Life of a Fool (London Brothers Book 2) (9 page)

Johnny didn’t even flinch.  Shit, we’d known each other our
whole lives, and his calm, cool, menacing persona still scared even me.  “Mi
colpisca se aiuta.  Mi dici per tavore cosa devo tare.” 
Hit me if it
helps.  Just tell me what you want me to do.
 

“Ti odio,”
I hate you,
I said through my locked tense
jaw.

“Solo quando ho ragione.  Torni in sé e faccia un bel
respiro.  Anche se si nasconde, io la troveró.” 
Only when I am right.  Pull
yourself together and take a deep breath.  Wherever she hides, I will find her.

I released my grip and took a
step back.  I trusted Johnny and he wouldn’t let me down, but I was angry and
appalled that Lori Ann had obviously called Jason London…even after she knew
how I felt about their friendship.  I followed Johnny through the house to the
back garden and to the garage.  He was on the phone the whole time, contacting
multiple people, including other men on my security team.  Lori Ann didn’t have
a clue as to how far my arms reached around Milan, let alone around northern
Italy.  We would find her.  There was no doubt. 

*****

More than an hour later when that noioso stronzo—
boring
asshole
—Fausto Camillo, the desk manager from Novotel, called my cell phone
to say he saw Lori Ann with two strange men, he wrongfully assumed she’d been
taken from me against her will.  I thanked him and told Johnny where to drive. 
While Leandro spoke to Fausto and gave him a nice
reward
for the
information, Johnny and I decided on what to do.  We simply asked Fausto to
pull the alarm, in test mode of course so as not to alert the authorities, and
we would wait for Lori Ann and her American friends to appear.  We promised
Fausto no bloodshed inside the hotel, but when mia moglie—
my wife
—refused
to appear, the plan changed.  Johnny
persuaded
me to leave, but he,
Leandro, and Marcello stayed behind to make sure the trio did not leave.  I
couldn’t let her get on a plane.  Tracking and stealing her in the United
States would be…brutto. 
Ugly.
 

I pulled Johnny aside and gave my orders.

“Voglio che sia catturata viva.” 
I want her captured
alive.

“Non mi importa di quel che farete a loro.” 
I don’t care
what you do with them.

“Faccia questo, e Lei puó avere un pezzo di lei…Prima che io
la punisco.” 
Do this and you can have a piece of her…before I punish her.

I made the decision to stay there at Novotel in a room on
the first floor.  I left Johnny, Leandro, and my driver Alonso in the lobby
near the front desk and door to the stairway.  Then I had Marcello guard the
staircase leading from the third floor while I went to my room and researched
possible flights the Americans would try to board.  Lori Ann and her friends
would have to go through all my men to escape. 

And they did. 

*****

In the chaos, Alonso was killed, Johnny was shot in the leg
but was okay, and Marcello was rendered helpless to do a damn thing.  By the
time Leandro, Marcello, and I reached the airport, we found Lori Ann and her
friends in the security line.  I stood still, staring, willing my body not to
sprint through the fucking line and kill all three of them.  I took one step,
but Leandro’s arm grabbed my elbow and without a word, his glare told me to
stand down. 

“Aspetti,”
Wait
, Marcello said.  He was right.  I
needed to plan my next step.  I would make sure they didn’t see it coming.

The anger boiled deep inside of me, and I needed release.  I’d
taken out all my frustration on each and every piece of expensive artwork Lori
Ann had ever purchased.  I didn’t care the cost.  But two chiantis later and
bleeding knuckles did nothing to help.  Only one other thing would. 

I phoned
her
and commanded she come to my house.  At first,
she fought the idea, worrying about being caught by my wife, but I assured her
that Lori Ann was gone. 

It was midmorning when twenty-three-year-old Elena and her
friend Daniela rang the back door to my home.  I tried to smile, but all I
could do was growl, grab Elena by the hair, pull her to me, and shove my tongue
down her throat.  Daniela gasped, drawing my attention.  I held tight to Elena
with my left hand and used my right to rip Daniela’s tee shirt from her body,
leaving her bare-chested in my kitchen.  “Antonio…”

“Shh…”  I wouldn’t let either of them speak.  With my hands
gripping each young woman by her hair, I walked the girls into the master
bedroom.  I was going to fuck both of them in my marriage bed.  And I couldn’t
wait to tell Lori Ann all about it as soon as I got her back home. 

I wasted no time.  Both girls were tied to my bed, hands
above their heads, stripped nude.  Sheathed with a condom, I spread Elena’s
legs and shoved my cock into her tight pussy, pounding her over and over as I
sucked on Daniela’s tiny breasts.  “Cazzo, cazzo, cazzo,”
Fuck, fuck, fuck
,
Elena screamed.  Daniela moaned and begged, so I shoved two fingers into her
wetness and fucked her with my fingers.  My release didn’t come for a long
time.  I was wound so tight with my fury that all I could do was thrust into
those girls over and over.  They were begging for me to untie them by the time
I finally pulled out of Daniela, ripped off the condom, and came all over both
of their faces, forcing them to suck the tip of me into their mouths. 

The power I felt having them tied and helpless was almost as
euphoric as the first time I hit my wife.  The release I felt from that was
like a drug.  I wouldn’t hit these young women, though.  I couldn’t.  Not with
the families they belonged to being so important to my business. Both of their
fathers had invested in my shoe company when I’d taken it over after my own
father died.  I owed them my livelihood.  They would kill me for even talking
to Elena and Daniela.  I couldn’t imagine the torture I’d be in for if they
knew how often I fucked their daughters. 

So, what did I do?  While those beauties were still tied up,
naked with my cum all over them, I reached for my phone and took a picture. 
They thought it was a trophy for myself, but no.  I waited for one week before
I sent it to Lori Ann with this message…

Antonio:  This is what I’m going to allow my men to do to
you when they come to you and bring you back home.  They will each have as much
of you as they want before I deliver my punishment.  This is their motivation
for finding and delivering you to me. 

And then, I will send a picture to your Jason with this
note.  ‘Deve morire perché tu devi essere punito.’ 
She has to die because
you have to be punished.

You should never have left
me, mia moglie. 
My wife.

*****

Three weeks later, I would be standing on American soil with
two men I’d hired to help me get my wife back.  Alessandro and Davide were new
to my staff.  We’d planned and coordinated every move down to the exact time my
plane would leave the airport and take Lori Ann and me back to Italy.  It was
only a matter of time, and all my pent-up stress would be released.  Too bad my
wife would need to suffer in order for me feel better. 

We’d been back in San Diego for a few weeks and all was
quiet, as far as I could tell.  Craig went home to Denver almost immediately
after we got back, but not before we had my brother Kyle stitch up his arm and
make sure he was okay.  Armed with an ass-load of antibiotics, he flew back to
Denver and continued to keep track of us as well as The Italian.  I also had
Kyle check on Lori Ann’s injuries and was shocked to find out she’d re-injured
her four broken ribs, basically undoing any healing that had occurred, and had broken
another when I pushed her into the back of the car at the hotel in the midst of
our getaway.  I hated it, even if it was the only thing we could’ve done at the
time to keep her safe.

I had Lori Ann all to myself, and it felt strange.  We’d
settled into a great beach house I’d rented on Mission Beach that wasn’t in my
name or hers.  I’d gotten a friend on the force to put it in his name.  We were
safe for now, but there were no guarantees.  The floor plan was spacious with
two huge bedrooms on the main floor, two upstairs nestled between a large game
room and Jack-n-Jill bathrooms, and another nice-sized bedroom downstairs
connected to a workout area fit for a mega gym.  The main floor, as well as the
upper one, had large decks with cozy wicker furniture that looked out onto the
vast ocean.  It was huge and spectacular, fit for a large family.

The first night was hard for me.  I’d said goodnight to Lori
Ann at the threshold of her bedroom, then turned and marched to my own room. 
About thirty minutes after I’d showered, brushed my teeth, and climbed into
bed, I heard her feet walking down the hall and fought the urge to tell her to
go back to her room.  I wanted Lori Ann near me, but didn’t.  The feel of my
girl next to me wouldn’t be a good thing, not when she wasn’t free.  But as she
came closer to my bed, I lay still, pretending to sleep, and waited.  She didn’t
hesitate.  I felt the bed dip, and my sweet girl curled up next to me as close
as she could get, and without a word, I wrapped my arms around her body, kissed
the top of her head, and fell into a deep sleep. 

This was the new
us
.  She needed to feel safe, and I
wanted her close to me…to protect her. 

A few nights later, after getting ready for bed and securing
the doors, I went looking for Lori Ann and found her on the third floor deck. 
I quietly walked to her and wrapped my arms gently around her waist.  We’d been
touching a lot…maybe too much, but it was nice and comforting to both of us.  “Hey,
you okay?”

“Yeah.”

I rested my chin on the top of her shoulder.  “Sure?”

She sighed and wiped a silent tear.  “No.”  I stayed quiet. 
“I’m just grateful to be here—with you, in the States and away from
him
.”

“I know.”  I pulled away, a little sad at the reminder that
she wasn’t mine to keep.  Yes, she was my Lori Ann, but not
mine
.  And
it killed me a little every day that I had her near.  I turned to walk back
inside the house and to my bedroom when I felt her right arm jerk my elbow,
stopping me. 

“Jace, what’s wrong?”

I felt foolish for being such a puss, so I tried to play it
off.  “Nothing, I’m just tired.” 
And I’ve loved you for years.  And I want
to completely devour you.  And you are mine, not his.

I tried to pull my arm away, but Lori Ann didn’t let go.  “Stop. 
Talk to me.  I can tell you’re holding something back.  Just tell me. Is it
Antonio?”  Panic started rising in her voice.  “Did he find me?  Oh, God.  Are
his men coming to take me?”

I turned to look straight into her eyes. “No.  You’re safe. 
This isn’t about Antonio.”  I didn’t want her freaking out, and honestly, I
couldn’t stand it anymore.  I’d reached my breaking point and had to say
something to put some distance between us, and I knew just what would do it
too.  “I…well, I’m having a few issues being so close to you.  It’s bringing up
old feelings that are tough for me to put aside.  That’s all.”  It was the
truth, and as much as I knew her reaction would hurt me, I
needed
the
pain to force me to stay the fuck away from her. 

“What?”  She jerked back and stared at me.  That look hurt
more than I’d expected.

“Hey, it’s no big deal.  I was just remembering how nice it
was to be so close back in college.”  Please God, don’t let me make a complete
ass out of myself.

“Oh.”  I could’ve sworn there was a bit of disappointment in
her voice, but I ignored it and kept walking away toward my room.  It was most
likely wishful thinking on my part. 

“Night. I’ll see you in the morning.”  I had no idea whether
she’d crawl into bed with me or not, but I gave her the “out” to sleep alone. 
Secretly, I’d hoped she would come to me, but that would only screw with my
head even more.  I rounded the corner to my room, stepped inside, and leaned
against the wall, closing my eyes.  I wasn’t the kind of man to take advantage
of a woman, especially a
married
woman, but dammit, Lori Ann had been
mine for the last fifteen years, in my heart, in my head, and in every way that
counted.  I was struggling, and my demons were winning.  Maybe I needed to go
out and release some of the sexual tension I’d built up in my own mind.  Yeah,
that was exactly what I needed to do.  But I wanted to make sure Lori Ann was
safe, so as I dressed in a pair of jeans, a black graphic tee shirt, and boots,
then called in a few favors and had some of my buddies come watch the house. 

When I emerged from my room, Lori Ann was sitting in the
living area watching TV.  “Hey,” I said, drawing her attention to me.  She
sucked in a breath and furrowed her eyebrows when she saw I was dressed to
leave.  “I’m going to go out for a while.  I have some friends watching the
house, so you’re safe.  You gonna be okay?”

The strange look on her face was unnerving.  She tried to
hide the sadness, but I saw it just before she turned on her fake persona to
show me she was just fine.  “I’ll be just fine.  Go.  I don’t need a
babysitter, but thank you for having someone watch the house.  Makes me feel
better.”

“Sure.” 
Fuck.
  I couldn’t figure out if I was glad
she was okay with me leaving or not.  But the harsh truth won out.  She was a
married woman, and I was desperate to feed the gnawing ache in my body.  “I’ll
be back soon,” I said as I kissed the top of her head. 

She flinched and said, “See you later.  Be careful.” 

“Always.”  I hated myself for wanting her…for needing her,
but most of all for leaving her.

I drove to a nearby club but couldn’t bring myself to get
out of my truck.  I just needed some space—and someone to mindlessly fuck, but
that probably wasn’t going to happen.  I couldn’t get Lori Ann out of my mind
and the thought of her finding out I’d done something like that kept my dick in
my pants and my ass out of the club.  I wanted to go to Derek’s, but I was sure
they were all in bed and I didn’t want to disturb Claire’s kids.  My younger
brother Kyle was on a twenty-four hour shift at the hospital, and Melissa had
kids to worry about.  I was alone.  So, I did the only thing I knew to do.  I
drove to my office at the precinct and did some work and a lot of research, but
first I called Craig.