Bad Girl (Les Pétales) Read online

  “Are you hungry?” I asked, nervously clenching so tight to the jewelry in my hand, I knew it would leave an imprint. “Would you care to order dinner?”

  Without a word, Angelo pushed my thin frame into the wall and kissed me without warning. His tongue seized mine, plunging fast, as I felt him harden against me.

  His Daddy never kissed like this.

  His Daddy never acted like this.

  I wanted to object to his advances. They didn’t feel right. And neither did he as the icky, stomach-churning feeling erupted in my gut.

  Gripping my arms, he shoved me back into the wall. I conked my head. “Get back here!” He was the one who started this the second his Daddy left. He was the one… “You kiss me back, bitch!”

  The slap to my cheek came on sudden and harsh. I reached to cup the sting, but he grabbed my arm and dragged me to the sofa. The penthouse hotel suite Giuseppe specially reserved for my birthday. He promised this night would be memorable. He never warned me that meant his son would force himself upon me.

  Angelo tore through the organza and sequins as I writhed in an attempt to scurry away. I didn’t know where I would go. I didn’t know who in their right mind would choose to believe me over a Gennaro. I didn’t mind rough, but this was too much. The look in his eyes was one of pure hate.

  I’d never seen evil until I looked into the eyes of my rapist.

  And I knew he was about to rape me.

  With the weight of his body against mine, Angelo lifted on his knees and carelessly tossed his fine tailored suit coat onto the chair. It landed haphazardly. I don’t know why this bothered me so, but I wanted to press the freeze frame on his attack to straighten it. In understanding how much of a caregiver I had become—in knowing I would serve my rapist—I cried.

  Warm tears trickled down my cheeks as he pulled his black belt from his trousers. He looped it around my wrists, and I fought against him, but another slap to the cheek and a punch to the gut silenced my battle quick. He ripped off his black silk tie and secured it between my lips. My crying escalated as he stood and marveled at his craftsmanship.

  Bile rose in my throat as he roamed through the hotel room. I could hear him in the distance as I tried to plot a way out of this. There had to be a way out of this.

  He returned with a champagne bottle in one hand and a wooden clothes hanger in the other. He tossed the hanger onto my belly as he rapidly shook the champagne and popped the cork. Bubbles spewed all over me as I glanced down and noticed the trail of loose sequins sparkling on the floor. He licked the tops of my breasts and tugged the bodice down exposing my breasts. He bit my nipples hard with all the force of his teeth. The burn was so excruciating that I thought he might take a chunk out of me.

  He was a monster—a horrible, vile beast erupting from hell.

  And when I didn’t think his terrorism could get any worse, he swung the clothes hanger against my breasts. Eighteen times. Eighteen times—one for every year I lived and breathed—he punished me for every single one.

  Flipping my body over on the sofa, he pulled the back of my dress up and ripped my panties down. I remember one of my shoes hitting the floor, and I prayed they didn’t sit in the pink champagne puddle. I didn’t want them to be ruined.

  I thought about weird things when I was being violated in the most inhumane way, but I imagined—this was normal—this was my mind trying to save me. So, I started thinking about Jake and how happy he made me. And how happy I seemed to make him.

  With the first lash of wood against my buttocks, my thoughts rapidly morphed into Jake killing Angelo. The heinous detour in my mind was far better to deal with the physical torment I was experiencing.

  I wanted Angelo to die.

  I wanted him to die a million painful deaths.

  Little did I know, my relationship with the Lotus would eventually fulfill that destiny in the craziest of ways. Every monster has his day. His day to deliver. And the day he was served up his dose of a toxin so potent that it painfully paralyzed him for hours before he died was a beautiful day. But that would be years away from where I was.

  After the eighteen strikes against my ass, he raped me. Very arid. Very clean. I was a receptacle for his cum and nothing more.

  I passed out after the first rape, and I don’t know how many hours passed, but I awoke to the thrust of his dick into my ass. His palm pushed on my cheek and covered my face as I started to cry. I was being smothered between his hand and the sofa cushion, but he must have realized killing his father’s mistress would not end well for him because he jerked his hand away as I gasped. He took to walloping my ass, my back, and near the end, his fingers cinched around my neck.

  Angelo knew I would say nothing and that gave him plenty of freedom to do whatever he wanted. I was open and available for his misery. I couldn’t say a word without undermining the base of the tower of blocks I had spent years building. I had to keep my mouth shut and my shit together.

  Naturally, I had to fake it.

  He said nothing to me during the rape, but as he refastened his pants after his final grunt, he said, “Happy Birthday, you fucking whore.”

  He took his tie and his belt and left, departing as hastily as he arrived. I never expected to see him again. I often wondered if Giuseppe knew the monster he created and over the years I kept close tabs on the man raising his beautiful tension relief specialist.

  Your pretty little killer.

  There was no way for me to get out of this mess.

  Revenge would be mine in time. Patience was key. And my avenging angel’s wingspan shielded with magnificence, and her hands gleamed with a golden glow.

  A Nakamura would one day be my saving grace.

  * * *

  After the attack, I accepted that I couldn’t call Jake as I sat up on the sofa. I called downstairs to Dick and asked to speak to Sally Jane. She came. Just like I knew she would.

  We sat on the floor looking out the enormous windows at the skyline an hour later. She brought up burgers from the kitchen. While she finished hers, I hadn’t touched mine.

  “It will be okay,” she reassured, touching my hand. “Everything will work out. You are alive, Anna.”

  Her words did little to comfort my aching soul and battered body. I didn’t just want to smooth this over with a burger and a bandage.

  Angelo Gennaro brutally raped me.

  “Can you have housekeeping tend to the room?” I asked, standing up as tears fell upon the trail of sequins and torn voile. “I need to get out of here.”

  “Of course!”

  I arrived at my apartment a half hour later. It was late, but I didn’t fret as I walked across the parking lot. Angelo wasn’t stupid enough to attack me on my turf. He was a weakling and needed the guise of Daddy’s money and posh hotel room to conceal his crimes. He was the lowest of the low.

  After stepping inside the building, I made my way through the atrium to the back staircase which led to two apartments. One was mine, and the other was Mrs. Crowders. She was a retired woman who loved to hit the casinos early and hit the hay by seven. I didn’t expect she would be awake or have company. I glanced up the stairs from the bottom step and saw Jake waiting.

  Oh. Shit.

  I wanted to turn and run, but he too knew about Mrs. Crowders ritualistic schedule. Ashamed of how I looked beneath the coat and shamed by the predatory actions of one man, I tucked my head to my chest and avoided his gaze.

  “Anna!” Jake chirped. “I just got into town and wanted to see you.”

  It took every ounce of bravery to climb the steps where he stood by my door waiting for me. Unlocking my door to the apartment, I skimmed past without letting him see me.

  I wouldn’t get so lucky once inside as he tenderly took me by the elbow and flipped on the light switch. His horrified expression said everything I didn’t know. I hadn’t bothered to look in the mirror, mostly because I didn’t think I could stomach it. “Jesus Christ Anna! Who the hell did this to you?”

&
nbsp; He wrapped me in his arms as I sobbed. “I’m so sorry.”

  “Who the fuck did this to you, Anna?” he asked again, demanding as I pulled away. “Tell me now.”

  “I cannot tell you because if I do…” I hung my coat up on the hook as we both understood what he was capable of. With the colossal tension between us, I asked, “Do you want a cup of tea?”

  “No, I don’t want a fucking cup of tea!” he hissed, stalking me through the apartment. “Take off your clothes. I want to see what he did.”

  “I’m not getting naked in front of my best friend.”

  Cracking his knuckles, Jake nodded. “Yeah, you are, and then I’m going to clean you up with a warm bath.”

  Standing in the middle of my living room, I cried a thousand tears as he gently removed my shredded dress. His jaw twitched with a furious rage as I could only imagine how terrible I looked. I clasped my arms over my bare breasts as the remaining fabric—the waistband—of my panties dangled loosely on my body. He squatted low, flicked open his blade, and cut the strangling reminder from my body. With one slice, he proclaimed my sexual freedom.

  It sounds odd to say, but it was the moment I regained control. And it was the best present I ever had. “It’s my birthday, Jake.”

  Rocketing up, he muttered, “Why the hell do you think I surprised you?”

  He scooped me in his arms and carried my bruised body to the bathtub. He washed every bit twice and put me to bed with a candle in a scoop of vanilla ice cream. “Thank you for taking care of me.”

  “Happy Birthday, Anna,” Jake said as I curled up in the crook of his arm. “Get some rest.”

  Soaking his white t-shirt with my tears, I curled my fingers into the fabric and whispered, “Giuseppe’s son, Angelo Gennaro…”

  Catalytic Choices

  CHAPTER 4

  Months went on without a word of the attack almost as if it never happened. I avoided Gennaro as much as I could, but there was a limit. If I heard rumors of the “young hot Italian from Chicago” coming into town, I took time off. If I accidentally caught sight of Angelo in the casino, I made myself scarce quick.

  I wasn’t running, but I wasn’t an idiot. Sticking around in shark-infested waters only guaranteed one thing—Angelo would bite, and I didn’t want to bleed anymore for the monster.

  So, when an opportunity arose to pick my behemoth, I cheered from the sidelines and made a beeline into the fray of the game. It was all I could do. Wallowing in self-pity would get me nowhere.

  Despite continuing my affair with Giuseppe, I expanded early on with the introduction of Ito, and subsequently, Lotus. I was having relations—purely sexual occurrences as there was no love—with two tribes of mafia: The Gennaro’s of Chicago and Lotus of San Francisco. I didn’t bother with anyone else because those two families kept me busy enough. I had yet to meet the infamous Keishi Nakamura as he spread his time equally between his motherland, Hawaii, and the Bay Area.

  The boys sent their clients my direction, and I would do my best to show them a good time, whether that meant dinner and dancing or a night of sex. There was no secret to what any of the girls were doing, and it worked well for my strategy because Giuseppe and Ryu were amicable enough.

  … Until they weren’t.

  A warning came from the most innocuous of people—Sally Jane. She had been sleeping with a man by the name of Luca Raniero. He owned a fishing company in Boston and had been establishing himself as an up and comer on the mob scene. I never thought much of it because while Gennaro wasn’t the king, he wasn’t far off either. At the time, The Raniero organization was a minor hiccup and insignificant as they existed at the bottom of a very tall mountain.

  Sally Jane and I met at the same diner where I first encountered Giuseppe. In her black and white houndstooth dress, she slipped into the booth. Sally Jane always looked perfect. Her hair sculpted beneath the red pillbox hat and her purse the same shade. She had a distinction, even for a cigarette girl which was what garnered the attention of Luca.

  The waitress skirted past as Sally Jane took her seat. “What can I get you?”

  “Coffee is fine,” Sally Jane said, hurriedly. I sensed her unease as the waitress zipped off. She unfolded her napkin as her hazel eyes hooked into mine. “You need to be careful, Anna.”

  I sipped the coffee as the flavor turned bitter on my tongue. I liked it black, but the concern in her expression brought up a wave of nausea. I set down the cup, wiped my lips, and leaned forward. “What do you mean… be careful?”

  “Gennaro is about to bail on the Lotus deal.”

  I didn’t need to ask what he was doing.

  Consolidation was the name of the game, and with Raniero quickly building an empire in Boston, they had to be in cahoots. Gennaro abandoning Lotus wouldn’t have been a problem except that I was involved with both. I had played two sides for over three years, and it was beautiful as I reaped in benefits.

  But now, decisions needed to be made.

  “I’m supposed to get on a plane for Hawaii in two days to meet Ryu.”

  The crime syndicate of Japan wasn’t small or known for leniency. Several of their heavily inked members had fingers missing as they were harsh in their punishments. I feared how my choice would be perceived. Not that I had sided or even could.

  The men of Lotus kept connections with Chinese and Korean establishments. The deal with the Italians was significant, and Gennaro backing out would be nothing less than a declaration of war.

  “I know you are leaving, that is why I wanted to tell you. Keishi is coming in from Tokyo, and they are meeting tomorrow night, but Raniero has deals with both sides, Anna. He is playing them against one another.”

  “How do you know all of this?” I asked as her coffee arrived. The desperation in her eyes reached deep into my soul and clutched my heart tight. She was genuinely concerned, which was strange for her lighthearted soul, punctuating with the seriousness of the issue. I smiled at the waitress as she went on to another table.

  Sally Jane pulled her cup closer and muttered, “Luca told me. He’s ready to be moving forward. His wife just had a baby girl, and he came to get away.”

  Rubbing my lips together, I breathed and lifted my finger for the waitress. “Thank you for telling me.”

  “Of course,” she said, blinking as I gathered my things. “You don’t want to eat?”

  “No, I have somewhere to go.”

  “… Anna?” She grabbed my wrist as I stood and the waitress passed my ticket off to me. “Don’t say anything.”

  “I would never.”

  With a relieved gasp, she paused. “Where are you going? Can I join you?”

  “I’m going to see Luca Raniero.”

  Her mouth dropped open as she tugged my arm. “You can’t.”

  “I can,” I assured with a smirk. “Breaking deals will affect me. And I won’t go down without a fight.”

  * * *

  Several hours later, I was walking the hotel hallway toward Luca Raniero’s suite. I’d heard the mentioning of his name in passing, but I had never met or seen him. I imagined he was similar to Gennaro—an older, classically styled man.

  Wearing my best black dress with a green overcoat and hat to accentuate my auburn locks and blue eyes, I nervously walked to his door. I felt like I was walking the plank. This was an all or nothing deal. I wouldn’t have been the first girl to end up mysteriously dead on the strip…or raped in a opulent suite.

  I lightly knocked on the door expecting his men to answer, but what I failed to realize is Luca didn’t have men yet. He was a minnow in the sea of sharks, but the deal could solidify his future as a pup with razor-sharp teeth. The money laundering scheme would permanently transfer the deal from being with Ito to Raniero. And instead of the money traveling back to the Orient, it would go to Italy.

  Logic should’ve dictated my loyalty belonged to Giuseppe, but all he would do was tell me to mind my own business. I didn’t know Luca, and with that, I hoped I had some
leverage to sway him—even if that meant using my womanly ways.

  “… Hello?” the young man with deep green eyes said with a heavy Italian accent.

  “I’m Anna,” I said, extending my hand. “I’m here to see Luca Raniero.”

  Slipping his warm fingers around my own, he brought his lips to my skin and peered up at me. “I am Luca.”

  Opening and closing my mouth several times, I couldn’t fathom how a man of his age accomplished such a lucrative deal. His heavy accent alone caused my knees to buckle. “… You are Luca Raniero?”

  “I am Luca,” he repeated as the butterflies rose in my belly. “I am rude. Please, forgive me. Come inside.”

  God, stop talking.

  With a light pull, he brought me into his room and his lair. Removing my coat, he asked, “May I get you a drink, Anna?”

  While he wasn’t overly tall, he had a stocky build with broad shoulders and a breathtaking bottom side. “I’ll have whatever you are having.”

  “Please have a seat,” he said, stepping to the bar. “What brings you here?”

  I eased onto the sofa which overlooked the sandy, mountainous terrain of the Vegas desert. I clasped my hands in my lap as I contemplated what to say. Laying my cards out, I answered, “I wanted to meet the young mobster everyone is talking about.”

  With a sexy chuckle, he smirked. “One vodka cranberry for the lady,” he said, handing the cold glass to me. He sat down, entirely too close. “Whatever gave you the impression that I was a mobster,” he laughed, taking a smoke from the pack. “Certainly, you don’t believe those rumors.”

  “Mr. Raniero…”

  “Call me Luca,” he insisted, laying his hand on my skirt. “Please, Anna.”

  “It has come to my attention that you are causing quite a stir between certain members of this… Shall we say, community?”