I groaned as I rolled over. My legs felt like they each weighed a thousand pounds. From my hips to my toes, everything hurt. Pretty sure even my knee pits hurt. How was that even possible?I eased my feet over until they dangled over the edge of the bed. The rest of my legs felt like I had steel in my veins that kept them from bending. I looked down. The bruising had spread. Blacks, blues, purples, and reds decorated me from mid-thigh down. I twisted my legs to the side. Instead of the colors staying on top of my legs, it had wrapped me in the colors until each leg looked like some kind of gothic candy cane. "Holy cannoli," I muttered. Mmm. Cannoli. My stomach chose that moment to assert its dominance in our relationship. It grumbled. Loudly.Tali turned over. "I heard that. Time to feed the beast." I looked over my shoulder, watched her get out of bed. Even in her cotton PJs, she looked like a model. Not a single strand of greasy hair or bags under her eyes. If I didn'
I clenched my back teeth as my formal name spilled from her lips. She didn't have a fucking clue what was going on, but her submission was about to land her under me. I'd give her some damned waves to ride. "Get the fuck on, Penn," Domenico barked. Thank fuck he couldn't see my face. He'd have me shot and buried so fast, Willow's legs would still be black and blue. I winced again as I looked at her legs. They were perfectly shaped. Her hips plush enough to grip and not hit bone. Her legs would look fucking fantastic around my waist. "Mr. Penn?" Willow said softly. Her eyelids fluttered as if she were getting ready to open her eyes again. I growled at her. They lay still once more. Fuck. I needed to get her moving and get the fuck out of here. She was bad for my wellbeing. "Okay, Willow, put your hands on my waist." Did I really need her touching me to maneuver her body? No. But no one else needed to know that. Her hands lifted slowly, a furrow tugged at her brow
I bit my lip at the confused look on his face. It wasn't really his fault. I had a tendency to want to bake when I was turned on. I chuckled mentally-at least something good came of my aroused states. All the cookies, pies, brownies, cakes, confections a person could ever ask for. They also gave me a lot more pleasure than sex. I sighed. Oh well. Something over his shoulder pulled my attention. Tali stared at me like I had asked Ryker to eat my...cookie...in the middle of the room full of her brothers. We knew each other too well if she could decode my offer to bake for the man. "How are you feeling?" Tali asked, a strange note in her voice. All eyes turned to me. Damn it. Center of attention was nowhere I ever wanted to be. I nodded. "Good."Dom came over and grabbed my hand. "Come on. Let's feed you before you get too much hangrier." He pulled me after him. I tripped over my feet and almost crashed through the glass coffee table. "Amatucci, you asshole," Ryker
What the fuck had I been thinking, charging into Willow's bathroom like a hero? I hadn't been thinking. That was the problem. The whole fucking point. She'd needed help and I'd just reacted. Like metal to a magnet, I was drawn to her. That shit stopped today. Right now. From the sounds of things, she had enough men in her life who were more than willing to take a bullet for her. The only bullet I'd take was the one I'd put in her pussy before I fucked her. "Penn, are you even fucking listening?" Amatucci snarled as his driver took us to the District Attorney's office. I flipped through my short term memory. "You want to know what other evidence I have. Well, you're just going to have to find out when I tell Jerrod. I don't share my secrets, Amatucci. Get used to it."He mumbled under his breath. Something about torture and pain. I blocked it out. I was used to people being pissed off with me. A good ninety-nine percent of them always were. I didn't mind in the least. Usually
I could feel the bile pushing at the back of my throat. "Hurry, Rafe." We were standing outside the door of my apartment after the prep shopping we'd done for my parties this weekend. Finally, he got the door unlocked. He dropped our stuff and picked me up and rushed me to the bathroom. We made it just as my stomach gave its last shove towards victory."Fucking Nico," Rafe said as he held my hair back as I emptied my stomach into the toilet again. I barely had time to wipe my mouth before more came gushing from me. He held me tight against his body. My abused legs were unable to support me or allow me to bend.Finally. Finally, he was going to pay. Granted, I didn't want it to be this way, but if this whole thing could be over? I'd submit to the rape kit even. They could poke, prod, take pictures of anything they wanted if it meant he would finally be stripped of his medical license and put behind bars. Another round of heaves shook my body as the five years of horror and ter
The slightest downturn edged her sexy as fuck mouth when I accepted her gratitude. I wasn't giving up the mission to get her in my bed, but I knew bulldozing her wasn't going to get me where I wanted to be. Under her. Over her. Inside her. It might not be tonight or even next week. But I would wear her down. I could give her what these Amatuccis were too fucking scared to give her. I don't know how they held out against her begging. Domenico and I had walked in, joking about something stupid when Rafe had yelled fuck like his soul was being ripped from his chest. I'd pushed both Amatuccis away as I ran for her. Tears streamed down her cheeks, her voice quavered as she asked them to save her. They'd shaken their heads and denied her mercy. They claimed to love her, but would only love her in ways they found acceptable. Regardless of what she actually needed. Actually hurting her, knowing I caused her physical damage, did something to my heart and soul. But I wasn't willing t
"Hey sleepy head. Time for dinner," Tali called sometime later. The last thing I remember was going to sleep after I cried myself out in Rafe's arms. Dom and Ryker had left as Rafe and I talked. I pushed myself upright and slid back into the arm of the couch. My lower body still ached. My right leg definitely more than my left. I still wasn't angry that Ryker had done it, though. I'd gladly suffer the extra pain to keep the mental demons away. I was still a little hurt that Rafe or Dom had been unable to help me. Or rather, unwilling. I knew I shouldn't be. Knew they just didn't understand. But their lack of understanding killed something inside me. Slowly. So freaking slowly. "What are we having?" I asked as I pushed the morose thoughts away. "Lemon garlic chicken and asparagus," she announced as she turned from the stove. "Sleep well?"I was in the middle of stretching when she asked, so it took me a hot minute to answer. "Yeah. Pretty well. What time is it?""A littl
I knew I was dreaming. But even knowing that didn't help ease the terror that held me captive. My body was stuck as my brain raged. I came to already strapped down and immobilized. The tube in my mouth forced air into my lungs. He stood over me, his handsome face stretched into polite lines. "You have to do better this time, Willow. She'll die if you don't. Do you understand?" Just as I was getting some feeling back in my fingers, I saw him depress the plunger on the syringe that he'd inserted into the IV line he'd set up in my arm. "-ease don do is," I said, my words garbled around the tube in my mouth. I knew any begging was futile before he started. I had about thirty seconds before everything shut down again. "You know why I'm doing this, Willow. I'm going to save lives. It's you who are causing all of the failures and errors. How do you think it makes me feel when I have to throw another subject away just because you can't get your mind in the game? All of these deaths
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.
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
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.
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
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
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
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
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
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