RUTHLESS KING

31 RETRIBUTION

Luca
Stella is folded over the couch, her nightie yanked up to her waist revealing
bare cheeks. Panic is carved into her jaw, and tears spill down her face. Pain
lances through my heart, and the stab is so acute I nearly buckle over.
Instead of the stinging ache, I focus on the rage. That motherfucker.
Unearthly fury surges through my veins as I lunge at my brother.
I pummel into Dante and knock him to the floor. He stares up at me,
eyes wide. “I did it for you, fratellino. She can’t be trusted.”
I yank my arm back and let it fly. The smash of crunching bones only
fuels my rage. I hit him again. And again. All I see is red. Then glimpses of
Stella’s terrified face.
“I just wanted to rough her up a little and find out the truth,” he rasps
out.
Dante’s words are nothing more than a muffled mess in the distance. He
tried to hurt her, to force himself on her in my own home. “What the hell is
wrong with you?” I roar. “How dare you touch her!” I punctuate each word
with another hit. Dante’s head whips back and forth, his eyes closed, face already
swelling.
“I warned you never to touch her.”
Blood covers my knuckles and more spills onto the marble floor,
splattering the silver veining. Crimson consumes my vision. I hit him until
I’m numb.
Punch. Punch. Punch.
The slap of skin and the crack of bones rings out in a steady rhythm.
Again. Again.
There’s nothing but darkness.
“Luca, enough.” Stella’s voice barely registers through the insanity.
“Luca, you’re going to kill him.”
A soft touch on my shoulder releases some of the wrath. I heave in a
breath, and it’s only then I notice the tremor coursing through my body.
“Luca, please.” Stella’s face coalesces, and then the feel of her hands
cupping my cheeks pushes through the overwhelming anger. She kneels
beside me, her hair wild and tears still trailing down her beautiful face. I
stop and just stare. My chest is heaving, but somehow her presence calms
the raging storm.
Heavy footfalls echo across the living room, and Tony and Albie
materialize.
“Oh, shit, capo,” Tony mutters.
He yanks me up off the floor and Albie sees to Dante. Stella follows me
as Tony ushers me to the couch. I slump down, the adrenaline from a
second ago waning, then morphing to icy numbness. It creeps in slowly.
“You okay, capo?” Tony eyes me, his dark brows gnarled.
“Yeah, I’ll be fine,” I manage.
“What the hell happened?”
I shake my head, unable to even speak the words. My own brother had
assaulted Stella… what the actual fuck? “Can you take care of this?” Stella points at my mangled sibling.
Tony nods. “Of course.”
“I’ve got Luca.” She slides her shoulder under my arm and helps me
stand. I feel like a complete scemo. She was the one that was attacked, and
now she’s taking care of me?
“I’m okay,” I mutter as she leads me down the hall. Her arm is curled
around my waist, supporting nearly all my weight. She’s surprisingly strong
for such a little thing. Now that the fury has passed, all emotion dribbles out
of me, and I’m left with nothing. Barely the strength to walk.
Once we reach my bedroom, she closes the door behind us and leads me
to the bed. I slump down, the last few minutes a blur I try to piece together.
If Albie hadn’t called me about Dante when he did, I never would’ve made
it back in time.
Would my own brother have really raped her?
Nausea claws its way up my throat, my stomach churning.
Stella moves between my legs, and I lift my gaze to meet hers. I should
be taking care of her right now. Not the other way around. Her hands settle
on my tie, and once it’s undone, slip down to the buttons of my shirt. She
has me undressed in seconds. The blood-splattered white shirt hits the floor,
and I cringe.
Dio, I almost killed Dante. I wanted to. For hurting her, for touching
what was mine.
“I’m so sorry,” I whisper. She shakes her head, new tears welling in her
eyes. “This is all my fault.” My gaze chases to the floor, to her bare feet. “I
should’ve just told him about our business deal.”
Her soft smile falters. “It’s not your fault. You couldn’t have known he
would attack me. It’s Dante’s fault alone. He thought Bo had planted me
here somehow, to spy on you, to screw with your business.”
Fuck. This was my fault. After I’d beaten on Bo the other day, he
must’ve fueled the rumor to get back at me. Her gaze lingers on my chest, on the mess of scars, knife and bullet
wounds and the tattoos inked across my torso to hide them. Now that the
bandages across my shoulder are gone, a pinch of fear courses through my
system as she nears the five numbers engraved across my heart. They’re
hidden well within the intricate patterns, but it’s only a matter of time until
she recognizes the date. A part of me wants her to find it already. Keeping
this secret from her has weighed on my soul for years.
But I’m terrified she’ll leave me when she discovers the truth.
So I cross my arms over my chest, shielding the date of Vinny’s death.
One day I’ll tell her the truth, but not today. She’s been through enough.
“Come on, let’s get you in the shower,” she whispers. “You’ve got
blood on you.”
I nod and slowly rise, then follow her into the bathroom. She flicks on
the light, and my gaze lands on her nightie. “So do you.”
She glances down at the crimson splotches, and her lips twist.
I step away from the shower and sit on the side of the tub instead.
Turning the faucet, I watch the water fill the massive basin. I dump some
bubble bath and fragrant oils into the churning water and draw in a deep
breath of the calming scents. Then I turn to Stella and offer my hand. “Get
in with me.”
She shakes her head, dropping her gaze.
“It wasn’t a question, princess.” A hint of mischief laces my tone. I need
this, and I know she does too, despite her reluctance.
Her eyes meet mine, and a flicker of light brightens those brilliant blue
orbs. “And if I say no?”
“I’ll punish you.” I say it with a smirk, but perhaps it’s too soon.
Lowering my gaze, I stare at my split knuckles and wince. “Don’t you think
there’s been enough punishment today?”
Her nostrils flare, and I regret my words. Dante deserved what he got.
I’d cut him out of the business, out of my life for what he tried to do to her. Men that take advantage of women don’t deserve to breathe. If I wasn’t so
scared of the backlash, I’d have him arrested. No. Tomorrow, I’d take care
of this mess myself.
I stand slowly and creep closer. After what she’s been through, I don’t
want to spook her. I offer her my hand again, and this time she takes it.
With my thumb, I rub slow circles across her palm as I regard her. “What I
did to Dante today was only the beginning. He’s out. He’ll no longer be
involved in any aspects of the business or my life. What he did to you was
unforgiveable. I want you to know that.”
Her head dips as she sucks her lower lip between her teeth, gnawing on
the soft flesh. Dio, I want to be those teeth.
“If there’s anything you want to talk about ….”
“No,” she snaps. “I just want to forget about the whole thing.”
That blinding rage rises again, and I grind my molars to keep it at bay.
“Did he hurt you?”
She shakes her head. “He didn’t get a chance. You came in right before
—” Her words fall away, and I heave in another breath. “I don’t want to talk
about it anymore.”
I nod and reach for the hem of her nightie before pausing. What if she
doesn’t want to be touched? When she doesn’t withdraw, I drag it over her
head. Slowly. I want to give her time to deny me.
But she doesn’t, and it makes me happier than I have any right to be.
Until my gaze falls on those two hearts above her breast as she stands
bare before me. They’re a constant reminder of what Stella’s lost, and one
was my doing.
With a reluctant exhale, I drop to my knees and slide her thong down
her legs. She lets out a shudder when I glance up at her. I press my lips to
her stomach and inhale a deep breath laced with her intoxicating scent. I
haven’t touched her in days, and it’s been absolutely maddening. I thought it would help to put some space between us, but I’ve been
going crazy without her. Leaving the penthouse early to go to the gym,
diving into work, spending late hours at the office, nothing helps. She’s all I
think about.
“Cazzo, I missed this,” I whisper against her skin.
I can feel her heated gaze boring into me as my tongue slips between
my lips and tastes her sweet flesh. I circle her navel, and a faint moan
rumbles her chest. I’m hard as fuck just from that one little sound. Rising, I
step out of my boxers and tug her toward the tub. Her eyes dip to my
growing arousal, and heat flushes her cheeks.
Dio, I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of that look.
I help her into the tub, then get in behind her. The warmth blankets my
body, releasing the remaining tension. Or maybe that’s just Stella. She
settles in between my legs, and I pull her closer, guiding her ass so that it’s
nestled against my cock. She leans back, her head against my heart, just
over those five numbers that will forever torment me.
If she turned around and looked hard enough, she’d see them.
I snake my arms around her waist and pin her against me. She feels so
good in my arms, too good.
“What are we doing, Luca?” she whispers on an exhale, her eyes fixed
straight ahead.
“Fuck if I know, princess, but it feels too good to stop.”