Blackmailed to the Altar (Caputo Crime Family #2)

9. Chapter Nine

CHAPTER NINE

D r. Mya

Wake up! An intuitive part of my brain woke me from a dead sleep. I blinked my eyes in the dark, trying to figure out what had woken me. I felt like someone was staring at me from across the room.

I reached over to turn on the light and gasped. Sebastian was in the room with me. He was sitting in a chair across from my bed, staring at me with his dark hooded eyes, but something was wrong… off.

“Sebastian?” I whispered. I didn’t want to wake up the household with my screaming.

“No, tesoro .” It was said with Sebastian’s mouth, but the voice was crueler, dripping with an edge that set every nerve on fire.

I ignored his strange answer for the moment. “W-what are y-you doing in m-my room?” I stuttered.

“Watching you.” His answer made me shudder.

I pulled the sheets up to my chin, realizing I was in a soft nightie that showed more of my chest than I was comfortable with.

He watched me everywhere. I couldn’t get away from his cameras. The echo of Eden’s trauma ran through my mind.

She’d been stalked by her now husband, Silas, in university. I felt like his brother was cut from the same cloth.

“S-Sebastian? I-if you wanted to talk, maybe we could do it later in the day when we both use the office?” I knew I should be firm, but his silence was scaring me.

“Don’t call me that.” He leaned forward, and it was so menacing, I leaned as far away from his aura as I could.

“C-call you what? Your name?” I had gotten little sleep, and I was confused. Was there a nickname he felt more comfortable with?

“That’s not my name.” He stood and strolled to the bed.

I sunk deeper in the sheets, scared shitless by his intimidating nature. I wasn’t one to cuss, but on an occasion like this, I couldn’t help myself, even if it was only in my mind.

“W-what’s your name?” My voice grew smaller and smaller, until he was all but on top of me in the bed.

He towered over my frame, his scars on full display, and no gloves in sight, making me feel petite. Like prey he was going to gobble up.

“You can call me Riccardo,” he said, his voice low and dangerous, each word precise, like a knife sliding across my throat.

It was like a light went off in the back of my skull. This wasn’t Sebastian at all. If he had some kind of dissociative identity, I needed to be on good terms with his alter, and show that I wasn’t afraid of him.

“I’m not understanding. You want me to call you Riccardo all the time instead of Sebastian?” He had revealed himself to me. So it was only natural I played dumb, until he gave me all the information he thought I needed to know.

“I know you’re smarter than that, firecracker.” He reached forward and grabbed a lock of my hair. Twirling it between his fingers, he drew it to his face and took a deep inhale. “You smell so fucking good.”

I shivered with what I thought was fear, but my pussy grew wet, and that was concerning. A strange man was in my room, and I shouldn’t feel any attraction to this, yet I felt like he’d seen my body on display.

A flash of the late night wet dreams I’d been having tore through my mind, and he smirked as if he knew my thoughts. I shook my head to clear it. Maybe this was a really vivid dream. I pinched my arm. Ow, no this was real.

“Don’t hurt yourself, little firecracker,” he purred. “That’s my job.”

His words shouldn’t melt me on the spot, but they did, a whimper escaping my parted lips. He was dangerous. I could feel it.

“What do you want with me?” I gasped as his finger trailed down my face. I felt trapped, cornered, like prey for a predator. I’d dealt with difficult patients before, but Riccardo, Sebastian, whatever he was calling himself, was suffocating.

“What do I want with you?” he repeated, and I nodded my head. He leaned forward and bit the side of my neck. “Your total submission.”

“You shouldn’t be here,” I said, my voice firm, but my hands trembled under the sheets. “You need help, Riccardo.”

His laugh was low and dark, sending chills skittering down my spine. “That’s exactly why I’m here, tesoro. I need you to fix me. To make me whole again. Before it’s too late,” he whispered in my ear.

When he pulled away, I had to clutch the bedsheets, so as not to reach out and touch him again. The scent of whisky and something metallic filled my senses, making it hard to breathe. I turned my head away, but he grabbed my chin, forcing me to meet his eyes. They were burning with an intensity that made my skin crawl.

He let go of my face with a smirk. The man before me now, scarred but alive, holding so much pain and violence in every inch of him. He looked down at my white knuckles with a chuckle. Fear clawed at my chest. I wanted to pull away, but there was something in his eyes that told me I didn’t want to push him too far.

“Hmmm, not tonight, little firecracker. It’s our first meeting, of course, and I want to make sure I do this the right way,” he murmured as he pulled away.

I wasn’t sure if he was talking to himself or speaking to me.

“What’s the right way,” I whispered.

“Well, I’ve got to court you, don’t I?” He shot me a panty melting grin, and leaned forward to force a peck on my lips. “After all, you are my fiancée.”

“I’m not agreeing to that,” I whispered.

“You’re going to help me, Dr. Mya,” he hissed, his scarred fingers gripping my throat as he towered over me, holding me down. “Because if you don’t, I’ll make your life a living hell. Worse than just blackmailing you to keep you by my side. I know every secret you’ve tried to bury, and if you don’t comply, I will make sure the world knows exactly who you are.” He pulled me closer to his face and bit my lip.

I let out a low moan. “Y-you can’t force me to–”

“Oh, but I can,” he interrupted, his voice venomous. “And I will. You’re not just my doctor anymore, Mya. You’re mine.”

The words were like poison, sinking into my mind as he loomed over me, every inch of him radiating danger. This wasn’t a patient seeking help, this was a man who was on the edge of madness, and I was caught in his web. I could see the obsession in his eyes, the desperate need for control that had nothing to do with healing, and everything to do with power.

“Fix me, and maybe, just maybe, I’ll let you walk away from this with your life.” He breathed me in on a deep inhale, before biting my cheek until I squealed. “But cross me, and I’ll make sure you regret every fucking breath you take.” He released me suddenly, and I inhaled a huge lungful of air. I could already feel the bruises forming, the lingering sting of his touch.

“Sweet dreams, doctor,” Riccardo whispered, standing up and moving toward the door, his silhouette dark against the pale sliver of light from the hallway. He pulled his gloves slowly on while he made his way out. “And remember, Sebastian won’t save you.” With those parting words, he melted into the shadows.

I didn’t move until I heard the door close behind him. I sank into the pillows with a sigh of relief, my heart pounding from the adrenaline. I’d just met one of Sebastian’s alters, and I hadn’t even known he was suffering from this.

How many more were there? And why was this one so fascinated with me? I knew from experience that if Sebastian didn’t bring this up, then he likely didn’t know the alter existed. I would have to show him that something wasn’t right in his life.

Maybe he’d trust me enough that he’d believe I could help. My research was more about merging alters into one identity. It was hard work, as my patients had to face some of the trauma that set off these alternative personalities to begin with.

But with Sebastian, this was the first occasion that I truly believed an alter should be eradicated. His aura was menacing, and I didn’t feel a single shred of kindness coming from him.

He couldn’t have good intentions.

Maybe Silas could help me get my hands on the medication I would need, in order to properly take care of Sebastian. He did with Eden. No matter what I prescribed, Silas could always get his hands on it.

Maybe he could help his older brother as well.

It didn’t take a genius to realize this family played by underground rules. While I knew nothing about their organization or systems, I understood that this life was dangerous. After speaking with Eden, I knew these men did what they wanted, when they wanted, without a care for the destruction left in their wake.

I wouldn’t allow Sebastian, or Riccardo, rather, to lead me down a dark hole. I’d worked too hard in life. This man clearly needed help. While I wasn’t sure how old he was, he was old enough to know better.

Which meant I should view him as a child, but my mind revolted right away at the idea. My body didn’t react to Sebastian like he was a kid. Not that I’d had much of a reaction to Sebastian, it was more Riccardo.

Yet, they were two halves of the same coin.

I couldn’t want one without the other, which was why merging would work best for everyone involved. I just needed to get Sebastian on board. I wasn’t worried about Silas. I looked over to the clock to see that it was almost three in the morning.

I was going to hunt Silas down, and get whatever background I could on my next patient. When Riccardo approached me next, I would be ready for him. Hopefully, he would accept that he was no longer needed in Sebastian’s life, and the two could become one.

I was certain that goodness would prevail between the two alters. There was no doubt in my mind. I mean, I was the best of the best. If anyone could get rid of Riccardo for good, it would be me. I hoped what was left would be a stronger man, someone who might change the future for Eden. Someone good like Sebastian Caputo. He was a decent man from what I could see; a great brother, and an even better CEO. I couldn’t find a complaint, and now that I knew he had this disorder, I knew Riccardo was the one who kidnapped me.

It must’ve been Riccardo who kept the pair in trouble. He was darker. Sebastian was just walking around, living his everyday life, with no idea someone was hurting all his progress at the same time.

Riccardo needed to work together with Sebastian, otherwise, he couldn’t stay around. It was too much of a liability. Not to mention, I still had to tie up a loose end in America.

I checked my emails shortly before falling asleep, and had a notification from the parole board. Eden’s Uncle Darren was headed for another hearing. It looked like the odds weren’t in our favor this time.

He was going to get out for good behavior. A fucking serial killer. And I wasn’t even there to administer the drugs that would keep him away from his vulnerable victims.

Before Sebastian caught me, I’d been fucking Darren up for a while in my prison reformation program. Now, without the medication, Darren would hurt more women and children.

Maybe before I got rid of Riccardo, he could help facilitate a hit on Darren. No, that was even more unethical. I couldn’t do that. Not yet. I closed my eyes and drifted off to a disturbed sleep, as I tried to figure out a way to get away from this mess.

The future looked bleak.