Chapter 20 – Enzo
ENZO
She’s right. This won’t work.
Althea thrives on the pain I can deliver.
It’s cathartic to her. I could whip her with a cane, or spank her with my belt, but it would only feed her pleasure.
Sure, she’ll get frustrated having her orgasm withheld, but the orgasm is the end result.
The grand finale. But what my little devil truly craves is the trance-like feeling she gets when she breaks through subspace.
Where she no longer feels threatened or stressed.
I need to change up my plans
I back myself off the bed intending to get into the bag I left on the floor.
I hadn’t planned to use anything in there tonight.
I was packing for our trip and wanted to take a few things I knew we would both enjoy later.
But seeing as how Althea thinks this is all a game, I’m going to change the rules.
No, I need something else for this.
I head into the closet, into the second drawer of my dresser and take out a black satin blindfold and a bottle the doc gave me recently for another job.
I pull two capsules out and slide them into my pocket.
Then I find a few more things I know will drive her insane.
A feather, a flogger, and the new bullet vibrator I purchased for her.
Althea is staring at the doorway when I come out.
Her face is a mask of curiosity. Her breathing has slowed a bit, but I’ll remedy that soon enough.
Approaching the bed, I don’t speak. I don’t explain what I have in my hands.
She watches me suspiciously but has apparently decided silence is her best option.
I lay everything on the bedside table, then walk over to the fridge and pull out a bottle of grape juice and a chocolate bar.
Both are handy to have around when a sub is coming down after an intense scene.
I pour the juice into a cup, adding the contents of the capsules and stirring them in.
Taking both items with me, I head back over and sit down on the bed.
Althea’s eyes follow my every movement. I caress her cheek with the back of my hand, soft, slow, gentle strokes, then place a piece of the chocolate bar in front of her where she can see it.
“Here, baby. Eat.” I offer, rubbing the chocolate across her bottom lip. She pinches her mouth shut at first, so I coax her. “It’s been a long night. Your adrenaline has started to crash. This will help.”
“What are you playing at, Enzo?” she asks, taking the small offering into her mouth. I smirk down at her, watching, enjoying the fact that she’s off balance.
“It’s my job as Dom to take care of you,” I offer with a raised shoulder.
“We’re never going to get anywhere if you crash out on me, and the last thing either of us wants is you feeling sick or hungover.
We have a lot to discuss, and eventually, we’ll have to speak to Nazario.
I’d prefer it if you were better prepared to handle that situation. Wouldn’t you?”
I lift her shoulders and head up slightly and then, reaching for the juice, I bring the straw to her mouth and watch as she takes a long pull. I should have done this straightaway when I brought her in here. The way she’s sucking down the liquid, she’s been parched this whole time.
That’s actually a good thing.
She finishes the drink, and I set it on the table, then ease her back down onto the bed.
The satin blindfold is soft and thick. I lay the material over her eyes, lifting her head and tying it before laying her head back down on the pillow.
“What are you doing?” She asks breathily. Is it fear or a heightened sense of anticipation? I don’t know. But I’m about to find out.
Leaning down, I kiss her lips, pushing my tongue into her mouth.
Althea responds hungrily. But she’s not in charge, and we’re not playing this game by her rules, so I pull back a bit, grazing her lips ever so softly.
She growls in frustration, turning her head away in a pout. I smile knowing she can’t see me.
“You don’t like my lips on yours, little devil?
” I taunt, brushing the same feather-light kisses along her cheek and down her neck.
Each kiss barely a whisper against her skin.
Goosebumps breakout across her skin, and her breathing has changed.
She may think she doesn’t like soft and slow, but her body does.
“Perhaps you’d like them somewhere else. ”
I stand up, grabbing the flogger, and walk to the foot of the bed, dragging the thin leather tails along her skin as I go. Althea twitches at the soft touch. She prefers a rough, hard, thud-like, pain-filled touch.
In due time.
I continue caressing every inch of her body—up and down, then in circles with tiny flicks. Her breathing has picked up. She’s pulling at her restraints in frustration.
“Enzo,” she growls.
“Hmm.”
“If you’re going to fuck me, get on with it. I don’t need gentle coercion.” Althea moves her hips, but she can’t close her thighs no matter how hard she tries. Her arousal is dripping onto the bed beneath her.
I continue my ministrations, and when her face contorts with anger, I lift the flogger and bring it down hard across her thighs. It lands with a loud thud , and Althea yelps.
“Is that what you want, little devil? You need to be punished?”
“Mhm.” I smile at her loss for words. I strike her thighs, her belly, her breasts.
Her body jumps with each strike. Her breathing is coming in ragged pants now.
She starts shaking her head slowly, back and forth.
The pills are beginning to take effect. Her heightened arousal and heart rate speeding up the effects just as I’d hoped.
Time for some answers.
“My head is … fuzzy .” Althea says, her speech slowing slightly.
“Hmm. Baby? You okay? Do you need more?” she grunts. The flogger lies still across her abdomen, and her hips wiggle, seeking the pain she desires. “I need words.”
“Y-yes.” I chuckle, then drag the flogger gently across her skin again in a light caress, frustrating her further.
Leaning over her body, I get close to her ear and whisper, “Tell me again, Althea. Why were you at the Landing Strip tonight?” Before she can answer, I snap the flogger over her breasts, her belly, her thighs, avoiding her dripping sex.
“I was meeting The Bishop.” I reward her, plunging two fingers inside her, pumping them in and out as she moves her hips to the rhythm of my hand.
“How did you know where to find him?” I continue ramping her up, bringing her to the edge of her release, and slow my hand to almost a complete stop. Althea groans.
“Ugh. Enzo,” she whines. A light sheen of sweat dots her skin.
“How, Althea?” I pick up the pace of my once again, laying the flogger on her breasts. She’s close again, and I retreat.
“Bash told me!” she shouts. Reaching for the bullet vibrator, I turn it on and lay it over her clit but don’t apply pressure.
“And why would Sebastian Malgeri tell you this?”
“He said he could help me find …” She bites her lip, costing herself pleasure. I pull my hand and the bullet away. If she could move freely, I’d bet she would kick her feet at me right about now. The image makes me smile.
“What are you trying to find, baby? Maybe I can help you.”
Her breathing has slowed down again, her head lulling back and forth. I’m running out of time.
“Althea. What are you looking for?” I demand.
“Not what … Who ,” she answers, her face scrunching beneath the blindfold. “Annanias,” she whispers softly.
“Who?” I clench my fists, fighting back the red haze of jealousy coursing through my blood. “Annanias who, baby? Who is he?” My words come out through gritted teeth.
It’s not a common name. I’m sure I could find out who she’s talking about before I find the fucker and send him to his grave. But a little more information would make things a lot easier.
Faster. Cleaner.
“My brother.” Her words tear the seams of my jealousy and calm the rage before I have a turn to let it out. Though after everything I’ve seen and heard tonight, I almost wish she had said he was an ex-lover or a stalker. Someone I could let my demons out to play on.
You’re her only stalker.
Which is a good thing. Less cleanup at least.
“Now he’s a Venatti,” Althea slurs.
“Venatti? Who? I don’t understand, baby.
” I turn the bullet back on and apply pressure to her clit, not wanting her to fall asleep just yet.
Althea’s chest arches up off the bed as much as her restraints will allow.
It’s cruel to keep her on edge like this when the meds I’ve given her are pulling her under, but I don’t care, and she won’t remember.
Regardless, I need answers. Just a few more minutes and …
Althea’s climax comes over her in waves. Her mewls and moans making it damn near impossible for me not to come in my jeans. If I thought she would last, I’d fuck her hard and fast, but I’m not into somnophilia.
“Who is a Venatti, baby? What did The Bishop tell you?”
“Levanesse took him away from me. Now he’s a Venatti.” My blood turns cold at the mention of my father’s last name. I remember rumors being spread about my father stealing a child when I was just a boy.
It was the night he murdered my mother. There were murmurs around the estate that a child had gone missing.
Everyone assumed it was me after what I had done, but it wasn’t.
I went outside for air and found myself in the pool room outside to get cleaned up.
I didn’t want Giselle to see any more blood than she had to.
Especially not from me. I was worried she would already be afraid of me after seeing what I had done to our father, but she’s never brought it up or made me feel guilty for ending the twisted bastard’s life.
How the fuck is he involved in all of this?
“I’m tired.” Althea yawns. Her breathing has evened out. Her body now lies limp on the bed. The medicine has taken effect. She’s sated and sleeping soundly, and I’m left frustrated and enraged.
Time to get her dressed and get us on the plane. I wasn’t sure where I would take her at first, but now, hearing that bastard’s name coming from her sweet mouth, I know exactly where we need to go. Who we need to see to get answers.
Three hours later, we are on a private jet on our way to Italy to speak to my uncle Eliseo, among other things.
I’ve been sitting in the dark on my laptop, watching Althea sleep while I comb the black web searching for any sign of Annanias Drakos.
Whoever took him, did a damn good job of hiding his information.
The only things I can find are a birth certificate, a death certificate, and an old obituary with a picture of Annanias and Althea holding hands and laughing together.
They aren’t identical twins, but the similarities are still there in the eyes and the bone structure. Althea’s face is more elongated, and her hair now has a few highlights around her face. Where Annanias is all torso, Althea is all long, sexy legs.
My phone vibrates in my pocket, and I’m quick to answer it.
I already know who it will be. I didn’t stop to talk to Nazario before we left.
When I texted him, he said he was tied up in an interrogation, and I was in a hurry to get Althea on the road and onto the jet before her meds wore off.
The Doc said the pills react differently for everyone, and I didn’t want to risk her waking up too soon.
Althea is not only stubborn and determined but also very resourceful.
I have no doubt she would have figured a way out of her restraints and escaped The Mansion if I had been held up in meetings.
“Where the fuck are you?” Naz shouts, bypassing pleasantries. Not that I care.
“I’m on the jet headed to Italy. I need to talk to Nonna and Uncle Eliseo,” I explain.
“And a phone call wouldn’t suffice?” He growls. “Where’s the girl? What did you find out? Did you take care of her?”
“She’s with me.”
“ Fuck !”
I expected that.
“When I said for you to handle her, I didn’t mean take her on an all-expenses paid vacation to Italy, Enzo.”
“It’s not a vacation. Although, I mean, I need to book a honeymoon afterward.”
“ What does that mean? What are you doing, Enzo? You know something. Tell me.”
I pinch the bridge of my nose and let out a long sigh. “The only thing I can do to protect the family.”
“Which is?”
“Look, Althea’s brother was taken a long time ago, and it looks like Gianni was involved, if not at fault. That’s why Althea went to see The Bishop. She was looking for information, and apparently, he knew something. Or he made her believe he did.”
“And you believe Gianni kidnapped Caspien Drakos’s son? Do you hear yourself, Enzo? My Pop and Nonno would never condone taking a kid,” Nazario says angrily.
“Gianni didn’t much care if what he did was condoned or not.
He did whatever the fuck he wanted in his grand plan to be the next underboss,” I grumble.
Naz grunts his agreement. “The only person I know who would have any information on Gianni and his crimes is Maurice. Nonno and my mom were close. She wouldn’t let Gianni get away with something like that.
Children are off limits. It’s why he did what he did to her.
She always stood between his rage and us. ”
Memories of her busted lips and blackened eyes flash through my mind. It happened too many times to count, but the memories never leave.
“Fuck. Does Caspien know anything about this? Does he suspect us? Is that why he sent his daughter to spy on us?” Nazario’s thoughts are spiraling, and if I don’t reel him in he’s going to issue an order I will have to disobey.
“No. How’s Santo?” I change the subject.
“What? Oh, he’s good. He’s home. We had a nurse brought in to take care of him, which he is stubbornly fighting the entire way, but I don’t give a fuck.
If it makes Mama happy to have him looked after, then he can suck it up.
” Naz chuckles. “I may have some information about Pop’s murder.
I’m not sure yet. I’ll let you know when you get back what I’ve learned.
In the meantime, I’ll try to keep Caspien Drakos in the dark while you do whatever the hell it is you’re about to do. ”
“Got it.”
“What are you about to do, Enzo?”
“Well, depending on what we find out, I’m pretty sure I’m getting married.”