Reno [Wolfe Brothers 2] (Siren Publishing Classic) (8 page)

“No, I didn’t. I left my cell phone at your place.”

“Maybe so honey, but you used your damned credit card to get this room, correct?” At her nod, he continued. “It’s traceable. Look how easy I found you, dammit!”

“What’s the big deal? It’ll solve your problem, won’t it?”

“My dear, what problem would that be?”

“I heard you talking on the phone last night. You said that you wanted me out. I was just helping the situation along.”

“So you thought this would be the answer? What the hell, maybe you want O’Reilly to own your ass?”

It took a lot, or so she thought, to piss her off. That remark was the last straw. She launched a pillow at him. “No, I don’t, you stupid son of a bitch! I was giving you what you said you wanted. A house without me in it!” She looked at the nightstand to find something else she could heave at his head.

He flung the pillow back at her, stood, and ripped his belt out of its loops. Her eyes widened as she saw him, and she made a mad dash for the door. Why the hell had he flipped the inside locks?

She almost had the last one undone when his hand landed on the door. He tossed her under his arm and carried her like a sack of potatoes back to the bed. “We’re going to get some things straight here and now, pet.” He sat down on the bed and drew her face down over his lap.

“You are going to be punished.”

She started struggling automatically. “The hell I am!”

“The hell you aren’t!” One long legged curled over hers to keep her legs still. He pulled his shorts off of her bare butt. “Keep struggling, and I’ll keep adding more to it. You scared the shit out of me this morning. You were eavesdropping on conversations that were none of your business. You hid from me. I think twenty to start.”

“Twenty? What kind of shit…!”

“Twenty-five. I really hate to hear that filth out of such a pretty mouth.”

“You can kiss my ass! Let me up, Reno Wolfe!”

“Thirty it is.” Without any further warning, he cupped his fingers together and struck. “You will count each stroke, thank me, and ask for another.”

“I don’t think so!” she muttered before another blow landed.

“Have it your way. I’ll just keep pounding away at your ass until it’s fucking black and blue.” He began to strike in earnest. His hand covered both cheeks and down her thighs, and still she refused to speak. He conceded after fifty lashes and sat her aside.

Tears were running down her splotchy face. She couldn’t believe that he had the audacity to spank her for doing what he had said that he wanted. Okay, so maybe he hadn’t told her, but it had come from his mouth. “I hope you’re done now.”

Her smartass comment made him want to start her punishment all over again. He left the bed and went into the bathroom where he found a small bottle of lotion on the counter. He brought it back with him. “Roll onto your stomach.” She didn’t bother to argue and just did what he ordered.

He pulled the shorts off of her, straddled her legs, and began to pour lotion onto her butt and thighs. He slid his hands up under the shirt she was wearing and kneaded those muscles, too. Her soft moan let him know that he was doing a good job, but she still wouldn’t speak to him.

“Turn over, and I’ll massage your front as well.” Just as she was about to follow his directions, his cell went off. “Hold that position, honey.”

“Wolfe.” He was short with the other person. “Yes, I found her. No, that won’t be a problem. Sure, Captain. Be there in thirty.” Reno smiled up at her.

“Come on, honey. There’s been a change in the case. We need to go to headquarters.” Gingerly, she rose from the bed and put the shorts back on. Because he’d hidden her suitcase, she didn’t have any other clothes to wear, damn him.

“Make sure you aren’t leaving anything behind. You won’t be back here.” Nodding, she gathered the few possessions she’d brought with her and waited at the door. He took the computer from her then led her through the hotel and to his truck.

They rode in silence to the station. He kept an arm around her as he led her through to the captain’s office. As they entered the room, she found Arianna, her mother, Nicole, and some stranger that she’d never seen before standing around the desk.

Trista was more than a little shocked when her mother and Ari came rushing to her with arms open wide. They were both talking at once as the stranger looked on.

Reno pulled her back to stand in front of him and kept a possessive arm wrapped around her middle.

“Trista Marie, we need to talk,” her mother informed her softly. “I know that we haven’t had the best relationship, but I want a chance to explain myself.”

“Yes, ma’am.” She leaned back against Reno while she waited to hear why her mother and father had always treated her so differently.

“Years ago, when Satino and I were younger, we were very…adventurous in many aspects of life. You see, he liked to watch me with other men, and back then, well, it wasn’t as common for men to use protection as it is now.”

Trista nodded, wishing her mother would just get out with it. Here they were with a room full of people, strangers even, and her mother wanted to display her dirty laundry.

“What I’m trying to say, darling, is that Satino Cangelosi is not your father!” Tears streamed down her mother’s perfectly made-up face. “When he found out I was pregnant, we knew it couldn’t be Satino’s baby. He’d had a vasectomy shortly after Ari’s birth. He demanded that I get an abortion, but I refused. To keep you safe, I sent you to live with your grandparents, but when you were ten, he needed money and tried to make Daddy give him money for you. My parents refused, and you were forced to suffer the consequences.”

So many questions were answered at once. Why her father, or Satino, had hated her, why she was kept apart from the family, and why no one else’s eyes had matched hers. While it might seem strange to others, her heart felt lighter than it had in years. She smiled. It felt great to not be a Cangelosi! “Who is my father?”

“I am,” the stranger responded as he watched her. “My name is Luciano Stephano Costa.” His dark-violet eyes left hers briefly to glare at her mother before returning to her. “I am sorry to say that I had not known of your existence. Had I known, my dear, your life would have been a hell of a lot better than what I have been told.”

She nodded, not knowing what to say to him. Reno leaned down to whisper in her ear, “He’s a big shot in ‘the family,’ honey.” She looked up at him with a confused expression on her face.

“The mob?” she mouthed back at him, and at his nod, she turned several shades of white. She collected herself as she turned back to her newly found father. “It’s nice to meet you, Mr. Costa.”

“I hope you will give me the opportunity to become a real father, my dear. My only son, Nicoli, died last year in an accident. I hope you will allow me to get to know you, and you me.”

“I think that would be nice.”

“Mr. Cangelosi has been placed under arrest along with a Mr. O’Reilly,” the captain informed them. I’m not sure that either man will be given bail, but Ms. Cangelosi—”

“Costa,” Luciano corrected the captain.

“Ms. C., you are free to return home.”

“Thank you, sir.” Trista was sure that she was going to pass out because there were so many changes and all at once. Her new father got her contact information and promised to call soon to set up a time where they could get to know one another. Her mother was consoled by Arianna. And she was left alone.

Reno dropped her off at her place, with the promise of returning with her other belongings as soon as he could. She was able to put her clothes on. But the prospect of sitting alone in her home and waiting for him to come tell her good-bye was unbearable. Instead, she decided to take a short trip.

With her camera and her little truck, she drove to Lexington with no real purpose in mind. She toured the historical sites including the courthouse with the cannonball still lodged into its pillars. She took pictures and walked around and basically let everything sink in. She slowly made her way back home by dark.

She had a message from Reno, demanding that she answer her phone. She’d call him back later, still more than a little pissed over her earlier spanking. They were going to have to work on that. She moved through the house and into her bedroom when she realized that something wasn’t quite right.

“Where the hell have you been?” Her eyes searched through the darkness as she searched for the leprechaun, but she didn’t answer him. She didn’t want him to know where she was. Wasn’t he supposed to be in jail?

“I asked you a question, bitch. Answer me.”

She groped around the room as she tried to find a door—any door that would get her out of here. Instead, she found a soft body. Fuck a duck!

“Ah, there you are, my little whore.” His grubby little fingers tangled in her long tresses. “I’ve been waiting for you for about an hour or so now.” He is going to snatch me bald if he keeps this up, she thought. Damn, she didn’t have her phone so she couldn’t call Reno. “How does it feel to have your daddy sell you, bitch?”

“I wouldn’t know. My daddy didn’t sell me, asshole!” He released her hair long enough to backhand her into the dresser. “You know, I met my real father today,” she informed him as she wiped the blood up off of her lip. “I do so hope you get to meet him one day.”

“Hell bitch, I own you. You don’t have any family from today on out. You don’t have any possessions. Your life will be spent pleasing me.”

“I really don’t think so,” she informed him. “I’d rather die. How the hell did you get out of jail so damned fast?”

“Oh, trust me, honey, that’s a strong possibility. And as for jail—I have connections with a powerful attorney. One call and I was making bond and out of there.” He pushed her down the hall. She fell on to her hands and knees but didn’t let it stop her. She felt his foot connect with her ribs, but still she crawled as quickly as she could as she tried to evade him. “I’ve got a nice setup waiting for you in my basement, bitch. I can’t wait to hear you beg to fuck me.”

Not bloody likely, she thought as she crawled behind the sofa as quietly as she possibly could.

“Do you know why I paid for your ass, whore?” He didn’t wait for her to respond, but continued on his little tirade. “I usually get my girls when they are a lot younger and more willing to keep their mouths shut. No, this time, I decided I wanted to get the biggest troublemaker I’ve ever worked with. But I won’t have to worry about you squealing to the cops, I’m going to take my time and kill you slowly. I’ll watch the blood drain from your body, drop by drop, while I use your body in every way I want.” His evil laugh filled her house.

The back door was open, and she just needed to find a way to make a run for it. The light from the back porch called to her like a beacon. She jumped up and headed for the door and heard a loud bang. A burning pain went through her arm, but she didn’t stop, just kept pushing for the door.

He met her at the door with a rope in hand. “Oh, little whore, I got you now. I can’t wait to make you beg for your life.” His pudgy fingers bit into the flesh around her neck. “I can’t wait to have you in my torture chamber. I’ve got a lot planned for you.” Using the blood pooling on her arm, he used his finger to paint the word whore across her forehead.

Years of training called to her. Nonno had been diligent in his efforts to protect his granddaughter. She brought her knee up and nailed his testicles hard. As he released her long enough to grab his nuts, she shoved her hand into his nose. She heard the crunch of broken bones before she took off running out the door.

Strong arms caught her, pulling her behind him as she listened to O’Reilly. “You’re such a stupid fucking whore. I will kill you. I’m going to slowly strip the skin off your body while you watch. I may gut you and fill your insides with acid so I can hear you scream and cry. I have a few friends that would like to use you, too. I’d enjoy watching them fuck you while I tighten a tourniquet around your neck.” His laughter sounded crazy. “Ah, bitch, so I found you!” She heard him yell seconds before she felt the reverberation of a gun going off beside her.

Reno shot him, square between the eyes. He watched as the smaller man fell. “Are you okay, honey?” She nodded then fainted dead away. He barely caught her before she hit the ground. It was then that he felt the blood pooling on her arm. “Son of a bitch!”

“Reno! You okay?” Xavier called out from just inside the house. He’d been covering the front part of the house, Reno had the back.

“She’s been hit, Xavier. Get a paramedic.” Reno carried her unconscious body into the house and grabbed a towel to apply direct pressure. Because of the both the entry and exit wound locations, he knew that the wounds weren’t going to be life threatening. Just the same, he held her close in his arms and cursed both O’Reilly and the slow-assed paramedics. He didn’t like to see her hurt.

When he heard that shot, he had feared the worst. It was in that moment that he knew he wouldn’t be able to live without her with him. All his training had fled. He’d never considered just wounding the twit—he’d made sure that O’Reilly wouldn’t breathe long enough to see another day. It felt like it took the paramedics forever to get there as he watched over her.