37. Luciano
Chapter 37
Luciano
"Juliet."
My sigh of pleasure disappeared into the steam of the shower, along with my strangled groans, as I restrained myself from grabbing her head and fucking her face.
This wasn't fair. I couldn't touch her, but she could touch me. "Juliet, please," I begged with a deep groan at the feeling of her taking my cock in deeper into her throat. "Oh fuck, this is torture." I wanted to hold her face against me so badly right now, keep myself completely bottomed out in her.
In one swift movement, she pulled off me completely with a sharp gasp. "Why the fuck am I like this? You just beat a man bloody because I said so, cut his genitals off with a dull knife, and shoved it in his mouth. I should be horrified, not horny." I wish I had a good answer for why she was so torn.
"It's just how we are in this lifestyle. Also, it probably has to do with the fact you got a part of your revenge and watched your man take care of your problems while you remained safe." We were fucked up, but I wasn't about to tell her that right now when her emotions were strung high.
Letting out a groan of frustration, Juliet slapped the shower wall behind me and stood up, running a hand through her wet hair as the showerheads continued to rain water down on us. "I… Ugh!" Scowling, she stomped the tiled floor, splashing water on both of us. "I want to let you back in so badly, and I hate that my heart craves you like a drug addict craves their next high. But I don't want to get hurt again." Her hands gripped her arms tightly to where the flesh of her upper arms blanched.
Pushing off the shower wall, I wrapped my arms around her from behind, tucking her into my body. "And I will never stop killing myself every day for how I wronged you. I will never stop apologizing for the rest of our lives." It really did feel like getting shot in the chest every time I looked at her and saw the somber hurt in her eyes whenever they gazed at me.
"It hurts me to not have you, but I just… I don't know, Luca, I'm just so scared." Her body trembled against me as her sniffling started.
Fuck, I made her cry again.
"Juliet." All I could do was turn her around and hold her tightly as she broke down into full-blown sobs. "I really am so fucking sorry." My voice cracked along with the pattering of the water.
In almost an automatic action, my hand rubbed along the length of her back soothingly while the two of us stood there for a long while. I forced us to get out once the water started getting cold.
"Are you sure you want to see your parents today? If you aren't in the right—"
I didn't get to finish before Juliet tersely cut me off. "I do. I want them dealt with sooner rather than later. Besides, it's just to get everything off my chest. I already hacked their accounts and drained them into the negatives." She was firm in her decision, her soft eyes hard with determination.
Leaving the dresser, she came to a stop before me at the bed's edge, wedging herself between my parted legs. "And then we have to talk, too." Her wavering tone caused a wave of worry to churn my guts.
"A good talk? Or a bad talk?" I wanted clarification to better prepare myself emotionally and mentally.
Flashing a small smile, she reached out and pinched my cheek softly. "A good talk. I'm not breaking up with you for good or anything like that." She assured me in a soft yet firm voice.
Then, I swear, my heart skipped a beat when she leaned in and pressed her sweetly soft lips against mine in a trembling kiss.
Control burned up the moment her lips touched mine in forever. My arm wrapped itself around her waist like a constrictor would with prey while my other hand grabbed the back of her head to keep her intoxicating lips against mine. I didn't want this high to end, not after going this whole time without kissing her.
This was the first time since our blowout that we have kissed. I had respected Juliet's wishes and kept a certain distance between us, and I was mindful of physical contact with her. Unless she initiated it, I didn't attempt it.
Juliet said I was her drug, well she was mine. I meant what I said about not being able to live without her. She was the breath of life to me; every morning, whenever she kissed me, or I stole her breath from her, it felt like a hit of energy. Being around her or knowing she was around motivated me to go through my work to spend more time with her. And her touch, the feeling of her body, her kisses, her , was otherworldly euphoria that no drug could ever come close to mimicking.
A muffled cry of protest and the feeling of something tapping my shoulder snapped me back to my senses. Reluctantly, I broke away from Juliet with a sharp inhale of air. "Please, let me kiss you again." Call me a love-sick fool, whipped, desperate, I don't care. I'd stoop to any level as long as I could get another taste of her lip.
"Only one—" I didn't let her finish because of my eagerness. A muffled squeal and giggle vibrated against my mouth as I forced my way into Juliet's mouth, wanting to get every inch of her again on my tongue. "Luthca sthoph." She protested while trying to pull herself away.
Yielding to her request somewhat bitterly, I pulled away again, this time frowning a bit at her. I tried to go in for another kiss when she opened her mouth, but she was smarter and faster this time. Instead of her lips, I was met with the palm of her hand, causing my brows to furrow together as I pouted at her. "Luca, we can kiss all you want later after we have our talk. We won't leave the bed if we don't stop now."
"You make it sound like that's a bad thing." I mused against her lips before stealing another kiss, earning a smack on the shoulder and a pout from her in return.
"On any other day, maybe." Her smile seemed a little reluctant, and she sounded a little crestfallen.
Concern washed over me at her low demeanor. "Juliet, sweetheart." Taking her hands in mine, I rubbed the back of them with my thumbs. "What is wrong?" Had I done or said something without knowing? Was it my fault?
"I just… I'm trying not to get my hopes up with us right now." Her answer did nothing to soothe my growing worries. "But we'll talk about it later." I didn't like her brushing me off like this either—I didn't like being dismissed by anyone.
Juliet turned to leave, but I refused to let her walk away from this right now. It took some holding back to not violently jerk her back with my tug. "Why can't we talk about it now? It's obviously a bother to you. And what do you mean get your hopes up about us? You sound like you might put an end to our relationship." She couldn't even look me in the fucking eyes when she spoke earlier, and that really worried me.
"Because it's a lot, and I don't want to get into it before we deal with my parents." She still refused to meet my eyes as she spoke, her head turning to avoid me when I tried to maneuver my head to make eye contact. "Luca, please… It'll be the end of us if we find ourselves incompatible after tonight. I want to think and believe that you will be fine with later, but I don't want to be crushed if things go south." Sighing heavily, she wrestles her hands out of my vice grip, hugging them to her chest as she scurried away from me to the doorway.
Pressing her and arguing with her right now would do us no good. Annoyance and irritation clenched at my jaw as my lips pulled down into an aching scowl. Leaving it for later did not sit well with me, and I made my displeasure known with my brooding silence the whole trip to her parents' gaudy mansion. Seeing the damn place irked me more and pulled at the cork I had over my bottled violence.
A part of me wanted to set a bomb on the place and sit back and relax in a lawn chair right outside the gates to watch the chaos of the flames engulf the place to ashes. The other half wanted to charge in head first with my fists and beat every living being in the place six feet underground to run all this pent-up ire out before I exploded in an unhealthy way.
Once I pulled up to the front of the place, I threw the car into park and got out, rounding the vehicle to get Juliet's door for her. I was peeved at her, but that didn't mean I would treat her any less than perfect.
Taking my hand, Juliet let me help her out and take her to the front doors. "Kick the door down, I want a grand fucking entrance." With how she glared at the doors, I was surprised the thing didn't disintegrate into ashes.
This new side to Juliet unnerved me a little. Since our argument, she's changed so much, but definitely not for the better. I never thought I'd say it, but I wanted my sweet Juliet back—the one I killed with my words. This power-hungry, blood-lusting woman standing next to me right now might have been the kind of woman I imagined ruling with me, and it was the type of woman I wanted for the longest while until Juliet. She had been too soft and innocent for my world, but she was perfect in a way with how intelligent, cunning, and deadly she was in her own right.
Juliet might not be the type of person to knock a grown man down onto his ass or pull a gun out to put some bullets into him without a second thought, but she could wreck a different kind of havoc with her hacking and technical knack. She never made any kill shots with her drones, but she was willing to shoot at a person. Well, I don't know if she was a bad shot or wanted the person to live, but the few times I have seen her use her drones, the person always lived until me or my men swooped in. Of course, she told me it was on purpose, but the uptick and hesitation in her voice whenever she answered me made me a little suspicious.
I wanted that Juliet back. I wanted my Juliet back.
Sadly, I had no one to blame but myself.
Shoving my thoughts away, I let go of Juliet and pushed her behind me before kicking the doors in and throwing them open to make them slam against the wall.
"Mother! Father! I'm home!" Juliet's menacing shout echoed through the nearly empty mansion. "Don't you want to see your dear daughter!?"
A distressed voice cried from above the stairs, "You little! How dare you do this to us!? After all we have done!" Juliet's mother stumbled down the stairs hastily, looking worse than ever.
She already didn't look good before, but at least the twenty pounds of caked-on makeup and ridiculous hair updo made her less of an eyesore compared to now. To say she looked like an unhinged mess would be a gross understatement. Somehow, she looked like she'd lost quite a lot of body weight, gained more wrinkles, lost half her hair volume, and overall looked very shitty.
Mrs. Chau lashed out a hand to slap Juliet, but she quickly sidestepped it, pathetically letting the older woman fall to the ground. "I see you missed your botox and hair appointments." Juliet casually mentioned in a voice full of fake sympathy as she looked down at her mother. "Where's my sperm donor?"
A voice came around the corner of the hallway downstairs, following a frail-looking Arnold. "Juliet, oh sweetie, I knew you would come back around to us." I didn't know whether to laugh at how hopeful he sounded or puke at how fake he pretended to be.
When Mr. Chau showed no signs of stopping his path toward Juliet, I quickly placed myself between them and stopped him with a dead glare. "Juliet, please tell Mr. Agosti that I merely want to hug my dear daughter." Okay, maybe puking in his face and making him eat it sounded like a good plan, or maybe an elbow to the face to break it.
"Mr. Agosti? You mean my husband? Who you sold me to, like how you sold me to that damn brothel for your debts?" Juliet spat out with a snarling scowl, her words dripping with so much hatred that even I felt a little wary.
"J-Juliet, please, let us explain. That's not how it is. He's been lying to you." Mr. Chau tried to take a step forward, but a flinch from me stopped him dead and made his face pale with fear.
Scoffing and chuckling dryly, Juliet reached down, hauled Mrs. Chau up, and shoved her toward Mr. Chau, who didn't even bother reaching a hand out to catch his stumbling wife. "Oh? Then please entertain me with your lies." Juliet pressed Mr. Chau in a sardonic voice.
Like the spineless fool he was, Mr. Chau was quick to tell Juliet everything about my visit to them that day and how I made them sign the contract and lie. I wasn't phased by any of it; I had already told Juliet the full truth and showed her the contracts, both the adjusted and originals with that day's date.
"Huh." Juliet stammered out with some surprise as she looked at Mr. Chau amusingly. "I honestly thought you were gonna lie to me or some shit. Well, you still are going to feed me shit to try and get me on your good side, but that won't work." Juliet let out a whimsical sigh and smiled emptily at her parents.
Looking around the place, Juliet seemed to revel in its emptiness. "Either they were quick to repossess everything, or you had to sell off so much before that." She mused with a low chuckle as she looked back at the older couple. "You know, I want to feel sorry for you, considering you were my parents, but I just can't seem to muster anything up." She sounded a little crazed with her expressionless face.
Pathetically, Mr. Chau dropped to his knees and looked at Juliet pleadingly. "Juliet, please, just let us apologize. Give us one last chance, please." Darting his head over to his mess of a wife, he offered a shaky smile to Juliet. "Please, honey, look at your mother. Don't you feel bad about her withdrawals? Please, just give her something to help."
This poor acting started to bore me faster than I anticipated, and I almost wanted to put the man out of his misery by stomping his head in. Too bad that was a mercy he didn't deserve.
Letting out a sarcastic laugh, Juliet shook her head at Mr. Chau. "Like how you felt bad for me knowing the place you sent me to? Knowing what those disgusting pigs in there will do to me?" Calming herself down with a few deep breaths, she put on a stoic face again. "I am merely disregarding you as you did me. Whatever shit hole you find yourselves in from here on out is none of my concern. Besides, you blame me for draining your accounts and leaving you more broke than a hobo, but you had little to nothing by the time I got access to your accounts."
Sputtering in shock, "What about your brother? You're going to ruin him!" Mr. Chau argued.
Scoffing, she looked at Mr. Chau somewhat disgustingly. "What about him? He's not any better than you two. I mean, maybe if you had bothered to teach him how to be a semi-decent person, and if he was a decent person, then I would have spared him." Pulling out a phone from her pocket, she unlocked and opened up an album before sliding the phone to Mr. Chau.
"That's your 'precious golden boy' son right there, head deep in drugs and booze with girls who want his plastic credit card." With a mocking chuckle, she sighed disappointedly, "If he were a decent person, then he would be helping his poor, broke parents out in their time of need."
Breathing deeply, Juliet took my hand and squeezed it. "I have no more business here. I'm ready to burn my past to ashes."
The two of us didn't spare either of them a last look as we turned around and left through the busted doors. "Are you okay?" I asked in a low voice after I opened the car door for her.
"I don't know… Like, yes, but no…" She was exhausted, her words dragging a bit with her slumping shoulders.
Offering a sympathetic smile, I hugged her and kissed her forehead. "It is a huge step for you to completely erase the life you knew before, no matter how horrible, but you are doing it." Leaning back, I looked down at her with a proud and happy smile as I held her face with one hand. "And I am more than proud of you for becoming so strong."
It was somewhat of a sweet moment until my men interrupted, forcing me to begrudgingly remove myself from Juliet. "Mister Agosti, sir, the gas has been poured." One of them informed me.
Nodding at them, I dismissed them and turned my attention back to Juliet after pulling a lighter from my pocket. "Let's torch it and go home," I told her with an impatient smile.
"What? That eager to have me break up with you already?" Even though she was joking, I couldn't help but feel a little panicked. "Luca, I'm not gonna break up with you, so don't have a heart attack." She assured me with a laugh after she saw my face twist in fear.
A malicious grin played on her face as she took the lighter from me and lit it. Her eyes momentarily became mesmerized by the flame before she threw the lighter onto the gasoline stream, setting a fire trail that ran to the mansion and consumed it with a whoosh of heat.
Neither of us said a word while we stood there and watched for a moment and listened to the frantic screams of her ex-parents. Not a peep came from us either on the drive back, and I didn't dare speak up because I wanted Juliet to have her moment. This was a lot for her .
Whenever the subject would be brought up, she would claim to have no care about her parents. But her eyes could never lie. I always saw it, deep down, she had a small inkling left.
Well, it was gone now.
She really—quite literally—burned the bridges to her past life down.
However, I began to worry a little when we made it home, and she was still silent as she got ready for bed. I know it probably has been a long day for Juliet, from giving me the list of men who wronged her, watching me kill the man with my bare hands so cruelly and gruesomely up close like that, to the last confrontation with her ex-parents. It was more than a loaded day.
Unfortunately, a knock at my door pulled me away from my Juliet before I could bring the issue up. "Luciano, don't be going for a quickie. We leave in an hour." Sebastian's voice teased me with a chuckle from the other side of the door.
"Oh stai zitto . I'll be out there in a bit, just saying good night to Juliet real quick." I half shouted back at Sebastian before turning my complete attention to Juliet, who lingered by the window with a black velvet box in her hands.
" Amorina , I have to go out tonight." I didn't want to rush her, but whatever she wanted to tell me would either have to wait or be quick.
My eyes barely caught her hands clenching the long box tightly with her quickening breath. Standing there for a moment, it seemed as if she was deep in thought. I was about to leave her to get ready, but her sudden movement toward me kept my feet rooted.
Standing before me, she looked up at me as she licked her trembling lips. "I…" She stuttered and shut her mouth, clearing her throat. "This might be a lot to ask of you, and I thought about it for a while and tried to deny it. But… I would always round back to it, and it became clear to me after we tried to have our first night." Her fast words shook with her quickening breaths.
This started sounding a lot like a breakup, which did nothing to calm my racing heart in my tense chest. "Juliet, if you are going to end our relationship, then just save us both the torture and say it," I told her point blank, mentally scolding myself for the anger that slipped through.
Her eyes widened, and her head shook furiously. "No! I'm not breaking up with you." The resolution in her eyes assured me enough for some of my nerves to calm. "But you might break up with me." Her shoulders fell heavily as her hands reached for mine, placing the box in them.
Okay, now I was thoroughly confused. I only grew more perplexed upon opening the box. Wordlessly, I picked up the dainty leather collar with my symbol hanging off the center, and on either side of it were the words ' principessa ' and ' amorina ' etched in faint gold. "You think I am going to break up with you because of a collar?" Paint me stupid if I missed some huge point because no matter how much I racked my brain, I couldn't think of anything.
Needless to say, the next words out of her mouth made me feel like a deer in headlights, followed by the semi-truck crashing into me.
"I want you to rape me."