhaled sharply when I pinched it and tried to pull away from me, which only resulted in me squeezing harder.
“You didn’t have permission to speak,” I reminded her.
Her face slowly turned red as she squeezed her eyes shut, thrashing her body around to free herself from my grip. When a few tears rolled down her cheeks, I finally let her go. Playing with her would be fun, but watching her pride break down with my new rules would be interesting to watch as well. Aurora wasn’t the type of woman to bow so easily, so I was curious to know how our little arrangement would work out.
I walked over to the wall and pressed the button to lower the chain that extended her arms. She rolled her shoulders when her arms were low enough, sniffling as she brushed away a couple of tears without a word.
The room was silent as I took the electrodes and cuffs off her, not that I cared. After bugging the fuck out of me for days, I was content she'd finally shut the fuck up for once. She moved to retrieve her dress and panties from the floor, but I held up a hand to stop her.
“Don’t touch that,” I stated, bending down to grab them. She looked at me with wild eyes, bewilderment etched on her face. “You’re to be naked in my presence.”
The muscle in her jaw ticked slightly before she straightened her posture, her gaze hard as she stared at me. “But we’re walking through the house,” she mumbled.
I closed the distance between us and wrapped a firm hand around her throat. Her pulse pumped sporadically beneath my fingers as she looked up at me, a look of defiance and determination shining in her eyes.
“You’re not a very good listener,” I growled, flexing my fingers. “Girls who can’t keep their mouths shut usually get their tongues cut out.” Her eyes widened at my words, her pulse quickening. “You’re lucky you need it when you’re on your knees later choking on my cock.”
She didn’t say a word, only staring at me. I could see the rebellion in her gaze, but her posture screamed fear. I thought back to the last time I’d truly punished her, how she’d looked on the thin mattress on the floor covered in dark bruises.
For a moment, I thought she was completely broken with no fight left in her. I’d genuinely felt guilty because the majority of the anger I’d had in this room wasn’t even because of her, yet she took the brunt of it. I didn’t want her to be that broken again, but I knew getting her to listen wouldn’t be easy. And if I had to punish her every day until she learned, then that was what had to be done.
“You will do what I want you to do, when I want you to do it. If I want you to walk through this house naked, you will. If I want to fuck you in front of an audience, I will. Let it be known that if you still can’t pull it together and learn your place, you will become a sex worker. I’m not going to keep going back and forth with you. Is that what you want?”
She swallowed hard at the sound of her potential future before she shook her head.
“Speak,” I demanded. “Is that what you want?”
“No.”
“No?”
She licked her lips. “No, sir.”
“Then I’d advise you to get with the fucking program and do what you’re supposed to,” I growled. “The men you’d see down there won’t give a fuck if they’re hurting you or if they make you bleed. Being my pet is a luxury compared to being a slut for random men. But if you want to remain defiant and continue breaking the rules, you can join the other girls. Some of our clients love to get a little rough with the girls who like to fight back. Is that what you want?”
“No, sir,” she answered.
I took my hand from her throat. “So we’re clear now, yes?”
“Crystal, sir,” she ground out.
I smirked. “Pretty sure ‘crystal’ isn’t in your approved limited vocabulary, but I’ll let it slide for now,” I said, giving her cheek a firm pat. She winced, the creamy skin turning a light shade of pink when I removed my hand. “Let’s go.”
She wrapped an arm around her chest to cover her breasts and covered her bare pussy with her free hand as we moved toward the door. I chuckled.
“Hands behind your back,” I said. “Unless you want me to cuff them behind your back.”
She pursed her lips, but did as she was told. I grinned in satisfaction when she bowed her head in shame as she walked out of the room when I opened the door.
We walked up to the main floor of the house in silence. I fought the urge to grin as the guys around the house stopped to stare at her, a couple of them mockingly cat calling and whistling at her. I stole a glance at her just in time to see her cheeks turn scarlet in embarrassment, her eyes glued to the floor.
As much as I hated anyone else looking at what belonged to me, she had to learn. She needed to understand what waited for her on the other side if she couldn’t follow simple directions. I wanted to keep her to myself, but I didn’t have the time or patience to deal with her any time she felt like she was above following the rules set for her. There was too much shit at stake and too much danger around us for me to spend too much time punishing her for being mouthy.
When we got upstairs, I unlocked her room door and gestured for her to go inside. She sighed inwardly and walked past me. She looked small as she got down on the thin mattress on the floor and pulled her knees to her chest, refusing to make eye contact with me.
“Someone will bring your meals to you and will check on you every hour. When I want to see you, they’ll bring you to me. Got it?”
“Yes, sir,” she mumbled before resting her head against her knees. I gazed at her for a moment longer before finally closing the door and locking her inside.
BENNETT
A solid knock sounded on my office door a few hours later, pulling me out of my musings. A million and one things crashed around in my mind and none of them were good. With everything that’d happened so far, I didn’t know who I could trust. I almost didn’t know if I could trust my own men.
Don’t be ridiculous. Some of these men have worked with you for years, I reminded myself, but it didn’t make me feel any more at ease.
“What?” I called out, my voice tight.
The door creaked open before Bruce’s bald head appeared. I waved him in and straightened up in my chair.
“Just wanted to let you know that Nyxin and Josh are back with Kyler’s girlfriend and his sister. What do you want them to do with them?”
“Where’s Kyler?”
“The living room.”
“Good. Keep an eye on him for a moment. I’m about to send a message to everyone in the security detail to make it seem like it’s an official meeting. I’ll be downstairs in a minute,” I said as I retrieved my phone from my pocket.
“You got it,” he said with a nod. He stared at me for a moment longer. “You okay?”
I didn’t even know anymore. I was so conflicted on the appropriate way to feel in a situation like this. Sure, I was angry about what Wilson had been up to for as long as I could remember. He was responsible for so much destruction and pain in my life and every vengeful bone of my body wanted him dead. But then there was that part of me that reminded me that this was my father, my last blood relative that I had. Once he was gone, I’d be on m
y own and I couldn’t figure out why the thought slightly terrified me. I blew out a breath. Unless I had plans to be killed, I had to take him out. The last thing I wanted was to be on the run for the rest of my life just because I couldn’t bring myself to kill my family. I could deal with whatever guilt or negative emotions that arose when all this bullshit was over.
“Yeah, I’m good,” I said instead. Now wasn’t the time to portray any weaknesses in front of my men. This situation was already confusing as it was, as it wasn’t usually for the mafia to fight with each other from the inside. They didn’t need to see me being indecisive about my desire to make everyone pay when their lives were in the balance. “The sooner we get this situation over with, the better.”
“Do you really think Wilson conspired against you with the Russians?”
“That’s the only thing that makes sense,” I said with a sigh. “He’d specifically told me to bring Aurora instead of another girl and you know how protective I am of her.”
Because she reminds you so much of Stephanie, a small voice said in the back of my mind. I ground my teeth, unable to deny the truth. Ever since I laid eyes on Aurora, there was something about her that reminded me of Stephanie. The only difference between them were their hair and eye color. Every time I looked at Aurora, it was a constant reminder about I wasn’t able to protect Stephanie when she needed me most, that I failed her.
“This situation seemed to get more and more fucked up the further we peel back the layers of it,” he replied, shaking his head.
“Yeah, but he’ll be dealt with. I promise he will pay for every wrong he’s made against me.”
“You know I’m there with you every step of the way,” he said with a grin. “Anyway, I’ll go find the snake and keep an eye on him.”
“Good. I’ll be down in a minute,” I said and watched Bruce nod and leave the room.
My body vibrated with excitement as I shot off the text to the group message with my security. It took a lot of will power to be patient enough to wait until after I could prove that Kyler was responsible to what happened with Vinnie. I didn’t want to admit that he’d do something like that because that would uncover the failure on my behalf for not sniffing out his bullshit a mile a way. By keeping a man like that so close to me, so close to my top men, was fucking dangerous and careless on my part. I wouldn’t make the same mistake twice though, and I couldn’t wait to get my fucking hands on him. I could already damn near smell his blood, hear his curdling screams, and see the fear in his eyes when he realized what was about to happen. I couldn’t wait to see his expression when he saw that his girlfriend and sister were new girls added to my stable.
I stood from my desk, grabbing the manila folder that only held my bounty contract. I wanted everyone to know what a traitor this man was. How he couldn’t be trusted. How he needed to be dealt with tonight.
The men on my security team nodded to me as they passed my office door, all of them on their way down to the basement for the “meeting” we were about to have. I fought the urge to grab Kyler by the neck when he passed, his face wiped of any hint of malice or betrayal. I would take so much joy ending this fucker when it was finally time to.
“Everyone is where they need to be,” Josh said under his breath as he walked next to me.
“Good. Are the supplies already in the room?”
“No, but it’s close. Since the room is open space, it was kind of hard to hide.”
“It’ll be fine. They’ll probably think it’s to clean the concrete floors in there.”
“I’ll go grab it then,” he said and walked ahead of me.
Everyone filed into the concrete room at the end of the hall, the only thing in the room being a bunch of wooden chairs for everyone to sit. Everyone’s low voices sounded hollow against the walls, even more so when I stepped in and closed the heavy metal door behind me.
“Thanks for coming down so quickly,” I said as I came to a stop in front of them. Conversation ceased, everyone’s eyes focusing on me. I glanced at Kyler and immediately became irritated, my hands tingling and anxious to end his life. I turned my attention to Bruce, who stood guard at the door with Josh. “Is that everyone?”
“It is,” he confirmed.
“Good. Let's get this over with so everyone can go back to their posts,” I said and leaned against the back wall. “I'm sure you all know this by now, but we’re officially at war with Wilson.”
Everyone but Kyler solemnly nodded, while he remained indifferent. He probably knew all that well before the business meeting that shifted everything considering the contract was dated a week prior.
“Because of that, I’ll need to increase security on some parts of the property. All cars will need the glass changed to bulletproof, and I want everyone wearing bulletproof vests at all time. The most important thing is that you all remain safe. I consider every one of you family, so making sure everyone makes it to the other side of this is my highest priority,” I said.
The men nodded in agreement, murmuring to one another before I held my hand up to stop them.
“I've sent everyone’s new placement to your email, effective immediately. But before I let you guys go, there's one more matter to discuss.”
Everyone quieted down and turned their attention back to me.
“You all know how important loyalty is to my family,” I slowly started. “If you're here, it means I trust you. I don't put people on my security detail I can't trust.” I pushed off the wall, my eyes narrowing at Kyler. “But it seems like someone slipped through the cracks.”
The muscle in his jaw ticked, so subtle that it almost went unnoticed.
“Like a rat?” someone asked.
“Not quite a rat,” I said. “I need everyone to grab the sheet of paper under your chairs.”
Kyler didn't even bother to move, more than likely already knowing what the paper contained—his death sentence.
One by one, the men around Kyler focused their attention on him, looks of disgust and betrayal etched on their faces. My eyes never left Kyler’s, a smirk on my lips as he glared at me.
“Anything you want to explain since your name is on my bounty contract?” I asked, putting my hands in my pocket.
“What's there to explain? You already know how it works,” he ground out.
Boston jumped out of his seat, gun pointed at Kyler’s head. “Give me one reason why I shouldn't blow your fucking head off,” he growled.
“Settle down, settle down,” I said with a chuckle. “He's right. A job is a job, right?”
Kyler only grunted in response. I looked at Boston and grinned.
“Relax. It's all good,” I said. He glared at Kyler for a moment longer before lowering his gun and taking his seat. “Justin, Theo, Josh, and Malcolm, I actually need you four to get to your post. I don't want the gates unguarded for too long.”
They all nodded, each of them either purposely bumping Kyler or slapping him behind the head as they walked out, mumbling “traitor” under their breath. The two chairs on either side of Kyler were now empty, giving Bruce plenty of time for what would happen next.
“For the longest time, a lot of things didn’t make sense,” I said to Kyler, leaning back against the wall. “I spent a while trying to figure out how anyone found us at the safe house, considering only my security knew where I was. Did Wilson tell you to execute me that night?” He only stared at me, the muscles in his jaws twitching. “Have you gone mute? I asked you a fucking question.”
“I’m not to discuss the contract with anyone,” he ground out.
I scoffed. “Why not when I’m the bounty?”
“Wilson’s orders,” he answered.
“Hmm. I see,” I mused, nodding my head. “Was it also his order for you to set up Vinnie, or did you do that on your own in order to further kiss Wilson’s ass?”
“I had nothing to do with what happened to Vinnie,” he said with a nonchalant shrug.
“Oh?” I rubbed along my chin. “S
o…what happened to him then? You said you saw him leave, but the car was at the exact coordinates I’d given you both for the supply exchange. So what, he drove off and then drove back to the exact spot and was ambushed?”
“How the fuck am I supposed to know? I got the supplies and left,” he snapped. “Not that I need to explain shit to you. Whatever Wilson did is his business and not up for discussion”
“So, he’s worth dying for?”
“I’d rather die in honor than die as a rat,” he stated, pride swelling his voice.
I chuckled. “You’ll die in honor for him, but he won’t give a fuck. Why do you think a man like Wilson would give a damn about you when he’d have his own son killed and put a hit on his own wife? That’s the kind of man you want to die in honor for?”
Before he could even respond, Bruce appeared behind him and shocked him with a taser, Nyxin immediately grabbing Kyler’s arms and putting them behind his back. Kyler babbled incoherently, his eyes unable to focus on me. I glanced at the remaining men in the room, who seemed completely unfazed by what’d just happened.
“You all are dismissed now,” I said. They all grinned as they stood and walked out of the room, leaving me with Kyler, Bruce, Saint, and Nyxin.
“What…what…the…fuck, B-B-Bennett,” Kyler wheezed when he finally stopped shaking.
“You have your protocols, and I have mine,” I said with a shrug. “While you claim you can’t talk about your contracts, I can’t let a traitor stay within my ranks.”
“If I didn’t agree to it, he would’ve killed me anyway!” he barked. “What the fuck do you want me to say?”
“You and I both know that’s not true,” I murmured with a grin. “My father has plenty of men who are willing to kill for him whenever he gives the order. He doesn’t have to threaten anyone to do his dirty work. Besides, I’m sure that $24 million bounty would’ve helped you a lot. Your girlfriend would’ve liked that, huh?”
He bristled at the mention of his girlfriend, glaring at me when I smiled.
“Leave her out of this,” he growled.
“Leave her out of this?” I repeated. “But she’s already here. Your sister, too.”
Rules of Bennett: The Complete Collection Page 23
