Chapter 27
Romero and his little girl took their after breakfast tea in the den later on. As the morning dwindled by, Lucrezia rubbed her eyes and yawned. The dark circles beneath her eyes were purple and puffy, but she was clearly fighting the fatigue.
They sat on couches opposite one another with the coffee table between them, but he could feel the shaking of her leg on his side as she tried to force herself to stay awake.
Lucrezia outright refused to close her eyes and rest, as much as Romero offered her his lap while he read his paper.
”It”s nine-thirty, and we”ve been up for barely three hours. I”m not going to be a useless lump just napping every chance I get.”
Lucrezia stubbornly folded her arms at his suggestion, shooting an almost disgusted grimace in his direction.
Romero crinkled the newspaper down, raising his brow at her comment.
”I”ll give you a chance to recant that statement and fix your sweet face before I come over there and spank that ass.”
He counted in his head, assuming that Lucrezia would back track.
She responded with an eye roll, which she didn”t catch in time.
”Give me a break. I”m not in the mood.”
Romero let out a long sigh, calmly setting his newspaper aside and leaning forward with his elbows on his knees.
”Try again, little girl.”
Lucrezia huffed, sinking back into the couch. ”No.”
”No?”
”Yes. No.” She crossed her legs and bounced her foot in the air.
Romero hummed, ignoring the peek of her supple thigh when her skirt billowed. She looked away from him, focusing her venomous glare on his French doors like they had insulted her.
He wiggled his finger in a come hither motion.
”Come here, Lucrezia.”
”Why?” Little tendrils of her hair whipped in her face when she looked at him.
”Your sour attitude this morning has earned you a punishment, and you need to be corrected.”
Lucrezia”s nostrils flared as she shot up and circled the couch.
”I don”t want anything.”
”I don”t seem to recall asking if you wanted a punishment. I said very plainly that you need it. Now, the longer you draw this out and avoid it, the worse it”ll be for you.”
Romero didn”t move, knowing full well his little girl would come to him willingly one way or another. She had earned enough spankings for this same problem many times before, and it always ended the same with her sobbing over his lap and his arms comforting her afterward.
”I think I have a say in what you do to me.”
”Oh, you absolutely do. You”re a grown woman capable of making your own decisions. But don”t you forget that I”m your Daddy. And therefore, I’m capable of deciding when your behavior has warranted punishment. If you”d like to revisit my methods of discipline, then we can do that. But right now, little girl, you will lie over my lap, take your spanking, and let Daddy help you in the way I know you need right now.”
Romero”s calm and collected explanation softened his overworked wife. She began to lean on the couch, hanging her head. Her face began to contort as she fought back tears.
”I didn”t mean to say that I would be useless if I napped. I just want to do something without feeling like I”ll drop. Is it so bad of me to want to keep busy?”
Romero nodded in understanding.
”No, of course not. But I also want you to know that taking a chance to rest when you”re clearly tired doesn”t make you useless in the slightest. I know that you”ve trusted me to care for you and see to your every need. Do you like how I”ve done so, Lucrezia?”
Her head immediately shot up, a desperate look in her eyes. ”Yes, Daddy.”
”You like submitting to me and letting me take charge?”
”Yes!”
She shifted her weight, and Romero watched her thighs press together.
His lips tilted.
”Good girl. Then can you trust me right now when I tell you that you need to rest and that because you refused to listen to me and decided to get smart and sour your face that now there will be consequences?”
Lucrezia paused, her cheeks puffing out and turning pink.
She only nodded, but when Romero raised his brow once more, she spoke. ”Yes, Daddy.”
”That”s a good girl. Will you close the doors, please, so we can have some privacy?”
Without complaint, but with some dragging of her pumps, she sheepishly shut his French doors, jiggling them to be sure they remained in place.
Lucrezia stayed where she was as she waited for further instruction.
”Come here, perla. Lie over my lap.”
His wife shuffled to the couch with her hands in front of her, looking at her feet.
Romero sat back, clearing the way for her body.
Lucrezia whimpered as she found a comfortable position where there would be no pressure on her belly.
This, of course, gave him an excellent view of her bottom and the backs of her thighs that were elevated over his lap.
”Mmm, that”s my good girl. Are you comfortable? Any pain Daddy should know about?”
She shook her head first. ”No, Daddy. I feel all right.”
”You”ll feel even better once this is all said and done. Let me have your hands.”
Lucrezia stretched her neck to look back at him in confusion but listened.
”You like to hide behind your arms when I punish you. None of that this time because I want to see your face.”
”Yes, Daddy.”
Romero could already see tears forming behind her lashes as she squinted her eyes shut.
He began with his palm across her clothed ass, protected by her foundation garments and dress.
Not too hard, but enough to draw tiny gasps from her lips.
Her head rested on the left side, where Romero could see her face when he looked down.
She winced slightly as the smacks became more firm, but otherwise, she took it well.
Romero elected not to have her count this time, wanting her only focus to be the emotional release that would surely come from this punishment.
Lucrezia”s upper body began to squirm, which was when Romero pulled her skirt up just above her tailbone. This left her chemise exposed, and one less layer to protect her delicate skin.
He began delivering little spanks to the backs of her thighs as well, making her legs kick up.
”Legs down, baby.”
Lucrezia whined in response, and her hands began making fists behind her back.
Romero tightened his single grip over her wrists, silently letting her know there would be no escape.
The slaps grew a bit louder again, to where they would be in danger of being caught by one of the household staff if one should barge in.
That, of course, would never happen.
Her body began to contort and curl over his lap, inadvertently giving Romero even better access.
He paused for a moment to knead the ample flesh, admiring her undergarments and how stunning she looked in them.
These days, he encouraged her to wear only bloomers beneath a single chemise, along with her more simple knee-high stockings. He liked tying the ribbon keeping them in place himself each morning.
Romero knew there were supportive stays for pregnant women out there, however, Lucrezia adopted less complicated garments in her pregnancy. Whereas before, she wore multiple layers to create a fashionable silhouette.
Perhaps, one day, he”d forbid bloomers entirely.
It was an amusing thought as he pulled the delicate material down to reveal her bare bottom, already pinking up.
Lucrezia squirmed as the air hit her skin, whining into the couch cushion.
”You”re doing well. Just a little while longer, now. You can do it.”
Romero delivered painful slaps to her ass at a steady, controlled pace.
He started slowly, gradually shrinking the time between the smacks as he watched her body fight him.
”Daddyyy,” she squealed.
Her shoulder blades pinched together while she crossed her ankles over one another, likely fighting to kick.
Lucrezia wailed atop his lap, biting down on the cushion material.
By now, hardly a second passed in between Romero”s punishing slaps. His palm tingled, signaling to pause and rub the sore globes.
She winced at his touch, swaying her body this way and that to avoid his gentleness.
”Be still, my perla.”
His little girl groaned as he rubbed the ache away, though the way she moved over his thighs was only increasing the ache behind his zipper.
Romero abruptly picked up the pace again, delivering a flurry of spanks until Lucrezia”s body began to shake with her pleas.
”I”m sorry, Daddy!”
”You”re sorry?”
”Yes,” she whined.
”Sorry for what, little girl?”
He slapped again, making her hiss through her teeth.
”For being rude.”
Another slap.
”What else?”
Her shoulders scrunched up to her ears as she waited for the pain to subside.
”Not coming to you when you told me to get on your lap.”
Romero delivered a handful of punctuating slaps, leaving her a sobbing mess until he released her.
Lucrezia fell into his embrace, almost squeezing his neck too tight as she cried in the crook of his neck.
He rocked her exhausted body back and forth, shushing her while he patted and rubbed her back.
”I”m sorry, Daddy, I”m sorry.” Her apologies trailed off as the rocking slowly lulled her.
”All over, perla, all over.”
”Do you still love me?” She sleepily asked against his skin.
Her head began to loll to the side, and Romero knew sleep was beginning to find her.
Gently, he laid her back on the couch, adjusting her skirt and removing her shoes for optimum comfort.
He peeled the throw blanket off the back of the couch and draped it over her body.
Romero leaned over her, pressing a kiss to her sweet lips.
”Forever, baby.”
With that, Lucrezia was sound asleep.
He snuck out of the room, hoping the sound of the doors opening and shutting again wouldn”t rouse her.
Thankfully, she remained exactly as she was.
”Boss!”
Romero growled, pressing his forehead against the cool wood, wishing for just one day he could be unbothered.
”What is it, Tony?”
He slowly turned around to his alarmed cousin.
”We have a situation outback.”
”What?” Romero was forced to abandon the side of him that was soft and warm in the company of Lucrezia, replacing it with the dour armor he wore day-to-day when he had to be the boss of the Mancini crime family.
Tony wouldn”t answer, looking as if he”d seen a ghost.
Romero snapped his fingers in his face.
”Damn it, Tony, what”s going on!”
”It”s Luca Romano. He”s at the back gate in one of our delivery trucks. He”s got our driver at gunpoint.”
”Luca is here? What business does he have going around half-cocked. He”s alone?” Romero”s mother was padding down the stairs, hearing this at just the wrong time. Immediate concern washed over her face as she tightened her robe around her.
”Yes, ma”am. And he”s...not half-cocked.” Tony brought his hand to the back of his head.
”Mother, I need you to stay in the den. Lucrezia is resting there. Look after her for me?”
”Yes, yes. Go!”
She waved them off before entering the den, where his wife still slept blissfully.
Romero and Tony rushed the back door, drawing their weapons and joining the ranks of his guards, squaring up and pointing their guns to the passenger side of the truck holding large quantities of liquor.
Luca”s hand was visibly shaking, more so than the driver of the vehicle, who was white as a sheet and profusely sweating.
Tony hollered for Luca to exit the vehicle. He complied but kept his gun half pointed at the driver as he climbed out.
His cousin ordered Luca to put the weapon down and kick it away, which he also complied with.
A handful of guards were on him faster than he could process, searching Luca from head to toe, while the others ushered the driver from the truck to assess him. Once he was through white-knuckling the steering wheel, of course.
”Easy, easy, I”m not armed with anything else.”
Luca pulled away when one of the men got too close to his groin as he swept his hand over the area.
”Just what in the fuck do you think you”re doing, Romano?”
Romero zeroed in on his childhood playmate, refusing to put away his weapon.
”I”m sorry. This was the only way I could get here without Salvatore”s goons noticing. They”re everywhere.”
Romero squinted his eyes.
Luca held both of his hands up, palms out.
”Explain yourself, then, before I start losing my patience.”
Romero cocked his weapon, fully prepared to do the worst.
”All right, all right, hey!”
Luca ducked out of the way of the barrel, slowly bringing his hand to the inside of his jacket.
A guard stepped in, physically stopping him from reaching for anything.
”Jacket off.”
Luca rolled his eyes but still obeyed.
He even shook the jacket in the air to show that there was no hidden weapon before dropping it on the ground.
A manilla folder slid out of the pocket.
”What is this?” Romero pointed with the gun.
”It”s what I came here to talk to you about. Can we talk somewhere a little more private than this?”
”Fuck no. We”ll discuss this right here,” Romero refused the request but returned his weapon to the holster.
The rest of his men followed his lead.
He cocked his head, and Tony picked up the folder, handing it to Romero.
He opened it and briefly scanned through the first thing his eyes fell on.
It was a photograph of a badly beaten man, the injuries so horrendous that he would surely be unrecognizable compared to a normal photo.
Romero plucked the picture up, holding it up in the light to get a better look.
”What am I looking at here, Luca? This some kind of threat?” He took a step toward him, but Luca held up his hands again.
”No, no, no! I wanted you to hear it from me first before it made the papers.”
”Hear what?” Romero snapped.
”It”s your doctor, Romero. He”s dead.”
Romero heard the words, but they wouldn”t form a complete sentence in his head.
He felt his arm with the folder drop to his waist as his knees began to buckle.
Doc. No...not Doc.
A choking groan escaped from his chest, and it felt like he had just been punched in the gut.
”How? HOW?” Romero began crumpling the folder in his fist, advancing to Luca again.
Some of the guards held him back.
”Mancini, I had nothing to do with it! Sal got to him! Whoever he”s got watching your house probably followed the Doc, and that”s where they did him in.”
Romero felt his stomach churn.
It was his fault. He should have been more careful. More measures should have been taken to ensure his safety.
Now a man he had known practically his entire life was dead.
”Why! What did he ever do! The only crime that man ever committed was being associated with me and my family!”
”Therein answers the answer to that question, Romero. He worked for you and took care of you and, I assume, your wife. Sal has talked about nothing but looking for even the smallest reason to destroy you. He told me he”d wait for just the perfect opportunity. Next thing I know, I”m being summoned to the Doctor”s house, and that”s what I see!”
He pointed to the grotesque picture.
Romero couldn”t stand looking at it anymore, reducing it to nothing but a ball in his fist and tossing it on the ground.
”Why? Why was Doc targeted?”
”Sal figured he”d have some personal information on you in some files somewhere. He didn”t find any pertaining to you, but...”
Luca trailed off, scrubbing the back of his neck.
Romero felt his world tilt to the side, threatening to go black as he pieced this crime together.
”He found notes about your wife. From what he told me, the Doc wouldn”t tell him anything about her. Not one single thing. I don”t know how long the man suffered or what else they did to try and make him talk, and I don’t want to know. All I know is that when I got there, Sal was crazed. He said this would let him get even once and for all. Romero...he knows. He knows about the babies.”
Romero could no longer hold himself up anymore. He dragged himself to a nearby chair and collapsed into it with his head in his hands.
“This isn”t happening. This can”t be happening.”
He pulled on his scalp hard enough to rip the hair from his head, inwardly berating himself for getting someone else hurt.
All of his men wisely kept their distance and stayed quiet, save for Luca.
Romero could see his suede shoes hesitantly approach.
When he looked up at his old friend, he was briefly reminded of the boy he once was. The boys they both used to be before this life took them by the throats and pulled them in deep.
He was just around Romero and Tony’s age. Hardly anything about him changed at all. Except he finally grew into the big ass ears he had. The chocolate-brown hair was mussed, and his tan suit fit him well. The put together man somberly looked down at Romero, pocketing his hands.
”I”m sorry, Romero. I”ve done everything in my power to bring Jr. to heel. He won’t listen, and he”ll never listen. Now that his pops is gone, he thinks he can do anything he wants.”
Romero bit down on his knuckle hard enough to break the skin, wishing that he could obliterate something. If it couldn”t be Sal yet, he”d settle for the nearest inanimate object.
”What does he want with my children? He already thinks he has a claim on my wife; does he really think he has a claim on my children?” He forced himself to breathe in and out slowly.
”We aren’t exactly dealing with a stable man here, Mancini. He’ll do whatever he has to do to take your family for himself. Families are a weak point in this world. You and I both know that. It”s why I refuse to have children of my own.”
”Don”t you dare patronize me.” Romero shot up, coming dangerously close to hurting him.
”Hey, hey, I”m not. To each their own. You and your wife have every right to live peaceful lives. Which is the other reason why I”m here.”
He looked down at the folder and flipped through various other documents, handing them to Romero.
”I”ve told Sal time and time again that he”s toeing a dangerous line and that this isn”t a game he wants to play. He”s been warned. It”s time to take him down. And I”ll need your help.”
Romero snatched the papers from Luca, licking his finger and scanning through them.
There was long silence as Romero read through the incriminating material; tax forms, photographs to prove his guilt in many ”disappearances”, and of course, the evidence of Docs murder.
Romero then understood what Luca meant to do.
”You have a lot of nerve to ask this of me, Romano.”
”I know.” Luca’s dour expression was difficult to read. He wasn”t boastful or cunning.
He was an utter blank slate.
”You realize you”ll be seen as a rat?”
Luca shrugged with an uncaring look on his face.
”Would you rather have Jr. stay in power and have him be the monkey on your shoulder for the rest of your life? Constantly looking back and worrying about your wife and children”s safety knowing he”s still alive?”
Luca poked the paperwork. ”All of this will see to it that the world is rid of Salvatore Esposito Jr. forever. His bloodline will die with him.”
”What”s in it for you, Luca? Because I know that this isn”t just a favor for me.”
He let out a calm, collected breath.
”The position of boss will be mine for the taking when he”s gone. And I will see to it that he”s gone.”
He emphasized the last word, and Romero felt his blood run cold. This was a far cry from the timid, sprite-like boy from their youth.
”You help me with this, and I can promise that you”ll never have to see me or even hear my name ever again. This serves both of our interests, Romero.”
Romero paced back and forth, weighing his options, of which he truly had only one.
”How can you be sure you”ll be uncontested? Jr. could still have some supporters.”
”Believe me. He doesn”t. Everyone is just as sick of him as I am.”
Romero sensed no lies in Luca’s statement, but even if he did, it would no longer be his problem if they were truly going to be rid of Salvatore forever.
He stuck out his hand, and Luca accepted it.
”You have a deal.”