The Skull Crusher

by Penelope Sky

  “Who the fuck is he?” Case stepped forward, his eyes shifting back and forth with hostility.

  My brothers were honest men who ran their pasta company. They worked long hours and made a quality product that had been in our family for generations. Even when the price of goods rose, they did their best to keep their product at the same price for customers. They made a handsome living from the enterprise, but at the cost of their blood, sweat, and tears. Honest men like them would have no idea who my captor was. They wouldn’t understand the true ramifications of the situation. “His name is Balto. I don’t know his last name.”

  Case’s entire body slackened noticeably, like that name meant something to him.

  Dirk stepped forward too. “Balto…as in the Skull King?”

  I’d never heard that title before. “The Skull what?”

  “Skull King.” Case had his arms crossed over his chest, but he dropped them at the revelation. “That Balto?”

  I raised an eyebrow. “You know him?”

  Case nodded. “Unfortunately. Does he wear a ring on his left hand, an image of a skull carved out of a flawless diamond?”

  Shit, they did know him. “Yes…”

  Dirk pressed his palms against his face and dragged them down to his chin. “Shit.”

  Case kept staring at me, his jaw clenched tight and his eyes unblinking. He sighed as he closed his eyes for a long pause.

  “How do you know him?” I was married to a criminal, and I hadn’t heard of Balto until recently. How did these two pasta makers know the biggest criminal in this city?

  Case never gave me an answer. “How long has this been going on?”

  “I’ve stayed with him for almost three weeks.” Now I was in his bed a lot more often than my own. I used sex as a weapon, but I suspected I would regret that soon enough.

  “You said he’s better than Lucian,” Case said. “That means he treats you better?” Case couldn’t keep the pain out of his eyes, the fact that he couldn’t protect me from the horrors in this world.

  “Yes, he does.” I couldn’t look into his eyes because the pain was too much. “He’s never laid a hand on me. He’s never forced me to do anything I didn’t want to do. He lets me eat whatever I want. I don’t have any freedom yet, but he said he’ll give it to me when I earn it.”

  Case didn’t ask how I would earn that freedom. He wasn’t clueless as to my value to men. He knew exactly what they wanted me for. But it was too disturbing to say out loud.

  “I know Lucian will do whatever he can to get me back, but I don’t think he stands a chance against Balto.” I would be safe as long as Balto wanted me to be safe.

  “No, he doesn’t,” Case admitted quietly.

  A moment later, heavy footsteps sounded behind me. The impact of his large size was audible with every step he took. My back was to him, but I could feel his power radiate across my back as if I were standing next to a roaring fire.

  Case looked up and stared at him, his vulnerability dying away as he turned into the cold and hard man he projected himself to be. It was the image he showed to strangers and enemies, not family.

  Dirk did the same, staring him down like his number one enemy.

  Balto slowly came to my side but didn’t touch me. He stared down my brother with the same ferocity, silently warning him that it would be unwise to draw a weapon. He was the same height as Case, over half a foot taller than me. His casual attire didn’t make him any less formidable. He could be completely naked, and he would be the most intimidating man on the planet. “Case.”

  Case stared him down. “Asshole.”

  I closed my eyes at the insult, praying this bad situation didn’t get worse.

  “Asshole?” Balto asked, his voice full of amusement. “I saved your sister from a spineless psychopath.”

  “Then save her from yourself—and let her go.” Case addressed Balto like I wasn’t even there. They were two enemies on opposite sides of the battlefield. “My sister isn’t some show animal. She’s a fucking Cardello, and you will release her.” Case was either very dumb or very brave, because he stepped closer to Balto and got in his face.

  Balto didn’t retreat an inch. “What happens when Lucian hunts her down? We both know you won’t do a damn thing. If you could, you would have rescued her in the first place. But you did nothing. Not a fucking thing.” Balto took a step forward, forcing Case back. “I took her. So she’s mine.”

  “She’ll never be yours, asshole,” Case spat. “A man can’t own a woman who doesn’t want to be owned. A real man can get a woman without paying her or stealing her. The fact that you have to force her just shows who you really are—a pathetic jackass.”

  Balto could have mentioned our affair and the fact that it was completely consensual. I was the one calling him most of the time. I was the one who never wanted to leave his arms. But he kept that information private.

  “Let her go.” Case did something really stupid and shoved Balto in the chest.

  Like a mountain, Balto didn’t move. He only looked amused. “Be careful, Case. Your sister asked me not to hurt you, but if you touch me again, I’ll have to break your hand.”

  Just as I anticipated, Case pulled his fist back to punch him in the face.

  I grabbed his elbow and pushed him back. “Case, stop. It’s not going to change anything.”

  Case pushed me off, handling me with more aggression than he ever had before. “She’s been through enough. Let her go.”

  Balto looked just as amused as he did at the beginning of the conversation. “Never.”

  The hope left my lungs with the breath I took. I didn’t know how long I would be a prisoner to this man, but forever was such a burden, I could barely take it.

  “Lucian crossed me—and she’s the key to torturing him.” Balto stepped forward. “I took one of his most valuable possessions, and it’s driving him mad this very instant. He’ll either give me what I want in exchange for her, or he’ll make a move against me—and lose. Your sister is the key to all of this. So don’t expect to ever get her back.”

  Hearing the finality in his voice made me realize there was no hope. I could either be valuable to Balto long enough that by the time he lost interest in me, Lucian wouldn’t want me. Or I could be handed back to Lucian in exchange for precious commodities. Both options weren’t great, but I had the best opportunity for freedom with Balto. Or maybe I would get lucky and someone else would kill Lucian. With him out of the way, I could cut out the tracker in my ankle and run away. This wasn’t how I wanted to spend my twenties, but accepting my situation was less painful than fighting against it. Balto was too powerful to overcome. He was the most ruthless man in this country. I didn’t stand a chance, and neither did my brothers.

  Case stood there, speechless. There was so much rage on his face, but there was nothing he could do with it. His hands balled into fists as he stood there, completely helpless.

  Dirk stared down Balto like he was considering stabbing him in the gut.

  “Case.” I gripped his arm and dragged him away along with Dirk. “You need to let this go.”

  “How do you expect me to do that?” he hissed, his voice quiet. “I’m just supposed to be okay with this? You have no idea who that man is. He’s a psychotic murderer. There’s no line that man won’t cross. Maybe you prefer him to Lucian now, but when you really get to know him, you won’t feel that way.”

  Maybe that was true, but this was the hand I’d been dealt. “Eventually, he’ll get tired of me. Hopefully that happens when Lucian is dead or has moved on. Then there’s no reason why he won’t let me go.”

  “Or he’ll kill you.” Case glanced at him over my shoulder.

  Maybe I didn’t know the man like I thought I did, but I couldn’t picture him killing me without reason. There had been lots of times when I disobeyed him and tested his temper, but not once did he punch me in the stomach. I told him off to his face, and there were never repercussions. He said he would punish me
for my stunt last night, but if he were going to hurt me, he would have done it already. “I don’t think he’ll do that.”

  “Then you don’t know him very well,” Dirk said. “You have no idea who this man really is. He’s the Skull King. He runs this country in plain sight. He owns the police, the prisons, and all the criminals. This guy has his thumb pressed into everyone.”

  With a title like that, I didn’t doubt he was a scary man. But I wasn’t a criminal or an enemy. I was just a woman. “I’m just trying to be optimistic.”

  “That might help you sleep at night,” Case said. “But that doesn’t help us. You deserve to be free. Deserve to be happy.”

  “Well…I’ve learned that life isn’t fair.” I looked my brother in the eye. “We play with the hand we’re dealt and hope we get a better card. I’m in this situation because of a bad decision…and now I have to face the consequences.”

  “Yes, you should learn your lesson,” Case said. “But you shouldn’t be punished forever. We’ll find a way to get you out, Cassini. I promise.”

  I squeezed his arm. “The last thing I want is for something to happen to you. There’s nothing we can do against this man. Getting yourselves killed will only hurt me more. The best thing we can do is remain calm…and hope for the best.”

  Balto grew impatient with our private conversation. “Baby, let’s go.”

  I was surprised he’d called me that in public. It seemed like something he only did in private, unless he was trying to get a rise out of my brothers. “I’ll see you soon.” I hugged both of them. “I love you both.”

  “We love you too.” Case released me reluctantly, like it was the hardest thing he’d ever had to do.

  “I’ll be okay.” It wasn’t a lie, but it wasn’t the truth either. I just wanted to say something to ease his worry, to make this less unbearable. “I’ll see you soon.” I walked back to Balto, who wore the same icy expression.

  Dressed in all black with short hair, he looked like the formidable man my brothers described him as. Even without that ring on his hand, he seemed like the criminal warlord he was rumored to be. I hadn’t been a victim of his cruelty, but I believed he was capable of terrible things.

  I came to his side with a pained expression. I was relieved I got to see my brothers, but I wasn’t happy with the air of sadness I was leaving behind. They wanted to protect me because it was their job now that Father was gone—but it wasn’t possible.

  Balto looked at me with the same hard expression, unaffected by the emotion in my eyes. The man was cold as ice and dry like a sponge. He couldn’t absorb the feelings around him because he was incapable of it. His eyes bored into mine a moment longer before he turned away. “The only reason Case is alive is because of you.”

  11

  BALTO

  I could have put Case and Dirk on the spot by mentioning their drug operation in the factory, but since I wasn’t a rat, I didn’t throw them under the bus. It was obvious Cassini had no idea what her brothers were up to, but they could share that information with her.

  It wasn’t my place.

  And I didn’t mention the fact that Cassini and I were having an affair for about a month before I took her. Our secret relationship was heated, passionate, and so scorching that I lost all interest in other women. I could have said their sister liked having me between her legs.

  But again, I wasn’t a rat.

  So I kept all their secrets to myself. I seemed to know more about their family than they did.

  We drove back to the building, and I parked the truck.

  “You need to give me more freedom.” She made the demand like she somehow had the right.

  Her attitude always amused me. “I don’t have to do anything.” I got out of the truck and walked inside the elevator.

  She came with me. “I could stay with Case during the nights you’re gone. I hate being here alone.”

  We rose to the top floor and stepped inside the living room. “You aren’t alone.”

  “But you aren’t here, so there’s no reason for me to be here.”

  I turned to look at her. “I want you here when I get home.”

  “Then I’ll come back before you—”

  “I don’t need another man to look after my woman. Just because I’m not here doesn’t mean I’m not protecting you. Just because I’m not physically here doesn’t mean I’m not watching you. The answer is no. It’ll always be no.” I ignored the disappointed look on her face and walked into the kitchen to make lunch. I poured a glass of scotch and enjoyed that while I worked the pans.

  She sat at the dining table, her chin propped on her knuckles and her eyes filled with a haze. Her thoughts were far away, thinking about her interaction with her brothers.

  I finished making my lunch then took the seat across from her. “You aren’t going to eat anything?”

  “Not hungry.”

  I stared at her thick, pouted lips as I ate, sipping my scotch every now and then.

  “So, how are you going to punish me?”

  “You’ll see.”

  “Are you going to hurt me?” She lowered both hands to the table and stared at her fingers, unable to meet my gaze as she waited to hear my answer.

  I didn’t have a problem striking anyone who crossed me, even if it was a woman, but I had no urge to lay a hand on her. The last thing I wanted to do was hurt her, to bruise her beautiful skin and make her wince in pain. I enjoyed hurting my enemies, but that was because they deserved it. “No.”

  She lifted her gaze to meet mine. “Will you ever hurt me?”

  I didn’t want to be honest because she would assume she could get away with anything. But I didn’t need violence to keep her in line. There were a million other things I could do. “No.”

  Her eyes softened slightly.

  “Violence isn’t the only way to keep someone in line.”

  “Punishing me and keeping me in line are two very different things. I don’t think you’ll ever be able to keep me in line.”

  “I’m up for the challenge.” I ate everything on my plate then enjoyed my scotch as I looked at her.

  “Isn’t it a little early to be drinking?”

  “It’s never too early.” My schedule was all over the place. Sometimes I went to bed early, sometimes I didn’t sleep at all. Time didn’t mean the same thing to me as it did to everyone else. “Want some?” I pushed the glass across the surface toward her.

  She pushed it back. “I’m not a scotch kinda lady.”

  My hand slid it across the table toward her. “That’s gonna have to change.”

  “Why?” She left the glass in front of her.

  “You’re gonna have a hard time fitting in at the Underground.”

  “What’s the Underground?”

  “Our headquarters. You were near there for a brief time when I took you from Lucian.” Or at least, she was in the parking lot of an adjacent building.

  She finally took a drink and didn’t make a face when it moved down her throat. “I still don’t see what the fuss is about. And if I drank as much as you, I’d be drunk all the time.”

  “I’d love to see you drunk.”

  “It’s not very entertaining. I’m usually pretty quiet.”

  “Then I’ll get you really drunk.”

  “What are you like drunk?”

  I was always drunk. “How I am right now.”

  She raised an eyebrow.

  “I haven’t been sober in at least a decade.”

  “That’s not good for your liver.”

  “I’m gonna die young anyway, so it doesn’t matter.”

  “Why is that?” She set the glass in front of me.

  “In my line of business, your career is short.”

  Now that we were talking, she wasn’t in such a sour mood. She wore a white t-shirt that looked lovely against her skin tone. And her luscious hair moved past her chest, the strands dark and soft. “That doesn’t bother you?”

  “Not at
all.”

  “Everyone is afraid to die.”

  “I’m more afraid of living too old. At a certain age, we become weak. I’d rather die at my strongest than be murdered at my weakest. I want to die with honor, not be hunted like a weak animal.”

  “Why would someone hunt you down? You would retire eventually then live a quiet life.”

  “Retirement isn’t for everyone, especially me.” I would sit alone in a large house and count down the days until death. Maybe my brother would still be around for company, but probably not. It would be a quiet and lonely existence, one without much purpose.

  “You don’t want to live peacefully with your wife and kids?”

  I nearly did a double take because her question was so absurd. “Do I look like a family man to you? I pay for whores, and I’ve taken you prisoner for revenge. And you think I’ll take a wife someday?”

  She shrugged. “People change.”

  “Yes. But not drastically.”

  “Do you ever want that?”

  I didn’t bother answering her question. This was a stupid conversation.

  When she didn’t get an answer, she kept talking. “I know that’s something I want. A husband, two kids, and a place outside the city with a yard.”

  She would never get it. She would either be my prisoner forever, return to Lucian, or die. There was no picture-perfect family in her future. I grabbed the glass and took a long drink. It’d been almost three weeks, and Lucian hadn’t contacted me. I’d expected him to cave by now.

  “So…they call you the Skull King?”

  I lifted my left hand, showing the ring that distinguished my power. “Yes.”

  “And they call you that because of the ring?”

  “No. I’m the Skull King because I’m in charge. The ring has nothing to do with it. It shows my fearlessness, that I wear this billion-euro ring constantly because I’m not scared that someone will try to steal it. In fact, I hope they do. Nothing I enjoy more than snapping an idiot’s neck.”

  “Are you afraid someone will steal Lucian’s?”

  I shrugged. “I’m sure he hid it away somewhere safe now that he knows we’re at war.”