Page 7

CHAPTER 7

M assimo

I don’t like the thoughts that went through my head when I realized Lea followed and recorded me.

It was like every stage of grief all at once while I mourned things that would have never happened to begin with. Now it’s all condensed into a feeling of neutrality and I don’t know which direction it’s going to go. But I have to make sure she keeps her mouth shut for the rest of the time we’re on Isola Selvaggia. I can’t have her running around blabbing about a Mafia hit. There are people on this island who wouldn’t think twice about feeding her to the sharks in the Pacific.

“I-I’m sorry,” Lea whimpers as she trails behind me. “I really am.”

“Oh, you’re going to be sorry,” I growl, pulling her into the elevator and swiping my keycard. I tap out a message on my phone and shove it into my pocket. “I’m not going to sell you. I’m not going to kill you. But I am going to punish you for this.”

“P-punish me?” she questions, her eyes getting wide. “What do you mean?”

“A spanking, bambina ,” I state firmly, making sure she hears the seriousness in my voice and sees it reflected in my eyes. “You’re getting a spanking.”

I let go of her arm and watch the color drain out of her face. My expression doesn’t soften.

“What?” she asks, her eyes widening into gorgeous green saucers. “You’re not saying… You can’t!”

I close the distance between us and tower over her. A low growl echoes in my throat. My lip twitches and my jaw flexes. I should put her over my knee right here in this elevator.

She breaks my gaze and looks down, her cheeks turning redder than they’ve been all night.

“Look at me, bambina ,” I demand, staring daggers into her gorgeous green eyes as soon as she looks up. “Tell me you don’t deserve to have your ass spanked until it is as red as that beautiful dress you’re wearing.”

She swallows a gulp and doesn’t respond.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought,” I snap, turning as the elevators open. “Come on, let me show you to your room.”

I step off the elevator and turn around. She actually has an out here. If she hits the button to close those doors, she could get to the lobby before I could. Her eyes flick to the elevator buttons, then back at me. She’s considering it. But I’ve already sent a message to Theo, and one of his men is standing in the lobby, ready to grab her if she does. Then she’s really going to get her butt worn out.

Lea bravely, and wisely, steps off the elevator. The doors close behind her. That’s it. She knows she deserves the spanking she’s going to get. And she knows this is for the best, even if she doesn’t want to admit it.

I lead her across the penthouse to one of the bedrooms, then motion for her to go inside. She gulps as she does, and I follow her, closing the door behind me. The thud of it makes her jump. The sound of it locking causes her to shake.

“Are you scared?” I ask gently.

“Y-yes,” she whispers, trembling with fear in her eyes as she turns around. “I’ve n-never… with a guy…”

A virgin? Interesting.

“I’m not going to rape you, bambina ,” I growl. “You’re going to get a spanking, just like I said. And I won’t turn your gorgeous ass as red as your dress, even though it’s what we both know you deserve. But it’s going to hurt and you’re going to cry. You’ll have plenty of time to think about what you did wrong while you’re over my knee.”

She’s not ready yet. There’s too much fear in her eyes, even if she can’t deny she deserves it. I want her to accept it, no matter how scared she is.

“Please,” she whimpers, her eyes tearing up again. “Don’t spank me, Massimo. I-I know I messed up. I’m sorry! I swear I am!”

“I know, I know,” I say, my voice relaxing. “You’re sorry. But being sorry isn’t good enough, bambina . You put yourself in serious danger tonight, didn’t you?”

“Yes,” she squeaks out, a tear rolling down her face. “But…”

“But what?” I ask. “What could you possibly say that would make what you did okay?”

Her silence answers my question. She looks down at the floor and more tears glisten on the curves of her cheeks. She has nothing to offer because she knows she fucked up. Royally fucked up. The kind of fucked up that puts you on your knees with a gun pressed against the back of your head—seconds before your last thought is interrupted by a bullet.

“I-I’m sorry,” she manages, but she finally seems to understand it isn’t enough.

“Take some time to get yourself together,” I command, turning and walking to the door. I unlock it with a click and open it. “Come join me for a drink after you do.”

I leave her alone in her bedroom and walk to the main part of the penthouse. I can’t deny the thrill radiating inside me as I imagine having her draped across my lap for a spanking. But we’ll get to that. She’s brought things to the surface that have been buried beneath the malice and poison for so long they feel exciting and new. The timing is terrible, but I can’t ignore it. Especially since I’m stuck with her the rest of the week.

I remove my suit jacket, toss it on a chair, open the cabinet under the mini-bar, and examine the wine selection. I find one from my family’s vineyard that is similar to what we had with dinner. Between the whiskey and the wine, I’m feeling it, but not enough to interfere with my judgment. I pour two glasses, place hers on the table at one end of the couch, and sit down on the other end with my glass in my hand. I sip it, letting the flavor linger before downing the delicious liquid.

“Come on, bambina ,” I mutter under my breath, glancing toward her bedroom. “You’re making this a lot harder than it has to be.”

I doubt Lea has ever been spanked before. Certainly not by a man, if she’s still a virgin. I don’t remember what it’s like to be afraid of punishment. It’s simply a consequence. Something we can put behind us, once she’s learned her lesson.

Finally, Lea appears at the door of her bedroom. She’s dried her tears and cleaned herself up. I can still see the telltale signs of crying, but she’s as gorgeous as she was the first time I laid eyes on her. I watch carefully and pay attention to the reluctance in her footsteps as she approaches the couch. I motion to her glass of wine and she nods, sinking into the couch before reaching for it.

“I’m not going to spank you because I want to hurt you, Lea,” I say, leveling a stern gaze on her. “I’m going to spank you because you put yourself in serious danger tonight. I know men who would have slit your throat right there in that hallway if they caught you spying on them. Then they’d make a phone call and Sarah’s throat would be cut before you finished bleeding out. Some of them are staying at this hotel right now.”

She swallows hard, squeezes her eyes shut, and nervously gulps so much wine she nearly chokes. “I-I know it was a mistake. I don’t know what I was thinking. Sarah?—”

“Don’t blame this on her,” I interrupt. “You made the choice. You followed me. You recorded me. Sarah isn’t the one who is going to get punished for it. You are.”

She squirms on the couch. She’s imagining it, too. Being bent over my knee like a naughty little girl. Bared for the punishment she deserves. Feeling the sting of her comeuppance, one slap at a time while I redden her ass. She drinks more wine, fidgeting with the glass like she did in the restaurant. She has a reason to be nervous now. First spanking jitters, I suppose.

“I’m really sorry for asking about your wife,” she mumbles. “I felt horrible about it. I-I know you didn’t kill her.”

“I’m not upset about that, bambina .” I shake my head. “It actually felt good to talk about her. But since you’re so curious, and I intend to make sure you never talk about this until after you leave Isola Selvaggia, would you like to know what really happened?”

“I-I don’t know,” she whispers apprehensively.

“I’ll tell you anyway,” I growl. “It was the Bratva. Do you know who that is?”

“T-they’re the Russian Mafia,” she whispers.

“That’s correct,” I confirm. “The Bratva was moving into Las Vegas. My family sees Sin City as the land of opportunity. If someone wants a piece of the pie, we don’t stand in the way, as long as they play by the rules, and give us our cut. The Bratva didn’t want to play by the rules. They were yanking women off the streets and selling them. And not just prostitutes. They didn’t discriminate. Once they started kidnapping tourists, it turned into a problem my family couldn’t ignore.”

“Oh, god,” she says, her eyes getting wide.

“Believe it or not, violence isn’t how I begin most discussions. I tried to do it civilly. As civilly as I could, but the message was clear. If they didn’t stop trafficking women, they were going to have problems with my family.” I sigh, tighten my grip on my glass of wine, and down a gulp. “Their response—they killed my wife.”

“Massimo, I’m so sorry,” she whimpers, moving closer to me and putting a hand on my arm. “I-I had no idea. I shouldn’t have…”

“It’s fine,” I interrupt again. “They wanted a war and they got one. I killed every single man they had in Las Vegas and made it clear I wouldn’t stop there, if they ever tried to move into our territory again. They got the message.”

Lea doesn’t respond, but her hand squeezes my arm, like she’s trying to comfort me. Her touch feels nice. I can’t deny that. It stirs things inside me I thought would remain silent until I drew my last breath.

“You won’t hear that story on a fucking podcast,” I say, pouring some more wine into my glass. “But if you decide to talk about it with your friend, and she tells that story, things won’t end well for either of you.”

“I-I won’t,” Lea stammers. “I-I’ll never tell anyone! About that… about the phone call I overheard. Any of it!”

“I’ll make sure you keep your word until the end of the week,” I growl. “Outside of locking you in a cage for the rest of your life, that’s all I can do. But actions have consequences, bambina . I’m going to spank you until I’m sure you understand that.”

“I understand it,” she whispers, tears glistening in her eyes again. “You don’t have to spank me.”

“If you understood it, you wouldn’t still be trying to get out of it,” I say, taking a sip of my wine. “The spanking is your consequence, Lea. A pretty mild consequence in my world. I’m going to put you over my knee, bare your bottom, and punish you for what you did wrong. Nothing you say is going to change my mind. The faster you come to terms with that, the faster we can put this behind us.”

She looks away and a tear trembles down her cheek. When she looks back at me, I see something different in her eyes. She’s accepting it, even if she doesn’t want to. Realizing there’s no way out of it. No way to escape what she deserves.

“How bad is it going to be?” she asks, sniffling away her tears. “I’ve never been spanked before.”

“Worse than you’re imagining, I’m sure,” I answer. “Are you ready to get it over with?”

She swallows hard and hesitation flourishes in her gorgeous green eyes, then it fades and she nods.

“Y-yes, sir,” she whispers.

Good girl.

She’s finally ready to accept her punishment.