The Captive Series (2 page)

“I didn’t sleep with him,” she responded quickly, fearful of what I would do to Grimes. The look on her face told me she wasn’t lying. She had an honesty that was extremely noticeable on her.

“That’s good, baby. That may have saved him.” I kissed her hair. I was serious; the motherfucker already kissed her. Plus, someone had roughed her up, and I wanted to know who. “Baby girl, who put their hands on you tonight?”

She looked frightened. “I am not mad at you. I just want to know who is not going to be walking for the next few weeks.”

“It was the two guys in the room. Your cousin and the other guy.” Frankie now had a meeting with my nine. I had to bide my time, but that motherfucker was as good as dead.

“Thank you, baby. Now, are you going to be a good girl and tell them that Grimes got mad when you wouldn’t put out, so he beat you and that’s when my guys intervened?”

“I am not a good liar. What if they ask more? I don’t want to do this. I can’t do this. We don’t belong together—it’s wrong.” She started panicking, her hands flailing. It was actually kind of cute.

“Wrong? What is wrong with a couple who are attracted to each other being together? Now give me a kiss—we’re here.” She looked like she was ready to argue with me, but was smart enough not to even bother.

She obeyed nicely. Her lips were tender and sweet. I was gentle but dominating. She needed to understand her fate was already sealed. She was mine to keep, protect, and worship. I tasted her lips, forgetting that they’d been abused earlier, but then again, so had she. Damn, I was getting so into the kiss when Vito reminded me that we were at the hospital and the police were all over. He got out and opened the door for us. I jumped out before taking her back into my arms and carrying her to the entrance. I was glad her body was covering the very blatant erection she gave me. I was hoping it went down before I gave the whole hospital a show.

Vito led the way as I carried her, with my coat over her torn clothes, into the Emergency Room at St. Vincent’s Medical Center. Security was at the emergency entrance, and I practically growled, “I’m Luciano Rossi. I need a doctor.” I got immediate attention using my name; it held power in this small city. There was a hush when I added, “My girl here has been injured and needs to be seen like fucking yesterday.”

I wasn’t going to sit there and fill out paperwork while we waited with the rest. If that was the case, I could have taken her back to my place and had a doctor at my door within a half hour. Of course, they didn’t make me wait. A nurse came up to me and said, “Bring her in here, sir.”

I carried her into one of the ER curtained examining rooms. A moment later, a doctor came into the room. The doctor asked the routine questions, and once her name was given, a call was made notifying the police that she was brought into the ER and by whom. I was waiting for the shit-storm to start. I could handle the situation, but looking at my woman, I didn’t think she could.

It wasn’t fifteen minutes later that the chief and his wife entered the hospital. I had been sitting with her when they examined her. They had told me to wait outside while she was evaluated, but I looked at her and knew she didn’t want me to go. I refused to leave and made it fucking clear that it wasn’t going to happen.

“Amber,” her parents shouted in unison. They ran up to her. Her mother hugged her tight while her father stared me down and looked at our hands connected as I sat by her side.

“Rossi, let my daughter’s hand go,” Chief McLaren roared as he stared me down. Sorry, old man, but it was time for a new reality.

“No.” I was straightforward and wasn’t going to back down from him. His appearance hadn’t simmered down one bit. He only seemed to get more pissed off, if his face was any indication. Apparently this chump wasn’t used to hearing no. Well, too…fucking…bad.

“What the fuck? Who the hell do you think you are? You put her in here…I’ll kill you.” The fucker made his move and attempted to launch at me, but Vito came in the room at the same time her parents did. He knew to come in just for this purpose. I would have dropped his ass myself, but couldn’t have my girl getting pissed at me for taking out her dad.

“Daddy, stop!” We both turned to our girl who called out to her father to stop.

“He is the one who found me and brought me here,” she said in a rush.

I couldn’t resist. I kissed her cheek. It was the truth; she hadn’t lied. I wasn’t afraid of the possible charges for the attack, but I didn’t need the cops on my ass when I had other projects in the works.

“Did he tell you to lie for him?” he asked accusingly. His concern for her seemed to be missing; in its place was pure anger.

“No…” Damn it! She was right—she was a terrible liar.

“You piece of shit. I’ll have you arrested.” His face turned red as he stared me down with his weak threat. I wanted to laugh in his face.

“Daddy, it’s not like that. I was out with Freddy tonight, and well…he wanted more than I was ready for this soon in our relationship. Things got out of hand, and Mr. Rossi and his friend noticed and picked us up, made sure I was okay, then brought me here.” We have got to work on her poker face. Her story would have been believable if she didn’t continually look at me for reassurance.

“Why didn’t you bring her here first, then, if you were so noble?” He was trying to catch us up in our lie. Fuck him. I didn’t owe him shit.

“First, I never said I was noble—far from it actually—but I didn’t know who she was until I saw that she was labelled missing. I don’t need some punk beating up his date. So I straightened him out and then brought her here. If you got a problem with it, then fuck it, deal with it.” I was practically in his face by now. I was laying claim to Amber, and I didn’t give a shit what her dad thought. I wasn’t going to take any more of his shit. The look on his face told me that he wasn’t really upset about what happened to her.

If I had a little girl, I would have already had blood on my hands dealing with this type of shit. No one would be allowed to harm my baby, but he was a cop, on the good side supposedly. I hadn’t found any shady information on his ass. I had been trying for the last six months to get some dirt on him, but he seemed clean as a whistle. Having dirt on officials made life easier for me and my family.

“Well, thank you for finding my girl and bringing her here—now you can go.” Balls...he had them, I would give him that. If he kept that shit up, he wouldn’t have them for much longer.

“That isn’t going to happen. You see, your daughter is now mine. Nothing—I mean nothing—is going to change that.” I looked at him with a look that said, “Just try me.”

“What the fuck? You think you own her because you prevented another asshole from raping her?” The bastard didn’t know when to quit, but persistence didn’t always pay off.

I laughed at the stupid fuck. It was either that or choke the shit out of him. “I want her because I want her. I don’t need your approval, and neither does she. I am just letting you know how it is and how it will be.”

Just then, my phone rang. I looked at the caller ID, and it was that fuck-up cousin of mine. McLaren had nothing to say. Good, because I was tempted to fuck his ass up if he said another damn thing to me.

I squeezed her hand to get her attention. I gave her a wink when her eyes met mine and said, “Cara, I have to take this. I’ll be back in a moment.” To taunt her father, I bent down and kissed her pretty lips. I knew she wanted to refute my claim to her, but they just gave her some Vicodin and it was taking effect. Plus, she didn’t want me to whack Grimes because of her.

I walked out of the room, and I could hear him shouting about how dangerous I was to her. What the fuck? I hadn’t even stepped out of the room before he was losing it. He was probably bashing me and trying to get her away from me. It wasn’t going to go down that way. She would just find her ass kidnapped again, but by me this time.

“Enzo, what do you want? I am fucking busy cleaning up your mess,” I hissed on the phone.

“Grimes is dead.”

“What? How the fuck did that happen? You were to leave him alive.”

“He was mouthing off, and I’d had enough of him.”

“I don’t give a shit that he was mouthing off,” I roared. I hung up on his ass before he said anything to make me forget that he was family.

“He’s family,” I chanted to myself as I attempted to cool down.

I was pacing back and forth in the hallway when I heard a crash coming from her room. I booked it into the room to see Vito standing over McLaren with a gun pointed at the fuck. He turned at my entrance and said angrily, “Boss, we need to get her out of here. He just fucking hit her.” The doctor and two nurses entered right after me and were too stunned to move.

I ran up to my girl, looking at her and her latest bruise appearing on the right side of her face.

“Vito, don’t kill him yet.” I turned to my girl and asked, “You want to press charges against your dad, baby?”

She was crying, the tears coming out hard. Mrs. McLaren just stood there cowering in the corner and letting this happen. I had a fucking feeling this wasn’t the first time he put his hands on her, but it sure as hell was his last.

“Dr. Jones, we are leaving. Get what you need for her to be released, and I’ll handle the bill. Chief, you may be known as clean, but it’s clear that you are a ruthless-ass bastard. You better stay away from her.” I turned back to Amber after giving my warning. I looked into her beautiful eyes and asked, “Amoré, are you okay? I knew I should have just called a private physician.” My regret laced my words.  I sat on the edge of the bed and tucked her hand into mine.

Vito let her lousy father stand back up as he holstered his piece. The jackass turned to the doctors and had the nerve try to defend himself. He was beyond pathetic, and his words were more so. “You don’t believe that I would hit my daughter who has been brutalized by this thug and his men, do you?”

I looked at the doctor and his staff to see if they would buy the bullshit he was selling. The doctor couldn’t figure out which way to run. You had the law on one side, and on the other you had me; a tough choice.

It was the sassy nurse who spoke up. “We don’t need to take anyone’s word for it. The large bruising that’s now forming on her cheek is enough to know.” The two nurses slapped hands. The chief grabbed his wife’s hand, pushed past the nurses, and turning to us he said, “This is not over, Rossi.”

The doctor and nurses started to look at Amber to make sure he had not hurt her more. The doctor reassured me that she was going to be fine. “Mr. Rossi, there seems to be no more than a light bruising. She can be released, but she will still need around-the-clock monitoring for the next twenty-four hours.”

“That can be done,” I stated as I caressed her hair. I’d get my personal physician to look at her. All I could think of was getting her home and safely tucked in our bed.

It had been one hell of a night, and it was only just beginning. Technically, it was already the next day at some ungodly hour of the morning. Hell, it was still dark out. I was here in this mansion on the outskirts of town with a bunch of men protecting the outside walls. Who lived like this besides the queen and the president?

My plans had been to go on a date with the hottest and most popular guy in school. Freddy Grimes was the exact opposite of me—well, almost. I might not have been a popular girl, but I did have friends. I was super plain, and he was the captain of the football team. I didn’t have nice clothes and makeup because my father didn’t want me acting like as he called it, “A whore.” Since I never wore it, I didn’t know what Freddy saw in me. He claimed it was because I had natural beauty.

My friends let me borrow a cute black skirt and pink top with some makeup. I felt so pretty after I got ready and was grateful that my dad had been working. I might have been old enough to date whoever I wanted, but he still held tight reins on me. My dad didn’t let me get a job, so I had no money of my own. I would soon, though. My friend offered me a place to stay so that I could get a job and go to college.

When Freddy picked me up, I felt butterflies. This was my first real date and so far, it was perfect. We had dinner at a very expensive restaurant. It wasn’t any place I’d been before because my father was too cheap to take me or my mom out anywhere nice. It was such a treat that I wondered if this was just the start of something amazing. There were actually no prices on the menu, so I didn’t know how he could afford it, but I didn’t ask questions. Maybe his parents had money since he was too busy on the football team to have a job.

After dinner, he wasn’t done with our night. Next, we were off to see a movie. We had just gotten the tickets and he took my hand sweetly. I blushed profusely. This was all new to me. It was there, right out front of the theatre before we went in to see the movie, that he kissed me. Until that moment, I had never been kissed before. We kissed, and it was gentle and sweet. It was nice, but nothing to write home about. Maybe it was my fault because I didn’t really know what I was doing. Then, as soon as I thought it would deepen, we were pulled away from each other by two overgrown thugs.

I tried to put up a fight. I clawed at the man who took me, but he was too strong for me. I stopped just long enough to I see them conk Freddy on the head. I tried to scream, but the guy with the scar punched me so hard I fell to the ground. It wasn’t the first time I had been hit that hard. I had to learn to avoid my dad’s fist many times, but hell if that one wasn’t a good one. We were in the vehicle in a matter of seconds. My head was fuzzy and my vision blurry, so I couldn’t tell where they were taking us. I hoped my dad would find us before it was too late. I was willing to suffer his wrath if he could come rescue me. They had taken my cell phone, so I couldn’t call for help as I bounced around the back of the moving van with my hands and feet tied. Freddy had just regained consciousness when the van stopped.

“I’m scared,” I told him. He shushed me and told me to do whatever they told me to do.

They carried me into what looked to be an old abandoned building and down into a cellar. It was dark and creepy, and I knew this would not be good. How bad could it be? I didn’t know, but I was about to find out. My fear was so strong I thought I would faint.

We were both tied to chairs about five feet from each other. The one with the scar, who obviously was the leader, started to choke Freddy and ask him what he did with his money. Freddy kept telling him he made the drop, but he wouldn’t listen.

“I swear, Enzo, I made the drop. I did,” he pleaded.

“Bullshit, Grimes. You fucked up one too many times,” that Enzo character said. He continued to beat on Freddy.  Once he was done, he came up to me. “Cara, I am going to enjoy you. I know Luciano has his eye on you, but I am going to taste you first.”

I’d immediately turned to look at the other man in the room, assuming he was Luciano. He was a pudgy, balding, older thug. Enzo started to tear at my clothes. I was saved by the bell when his phone went off.

The way he was gesturing on the phone, I could tell he was pissed. I couldn’t make out what he was saying because it was in a different language. From what I could tell, it was probably Italian.
Great…Freddy got us involved with the mob.

Then it dawned on me; Luciano as in Luciano Rossi, the main guy in this area. Rumors were he was ruthless and heartless. Women fell over each other just to get a glimpse of the man everyone wanted. He was tall, dark, and gorgeous. I never actually saw him before, but I’d heard about him. So obviously the short Tony Soprano-looking-ass in the corner wasn’t him.

Once he got off the phone, he grabbed my arms tightly as he bent down and looked me in the eyes. “Luciano is on his way here. Damn it. Our rendezvous will have to wait, Miss McLaren,” he finished in a whisper. Wanting to get his fill before Rossi arrived, he squeezed my breast roughly, and I wanted to cry out with pain and fear, but I held it in. I wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction.

“I’ll have you, Amber. Luciano won’t be able to stop me.” His words chilled me to the bone. It almost seemed like a competition, a rivalry more like it. This Luciano wanted me for himself.
Was this thing their norm? They kidnap women and rape them?
I braced myself for what was to come. I just wanted to live. I was too young to die. Being violated would be awful, but that can be worked on. If I was dead, that would be it. There was no working on that. Dead was dead. I looked over at Freddy and knew that his fate was as sealed as mine. Enzo continued to glare at me and rub himself. I knew it was just a way to torment me, but I controlled my racing heart and refused to look at him.

It was then that
he
burst through the door followed by another beefy man. It was him; the mysterious man I saw briefly before I entered the mall with the girls. This was Luciano. I’d fantasized about him and the look I had seen through the reflection in the doorway. All the girls were drooling too, but I pretended that all I could think about was my date with Freddy. I was frightened and turned on all at the same time. He looked right at me, and I felt moisture in my panties. What the hell? I was being held against my will, beaten and threatened with violation, and I was ready to take my clothes off for the blue-eyed, clean-cut killer.

Luciano sent the beach ball packing, then walked up to my tormentor. Bam! The cousin named Enzo, the scar-face asshole, was knocked to the ground, then he told him off. He was mad that they made trouble for him. It sounded like he didn’t know they took me, and he wasn’t happy about it. All I could think about when he dropped the bastard was “Karma’s a bitch.”

It wasn’t long before he made Enzo follow his puppet and leave. He walked up to Freddy and coldcocked him. I didn’t hear what he said to him, but I knew it wasn’t good. Then the beautiful devil approached. Those looks were criminal, or at least they should be. I guessed his looks matched his occupation.

His words and touch were soft and gentle, but my reflexes and fear kicked in. I mean, just fifteen minutes ago his cousin was trying to rape me. I calmed down, and he untied the rest of my bindings and carried me out to the waiting SUV. When he said he was keeping me, I didn’t take him seriously. I couldn’t really fathom him and me together, but he was adamant, especially when I mentioned Freddy was my boyfriend. It was like I unleashed a beast with those words.

Funny, his possessiveness was turning me on. When he grabbed my throat, it felt like a dam opened up between my thighs. I was extremely excited. Maybe it was the adrenaline playing with my body. Then again, the other bastard’s touch disgusted me beyond belief. I knew Freddy really wasn’t my guy, but I couldn’t help but bait Luciano. It was strange because he was a stone-cold killer, but I liked the gleam in his eyes when he stared at me like he owned me. His threats to me didn’t scare me one bit. I knew he was serious, but I wasn’t afraid of him at all.

Then our kiss happened, and it was nothing like the one I shared with Freddy. This one made my world flip, tumble, and spin all around. I was so lost in his blazing hot kiss that I let him tease my body until I reached my breaking point, coming in his arms. His touch was unforgettable, but I was mortified that I let him bring me to release. He didn’t let me regret what happened, and I was actually grateful for it. I didn’t have any recriminations about it.

I don’t even want to think about what happened at the hospital. My father had always been careful to hide his abusive side. I didn’t know what was worse: the hidden evil or the evil on blatant display.

Once we entered his compound, I felt relief—odd, considering I was in the home of the biggest thug in this region after being accosted by his men and then my dad. He wanted me to be his and told me I had no choice in the matter. Luciano was essentially holding me captive, but it was what I wanted. I guess that was why I felt relief. I spent my life running away from my dad’s drunken anger. Where everyone thought the top cop could do no wrong, I walked around in fear of the one man who should be protecting me. Now I know that Luciano had taken me away from that. I should be afraid of him because he was dangerous, but for some reason I wasn’t.

I know he says I am his, but for how long before I am replaced by his next whore?
The thought of being replaced really hurt. I wasn’t really sure why, and I wouldn’t dig deep into those feelings.

Luciano introduced me to his housekeeper, Rosa. She was a nice, polite older woman who smiled brightly. Apparently he had called ahead, because she had some snacks prepared for us. I was still wearing my clothes that were frayed at the seams but still covered me up. I didn’t have anything to change into and truthfully, I was afraid to ask what to wear. Would he want me intimately tonight?

He carried me up to the first bedroom on the right. We entered into a large open room. On the far left side was a king-sized bed draped in blue sheets and a matching duvet. The room was rich in warm colors and the floors were a dark, almost black wood. It was so striking and welcoming. He placed me on my feet and rested his hand on the small of my back. I stood there for a moment just staring at this room. A million thoughts raced through my head, but he disrupted them.

“Come, Cara. It is time to bathe.” He walked me to the bathroom. I thought for some reason that he would give me the privacy to shower alone, but he did not. He started to raise my shirt, and I refused to raise my arms at his command. I wasn’t comfortable with it. “Amber, we can either do this the easy way or the hard way. I am going to help you shower. You’re injured and need to be taken care of…let me.” His soft but stern words melted my resistance, and I lifted my arms.

He then gave me a peck on my lips, and I giggled. I knew it was a silly little girl thing, but his need to take care of me was sweet, even though he kind of hadn’t really given me a choice. My top was gone, followed by my skirt. I stood there in my underwear, nervous and excited. I wondered if he could see how wet I was because I felt like I was dripping.

He slowly caressed my body, letting his hands glide over my shoulders, taking my bra straps with him on his path of exploration. Unclasping the back, my bra fell to the floor with ease. My breasts were heavy with my need, allowing gravity to give them a bounce before he gripped my waist. I guessed my panties were next. It was obvious he enjoyed my unveiling as he kissed each thigh and my pubis.

I was nervous. This was the first time a man would see me naked. A man who made my panties flood. I blushed from head to toe and looked at the floor to hide my embarrassment, but he wasn’t having that.

“Cara mia, you are never to be ashamed of your body. Can you not see what effect you have on me?” He rubbed his clothed penis on me, and it felt like he was carrying a beat stick, like the ones my father’s men carried on their waist when patrolling. Oh my, I knew what he wanted from me, and I was scared.
It’s so big, he is going to break me.