Chapter 16 - Chiara

I wake up as the morning light splashes across the pillow and my eyes flutter open. Maxim is still sleeping peacefully next to me, his arm locked around my waist.

I snuggle closer, not ready to leave the warmth and coziness of his body.

As I move, he whispers, “I’ve been waiting for you to wake up. Do you want some coffee?”

“I thought you were still sleeping,” I smile, leaning over to press my lips against his.

“I was just relaxing, waiting for you.”

“We can go make coffee together, then.” I wiggle my body against his, and he wraps his arms around me in a tight hug.

“Good morning, beautiful,” he chuckles.

“Morning.” I sit up and pull him up with me so that I”m straddling his lap.

“Do you want coffee, or something else?” he grins, grabbing my ass.

I laugh. “No, wait, I need to pee so badly.”

“What a pity,” he chuckles, and we both climb out of bed.

I find him downstairs, busy making our coffee, looking so divine in his dark gray sweatpants—topless, tall and devilishly handsome.

I hug him from behind and he wraps his fingers through mine, pressing my hand against his chest.

“I rather like waking up next to you,” he says with a cheeky note to his voice.

“I rather like falling asleep next to you, too,” I reply, just as cheeky.

I slide my ass onto the kitchen counter, swinging my legs and watching him finish making our coffee. “What are you doing today?”

“I think I want to go and chat with my other brothers to find out if they know anything about our uncle and Stefano’s father.”

“I think that’s a good idea. I”m going to go say hello to my father later. I don’t think it is a good idea for me to ask him about any of that, though, just in case he doesn’t know and tells Stefano.”

“Agreed. Let’s keep it quiet for now. But Chiara, please be careful if Stefano is around. I really don’t like that guy.”

He places my coffee on the kitchen counter next to me and brushes his fingers through my hair.

“I know, I will be careful. He wouldn’t do anything stupid, especially not in my father’s house.”

“I just think that the more we find out about him, the more dangerous he seems to be.”

“Well, let’s just work together and solve this whole puzzle. Maybe if we can find out what really happened to his father, we can show him the truth, and he can let go of the anger.”

“Mm. Yes, the truth will bring a lot of light to this entire mess. And maybe stop Stefano from doing these disgusting things.”

Once Maxim leaves to go and see his brothers, I head over to my father’s house. I still have the key, and in truth, I have not told anyone I am coming. I don’t want them to know. I want to see if I can sneak in and have a look around Stefano’s office. Maxim would be furious if he knew that was my plan, so I didn’t tell him that part.

I walk up the familiar steps towards the front door. The security guards greet me.

“Chiara, welcome home. How are things?”

“Things are great, thanks Ivan. How are your kids?”

“The little one just had his birthday the other day. I can’t believe how fast they grow up.”

“I bet you threw him the best party,” I grin.

“Of course. He is obsessed with Spiderman at the moment, so we had a guy dress up and swing around. It was amusing.”

“Is my dad home?”

“He”s around here somewhere. Do you want me to call him for you?”

“No, don’t worry. I”ll find him. And Stefano?”

“Stefano has been out all morning.”

“Thanks Ivan, see you soon.”

Ivan smiles widely. He has always been kind to me.

“Have a lovely day, Chiara. You should visit more often.”

I let myself in and walk quietly through the house. I don’t see my dad anywhere, which is good. I don’t see Stefano, either, so he must still be out. This is the perfect time for me to get into his office.

My heart hammers against my ribcage. I feel nervous, but that isn’t going to stop me.

I have to do this, for Max.

I glance up at the security camera in the hallway. It is not unusual or out of place for me to be walking around here, but if they spot me going into Stefano’s office, that might raise questions.

The camera blinks, and I hesitate. No. I just need to do this. Look casual, open the door. Walk in. It will take two seconds, and I can just hope that they aren’t watching the hallway camera at that exact moment.

I push the door open and step inside, pulling it closed behind me.

I lean against the closed door, trying to calm my racing heart.

I had better hurry, though; the less time I spend in here the better.

I pull open draws and look through the filing system. I go through his bookshelves. I look everywhere I think he might keep sensitive records and don’t find anything. Then I realize he wouldn’t just have it out in the open, in case my father stumbled across it. I duck beneath his desk and spot a key hooked to the underside. But what does it open?

I pull the bottom drawer open again, realizing that the size of the drawer and the size of the space inside it did not match up.

And there it is, a small lock.

I pull the secret panel open and lift out four large files. One of them is labeled Dubrov. I put the other files back and close the drawer. I”m about to open the file when I hear laughter in the hallway. Shit. That”s Stefano.

I duck under his desk, change my mind, and then quickly move to slide my body between the bookcase and the wall next to the window.

The office door opens, and Stefano walks in with a woman I have never seen before.

“I just need to check the status on one shipment, and then we can go,” he says, walking over to his desk.

“Stef, you promised me we would have fun now, and this is not fun,” the girl whines.

She is wearing a tight pink dress and killer black heels, very overdone for any daytime event. She huffs and drops herself onto the sofa near the door of his office.

“Stop whining at me, this won’t even take long.”

Stef sits down in his office chair and pulls it closer to his desk, typing quickly on his laptop and then staring at the screen thoughtfully.

A dark smile flashes across his face and a deep chuckle rumbles from his chest.

“What’s so funny?” the girl in pink sighs, not amused at all.

“It’s business, you won’t care,” Stefano snaps.

The girl giggles. “If business means money, then I do care.”

She stands up and saunters over to his desk, leaning over as her cleavage spills from the top of her dress.

Stefano doesn’t even look up at her.

“Tell me, baby. What are you laughing at?” her nasal, high-pitched voice is grating on me.

“I”m laughing because Angelo is going to be even more pleased than he already is. We have two more clients requesting orders. Ever since the Dubrov warehouse had that little accident, their clients are coming over to us, worried about their products shipping safely.”

He grins and grabs the girl around the back of the neck, kissing her hard, then pushing her away.

“So, that means more money?”

“Yes, rabbit, that means more money. More clients mean that our business is flourishing, and Angelo was already so impressed with what I reported yesterday. This is just an extra cherry on top, now.”

“You promised you would take me shopping today,” she sighs. “How long are you going to be?”

“Please stop your moaning, I can’t stand it. I’m done, anyway. We can go. But I’m not going shopping. I’ll give you some cash and you can take yourself shopping after we”re done.”

“Ooh. Yes,” she giggles, running her hand over Stefano’s chest when he stands up to leave.

They step out of the office and pull the door closed behind them, and I breathe a heavy sigh of relief that no one noticed me squished into the corner here.

I still have the Dubrov file gripped between my fingers.

I don’t think I should try and read it here—I think I need to get out of here, fast. Now that Stefano is home, there”s no telling when he might just stick his head back into this office.

I shove the entire file into my handbag, and before I step out of the office, I make a silent wish that no one is out in the hallway.

I crack the door open and don’t hear a sound. I push it further and glance left and right. Empty.

I step outside and quickly close the door, then casually walk deeper into the house as though heading toward my old bedroom.

But strange sounds are echoing through the house from one of the top floor rooms.

I tilt my head to listen. It sounds like someone is hurt, maybe even crying out in pain. What if something happened to my father? My heart tightens as I hurry up the stairs, trying to follow where the sounds are coming from.

What if he fell, or what if someone broke in? I have to find him.

My instincts tell me to keep as quiet as possible, just in case I need the upper hand against an intruder. The sounds get louder as I walk down a dimly lit section of the back of the house. I can’t even remember when last I came up here. This is Dad’s office area, and as a kid I was never allowed here. I snuck up once or twice and got caught. He was furious, so I never did it again.

“Please, stop.” A choked beg from a man whose voice is so tight I can’t tell if it”s my father’s or not. “Please, I told you everything I know.”

My breathing becomes uneven and heavy. I do my best to stop the raging fear creeping through me.

I step close to the open doorway, flat against the wall, and inch closer.

“No, no, no. Sto—”

Another gurgling sound, as though someone is choking on thick liquid.

I have to look.

I lean my head around the doorframe, and my entire body freezes in horror.

My father, covered in blood, his sleeves rolled up over his forearms.

A man tied to a chair in front of him, black and blue and covered in thick, bleeding cuts.

My father laughs as blood pours from the man’s mouth. In my father’s hands is a knife, and a long pair of—are those tongs?

I squint my eyes, trying to deny what I am seeing.

Gripped in the tongs is what looks like a human tongue.

Panic surges in me.

I hear my father laugh again. “You won’t be telling anyone anything ever again.”

I spin and bolt down the passage as fast and silent as I can. I rush down the stairs and run straight out of the house.

Ivan spins to face me as I push open the front door and rush outside.

“Jeez, Chiara, you scared the daylights out of me. Oh. What’s wrong?” He walks towards me. “You look really pale, what”s going on?” he asks, his voice becoming darkly serious.

I wave my hand, trying to smile. “I ate something—weird—last night. I think—I think I have food poisoning. I don’t feel—well,” I say between gasping breaths as I try to hold back the vomit threatening to spill out.

“Oh no, let me get one of the guys to drive you home, or to a doctor. You should be resting.”

I shake my head. “No, I’ll be fine in a second. It will pass.”

He stands close to me with his hand on my back as I lean over, catching my breath. I can’t stay here. I need to leave quickly. My father can’t know that I saw him.

“I”m going to drive straight home and get into bed I think,” I chuckle, weakly.

“That”s probably the best thing to do. Get someone to collect some meds for you.”

I nod, standing up slowly as my vision clears and my body, still shaking, is able to move again.

I walk to the car and Ivan quickly runs ahead to open the door for me.

“Are you sure you”re okay to drive?”

“Yes, it’s passed now. I’ll just go straight home.”

“Alright. Take care of yourself.”

He closes the door behind me, and I drive off in a hurry.

I arrive home with my entire body still shaking. Did I really just see that?

My father was torturing a man.

And the look on his face. I have never seen him look like that before. He looked ecstatic. He looked deliriously happy. The sound of his laughter, so twisted, is still ringing in my ears.

I wipe my arm across my forehead, feeling the perspiration.

Inside the house, I wander from room to room trying find to Maxim, calling out for him. I just need to see him. I hope he”s home already. I just need to be near him.

Finally, I find him in the gym with his headphones in, sweat glistening on his body, topless and lifting weights.

“Maxim,” I repeat angrily.

He spots me and pulls one of his earphones out. “Chiara, hey, were you calling me?”

“I’ve been calling your name for ages, and you didn’t even bother to answer,” I snap.

“Sorry, I had my music pretty loud. Where did you go? Did you just get home?”

“What if I really needed you? And you can’t even be bothered to answer when I call you. It’s actually rude,” I say, knowing how unreasonable I sound, but I”m so angry.

“What the hell? I was just working out. I always work out with music on.”

“It’s not fair of you,” I shout.

“Hey, no, what is going on? This isn’t like you at all.” He walks over to me, pulling the other earphone out and tossing it onto a bench.

I take a step back, my mouth pulled tight, my eyes narrowed and my heart racing.

“Chiara, what is going on? You look really pale.”

“Nothing,” I snap.

He grabs my shoulders and forces me to face him. “I can see that there is something wrong, now tell me what it is.”

His voice is so commanding that it pushes away all of my thoughts for a moment.

I stare up at him and tears fill my eyes.

He pulls me into his arms. “Babygirl, talk to me. I’m here. You”re okay. What happened?”

With my head pressed against his chest, I finally feel safe. I feel the horror of what I saw becoming more distant.

“I went to my father’s house.”

He doesn’t say anything, he just keeps holding me close.

“I saw him—he cut a man’s tongue out. He was—he was torturing him.”

Maxim’s body tenses.

“Your father let you see that?” he asks, shocked, grabbing my shoulders again so that he can look into my eyes.

“No. He didn’t know I was there. I snuck in.”

“You said you were going to visit. Not sneak in.”

I push away from him. “I know what I said. But I snuck in. I wanted to look inside Stefano’s office, and then when I was leaving, I heard someone in pain. So I followed the sounds and saw my father—”

My throat tightens as the memory of his expression fills my mind. The smile on his face. Twisted and sick.

“Chiara,” Maxim says loudly, anger in his voice.

He grips my shoulders tighter, his fingers digging into my skin painfully.

“You are hurting me. Stop that.” I try to push him away, my hands pressing against his naked chest.

“What the fuck did I tell you? You promised me you wouldn’t do anything stupid. How can I keep you safe if you don’t obey me?”

“Stop it,” I shout, punching my fist into his solid chest. He doesn’t even flinch.

“I won’t stop. You are mine to take care of. I have to protect you. Don’t you get it? I need you. Your safety is my priority over anything else. Even over finding out the truth about what is going on. I put you, and your safety, above all of that. If I find out—”

“Stop shouting at me.” My tears are falling again, but now I am becoming angry as well.

There is so much anger in me that I hardly know what to do with it. I feel so betrayed by what I saw in my father’s house. I feel as though my life might have been a lie. My father might not be the man I thought he was, and now my husband is yelling at me.

The man my father forced me to marry.

But Maxim looks genuinely worried about me. Overprotective, but caring.

And for some reason that brings me some kind of relief. I like the fact that he might actually care. I want him to be angry that I was in danger, but I definitely don’t want to be yelled at right now.

Seeing the knotted, tight expression on my face and the way my eyes blaze heatedly, Maxim stops shouting. He stops doing anything at all. He just stands over me, staring down at me, and then a sly grin crosses his face.

My eyes trace over his naked chest again, and the dark grey sweatpants he is wearing. Why does he have to be topless? It”s so distracting.

“Use me,” he says, his voice dark and suggestive.

“What?” I snap.

“Use me. Use my body. Take out your frustration.” He steps closer, his chest pressed up against me, his skin glistening from his workout.

Instantly my pussy heats up, begging to do exactly what he has suggested.

“You think I want sex now?” I say, shocked.

“No, I think you want to punch a wall, but take your anger out on me instead.”

“This is ridiculous—”

He grabs my throat, tilting my head up towards his face.

“We can play any game you like,” he growls.

I kick at him, hard, and he drops his hand away, that same sly grin still on his lips.

Without thinking, I rush towards him and shove him. He staggers backwards, laughing softly.

So I push him again and then leap into his arms, the impact knocking him backwards and landing him hard on his ass on the gym mats.

I grin when I see his expression. This is actually fun.

He grabs the edges of my t-shirt and rips the fabric right off my body. His eyes lock onto my naked breasts and a scowl knots his brow.

“You went out without wearing a bra?” he says angrily.

“Don’t tell me what I can and can’t do.” I snap, as I press both of my hands over his throat and push him against the gym mat while I straddle his body.

He chuckles.

“Is that all you’ve got, babygirl?”

He reaches down and grabs the button of my jeans, undoing it, then lifts me and pulls them off, throwing them to the side.

My body is on fire with need. When he drops me back on top of him, my pussy presses against his sweatpants and I can feel how hard his cock is.

I slap him as hard as I can.

His eyes turn ice-blue and narrow.

One side of his mouth curls up.

I grab his sweatpants and yank them down, freeing his cock. Then I pull my panties to the side and, gripping his cock in my hand, I sit on it, feeling it slide into me.

“Don’t you dare fucking move,” I whisper with warning.

“Mm. That’s right babygirl, do whatever you want. I’m yours.”

I push down harder on his cock, and it penetrates me deeply, buried inside me. I lean my hands on his chest and begin to rock my hips in circles.

He wraps his hands around my wrists, as I moan loudly, pressing my pussy against him and rubbing it over his skin as his cock moves inside me.

I switch to rocking back and forth, riding him as though he”s my toy, to be used and abused in any way I please.

My body shivers with delight and sweat begins to glisten on my skin as I thrust back and forth on top of him.

The deep growl that rumbles through him only makes me want to use him more.

I lean back, arching my body, gripping his thighs tightly behind me. I tilt my head back and a soft moan escapes my lips.

“Oh my fuck,” he snarls.

I rock harder and faster on his cock.

He moves as though he wants to grab me and roll me over, so that he can take control.

“Don’t you dare,” I warn him breathlessly.

His bright blue eyes shine with delight.

“Don’t move, and don’t come until I say you can,” I demand.

“That might be difficult, with the things you”re doing to me.” His words are strained, as though he”s fighting for control.

I can feel myself getting close to the edge, his cock pressing against my insides, my pussy grinding against his body.

“Ahh,” I cry out, letting the sensations take over. “Oh, my—”

The words catch in my throat and I cry out again.

My legs begin to shake, and the muscles of my body tighten.

My pussy tightens, and the intense orgasm locks me onto his cock, my pussy pulsing over him, throbbing with a tidal wave of mind-shattering release.

I stop moving, trying to catch my breath, sitting on top of him with my entire body shaking.

“Now it’s my turn,” he growls. He picks me up and throws me onto my stomach on the gym mats.

He grabs my hips and lifts them towards him as he kneels behind me, forcing my legs wide open with his knees.

Then he slams into me, his cock pushing so deep inside me I scream.

“Don’t you dare move,” he warns as he begins fucking me so hard that my body starts spasming all over again.

His long fingers are locked around my hips, my pussy arched toward him. He thrusts faster and his cock begins to swell.

It pushes against my insides, and I can’t take it. My pussy begins to pulse again.

I cry out, with my face pressed against the gym mats, and another, even more intense orgasm slams into me.

I feel him thrust again and then groan loudly as he explodes into me with his hips pressed up against me.