Page 27 of Caruso

A flight attendant greets me with a smile and a hint of curiosity.

“Welcome.”

She smiles as she escorts me to a seat by the window about halfway down the cabin.

I say cabin; it’s more like the living area in the penthouse we just came from, and as I settle into a huge cream leather seat, she asks politely, “May I offer you a pre-flight drink?”

“Whiskey, neat, on the rocks.” Matteo says gruffly, answering on my behalf as he drops into the seat beside me without a glance in my direction.

The attendant smiles and moves away, and he leans closer and whispers huskily, “Today your choices are mine. Your education will relate to all aspects of your day, and only when I believe that you have learned the lesson will you be permitted to choose for yourself.”

His cruel eyes bore deep inside me as he whispers huskily, “You made a deal with the devil, baby girl. Perhaps you should have asked to read the contract first.”

“Perhaps I’m good with the contract as it is.”

My eyes flash as I reflect the steel in his voice right back at him, and his low chuckle is a welcome sound.

“You don’t know what it involves.”

“My virginity, my submission and my freedom, if I’m to hazard a guess.”

He nods, a thoughtful gleam in his eyes.

“You’re a fast learner.”

“You have to be when you are playing somebody else’s game.”

Giorgio drops into the seat opposite me and is quickly joined by Tommaso and I swallow hard. Fuck, this is intense. One of them is hard to deal with, but three, all staring at me with obvious hunger, is soul-destroying.

My heart flutters like a bird caught in a cage, and sweat bubbles under my skin as they strip me bare with just one look. Brothers. Dark, despicable brothers with no life in their eyes; no humanity in their smiles.

All dressed in black to match their aura and they are staring at me as if I am their in-flight meal.

I say nothing because the power of speech has deserted me until Giorgio leans forward and his husky voice drags against my nerves like a rusty blade.

“Did he touch you?”

The air stills, and I nod. “Yes.”

His eyes flash.

“How?”

My nerves scream out in terror as I return to the madness and whisper, “He punished me. Spanked me, beat me, kicked me.”

Tommaso’s voice drives fear into my heart as he growls, “Did he touch you sexually?”

“No.”

I lower my eyes because their attention is stifling, toxic and the most frightening experience of my life.

“He told me I was to save myself for him. That I would replace my mother in his bed the day I turned eighteen. I did save myself in every way because I ran from him the day before my birthdayand have never gone back.”

“So you saved yourself.” He asks, and I raise my eyes to his and say coolly, “Did I?”

Giorgio laughs out loud as the attendant returns with four crystal glasses of whiskey and hands one to each of us in silence.

When she moves away, six eyes concentrate on me as Matteo says huskily, “After you, baby girl.”