Page 13 of Caruso (Vegas Mafia #3)
Chapter Thirteen
Taylor
M y vision is blurred and my breathing restricted, but it’s as if I am seeing everything for the first time.
The picture is clearer. More defined and rather than be ashamed of where I am, I’m loving it.
It’s uninhibiting. I am stripped bare and, unlike the degradation my stepfather subjected me to, this one is empowering me.
He asked if I trusted him—I do. He won’t kill me; he is having way too much fun for that, and so am I.
Since stepping into their world, it has opened up a whole new one for me.
Three dark and dangerous, sinister, deliciously wicked brothers are mine for the taking, and rather than be afraid of that, I can’t wait.
This is the first lesson of many, I am sure, and they will push my boundaries, and of that I am convinced, and as Matteo squeezes harder, my vision blurs, and I give in to the sensation of flying a different flight .
I am free.
He is controlling my life in his hands, and I may have given up my soul to him, but never my spirit.
This is what I want, what I need, and as he releases me, I gasp in a sudden burst of oxygen, and a delicious sensation spreads through my body as life is returned to me, refreshed, renewed, invigorated.
It’s a powerful sensation that I could fast become addicted to, and I fall to the floor on my hands and knees and drag in deep breaths as I struggle to come to terms with that.
“Get dressed.”
His voice is rough, brutal even, and yet as I scramble for my clothes I am hiding a huge smile.
When I’m dressed, I stand before him on the excruciating heels, feeling as if I’ve been reborn into something more powerful.
His eyes flash as he whispers hoarsely, “Why do I get the impression that you loved every minute of that?”
I can’t help smiling, and he chuckles softly. “You intrigue me, baby girl. I wonder what your limits will be?”
I say nothing, wondering if I have any, and as he stands, my breath hitches as he glares at me with all the power of a psychopath. “Tonight will be interesting for sure.”
He jerks his head toward the door.
“Come, breakfast should be served.”
My stomach reacts to that statement as it reminds me I have neglected it, and as I follow him into the main cabin, I’m delighted to see a feast spread out on a huge table in front of us .
The attendant appears a little flushed and won’t meet my gaze, and as I take a seat with the three brothers, their expressions tell me we weren’t the only ones indulging in a little power play.
Giorgio laughs softly. “I wonder what is running through your mind right now, little butterfly.”
His intense gaze lingers a little too long, and I sense the heat spreading through my body as he undresses me with his eyes.
He is the one who interests me most. It could be the madness we share, the love of power over another person’s life.
Or is it because he is dangerously handsome with a wicked grin that would strip an angel of her virginity with mind games alone?
No woman could remain innocent around these men, and they match my energy perfectly. They believe they are controlling me. I am happy to let them. Safe in the knowledge that when this all ends, I will be the one in control—not them.
Two hours pass as fast as the miles the jet eats up, and we are soon on our final approach. I stare out of the window as the landscape changes, and the bundle of nerves inside me has tightened into a huge ball as I wonder what will be waiting for me—for us.
“Tell us about your stepfather, sugar.”
Giorgio leans forward, his eyes dark and cruel as he sharpens his appetite for pain.
“He is an ordinary predator. ”
“In what way?”
He appears to like my description judging from the laughter that hovers on his lips.
“He works as a truck driver but spends most of the journey picking up hitchhikers and screwing them in his cab.”
I almost spit my description out for that man because he is the monster in my reality.
“When he came home, he used to toss fifty dollars on the table along with a bag of cocaine for my mom.”
There are no tears—that well dried up years ago – and I deliver my facts with zero emotion.
“He would haul her ass into the bedroom where he would use her body in a cruel way.”
“She may have liked it.” Giorgio adds with a shrug, and I hiss, “Not judging from the terrified screams and pleas to stop. I wouldn’t say she was enjoying that, would you, Mr. Caruso?”
I fix him with a sharp glare, and he grins, his interest flaring like the strike from a match.
“While he showered, she would drag herself from the room and make straight for the drugs. It became a habit watching her snort the white powder while crying for forgiveness.”
The men are silent as I deliver the damning history of my childhood, and I hiss, “I came home one day after school to find her still in bed. That wasn’t uncommon, but it was obvious she hadn’t surfaced for some time.
The place was a mess, and he was due home, and if it wasn’t tidy when he returned, it earned her a beating.
I tried to rouse her, but she was cold.”
I shiver. “So cold. Like ice.”
My hands tangle in my lap, and I blink away the tears as I whisper, “I didn’t have time to call the ambulance because he returned early.
He took one look at her and yelled at me for allowing her to overdose.
He told me I had killed my mom and would be thrown into jail.
He would shop me in himself unless I promised not to breathe a word of anything that went on inside that house. ”
Their cold eyes understand, but their mouths remain shut. There are no soft glances, no whispers of sympathy and no reassurances. These men are killers; their emotions shut down long ago, and I respect them for that. I am the same, and I sigh heavily.
“He cleaned up and made me help. All the time Mom was lying in bed and he yelled at her the entire time. Telling her what a loser she was, ugly and incompetent. He was glad she was dead and nobody would mourn her. He shouted that he would marry her daughter and make her life hell and that the sins of the mother would be paid back ten times over by her daughter when she became a woman. I listened to it all without reacting because I had lived with him long enough to know that would earn me a beating. When we finished, he called the cops, and the rest is a blur as they descended on the house. I was questioned. I told them I had found her when I came home from school around the same time as my stepfather. That we walked in together and found her like that. He pretended to grieve, to play the doting stepfather, and the authorities decided that as the home was spotless and my attendance was good at school, he would become my legal guardian. I could say nothing because I was scared. He told me if I went into care I would be sent to a family who would beat me and worse. He terrified me every hour of my day and starred in my nightmares, so you must forgive me my weakness when it concerns him.”
I draw a breath and the silence is strangely comforting. It’s as if I’m alone and purging my mind of all the horrors that have lived there for far too long already.
As the plane touches down, I stare them all right in the eye and say fiercely, “Make the bastard pay, make it long, painful and what he deserves and in return I am yours for as long as you want me.”
Tommaso shakes his head. “That’s not enough.”
He leans forward. His dark eyes glittering above his fierce frown. The stubble that coats his jaw is rough, and his attitude cold as he hisses, “What makes you the prize, Taylor? You are asking a lot for little in return. We can have any woman we choose, so why would we want you?”
He is being deliberately cruel. I understand he is harboring something deep inside him—hell, aren’t we all, so I say nothing and merely shrug, raising my eyes to his defiantly. “Then name your price, Mr. Caruso. What would be enough to secure your services?”
Giorgio chuckles softly as Matteo leans back in his seat. “Tell her, Tommaso. What do you want from her?”
Tommaso leans closer and surprises me by reaching out and grasping my cheeks in his fingers, the pain almost excruciating as he stares into my eyes with the expression of Lucifer himself.
“I want her total surrender.”
“You would be bored within twenty-four hours.”
Fuck, did I really say that out loud? And yet his eyes flash with a gleam than excites me—it shouldn’t but I’m fast realizing that turns me on.
He smiles, at least I think that’s what it is, it’s almost a triumphant movement of his lips as he growls, “I like to possess, to own and to control. I’m not certain you would be a good fit for that, but I am willing to try. ”
He squeezes harder and says roughly, “I’m kind of hoping you fight me on that because as you just pointed out, I would be bored within twenty-four hours, so Taylor, do you accept the challenge and do you promise not to make it easy and suffer the consequences of that?”
I fix him with a withering glare and nod, his fingers still gripping my face as I whisper, “I’m used to monsters, Mr. Caruso, and I’m kind of hoping you don’t let me down on that.”
He releases me as the jet comes to a stop and turns away, the conversation definitely over, and as I catch my breath, the brothers completely ignore me.
It’s three cold shoulders at once, and yet I wouldn’t have it any other way.
When you make a deal with one devil, it’s bad enough, but when you multiply that by three, hell welcomes a new demon inside.
I am beginning to realize what I have signed up for.
Three black cars are waiting, their drivers wearing dark shades and an even darker attitude.
Tommaso takes the first car, Matteo drags me into the second, and Giorgio heads to one at the rear.
In each car are two passengers up front, their firearms glinting in the sunlight as their jackets part.
It’s ominous as hell, and I wonder what Carl will think when we crash through the front door.
Matteo says nothing the entire journey. I relayed the address yesterday, and so I have no reason to offer any assistance.
Instead, I gaze out of the darkened window at the familiar landmarks of home and wonder what the neighbors will think when I exit the car dressed in a freaking catsuit wearing high killer heels.
I’m like a modern-day Catwoman, and my superpower is I know how to kill a man twice my size.
I can fight, but I can’t shoot a gun. Bare fists and cunning have defended me well these past years, and I have Jason Evans to thank for that.
I try so hard not to think of him, but when I’m at my most vulnerable, the memories tear another hole in my soul.
“That’s it, Tay. Hold up your fists in front of your face to protect it, keep your elbows in tight, protect your body. That’s right, keep a tight ball and use your body to deliver the punch. That’s it—good girl—hit me. Take me down.”
My fist connects with his head, and he grunts. “Fuck, that’s the way to go. Try again.”
I flail out and he delivers an uppercut to my jaw, tapping it carefully, demonstrating but not inflicting any pain.
This was how we spent our time. Scrapping behind the barn in Scooter Barlow’s field. Many nights and days were spent there as Jason taught me everything he knew.
I was six when we started; he was twelve.
I was the ragged girl with no friends, and he was the son of the local mechanic.
He was unpopular, so was I but he had a huge heart and took pity on me when he saw my stepfather taking a shot at me one day outside in the yard.
Jason was cycling past and saw what happened, and the next day he was waiting for me after I finished school.
He was my only friend, and as we grew, I followed him around like a puppy dog.
Then, one day, he was gone, and I never saw him again.
“Taylor!” Matteo’s sharp voice penetrates my memories, and as I shake myself from the past, I’m aware we have come to a stop outside the rundown heap I once called home.
“Is this the place?”
My mouth dries as I nod, licking my lower lip before saying, “Yes.”
The door opens, and as Matteo exits, a burst of heat hits my face as the temperature reminds me how freaking hot this place is.
But I’m cold inside. An ice princess if you like, returning home with not one Prince Charming but three evil villains.
Matteo leans in and extends his hand, and as he pulls me from the car, I stare at the veranda with the old wicker chairs set on either side of an upturned pail.
The paint peeled long ago, and the decrepit floorboards are missing some slats, and if anything, it appears even more derelict than it was before.
The three brothers surround me on all sides, almost protecting me. It certainly feels like that, and I notice the guards who traveled here with us wander around the back of the house, and my stomach lurches as I sense there is no backing out now.
“Shall we?” Matteo nods toward the steps, and I follow him as we tread a path to the broken front door that has been in a state of disrepair for many years now.
Our doors are never locked because it’s obvious there isn’t anything worth stealing inside, and it reminds me of the many times I cowered in my bed as drunken men played card games with Carl in the kitchen.
Giorgio bangs hard on the door before placing his boot on the wooden frame and kicking it hard, the wood splintering under his designer boot, causing him to grunt in satisfaction. “Fuck, that felt good.”
The other two say nothing as we follow him inside, and my nose wrinkles in disgust at the scent of tobacco and human waste mixed with sweat and perspiration.
“What the fuck?”
My heart stills as Carl wanders from his room, bleary-eyed and buck naked, save for some old pants that are ripped in the wrong places.
His eyes lock onto me first, and he cackles, his teeth brown and chipped, a few of them missing.
“Well, fuck me, if it ain’t little miss runaway come back to beg for my forgiveness.”
He turns his attention to the three brothers, who gaze at him with derision dripping from their expressions.
“What are you, her pimps?”
Carl laughs loudly and then stops as Giorgio grasps his face hard and throws him back against the wall, his head hitting it with a resounding thud as he is held there by Giorgio’s fingers, squeezing his windpipe, causing Carl’s face to turn an interesting shade of red.
Matteo’s voice causes me to shiver as he addresses me and not my stepfather. “Is this him?”
“Yes.” My voice trembles as I face the man I have tried so hard to forget.
I am strong in so many ways, but now, faced with the biggest demon in my life, I almost can’t breathe as the memories come back to bite me—hard.