Leda
Hastily I wiped the tears from my cheeks, and told myself to suck it up. No amount of crying was going to get me out of this situation. The only thing I could do was to keep my wits about me and remember that I was stronger than this.
I wasn't a shrinking violet and I was going to remind Valentino of this.
So, I started tearing apart the bedroom, looking for any weapon that I could use when he did return. Other than the lingerie and the towels in the bathroom, there was nothing. Everything was either bolted down or tamperproof, which meant he had expected a fight from someone in this room.
I could make a strangling device again, but he had disarmed me with just a stare and some words. No, I would be wasting my time going down that route. I still could feel the rapid beating of my heart when he pulled out that knife and slid it through the silk. I thought he was going to use it on me.
But more than that, the feeling of his strong body pressed into mine had nearly robbed me of my breath. His cock had pressed against my body, the hard bulge causing my stomach to quiver traitorously. No man had ever pressed himself into my body like that. Sure, men had ground against me, touched me when I didn't want to be touched and made me feel uncomfortable, but never anything like that.
Like he truly did own me.
There was a brief moment that I had thought about touching him, just to see if he was as hard as he claimed to be, but then my rational mind had kicked in.
He had stolen me, bought me, but he'd never make me want him.
Not in a million fucking years.
I walked over to the door and placed my hand on the knob, and found that it turned easily in my hand. At least Valentino hadn't lied about that.
I wasn't locked in, but I also couldn't keep him out.
If he wanted access to me, he could.
Whenever he wanted.
It would be easy for me to leave this room and try to make my way out of the house to the nearby city or town, where there might be some help. I could be quiet when necessary. And unless he was standing right outside, waiting for me to escape, I was pretty sure I could avoid guards looking for me.
After all, I had been doing it all my life. When I had finally understood what my life was, who I was, I had snuck out all the time.
Or…
Releasing the knob, I glanced over at the balcony, the door still standing open. He probably didn't think I would be brave enough to find a way to escape via the balcony. That was too bad. Valentino didn't know what I was capable of.
Quickly, I threw back the comforter on the bed and grabbed the top sheet. It wasn't a long way down, but I didn't want to jump if I didn't have to.
In no time at all, I tied the top sheet and fitted sheet together into a rudimentary rope, glad that they were cotton rather than silk. The knots were tight.
I kicked off the shoes, wishing I had something more durable for when I did reach the ground. I didn't know what sort of trouble might meet me once I did get to town, but anything had to be better than what I was likely going to suffer at his hands.
I would die before I let him touch me again.
Grabbing my lifeline, I made my way over to the railing of the balcony, not sure how much time I had. If I was still here when Valentino crossed that threshold, there was no way I was going to make it out alive.
There were going to be pieces of me that I would lose, and I wasn't talking about body parts.
Dignity, heart, and soul. He could tear me down until everything I did depended on him.
I wasn't one to depend on anyone. My father had never been there for me, only to tell me what to do that would suit his life. Everything I had, I had built for myself. I had grown a tough skin, put on the face that would hide my true self.
I wasn't going to give up that easily.
Looking over the railing, I made certain that I didn't see any guards on the patio first before tying off the sheet on the heavy chair on the balcony. It was going to slide, I knew that, but hopefully I could get down before it reached the railing and threatened to break the glass.
I threw the tied sheet over the railing, watching it snaked down the side of the balcony, and waited for a cry of alarm going up.
When there was none, I hiked the chemise high on my hip, glad I put underwear on, and slipped a leg over the side. My heart was hammering in my chest. This was it. I could turn around right now and forget this crazy plan of mine.
Or I could shimmy down this sheet to whatever waited for me.
The sound of the door opening in the distance caught my attention, and I barely saw Valentino's surprised expression before I went over the balcony.
Lucas
Moments Before
I left Leda in the bedroom and walked down the stairs to my office, the automatic lights coming on as soon as I stepped over the threshold. It was sometime after midnight, but I felt like this night was going on forever, wanting nothing more than to crawl into my bed and catch a few hours of sleep.
Instead, I grabbed the decanter on the sideboard along the wall and poured a healthy swallow of whiskey into the glass, watching as the amber liquid filled the crystal. While I should have been upstairs, making good on my claim when I acquired Leda D'Agostino, I hesitated.
Mainly because I wanted her to wallow in the fear of what was going to take place for a little while longer. Call me a bastard, but I enjoyed watching her shrink from me.
I wasn't a sadist by any means. I didn't hit women or inflict any forms of abuse, but if a woman wanted to be spanked, well, I wasn't above doing that. The pain I inflicted on my partners was for pleasure, theirs and mine.
Picking up the glass, I took a long swallow, feeling the whiskey slide down my throat. I was certain that she was sitting in that room, wondering what was going to happen to her.
Fuck, I had so many options. I wanted her to beg for me, for my cock. I wanted her to have a flicker of distrust in those gorgeous fucking eyes of hers so that I could play on that distrust.
I wanted Leda to wish she had never been born a D'Agostino.
I drained the glass and set it aside, running my hands through my hair. I could already taste her skin on my tongue, drinking in her fear of me intermingled with passion that I would pull out of her. There was something lurking behind Leda's innocence, something that was begging to be brought to the surface, and I was the sort of man to do it.
Adjusting the front of my slacks, I forced myself to think of something else for now. If I didn't, I would be stroking myself in a few minutes.
My cell phone buzzed in my coat and I pulled it out, holding it up to my ear. "Yeah."
"Hello, Lucas."
My blood ran cold at the harsh voice. I clenched my free hand into a fist at my side. "What the fuck do you want, Adrian?" Adrian Gallo fancied himself to be something other than a member of the Cavazzo Mafia.
The fool fancied himself the Don.
Too bad I had already filled that position.
"I'm hearing rumors," he stated. "Rumors that you have the D'Agostino princess in your grasp."
I chuckled darkly, figuring that word was spreading like wildfire already. Now that the funds had been paid, I owned Leda. "Wouldn't you like to know?"
"I'm not going to war over the bitch," he growled.
My good humor left my face. "It's not your war to decide. You aren't the fucking Don, I am. Have you forgotten?"
Truly it had been a surprise to all, including me, that Cosimo Cavazzo would pick his enforcer to become Don in his will. I had watched the Mafia Don's back for five years after he had pulled me out of his shithole organization to serve him in a different capacity. Adrian had been his nephew, the heir who was destined to become Don.
The funny thing was, I knew the old man was having the last laugh. His entire family, including Adrian, had protested the will, but in the end, I had inherited the title and all the fucking money.
It didn't mean that any of them liked it. I knew I had a target on my back, not only from the rest of the actual Cavazzo family, but from other Mafias. To them, I was an outsider, someone who wasn't born into that inner circle.
And the truth was, I wasn't.
I was just a kid when my heroin-addicted mom sold me into the family—trading her son for her next hit.
I had suffered at their hands in ways that no one could even possibly imagine.
"So you keep reminding me," Adrian said with clear displeasure in his voice. "You are a disgrace on my uncle's name, Valentino, and I am going to ensure that his legacy, my fuckingfamily'slegacy, is put back together like it should be."
"Good luck with that," I told him. "You've been trying for five fucking years. Tell me what you are going to do differently this time."
"You have your day coming," Adrian replied.
I ended the call before he could go any further, and reached for the bottle once more.
He was an asshole, just like the rest of the family. There were some capos that had been willing to follow me without complaint, my second-in-command Rocco being one of them. For five fucking years I had fought Adrian and his family, and earned my place among the Dons.
I was ruthless, straying on the other side of the blurred line between what I wanted to do and what were unspoken rules. I was unapologetic in my kills and dealings, stealing from the other Dons when I could and laughing in their faces when they raised hell about it.
I took after the lessons of the Don from the good old days, building my empire as I saw fit and not what everyone expected I would do. There were even rumors that I bathed in the blood of my enemies—rumors that I encouraged.
I wanted my enemies to fear me.
Drawing in a breath, I poured another glass, and then set the decanter aside on the sideboard. Adrian was right about one thing. Everything was about to be out in the open about my purchase of Leda D'Agostino.
I did it for two reasons: one, to get back at Carmine, and two, to flex my muscles as Don. There had been a room full of Dons that had been running this world for generations. They could probably go back hundreds of years in their family trees, and it would have been impossible for one of them to take the D'Agostino princess into their Mafia like I had.
I overpowered them all with my money, and damn did it feel good.
After being the one they had used for years, I knew I held something enormously powerful in my hands. The fate of the D'Agostino Mafia. Their power might have been broken, but the foundation of their wealth—the string of properties and clubs and other investments—remained.
Everyone knew that Carmine's son Nico forfeited his rights as Don. He had no interest in the family business, and rumor was that he had a family of his own to take care of.
That, and the fact that Carmine just wouldn't die. I couldn't understand why someone who was poised to be in a position of power would give it all up for a family.
Families were shit. They didn't do anything but cause hurt and let down those that depended on them.
I threw back the whiskey, letting it burn my throat this time. I hated any sort of feelings. They reminded me of my weakest moments, moments where I didn't think I would survive past the morning.
If it hadn't been for Cosimo realizing I was better suited as an enforcer, I would still be living that life.
Or dead. Most likely dead.
Now I could defend myself with the best. I was a knife expert, able to hit a target from fifty yards away. I knew where to slice and dice for a slow death and how to find the quick kill without a sound.
I wasn't half bad with a gun in my hand either, but I preferred the intimacy of knives any day. That way I could see the fear in their eyes and feel their life drain out of their bodies.
My other skills, well, I could get close to just about anyone without them realizing that the fox was in the henhouse. And by the time they knew, it was already too late.