Chapter 4
4
LUCA
I can’t breathe. It’s so hot, flames licking at the small crawlspace I’ve squeezed myself into. Pulling my shirt over my mouth, I inhale, but there’s so much smoke. It hurts. I turn my face away from the flames and see spiders scatter up the walls. One bit me already, my skin stinging around my ankle. I pull my legs up closer to my chest, squeezing my eyes shut and wishing for my mom and dad.
For someone to save me.
But no one will. They’re all dead.
Images of my parents and two younger brothers bleeding out on the floor shoot through my mind, my mother reaching out for me, her lips forming the words to tell me to hide.
I heard them scream as the fire consumed them.
And now it’s just flames.
It’s so hot.
I can’t breathe.
Can’t breathe.
Can’t breathe .
Can’t…
“Luca!” A shout has me sitting upright in bed, sweat dripping down my body, my skin aching from where I swear I felt the flames scorching them. I turn my hazy gaze toward Viktor, who is staring at me with wide eyes.
My hand runs down my face, trembling slightly. I’m gasping, drinking down the air.
“What was that? A nightmare?”
I don’t answer; I can’t. My throat is parched, as if I swallowed the fire itself. He saw me vulnerable. No one sees me like this. No one.
Viktor sees me swallowing, my throat clicking loudly, and he sighs, standing up and returning a moment later with a cup of water in his hand. I take it and gulp it down, some missing my mouth entirely and sliding down my chin and chest.
And the entire time, Viktor just watches me, his eyes taking everything in.
I’ve never felt so weak in my entire life. I hate how much he sees.
The way he looks at me. He’s always fucking looking.
I hate it. But not as much as when his eyes are on someone else. I hate that even more.
“Lie the fuck down,” I murmur when he continues to just stand there, ogling me.
“I’m just making sure you don’t break down again,” he bites back.
“I wasn’t breaking down.”
But I was. Anyone would if they were faced with those visions, a nightmare revisiting me every few days. Those flames didn’t sear my body, but they seared my mind. I won’t ever come back from that.
“You were. You were crying.”
I swipe at my swollen eyes, and I swear I can feel the smoke agitating them. They ached for days after the fire, my vision blurry. The doctors thought I might have vision loss.
“I never cry.”
He huffs and rolls his eyes, moving to his side of the bed and crawling beneath the covers, turning his back to me.
“Whatever. Go cry in your sleep. I don’t fucking care.”
He’s pouting as I put my head back on the pillow and stare up at the ceiling. My heart is thumping abnormally fast in my chest and my skin feels as if it’s still melting from my body.
I’m on top of the comforter, trying like hell to cool down, but nothing is working, so I finally sit up and move to the bathroom to take a cold shower. The icy spray from the showerhead calms me somewhat, and when I emerge and slip back under the covers, I feel more or less back to normal.
The only problem is, Viktor is watching me intently, those dark eyes peering into my fucking soul. Even in the dark, I know they’re on me.
His hand reaches out and touches my arm, and I flinch back.
“You’re freezing.”
“Better than burning alive.”
He’s quiet for a moment and then, “What happened to you, Luca?”
“None of your fucking business.”
“Yeah, you’re right. Shouldn’t fucking care about you. I don’t know what I was thinking.”
Yeah, he’s got it now. It’s best not to care about anyone because when you do, you lose them. In the most horrible way.
The next morning, while Viktor is still asleep, I sit in the bathroom with the water running to drown out any noise as I call my aunt. She messaged me last night, almost as if she could feel the nightmare I had.
After the fire, my aunt and uncle took me in, and she would let me crawl into bed with her on the nights I’d wake up from those dreams. It was the only safety I ever felt after watching my family die.
I think of Viktor sprawled out on the bed in the other room, the steady thrum of his heart, the way his limbs go akimbo over the entire bed, the way he takes up so much space.
Fuck. Him.
“How are you?” my aunt says over the phone. “Is that running water? What happened?”
“Nothing, just got your message,” I lie, even though I know she can tell. She always knew when I was afraid. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine, love. Just got a sense last night and you know your uncle. He insisted I message to check in. It’s been a while.”
“It has.”
“So, tell me how you’re really doing. You have that sound about you.”
I sigh and rub a hand across my face. “Had the dream again. It hasn’t happened in a while.”
She’s silent for a moment. “Do you have someone to take care of you when you wake?”
I don’t want to admit it, but I can’t lie to her. “Kind of.”
“Is that who you’re hiding from in the bathroom?” I don’t say anything, and she laughs softly. “You stubborn boy. Go back out there and let her comfort you.”
I don’t correct her immediately. She has no reason to think this person is a man. I’ve never given any indication it was a possibility. Until him.
Until three years ago.
My mind pictures the black rose, a representation of so many things.
I squash it and focus back on my aunt.
“It’s not a woman,” I murmur.
My aunt is silent, and then utters, “Oh. Doesn’t matter, love. Just let yourself be taken care of. You deserve it after everything you went through. ”
I don’t tell her it’s not his job, nor is it consistent with who I am. I’m no longer that scared little boy. She doesn’t need to see the real me. No one sees that. Not even him. I won’t let him. But I let her believe what she wants to. Instead, I change the subject, making promises to see her and my uncle soon. I hang up, turn off the water, and move into the main room. I brew myself a cup of coffee as Viktor wakes up, and then I offer him one as well.
He takes it begrudgingly.
“Who were you talking to in the bathroom?” he asks, almost sounding jealous.
I don’t answer, just drink my coffee and let him stew on it. It sours his mood completely.
Good. Let him feel a fraction of what he does to me.
When the coffee has been depleted, we dress in our laundered clothes and grab a quick breakfast from the downstairs café before heading out to two other motorcycle clubs. One is on the outskirts of the city and the other is in the high desert. Both are dead ends. No one knows anything, and if they do, they lie to our faces.
“I’m telling you, the Sirens know something more than they’re saying.” This is the third time Viktor has said this to me today, but I’m grumpy and tired. The lack of sleep and the copious amounts of caffeine I’ve consumed are making me cranky. I can feel my eyeballs with each blink and my heart is beating erratically inside my chest.
I hate those nightmares. They come and go, making appearances when I least expect them. I should have known one would show up when I was with Viktor.
“Yeah, you fucking said,” I murmur as I place a cigarette between my lips and wait for him to light it. He does it with deft precision, and I take that first drag of nicotine into my lungs. Fuck, that’s nice.
It’s a bad vice, but I won’t quit. No matter how much the smoke reminds me of that torturous night. Maybe that’s why I like it, why I continue to smoke.
To not let me forget .
I never did find who murdered them. Even with Anthony’s help later on, the trail went cold.
Not that I’ve given up. I’ll never give up, not until I find them and burn them alive.
Just like they did to my family.
Leaning my head back against the passenger seat, I watch the traffic come to a standstill and curse under my breath.
“We should go back and press the Sirens. I know you’ve probably fucked all of them, but that doesn’t mean they’re innocent.”
“I’ve fucked ten and a half of them,” I grumble. And none of them were very good. Each one just a passing fancy that ended in extreme boredom. Unlike Viktor. It’s him I love to play with. I never thought I’d be into another man like this, but there’s just something about him.
The way he grumbles and grunts and ultimately caves.
I want to see him give in completely. Again.
I want it again .
“Yeah, well…”
“Yeah, well, what?” I ask as my phone rings. I answer when I see that it’s Carlos.
“What’s up?” I ask and turn my gaze to the mountains and the traffic looming endlessly before us.
“Found a body out back. A woman. What the fuck do we do? I don’t do cleanup, Luca.” He sounds panicked, and I grind my teeth in frustration. This is not what I need today.
I sigh, pinching the bridge of my nose. “I know you don’t. Don’t call the cops. Cover her up with a tarp or some shit. We’ll be there as fast as we can.”
I stare at the brake lights in front of us and sigh again. “Another body at the club. Call the Andromeda brothers. Are you wearing your slut panties?”
“They’re not slutty. They’re just underwear.”
I stare at him long and hard. “I’ve never seen a man wear something like that. ”
“Yeah, well, you don’t know the right kind of men.”
“Hm,” I say, running my hand across my jaw. “Apparently, I don’t. In any case, call the fucking brothers. I need them there ASAP. And we need a blood sample again. We need to see if this is an overdose with the same drug.”
But Viktor doesn’t sense the urgency. He takes his time calling them, speaking curtly through the speaker phone when he does. He’s trying to keep it professional, but they won’t let him.
“Do you have what we want?” they ask at the same time in the creepy way they do.
He huffs and peers over at me with those dark brown eyes. I can’t help but smirk.
“I do,” he grumbles, and they practically purr over the phone.
“Just so you know, we are making changes to the contract. Will discuss when we arrive.”
I grin as he hangs up and stabs at the controls for the music.
“Don’t say a fucking word.”
“I’ll speak if I want to. I’m your boss, which you seem to forget as often as you breathe.”
“You don’t let me forget,” he hisses and then turns up the music even louder. Some kind of angry rock band that is giving me a migraine. Reaching over, I turn it off.
“Can’t stand that shit.”
“And what do you like, huh? I don’t think you even like music. I bet anything pretty makes your ears bleed.”
“I like peace and quiet.”
He rolls his eyes and his grip tightens on the steering wheel. His dark brown hair hangs messily around his ears and I itch to touch it.
Love that it’s longer. Perfect for pulling.
“Fine, then we can roll our way to the fucking dead body in silence.”
I’m fine with that. And we do; the only sounds are the engine accelerating occasionally and Viktor’s muttered curses when someone brakes too quickly. By the time we’re at the club, the sun is setting behind the horizon and Carlos looks nearly apoplectic.
“There are two men here. Creepy fuckers,” he murmurs as he leads us into the back alley where a tarp covers a lump on the ground. “They wouldn’t leave.”
“Yes, they’re with me,” I say, and he eyes me, but I ignore him. He’s just a contractor. He doesn’t need to know anything more. “You’re dismissed. Thank you for keeping this discreet. You’ll find a nice deposit in your account later tonight.”
Carlos nods and then turns on his heel, leaving Viktor and me to face the body under the tarp and the twins who are kneeling next to it, vials of blood lying near their black boots.
“You made it,” one of them says. Don’t know which one, just that he’s ogling Viktor with lust in his eyes. My fingers land on my gun.
Could put a bullet between his eyes.
I could.
“Yeah, I know,” Viktor mumbles, moving behind a dumpster and returning with his panties. He hands the underwear to one of them, and the twin presses his nose into it, inhaling deeply like the creep he is, before handing it to his brother, who does the same thing.
“You smell like sex,” one of them says before placing the panties in his pocket.
“I smell like soap.”
They stare at him, not blinking before dismissing him entirely.
“Now that we’ve gotten what we want, we’ll get to work. The blood from the specimen is here.”
The twin reaches his hand out, and I grab the vials.
“Any idea of how she died?” I ask, and their eyes flick to me.
“Overdose, we assume. Nothing else points to foul play.”
“Fine,” I reply before moving up to the tarp and pulling it back, seeing the dead woman crumpled on the pavement. Her hair is a mess, her eyelids are closed, a bruise on her cheek. Other than that, she’s fully clothed and doesn’t seem to have any other injuries. Then again, it doesn’t matter. I’m not an investigator. I just want to get rid of the body. Whoever is placing these women here wants me to get caught.
I don’t think this is a coincidence anymore.
I turn to leave, but the twins stop us. “Our contract has changed.”
Viktor’s cheeks darken and his lips purse. “What the fuck do you want, then?”
“We want to watch. We want more than the souvenirs.”
Viktor glances away with a scoff, and I see his fingers tighten on his biceps.
“What do you want? Spell it out.”
“To watch you. Getting off.”
“Well, I’m not doing that here. In front of a dead woman. That’s disrespectful.”
They look unbothered by that, but apparently, Viktor has some principles. The brothers’ gazes slide up and down Viktor’s body and they cock their heads, waiting for him to counter. But he’s so flustered, he doesn’t. He just huffs and puffs. So I answer for him.
“I’ll record him and you’ll have it by tonight.”
Their eyes slam into mine and they consider it, some twin telepathy happening between them.
“Fine. By midnight or the contract is over.”
They turn and get to work as Viktor and I stride away, side by side.
“Why the hell did you offer that? I’m not letting you record me.”
“Oh, but you will. This is your job .”
“My job is protecting you, not getting off in front of a camera. That wasn’t part of the contract.”
My hand moves up to the nape of his neck and I squeeze roughly. “You’ll do as you’re told. For the good of the family. Or should I tell Anthony that you’re the reason we lost the brothers?”
He scoffs but doesn’t argue. He knows this is what he has to do. He slides into the driver’s seat and takes me home. Not a word is spoken until we’re inside .
And then my heart rate picks up.
It’s time.
“Do you have to be all up in my business?” Viktor asks as he reclines on my bed, his legs spread, hands covering his dick. He had undressed reluctantly and I recorded him the entire time. I want to make sure the Andromeda brothers have nothing to complain about. Knowing them, they’ll find fault in something and he’ll have to redo the entire thing.
Why does that thought have my cock twitching?
“If I want to get this video right, I do.”
He huffs and leans his head back, accentuating his throat, his Adam’s apple bobbing. He’s gorgeous in a very masculine way. Those lean muscles, the way his nipples pucker with the slightest change in temperature. Or when he’s turned on.
“Fuck. Fine. But don’t ever say I don’t do my job.”
His eyes refuse to meet mine as he grabs the lube and squeezes it on his cock, his fingers wrapping around his long length. He does have a big dick , I think as he spreads his legs slightly and shows himself off. It’s almost like it’s natural for him to do this, to put on a show.
No wonder he was a favorite at the club.
“Maybe you should be a camboy,” I say, and his jaw clicks.
“And why is that?” he asks as he shuttles his fist up and down his cock.
“Because you love being watched.”
“I do not.”
“You fucking do. You were hard as soon as there was mention of getting off in front of a camera with me watching. You crave it.”
He huffs but doesn’t deny it, just works his fist faster.
“Now, kitten, don’t get off too soon. You know they’ll bitch about it.”
He scowls at me, not listening. “They should be happy with what they’re getting. They don’t get to just change the contract like this. That’s not how this works.”
“It seems they can do whatever they want.”
“Yeah, they fucking can. Shit,” he says, twisting his wrist, trying for a different angle, but I can see his growing frustration. “I can’t just come on command. I’m not a fucking robot.”
“Oh, but Vik, you will come on my command.”
He growls, and I push the camera closer to his dick, getting a close-up of it. Wet and angry, the vein underneath pulsing.
“Back up, Luca. You’re in my fucking space.”
I glance up at him, not moving. “Fuck off, Vik. Don’t pretend you don’t like me this close.”
He grunts and switches hands, but he isn’t happy about it. His face is screwed up, his breath coming out in frustrated grunts.
“Maybe you should leave,” he says, but I refuse.
“No.”
He grunts and then kicks his leg out, knocking me backward slightly.
The camera is jostled and my nostrils flare. “You messed up my fucking shot.”
“Yeah, well, back the hell off me.”
“Fucking come then.”
“You just told me to go slower.”
“And you are. Slow as a fucking snail.”
He sits up, his hands falling to his sides, his slick dick sticking up between his legs, his eyes flaring with anger.
“Yeah, well, maybe you should get off then. Show me how it’s done.”
“You’d like that, wouldn’t you? Watching me get off?”
His cheeks darken. “It would be disgusting.”
But I see the way he wets his lips.
“I think you’d gag for it, like the slut you are.”
He meets my gaze with steel of his own, and I can see the kick before it reaches me. I grab onto his thigh with my free hand and wrench it to the side, holding it down as he squirms underneath me.
“You keep this up and I’ll make you fucking regret it.”
He grunts and tries to maneuver out of my hold, but I don’t move, just hold him in place, the phone still in my hand recording.
“I fucking quit then. I quit! This is shit.”
I let out a low, evil laugh. “You don’t get to leave, Vik. You die before you get out.”
And then my hand wraps tightly around his dick and strokes.
He arches up, his hips thrusting into my fist.
“Fuck, Luca. What the hell are you doing?” he pants.
“I’m getting you off since you seem to be shit at it.”
He frowns at that but doesn’t stop fucking up into my hand. “I’m not shit. I’m just…” A groan slips from his lips, and he fists the sheets beneath him.
“Yeah, you take it, little slut,” I murmur, and Viktor’s eyes slash to mine. They’re hooded and dark, his cheeks flushed as he thrusts up into my touch. “You’re gonna beg for it. Look at that cock, drooling for me.”
His little whimpers send a shockwave through my system, my nerve endings firing. I like how he looks, his skin flushed red and shivering with want. If I think hard about it, I liked how he looked that night too, taking it in both ends, over and over again.
Seems I like watching Viktor come.
Even when I was with Laura and Anthony decades ago, I never got off on watching him. It was always her. But then again, Viktor has always gotten under my skin. Even as a gangly teen, he bugged the shit out of me. But now that he’s older, I want to peel him open and watch him cry.
I clutch his cock harder.
He cries out, his dick dark purple, the tip dripping.
“Fuck, Luca. Fuck ,” he murmurs as I twist my wrist. His lips are wet, dark red from where he’s biting them. And for some reason, I want to crawl up his body and stuff my cock down his throat .
My dick likes that idea. It thickens in my pants, hard and insistent as I work Viktor toward the edge.
“You gonna come for me? You going to moan my name?”
He shakes his head, his fingers twisted up in the sheets, his entire body arching off the bed.
“Maybe I should edge you, make you wait for it?”
He moans and his eyes meet mine. Something moves through those dark depths, and I feel my cock jump.
I want him.
I want to make him gag around me.
Just as I think that, Viktor cries out and his cock shoots cum across his chest. His orgasm is drawn out, his dick jerking in my hand as I squeeze every last drop from it. When he’s done, he falls to his back, his body sprawled across my mattress, his limbs limp and stretched out.
“Oh fuck,” he murmurs as I stop the video and then send it to the brothers.
I don’t say anything as I do it, just watch as his chest heaves, his eyelids shutting.
“That was terrible,” he murmurs, but I know it wasn’t. I know he wants more. I bet that wasn’t even enough for his little slut ass.
I stuff the phone in my pocket and adjust my cock before striding from the room.
I need a fucking drink.
When I make my way back to the bedroom after a long, stiff drink, a smoke, and a call to Anthony to update him on what’s been going on, I see Viktor still sprawled out on my bed. He’s taking up the entire thing, slumbering peacefully. His abdomen is smeared with his release, his cock half-hard between his legs. If he was awake, he’d be begging for more. I guarantee it .
I lean against the doorjamb and stare at him, the defined planes of his body, the muscles of his arms and chest. Those long legs.
I should sleep on the couch, should let myself get some rest, as fitful as it normally is. But for some reason, I undress, pulling off my shirt and pants, clad only in my boxers, and slide in next to Viktor. He doesn’t make space for me, just flounders a bit, making small huffing noises with his mouth as his legs and arms sprawl across me.
It’s not comfortable, not at all.
I rearrange him.
He murmurs in his sleep and ends up sprawled out like a starfish.
With a grunt, I realize that the only way I’m going to sleep here with him is if I restrain him. So, with a few heaves, I move him against me, wrapping him tightly with my arms and legs, his back to my chest, his legs tangled with mine, and my face pressed against the back of his neck.
He sighs happily, like a baby being swaddled, and melts into me.
Well, fuck. I didn’t expect that , I think as I inhale the scent of him. Something earthy and warm. My lips skate across his skin, and Viktor wiggles up against me. His ass hits my cock, and I feel it lengthen against him.
I probably won’t sleep well tonight , I think as my eyes close, and surprisingly, darkness consumes me in minutes.