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Chapter 30 - Ryker
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Amatucci Family Chapter 31 - Willow
Cursing myself for not locking the front door, I set the hand mixer down on the worktop and moved to the doors that separated the kitchen from the booking and show space. I stuffed my phone in my bra. I needed to get rid of whoever was out here. Then I needed to find out how to disappear. I had no idea why I'd called Ryker. He couldn't help me. Other than pissing me off. A sardonic smile pulled at the corner of my mouth as I got to the double swing doors. He'd helped me. Pulled me back with his ego and arrogance. I was going to have to bake the stupid man some more fucking cupcakes. They could be my going-away present to him.I skidded to a halt as the one and only stupid man stood just inside my shop's door. He looked big and menacing. Heat and emotion vibrated off him in waves and surges that reminded me of the ocean during a tsunami. "Wh-wh-what are you doing here?" I asked, my hand moved to the collar of my shirt. Covered the base of my neck. Shit. Had he guessed what I
Amatucci Family Chapter 32 - Ryker
I fought to clear my head. To clear her perfume from my nose. To forget the feel of her body in my hands. I was on the edge and I wasn't willing to screw it up again. "Ryker?"I bit the inside of my cheek as her soft voice trailed fingers of velvet over my skin. "Not yet, Willow." I struggled to keep my voice even. Quiet. After a moment, I felt the tension ease from my body. Felt like I had full control over my emotions. I relaxed my hands, flexed my fingers. Pushing the button to start the engine, I checked my surroundings and pulled into the street. This late in Oldtown, there was no traffic. "Are you okay?" she asked, her voice still soft. I exhaled. "Yeah. All good now."As if I could see it, she came out of her shell. Blossomed right next to me. I could feel the questions sitting on her tongue. Bet myself how long it would take for her to ask it. I would have lost. She lasted about a minute. I'd given her no more than thirty seconds. "Want to talk about what
Amatucci Family Chapter 33 - Willow
I watched his car's lights disappear around the corner. I still couldn't believe that had just happened. One of the best days of my recent life-minus that whole suicide part-had crashed and burned like an A-bomb had gone off. I limped to my car, fished around in my purse for the keys. Asshole. He could have at least taken me home. A soft scratch on the pavement to my left brought my head up. A rush of sound. A quick pinch at my neck and the world floated away.
Amatucci Family Chapter 34 - Ryker
Seething as I drove the rest of the way home, I talked myself out of going back for her a dozen times. She obviously didn't need me. Or my help. She would be fine on her own. I zipped into the underground garage, slid into my parking spot. I sat there for long moments after I cut the engine. What the fuck had gone wrong? I still couldn't wrap my brain around it. Our conversation tripped through my head on repeat. She'd been coming over. Letting me take care of her instead of her chosen family. Me. She'd come to me and continued to turn to me. But I guess what I offered wasn't good enough. Not in the long run. Tough shit. That's on her. You would have treated her like the little pain princess she was. Her loss. Get your fucking sorry ass out of this car, my inner voice goaded. Yeah. I needed something. Some kind of way to numb everything back to the way it had been before. Before she tripped into my arms.Alcohol. Lots and lots of alcohol.Nodding, I got out of the ca
Amatucci Family Chapter 35 - Willow
Someone slapped my face. Not gentle taps either. I struggled to pry my eyelids open.Dread soaked my brain as the unforgettable feeling of sedatives dragged my body's responses to a soul-shaking crawl. I knew this feeling. Hated this feeling. Adrenaline surged through me for a brief moment, making my neurons fire like they were supposed to. My eyelids flew open as I tried to take in as much information as quickly as possible. I had to get out of here. "You won't be able to escape this time, Willow," he said. Ethan Embry Errington. My ex-husband. The serial killer. "What do you want, Ethan?" I asked. The effort to form the words already taxing my slowed system. "What I've always wanted, Willow. For you to help me heal people. You remember my work, don't you?" He moved over so I could see him. He had a prepped syringe in his hands. He looked so normal. So earnest. How the mind of a monster lived behind that mundane mask never failed to amaze me. I nodded. "I
Amatucci Family Chapter 36 - Willow
Something buzzed against my chest. My eyes flew open. The sedative was wearing off and I could feel my hands and feet. I had maybe a half hour before Ethan came back in here. Thirty minutes to try to get to safety. Buzzzz buzzzz buzzzzI startled again. What the hell was that? This was new. He'd never attached electrodes to me. Not that delivered stimuli. Only ones that read biological information. I looked down. My shirt trembled as another round of buzzing vibrated against my boobs. Correction. My left boob. A foggy memory of me sliding my phone into my bra when I went to answer the door at the shop slid through my mind. Lifting my hand that felt like it weighed at least a hundred pounds, I fished the device from my clothing. Ethan was either getting sloppy, devolving, or had been too excited to get his psycho hands on me to frisk me for a phone. I stabbed at the screen as the name TALI flashed with strobing lights. The phone went quiet as I finally hit the glowin
Amatucci Family Chapter 37 - Ryker
Water splashed in my face, pulling me from the bottom of the drunken well I'd climbed into last night. "You've got one chance, motherfucker, before we tear you a new one. Where is she?" a low whispered voice said. I blinked away the water to try to identify the speaker. The face that belonged to the voice was on the edge of my mind. The name that belonged to the face was on the tip of my tongue. "Where is who?" I asked as I fished around for the name. A husky chuckle. "Wrong answer."Bright, shocking pain tore through my brain. Ripped it open and poured gasoline on it before someone lit a match and tossed it in there to set the whole thing on fire. I tried to move. Tried to evade that all-consuming pain. I was stuck. Unable to move anything but my head as my vocal cords tried to escape the fiery pyre of my scorching body. As quickly as it started, the pain vanished."Where is she?" the man with the broken voice asked again. I blinked, tried to push the pain asi
Amatucci Family Chapter 38 - Willow
The sedative was working too fast. The slowly encroaching blackness of oblivion pressed on my mind. Taunted me with more failure. More death. "Willow, you're not trying hard enough," Ethan said. His eyes were so full of disappointment. And something else. Something I'd never seen before in all of the five years of our marriage. Enjoyment.Somehow, someway, in the last eighteen months of being divorced, he'd found some kind of sick, twisted fun in torturing these women. He spent more time playing with his subjects this time around. Less time recording his precious data. I wasn't the focus of his attention. Or at least not completely. There were moments, longer spans of time than I could ever recall previously, that it was like I wasn't even in the room with him. I blinked once. The bastard had been right about the new serum. I could function better with it than any of his earlier concoctions. But that didn't mean I would be able to save this poor girl. When he'd left fo
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Amatucci Family Chapter 341 - Epilogue IV - Raphael
I crept along the rooftop. The target was staying in the long term suites across the road. It was our first night, and it felt like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders the farther we got from New Trenadie. The next moment, I crashed to the roof's floor. "Damn it." She snickered. "Still a sucky spy, Raphael." She slid her body over mine.I sucked in a breath. Nodded. Hell, I practically begged her for it. But without words. When she got that tone, my words were not necessary. She smiled. "I'm not going to beat you to death. Nor am I going to stuff you into a padded room." She bent down, flicked her tongue over my lips. "But I will tie you up, spank you, flog you, fuck you, and then make you do it all over again. My dick went to iron between her legs. Her laugh was husky. "I'm keeping you, Raphael. Do you understand me?"My heart settled. Skipped a beat. "Yes, Mistress."The end.
Amatucci Family Chapter 340 - Epilogue III - Momma
My phone dinged with a new incoming text message. Considering my phone had been going off since the wee hours of the morning with Willow and Ryker announcing the baby was finally coming, I was tempted to just shut it off. But it could be something important. And since Angelo and I were at home with the other babies, it fell to us to make sure we kept everything running as it should. I grabbed the phone. Unlocked the screen. A video message popped up. Raphael and his girl, Nia. Their heads mushed together to get into frame. "Momma, I have to leave. But I wanted to tell you I love you. And thank you for everything. I will let you know when I get back." Nia smiled. "I'll keep him safe, Momma. I swear it.""Bye, Momma," they said together before they ended the call.I smiled even as tears filled my eyes. Angelo looked up at me from his spot on the bed. He was restrained, a ball gag in his mouth. I held the crop up high. "Our last baby is finally happy, Angelo." I s
Amatucci Family Chapter 339 - Epilogue II - Nia
Two weeks later I glared at the woman on the table. "I still don't know why I have to be here. I barely know you."Willow snorted. "Because you're scarier than anyone else in my family. And I don't want those doctors trying to get all bitchyyyyyyyy." Another contraction hit her. She clamped down on my hand hard enough that I thought I was going to need surgery to remove the bones from each other. And this little firecracker had more strength inside her than her grip would show. Raphael had told me some of her story. She'd told me the rest of it. A ritual the Amatucci women apparently indulged in was something called Girls' Night. Really it was a bunch of drinking, talking about sex, and watching movies while we ate enough of Willow's confectionaries to give ourselves diabetes. Willow blew out a breath. "Ryker can't handle seeing me in this kind of pain, so he has to stay out in the lobby with the rest of them. You're second chair." She panted. Demanded some ice chips.
Amatucci Family Chapter 338 - Epilogue I - Raphael
Three days laterWalking into my parents house when they didn't know I was alive was a risky thing. A multitude of crappy things could happen. Not the least of which was Momma killing me for real this time. Or Papa crying. Or either of them fainting."Go on," Nia said as she shoved me forward gently. "You're already here. Just go into the kitchen. Nik said she told them to wait for her in the kitchen."I nodded, felt my palms go clammy as my breath backed up in my lungs. This could go terribly wrong. So fucking horribly wrong. Man up, Si, that no longer too small voice said inside me. Since I'd been actively listening to it more, he wasn't so easy to shut up. Even when I wanted to. Thankfully, the nasty bitch who lived inside me was getting fainter. Although he could still throw a temper tantrum to beat a two year old. "I'm right here. And I'll be right here the whole time. They've waited long enough, Raphael." She nudged me again. Even as bile rushed up the back o
Amatucci Family Chapter 337 - Petunia
We all stood in the kitchen, guzzling water by the gallon. I hadn't been this dehydrated since the last time I got in trouble at Petter Manor. But at least this time it was due to happy tears and reunification. Raphael sat and watched it all. Just absorbed it. But he never got so far away I couldn't touch him. That I even needed to touch him still blew my mind. But I wasn't going to question it. He helped steady me when it felt like everything inside me and around me was bending and flexing too fast for me to catch up. "What are your plans for tomorrow?" Liam asked as he finished his third glass of water. "Tomorrow is the gala. I'm going to string Anders up-the guy who had you kidnapped again. I'm going to tell everyone the Petters have been blackmailing and abusing and paying off that the Petters are dead and gone. That they're all on watch." I studied Liam and Lilly. It blew my mind that they had gone into the government side of this dirty world. That they willingly put t
Amatucci Family Chapter 336 - Raphael
Nia came over to me while I was helping drag some bodies away. "Hey Raphael, can you come with me, please?"Foster grunted at me as we got the body up on the catering cart. "Go. I've got this." I nodded, turned back to Nia. "Sure, Nia." She took my hand and we walked from the room. Her hand was trembling in mine. It was only the slightest degree, but it might as well have registered on the seismic scale. "You good?" I asked her softly as we walked down a set of stairs. She said nothing, made no movements except to keep walking. I pulled her to a stop. Made her look at me. "Are you good?" I asked again. Her eyes were wide, as if she were trying to stave off the tears. "Amelie and Anton..." she blew out a breath. "They're t-""The only two people you love in this world." I smiled sadly. "I know, Nia."Her eyelids fluttered shut as a tear escaped down her cheek. Her breath was shaky as she exhaled. "I got them away from here. Put them in with a good woman with a hu
Amatucci Family Chapter 335 - Petunia
Day before the gala "Charlie team in position," the man's voice came through the little earbud I wore in my right ear. I kept a tight hold on my fear. My relief. My heart. All of the planning, all of the tears, all of the arguments. It all came down to this. "Delta team in position," Raphael said through my ear. "Foxtrot team in position," another voice said. I still wasn't quite sure who was who by their voice, but I'd done an okayish job of remembering names and faces. The fact that I had a team full of women with me made me like the Amatuccis even more. They didn't discriminate. If someone had the skill and the drive to join the security teams, they were given a position. "Estrogen team in position," I said. A series of clicks came through the earbud. I'd made a single joke about Echo team being full of vaginas. They called us the Estro team now. Since we were collectively badass, I didn't really care what they called us as long as it wasn't disrespectful. "A
Amatucci Family Chapter 334 - Raphael
Her babies? She had kids? I shook my head. Knew there had to be a different story, but I needed to get her back with me to learn it. I set her down on the chair. Pushed her head down between her knees. "Breathe, Nia." I made my voice hard. As hard as I dared when all I wanted to do was cuddle her up and carry her away. Nowhere was my fierce and strong Dominant. Right now, she was a broken, hurting woman. I would hold her together until she could find herself again. Ivan came rushing into the room, his gun drawn. He lifted it to the ceiling when he saw what was going on. One of his brows rose in question.I gave him a brief rundown of what I knew. Which was damn little. I shrugged when I was out of information to share. Mas came hopping in behind Ivan. He didn't have a weapon, but he did have concern etched on his face. "Who the hell are you?" a voice said from behind me. I whirled around, putting Nia behind my body as I faced the threat that shouldn't be there. A
Amatucci Family Chapter 333 - Petunia
After rushing through the shower and the delicious meal that Raphael put together for breakfast, I walked into the space Ivan and Klara had set up for me. Everything was as I left it, but that didn't mean a whole lot. Especially in a place I didn't control one hundred percent. Brushing the weird vibe away, I walked to the computer. Booted everything up. Once it was up and running, I went through my process of accessing my cloud accounts. Jasper had set some up for me that weren't the typical commercial kind. Luckily, I'd memorized the process, or I'd be up a creek with zero paddle at the moment. A ReadMe file was highlighted when I got all the way into my account. I right clicked, read through the metadata how Jasper showed me. Recognizing his signature, I opened the file. Ms. Flower~I've attached all of the information I could find re Cucumber Butt and Pretty Mean. You'll find them in the associated files.I snickered at Jasper's sense of humor. That kid was a genius and
