Page 25 of Caruso (Vegas Mafia #3)

Chapter Twenty-Five

Taylor

I have never felt so free. Giddy even. It’s as if I’ve been wearing a ball and chain all my life and the Caruso brothers set me free.

The moment I set fire to my past, it’s as if I were a phoenix rising from the ashes.

I have three guardians now, and I’m aware of what is expected of me.

They all want me. Matteo told me as much as he emphasized it’s my choice. It’s up to me if I want to stay, want to share myself with any of them, let alone all three.

I am not their prisoner; I am their equal, and that has given me a freedom I never expected.

The past week has made me deliriously happy. Matteo has fast become everything to me, but the two brothers are still there. Watching, waiting, throwing down a challenge with gestures rather than words.

They haven’t pressured me, probably because most of the time Matteo has guarded me like a lion, keeping me close to his side, fending off their advances with an angry glare.

I’ve loved every minute of his protection because it has given me time to breathe, and I’ve now come to the conclusion that I want to spread my wings.

I am more confident about that, and being out here with Giorgio is the beginning of exploring my new life.

He leads me to a dark alley off the main strip. Around the back of his competitor and down an iron staircase.

“What is this place?”

He squeezes my hand even tighter.

“A member’s club. One not many gain access to.”

“What sort of club?”

“The kind you should never seek membership of.”

He is guarded, keeping the information close to his chest, which worries me. It sounds dangerous, and yet a thrill passes through me as I anticipate experiencing that with him.

He pushes through a beaten-up old door, and a man is sitting behind it. He stands as we approach and nods respectfully.

“Mr. Caruso.”

Giorgio pulls me beside him.

“She’s with me; nobody must approach her.”

“I’ll spread the word and assign Hallum to watch over her.”

“I don’t need to remind you what will happen if she’s not kept safe.”

Now I’m nervous. Does that mean Giorgio is leaving me ?

As we venture down the dark corridor, I whisper, “Why, are you leaving me?”

“You’ll see.”

We enter a room, and the smell alone causes me to screw up my nose in disgust.

Sweat, blood, alcohol and cigarette smoke all combine to make a stench that’s almost unbearable.

The air is thick with tension, and it’s full of men, all craning their necks to a stage set in the center.

The lights shine on a boxing ring where two men are bloodied and bruised. Their faces unrecognizable due to the volume of blood on them.

“What’s happening?”

Giorgio comes close and says loudly, “Illegal fight. The audience places bets on the contenders. The winner gets the loser’s stakes.”

“What if the audience all bet on the same man and he wins?”

“Good question, but it never happens.”

Giorgio grins. “That’s not the only prize at stake. There are secret bidders via the internet. It’s televised on the dark web, and the prize fund is sometimes worth millions, depending on who’s fighting.”

“The power of the World Wide Web.” I raise my eyes, and he points to a corner of the ring.

“That’s where we’re heading.”

He pushes his way through the crowd, who magically part when they see who it is, and I’m suddenly aware that I’m one of very few women here. Now I understand why he asked for protection, which can only mean –

“You’re going to fight, aren’t you?”

I state fact because the gleam in his eye and the fierce set to his jaw tell me he’s psyching himself up for it.

“Of course.”

“Who are you fighting?”

He points to a huge beast of a man with more muscles than all of the Caruso brothers put together, and my heart rate spikes.

“You have got to be kidding me.”

My eyes widen, and he grins. “Don’t be fooled by size. Matteo must have taught you that.”

I giggle as he raises his eyes because for sure Matteo’s cock would win awards, but as big as it is, it still fits where it should, and I have no complaints about that.

“Take a seat in the corner near the ring. Hallam will stand beside you, and just in case you’re wondering, he doesn’t require a firearm. He can knock a guy out with his pinkie.”

I gaze with trepidation at the mysterious Hallam, who appears to be as big as a mountain, with cruel, heavy eyes glaring at anybody who even looks at him.

“Will I be safe from him?”

“Honey, you can defend yourself. The fact you’ve wasted two men in just over a week tells me that. Remember who you are and whom you now represent. Don’t let anyone give you shit. You have my permission to waste them if they do.”

“Permission?” I raise my eyes. “I don’t need your permission.”

He grips my face between his hands and kisses me hard before whispering, “No, you don’t, but it will save me a shitload of worry.”

My heart actually flutters as he demonstrates how much he cares. To be honest, they all have, even Tommaso this past week.

They don’t expect me to lift a finger, and anything I want is provided.

They live their lives like kings, and subsequently that means I get to live like a queen.

I never expected this when I walked into their hotel.

At best, I wanted to ask for their help, to pay them back somehow by working for them.

This superseded my wildest dreams, and yet it feels so right.

As if I was always meant to be here—with the Caruso brothers.

Giorgio has a word with the mysterious Hallam, who merely nods and then continues to stare around with an angry frown.

Then Giorgio points to a seat in the corner and says roughly, “Stay there and don’t move. Watch and learn, my little butterfly. If I lose, you have my permission to finish the job.”

“Kill you?” I pretend to think about that before shrugging, “If you insist, it will be my pleasure.”

His eyes gleam with lust, and I shiver inside. Giorgio is an unpredictable Casanova. His attention is all-encompassing and I doubt I will match him in the bedroom. I’m new at this after all, and I’m guessing he has particular tastes that don’t align with mine—yet, anyway.

As he strips off his t-shirt, my mouth waters.

He is fit—really fit. His muscles are huge and dance as if they have a life of their own.

The ink that is similar to Matteo’s decorates his body, and I notice the initials LC intertwined with a rose.

Matteo has the same tattoo, and I wonder if it’s their mother.

It could be. They don’t talk much about their family, then again, I try not to either.

I’m aware they had a hard upbringing, but there is something dark in their past they are not telling me about.

If anything, that makes me sad because it means they don’t fully trust me yet. I have told them every detail of my life, but I know little of theirs.

The bell sounds, and my attention diverts to the ring and I note the beast heading toward Giorgio, whose face is a frozen glare of derision.

I hold my breath as they square up to one another, the noise from the crowd deafening, and as the bell rings, I gasp as the beast throws a punch that could kill a man on contact.

However, Giorgio is lighter, faster and as he pummels into the beast, I note the blood flying from the guy’s nose, his hands covering his face as Giorgio pounds him relentlessly.

He attempts to fight back, but Giorgio catches him on the ropes, and the crowd chants, ‘Finish him’ in a mad frenzy of bloodlust.

Giorgio throat punches the guy, and his hands fly to protect it as he roars his defense while Giorgio sticks two fingers in his eyes.

The man howls and flays around wildly and then Giorgio grasps his balls and twists, causing the man to double up in agony.

All the time Giorgio’s fists fly, left, right, up and down.

Blood is flying everywhere and loud angry bellows of rage come from deep inside the guy who is attempting to defend himself but not succeeding at all .

As the bell rings and the referee holds up Giorgio’s arm and declares him the winner, I stare at the scene with complete fascination.

Well, fuck me, that shit turned me on way too much, and now all I can think of is how long it will take to get back to the penthouse.

Giorgio is invincible. It certainly seems that way and collects his prize money, apparently with no spare thought for the man who is in need of hospital attention.

I guess he knew the rules, knew the score, and the damage he suffered was a consequence of that because Giorgio won the fight fairly and with dishonor.

I’m concerned as he wipes the guy’s blood from his face.

“Did he hurt you?”

“Not at all.”

He appears more angry that he was a pussy and didn’t put up a good fight.

With a sigh, he grasps my hand, intent on getting the hell out of this place.

“You won a lot of money.”

I remind him as we spill into the daylight, and he shrugs. “If you say so.”

“Deny it then.”

The fact that he earned twenty-thousand dollars for this fight is certainly a huge payday for some, but I’m guessing not for a man who owns a third of the most successful hotel and casino in Vegas right now.

“Take it.”

He stuffs it into my hand, and my heart races.

“I can’t take your money.”

“Our money.” He pins me with a firm glare. “You are one of us now, Taylor. Money isn’t an object anymore, and that is yours to do what the fuck you want with it. Save it, spend it on shit, or gamble it away in the casino. Donate it or merely toss it in the trash. I couldn’t give a fuck.”

“But–” I stare at the bag in my hand. It looks as if I grabbed takeout. Nobody would know there is a huge stack of dollar bills in the brown paper bag, and I wonder what else Vegas hides behind an unobtrusive disguise.

“Call it payment if you like.”

Giorgio’s teasing tone causes me to frown. “Payment for what?”

He winks. “Whatever you want it to be, angel.”

“I’m not your whore, Giorgio.”

I am compelled to remind him of that, and he grins. “Haven’t you figured it out yet, baby?”

“What?” My heart sinks as I prepare for him to ruin my day, and he stops and surprises me by holding my face gently in his hands and stares deep into my eyes as he whispers, “We are your whores. All three of us. We will do anything for you because, for some reason, you speak to our souls. We didn’t expect it, didn’t want it even, but when you walked into our lives, you breathed life into three broken souls who had given up on ever experiencing life again. ”

“Life?” I gaze into his hard, dead eyes and note a spark that I recognize. I feel it too. When Jason left, I lost all hope, had no hope, and I wonder what drove that same spark from their eyes.

“Who hurt you, Giorgio? All of you.”

He shakes his head.

“Not now, angel. You have every right to ask, but not in the street. Not when all I can think of is fucking your tight cunt that has driven me mad since I saw you dining with Matteo on that first night. Then we will talk. Then we will explore what this is, but for now my body is the only thing on offer; my soul may not be worth having. I don’t want to frighten you away before I have scratched an itch that has been driving me crazy since you walked into our lives. ”

He kisses me deeply, his hands gripping my face, in the street with pedestrians passing on either side of us.

It’s as if they don’t exist as I lose myself in a dark, decadent world, where life is cheap and breathing uneasy.

Where morals tangle with dreams and lie discarded in the gutter as these men reach out and rip your soul from your body.

This is their world, one without consequence, just high fast living with death a sidestep away.