Taking Over the Dark (High Stakes Syndicate #2)

Chapter 19

NINETEEN

ZAMIR

I’m rubbing my red, already bruising wrists while smiling to myself. I love carrying around marks from my partners… even if people won’t be able to see them super well under all my tattoos. I know they’re there, and that’s all that matters.

? * I haven’t been tied up like that since the last time I was in Sin’s, a few years back. It was my rookie year, and let’s just say that year was one for the books. We’re packing up, about to load up into Vin’s SUV when I hear Ellie yelling at Marcello, “You should have fucking told me it was you stalking me, Barone!”

He counters back, “But you get off on the idea of a stalker… I didn’t want to ruin your fantasy.”

She bucks her head at him, and I swear to god I see Marcello flinch.

Interesting.

Him being scared of Ellie was not on my list of possibilities, but I guess you truly never know.

Vin has already been out to check his car for trackers and any other device that could lead them back to the apartments. It’s not like anyone wonders where Marcello lives; the whole city knows where to find him but aren’t stupid enough to do so.

We all pile into Vin’s SUV, including Noah. We didn’t want to split up and head back at different times or in different vehicles. I sit in the back with him, and we watch, thoroughly entertained by Nash trying to comfort a very pissed-off Ellie the whole way back to our apartment building. Marcello better count his days… I’ve never seen a woman so mad, and rightfully so. The shit he pulled would have anyone in their right mind pissed off.

We get into Marcello’s apartment after dropping Vin and Noah off at Noah’s apartment to keep researching. They’ll dig deeper into the Albanian syndicate in Vegas, or I guess what’s left of it, and the connections it had to ours back in Chicago. We had to pry Ellie out of their apartment practically; she was talking with Blair like it had been months since they had seen one another. The low growling that was coming from Marcello about Blair being there was alarming at first, but then it became quite funny watching his big ass become so soft and caring, seeing the way Ellie cares for Blair. She’s so protective over her, and that’s exactly why Blair has been staying in Noah’s apartment.

Safety.

Nothing else… at least that’s what they’re lying and telling Marcello. You could tell from a mile away that there’s something going on between those three, but that’s none of my business.

The deep breath I’m finally able to pull into my lungs feels like it is cleansing me of all my problems. I know that’s delusional, and all of our issues are still here and bigger than ever. But they’ve just been quiet the last few hours. Having Nash and Ellie back beside me, and knowing they are safe, is enough to keep me happy for now.

The chaos is about to ensue; I know that for a fact. Ellie is going to want answers from Marcello—from all of us, honestly. She’s smart enough not to fall for Marcello’s stupid shit and even stupider reasoning as to why he did what he did. And with her knowing Cello for so long, she’s aware of how he operates, even with them having distance from one another the past couple of years. I truly don’t know if she’ll ever let him live this down.

Nash heads straight to Marcello’s oversized bar cart, pouring all of us some much needed bourbon.

Ellie grabs her glass from Nash, takes a long swig like she’s been drinking it her whole life, and says to all of us, “Cheers, Nash, we made it out alive.” They clink their glasses together, and they each take a drink. She then turns to me, saying, “Cheers, Z, thank you for choosing us over your horrific family.” We clink our glasses together, and we take swigs, too. She blatantly ignores Marcello, so he silently tips his glass in the air with a nod of his head and downs every drop in his glass in one drink.

I watch in sick fascination as his throat constricts and his Adam’s apple bobs up and back down. The man’s body needs to be outlawed. He’s too fucking hot for his own good. All I can focus on is my need to come still and my cock that is still caged. I hope one of them brought the damn key to this thing with them…

We’re all spread out in Marcello’s kitchen, leaning on the counters, all staring off into space, lost in our thoughts.

“Does this mean we’re all dating?” Nash asks shyly. I can’t help but smile at how he decided to break the silence and his unsure tone.

Immediately, Ellie answers, “I would be happy dumping Barone off the balcony if it was up to me. One less boyfriend for all of us.” She shrugs, slams her glass down on the marble, and marches back to the bar cart, pulling the bottle of bourbon off the cart. She contemplates pouring it once she’s back by the counter but instead puts the bottle to her lips, tipping it back.

She still has the bottle to her lips when I say, “I don’t think there’re better pairings out there for us. I know you’re mad right now, Ellie, but Marcello really does have good intentions when it comes to you, or I wouldn’t have allowed it to happen.”

? * “Oh, now you get to tell me what’s good for my body and mind as well as Marcello? Did I get transported back to the fifties?” She looks me dead in the eyes, then gives the same look to Marcello and adds, “Thank fuck Nash told me about all this shit, or I’d still be being the dumb, bimbo bitch fucking around with her psycho stalker and her other two boyfriends.”

“You’re still fucking around with me, Ragazza Dolce. You’re mine. Ours. You can be mad all you want, but I only wanted you to be safe. I should have told y?—”

Ellie cuts him off. “No, you should have asked me, Marcello. This is my body. I control what goes in it and out of it.”

Marcello keeps digging his hole, deeper and deeper. “If I have anything to do with it, you will not have control of what’s coming out of you in nine months.” Marcello starts again, “We were going to breed that little cunt of yours until you were swollen and pregnant with one of ou?—”

He’s cut off by Ellie smashing a decorative marble ball into his mouth. I’m stunned for longer than I need to be, but Nash is at her back, pulling her away from Marcello, who is now bent over, screaming in pain.

Fuck, there’s teeth on the ground and blood everywhere. Well, chips of teeth… yep, this is going to be a wild fucking night.

I drone out, truly exhausted, “I hope you have an on-call dentist, too, Barone.”

* ? SICK & TWISTED - Chris Grey

* ? Lethal Woman - Dove Cameron