Blackmailed to the Altar (Caputo Crime Family #2)

5. Chapter Five

CHAPTER FIVE

S ebastian

Waking up felt like being pulled from the depths of a nightmare I couldn’t remember. My head pounded with an ache that felt all too familiar, the kind that came after one too many drinks, or a night of no sleep. But this time, it was something else, something worse. My surroundings were unfamiliar again, and my pulse quickened at the sight of the lavish room that wasn’t mine. I was getting worse. Wasn’t it bad enough that I woke up in Mya’s bed, with her cunt juices dried on my piercing? This wasn’t the first time something like this had happened to me. But it certainly was the first time a woman had accused me of rape.

I could get any pussy I wanted. What would I need to rape her for? She was here for Eden. Not for me. At least, not in that respect. Whatever Mya thought happened, did not happen. Dark curtains blocked out the sun, casting a shadow over the extravagant furniture, and the unsettling feeling of being lost surged through me.

I pushed myself up, my hands gripping the soft sheets that I didn’t recognize. A wave of dizziness hit me as I swung my legs over the side of the bed, thinking about my little firecracker. Maybe she’d had an erotic dream and came on to me in her sleep. That would explain why she didn’t remember it. I clearly was deeply asleep, because how else would I not remember getting my cock wet? I rubbed my face, trying to shake the fog from my mind.

Another blackout. Another fucking gap in my memory that I couldn’t explain. It was becoming too regular, too frightening. But I was a mafia Don through and through, so I stood up, my movements slow and deliberate, and made my way to the door. I had to figure out why everything felt so wrong.

Now I was standing outside of a door, and I could hear people in another room. The hustle and bustle of everything going on. Was it breakfast? I followed the noise, my feet heavy against the marble floor. Every step brought me closer to a conversation I wasn’t sure I was ready to have.

A door opened, revealing Mya wearing my shirt over her dress, tied in the center. I paused, my breath hitching at the sight of her. Perfection. I quite liked her looking like this. I couldn’t point it out to her. However, I admired the view from the mirror along the wall, as I walked back toward the party.

It wasn’t a party when we got there. It was everyone eating breakfast. That shocked me. I thought for sure, with how loud everyone was being, that it was some kind of party.

“There they are,” Nonna said, splashing her apple juice around in her cup. Her voice was laced with disappointment, almost as if I’d done something to let her down. “We’ve been waiting for you.”

“What the hell is going on?” I asked, my voice sharper than I intended. My eyes darted around the room, searching for some explanation, some clue. But no one would speak. “Why have you gathered? Did I forget a famiglia meeting?”

In my peripheral vision, I saw Silas whispering in his wife’s ear. I was going to say something, but Eden looked up, and our eyes locked briefly. They screamed terror. I didn’t know what made her face go pale, but I made a note of her reaction to ask about later.

My Nonna didn’t answer my question either, instead, she wanted to nag. “Your mother is probably rolling in her grave from this wedding announcement. I can’t believe you would choose some stranger from overseas over a good Italian woman. Someone who knows your roots,” she muttered as she sipped from her glass.

At first, her question didn’t register, but then I stood up. “Wait? Engaged? What?!” An icy shiver ran down my spine. The way she looked at me made my skin crawl. I tried to piece together the puzzle in front of me, but nothing was making sense.

My little mouse looked at me, with her arms wrapped around herself. She tilted her head, and looked over my face, like she was putting something together. It made me uncomfortable.

“Yes, when did you decide it was a good time to marry my wife’s doctor? Before or after you kidnapped her, dear brother?” Silas drawled as he shook his empty glass to the wait staff.

A maid rushed over and filled his glass back up with gin. He was hitting the bottle heavy this morning. I looked at his glass with longing. If only I could drown my sorrows as well. I wasn’t ready for marriage.

But if I said we weren’t to be married, it would raise questions, and that could lead to everyone knowing about the mad king, and there would be a mutiny on my hands. No, this would work out for the best. I could keep Mya by my side, and maybe she’d have a handy drug that would get me back to normal.

I wanted to feel like myself again, not like a man who was missing chunks of his life. And there were many places where my memory didn’t serve me anything at all. How could I forget these chunks of time?

Most importantly, why?

I needed this to stop, and my soon-to-be wife was the key. Hopefully, but in the meantime, I had some insubordination to stamp out. I whipped my gun out of its holster and held it up to Silas’ forehead.

He dropped his gin and held his hands up in front of him.

“I’m sorry, baby brother. What did you call me?” I pulled the hammer back.

“D-don Cap-Caputo,” he stammered.

I smiled like a shark. “That’s what I thought you said.” I pushed the hammer back into place, and tapped the gun alongside his head for the disrespect, before sliding my weapon back into the holster on my side. I adjusted my gloves and shook off how I was feeling, slapping the mask of the leader back into place.

“Yes, we are going to have smart babies for you to spoil, Nonna.” I winked at her, even though her mind wasn’t what it used to be. Who knew how much time I’d have with her left.

When my family was slaughtered in a brutal way, I rose from the ashes and built our name back up, within the wake of our family shame. I found Nonna living on the streets. She wasn’t always there in her mind, but she loved me like I was her own.

From that, I’ve grown a formidable syndicate.

My chest tightened, and I could feel the room closing in around me. I couldn’t lose it now. My Nonna’s smug expression, the whispers of my famiglia, it all felt like a sick joke. A twisted game that I wasn’t playing. But then, why couldn’t I remember? Why did it feel like there was something lurking, beneath the surface of my mind, that I couldn’t grasp? I had to remain strong and show no weakness. That was what a leader did.

I threw on a fake smile and motioned to Dr. Rivers. “Come, wifey-to-be, let’s take our food to our bed, and hide away from the world.” I said it as if I was teasing her, but I really needed to get her alone so we could eat.

Then I would make sure she understood what the plan was, and what I wanted for her. I was going to use her up. She would become a husk when I was through, then I would have no more use for her.

It didn’t feel quite right, but it was what I was going for right now.

Two servants followed behind us with trays loaded with food. I helped Mya up the stairs for appearance’s sake, even though she kept pinching the same spot repeatedly.

Deep down, the truth clawed at me. The blackouts, the gaps in my memory; they were getting worse. I couldn’t trust myself anymore, couldn’t even be sure of what I’d done, or said, when I was lost in those dark moments.

Riccardo. A voice that wasn’t my own whispered against my mind. The name was like a ghost, taunting me, pulling me into a spiral of doubt. Who was he? The voice I heard in my dreams, the one that whispered dark desires I gave no thought to.

I opened the door to the room on autopilot now, and the servants followed in, placing the food trays down and bowing to me before leaving. I motioned for Mya to sit in front of me. I was losing control. Maybe someone like Mya could help me. If I could trust her.

“I-I do-don’t want to go to j-jail,” she blubbered.

“Who said anything about jail?” I huffed. It was no fun when they cracked right off the bat.

“What do you think they’ll do to me in there?” she whispered.

My chest hurt at the thought of her leaving. “You will not go to jail,” I growled.

“B-but you s-said…”

“No, you assumed. I would do something far worse than sending you to jail if I wanted to.”

She shivered. “What do you want from me?”

“An heir,” I say simply. I want so much more. However, I would not reveal all my plans, nor would I allow her to hold any of my secrets. Not yet. Maybe never.

“N-no.” She tried to get away from me.

“Take that word out of your vocabulary,” I spat. No one told me no.

“Yes, sir,” she conceded.

I couldn’t help the heat that shot down my spine from her submission. Breaking Mya was going to be a genuine pleasure. I hoped she wouldn’t bore me. I would hate to have to kill her in order to tie up loose ends.

Mya turned on her Dr. Mya Rivers hat, and went to have a session with Eden. Of course, I made sure every room had heavy surveillance. I could never be too careful. I had a lot of enemies.

“How are the nightmares?”

I turned up the volume at Mya’s soft voice.

“They aren’t getting any better,” Eden stated softly.

“Have you tried some methods? Box breathing? Keeping the television on? A white noise machine?”

She shook her head no. “Unfortunately, I have never had a sleeping problem before, so I never did something like that.”

“Oh, well, what can you tell me about today?” As Eden went on and on about her day, I tuned her out and stared at my little firecracker.

She looked like a hot librarian, with her glasses on her nose, as she peered down at her notes. She kept her tone even as she spoke with her patient. I wanted to walk into that room, and fuck her hard against the wall, but that would be a breach in privacy, not that I gave a fuck.

I stayed in Eden’s session until Mya was packing up. I closed up on her expression, seeing that it was drawn and tired. She was good at hiding it; most people wouldn’t notice the strain around her eyes, or the slight tremor in her hands, but I wasn’t most people. I knew how to read her, every micro-expression, every sign of weakness she tried to suppress.

Eden’s therapy sessions always seemed to take a toll on Mya, and I was counting on that. She was exhausted and vulnerable, so it was the perfect moment for what I had planned. Then I went to the bedroom and waited for my fiancée. As soon as she walked through the door, I pounced, hoping to cause the worst blow.

“Rough session?” I asked, leaning casually against the doorframe, with my gloved hands folded across my chest as she approached. I softened my voice, feigning concern, though every word was calculated.

Mya nodded, her guard just a little lower than usual. “She’s making progress, but it’s slow. Eden’s dealing with so much trauma, and it’s hard for her to open up. I wonder if she would do better in America.”

I’d been nodding along sympathetically, as if I truly cared about my sister-in-law’s recovery, until that last part. I was using Eden’s progress as a tool, another way to keep my fiery doctor close, a form of my control. But she pushed me when she spoke of leaving, and that was exactly what she was hinting at.

“Hop in the shower and get dressed,” I snapped, and pointed to the bathroom, irritated with her.

“What? Where are we going?” She blinked owlishly.

“Not really your business, Mouse, but I’ll tell you on the way.”

She shook her head no, trying to back away from me. I took a step closer, blocking her path just enough that she had to acknowledge me, and had to meet my gaze. “I’m not asking. I’m insisting.” I reached out, brushing a thick curl behind her ear, lingering just enough to unsettle her.

She ran into the bathroom like her ass was on fire. I waited while she got herself ready, catching up on work emails, and making sure no one was sending a search party to look for Dr. Rivers while she was on her vacation.

My little mouse stepped out in a deep green bodycon dress, and white stiletto heels. I handed her a white purse that was sitting on the dresser and drank her in. She fidgeted like she was uncomfortable in what she was wearing.

“You look magnificent,” I murmured, walking toward her and grabbing her hand. I cursed the gloves keeping our skin apart, but I also didn’t want to mar her flesh with my own. Her perfection couldn’t be touched by my darkness. I held eye contact as I flipped it over and leaned forward, placing a gentle kiss on the pulse of her wrist. Her breath caught, and her green eyes darkened with fear and arousal.

She hesitated, her instincts telling her to fight against me, but her common sense won out in the long run. I could see her defenses crumbling, almost hear the gears turning in her head. It was tempting for her; falling into someone who could take care of her for a change. Even if that someone was a monster like me.

“You don’t have to be strong all the time, little mouse. Let me spoil you for just one afternoon.” I let my thumb trail lightly over her cheek, wishing I could feel it on my own. I almost took off my glove just for that, but stopped myself. I’d had women vomit at the sight of me, so I couldn’t trust she wanted my touch. Even though my little doctor hadn’t run yet, it didn’t mean that she wasn’t planning on it.

She let out a soft sigh, biting her lip. I was close. She didn’t know it yet, but she was already mine. Before she knew it, I would be like an infection in her veins. I could see the war in her eyes; my firecracker was struggling to maintain control, the patient who wanted to desperately give in to her desire.

She would surrender. It was just a matter of time. We walked out of the villa, and I helped her into the car while my personal bodyguard just stared. I climbed into my side and started it up. They would follow.

“Where are we going?” she asked again.

I smiled, careful to keep it warm and inviting, even as my mind spun with the darker intentions I hid beneath. “Just a quick trip to look at some jewelry, do some shopping, and some quick errands. Nothing serious, I promise.” I spoke quickly, weaving a fast tale.

Her brows furrowed. “Jewelry?” she repeated, suspicion flaring up, but I was ready.

“I saw the way you were looking at Eden’s engagement ring,” I lied swiftly, layering my voice with false sincerity. “I figured it might be fun to try a few on, see what you like. No pressure, just something beautiful to make you feel appreciated.” We pulled off smoothly.

Her lips parted in surprise, and I could see her wrestling with herself, the pull of the forbidden promise I dangled in front of her. She knew it was wrong, that this crossed every line she’d drawn between us. But that was the beauty of it; Mya was just tired enough to let herself be led, to take that one step too far.

“I don’t know,” she murmured, her resolve weakening with every breath. “This… it doesn’t feel right. At the very least, you are my client. It’s unprofessional.”

I leaned in, my mouth close to her ear, my voice a whisper of seduction laced with the threat of what could happen if she refused. “Sometimes it’s okay to be a little wrong, Doc. Besides, who’s going to know? It’ll be our secret.”

She shivered against me, as my guard and personal driver followed behind us on the road.

Her breath hitched, and I knew I had her. She was caught in my web, tangled in the threads of her own need, and my relentless pursuit. It wasn’t just about the ring; it was about her surrender, her willingness to let me take control.

“Fine,” she said finally, her voice barely above a whisper, resignation seeping through every syllable. “Just this once.”

I smiled, a victorious gleam flashing in my eyes as I leaned back, offering her my gloved hand. Chicks liked that shit, right? She took it reluctantly, her hand trembling against mine. She was smart, too smart for her own good, but even the sharpest minds have weak points, and I’d found hers.

As we drove, I could feel her tension, the silent war raging inside her. But I didn’t care. I had her exactly where I wanted her; under my thumb, bound to me by the very chains of her own doubt and need.

Dr. Mya Rivers was mine. All fucking mine, and I couldn’t help licking my lips when I looked at her. I felt bad for the poor fucker who thought to steal what’s mine. That could lead to heartbreak.

Today it was jewelry. Soon, it would be something far darker. Our wedding.