Chapter 16: Chapter 16

The sound of a car pulling into the driveway of my Hamptons Bay beach house has my pulse racing. The time and planning it takes to kidnap someone successfully is an art form. Something the people Caputo hired know nothing about.

The heaviness of the tires tells me they’re pulling around to the back of the house, where I head outside to greet them. Two masked men get out of the driver’s and passenger seats. They move silently around the car before opening the back door. One takes a step back for me to look inside.

Lia’s asleep in one hell of a dress. One shoe is on her foot and the other is on the floor of the back seat. I reach inside to cradle her in my arms. She doesn’t look hurt.

‘Any problems?’ I ask the masked soldier.

‘No, sir. The guy’s back in his apartment sleeping it off. She’s been out for nearly two hours. Didn’t give her much, she should be coming out of it in the next hour or so.’

Lia moans and stirs in my arms. I look at them. ‘Thank you fellas. Take a trip.’

They nod and get back inside the car to drive off the property. The smell of the ocean air coming off the beach makes me want to spend the rest of the night looking up at the stars, sleeping on the sand with Lia in my arms. Of course, she has to be awake first.

The soft scent of her vanilla soap brings a smile to my face, reminding me of the last time we were this close. It sucks that moment is tainted with memories of men invading her home. I have my own dark memories, nightmares that plague some sleepless nights. I never want Lia to have that, but as I cradle her in my arms, I wonder how much this night is going to affect her. Is she going to care that this was my plan? That she’s finally safe?

‘Where’s Frankie?’ she whispers, her words barely come together. ‘What did you do to him?’

‘Frankie’s fine, Lia,’ I tell her as we step through the door, leading into the kitchen. I take her straight into the spare bedroom where as soon as I lay her down, her arm wraps my neck and yanks me down toward her.

She’s awake, and she’s pissed.

I don’t think she knows it’s me. Or if she does, she doesn’t care as she keeps me close, trying to put me in a headlock. She’s strong.

‘Lia,’ I call her name between grunts as I try to get her off of me without hurting her.

She throws me to the side and gets off the bed, trying to make a run for it. I don’t let her get far, grabbing her around the waist and yanking her back into me. She feels just as I remember. I can’t stop thinking of how much of an asshole I must be for her anger to turn me on this much.

The minute she gets a chance, she elbows me in the side, forcing me to spin her around.

‘Look at me, Lia,’ I tell her. Her eyes, the fear fades and anger surges.

She pushes against my chest. ‘You did this?! You had those guys come and drug me? How long have I been knocked out? Where’s Frankie? Is he alright?’

Lia doesn’t give me much time to answer as she pelts me with her fists. The most powerful one comes when she draws back and launches it directly at my face, splitting my lip that took the past few weeks to scab over. The familiar flavor of my blood, the softness of the open cut on the side of my mouth, brings a smile to my face.

‘You’re fucking crazy. Why did you let me slug you? Why do you like it when I do that to you?’ she asks.

I tip my head to the side, sliding my tongue over the cut with a smile. ‘I deserved it. Are you okay?’

‘No! Why the fuck would I be okay? You took me! You took me,’ she yells again, shoving me and pushing me back to the point I have no choice but to fall onto the bed. Lia pounces on me, slapping me furiously as she straddles my lap, my erection growing underneath her volatile movements.

‘I’m sorry,’ is all I manage to get out. ‘I’ve missed you.’

‘Fuck you,’ she hisses and hits me again. Lia reaches down to grab me by the hair, yanking my head back before she lowers her mouth to cover mine. The kiss is ripe with anger, fury, passion, and possession. Her tongue slides into my mouth, at war with my own kiss as she continues to pull my hair while raking her nails across my scalp.

My heart thumps against my chest as Lia takes her free hand and shoves it into my pants. Her fingers wrap around my hardness, stroking me before she moves off my lap. I stay on the bed, my arms extended, ready to take whatever punishment she doles out. I shrug out of my shirt, letting her see me open for her. She could kill me like this, and if I were her, I might contemplate that as an ending to this madness.

It would be justified for the way she’s been treated by the people that are supposed to care about her.

Instead, I have an unearned trust for Lia that doesn’t make sense to me. I want her to love me, to care about me, to always choose me. But I wouldn’t dare say that to her out loud, not after being with her for a few days over the course of a month. The way my mind and heart lock onto her is rare for me. I can’t remember the last time someone had this effect on me.

She let me take off my pants and boxers, tossing them onto the floor. The warm heat of her mouth tasting the tip of my erection drowns out every thought of what I’m supposed to be doing right now. This isn’t a part of the plan. Still, I owe her whatever she wants to take from me.

Lia covers my cock with her mouth, slowly moving up and down. Her teeth graze the length of my shaft, sending shockwaves of searing pain through my body which only makes my dick harder.

‘FUCK, that hurt,’ I pant as my entire body tenses as the lines between the pain and pleasure blur.

‘I thought you liked the pain,’ she says. There isn’t any compassion in her tone as she grips my shaft, stroking it tightly in her hand.

‘Do what you want to me, Lia. Do whatever you need.’

Lia moves her body over mine, raising her dress over full thighs before reaching between them to slide her panties to the side. The tightness of her walls engulfing me feels like home. She pushes down on me with her eyes slightly wincing as she stretches around me.

Soft folds and slow strokes tease me for more. I buck under her, pushing her onto her side where she pulls me down on top of her. I hike one of her legs onto my shoulder to give myself enough room to move. The pain of her nails scratching down my back brings out the beast in me, thrusting in and out at a quicker pace.

She moans. Lia’s moans turn into unrestrained shouts of pleasure as I push and pull my cock in and out of her. The sweetness of her scent, the fury of her ire, the wetness of her sex drown out the sounds of the waves crashing onto the beach a few yards away. In and out, I bring her over the edge.

The climax takes over her body as she releases her hold on me to grip the sheets. The way her thighs tremble with her climax has every inch of me able to move in faster, easier, her grip clenching me with every stroke.

I can feel my own release coming. I lean over her body, lowering myself to kiss her. Our kiss draws out my end, my cum, spilling inside of her as I stroke in and out to empty it all.

‘Fuck,’ I huff and collapse onto the bed beside her.

‘Fuck is right, Val. I’ve missed you too. When are you going to tell me what the hell is going on?’ she asks. ‘Was kidnapping me your stupid idea?’

‘How do you feel?’ I turn to my side, watching the light blue hue of the moon shining across her face. Her hair shimmers as I play with a few strands. She swats my hand away.

‘I feel …’ She pauses, a breathy sigh pushing softly from behind her pouty lips. ‘I feel like I’ve been kidnapped and fucked. Tell me what’s going on right now or I’m walking out of here, Val.’

I push myself to sit up. The conversation has to happen. It doesn’t matter that I haven’t felt her touch in weeks. It doesn’t matter that all I can think about is this moment right here, when she’s back in my arms, in my bed.

‘I told you that I was going to get Caputo out of your life for good. We had an agreement that I wouldn’t interfere with his arrangement with your parents.’

‘Yeah, we talked about that the night he forced me to meet him at Kings. You didn’t want to start a war between the families,’ she says.

‘Yeah, but that changed when three assholes broke into your apartment to kidnap you. After a discussion with them⁠—’

She looks at me, those hazel brown eyes piercing through me for more answers than I’m willing to give. ‘Are they alive?’

‘That’s not important. They won’t be able to try that bullshit again. Saul and I made an agreement. He could have and should have called off that kidnapping.’

‘How do you know it was him?’ she asks.

I sigh, pushing myself off the bed. ‘Are you hungry? Do you want to eat? When’s the last time you ate?’

‘You mean since you kidnapped me?’ Her reply is full of sarcasm, which I can appreciate. Eventually, she’ll see this was the best idea for our situation. I walk out of the room after pulling my boxers back on, heading to the kitchen. It doesn’t take long for Lia to follow me, eager for answers to what has to be hundreds of questions.

I can’t help but wonder what she’s going to think of me if she knows how much blood I’ve spilled to get this far.

‘What are you doing?’ she asks.

I pull out a few items from the fridge to make a quick plate of food. ‘I’m heating up some meatballs. You should eat. You’ve been through a lot tonight.’

‘Valentino, what was the point of this? Kidnapping and bringing me here?’

‘There’s a bottle of red in that wine rack by the pantry. If you want white, there’s a small wine fridge at the edge of the counter next to the dishwasher.’

‘Why are you ignoring me?’

‘I’m not ignoring you, Lia. I’m feeding you and I want you to eat before we get into the details of what’s going on. Now, would you like to help me? There’s some garlic bread in the oven. It should still be warm. You should know that moving around helps shake the grogginess off.’

‘Oh, you mean from being chloroformed? That’s what they used to knock me out, right?’ she asks.

‘Something like that. A mild version.’

‘And no one touched me or anything like that, right?’

I shake my head. ‘No. My guys know that you’re important to me and that I’d kill them if they did.’

‘What about Frankie?’

‘He’s home,’ I tell her as I move around the kitchen, making meatballs and pasta. ‘He should be calling the police by now.’

‘Isn’t that going to let Saul know that I wasn’t kidnapped the first time around?’

I shake my head. ‘No. I have the guy he hired in the Icebox.’

‘What does that mean?’ she asks.

‘It means that there’s a man named Jimmy tucked away in a place I call the Icebox.’

I hear the exasperation in her huff of frustration as I move around the kitchen, putting a plate of food together. The plate is piping hot as I sit across from Lia at the small kitchen island. She glares at me, more likely to stab me with the fork than eat the food. Thankfully, she takes a bite instead of attacking me.

‘This is good,’ she says after a few timid bites. ‘Can you tell me what’s going on now?’

‘Saul had you kidnapped by a guy named Jimmy.’

‘We covered that. He’s in the Icebox. Whatever the fuck that means. Now what?’

I take a few bites, watching her pick at her food between forkfuls.

‘Jimmy has been holding you hostage for the past few weeks. He’s been ignoring Saul and has not sent me the ransom message because he wants more money out of Saul.’

‘I need you to make this make sense, Valentino.’

‘The short answer is I’m going to get La Familia to sanction me killing Saul for violating our agreement that you’re under my protection. To make that work, without igniting a war, I have to prove that Saul’s responsible for your kidnapping, but I didn’t want you to get hurt, Lia. I care about you.’

‘What started the feud between your families anyway?’ Seemingly satisfied with that answer, she changes the subject. I’m more than happy to do so. I don’t think I’m ready to let her into the more gruesome parts of my role as Don Barrone.

‘My grandfather, Stefano, is the bastard son of Maria Caputo and Antonio Barrone,’ I tell her, grabbing the wine bottle and leading her into the living room. I open the large doors to let some of that ocean air into the home but light the fireplace to keep us warm.

‘That sounds like a story to tell.’ Her voice is soft as she makes herself comfortable on the sofa. Even though we can’t see the beach, hearing the waves crash along the shore is the perfect backdrop for an evening I’ve been aching to have with her. I hate that it has to be under these circumstances, but at least Lia is finally with me. At least now I’m certain that I can keep her safe.