11. Valentino

11

VALENTINO

“ W hen is Liam working next?” Vito asked.

“Leave him alone.” I pulled out of a drive-through where we’d gotten burgers and soda to refuel us for the rest of the drive.

“But I want to see him. You can’t ban me from the club.”

“Yes, I can.” This was starting to feel like the longest drive of my life.

Vito shook his head. “You’ve really got it bad for him.”

I couldn’t leave him thinking that. “Liam opens tomorrow, or I guess now it’s today at five.” How was it already nearly 2 a.m.?

“You’ve memorized his schedule? I like that.”

I cursed myself for giving Vito more ammunition. I should have pretended not to know. “I like to know what goes on at the club I run. There’s nothing unusual about that.”

“Right. So, when is Eddie up next?”

Why did he have to pick someone who’s schedule I couldn’t remember?

My brother chuckled. “Oops. Did you forget? That’s interesting.”

“Any chance you’re going to sleep the rest of the way back and give me some peace?”

He pulled out his phone and started up an obnoxiously loud game. “Not a chance. You know I’m rarely in bed before dawn.”

I woke up in the middle of the day covered in sweat with the bedsheets twisted around my legs. I’d been dreaming of Liam. In the dream he was naked. He was dancing just for me, then he was on his knees, his mouth around my dick. My hands were in his hair, and his mouth felt like heaven. It was everything I wanted.

I glanced down, making sure I hadn’t actually had my first wet dream in years. There was no wet spot, but if I hadn’t woken when I did, I bet there’d be a sticky mess on the sheets. As it was, they were damp with sweat and needed changing.

When I forced myself to stand, the room swam around me for a moment. That’s when I remembered downing several glasses of whiskey the night before in an attempt to keep thoughts of Liam at bay. Obviously that hadn’t fucking worked, and now my head was throbbing, the room was spinning, and I only had a few hours to take care of some business before meeting Vito at Pound.

My brother was a fucking asshole. He’d told me he was going to watch Liam dance, and I could join him or not. He knew how to rile me up like no one else, and I’d taken the fucking bait.

The second I could get Vito to leave, I was going to another bar and finding a man who would bend over for me and let me wreck him. I didn’t want to talk. I didn’t want to know his name. I just wanted to get some relief.

I could pretend it would help me stop thinking about Liam, but I was becoming more and more sure that was impossible. I had a fucking problem. Liam was an addiction, an obsession, and that was dangerous as fuck in my world.

Though somehow Lucien, his brother Angelo, and our cousin Devil had all found a way to live with men they cared for. I had no doubt they would kill anyone who even looked at their men wrong. The few times I’d met Lucien’s boyfriend, I’d kept my eyes averted.

I picked up the whisky bottle from where I’d set it on the nightstand and took a swig. Hair of the dog was going to have to do as a cure for my hangover, I was already running late.

I pulled on last night’s jeans and dug through my drawer for a T-shirt. There was no point in putting on good clothes when I was just going to mess them up. I had a date with a man who’d tried to short us in his payment by adding fake bills to the bottom of each stack of cash he’d handed over.

I was going to enjoy doling out his punishment. I stepped into my closet, hit the button to open my weapons cache, and began to select the instruments I wanted to use on him. I was feeling particularly vicious today, thanks to not having actually gotten my dick sucked by a beautiful blond boy who’d better be following every one of my rules.

I would eat something after I’d made a mess of our delinquent client, but I picked up coffee on my way to capture him. If I didn’t have any caffeine in my system, I might end up killing him instead of just making him wish he was dead.

“You’re smiling,” Vito said.

I scowled at him.

“You never smile.”

“I was thinking about the way the asshole I just visited screamed when I stabbed my favorite knife into him.”

Vito laughed. “No, you weren’t. You’re smiling because you’re a sick fuck, and you get off on this all these men salivating, hungry to get their hands on your man, knowing they don’t have a chance, not when he’s all yours.”

I clenched my fist so I didn’t punch my brother. “I don’t own him. I just own every cent he makes.” I turned my attention back to the stage where Liam was decked out in a sequined crop top and harem pants. He had a genie’s lamp on the stage next to him, and he’d started his routine by pretending to wake up next to it, like the audience had summoned him. I wanted to shove him to his knees, make him call me master, and demand he make all my wishes come true.

“We own everything he makes.”

Vito’s comment brought me back to reality. “I’m handling this.”

“Yeah, I think you are.”

“I told you I haven’t fucking touched him.”

“Really? You expect me to believe that?”

I didn’t respond.

“It’s me, man. Your brother. You don’t have to lie to me. I’m not going to tattle on you to Pops.” When I still said nothing, he continued. “I saw you snarling as you watched Liam. You nearly broke the table apart you were gripping it so hard.”

That was it. I couldn’t hold it in anymore. “You’re wrong. I hate watching these men. I want to kill them all, then take Liam off the stage and drag him out of this club.”

“And punish him for being so fucking hot that they all want him?”

I glanced him my brother, pissed off that he knew me too well. “You think I’m a fucking savage.”

“I know you are. You want to torment him for doing exactly what you agreed for him to do.”

“So what. It’s none of your business.”

“Enjoy yourself, but don’t fuck up everything over him. No hot guy is worth that.”

Vito was right. So why was my mind screaming that Liam was worth it, more than worth it?

When Liam failed to come see me after his set, I pretended I wasn’t bothered. I was sure he’d noticed me. He’d looked right at me as he ran a hand over the thick bulge in his jock strap.

“Are you going to go find him?” Vito asked.

“No.”

“You know you want to.”

What I was going to do was punch my brother in the face if he didn’t shut up. “You’ve seen him dance. Now it’s time for you to leave.”

“So you can go find him and not have to tell me?”

“Vito.”

He held up his hands. “Fine. I guess I’ve pissed you off enough for today.”

“Enough for the rest of my life.”

He laid a hand on my arm. “Listen, if you need to talk about this, you know I’m here. You know I’ll help you any way I can. I owe you my life, and I’ll never consider that debt repaid.”

I pulled him to me in a tight hug, but when I released him I pointed toward the door. “Out.”

As soon as he walked away, I headed to the back of the club. Liam wasn’t going to avoid talking to me.

I stepped into the dressing room and ignored the sultry looks the dancers gave me.

“Where’s Liam?” I barely managed to keep my tone civil.

“In the back,” one of the guys said. “He’s with a client, giving a private dance.”

When I stomped out, I heard them whistle. There would be no stopping the rumors now, no way to keep everyone from knowing I’d claimed Liam as mine. But I didn’t really care if the dancers knew. I was only worried about other family members finding out. No one who worked for me here would dare go against me and tell my father anything. They’d be happy to never have contact with him after the stories they’d heard.

I banged on the door of the first private room. “Liam?”

“We’re fucking busy in here!” Filippo yelled.

I moved on to the next room. When I pounded on that one, calling for Liam, no one responded.

What the regular club patrons didn’t know was that the private rooms all had well-hidden surveillance cameras so we could monitor what was going on. We had a few VIP customers who got off on watching, and we let them see the feeds for a steep fee.

I let myself into the narrow corridor the dancers used to get into their half of the divided rooms. At the end of the hall there was a small office where we could watch the surveillance feeds.

When I looked at the camera for room two, red clouded my vision. Liam was in there, but he wasn’t dancing behind the glass. He’d joined the man on his side. Liam was fully naked and grinding on the man’s lap. When the man wrapped a hand around Liam’s dick, I lost it completely.

Liam tried to push his hand away, but the man gripped him tighter, making Liam flinch.

I slammed out of the surveillance room. In my rage, I couldn’t remember the code to unlock the viewing room, but the door on the dancer’s side was unlocked, so I slammed it open, nearly ripping it off its hinges. I knew I was out of control. I was about to cause a huge scene, and word of it could get back to my father or, even worse, to Lucien. But I didn’t fucking care. Not at this point.

Liam had defied me. I’d made the rules very clear, and he wasn’t following them. I would deal with him, but first I would deal with the man who’d dared touch what was mine. He needed to die.

I met Liam’s eyes and saw how terrified he looked. I knew he was at least as afraid of me as he was of the man who thought he could put his hands on my property. Liam’s fear only made me need to get to him more.

I punched the glass, not caring if I broke my fingers. Cracks spidered out from the point of impact. I grabbed the chair that was in the room as a prop and slammed it against the window. This time the glass shattered. Liam jumped back, and the man scrambled from his seat as I stepped through the opening I’d made, not caring if I cut myself.

“Who the fuck do you think you are?” the man yelled.

“You should leave,” Liam told him.

I didn’t give him the chance. I grabbed the man and threw him against the wall before delivering a punch to his jaw that had his head snapping back.

“Val, stop. Please. He didn’t hurt me. I….”

I hit the man again, and Liam grabbed my arm. “Please. You’ve made your point. You’re going to kill him.”

I sure as fuck was. I hit him once more and his head banged against the wall with a sickening crack. He slid down to the floor, either dead or unconscious. I didn’t care which.

I turned to Liam, and he backed up until he pressed against the opposite wall. I moved toward him slowly, trying to get myself somewhat under control. He needed to be punished for defying me, but I wasn’t going to truly hurt him.

“Was this what you wanted?” I gestured at the man on the floor. “Did you need to pay me back so fast you offered yourself to him?”

“No, it was only supposed to be a lap dance.”

“A fucking naked lap dance? When I specifically told you they were forbidden.”

“I…Listen, please?—”

“You want this so much? You want someone to pay for it. You want a man’s hand on your cock or better yet your mouth around his? Is that what you’re going to do to pay me back?”

Liam shook his head. Tears ran down his cheeks, and a voice in my head screamed for me to pull him to me, to hold him, to soothe him, but the feral beast in me wasn’t backing down. “I’ll give you what you want. You can be my whore.”

“But you…you said you wouldn’t pay me because that would mean you were paying my debt.” He could barely breathe though his sobs.

“Forget what I said. The rules have changed.” I slipped my jacket off and tossed it on the floor. Then I undid my pants and pulled out my cock. He stared at it as I gave myself a few slow strokes. “Get on your knees.”

He wiped away his tears, and I thought he was going to protest, but he sank slowly to the floor.

“Hands behind your back.”

He did as I said, and I stepped closer, brushing the tip of my cock over his lips.

“You’re going to open these pretty lips for me, and I’m going to fuck your mouth. If you want someone to use you, it’s going to be me. Do you understand?”

He sniffled as he nodded.

“Answer me.”

“Y-yes, sir.”

“Good.” I glanced down and saw that his cock was fully hard, not soft like it had been with that fucking stranger. “I’m all you need. Do you understand that?”

“Yes, sir. I didn’t…I don’t….”

“You want this, don’t you?”

He looked up at me. There was confusion in his eyes.

“I know you do. You’ve wanted me from the moment we met.”

“I…I can’t.”

“You can, and you will. Now open that pretty mouth.” I used my thumbs to wipe the tears from his cheeks as I pushed the head of my cock between his lips.

“The only tears I want you crying are the ones that will leak out when I choke you with my dick. Do you understand?”

He nodded, and I pushed into him, making him gag around me. I pulled back long enough to let him get some air, then thrust even deeper.