Total pages in book: 92
Estimated words: 87704 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 439(@200wpm)___ 351(@250wpm)___ 292(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 87704 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 439(@200wpm)___ 351(@250wpm)___ 292(@300wpm)
Alexis grins, pleased. “We’ll make sure she understands what’s at stake.”
“You think she’ll hold it together?” If my memory of Carmella Lambretti is correct, I can imagine her falling apart over this.
“She must.”
As always, Luca thinks he can will the world into the shape of his desires, but I know people. They’re unpredictable and dangerous, especially the weak ones.
I let out a slow breath. “Fine. But we don’t take it too far.”
Alexis only shrugs as if to say, ‘We’ll see.’
“Bring her out,” Luca says, rising from the couch. “We’ll start now.”
Start?
It’s such a meaningless word, but in my experience, the beginning of anything is always the hardest part.
I walk back to Aemelia’s room, twist open the lock, and stride inside. She’s lying in bed on her side, with the comforter clutched high around her neck, even though the room is warm.
“Get up,” I order.
She scrambles to sit, pressing her spine against the plush white velvet headboard.
“Come with me.”
Her eyes are so bright in the low light of the room that they glitter like stars. I reach out to hurry her along, but she evades my hand, slides from the bed, and walks out of the room with me trailing like a devoted puppy. The cheap lace get-up Nero’s goons dressed her in is infuriating and alluring. Aemelia isn’t a five-dollar hooker. She’s regal and upright, her hips swaying as she walks, drawing my eyes to her ass. Her perfect, delicious ass. I shake my head. What am I thinking?
When she comes face to face with my brothers, her strides falter, and I regain my senses.
“Get on your knees for your boss,” I growl from behind her.
She turns startled, her eyes searching over my impassive expression and finding no hint of weakness. She twists to Alexis, then Luca, and they both fix her with determined gazes. Like a flower wilting in the hot sun, she slowly lowers herself to her knees, resting her hands on the expensive rug beside her.
“Here’s the thing,” Luca says, looming over her, tugging at his cuffs again. “If your father comes forward quickly, it will be better for you. If you make him understand how vital it is for him to come back, it will be better for you. If you listen to us and do as you’re told, it will be better for you. Many things happen to us in life that we don’t like, but it’s how we approach them and how we get through them that’s important. You understand?”
She nods, and her dark, cascading hair slips over her shoulders, but I don’t believe she has any idea of the reality behind Luca’s words.
Even like this, she’s stunning. Especially, like this. My body betrays me, heat coiling low in my stomach at the sight of her submission and helplessness.
“Kiss my feet,” Luca orders. “Show me you understand.”
Aemelia turns her head to look at me again as though I’m the one with the power here. Doesn’t she know that hierarchy is everything in this business? Deference to authority is how everything functions.
The tension in the room crackles like a live wire. “Go to hell,” she spits.
“Wrong answer,” I hiss, reaching for the back of her neck.
Her fingers curl into fists, her whole body shaking as I push her face to the ground. When her lips barely brush against his skin, Luca nods. “Good girl. Now, the other one.”
I release my grip so my hand rests against her back, and still, she hesitates, her breath quick and shallow, until she eventually obeys. Like this, with her ass in the air, the lace of her dress stretches thin, and the shadow of her cunt is revealed. My mouth fills with saliva, as weak as a slathering dog over a steak.
“Good girl,” Alexis murmurs, though the satisfaction in his voice is laced with something darker. He likes women to be compliant. He enjoys being the puppet master. He’s not usually brutal, as far as I know, just entitled.
Luca watches, detached, clinical. “Enough. Get up.”
Aemelia does, but just as she straightens, Luca grabs her arm, spinning her toward the long mahogany dining table. The rich wood gleams under the warm light, and she flinches at the moment she realizes she isn’t done paying for her defiance.
“Bend over.”
She struggles, but she’s tiny compared to my brother and weak in his grasp. Luca forces her down, his hand between her shoulder blades, pressing her cheek to the gleaming wood. I remain still, restraining myself as Luca delivers a precise strike to her backside.
Slap.
She gasps, her eyes widening with shock and pain.
Slap.
“You gotta big mouth on you, gattina. A big mouth and no respect.”
Her lips and eyes press tight, hiding her emotion.
Slap. Slap. Slap.
By the fifth spank, she gasps, her resistance chipped away. My stomach tightens, my pulse pounding, the urge to intervene becomes a raging battle within me. My dick is rock hard, and I turn away, disgusted at my body’s response. She whimpers when he’s done, her cheek still mashed to the wood, leaking eyes staring ahead in shock or disbelief. Luca’s big hand clasps the flesh he brutalized, then strokes over and over.