Chapter 21 Charlie
Charlie
Inever thought I’d be drawn so deeply into the dangerous underworld’s dark embrace, but here I am.
As each day passes and the closer I get to Luciano and the brothers, I’m torn.
I feel like I have an angel and demon sitting on my shoulders.
My old self is the angel telling me to leave, that my dad didn’t want me to be a part of this life—he shielded me from it for a reason.
But the demon, the new me, is saying to embrace the new life and the luxuries it brings.
To keep fucking Luciano and rule the Cosa Nostra with him at my side.
The rush and adrenaline have started to become my new pulse, almost drowning out who I was before.
Yesterday should have had me running for the hills, but hearing Luciano talk about how he tortured someone to protect me—well, that’s a fucked-up type of love language, but if I’m being honest, it made me weak at the knees.
And today I’m on a mission. “Keep up, Rocco,” I yell at him as I march through the house. The meeting is about to start. I should be lenient on him—he did help save my life yesterday—but we have a rat amongst us, and I’m determined to find out who it is.
I walk into the office to find Luciano, the brothers, and the Capos all waiting. I round the desk and climb onto Luciano’s lap, kissing him deeply and not giving a fuck who sees anymore.
Luciana caresses my cheek. “We were about to start without you.”
“You can blame Rocco. He’s walking extra slow today,” I mutter, earning a chuckle. I see Rocco shift on his feet awkwardly from his spot at the back of the room. Luciano decided to let him stay for this meeting since he once was a Capo.
Luciano shifts me on his lap so all the men can see him, as Stefano moves to stand in front of the door, blocking anyone’s path who dares to try and leave.
“Yesterday’s shipment did not go as planned,” he starts, staring at the Capos while his arm tightens around my waist. “One of the hostages threatened that their boss will kidnap Caterina’s daughter…” I watch the Capos closely, but none of them dare to move.
“Matteo, Roberto, Dante, Antonio, Gio: you five are the only ones outside of my brothers that know about Charlie’s true identity. Whoever the rat is, you can give yourself up now or you will all suffer,” Luciano booms across the room at the Capos.
The Capos stand on guard. No one moves or talks.
Mattia pipes from where he’s sitting across the room, twirling a knife between his fingers.
“I’m really looking forward to taking my pound of flesh today,” he says, a wicked grin forming across his face.
“You see, my anger got the better of me yesterday, so our Don denied me.” He throws the knife at Matteo and it pierces into his thigh, but he doesn’t move.
Mattia pulls out another knife from his pocket and starts twirling it.
I sit and watch as one by one, the brothers use different tactics to get the Capos to break.
Gabriele has spat out gruesome facts about torture and how long your body can be tortured for.
Mattia has thrown a dozen knives at them—I honestly don’t know where he’s kept them.
Carlo uses brutal force, snapping fingers and throwing punches, but so far nothing is working.
We’ve been sitting here for a couple of hours and no one is talking.
I get up from my spot on Luciano’s lap and start pacing in front of the Capos, taking my time looking at them.
“What are you thinking, Principessa?” Luciano calls out to me, sipping on a glass of whiskey.
An idea pops into my mind. “Anyone fancy a swim?” I perch myself on the front of his desk, dangling my legs innocently.
Stefano quirks a brow. “Siamo occupati in questo momento.” We are busy right now. I have come to notice that he prefers to talk in Italian in front of our men or when his emotions get the better of him, which is weird since the others don’t.
“Let them join us then.” I smile wickedly. “Carlo, we’re going to need some rope and concrete blocks.”
Carlo cracks his knuckles and gives me that sadistic smile of his, already clued on to what I’m thinking. “I like your thinking, Charlie,” he says before walking out the room.
“Come on,” I say to everyone as I wave my hands, beckoning them to follow me out to the pool. “Who’s jumping in first?” I flick my hair over my shoulder and look back to see Luciano giving me I want to fuck you eyes. I wink at him and keep walking.
The Capos all stand near the pool in a line; no one has given in yet. Damn, either Luciano trains his soldiers good or whoever they switched to thinks he’s worse than us.
Carlo rounds the corner with the items I asked for. I nod in his direction and he goes straight over to the Capos and starts to tie their feet together with concrete blocks tied to the end of the rope.
“You,” I say, pointing to Antonio in the middle of the line. “You will go first.”
He looks at me, unsure whether to follow my order, until Luciano bellows from behind him, “You heard her. Get in the fucking pool!” He takes a big breath of air and jumps in as Carlo kicks the block in behind, sinking him to the bottom.
“Next!” I point at Dante. One by one, they all jump in. We stand and watch them struggle underneath the water, trying to maintain the bit of oxygen in their body. Eventually, one caves, waving his hand up under the water to signal our attention.
I nod to Carlo and Mattia to let them up. Mattia strips off to his underwear and jumps into the pool, cutting each of the ropes and letting them come up for air. Carlo reaches in and grabs the Capo who raised his hand. Luciano is on top of him the second he’s out, his hands wrapped around his neck.
“Gio,” he snarls as he punches him in the face.
“Take him to the bunker. We will find out today who you snitched to.” He lets him go as Carlo and Stefano drag Gio away.
He grabs my hand and storms inside the house.
We only just make it inside the door before he’s on top of me, lifting me up and pinning me against the wall.
“Fuck, Principessa.” He trails kisses down my body, starting at my neck. “Do you know how fucking hot that was, watching you take control?” I can’t help but chuckle as I wrap my arms around his neck, leaning into his touch. “Want to go on a date?” he asks me as he palms my ass through my dress.
I grab the back of his head and pull him back so I’m looking into his eyes. “Are you being serious right now?” I ask, slightly skeptical. He doesn’t seem like a person to go on dates.
“Wear a dress and be ready in an hour.” He drops me back down and retreats outside.
I go to my room, the anticipation tightening my chest. On the edge of my bed lay the red mini dress, fresh from the online order I received today: bold, daring, and impossible to ignore.
Slipping into it, the fabric clings perfectly, hugging every curve of mine, and I pair it with my Louis Vuitton pumps.
In the mirror, I work quickly, smoothing the foundation over my skin, eyes lined sharp and dark, lips painted a deep, commanding red.
My hair sweeps up into a high ponytail, tight and no-nonsense, practical yet striking, ready to face Luciano and whatever date he has planned.
Luciano is already waiting in the foyer for me as I descend the stairs. The look he gives me is pure admiration, like he’s seeing me in another light. Meeting me at the bottom of the stairs, he places his hand in mine. “Put this on,” he says, handing me a blindfold.
I obey, putting the blindfold on over my face.
He picks me up and carries me to the waiting car.
It feels like we’ve been driving for ages when the car suddenly stops.
I can hear him open his door and seconds later, mine opens.
He once again picks me up and carries me over his shoulder, my ass most likely on full display for anyone who walks near.
I hear a door click open and then we’re walking down a set of stairs.
A familiar smell hits me. Wait a minute… I’ve been here before.
I pull the blindfold down. “Luciano!” I smack him on the back. His laughter echoes through the halls of the bunker. “This is not a date. You go to the movies or dinner or the beach,” I say when he puts me down outside the room.
“That sounds boring. This is fun.” He grins at me. “I promise you’ll enjoy torturing someone.”
“You don’t know that.” I cross my arms in front of me. “I only killed my first person not that long ago.”
He pulls me closer to him and breathes in my ear, like he’s telling me a secret, “You have a demon inside you, just like me, and she is begging to be released.” I try to pull away from his grip, but his hands are firm on my hips. “Let her out, Principessa. Let her come play with me.”
I tousle with the idea in my head for a couple of seconds.
Is what he saying true? Could I really do this?
So far I’ve been able to cope; the nightmares sucked first after my own torture experience, but they’ve practically disappeared now.
And after I killed my first person, I cried it out and then haven’t really thought about it since. But am I ready for this?
Seeing my hesitation, Luca opens the door to the room, but I don’t see anyone in here. I step inside with Luca behind me, confusion settling over me. I turn to Luciano. “Where is he?” I demand, slightly annoyed.
Luciano releases a deep chuckle. “Calm down. I wanted you to be comfortable with the room first.”
“Oh…” That makes sense, considering what happened the last couple times I was here. I walk over to the table with various tools laid out. I run my fingers along them, unsure what half of them are used for.
I can feel Luciano’s presence right behind me before he even speaks. “Are you ready?”
“I’m not really dressed to torture someone.” I wave my hands over my outfit. “These are very expensive shoes and this is a new dress.”