Page 35 of Destruction

“Are you going to come?” Lio whispers, just loud enough for me to hear.

“I. Don’t. Want. To,” Ignacio grits out. His body is covered in sweat, and his ass is so red, I know it’s going to be more than miserable tomorrow.

“Too bad.” Lio’s voice is ice cold, and I shiver from it. “I’ll adjust the setting again, but you don’t have much more to go. And since I gave you a small break, I’ll have Keegan use the cane to make up for it.”

I swallow, setting the flogger down and picking up the cane. From the marks on Ignacio, I worry this will be too much. “Boss?—”

“Do you need to switch places with Ignacio?” Lio interrupts me. Grinding my teeth, I shake my head. “Then start—no warm up.”

“Fuck,” I mutter. “Come on, Ignacio. Please.”

I’m five strokes in when Lio hits the remote again. Finally, Ignacio breaks, and screams out his orgasm. I quickly drop the cane, surprised when I realize how hard I’m breathing. This may as well have been a punishment for us both. I enjoy what I do with Marcus, reminding him who he belongs to, and hell, even putting him in his place. But this? This was too much.

Lio kneels down, flinching as the stitches in his back no doubt pull. He stares at Ignacio with no compassion. Gone is the teddy bear that Benjamin teases him about. No, right now, the homicidal part has taken over—a psychopath in my mind, certainly.

“Remember. Your Little Mouse is suffering, and you got to enjoy yourself.”

Ignacio sobs harder than when I was striking him. I cringe because did Lio have to keep reminding Ignacio of Benjamin, and what he was going through? I can’t imagine having to come to that. When Lio stands up, his gaze flicks to me.

“Help me get him on the bed and you can go. But send Antonio a text to be here in the morning. Dr. Ranlen, as well.”

We work silently, and I’m thankful for it. I have a feeling this will keep me up at night—seeing this new side of Lio. I suppose it may not be a new side, but the mask finally slipping. I hope to fuck we find Il Padrone soon, before the mask is gone completely.

I leave them while Lio is putting cream on Ignacio, murmuring something to him. I’m not sure if he’s trying to comfort him or reminding him of the consequences. Whatever. I give the nod of respect as I exit.

For a moment, I just stand there, wondering what the hell is going to happen next. Shaking it off, I send the two required texts, quickly receiving agreements back. Without wasting any more time, I head to my Marcus. This time, I’m the one who needs reassurance from my love. And a firm plan on what we need to do to get Lio’s Master back.

It’s strange being in Cristian’s office without him, mainly because no one is allowed in the room, save for Tennant and Doc, without his express permission. Even stranger when it’s, for the moment, considered Roman’s office.

The door shutting behind Tennant doesn’t make a sound, but all the same, the closed confinement makes my skin itch. I don’t regret what I did with Emilio, but that doesn’t stop me from feeling trapped.

Roman and Jude lean against the front of the desk, their shoulders touching as they look at me when I take a seat across from them. Tennant taking the seat next to me makes the unsettled feeling worse.

“If you’re expecting an apology,” I tell them, “you’ll be waiting a long time.”

Jude scoffs. “Of course we don’t, but I think an explanation is warranted.”

Roman must see me bristle from Jude’s tone because he quickly says, “He doesn’t know how the Martellis work.”

“Allesandro Martelli keeps his inner circle—his Boys—in line using sex,” I explain. “They rely on one another, and are as close as brothers. A true family, much like we are. Their lives just revolve around more pleasure and pain than ours does. Emilio needed something specific that he can’t get from his Boys. They can fuck him, sure, but his need to be put in his place by his Master isn’t something as easily obtained.”

“And you so graciously jumped to help him?” I don’t blame the derision in Jude’s voice. I’d be pissed if it was any of them.

“No, I put a little shit in his place. There’s only so much even I can take before I break. If you thought I’d let someone get away with that level of disrespect, you haven’t been paying attention, Bello. It’s not so different from me putting any of you in your place. Emilio isn’t mine, but he needs something I can give him. It’d be remiss of me to let our allies down.”

Tennant snorts and I glance at him to see he’s fighting a smirk. “It’s okay to admit you wanted to fuck him, Tesoro.”

I shake my head. “I didn’t, not really. He gets under my skin, and I want to put him on his knees. I didn’t plan on fucking him. But when you have someone who bleeds so beautifully… I figured there was no point in resisting.”

“So this is going to be a regular thing?” Roman asks.

“Does that bother you?”

“Would it matter if it did?” Jude challenges, lifting his chin defiantly as his pale green eyes go hard.

“Of course it would. We have enough going on, the last thing any of us needs to deal with is jealousy or hurt feelings. I won’t apologize for what I did because I’m not sorry, but if asked, I won’t touch him again. We need the Martellis to be strong, andsane enough to help stand against whatever’s coming for our Families, but not at the risk of our own sanity.”

“Who needs sanity?” Roman tries to grin, but under the weight of all the seriousness we’re dealing with, it falls flat.

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