CHAPTER 14
Juan Martinez and his minions must have a death wish. It’s the only explanation for them grabbing me. It was a stupid fucking idea. Then for one of them to punch me? Death. Wish.
They’ve been strutting around their rusted-out warehouse like they aren’t about to die. It’s almost adorable. Almost.
I glance around again and cringe. This place is seriously gross and should have been torn down ages ago. It looks like it’s been here for a century, but I know that can’t be right. Most of this area was wiped out when Katrina came through and must be at least as old as the rebuilding efforts. All they had to do was put in a little work to keep up with it, but they didn’t even do that much.
Just goes to show you what kind of men they are.
It also goes to show you how stupid they are because I shouldn’t even know what area I’m in, but they didn’t cover my head and I got a good look around when they hauled me inside from their pedophile van. I shouldn’t be surprised they underestimated me. As if I’m not a fucking Guidice.
They’re going to be in for a rude awakening when Dante and my brothers storm this shit hole to get me back. I have zero doubt that my brothers know right where I am and are mobilizing.
“It’s such a shame your little boyfriends don’t care about you,” Martinez taunts me and I smooth my face out into a look of boredom as I stare at him.
He sneers, “Don’t have anything to say, puta?”
I smile at him and I’m sure it’s not the fake, made for the media smile everyone is used to seeing from me. I know this one is malicious and filled with ill intent. If he thinks he’s going to break me, he has another thing coming.
Martinez throws his head back and laughs. The sound echoes around the warehouse, amplifying as it bounces back to me. The man is seriously unhinged and deserves to die. He did before he grew the brass balls to abduct me, and he definitely does now.
“Enjoy the last little bit of your life,” I taunt him in a sing-song voice as if I don’t have a care in the world.
“You think you’re special, Viola Guidice?” Juan’s lip curls back revealing his yellowing teeth as he runs his fingers through his hair. Again.
He’s trying to hide his nervousness.
Neither one of his phone calls went how he thought they were going to go. It was clear in the way he threw his phone across the room to shatter against the wall after he called Dante. He thought my brother would fall all over himself to get me back, but he didn’t. At least not on the outside.
Martinez is an idiot if he thinks we haven’t prepared for an abduction situation. Most of the jewelry I wear have trackers, for this exact reason. Dante doesn’t track me unless he has to, it was one of the rules I put in place when I conceded to my brother’s paranoia.
I guess it wasn’t all paranoia after all.
Dante brushed Martinez off as if he was just an annoying gnat, which isn’t too far from the truth. It was too much for Martinez to handle and his poor phone paid the price.
I’m sure it didn’t help that the call to the Falsini triplets didn’t go as expected either. It went how I figured it would go. Why would Mateo care about me being captured by Martinez? It was a gamble making the call in the first place.
If I were in Mateo’s shoes, I wouldn’t give the money back that Martinez paid either. Especially considering that the guns would remain in Juan’s possession as well. What kind of deal would that be?
I could have warned the scum bag who has tried to use my life as a bartering chip that the triplets wouldn’t give a fuck about me being taken. Well, that’s not entirely true. I’m sure Massimo and Marco are upset. Are they upset enough to go against Mateo? My heart sinks because I’m sure I know the answer.
No, they’re not willing to go against their brother for me.
Which is why I know the only way I’m getting out of here is when my brothers come and get me. I can rely on my blood. They’re the only men I’ve ever really been able to depend on.
I should have remembered that when I got involved with the triplets.
I should have remembered that Dante is not a fan of the three men who stole my heart.
I forgot or I ignored it. Now look where it’s gotten me.
Martinez steps forward and backhands me. There’s no warning and I gasp out in surprise more than pain. When I turn my face back to him, I wink at him like he just gave me a fucking love tap.
If I’m going to go down, I’m going to do so with my head held high and all my badass on full display.
“You think you won’t break, puta?” Juan shakes his head and makes a tsking sound as if he’s disappointed with my display. “You all break.”
I’m not sure if he’s talking about prisoners or women. Either way I’m incredibly offended by the insinuation, but I keep my mouth shut. There’s taunting for fun and then there’s taunting because you’re too stupid to shut up.
I’m not stupid.
“You’re going to fetch quite a nice price,” he jeers. “I’ll have a buyer for you in no time at all.”
My body stills and my blood runs cold. It’s one thing for me to be strapped to a chair in the middle of this shit pile of a warehouse, but it’s another thing to be sold. I don’t want any part of that.
The glint in Martinez’s eye tells me he’s hoping I beg for my life or my freedom. I won’t give him the satisfaction. Doesn’t mean I want to be sold.
One of Juan’s men steps forward and he starts to run his hands all over my body. I clench my jaw to stop myself from reacting to the man’s touch. I hope I get the chance to cut off his hands. See how well he can touch someone without consent then.
The thought of chopping the man’s hands off becomes my new happy place and I find myself smiling.
“What the fuck are you smiling at?” Juan’s voice is full of amusement, “Should have known you like to be touched like the whore you are.”
My eyes snap to him and I can feel the rage building inside of me. I know it’s because a man who I thought I was falling in love with called me the same vile name not long ago. I want to rail against the injustices of the world and what such an insult means.
Women are called whores when they enjoy sex and don’t think pleasure should only exist within a committed relationship. When a woman does what she wants with her body, she’s vilified.
The flip side is that when a man does the same thing, he’s praised for it. It’s excused as him sewing his wild oats or chalked up to just a quirk of biology. As if a man’s sex drive is always higher or more acceptable.
It’s ridiculous and the double standard makes me fucking sick.
I’m screaming at Juan in my head, but I force my face to remain neutral. At least until the man who is touching me pinches my nipple hard enough to make me flinch.
Juan gives me a sinister smile before tapping his chin as if he’s thinking of something. “It’s such a shame that I’ll get more money for you if you’re not broken first. So many buyers out there want to break in their toys.” He shrugs and sighs as if the whole thing is an inconvenience for him. “I’d much rather have the chance to break you. It might be worth taking the cut in payout.”
“Definitely worth it,” the man who has continued to touch me mutters.
I glare at the man and grit out through my teeth, “You won’t be as excited about touching anyone after you lose your hands.”
The man pulls his hands back as if I just burned him and Juan barks out a laugh.
“Oh yes, breaking you might just be worth losing a little money,” Martinez muses.
Another one of Martinez’s men tosses something on the ground in front of me. As much as I don’t want to look, I find my eyes straying downward. The pile of lace in front of me is small.
The man who tossed it grabs his dick through his pants and leers at me. “I can’t wait to see you in that outfit. Just the thought makes my dick hard.”
I arch an eyebrow at the man, but don’t utter a word.
The man steps forward and runs his knuckles over my cheek, where I’m sure a bruise is forming from the punch I took earlier. “I’d love to break her, boss. We could put the whole thing on the web and take bets on how long she lasts.”
“Not a bad idea,” Juan’s voice is filled with amusement.
I fight the bile which wants to rise up in my throat. I need to find that place in my head where I can go, where I can hide, to ride out whatever the hell is going to happen here until my brothers can come for me.
I have no doubt they will come, but it’s possible it’ll be too late by then.
As much as I hate it, my mind strays to the night I spent with the triplets at Club Sin. It shouldn’t be a safe place in my mind, in my memories, but it is.
I let my mind wander over the possibility of what the future might hold if I weren’t here and if Mateo hadn’t said everything that he did days ago. Was it only days ago? It feels like so much longer. Being trapped here and surrounded by men who are scum isn’t helping matters.
What would it be like to have a family with the triplets? I bet they’d make great fathers, even Mateo. He would learn to chill out a little and relax. He can be the big man he needs to be when running his business, but he needs a place he feels safe. His home should be a place where he can let his walls down.
Maybe I was never the right woman for them, but my heart tells me I am. Even now. Even after Mateo hurt me.
I can almost feel the way Marco touched me, like fire on my skin. I can almost smell the subtle woodsy scent of Massimo and the way his eyes softened when he looked at me. Even the way Mateo watched me the first night made me feel safe and cherished.
I don’t think I’ll find something like it again, but I’m trying to keep a little bit of hope alive.
Will I really be broken when I’m rescued? Will my brothers be too late?
I push those thoughts aside and focus on the triplets—so unique even in their similarities.
I sigh because I swear that I can almost hear their voices whispering, “Il nostro cuore.”
A stinging sensation on my cheek has me opening my eyes and the first thing I see is Juan Martinez standing over me. “You don’t get to find solace in your mind, puta,” he snarls.
I smirk and wonder how long he’d been trying to get my attention.
Yeah, he’s not going to break me. Not yet at least.
Still, I can hope my brothers reach me soon. I need to get the fuck out of here and Martinez needs to be put in the ground.
I wish the triplets would be the ones to come for me, but it won’t happen.
Maybe in the next lifetime.