Page 41 of The Sicilian Bastard
Luciano
The morning of the funeral, everyone was on guard. Nicolo had gone against what we advised and planned a huge shindig. That meant we needed more guns, more guards, more everything. I sat on the edge of the bed buttoning my cufflinks. Araceli emerged from the bathroom mostly dressed. I was so surprised by her outfit, I almost choked on my tongue. Araceli had borrowed from someone's wardrobe, that was for sure. I had never seen her wear something so tantalizing. Then again, she was only a captive a few short weeks ago.
"How do I look?" She ran a hand down the length of her body.
I cleared my throat.
"Fuck, if I wasn't planning on killing anyone today, I will be now," I complained, shaking out the sleeves of my dress shirt.
"Wait, what?" Araceli tilted her head like a curious dog.
I sighed. "I want to fuck you. Everyone at the funeral is going to want to fuck you in that dress."
"What's wrong with it?" Now her arms crossed over her chest, emphasizing her tits as they pushed up.
"Are you even wearing a bra?" All right, so I was whining, sue me. This was my girl and it looked like she was about to get fucked six ways to Sunday by every member in the outfit.
She scoffed and headed back into the bathroom without answering me.
I hated that I upset her but watching her backside in that tight number made my pants tighten. The dress she wore was black and hit her knees with a little ruffle on the bottom. That was where it stopped being appropriate. It cut down to her belly button. I could see the curvature of both breasts. When I was staring at her, I wondered how easy it would be to pull apart the flimsy material and show those juicy globes some love. It wasn't such a stretch since the V-neck skated along with her nipples on each side. Then there was the choker collar thing. Fuck if I knew what it was called. All I knew was that when I saw it, I wanted to fuck her from behind and choke the shit out of her. I wantedmycollar on her neck. A claim for everyone to see. Something that screamed the property of Luciano Picone. Fuck it. I stalked into the bathroom after her.
She bent over the counter when I opened the door. Perfect. I hiked her dress over her hips and slapped her ass for being a naughty temptress.
"This is going to be quick and rough,mia fiore." I forced my cock into her perfection and groaned into her neck. She was already squeezing me. My pleasure spiked quick, but I held off. There was something I needed to do. I took my fingernail and dug it into her lower back. M.I.N.E. I didn't have anything on me to carve it permanently, but I wouldn't mind doing it every day, either. As soon as I carved it in, she clamped down hard. She milked me for all I was worth, dirty girl. She liked being claimed by me as much as I liked doing the claiming.
We both were winded after that. "I'm not going to make you change, but you will stay as close to me as you can."
Araceli nodded her head, and I popped out of her. She reached down, ready to clean herself up and I slapped her hand away frommypussy.
"No, you wanted me to react and I did. Now you get to wear my cum for the rest of the day." I cupped her and gave a few taps on her clit to fuck with her a little bit.
She moaned and arched her back against me. I had to back away. If I let her tempt me again, we would be late, and Agosto would be furious. I walked back into the bedroom and slipped on my sneakers. Normally, I'd wear Italian loafers, but I was on high alert. All my men knew to wear comfortable shoes today as well. I had a feeling this was going to be a shit show.
Araceli came behind me and reached her hand out for a weapon. I had them laid on the covers and was shocked to see her pick up a Glock.
"That one may be too powerful for you," I murmured, trying to take it back. She slipped it into her purse and flipped me off.
"I can handle it." She spun on her heel and went to leave, but I had to get in one dig.
"You can't even remember your life, how are you supposed to remember how to use a gun?"
She reached her hand in the bag and pulled the gun out. "Yeah? Well, maybe I should shoot you right here to prove you wrong." I covered my mouth, so she didn't see my laughter, but when she clicked off the safety, my laughing died.
"Put the gun down. You're not going to shoot me." I wasn't sure if that was true. "We can't afford to be late. Let's go." I brushed past her and she huffed a second before she followed me out. I reminded myself that I shouldn't be smug about winning that face-off. As much as Araceli wanted to project badass, she was still that scared little captive to me. I knew I would be able to force my will on her if I needed to. She was only submissive.
We arrived at the church with no fanfare. I kept my eyes peeled and one hand on my weapon as we entered. There was pressure in my chest. My instincts said to send Araceli back to the compound because it wasn't safe. The priest was a sweaty mess. I watched the sweat drip off his face down to his collar as he shook hands with Agosto and Nicolo. When he got to me, I didn't move an inch to shake his hand. He had a damp cloth in his hand, as if he had been dabbing at his forehead all morning. He was a normally nervous man, but this took the cake. Something was off.
The service began and I chose not to sit with the famiglia. I stood off to the side, on guard, looking out the stained glass for any sudden movement. Everything seemed fine until mass began.
"The Lord be with you." The priest waited for a response.
"Lift your iron…" He paused again for the response. But there was a titter in the pulpit as the members looked around, confused by the change in word choice. The response back was a little quieter, but I was already texting my men. Something was wrong. I needed to figure it out before we all died.
"Let us not hope for our ruination, but if it is so, then may the Lord our God lift us into his heavens. Your sins are awash and cleansed before your last breath." By the time the priest spoke of taking our last breaths, I had my gun drawn and ready for action.
There were six individuals headed for the doors at a run. Confused, I looked around for the danger, but I didn't see anything. All I saw were water bottles all over the floors. The water bottles weren't filled with water, I could tell from a distance. I ran across the pews trying to reach Araceli before it was too late. A huge popping sound went off and I tackled Araceli moments before the splash hit me. But I didn't roll correctly and the acid splashed on her neck and back. She screamed, her back arching away from the acidic blast. I ripped her clothes off her body. When they got stuck, I used a knife. Naked, with nothing on her, was better than acid-soaked clothing melting to her skin.
I lifted her body with my wrists because my hands were burning. I ran like something was chasing me and laid her on the pavement away from the church. As I spun to grab the rest of my famiglia, gunshots rained down on me. Whoever did this didn't want any survivors. Uncaring that my hands were injured, I withdrew my gun and started shooting back. I hit a few, but as the pain grew worse, my aim went off the rails. Araceli was screaming. I could hear her over the other survivors who were trying to get the hell out of dodge.
It was pure chaos. I shot blind. I'm sure I shot civilians, but I couldn't bring myself to care. Sirens sounded in the distance and I tossed my gun behind a bush. The heat that was falling on us was bad. I cradled Araceli in my arms, rocking her back and forth in a soothing manner.
"L-Luci, it hurts," she whispered.
"I know,mia fiore.Help is on the way, hold on." This wasn't something our resident doctor could handle. My woman injured. Again. Like it wasn't bad enough she had amnesia from a gunshot wound.
This wasn't the Russians. They were savage bastards, but they used guns and knives. We hadn't used a bomb like this in a long while and never on this scale. They weren't even real bombs. They were made. What bomb came in a water bottle? It was a mixture of chemicals. As my mind tried to connect all the dots, paramedics rushed towards me, taking Araceli. I went to go back to the church and they stopped me.
"Sir, you have to come to the hospital with us. We need to check your hands." I wanted to shake them off, but I saw Agosto getting into an ambulance too, which meant he wasn't dead. Injured, maybe, but not dead. There weren't enough ambulances, so they were doubling up the wounded when they could. I hopped into the ambulance with Araceli without any more fight. I needed to be with her. I needed to touch and hold her. I needed to see with my own eyes that she was all right.
Once I did, I would get vengeance for her. If this was the cartel, like I suspected, they would all burn. I would give them scars to match my Araceli's, then I would kill them slowly. I wanted to watch the blood draining from their bodies. I wanted to fuck Araceli on their corpses. I didn't care who she was to their organization. They went too far. Once she was under my protection, she was no longer theirs. She was mine. This wasn't just about territory anymore. This was more. I needed repayment. I didn't care if anyone else in that church was hurt but hearingmia fiore'sscreams haunted me. I replayed them in my mind, over and over again, while they worked on my hands. I watched her try to get away from the splash in my head, her face scrunched in pain. It wasn't getting me off. No. It was stoking the flames of hatred burning in my soul. I wanted retribution. I would steal, hurt, and kill anyone who stood in my way. This was now war. There was no doubt in my mind that we would win. They would rue the day they went against Luciano Picone. The sweet taste of vengeance would quench my bloodlust. The very thought soothed the dark beast I barely kept restrained. The taint of my soul was ready to unleash hellfire on every sorry son of a bitch that ever hurt my girl. She was mine. No more games. I claimed her. I was the only person who could hurt her. There would be no others. I was her last man. She was mine until the day she died, and when she died, I would keep her corpse safe. Willingly or not, she chose the devil, and I was too selfish to let her go now. I couldn't. I wouldn't. Never.
