Chapter 29
Lucio’s luxury penthouse overlooks the Brooklyn skyline and is what you’d think a Don lives like. When we exit the elevator into the hall that leads into the living space, Brynne grips my hand tighter.
When she’d met me in the woods, I guarantee she hadn’t had this in mind at all.
I reassuringly squeeze her hand. She’s on edge. Not only about this, though. Something else is eating at her. I’m almost certain it’s me coming back to the apartment covered in blood as if it were my second skin.
But for a man like me, it often is. Doused in blood is what I feel I look like all the time. The blood is on my skin as if my very flesh is bright red at all times.
She’s going to let it go, though.
For now.
She’s not the only one on edge. It’s as though, at any moment, I’m going to lose my fucking mind. I’m crawling out of my skin. I need to come down, but there will be time for that later.
Being in Brooklyn right after a kill has its advantages. Brynne is going to benefit from them once we get this dinner done and over with.
“Finally!” Alessia calls from the kitchen, coming out of the archway with an apron over her couture gown.
She pulls me into her, knowing I hate to be touched but not caring. She’d been my best friend once. Before my brother stole her.
“Alessia,” I say, peeling her off me, “this is Brynne. Brynne, my sister-in-law, Alessia.”
Alessia beams and then pulls Brynne into her. Much to my delight, Brynne reacted in the same way I had. I fight a laugh as Lucio comes into the room.
“Finally! She wouldn’t let me have even a roll until you got here!” He glowers at his wife as she puts her dainty, manicured hands on her hips.
“He’s not starving. He’ll be fine,” she says, looking at Brynne, who’s covering a giggle with her hand.
While she looks lighter, there’s a palpable undercurrent, and I’m antsy to find out what happened while I was gone. Or if that’s just it. My absence, mixed with how I’d turned up after, might be the straw that’s broken the camel’s back. Might I have thrown her over the ledge where she’ll decide to go home instead of staying with me?
Lucio nods at me to follow him to the drink cart in the living room, and I do so.
The telltale sound of heels signals the women moving away.
He’s pouring wine when I come up to his side. Abruptly, he turns and punches me in the arm.
The demon below that’s not quite put to bed roars with anger, and I have to breathe through the urge to pin him to the ground. “What the hell?” I grit out.
“She’s gorgeous!” he whispers, grinning from ear to ear.
The beast simmers down, and I feign a smile even though I’m teetering on the edge of something I am barely in control of.
“She is,” I agree.
“So, how far are you into your relationship?” he asks, handing me a glass of wine.
“I don’t want this.” I try to hand it back.
He rolls his eyes before reaching up and smacking me in the back of the head. Much like Papa had done a million times. For a split second, he looks just like him. “It’s not for you, idiota!”
I hear Brynne laugh from the kitchen, and I smirk as I realize he’d poured the glass for me to give to her.
“Oh.”
“Well? How long have you been together? And how’d you find such a beautiful woman out there in the middle of nowhere?” He picks up a glass for his wife, and at the moment I feel like it’s the most normal I’ve ever felt in a house of other people. We’re both going to go hand them their drinks and then join in on whatever mundane conversation they’ve struck up. But it makes my heart fuller than I’ve ever felt.
And puts me further on edge.
I think of a way to answer my brother, without telling him how I’d taken her from inside her shelter, stripped her bare, and then hand-fed her as I lusted over cutting her and watching her bleed.
“It’s a long story,” I say, smirking awkwardly.
He narrows his gaze. “Alright. Well, once you’re settled back in, I want the full story. Unless my wife’s already gotten it, then I’ll hear all about it later on.”
He wiggles his eyebrows and moves away toward the kitchen. I watch after him, basking in the fact he’s alive.
He’s always had the most personality. The most warmth. While I was left with the scraps of what Mama had to give me. Which wasn’t much.
I sigh, moving behind him.
I step into the kitchen only two steps before stopping.
“What do you mean he took your clothes?” Alessia asks, and when they register my presence, all eyes swing to me.
A smile will not get me out of this one.
* * *
Dinner had been amazing.The conversation flowed, and Lucio and I decided we weren’t spoiling the time we were having with shop talk, so we agreed to meet later to discuss Enzo and what I’d gathered. Even though I plan to put him off as long as humanly possible because I need more information on what’s going on at the docks.
Brynne is three glasses of wine in when we get into the car. Her cheeks are warm with color, and her hands have been wandering for the last hour.
I’m barely holding onto my sanity when Lucio shuts the door. I close my eyes, letting the silence permeate my senses.
“Headed home, Sir?” Joe asks.
“Yes,” Brynne says quickly. For someone who seems uncomfortable in my world, she’s quick to give orders and pull details off their posts to fill them with bread and chips.
“No,” I say simply.
Joe’s eyes meet mine in the rearview. He knows where I go afterward. He knows what I need. He looks toward Brynne. She’s looking at me and missing the exchange.
“The Red Door,” I order.
Joe has never questioned me in the entire time he’s been in our employ, but this time, he hesitates. I don’t waver in my order.
“Yes, Sir,” he says finally, reaching up and closing the privacy screen.
“What’s The Red Door?” Brynne asks, hand skimming my leg for the thousandth time.
I grab it firmly, placing it over my cock. “Somewhere we can take care of this. Somewhere I can show you off. Somewhere you can blossom.”
I snap my eyes to hers, and she bites her lip, eyes growing heavy.
When we finally arrive, Brynne is nearly dancing in her seat with anticipation. I haven’t been able to look at her. We won’t make it inside if I do. Being home has gotten under my fucking skin, but seeing her in this world is doing something disgusting to me. In the best fucking way. I can’t wait to see her under the colored lights, body bare.
Only for a second do I think this might be the moment she finally bolts from me.
“Ready, bunny?” I ask.
She looks up at the club, a red door boasting security posted out front to check I.D.s, and let members in ahead of the line.
I lead her toward the other side of the line. She tugs me as if to say we’re going the wrong way. She clearly isn’t used to being shown the city with a Sottocapo on her arm. — Underboss.
“Ardesia, good to see you!” Robert says as he sees me approaching with a panicked Brynne, who is feeling a little guilty for skipping the line.
“Can’t say the same, Robert. You need to see my card?”
He scoffs. “As if. She with you?” He motions toward Brynne. It’s not like he needs to. My little rabbit is clinging to my arm, excitement overriding the wine high she’s been riding since dinner.
“Sure is.”
He steps to the side. “Have fun. But not too much, hmm?”
I eye him, knowing exactly which night he’s mentioning with his waggling eyebrows.
“I’ll try to be on my best behavior.”
We get inside and the music overtakes all the tangled thoughts in my head, but it does nothing but amp the trill in my veins. Brynne takes it in.
Raised platforms of different sizes have dancers dancing atop them. The bar to the left has bottles lining the entire wall of the mirrored backsplash. Lights twirl overhead. The dance floor is massive and thrumming with bodies. The tables off to the right house those who are taking a break or have partaken far too much to be on their feet any longer.
But my bunny doesn’t miss the catwalk above, all metal and exposed. It spans the entire club and houses booths, benches, and spaces for members to play.
“Is that… What is that?” she shouts over the music.
I smirk, looking upward, even though I know what’s caught her eye. “Saint Andrew’s Cross,” I whisper in her ear.
“We’re going up there?” She licks her lips, eyes meeting mine.
I shrug. “Depends. Do you want to dance down here? Or do you want to dance up there?”
My entire body leans into her, waiting to see if I’d played this correctly.
She points up. “I want to go up there.”
Good choice, bunny.
* * *
Upstairs, I sit back and let Brynne take in all she’s seeing. A Dom is spanking his sub in full view of other members who are watching intently as she glistens under the firm hand of her king.
I don’t miss the way Brynne looks under the red lights lining the walls. The club lights still twirl below, but up here, it’s a different world. One where men like me thrive and women like her shower in the spoils.
I slide closer, loosening my tie. Leaning in, I let my lips skim her ear. She leans to the other side, elongating her neck. Her scent is like the nectar of the fucking gods, and I close my eyes against its fingers. “So, what do you think, bunny? Want to let Daddy play? Or are you going to be a shy little rabbit tonight?”
She turns, and I don’t move. Her heated breaths skim over my lips and I inhale them like they are a cloud of the sweetest drug.
Her pupils are blown, and I decide to test the boundary lines. To see what my little girl is up for.
I lift her, pulling her into my lap. I feel her dress ride up as her back presses to my front. Her view is the very thing everyone’s been watching. The Dom is now rubbing his reddened marks, but he’s slowly readying to take his little one higher.
“Do you like to watch?” I ask Brynne.
She nods, and I wish I could see her face. But I can’t see her face and play at the same time. Not yet.
I palm her pussy, feeling just how wet she is through the flimsy fabric. “I can feel your truth, bunny.”
“She listens to every word he says,” Brynne whispers in my ear as I lean forward.
I nod. “She does. How does that make you feel?”
She turns, looking me over, likely thinking of the moments in the cabin. It seems like a world away from where we are now, but the memories are something I keep close every moment of every day. I can see in her eyes she does too.
“I don’t know,” she says.
I nod absently. “Well, let’s see, shall we?”
She eyes me warily.
“Kneel,” I tell her, letting my hands fall away from her body.
It only takes a second before she slides off my lap, turning and dropping to her knees between my legs, and we gain some eyes from some of the benches.
I slowly unbutton my shirt, letting it fall open. My abs ripple in red, and she eyes them like her last meal, shifting on her knees. Leaning slightly, I spit onto my breastbone, letting it slide down as I sit back.
She watches with intrigue. “Clean it up. Use your tongue,” I command, eyeing her sternly.
She licks her lips, looking up at me with heated eyes. I’m ready to wipe it off when she lifts on her knees and her tongue connects to my stomach above my belly button. She eyes me as she slowly cleans the spit from my torso.
The animal in my fucking brain is screaming to be let loose.
“Good fucking girl, bunny.”
A man on a bench near the other scene stands, eyes intent on coming closer. I eye him with a shake of my head to tell him to fuck off.
She’s fucking mine. I’ll show her off, but I need space to devour my prey. Kings don’t fucking share.
I sit forward, looking down at her as I slip my thumb into her mouth. She sucks on it, eyeing me eagerly.
I pull it out, and her lips pucker so fucking alluringly I can barely stand to not sink my teeth into them.
“Tell me what you want, Daddy.”
I close my eyes, feeling her submission like a weight lifting off my fucking chest. “I want you on that goddamn cross, Brynne. More than anything. But I don’t want to push you.”
She eyes it, biting her lip, and I lose myself, sinking my face into her neck and nibbling her perfume-scented flesh.
She stands, and I’m about to tell her I didn’t release her, but she pulls her dress over her head. Only her thong remains, as she hadn’t worn a bra. When she steps in front of the cross and lifts her arms to coincide where the arms of the cross extend, I hurry out of my suit jacket, shirt, and tie. I reach down and grab my tie, throwing it over my shoulder.
“You don’t know what seeing you like this does to me. The fact you’re mine to show off. To torture with everyone looking at what’s fucking mine,” I growl, restraining her hands first so I can taunt her.
She whimpers. “Show me, Daddy.”
I look up at her as I slowly crouch to connect her feet to the cross. She’s so fucking beautiful. The underside of her breasts curves like a work of art. Art is meant to be shown off.
Before I stand, I bite her pussy through her thin cotton thong. Her head lolls forward, a moan getting lost in the club’s music.
I’ve never felt so fucking alive. Not even when I’m covered in blood.
“I’m going to take you a little higher tonight, Brynne. I need you to pick a safeword. I’ll need you to shout it to the fucking heavens as loud as you can because once my hands are on this beautiful body, love, there’s no going back.”
She’s panting as I hold my tie over her eyes in anticipation of sending her into the darkness.
“Stranded,” she blurts.
I smirk, then nod. “Ready?”
“Yes, Daddy.”
She’s too eager. If she was anyone else, I’d take her down right now. But I can’t bring myself to do it. There’s no going back. I bind my tie around her eyes.
Crouching, I take a small blade from my boot, kissing up her leg slowly as I make my way to the only thing holding me back from having my meal.
I cut her panties, and she moans when they fall to the floor below. Air skims across her pussy, and I give her a few minutes to adjust to being unclad and restrained for me.
“This is where I torture this body you torment me with by just existing,” I tell her, tweaking her nipples roughly in circles.
“Fuck!” she shouts, and I’m spurred on. With my right hand, I slap the side of her breast, watching it dance for me under the firmness of the strike.
She wiggles on the cross. “God, why does it feel so good when I literally can’t move?”
I chuckle, capturing her lips quickly, slipping my tongue against hers. When I pull back, she tries to go with me. I shake my head with my bottom lip between my teeth.
Leaning forward, I nibble her ear as I slap her pussy. “Because you know Daddy’s got you. Up here with me, you’re fucking free, baby girl. Free to enjoy. Free to shut the fucking world out and just feel.”
When I find her pussy with my fingers, she cries out my name, and I close my eyes. She doesn’t know what she’s giving me or what demons she sates tonight as she hands me the reins.
I drop to my knees, tongue finding her as I forgo all the bullshit and slip two fingers inside my little bunny before she thinks to utter her safeword.
“Slate, fuck,” she groans gutturally.
If I took time to look up, I’m certain the entire floor is watching us. But I don’t give a good goddamn.
Let them look at how my bunny bows to me. I turn my fingers, hooking them upward and rubbing against the front wall, I know it’s going to be a lot for her, especially restrained, so I take my time, not pressing too firmly.
My tongue swirls and teases her clit as I work her G-spot with an even rhythm. She thinks this is about her, but when she comes, it’s going to feed the animal slithering beneath my skin. The one coated in blood and still hungry for pleasure.
“It’s too much. Slate…”
I pull back, looking up at her before reaching up and snatching the tip of the tie I’d left over her right breast for easy accessibility. The tie drops away, and her eyes find mine.
“Take it for me, Brynne. I want you to come for me. I want your cum to cover my fucking face. Give it to Daddy,” I plead frantically.
Her mouth gapes in overwhelming power as I keep stroking her quicker and quicker.
I’m frantic for her release, and she can see it in my eyes.
She nods. “Clean it up with your tongue,” she says. I swear I hear a groan from the peanut gallery behind me, but I’m too gone to give a fuck.
I dive back into her pussy, burying my need into her, teeth skimming her clit, fingers fucking into her with a fever that’s leaving my veins and caressing her soul.
“Holy fuck,” she drawls. “Don’t fucking stop, Slate. I swear to god… don’t you fucking dare st—” Her words cease as her entire body arches, legs shaking, pussy squirting and washing away the blood coating my sick soul.
I won’t stop until I hear her yell, “Stranded!”
Quickly, I get her off the cross, moving us to a booth where we can have a moment for her to come down. She curls in my lap like a cat that’s drunk on catnip. I hold her tightly to me.
And it’s this very fucking moment I know that if she doesn’t stay, I’m done. There’s no me without her.
“Such a good girl for Daddy,” I tell her, stroking her hair.
Her answering kiss is languid and doses me with everything she can’t put into words.
“I think I really like The Red Door,” she says, head lolling onto my shoulder.
I chuckle darkly. “I think I do, too.”
How I went to the wilderness and found the other part of me is unfathomable to me, but it happened.
And now here we are. The world is at war around us both, and I’ll protect her with my fucking life because there never was and there never will be another like her.