Santori Reloaded, page 10
part #3 of Santori Series
“You’re not a fucking monk. You’re just as much of a little slut as any of those guys downtown. You can’t fool me. I’ve seen you with Gio. I even watched you once when you thought I’d left the apartment.” He licked his lips and moved in even closer. “I saw what you let him do to you. Heard the nasty things you said and the sounds you made. That kind of thing doesn’t just go away, Pete. You want it. I know you do.”
“Stop it, Theo. You’re drunk. You just need to go sleep it off before you say something you can’t take back.”
“I’m not saying anything I haven’t thought a million times, drunk or sober. It’s driving me crazy. You can’t deny your sexual side forever. You radiate need. That’s why Z came over here, that day, you know. It wasn’t some revenge thing. I knew it, and Gio knew it. You were wiggling that ass around in front of Z like you do me. A man can only take so much teasing, Pete.”
He reached around and grabbed my ass hard through the silk pajamas I’d taken to wearing since Theo had been sharing my bed.
I tried to hit him, but he was crowding me too much to get a good lick in, so I slammed my knee hard into his groin. He doubled over and hit the kitchen floor, then stared up at me, grasping his injured balls.
“Don’t ever fucking touch me like that again,” I growled, leaning down over him. “I’ve tried to be polite about it, and now I’m warning you. And tomorrow, you need to pack your shit and move out. You’re still paying rent at your place, and you need to get back to it. You work for me, and we’re friends, but that is all. Do you understand?”
He started to sob then, curling in on himself and still cupping his groin. “I’ve tried, Pete. God, I’ve tried so hard, but it never goes away. Doesn’t matter how many guys I fuck. Doesn’t matter what I do to them. You never want me, and I can’t stop wanting you.”
I straightened up and stared down at him, shocked at his outburst and how pathetic he sounded. I didn’t know what to say.
“It’s because of Gio,” he sputtered. “You wanted me before you met him. I know you did, and I wanted you, but I didn’t tell you. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.” He pounded his fist down into the floor to accentuate the last word, and I thought he must have broken his hand.
“Theo, you’re drunk. You need to go to bed. You can sleep in the guest room tonight, but tomorrow you need to start sleeping at your place. I think this is becoming unhealthy. Goodnight.”
I headed back to the bedroom, but Theo halted me with the next words that came out of his mouth.
“He was cheating on you, Pete.”
I spun back around, feeling the floor waver beneath my feet. “You’re lying.”
“You’re so devoted to him even now, and he was cheating on you. I told you I saw a different side to him, but I was afraid to come right out and tell you the truth. If you had confronted him about it, he would have killed me. You know that, right?”
I came back into the kitchen, stepped over Theo, and grabbed my whiskey. I took a big swig and tucked the bottle under my arm. “I don’t believe you,” I said, stepping over him again and heading back toward the bedroom.
“I’ll prove it to you,” he called to my retreating back. “I know where the guy lives. I dropped Gio off there a couple of times. I-I only suspected it back then. I didn’t know for sure. But then the kid contacted me a couple of weeks ago and demanded to see you. I’ve been trying to keep him away from you, but now I’m thinking maybe you should know the truth. So you can move on.”
I slammed the bedroom door behind me and locked it, cutting off any more of his lies. Unfortunately, he wasn’t done with me yet. A week later, he made good on his promise to prove it to me.
Chapter 11
PETER
The boy sat near the back of the main room of the warehouse, hands bound behind the slats of a wooden chair. Ropes wound around both legs, cinching them tightly together so that there was no way he could run. It was hot as fifty hells in that warehouse, but he shivered, even as sweat slicked his blond hair to the sides of his face. A rivulet of moisture tracked its way down his right cheek and onto this neck.
He was beautiful, no doubt about it. Like an angel caught in a spider’s web, trussed up and ready to be devoured. My father’s voice whispered in my head. And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.
The angel looked up at me, his blue eyes imploring. Begging for something. Mercy?
Theo turned to look at me and smiled. He held a gun in one hand, hanging limply at his side. “You’re looking quite the businessman today,” he said.
I knew by businessman, he meant gangster. I’d worn one of the suits Gio had bought me when I first came to work for him. The blue one. The first one I’d ever put on. It gave me strength somehow, knowing I was wearing the first gift Gio ever gave me.
He’d said it was for work, but I knew the truth now. He’d wanted me to have it. Carlos the driver had never worn suits as nice as mine. No one had, except for Gio. Even on that first day, he’d already been claiming me as his. Marking me with his style.
Later, he’d marked me much more permanently than that. He’d branded his name on my heart, and even now I felt the stretch of that scar with every pump of blood through my body.
“Let’s get this over with,” I said, feigning indifference. Trying to pretend this moment didn’t have the power to shatter me into a million pieces.
Theo nudged the boy’s bound legs with the toe of one shiny dress shoe. “You heard the man, Ryan. What do you have to say for yourself?”
Ryan. I knew I would forever despise that name, no matter the outcome of this meeting.
“I—Uh…” Ryan seemed confused. Glassy-eyed. Scared.
“Cat got your tongue?” Theo shook the gun at his side in a subtle threat. He was good at making subtle feel like a punch in the gut. He’d learned that from Gio. “Tell him what you told me, and nothing will happen to you.”
Ryan’s eyes widened. “But I didn’t know there would be guns.”
“Gun. Singular.” Theo held his piece in plain view before dropping it to his side again.
“No, he was right.” I pulled Gio’s 38 Special from behind my back. “Guns.”
Theo did a double take, surprise apparent on his face. “You didn’t tell me you’d be bringing that. Do you even know how to use it?”
I shrugged. “He’s tied up. How hard could it be to hit him? Might take me a few tries to hit the right spot, but I think I can manage eventually.”
Ryan swallowed, and the color drained from his face. “You said we’d only be talking. You said—”
“Calm down, kid. We’re not monsters.” Theo grinned, the expression eerily inappropriate for the current situation. “Pete’s never pulled a trigger before, and I only brought this to make sure you tell the truth.”
“The truth?” His eyes still had that bewildered look, as if he’d just figured out he’d gotten in over his pretty little head.
“That you were sleeping with Giorgio Rivera,” Theo said. “That you were his lover. Tell him.”
Ryan glanced at me, then back at Theo. “I don’t know about all of this. I—”
Theo lifted his gun and pointed it directly at the boy’s head. “Please don’t try my patience. You’re here to say something, so say it.”
A shudder wracked Ryan’s slender frame, and he started to blubber, staring up at Theo with wounded eyes. “Okay, okay, just…put that thing down. I’ll say it. I…Giorgio and I were lovers. There. Is that good enough for you?”
My heart plummeted in my chest. Up until that moment, I’d thought Theo had just been lying. Because my Gio—the one who loved me like no one ever had—couldn’t have cheated on me. He wouldn’t have. I gave him everything I had. My body, my heart, my soul, my trust. I did everything he ever asked of me. Let him touch me in ways that some might not understand. What could he possibly have wanted that I didn’t give freely?
Z’s words came back to me from that horrible night so long ago. I hate to break it to you, but he doesn’t love you. I know it feels that way right now, but you’ll find out in a year or so. When he trades you in on a new model.
I looked hard at Ryan. Really looked at him, taking in every detail—big blue eyes, a delicate nose, and plump lips. Had those lips been around Gio’s cock?
Apparently, he likes ’em young, Z had said. And Ryan did look extremely young. He was probably about eighteen, the same age I was back when Gio had wanted me.
I shook my head violently. No. Not past tense. He’d still wanted me right up until the day he died. He’d doted on me, professed his love for me constantly, vowed in front of God and Elvis that he would love me for better or worse until death do us part.
And the way he looked at me, like I was the sweetest possession he owned. That was proof, wasn’t it? There was no way he could have been faking that kind of devotion.
Z’s voice echoed in my mind again. He wants you to think you’re the only one. Wants you to feel special.
My God, had Z been telling the truth? He’d said Gio wasn’t known for his monogamous inclinations. At the time, I’d thought his comments had been nothing more than lies designed to make me doubt Gio, but maybe they had been predictions based on personal knowledge. Either way, Gio had killed him for it.
Theo gestured toward me with the gun. “Tell him, not me. He’s the one you need to apologize to.”
Ryan glanced at me, his expression so fearful I almost felt sorry for him. “I’m sorry, Mr. Rivera. I didn’t know he was married. He was—he lied to me. He said he was single.”
I didn’t bother correcting him on the last name. I was too shocked. “How long?” I asked, my voice breaking.
“What?” Ryan glanced at Theo, his eyes wide.
“How long did it go on?” When Ryan only shook his head from side-to-side, I ground out, “How long were you fucking my husband?”
“I—I don’t know. It was…ummm…” He rolled his eyes toward the ceiling as if he were trying to conjure up a calendar in his mind. “I think we met in uhhh…maybe six months before he died?”
I narrowed my eyes at him, my skepticism thankfully kicking back in. Maybe this guy was looking for money or something, though that didn’t quite make sense. I wasn’t sure what his angle might be, but something was definitely off if he couldn’t remember how long he’d been with Gio. My husband wasn’t the kind of man you forgot. Hell, I’d counted the days and hours I spent with him.
“How did you meet?” I asked.
“We met at a club,” he said, sounding a little more certain now. “He asked me to dance.”
The image that assaulted me—dancing to the Bee-Gees on our wedding night—threatened to buckle my knees. Tears were suddenly swimming in my eyes, and I wiped them away with the back of the hand that was holding the gun, heedless of the danger of waving a firearm around.
Theo reached over and steadied my arm. “Hey, Pete, watch where you’re aiming that thing. Somebody could get hurt.”
I laughed bitterly. “Someone is already hurt, if you hadn’t noticed.”
His thumb massaged a circle on my forearm. “I know. I’m sorry you’re having to hear all of this, but you need to know what kind of man Gio was. You need to move on.” He tightened his grip on my forearm and used gentle force to lower my gun to my side. “Let me handle the gunslinging, okay? If any shooting needs to be done, I’ll do it.”
“Okay.” I nodded and turned my attention back to the boy sitting in front of me, embarrassed that he was seeing me cry. Some gangster I was, waving a gun around I didn’t even know how to shoot and crying like a stupid little kid.
I forced myself to go on with the interrogation. I needed to know details. I needed to confirm it was true. “What was your relationship like? How did he…treat you?”
“He was cool,” Ryan said in a shaky voice. “We had a good time.”
So vague. He was giving me nothing. If he was telling the truth, I wanted to know how deep it went. I wanted to know if Gio had loved him.
Or maybe I didn’t.
“Did he take you out to dinner?” I asked.
“Yeah.”
Still nothing. I was inclined to believe he was making this whole thing up, but why the hell would he keep up the charade when he had two men standing over him with guns? Theo had told him to tell the truth under threat of being shot, so if this was all some elaborate hoax, wouldn’t he have fessed up by now? I know I would have.
I needed something more concrete from this guy. Something that would convince me one way or the other.
“What was the sex like?” I asked. I knew I shouldn’t have been pressing for details like that, but some perverse part of me needed to hear it. In fact, I could easily imagine myself getting obsessed with this thing and pressuring the boy over days and weeks for blow-by-blow details of their relationship and sex life.
Gio was gone, and I wanted to gather every remaining sliver of him into a little pile and wallow in it for all of eternity. Even if some of those slivers cut like shards of broken glass.
Ryan glanced at Theo, then back at me, licking his lips nervously. “It was normal, I guess. He would take me out sometimes, but mostly we just had sex.”
I growled and paced away, then came back to stand even closer to him than I had before. “You’re being awfully vague.” Then an idea occurred to me. A question I could ask that would give me some certainty about whether the guy was lying or telling the truth. “What about his birthmark?”
Ryan swallowed hard, his eyes shifting momentarily to Theo before settling back on me. “I don’t remember.”
“You don’t remember?” I demanded.
“Pete,” Theo said, a quiet warning to calm down.
Ryan’s face scrunched painfully, and he whimpered. “I mean not like I forgot. I just—I don’t remember seeing a birthmark, that’s all. He could have had one, but I never really noticed it.”
I sighed. Dammit, my brilliant question hadn’t been so brilliant after all. I’d mapped every millimeter of Gio’s skin, and he didn’t have a birthmark, but there was no reason I should expect Ryan to know this fact beyond a shadow of a doubt. In admitting that there could have been one he’d missed, Ryan was playing it safe. Smart, considering there were two guns in the room, both with his name on them.
I searched my brain for another question to put to him. One that would make a difference. “What about his past? Was he ever married? Did he have children?”
Ryan pursed his lips for a moment, considering his answer. “We didn’t talk about his past. I don’t know much about him before he met me. I told you it was mostly sex.”
“Pete,” Theo said, resting a hand gently on my arm. “Ryan was obviously involved in a sexual relationship with Gio. Browbeating him for minute details is not going to help you deal with this. You need to just accept that Gio had a side piece and move on with your life. He may not have been the man you thought he was, and your relationship may not have been as perfect as you thought, but he left you everything he owned. I say forget about all of this bullshit and enjoy your fortune. That would be the best revenge, right?”
“No.” I snatched my arm out of his grasp and backed away. “No, no, no. I don’t believe it. This guy has given us nothing. I’m still no more convinced that Gio cheated on me than before. This person is obviously up to something.” I waved my gun at Ryan, who cringed away as much as possible while being bound. “What do you want? Is it money? Are you trying to convince us that you have a right to something because you supposedly sucked my husband’s—” I choked on the last word and bent over at the waist, catching my weight with my hands on my knees. I sucked in a few deep gulps of air, hoping I didn’t lose consciousness in front of this asshole. I was so damn dizzy.
“Oh, my God,” Ryan said, his gaze shifting to Theo. “Tell him I don’t want anything from him. Tell him this wasn’t my idea. You’re the one who came to me. Tell him, please.” He looked at me where I was bent over and struggling to right my breathing. “Please. I just want to go home.”
“We’ll let you go home,” Theo said. “Just tell Peter what he needs to know. We both want this to be over as badly as you do.” His voice was more placating than I’d ever heard it in my life, almost to the point of being sickening.
It occurred to me that maybe Theo found the boy attractive, and that thought made me angry. Not because I wanted Theo, but because I didn’t want Ryan to be attractive to anyone. I wanted him to be ugly and grotesque. Looking at him now, with his angelic features and the fear in his eyes, it was all too easy to imagine Gio being mesmerized by him.
Gio, who got off on saving scared young innocents like me. Like Ryan.
But those were someone else’s thoughts, not mine. They were Z’s and Theo’s and my father’s thoughts. All of the people who didn’t understand that Gio wasn’t like that. Seducing me hadn’t been a game for him, and it hadn’t been part of a kink or a pattern of behavior. He’d simply fallen in love with me. And no matter what Z had said, I was special.
“Tell me something about him.” I heard the words come out of my mouth and couldn’t believe I’d actually said them. But I was searching for Gio somewhere in the details. Reaching for any glimpse of him that would put my questions to bed once and for all. And also, inexplicably, something to hang onto for myself. I stood and met Ryan’s terrified eyes. “Something personal that only you and he would know.”
When Ryan was silent for too long, Theo nudged him in the arm with his gun. “Tell him.”
Ryan’s head started to shake back and forth. “No. I can’t. What if he—” His gaze slipped to the gun I held at my side. “There’s nothing more to tell.”
“Liar,” Theo growled. “You have something to say, and you need to say it. He needs to hear it.”
I staggered back, realizing that I didn’t want to hear anything else. This was Theo’s game. He wanted to break my heart and destroy the memories I had of Gio, and for what? So that I would move on? So that I could be with him?
I didn’t want to be with him or anyone else. Gio was my forever, and I was okay with that. Some people never got to experience in a lifetime the kind of joy and all-consuming love I’d shared with Gio. He and I had been lucky.
