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“Let’s not pretend you truly care about the traditions.” I cut her off with a shake of my head.
Stefano didn’t say anything, but I could feel the annoyance radiating off of him. He didn’t appreciate the way she was speaking to me, and I had to agree with him.
Bria sent me a nasty look. “I’m not going.”
“If I asked you to go…” My voice was dark. I took a step toward her as she took one back. “Then you’re going.”
I picked her up and slung her over my shoulder. She let out a squeak of utter surprise.
“If you hit me, Bria,” I warned, “I will not hesitate to put you down and spank you, baring your ass for every man to see. Do you understand me?”
It was a bluff, plain and simple. Did I want to spank her? Yes. Did she deserve to be spanked? Yes. But would I do it for every man to see? Not a chance. She was mine, which meant that as far as I was concerned, nobody else could see her.
Bria pushed herself up so she wasn’t draped so hard over me, then she managed to wiggle until her mouth was close to my ear and she whispered, “You wouldn’t expose me in front of Stefano, no matter how much you want to spank me.”
I slid her down in front of me and pushed her against the wall. Never giving him a glance, I gestured for Stefano to continue, I didn’t need him to guide us to the guest house I used for this sort of work.
“I’ll give you, the whisper wasn’t a public violation of disrespecting me, but if you don’t learn to bite your tongue… try me one more time and I swear to god, Bria, I will do it. I will rip your pants right the fuck off you and turn that ass so red that you can’t sit anywhere but on my dick for the following week.”
I pulled a too-stunned-to-speak Bria along behind me, out of the house. We got to the guest house, and I left her in the observation room—where my father and his other officers watched when they attended the sessions. This whole guest house was retrofitted to not let a sound escape. We could maim and torture to our hearts content and nobody would hear a thing.
It was a small group today, as it had been happening more and more lately. My father had other business to deal with, which left me in charge. The room itself was dark and quiet, but you could see everything that was happening on the other side. Spotlights shone squarely on where the questioning took place.
I plopped Bria down into one of the chairs, and she was beyond pissed off. Her body was stiff, her pupils were dilated to almost black with how dilated, and her jaw was locked so tight that she would’ve broken teeth. Her hands were formed into such tight fists that blood flow couldn’t reach the fingertips. If she were given a chance, I was sure she would physically fight me.
She narrowed her eyes at me, and I almost laughed at her posture. What did she really think she could do, while probably stronger than the average woman, she was no match for me?
“You,” I pointed at her, “stay here and don’t move.” My eyes turned to my second. “Stefano, make sure she stays here.”
No other words were exchanged as I moved into the large room where everyone was gathered. I recognized the man who was strapped to the chair in the middle of the room. Griffin Parker.
Unlike many others, he didn’t have the traditional Italian look. With sandy brown hair and green eyes, I’d never particularly felt one way or the other about him. He did what he was supposed to do and kept his head down. Griffin had never struck me as a troublemaker, but I supposed you never really knew a person.
I grabbed a chair and pulled it in front of him. His face already had a few cuts and bruises on it, which meant someone had managed to get to him before he’d come here. Usually, we didn’t condone such things, but Griffin had brought this on himself.
The mafia were a family, and there were rules that had to be followed. Disrespect those rules, and you wouldn’t make it out alive.
I rolled up the sleeves of my dress shirt, and kept an innocent ‘we’re just gonna have a chat’ look on my face. I even gave the bastard a little smile.
“What did you tell them?” I asked him, my voice deathly low, the smile held firmly in place.
Until now, I’d yet to give Bria a real reason to fear me. She was about to see me in action, and most importantly, she was about to learn that I never went back on my word. I hadn’t wanted to teach her this way or show her the way men conducted business, but this was the only way she was going to listen. Bria had shown that she had training, but what I was about to do to this man, I was sure she had never experienced anything quite like it.
Griffin swallowed, and he looked like he was on the verge of tears.
Weak. I hadn’t even touched him yet, and how disgraceful of him to cry in front of me. People like him didn’t deserve their lives.
“Nothing,” he exclaimed, looking at me. “Please believe me, Luciano. I would never betray my family.”
I hushed him—if he was going to cry like a baby, I’d treat him as such. “But you did,” I countered, not bothering to raise my voice. “And actions have consequences.”
“Luciano, have mercy! I would never do such a thing! I’d never betray you. Never.” The fact that he was about to cry was becoming more evident, as he kept trying to prove his case. His eyes were swelling and turning red.
I had already decided on his punishment. I stood up from the chair and held the back of it.
“Don’t you know how much I hate a liar?” I asked him as I moved the chair and then bent down in front of him. “Now, we can do this the easy way or the hard way.” I stood tall and looked down on him, at the despicable, sickening underling that he was, “Tell me what you told them, and I may be merciful enough to spare your life. Remember, Griffin, I’m not a patient man. One more lie could end your life here and now,” I warned.
He was practically shaking in the chair. Pain was enough to make every weak man cave. Griffin knew the kind of torture I could put him through, the rumors were not something a mafia man ever ignored, and if he were smart, he would want to avoid all of it.
