5. Fallon
Fallon
Oh my God.
Of course my phone is dead, and I can’t search those men’s names to find out who the hell they are.
It’s obvious they are men of power. Big power. And based on all the tattoos inked along the backs of their hands and knuckles, I’m pretty sure they aren’t upstanding citizens.
I’ve been around enough shitty men in my life to know a dangerous one when I see one. And those two are terrifying.
Luciano Ricci.
What a beautiful name for a beautiful man.
I thought he was hot when I saw him from a distance, but now, seeing him up close, in my small apartment, calling me princess while I held a knife in my hand, he is drop-dead gorgeous. In the scariest way possible.
As I grab another duffel and start shoving more of my belongings into it, my mind reels and my body buzzes. He didn’t even touch me, but I swear I can feel his scent all over me. Something so expensive that I’m sure I’ve never even heard of it.
He made it sound like I was leaving with them, but that’s not happening.
I may have messed up his car—badly—but I’m not letting these men kidnap me.
I told him I would pay him back, and I mean it.
It might take me the rest of my life to do so, but that’s fine.
I will get a second job if I have to. I’m not afraid of hard work. And he’ll just have to accept that.
I hope he will, anyway.
The man has a gun, for Christ’s sake. What if they do try to take me? Will he kill me? Sell me on the dark web? Oh my God, I’m in so much trouble.
My mother always told me my temper would get me into a lot of trouble one day, and I always told her I didn’t give a shit if it did. But I do give a shit. A lot.
I’m only twenty-three. I’m too young to die.
Before I can come up with an escape plan and climb out of the bedroom window, Luciano appears in the doorway, his blue eyes sparkling with anger.
“Let’s go,” he says calmly.
My heart races, and my throat feels like it’s suddenly closing up as I tilt my head back to look up at him.
Damn, he’s a tall drink of water.
Dangerous water, Fallon!
“What? I-I can go by m-myself.” Now I sound like an idiot as I stumble over my words while sweat gathers at my lower back. “You don’t have to wait for me. I have someone coming to pick me up.”
There. That will make them go away.
Luciano steps into the bedroom and closes the distance between us. I try to back up, but my calves hit the edge of the bed, stopping me.
“I don’t like liars. And even if someone were coming to get you, I wouldn’t let you leave with them. Now, let’s go. Whatever you didn’t grab, I’ll get for you later.”
Then he wraps his warm, enormous hand around my bicep and leads me out of the room, picking up the duffel bag from the floor on our way out.
Joshua is silent as Luciano leads me through the apartment, and I can’t help but shoot daggers at him.
“I fucking hate you,” I hiss, kicking my foot out at him and making contact with his shin. “I hope your tiny dick falls off, you mouth-breathing motherfucker!”
Alessandro chuckles, his eyes shining with amusement as he holds the door open for me and Luciano, the other bag hooked onto his shoulder when he follows us out.
“You’ve got a live one,” Alessandro says in the hall.
Luciano snorts. When we turn the corner toward the bank of elevators, two hulking men meet us there. They might even be scarier than Luciano and Alessandro.
Yeah, these guys are definitely not choir boys. I think I’m in a lot of trouble here.
“I will pay you back for your car. Again, I had no idea it was yours. I caught him cheating, and I was pissed, and I didn’t see there were two Range Rovers.”
Maybe if I explain, he’ll let me go. Maybe he’ll even feel bad for me.
The four men are silent as the elevator doors open, and I’m led in, surrounded by them all.
“I’m sorry,” I apologize. “I can clean your house to make up for it. Or cut your hair. I’m a hair stylist. I’ll give you haircuts for life. Or, or…”
“Garage,” Luciano barks as one of the men reaches for the buttons to choose which floor to go to.
The man Luciano spoke to uses his thick index finger to jab the G, and I don’t miss the bandage wrapped around his forearm. Slowly moving my gaze up to his face, I take him in and realize he’s the man I bit earlier. And he doesn’t look very happy to see me.
I give him a weak smile and, for some reason, take a step closer to Luciano, as if he’s going to protect me.
When he and Alessandro walked into the apartment, I should have been terrified.
I should have wanted to scream and run for my life.
But oddly, when I saw Luciano’s handsome face, a calmness settled over me.
Which is absolutely insane. Though I think that might just be me as a person.
Insane and in need of some intense therapy.
I’d rather throw something at Joshua’s head, though, or bite a strange man who grabs me. It’s much more satisfying.
“I don’t have rabies,” I finally say to the big man, who is still scowling at me.
When he doesn’t crack even the slightest smile at my joke, I look up at Luciano and find him staring at me with mirth in his eyes.
“We’ll talk about you biting people later. For now, we have other business to handle.”
My nipples go hard against my bra as his words settle over me. He didn’t say it in a condescending way, but more as a quiet scolding that tells me we’re definitely going to revisit the conversation later.
The doors open, and Luciano ushers me out of the elevator, the other three men striding in front of us.
“Are you going to kill me?” I ask, though I already know he’s not. Still, a girl’s mind never stops wandering. And if this is my death march, I at least want to know so I can prepare myself or try to fight.
“I don’t harm women, princess. But we will deal with your lack of self-preservation later, because it’s unacceptable.”
Self-what?
My entire body shudders at the name he called me. Princess. Why do I love it so much?
When I realize we’ve stopped, I look around, and anger rises within my chest again.
Joshua’s sleek black Range Rover is parked in front of us. Not a speck of dirt on it, even with all the rain we’ve been having.
“Have you ever fired a gun?” Luciano asks.
I huff, “No, but I’ve always wanted to.”
Luciano stares at me for several seconds, his eyes searching my face. “What else have you always wanted to do but haven’t gotten to?”
The other men are standing slightly in the distance, one of them lighting a cigar while they talk in what sounds like Italian. It’s sexy. In fact, now that I’m looking at the other men, instead of just Luciano, I can’t deny they all look like they just walked off a GQ runway.
Goddammit.
This is what fantasies are made of for some women. Four hot, tattooed men. Except my body doesn’t tingle when I look at them the way it does when I look at Luciano.
His name is definitely Italian. And based on his dark hair, strong jawline, a beard already growing in like he just shaved this morning, and his perfectly full eyebrows, I’d say he’s rich with Italian blood running through his veins.
His dark blue, pressed slacks make me think he must be rich with money, too.
Not that it matters. Money can change a lot of things, but it can’t change who a person is, deep down, within their soul.
Evil is always evil, even if it’s disguised in a nice suit.
“Why are you looking at them?” Luciano reaches out and cups my chin, turning my face to his icy eyes. “You only look at me, princess.”
Yeah. He’s evil. This is a man who has done some terrible things in his lifetime.
“I can look at whoever I want,” I snipe back.
Because, fuck him.
One side of his lips pulls up in a smirk. “Oh, really? We’ll see about that.”
Then he wraps his hand around my wrist and yanks me into him before he spins me around to look at Joshua’s SUV.
My back is against his front, and I can’t help but relax as his scent surrounds me.
When I lean into him more than I should, my eyes go wide as something thick and hard sticks into my lower back.
Is he hard?
Oh my God!
“This isn’t the time to fuck with me, princess,” he murmurs as he raises my right hand with his. Then he lifts his left hand and presses his gun into my palm, his hand cupping mine and molding it around the grip.
“What are you doing?” I ask.
Sweat beads at my temple, and my heart races so fast I’m worried I might pass out in his arms. It wouldn’t be the worst way to die.
“We’re going to enjoy our first target practice together,” he says softly in my ear as he reaches to my left side and captures my wrist, bringing it up to cup the bottom of the grip, keeping the gun steady.
“Normally I wouldn’t allow you to touch a weapon without teaching you about it first, but this is a special circumstance.
” He speaks calmly, his large hands adjusting my finger placement a few times before he lowers his mouth to my ear.
“We’re aiming for the driver’s door. I’ll aim, and you pull the trigger.
It’s going to be loud. Really fucking loud. Are you ready?”
My chest rises and falls quickly, adrenaline spreading through me so quickly I’m nearly trembling against him, but he keeps my hands steady.
He’s going to let me shoot his gun. And put a hole in Joshua’s Range Rover.
A smile slowly spreads, and I nod. “Ready.”
“Three. Two. One. Pull,” he instructs.
I do it.
As the piercing sound vibrates through the parking garage, I blink several times. The fresh hole in the side of the SUV smokes for a few seconds before the heat from the bullet dissipates.
“Oh my God!” I practically scream. “That felt so good.”
Luciano keeps hold of my hands, not letting me turn around to celebrate what I did. His eyes, which were icy a few moments ago, are blazing now.
“Good job, princess. Let’s do it again. Back door this time.” He moves the gun slightly, so it’s pointed to the right, and then lowers his lips to the curve of my neck. “Pull, baby.”
A shiver runs through me as I obey him, the loud bang making me jump again even though I expected it more this time.
Three more times he aims and tells me to pull the trigger. With each new hole in Joshua’s precious car, something inside me heals. Maybe I should have taken up shooting things a long time ago.
“Good girl. Now it’s time to leave,” he finally says as he takes the gun from my grip and holds it in his left hand while he pulls me with him toward the elevators.