Chapter 1: Tirone: Chapter 1

“Molar!” Laius, whom I clung to like a baby, at the far edge of the bed, as far away as possible from Tirone, yelled, and a tall, long-haired man darted into the room in no time. “You and Fort take Jo to the Boiler and stay with her until I finish.”

That didn’t sound like a place I wanted to be. “Boiler?” I asked with a faint voice, my head still swimming.

Laius gave me a small smile. “It’s the…laundry room out back. Don’t worry, you’ll be safe there.”

“You can’t meet Enzio alone,” Molar said.

“Yeah, we’re coming with,” Fort emphasized.

Laius rubbed my hand. “Someone’s gotta stay with Jo until I come back. She’s not feeling well.”

“I can do it,” Tirone said, and the nausea hit hard, threatening to throw me unconscious. No. I couldn’t be alone with him. Not again. Never again.

“Yeah?”

“Sure. Just show me the way.”

I bolted upright, pulling Laius closer. “No, please. Don’t leave me.”

“I’ll be right back. I just have to take care of the Lanzas, baby.”

“Then I’ll go alone,” I said, lurching out of bed.

He rose with me. “What’s wrong, baby? I told you Rex is cool. No need to worry.”

“You’re not feeling well, Miss Meneceo.” I could hear the rigid mockery in Tirone’s tone along with his footsteps approaching me. He wrapped an arm around my waist, and I flinched so hard my knees gave. “Jeez.” He, and his father steadied me with their arms, and my body went stiff like a rock. “See what I’m talking about? What if you pass out? Someone has to be there to take care of you.”

Fuck you. “Can you just send a prospect?” I beseeched Laius, too desperate to care about the suspicions I had to be triggering in his mind.

“You seriously trust a prospect over me, Miss Meneceo? Ouch.”

“Ty,” I put all the strength I had left in a stare, “enough.”

Laius narrowed his gaze between us. “How the fuck do you know my boy, Jo?”

“She’s my English teacher,” Tirone answered for me. “You never told him?”

“I never knew he was your son,” I said quickly, whimpering, asking for forgiveness Laius didn’t know I needed. “His name is Tirone Wisely, and he told me his father was dead.” My head spun toward Tirone. “I never knew you were his son.” I should have known, though. I should have fucking known. They were so alike, the eyes, the darkness… How could the only way to get over the man who broke my heart be falling for his father? Was that the only kind of man I could be in love with? It was like I was destined to fall only for Lazzarinis that shared the same psychotic gene pool—and incredible sexiness. “And I used to be your teacher. Not anymore.”

“I know what this’s all about.” Tirone’s voice took a dark edge.

Was that how Laius found out how much of a fucking dirty bitch I was? How I, his girlfriend whom he loved and she loved back, was the predatory teacher that slept with his son when he was seventeen? I shook my head, reflexively, tears springing from my eyes. If Laius was ever to know what Ty and I had, it couldn’t be like this. It couldn’t be now. Tirone couldn’t be that sick and vindictive to speak the truth now. Right?

“You hate me because—”

“Ty, please. Not now.”

“He has to know sooner or later. Might as well be now.”

Laius pulled me toward him, away from Ty, as if he sensed it, as if he knew it all. “What the fuck is going on?”

Tirone smirked at me, and I just closed my eyes, willing my head to shut down so I could pass out, or better yet, die and end everybody’s misery. “You hate me because…I dropped out on you.”

A burning sigh moaned out of me, and I opened my eyes, almost thankful to the asshole. “You were a brilliant student, and you wasted it all.”

“There’s nothing I regret more than the time I left. Never again, Miss Meneceo. I promise you.”

I glared at him. “Tell that to your new teachers, if you’re ever going back to school. Like I said, I’m no longer your teacher. Never again.”

“Don’t say that,” he said in warning. Then his voice softened. “Who knows? Maybe you and I end up in the same school again. By the looks of it, we’re both moving in here, and the odds are in our favor.”

“Ah, Prez, hate to break that heartfelt family reunion, but we gotta get going, y’all,” Molar suddenly said. “Enzio is waiting in the garage and can roam free any minute now.”

Without any more waiting or hesitation, Tirone placed my arm on his shoulder and wrapped his own arm around my waist, as if he had a right to me, dragging me away. I reached out for Laius’s help with my gaze, but I didn’t fight. Any more resistance from me would confirm any suspicions Laius might have had. When he just nodded at me, I lowered my head and walked away in defeat.

“Go downstairs, then down the hall and turn left. Take the other stairs to the basement. There’s another hall. Take a right. It’s the room with the big padlock.” Molar took a key out of a chain and gave it to Tirone as I put my sunglasses on. “Got it or do I draw you a little map?”

Ty twisted his jaw. “I’m good.”

“Glad you are, Rex.” Molar slugged Ty on his back as we headed out of the room, but then he squeezed Ty’s shoulder, dragging him back a step, and leaned in to whisper in his ear. I was close enough to hear him, though. “This is Prez’s old lady, huh? She’s off-limits.”

My brows hooked at him. Where was that coming from? Did Molar suspect anything?

“She’s my teacher, asshole,” Ty whispered back with equal covert animosity.

“Don’t give a shit. Don’t think I’m fooled by your warm homecoming bullshit. I know you’re up to no good. She’s a woman you’re gonna be alone with in a locked room.”

Ty snorted. “Spare me your shit. I’ve known her much longer than any of y’all. She’s safer with me than with any of your sussy asses.”

“And I’ve known your daddy before you were even born. He’s my friend and my prez. I won’t let you do anything to hurt him.” Molar patted Ty’s shoulder heavily. “Good to have you home, Rex. Glad you’re getting that accent back, too,” he said for all of us to hear and made way for me and Ty to move. “Don’t trip on the way down, boy.”

Tirone ignored him and led us to the basement. The muscles around my heart contracted as I became alone with him. I wasn’t ready for whatever malice he had in mind when he’d have me completely isolated. It became hard to breathe. The musty smell didn’t help, and the fog around my head wouldn’t clear.

He held me with a tight grip, as if I was a prisoner he guarded, and didn’t say anything all the way. It spiked up my dread. The dark, dreary hall made it even worse. I took off the sunglasses and put them on my head so I could see. When we found the room with the padlock, he threw one glare at me before he unlocked the door.

The room looked like a cement tomb. It was empty of any laundry equipment. No smell of detergent either. Just an awful metallic scent like that of…blood. My gaze dropped on the floor, on the dark red brown stains on the cement. “What the hell is this place?”

He made me enter. “The infamous Boiler.”

“This can’t be a laundry room.” If the key hadn’t unlocked the door, I’d have thought we’d taken a wrong turn.

“Since when are you that naive, Jo? There is no laundry room.”

“Then what is this for?”

“It’s where your darling Furore tortures people into giving him what he wants.” He gestured at the spots on the floor. “And if they don’t, this is where he kills them.”

I faltered, my eyes widening at the actual dried blood marks. Tirone steadied me with a sickening smirk on his face, kicking the door closed behind us, where I, the woman who had drugged him and left him in a ditch, was locked up all alone with him, easy prey, in a fucking torture room.