The Accardi Twins: A Mafia Romance Duet

Chapter 20

Chapter Twenty

Caleb

“ L et’s get this show on the road,” I murmur to the room, nodding at Vittus as I stride past him and head for the ringleader. Vittus hops up and together we rip the tape off each girl’s mouth. The blonde cries, the redhead screams, and the black-haired cunt glares at me without making a sound.

“This is kidnapping,” Gwyneth says, continuing to glare until she spots Elisa behind me, and it’s like a switch has flipped in her head. Her glare becomes a provocative pout as she licks her lips and rakes her gaze over me from head to toe. “Unless it’s round two and we’re role-playing. I’m definitely down for that.”

“I wouldn’t let your treacherous cunt anywhere near my cock, and I hate to burst your bubble, but you suck at sex.”

She barks out a laugh while the blonde continues to sob, and the redhead remains mute. “I know this is for her benefit, but you can’t lie to me. We were hot together.” Before I can retaliate, she fixes Elisa with a cunning look and grins. “He fucking loved my pussy wrapped around his cock.” Racing footsteps approach, and I glance over my shoulder as Elisa approaches. “He couldn’t get enough. He—” Her head snaps back as Lili lands a solid punch on her nose.

I make a mental note to thank Alesso for that.

“Damn,” Vittus says, sending Elisa an admiring glance. I narrow my eyes at him, and he chuckles.

“Give it to her, Lise,” Gia encourages. Joshua has his arms wrapped around her from behind, and she’s leaning her head back against his chest as they watch this go down.

“Shut your hideous mouth.” Elisa looms over Gwyneth. “No one wants to hear anything you have to say.”

“I beg to differ,” she says as blood trickles from her nose, down over her lips, and onto her chin. “You want to live vicariously through us because we got to fuck the guy you love. You know you’ll never be good enough to please a man like him, so?—”

This time, I land the punch, shoving my fist in her mouth to shut her up. Mom raised us to never lift our voice or raise our fists against a woman in anger.

But she was talking about ladies.

She said nothing about lying cunts, so my conscience is clear.

The sound of teeth cracking is music to my ears, and my grin expands when she emits an agonized cry as her head whips painfully back.

“Let’s get one thing straight, bitch.” I grab her hair and keep her head suspended at an angle that’s got to hurt. “Elisa is the only woman I have ever truly wanted, and she is more than good enough for me. It’s I who isn’t worthy of her.”

“Fuck. You,” she says, spitting blood all over my shirt. A sick smirk ghosts over her blood-coated lips. “Oops, I already did.”

“Shut up, Gwyn,” the redhead says, finally finding her voice. The blonde is still sobbing and cowering in her chair. “Stop antagonizing him.”

“Wake the fuck up, Cara! We’re tied to chairs in some godforsaken shithole. We’re not getting out of this alive, so we might as well have some fun.”

I drop Gwyneth’s head and straighten up, sidling closer to Lili. Turning my gaze to her, I silently ask the question. She nods, and warmth floods my chest. “You’re wrong,” I deadpan, whipping my eyes to the three women tied to chairs. “You will make it home. There’s no fun in killing you, though I seriously considered it.”

“You’re letting us go?” the blonde asks in a timid voice, her words underscored with weak hope.

“Yes, but don’t throw a party yet. You won’t be getting off scot-free. Crimes deserve punishment.”

“Who the fuck made you judge and jury?” Gwyneth scoffs.

“He’s the king of New York,” Elisa says, her voice projecting confidence and pride. “Caleb can do whatever he wants, and there’s no one to stop him.”

“You’re so pathetic, you?—”

Elisa silences her with another punch to the face, and my dick is fucking loving this assertive side of her personality.

“Elisa, please.” The blonde turns pleading eyes on my love. “I’m sorry, all right? I never wanted to be mean. When we met in freshman year, I thought you were cool.” She narrows her eyes at her dark-haired friend. “It was all Gwyn’s idea because she was jealous.”

“Gotta love when the claws come out,” Giulio says, spearing me with a smirk.

“Shut your face, Susie,” Gwyneth snaps.

“No.” The blonde develops a backbone, straightening up. “Cara and I are in this mess because of you.”

“Everything was her idea,” Cara agrees.

“You were more than happy to go along with it!” Gwyneth snaps.

“She’s always been really jealous of you, Elisa,” Susie says. “You’re pretty and super smart and always so nice. Everyone on campus loves you, and she couldn’t stand it.”

“She saw Caleb on campus with you a few times, and she wanted him,” Cara adds.

I fold my arms over my chest and step back, letting them throw their friend to the wolves. “She overheard you talking about him a couple of times to Shea, so she knew you two were close and that you loved him. She’s been plotting to go after him for years, but we could never get close enough.”

“You gave her the opening she’d been looking for,” Susie says.

“Me?” Elisa’s eyes pop wide.

“You told Shea about the fashion show. Gwyn’s auntie works for House of Fashion, and she got us in and gave us fake IDs.”

At least that explains how they got into the show. I make a mental note to find the name of her aunt and have her fired.

“That might all be true,” Gwyneth says, “but we didn’t fake our way onto his cock. Caleb was more than happy to party with us and take us home. And I don’t care what bullshit you spout, no one fucks girls all night long?—”

Elisa bitch slaps her across the face, and it’s enormously satisfying. My cock is flying at half-mast now, and I discreetly adjust myself so no one notices.

“Hot damn,” Vittus says.

“Don’t you get it? He does that all the time,” Elisa says.

Did , I whisper in my head, but I don’t verbalize it.

“You weren’t anything special. He didn’t even remember you. He never remembers because you’re all replaceable.”

Isn’t that the truth? None of those nameless, faceless women I screwed ever meant anything to me. Cruel? Yes, but it’s no lie.

I spent years trying to deny my feelings for Lili, submerging myself in booze, easy women, and the occasional recreational drug, because I was scared to confront what was in my heart and terrified I’d never be good enough for her. I don’t remember the women I’ve fucked because they were only placeholders. I never cared enough to even go back for seconds. Lili is the only woman, except Mom, who has ever mattered and the only one I truly love.

Deep-seated contentment settles in my bones as I absorb the truth and fully believe it.

Elisa Salerno is it for me. My destiny. My dream woman. The mother of my children. The keeper of my heart.

Now I just have to convince her of it.

“The only one I ever see is you.” I peer deep into her eyes as I say it, hoping she at least sees the truth even if she refuses to hear it. I have a lot of regrets, and I wish I could erase my past with women, but I can’t. What I’ve done may be the cross I die on. I can’t rewrite my history, but I can ensure I don’t repeat the same mistakes.

Even if she never forgives me or never gives me a shot, I am done fucking other women. They hold no appeal.

“Yeah, he was really seeing your face the whole time he was fucking me,” Gwyneth snarls, sarcasm thick in her tone as she ruins the moment.

I’m reconsidering keeping her alive.

I slam my fist into her stomach, not holding back. I toss a glance over my shoulder at Vittus. “What, no damn for me?”

“It’s not hot when you do it.”

“I pity you,” Elisa says to the bitch, cutting across our conversation. “Have you really invested all this time and expended all this energy just to one-up me?”

“She has,” Cara confirms. “She’s the pathetic one. Not you.”

“No one could ever replace Elisa in my affections,” I say.

“You failed.” Elisa lets a grin run free as she stares the mean girl down. “You failed, and you’re going to pay for it, big-time.” She turns to me, taking my hand and smiling softly. “What did you do?”

“You’re not going to hurt us, right?” Susie says, flicking her eyes from me to Elisa.

“You might not have instigated it, but you’re both far from innocent,” I say, clutching Elisa’s hand. Her small palm is warm against mine, and the usual fiery tremors zip up and down my arm. No one’s touch has ever ignited my blood like my Lili’s touch.

“You could have stopped it, stopped her, at any time,” Elisa says, “but you let her belittle me, time and time again. Like Caleb said, you’re far from innocent.”

Susie starts crying again.

“I’m sorry, Elisa. More than you will ever know,” Cara says.

“You’re only sorry you got caught,” Gia says. She eyeballs me with purpose, knowing how this will go down because she helped to set it all up. “Throw the book at them, Caleb. They deserve it.”

My phone pings at that exact moment with a video confirming everything is going like clockwork. Playing press on the video, I turn my screen around so the three girls can see. “What the fuck?” Cara’s eyes almost bug out of her head. “What’s going on at our place?”

“The cops have discovered a large narcotics stash in your apartment, and a warrant for all three of your arrests has just been issued. News reports are flashing pictures of your faces. The dean has been advised, and your expulsion papers are being typed up as we speak.”

Shock splays across Cara’s face as Susie dissolves into more tears.

“You won’t get away with it,” Gwyneth barks. “We’ll tell them it’s a setup.”

“The cops work for us.”

“Then we’ll hire lawyers!”

“With what money? The large amounts deposited into your back accounts are being frozen as evidence of drug dealing, and you’ll never get your hands on it. And don’t bank on your families to help either.” I swipe my finger across the screen, showing how I’ve drained their families’ bank accounts.

“I’ll sell my house,” Gwyneth retorts.

“You mean the house your grandma left you that’s being repossessed in the morning?”

“You can’t repossess a house when the mortgage has already been paid, asshole.”

“You can if you know a guy who hacked into the bank system and doctored the records to show a mortgage deficit that has slipped through the cracks.” She opens her mouth to retaliate again, but I cut across her. “And don’t think the paperwork you have on file will help because we hacked into your laptop and destroyed all the evidence, along with the illegal recordings you made of me, and the backups you saved to the cloud. That USB key in the top drawer of your desk in your bedroom met an unfortunate death, along with your car.” Her face finally pales as I show her the video of her car engulfed in flames.

“I’ll go the press. I’ll tell them what you’ve done.” Her lower lip wobbles as it finally dawns on her.

I grab her chin and thrust her head back, digging my nails into her flesh. “I’ll put a bullet in your skull before you get the chance.” Letting all my darkness shine, I pour it into the look I give her. “In case you need additional incentive, if you breathe a word about me or Elisa or any of this, I will kill every member of your family.” I let her chin go to pull up the files I got from the PI. Her face is like a ghost as I flick through photos of every member of her family. “I can have them all taken out in the blink of an eye.” I snap my fingers before turning my attention to the other two girls.

“The same goes for you two.” I show them photos of their loved ones as well. I’m banking on Cara and Susie making a deal and hanging Gwyneth out to dry. All of them will do time, but with her friends pointing the finger in her direction, Gwyneth will spend the longest time in jail, and it’s how I want it to go down. “In case any of you get ideas in jail, know I can get to you there too. Even whisper my fucking name, and you’ll pay a heavy price. Capiche ?”

“Please don’t do this,” Susie cries. “I don’t want to go to prison.”

“You should have thought about that before you hurt the woman I love.” Out of the corner of my eye, I spot Giulio and Vittus exchanging a shocked look. “You targeted the wrong people. If Gwyn hadn’t sent Elisa that video, maybe this wouldn’t have happened,” I lie, just wanting them to really drive the knife into her back when they make their statements. “You are lucky I’m letting you live.”

Silent tears stream down Gwyneth’s face as the truth about how screwed she is finally hits home. “Let this be a life lesson. Don’t be a cunt. Serve your time, and when you get out, you disappear. Come near Elisa again, and I won’t be so lenient next time.”