Page 91 of Now and Forever

Giovanni pulled the SUV into the garage below the building holding our father’s penthouse. A scan and another gate and we were in Father’s private garage. The number of vehicles disgusted me. Yes, Dante and I had our share, but other than the Lamborghini, our vehicles were practical. Our father loved the flash of expensive things. Whether it was his mansion, penthouse, or vehicles, money was no object.

Of course, if our soldiers died in the pursuit of his ill-gotten gains, too the fuck bad. Total allegiance to the capo meant that casualties were a small price.

Access to Father’s penthouse was similar to ours. While our men didn’t have access to his elevator, as the good and faithful sons we were, Dante and I did. Giovanni stayed with the SUV while we rode up the elevator in silence. Dante’s news and my theories ran through my mind as my fingers mindlessly caressed the handle of my most accessible knife.

It was smooth and made out of bone. It was the knife I used for my first kill. I’d told Catalina that each knife had a life of its own. This one had saved my life more times than I could count.

My thoughts ran on rewind. Last night alone, Jasmine was attacked, and her bodyguard was poisoned. We lost two soldiers. A secret meeting was ambushed. And there was a fake robbery. It was time for our father to step down.

The elevator doors opened.

The sound of a woman’s screams and pleading filled the air. Dante and I both pulled our guns and headed toward the yelling. We came to a stop as Father turned toward us, glaring. His beady eyes were black with emotion. His belt was unbuckled, fly open, and cock at half-mast. Alesia was on her knees, pinned against the floor-to-ceiling window, wearing nothing more than transparent lingerie. Even with night prevailing, we were too high in the sky for anyone on the outside to see what had been happening.

Dante and I had our own clues. Alesia’s cheek was red, beginning to darken, her hair a mess, and her makeup smeared. Wiping her mouth with the back of her hand, she looked away.

We holstered our guns.

“What the fuck are you doing here?” Father asked. His face too was red, but not from abuse. Maybe he’d have a heart attack and save us all.

“We need to talk,” I said.

Alesia used our interruption to stand and slip away, trying to hide her face and bloody lip as she wrapped a short robe with lace around herself. As much as I hated the abuse of women, I’d long ago stopped giving a shit about Alesia’s welfare. Dante and I had offered her an out. She wasn’t sentenced to our father’s presence by marriage. If she wanted to spend her life with the sadistic son of a bitch, that was her choice.

My gaze went to our father who was more upset that we spoiled his fun than that we saw it. Cruelty was his pastime. Dante and I had taken the brunt of many of his slaps and punches. The sting of his belt was something neither of us would forget. Physical abuse wasn’t his only source of satisfaction. Emotional, sexual, psychological, and financial abuse were all in his repertoire. The only violence he tried to hide from us was that against our mother. While it wasn’t as blatant, we’d have had to be blind and deaf to not know it happened.

That’s why Mom wanted a bigger, grander house. In that mansion, no one could hear her pleading to not be raped, no one but the man who got off on that kind of thing.

The window behind him was smudged with tales better left untold. He pushed his cock back into his boxer shorts, zipped his pants, and fastened his belt. His shirt was still hanging loose. As he situated himself, I noticed the absence of his holster. If only we could take advantage of that.

“You don’t fucking walk into a man’s house,” he ranted as he looked around the room, probably wondering about that gun.

“Seems like your guards aren’t on the job,” Dante said. “Fuck, we could have been the Russians, like with Hoss last night.”

Our father went over to a sidebar and poured himself two fingers of bourbon. After running his hand over his gray hair, he emptied the glass, and slammed it on the counter. “I told you to forget about Hoss.”

Dante continued, “It wasn’t the Russians. Hoss was trying to con us.”

“What?” Father asked, feigning surprise. “Then I hope you fucking killed him.”

“You want us to kill him for following your orders?” I asked.

“What the fuck are you saying?” He sat his ass in one of the chairs and leaned back. “I didn’t order him to lie.”

“You didn’t do it personally,” I said. “Just like you didn’t personally try to kill Jasmine Renner.”

The phone in my pocket vibrated, but I wasn’t going to interrupt this conversation.

Father released an exasperated gust of air. “No one was trying to kill her.” He jutted his chin. “You have a wife now. You think she’ll put up with your collection of strays?”

“It’s none of your fucking business what happens in my home.”

“This is why I’m not stepping down. You’re weak.” He sneered. “You let those whores lead you around by your dick. First, Josie and now the brown girl.”

My blood pressure was building to a dangerously high level. “My wife’s name is Catalina. The only one being led by his dick is you.”

He lifted his chin. “Are you going to fuck the stray now that she’s older?” He laughed. “Don’t know why you don’t want the young ones. They’re so tight you think your dick may fall off, and the way they scream…” His eyes narrowed. “Maybe you could all share a bed.”

“You’re fucking disgusting,” I said honestly. “I came here because I know you were behind the attack on Jasmine, and I’m telling you to stop.”

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