Page 33 of Charity's Redemption

“Three more. Don’t make me tell you again.”

I set my jaw and looked at Nico and Max. They showed no evidence of helping me, my silent pleas going unheard.

“You had to know this would happen, Charity,” Max said.

Yes, I did.

And with that realization, I spun on my heel with annoyance, fear, and lust waging war inside me then took the stairs into the cold basement.

Luca felt betrayed. I get that. I would, too, if he did something like that to me. But my heart was in the right place. He had to see that… right?

I entered the dim, empty chamber. The table I’d flayed many men on sat in the middle of the room, just above the drain on the floor and above that, a hook in the ceiling. It brought back memories of a simpler time when I kept my head down, showed up when needed, and left when I wasn’t.

Closing the room door quietly, I walked towards the metal table. Slamming the door seemed all too childish, even though I wanted to take my frustrations and fear out on it until it fell off its hinges.

My tools and chains sat neatly on the other table, pushed against the wall. My knives, drills, razor blades, and even a small tin of acid. All these objects brought me a sense of comfort if I thought I was here for them.

But reality set in when the door opened, and Luca walked in, that I wasn’t so lucky.

My stomach flipped with nerves and desire as he blocked the light from the hallway, causing a shadow to fall over his face.

“I told you to meet me naked on your knees. You can’t follow simple instructions now?” Luca’s eerie, calm tone forced shivers to break goosebumps across my skin.

He stepped forward as my throat tightened. Luca used the same words against me as his father. How different they are, yet so similar.

He is his father’s son.

“That’s five more lashings. We’re up to fifteen.”

“Luca, please…” I begged.

He stepped closer, his spicy cologne penetrating my fear with a perception of safety and lust.

Luca was safe.

“I can do this all night, Charity.” He stalked closer until he grabbed my hand and pressed it against the hard ridge in his pants. Desire pooled between my thighs as he rubbed my palm against his stiff length, wiping my impending punishment from my mind. “My cock is hard, thinking about reddening your ass again. Please add more.” Luca tipped his head back and moaned. “Say something else, so we can make it twenty.”

I held still as he controlled my hand, pressing harder against him. There was no doubt in my mind that Luca was a sadist, and I had every intention of reveling in it. I was the perfect switch. My masochistic side begged for him to hurt me while my sadistic side imagined all the ways he would do it, unless he was angry.

An angry Luca was an unpredictable Luca. And unpredictable Luca was one I feared.

“Strip and get on your knees, Charity.”

He tossed my hand aside as though he no longer wanted to feel me against him, and stepped back, taking his warmth with him.

I shivered as I pulled my shirt over my head and tossed it into the corner of the room beside the table with all my tools, then discarded my gun beside my knives. Luca eyed the bruise on my ribcage as I bent over and plucked my shoes off my feet, then pushed my pants down my hips and shimmied out of them, tossing them beside my shirt.

Luca clicked his tongue,tskingas I sank down to my knees. “Everything, beautiful.”

I stood and reached behind, unclasping my bra, then bent over and removed my panties. A wet, painful slap from behind landed between my thighs, smarting the needy flesh. I moaned and chewed my inner lip as I turned back around and fell to my knees before him.

“That’s better.” He looked down at me, his erection jutting against his slacks. “Now beg for my forgiveness and mercy.”

My stomach flipped as I set my jaw. Luca wanted me to beg for forgiveness—that I could do. But to plead for mercy, something he’d never give me… why waste my breath? He enjoyed inflicted his level of depravity on me, and I fucking loved it when he did. But he wanted me to obey, and it didn’t matter what words came out of my mouth. He’d see his plan through until I appeased him.

“I’m not the begging type.”

Luca smirked as though he wagered on my defiance. “When I’m through with you, it’ll be the only thing that comes out of that pretty mouth of yours.” He released a heavy exhale and placed his hand on the top of my head. “Take my belt off.”

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