Dark Corruption: A Dark Mafia Romance, page 1
DARK CORRUPTION
EFFIE CAMPBELL
Copyright © 2024 by Effie Campbell
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
If the man of your dreams fills your panties with his *ahem* pleasure while you dream, enjoy this unhinged spice-fest.
WARNINGS
This book contains spicy content, depictions of death, torture and sexual assault. There are copious unhinged intimate scenes. There is violence toward numerous characters as part of the plot. Consent isn’t always explicit, including breaking and entering and sleep stuff.
It is also written in the UK, and I use British English for spelling. If you are from elsewhere - forgive me! Remember that these are hot Scots and just imagine it in their voices, it makes it all better.
CONTENTS
Dedication
Warnings
One
Two
Three
Four
Five
six
seven
eight
nine
ten
eleven
twelve
thirteen
fourteen
fifteen
sixteen
seventeen
Eighteen
nineteen
twenty
Twenty-one
Twenty-two
Twenty-three
Twenty-four
Twenty-five
Twenty-six
Twenty-seven
Twenty-eight
Twenty-nine
Thirty
Thirty-one
Thirty-two
Thirty-three
Thirty-four
Thirty-five
Thirty-six
Thirty-seven
Thirty-eight
Thirty-nine
Forty
forty-one
Forty-two
Forty-three
Forty-four
Forty-five
Epilogue
The McGowan Series
A note from the author
ONE
EWEN
Music thrummed through my club. Partially clothed bodies writhed in the coloured lighting as the night wore on into the late hours, where deviance prevailed. The edge of the bar dug into my hip as I rested against it, listening to Adam, my bar manager, waffling about a patron he was obsessing over.
Scanning the main playroom and bar area, I paused to revel in the sight of a leashed submissive on her knees, sucking off her partner with vigour while being completely ignored. I wouldn’t take my eyes off of her if she were mine. My fingers tightened into a fist, imagining her silky hair between them. Her dark hair was in a low, messy braid that screamed of already having been pulled. Wisps fell about her flushed cheeks, grazing the heated skin as her head bobbed. I’d want to see every little gasp and cry as I tormented her, not letting a single moment of it go to waste.
‘Are you listening to me?’ Adam asked, dragging me back into reality.
‘I am now,’ I replied, flicking my eyes to his exasperated face.
‘Rob’s phoned in sick, and he’s supposed to perform with Ruby tonight on the main stage.’
Rob was a pain in my fucking arse. I’d have sacked him if it weren’t for the fact that patrons absolutely adored him. The things he could do with a length of rope and some supple flesh blew my mind–when he showed up.
‘Who have we got spare that can join up with Ruby?’ I asked, rubbing the back of my neck. Ruby was pretty put prickly. While she loved to fuck, the kink side wasn’t her bag. She tolerated the ropes okay if it meant she’d get an orgasm out of it, but on the whole, she was more likely to be in one of the orgy rooms or performing more standard sex acts—not the things I enjoyed. I liked to let my darkness seep into a scene, to see a woman pant and beg while letting me do anything I pleased. To suffer until I made her explode.
‘No-one. The flu’s taken out a handful of performers, and the rest are already busy.’ Adam wiped down the bar as he spoke, ensuring it was kept squeaky clean. One thing I couldn’t tolerate was my club looking anything less than perfect.
“We’ll just have to pull the performance.’
‘Or...’ Adam looked at me. ‘You could do it.’
‘Me? With Ruby? I don’t think so.’
‘It’s just a performance. I’m not saying you need to screw her. Just grab a crop and get her to tease the crowd.’
‘She wouldn’t agree to it,’ I said.
‘She already has. You’ll have to pay her double and keep the strokes mostly superficial.’ Adam winked as I sighed.
I could have refused. It’s my club, and they were my employees, but I also knew that people chose The Loft over other establishments for its luxury and top-class entertainment. They wanted to be tantalised by performers being put through their paces, sighing and moaning for their amusement.
‘Fine,’ I said at last. ‘But I’m going to dock it from Rob for being a bellend.’
Ruby waited at the edge of the stage, slapping the leather end of the leash handle against her palm as she rolled her eyes. With her hip cocked to one side and a bored expression on her face, she was anything but submissive.
‘About time, Ewen,’ she said before pressing the handle of the leash into my hand, the metal chain leading to the collar surrounding her throat. ‘What’s the plan?’
‘Get in and out as fast as possible while giving them a show.’
‘Are you going to fuck me this time?’
I cringed internally before shaking my head. ‘I’m not.’
‘Honestly, I’m beginning to think you’re celibate.’
Might as well be, I thought. It wasn’t that I didn’t have the chance; it’s just that most women weren’t into the same things as me. Pretending to be someone else just to get my dick wet left me feeling emptier than going without. I needed a partner to want the pain I gave her, not to be pretending for my benefit, and definitely not pretending for mine.
‘Not everyone is desperate to fuck you,’ I told her.
‘Don’t know what you’re missing.’
‘Just follow my orders, and it’ll be over soon enough.’
‘Are you going to crop me?’ she said, eyeing the leather end of the black riding crop I held.
‘Yes.’
‘If you leave marks that last any longer than three days, I’ll need you to pay my time off.’ She jutted her chin higher and pouted.
‘People will fuck you even harder with crop marks across your arse. But fine. I’ll keep it light.’
It was no fun hurting women who didn’t want it, anyway; Their reactions fed my hunger.
The sharp intake of breath. The melting when the pain subsided. The looks that said I want to kill you as much as they said please, don’t stop.
A staff member announced us on stage, and Ruby dropped to her knees, scowling. ‘I hate crawling.’
‘Come on, let’s get it over with.’
Every sigh and pout made me want to leave the stage. But the performance came before my personal preferences, so on we continued.
Eventually, I held Ruby at arm’s length with a fist in her brown hair, and barely tapped her ass with my crop while she acted like I was flaying her alive.
Trying to avoid rolling my eyes, I used the crop handle to tilt her chin upwards. Her eyes gleamed with defiance as she whispered, ‘I better not have any marks.’
She stole a glance at my crotch before frowning. Ruby was a woman used to having men falling over themselves to get near her. My lack of interest clearly didn’t sit well with her.
‘Can’t get it up?’ she whispered, her mouth tipping up with a smirk.
‘Not for you, Ruby.’
She narrowed her eyes at me, her nostrils flaring.
As soon as we finished the show and stepped out of the audience’s view, Ruby leapt to her feet.
‘Why do you even own a sex club? I never see you fuck anyone. You don’t even seem to enjoy any of the scenes you do. What are you? A eunuch?’
My muscles bunched as the temptation to spin her around and show her what I was really into flared. But anger was never a good reason to do anything.
So I fixed her with a stare and waited for her to grow nervous beneath it. It didn’t take long.
‘Sorry... Ewen. That was out of line.’ She shifted from one foot to another and wrapped her arms around herself. Questioning your boss’s sexual desires wasn’t the best plan of action.
And the little bit of discomfort she displayed was the hottest that Ruby had ever been to me.
The way her eyes widened as she realised she’d misspoken. The way her chest rose in an anxious breath. Nerves making her fidget. It provoked at least a twitch from my dick.
TWO
CORA
Muffled noises woke me, and I rolled over to see my clock’s angry red digits reading three in the morning. I groaned, pulling my duvet over my head as my sister, Ruby, continued her noisy rampage in the kitchen.
I hated that she worked late nights at the club and seemed to think it was perfectly fine to act like it wasn’t after midnight when she got home, even though she knew I had classes in the morning. The theme song from her current favourite
Rubbing my eyes, I walked down the short hallway leading to the main living space and heard an odd noise. A low groan. Walking around the corner, my mouth gaped open as my brain struggled to comprehend the scene before me. A hairy ass was the first thing I saw. Thumping up and down between spread thighs. Fingernails scraping down the man’s back as he grunted. Ruby’s face contorted as she moaned.
I ducked back behind the wall, my heart pounding.
What the hell?
I used that couch, too. My fists clenched at my sides as I screwed my eyes shut.
I absolutely didn’t need to see my identical twin having sex in the bloody living room. Ruby usually had a little more decency than that. She at least made it to the bedroom when she had had men home previously.
Despite looking the exact same, we couldn’t be more different. She was fun, and loud, and went after everything she wanted without hesitation. I... didn’t. Our whole lives, I felt like she was out there living while I followed her from the sidelines. Watching. Waiting. Always just a bit duller next to the way she shone.
An urge hit me. An ugly, little messed-up need to take another look. Not because I wanted to see my sister in that way, but because it was like seeing myself through another lens.
Would I look like that if a man was on top of me?
Stealing a glance around the corner, a different view surprised me. Ruby’s face pressed into the sofa as the man screwed her from behind.
Would my hips indent if his fingers gripped them like that? Would my skin flush at his touch?
The very thought made a twist of pleasure writhe through me. But unlike my sister, I had no experience with men. Because, at twenty-nine, I was still a virgin.
It was a constant source of hilarity for Ruby, who never failed to point out that one glaring difference between us.
My sister cried out, her fingers digging into the edge of the sofa as the man pounded into her. Would I moan? Or scream? The man was fairly attractive, and I couldn’t help but wonder what it would be like to have him inside me.
My gaze travelled from his muscled stomach upward to meet his eyes, which were fixed on me as he grinned.
My feet felt leaden as I dragged myself back to my room, closing my door behind me and leaning against it, my pulse racing. Holy smokes. He’d seen me watching them. Ruby would have a bloody field day if he told her.
Throwing myself back into bed, I buried my face into the pillow and let out a stream of muffled curses as the muted sound of their lovemaking filled our apartment—almost like the man was purposely making it louder so I would hear.
Putting in my headphones and upping the volume on a playlist, I drowned them out.
It had always been the darker depictions of romance that had pulled my attention. Never the flowers and love notes. Curiosity had gotten the better of me a few years prior when I tumbled down an online rabbit hole and into threads where people discussed being spanked and bit, and it turned them on. It turned me on when I let my mind wander to being under a man’s control. Giving my body over to him for him to use.
When I finally fell asleep, it was to the thought of me beneath the man, spread wide around him while crying out because I needed more. My twisted little fantasies were never satisfied with just being impaled by a man.
In the dream, I begged him to hurt me, choke me, and give me what I desired. Something I could never ask for in the real world.
THREE
EWEN
‘What do you mean, the shipment’s wrecked?’ I said, cracking my knuckles on the hand not gripping my phone.
‘It’s been sabotaged, boss. Someone’s got marking dye all over the fake notes.’
‘Fuck,’ I groaned, reaching up to rub a hand over my stubbled chin. ‘Look into it. I want you to find whichever fucker has stuck their nose in our business. When you find out, call me.’
I hung up the phone and slammed it down onto the counter.
Alfie, a family friend and owner of a hedonistic highland retreat, raised an eyebrow. ‘Alright, mate?’
‘Nah. They’ve hit again. Assuming it’s the same arsehole as before,’ I said, leaning back against the granite countertop behind me in our small family kitchen. With my brothers and sisters all having moved out, it was just me in the McGowan mansion most of the time. While the chef worked in the staffed industrial kitchen, this one had always been where my siblings and I gathered to grab a beer and a snack. Well, and Alfie, who used it as a home away from home when he was down in Glasgow.
‘I’d ask who you guys pissed off, but I’m guessing the list is extensive.’ Alfie grinned before opening two beers, handing one to me.
‘There’s no-one notable at the minute. Maeve and Cam have done a pretty good job of running the organisation lately.’ The cold beer tingled against my tongue as I stopped to take a sip before continuing. ‘They are making more connections than enemies now that Harold’s gone. I don’t think there’s anyone I’ve annoyed.’
With the two patriarchs, Malcolm Sr and Harold, of our crime families dead, we’d joined forces through Maeve and Cam’s wedding. While they spearheaded the organisation, all I usually did was run the money laundering side of my business and keep The Loft going. Unless someone needed to torture information out of an idiot or two. It had been a while since I incited any feuds.
‘You’ve not annoyed some mafia princess, have you?’ Alfie asked, giving me a smirk.
I shook my head. ‘That’s far more your style than mine. Don’t shit where you sleep.’
‘Ah, they get over it eventually. Plus, the stuck-up ones are fun when you corrupt them. Nothing sweeter than an uptight woman begging for more.’
Begging at all would be nice. It’d been too long… Damn, I needed to change the subject before I went thinking about it too much and getting a boner in the kitchen. Alfie would probably offer to take care of it, and that would be messier than I needed. Especially seeing as he’d already slept with my brother and his wife. Not a pudding I needed to stir.
‘Are you staying down here for Logan’s fortieth?’ I asked. My siblings and I had been preparing for our eldest brother’s birthday for a few weeks.
‘Yeah, why not? It’s a few weeks off, though, right?’
‘Not until next month.’
‘If you don’t mind me rattling around the place for a few more weeks. I don’t need to be up at Rosenhall for anything. Depends if you’re fed up with my sparkling personality yet.’ Alfie was a cheeky fuck, but he was easy to like. One of those guys who could get himself into a whole heap of mess, but always charmed his way back out of it unscathed. One day, it would catch up to him.
‘You could move in, and I’d probably not even notice for a few weeks. It’s not like I don’t have the space.’ Bar the staff, it was just me. Alfie’s regular stays over the past eighteen months had been more comforting than I’d expected. When Logan, my eldest living brother, moved in with his wife, I’d felt alone for the first time. Between the six of us growing up together and the five of us left, there had always been a houseful of commotion. Now it was like a deserted hotel. Room after room of silence. When Alfie wasn’t there, I spent more and more time at the club just to have noise and life around me.
I couldn’t wait to have the whole family back for Logan’s birthday. He’d tried to resist the party, but I’d roped his wife Valentina in, and he couldn’t refuse her anything if he tried. She still had him smitten even after two years together.
All of my siblings paired off, and I couldn’t find a single woman I was remotely interested in.
Hell, maybe I’d end up giving in to Alfie after all.
FOUR
CORA
Ruby’s hairy man burst into my room, waking me. I let out a scream as I pulled the covers up around me.
