Chapter 23 #2
“Nico has no idea who I really am,” I whisper through ragged breaths. “He thinks I’m strong.” My chest caves inward. “I’m not. I’m fucked up in the head. I’ll ruin him. I’ll ruin everything.”
“Serenity—”
“I can never be with him.” Fresh tears slip down my cheeks. “I don’t know how to make him understand that loving me means blood and graves and dead children.”
The room tilts.
My skin feels stretched tight over my bones.
Then—
“Serenity.”
The voice cuts through the chaos.
Deep.
Familiar.
Real.
“Serenity,” Javier says again.
I blink hard.
The padded room fades.
The bleach scent dissolves into metallic blood and plastic.
I’m back.
Back in the warehouse.
Back in control.
Steven stares at me like I’m batshit crazy. Well I am.
“Pliers, please?” I whisper.
Fitz places the pliers in my hand and squeezes. “You’re here, boss. And you’re in control.”
The weight of the pliers grounds me.
I hold my head high and nod.
“Time for a little dental work,” I flash a wolfish grin.
“No, no!” Steven hollers.
I clamp the pliers on an upper tooth in the back. “This is for spitting on me.”
“Ah,” he screams as I pry the tooth from his mouth.
Blood drips down his face as I drop his tooth to the ground.
“Who did he work for?” I roar as I shove the pliers into his mouth to pull out another tooth.
An hour later, Dad walks in.
“Serenity, how’s it going?” Dad kisses my cheek.
“It’s going. Steven here won’t tell us who Alvin A.K.A. John Talis, worked for.”
I told Dad who Nico said John worked for. However, I still wanted to hear it from this rat. My dad understands.
“Let’s turn up the torture then.” Dad puts protective gear over his dark dress shirt, slacks, and shoes.
This is my life as a mafia princess. Before I killed those assholes years ago, I never thought this would be my role in the mafia. That day, a monster was born.
“Steven, you worked for me for years. I hate learning I still have rats in my organization. Especially when I thought I got rid of them all,” Dad roars.
He stretches his hand out. Dad’s most trusted bodyguard Big Lux, who saved me, Krew, and Mom’s lives, steps forward, placing a two by four in his hand.
“I’m sure you’ve heard what happens to those who betray me.” Dad whacks the side of Steven’s torso with the two by four.
“Ah,” Steven cries.
“My daughter asked you a question. Who are you working with?”
Steven swollen lower lip trembles, but no words come out.
Dad shrugs. “I guess you choose a slow, painful death.”
He spins the wheel. Steven’s face turns redder by the second the longer he spins. My father whacks his body from head to toe.
“I hate fucking rats,” Dad yells.
“Who are you working with?”
Vomit shoots out of Steven’s mouth, painting our heavy-duty black leather aprons pink. His putrid vomit hit my nostrils, making me gag.
Dad stops the wheel. Steven’s unconscious and his head hangs between his shoulder blades.
Javier rushes over with a garden hose and rinses the vomit off my apron.
Holding a hand over my mouth, I sprint to the bathroom and hover over the toilet.
I vomit for what feels like five minutes. It was probably more like one minute.
Shit, am I sick? Maybe the smell of Steven’s vomit triggered a stomach bug.
“Are you all right?” Dad asks, holding out a sheet of paper towel.
I take it and wipe my mouth. “Yes, I’m fine. I think I’m coming down with the flu. I hadn’t felt like myself today. But I wanted to push through torturing Steven before I went home and climbed into bed.”
“Go home. I got it from here,” Dad says as he pulls me to my feet.
“Steven spit on me.”
Dad’s face darkens.
“He did it hoping I’d kill him before you arrived.”
He shakes his head. “Like a true rat, he wants to take the easy way out. Not a chance. I’ll continue to press him for a name.
But if he hasn’t given it yet, he probably won’t.
Whoever he’s protecting is holding something over his head.
I’m not sure what it can be because Steven doesn’t have a wife and kids. ”
“Maybe his mother or grandmother,” I add.
“Yeah, that’s always a possibility.” Dad kisses the top of my head.
“Torna a casa mia, bellissima figlia. Go home, my beautiful daughter,” Dad says in Italian.
On the way home, I ask Javier to stop at the store for saltine crackers and ginger ale.
An hour and a half later, I’m lying in bed, munching on crackers. The bath did its job. I feel relaxed. My stomach growls beneath my hand. I’m starving.
“Fitz,” I call.
He shows up at the door a minute later. “Yes, boss?”
“Order fried rice and six egg rolls.”
His brows bunch together like he wants to question me but doesn’t. “On it.”
“Oh, and pick up a package of fudge stripe cookies and Cakesters.”
He nods and leaves the bedroom.
I usually only want fudge stripes when I’m about to start my cycle. But I never eat Cakesters. They’re gross.
Grabbing my phone off the nightstand, I scroll to the monthly app. Maybe my cycle dates are changing. I peer at the screen. My period is a week late. That’s odd. I shouldn’t have cravings then.
On Monday, I return to work. At this point, the fudge stripe cookies and I are besties. I keep them in my desk drawer.
There’s a knock at the door.
“Come in.”
My assistant, Marissa, saunters in with a tablet in hand. Her shiny red hair hangs over her shoulder perfectly. The purple jacket and heather gray pencil skirt hug her curves.
“Ms. Cichello, would you like me to order lunch?”
“Yes.” I smile.
Tomato, basil, garlic, and onion hang in the air, and I gag. “Did someone order garlic and onion pizza?”
She grins. “Yeah, Clinton ordered pizza for the guards. There are two garlic, onion, and chicken pizzas.”
Clinton is head of building security.
“They smell awful.” I can feel the bile rise in my throat.
Her eyes widen. “I didn’t realize the scent was so strong.”
I rub at my brow. “Please order fried rice and four egg rolls from Yin & Yang’s up the street.”
I don’t want to sound greedy by ordering six egg rolls again.
“Ms. Cichello, I’ll get right on it.” She turns on her heel, closing the door behind her.
I waste no time running into my private bathroom and slam the door shut.
Dropping to my knees over the toilet bowl, I vomit all the contents in my stomach.
It’s time I make a doctor’s appointment.
After freshening up, I shut down my computer, pick up my purse, and vacate the office. “Marissa, I’m still under the weather. Call the restaurant and let them know I’ll pick up my order.”
“All right. And, boss, I hope you feel better.”
“Thank you,” I reply en route to the elevator.
I answer my buzzing phone. “Hello.”
“What’s going on, Serenity? We hadn’t talked in a while.”
“Nico, I’m sorry. I wanted you to come over, but I’ve been under the weather. Like I just can’t shake this stomach bug.”
“I can come over and take care of you.”
“Nico, I don’t want you to see me like this.”
My bodyguards emerge from the break room, pressing the elevator’s down button.Their suits reek of garlic and onion. The foul stench of that awful pizza is tormenting me.
“When will you be home?” he asks.
“In about an hour.”
“I’ll see you soon,” he says before disconnecting the call.
A little over an hour later, I climb into bed. Nico walks into my room. I had instructed my bodyguards to let him in when he arrived.
“I stopped by the juice bar.”
I take the drink from his hand and sip. The passion fruit dances on my tongue.
“Tastes so good. Thanks Nico. You didn’t have to come.”
He sits beside me and leans closer. “I wanted to be here for you.” He plants a kiss on my forehead. The butterflies soar in my belly.
“Nico, you shouldn’t kiss me. You can get sick.”
He chuckles as he stands. “I picked up homemade chicken noodle soup from Venchis. I’ll be back.”
Gripping the edge of my soft pillow, my eyelids lower. When I come to Nico’s, beside me focused on the basketball game.
His gaze snaps to me. “Are you hungry?”
My eyes roam his body. He’s wearing a gray t-shirt, gray sweatpants, and white socks cover his big feet. I want to pull those sweatpants down with my teeth.
“Yes.”
He hops out of bed, then strolls out of the room.
I jump up and run into the bathroom to relieve myself and pull myself together.
After ditching my bonnet in the drawer, I walk out the bathroom.
Nico is back on the bed, resting his head on the headboard.
I spot the piping hot soup on the nightstand.
“Thank you.” I grin.
Settling beside him, I pick up the spoon and bowl of soup.
“You’re welcome.” Nico hits a few buttons on the remote. “Let’s watch a movie.”
“Sounds good.” I push the spoon into my mouth, filled with noodles, carrots, and celery.
“This soup is delicious.”
He smirks. “I knew what you needed.”
“Nico, I don’t feel up to having sex.”
He slides his hand over my thigh. “I’m not here for sex. I’m here to take care of you.”
My heart skips a beat as I hold his gaze.
“We haven’t done this in a long time. Just exist in each other’s presence.”
“I know, Serenity. It’s time for that to change.”
I place the spoon and empty bowl on the nightstand. “There’s a lot you don’t know about me,” I say.
He pauses the movie. “Like what?”
I’m silent for a moment. “When I was fourteen me, Krew, and mom were terrorized by my father’s enemies. There were three men.” I pull my legs up and hug them as I tell the story.
“They killed our security detail. Dad was out working. He wasn’t there to protect us,” I choke out.
“The main terrorizer, Lauro (Lurch) Archioni, came to my room to get me. He hit me as if I were a man, knocking me unconscious. I didn’t learn any of their names until later.”
Nico’s jaw ticks. He can’t hide his anger.
“Krew and Mom were tied up. I wasn’t. Pretending to be helpless and compliant, I spoke softly to the nineteen-year-old, Gioele Vero, who wanted to rape me.
Lurch kicked my mother repeatedly. Jeno Mergia sat in the chair, watching everything play out.
I knew I couldn’t watch Lurch kick my mother in her pregnant belly anymore. ”
Nico runs a hand over my back in soothing circles.