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I frowned. “Was Maxine checked? I can’t see for one moment Rocco having any sort of tracking device, but he liked to control people.”
Lucio tapped the steering wheel. “She was stripped, obviously.” Then he made a call. “George, where are you?” He nodded. “No, don’t take her there. Take her to the second safe house. I will send directions.”
“That will take us another forty minutes,” I said unnecessarily.
“Yes, but if she has any sort of tracker, I don’t want her at La Fortuna.”
I knew he was right. I just wanted to get my hands on Alessandro and find out what the fuck was going on. And over the years, I had developed creative ways of asking questions that didn’t always involve losing body parts.
I allowed myself one moment of regret. I could have made him happy. We could have been a family.
But not now. Not ever.
23
Alessandro
Rough hands forced me into the small dingy and I lay there soaked, numb with the realization of what I’d done.
“Presto! Presto!”The bigger man of the two practically snarled at the one with his hand on the tiller. I rolled helplessly as the dingy turned quickly and sped away to the bigger boat. I closed my eyes against a sudden burn in them, even knowing I’d had no choice. I couldn’t hear any shouts from the beach over the engine, but the firing had stopped as soon as I was between the boat and Dario’s men. These men must have known that as soon as I was in the way, the gunfire would stop. The engine slowed and I rolled back again, then the same man that had dragged me from the water simply stood and hoisted me up and I was tossed over his shoulder. I clutched his shirt and closed my eyes as he stepped forward and onto a ladder. He took three more steps, then more hands were pulling me off him, and I was unceremoniously dumped on the cold floor. There were more shouts in Italian, some in English. Then another man tugged on my arm so hard I thought he would dislocate my shoulder.
I struggled to get my feet under me, but nearly fell again when he dragged me to some steps. He let go when we touched a polished wooden floor, and I hit it with both my knees and nearly bit my tongue, swallowing the cry of pain. I wouldn’t give the bastards the satisfaction.
“Strip him.”
My head shot up in horror at the low demand and I came face to face with a stranger. I’d half expected Rocco, despite Sofia insisting he was unaware of my brother, and a chill ran through me. Rocco was nothing like this man. Rocco was a coward and a bully. All I saw in these cool brown eyes was cruelty.
The man from the boat and another dragged me to my feet, and before I could protest, my shirt was ripped off me. I gasped, but the other one held my wrists tight, while the bigger one yanked at my shorts. When those were ripped away, I closed my eyes.
“Now, now. You can’t stay in those wet clothes.” I heard him put the small glass he held down on the table in front of him and then I tensed when hot breath grazed my face. “Open your eyes.”
I took maybe a second too long to obey, and I almost heard the crack before I felt it. Fire exploded in my cheek and this time I couldn’t stop the cry. If the men hadn’t been holding me up, I would have been on the floor. I opened my swimming eyes to see him standing right in front of me. “The only thing you need to concentrate on, Alessandro, is obeying my instructions to the letter and immediately. Providing you do that, there is no more need for unpleasantness.”
I swallowed. “Where’s my brother?”
He smiled. Like a shark. “We are on our way to meet him now.” His gaze slid down my body and he stepped closer. I stiffened but I was being held still so there was nothing I could do.
He reached out and despite my struggles he touched a finger to my chin, then slid it lower. “I have never been attracted to men, but I would very much love to know what Dario sees in you.” I opened my mouth to say something clever but quick as a flash he replaced his finger with the point of a very wicked-looking knife. He chuckled as I snapped my lips closed. “Male, female, the sex of my pets matters not so long as they are silent and behave.” His blade slid down my chest to my nipples and he carefully circled each one with the tip. I struggled to keep still.
“These would look very pretty pierced with diamonds,” he murmured.
His shoes would look great covered in vomit but I doubted he was interested in my opinion.
The blade continued down my chest, my stomach, and lower. His eyes met mine, a half-smile on his lips. “You fail to react,” he said, musing at my distinct lack of erection. “Dario wouldn’t be pleased.” The tip of his knife lifted my soft cock and right that moment, if I’d had a knife myself I’d have plunged it in his eye, then taken it out and stabbed it in the other one.
He brought his other hand around and cupped my balls, squeezing a little too hard, then some more. I clamped my mouth shut. I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction, but then he chuckled and let go. “I have other ways of making you react.”
I sensed rather than saw the guard on my left grin, but even I wasn’t prepared for the reaction from the psycho in front of me. The knife he had taunted me with flashed once and the guard gurgled, dropped his hold on me, and tried to bring his hands up to staunch the blood that spurted from the wound across his throat. Both the other guard and I jumped to the right as the other fell to his knees, and then simply dropped like a stone face-first in a massive pool of blood. I couldn’t even comprehend what had just happened and I was used to living with Rocco.
The man met my eyes and I saw the blood that coated his face and the once pristine white shirt he wore. “Summon Carlo and take out the trash.”
I stumbled away from the sight of the guard as more men seemed to appear from nowhere, one older carrying warm wet towels and a clean shirt to enable the monster in front of me to get changed like nothing barbaric had happened at all.
“Come, sit down.” I didn’t dare refuse, still in shock from such a casual display of cruelty. I perched on the edge of the couch and tried to hunch forward to hide myself. If I was brave, I wouldn’t care. I knew this was to make me feel humiliated. “Sit back, Alessandro.”
A different flicker of fear slid over my skin. “You know my name, but I don’t know yours.”
He laughed. “Exactly.”
