Page 44 of The Sicilian Bastard
Luciano
Ifelt like my skin was crawling. So much had happened. I argued with the doctor to get Araceli home. She called it home. The compound. That was crazy to me. I never thought she would want to be a part of my life. I figured I'd kidnap her, fuck her, torture her a little, and let her go. I didn't want to let her go anymore. The very thought made my body seize up. She was mine. I didn't need anyone else. Just her. The fact she got hurt because of my shit? It tore me up inside. It made me want to break things.
I made sure she was comfortable once we got back to the compound. As much as I wanted to stay with her and hold her, I couldn't. I wanted to soothe her and reassure myself she was still here, but I couldn't. She might not realize it, but I noticed the glazed look in her eyes. The hospital reminded her of something. When I asked her, she lied to me? She acted like she had no idea what I was talking about. She ignored me many times when I tried to get answers from her. That was something I couldn't tolerate. I went to the warehouse and collected the tool. If she was going to lie to me, I was going to go back to the basics. I didn't care now that she was injured. The only thing important on my mind was getting her to spill her secrets. She could be holding vital information about the cartel. Something that could put us in danger. I needed to make sure that didn't happen. I needed to protect my family. It was my only goal in life. Araceli could be standing in the way of that. No one got between me and my family. Not even my littlefiore.
Before I could head back to the bedroom to play with my doll, Agosto stopped me. He ordered me into the office and almost manhandled me to get there. I let out an annoyed sigh and allowed him to waylay me.
"What do you want,fratello?"I motioned with my head to my bag of tricks. Agosto knew from sight what I was planning. He remembered the bag clearly from when we were kids. I always bought the same kind of bag. It was a leather duffel bag with my initials on the front. It had three pockets that I stuffed full of rags and other soft cloths.
"What's with the bag? Or should I say who's it for?" I smirked. Agosto was always the soft brother. He never projected the alpha male his dad wanted. A disappointment just like I was.
"Araceli is hiding things." I shrugged like it was no big deal, but the demons were riding me hard. I could hear the echoes of ghosts in my head. The old Don, my mother, hell, even my siblings were all whispering. I shook my head, trying to clear my mind. Now was not the time to lose it. I had a naughty girl to punish.
"I can't let you do that." Agosto blocked the exit. He was smaller than I was. I was the largest of all of us. I wasn't afraid to teach him a hard lesson. While he was away in Vegas living it up, I had to harden myself and learn to take care of myself. No one else would do it.
"Move," I warned.
"No, this girl is good for you. If you break her too much, there won't be any salvation for you." I scoffed at the implication that Araceli was good for me. I could live without her. I didn't need her. She was expendable.
No, she's not, that cruel inner voice whispered, soothing the beast in my chest.
"You can't answer all your issues with violence, Luciano." Agosto had been talking. I wasn't listening. I watched his mouth move but zoned out a little. He needed to get out of my way. I needed to get to that lying bitch and make her pay. She was just like my mother. The pain in my chest grew. Agosto was keeping me from my prey. I couldn't allow that. I threw the first punch after toeing my bag away from us.
"You. Aren't. The. Don." I emphasized each word with a punch to his face.
"I'm your brother," Agosto roared and charged me. I slammed back into his desk, confused. Out of all my siblings, no one claimed me. Not like Araceli. The pain in my chest increased.
"Half," I spit out along with a trail of blood.
"No, we are blood. There is no half. You are a Picone. I am a Picone. We are famiglia. They are dead and they can't stop us from coming together anymore. We can be stronger together." I shook my head again. Everything was swirling. My world was on its axis and nothing made sense. The only thing that made sense was getting answers from Araceli.
I punched Agosto in his throat unexpectedly. Maybe he thought he was getting through to me. In any case, it threw him off guard. He fell on his ass, and I grabbed my bag, booking out of there. I wasn't going to let him screw around with me. Araceli already put me in a tizzy. Now, Agosto was throwing a wrench in my otherwise normal life. My siblings weren't my siblings. That was it. Agosto was trying to distract me. That was all. He didn't care for me. He wasn't trying to claim me.
I entered the room Araceli was set up in. She was lying face down on the bed with no top on, her scarred back open to the room. Quickly and gently, I clasped her wrists and ankles to the four corners of the bed. I didn't want to wake her up until I was ready. My chest flared and I had nausea in my stomach, but I ignored it all. This had to be done. I pulled out my regular tools, but at the last second, I went to the toys I had hidden around the room. I could use different tools. I could and she would still give me the information I sought.
I woke her up with a whip to the back. The leather bullwhip was a tool I used constantly. It felt like razor cuts, and with her burns, it would hurt even more. I was careful not to wrap it around her body as I whipped her. That was the danger.
She woke with a bloodcurdling scream. I waited for the shiver of delight to run down my spine, but none came. Frowning, I snapped the whip again. There was nothing. I didn't give her any reprieve as I snapped it again. I wasn't as into this as I thought I would be. No matter, I would shut my emotions off and get the answers I sought.
"What are you keeping from me?" I growled like a savage animal. It was only because I wanted to get hard from her screams and tears. I wanted to smell the fear in the air and lick it. I wanted to be able to revel in her pain. I wanted control. But my dick was calmer than the sea after a long storm. It was softer than a puppy rolling around on a bed of marshmallows. I tapped her skin especially hard and quaked from the hair-raising scream. She sounded tortured. I gave her a reprieve, waiting for my answer.
"N-nothing," she gasped and tried to roll away from the snap on her back. I wouldn't stand for her lies.
"Liar," I bellowed. I made sure the door was locked tight. I didn't want any interfering siblings to stop me.
I whipped her three times in rapid succession. She was bowing off the bed. She was trying to get away from me. Her lies, her betrayal, nothing about her was real. I saw a red film fall over my eyes. I kept whipping until I smelled the iron in the air and could hear her pleas in my ears again.
"Stop, stop. Please, god, make him stop," she repeated.
"Tell me what you're keeping from me." I had no sympathy for her plight. She brought this on herself.
"Nothing," she answered again. I went to raise the whip, but she kept going.
"Wait, wait, wait. I had a memory or a flashback of being in the hospital after I was shot. That was all. I hated it. I remembered this one nurse and I remembered how all I wanted to do was leave. The scent and the way I was there were very similar. If you hadn't been waiting for me, I probably would've cracked."
As she breathed through the pain, I lowered the whip in horror. This wasn't what I thought she had to tell me. I thought she was keeping something big from me. Life or death big. My chest seized up. I gasped and spun away from her, ready to leave it all. I looked down on Araceli's bleeding body. I was a destroyer. I ruined everything I touched. Everyone was right; I was a monster. How could anyone love a person like me? Enough. I couldn't do this anymore. I reached out to touch her lightly but brushed against her marks. The blood welled and she winced, twitching away from me in pain. I was gutted. The one woman in my corner and this was what I did to her. This wasn't how you treated someone. She couldn't even turn the pain I gave her into pleasure. No one could, the way I waled on her. There was no way. I blinked down and moved the covers out of the way. I unclasped her ankles and she moved away from me. There was a distinct wet spot on the bed. I undid her arm and her hand slid right to her center. She rubbed and rubbed until she burst in only a few seconds. I let her other hand loose and she rolled to her side so she could look at me. Her lids lowered with arousal. Confusion swirled in my mind even more.
"I hurt you?" I gasped out. I needed to hear her say it.
"What's a little pain when I can orgasm like that." She smirked at me. Maybe I wasn't the only crazy one here. I shook those thoughts out of my head. Araceli was only like this because I took her. If she had never met me, she wouldn't be so fucked up.
You know that's not true.My inner sadist chuckled at the thought I screwed her up. No, I unlocked her potential. I still needed space. There was too much to unpack here. I needed to give her time to make sure she was all right with what we did. I also needed to get my head on straight. It wasn't up to her to fight my demons. I needed to fight them myself. Araceli spread her legs again, tempting me. I had to get out of here. My cock was aching. Earlier, it was dead in my pants, but now it was raging. It wanted to take all her holes all night long. I backed away from the bed and the tempting sight before me. I whirled away as soon as I could rip my gaze off her. She tried to get out of the bed but fell on the floor. I could hear the thud and her moans of pain. Instead of helping her and staying in this room, I fled. If I helped her, I would hurt her again. She wasn't safe for me. I'd bet if I gave her a safe word, she would never use it. People like that were dangerous. People like her would take what they were given and ask for more, no matter how shitty the hand they were dealt. She deserved more than me. She deserved more than this life. She was more. When we got back to Philly, I would get her out of the life I dragged her into. Even if it killed me.
