Devil's Despair Box Set: Books 1-3 (21 page)

Tears once again fill my eyes. I can’t will them not to fall. Their flow is steady and unforgiving in the face of his evil.

“You’ll do this, Cherry. If you fail, I’ve got Decklan and you’ll never see him again.” Leaning down to me, his lips find my neck and to avoid cringing at the touch, I grasp the side of the chair with each hand.

Whispering in a seductive tone, the tone I fell for seven years ago, he makes a promise, “I’ll make you comfortable. You’ll live with me, no expectations, but Cherry, you’re mine. No other man touches you.”

I don’t respond; there wasn’t a question asked. I sit as he walks away from me toward his office door. Then I hear the voices behind me deciding what happens to my life next. “Search her. Give me any personal belongings she has on her, then load her up. Enough to leave her coherent but relaxed. She’s a fucking basket case, and it’s aggravating me to watch her squirm. She likes blow, so start there.”

“Yes, sir.”

I won’t survive this. I will not survive this.

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Cherry

THE ROOM IS dark. I’m shivering. The bed feels as though spikes are piercing my back. The only way I’m able to recognize it’s a mattress is the pillow under my head and the small comfort it offers when I attempt to lean up. I have no idea the time, so I search for a clock, finding nothing.

“Welcome back.”

The voice is menacing, and when I look toward its direction, I see Vinnie and someone else standing in the corner as if in quiet conference. Their suits portray a certain type of dignity that neither possesses, and their Italian accents ooze money and power.

Once I recognize the man staring at me, smiling as he stands next to Vinnie, my panic kicks in and I start choking on my own saliva as it forms rapidly in my mouth. The malevolent man before me is Marcus Gallo, Vinnie’s uncle, and the head of his family of criminals that specialize in drugs, prostitution, sex trafficking, and murder.

Businesses avoid him, laying low as to not dirty themselves with his product that he pushes on them to sell. Innocent families plead for him not to destroy them by recruiting their husbands and sons to his life of crime. Women scatter far and wide to avoid being captured and raped by his men, then eventually sold for profit to others who offer the same sinister violence and disregard.

Vinnie Bartone pales in comparison to the threat of Marcus Gallo. I’ve just met him one time, when I was very young, but the humiliation of his presence has yet to fade. He was training Vinnie how to hunt at the time, and I was target practice.

“She already looks used and tired, Vincent. What have you done to her?” He sighs through his words as he walks toward me.

The night I met Marcus, I was young, innocent, and thought Vinnie was the man I was going to spend the rest of my life with. That night, I had snuck out of my parents’ house. Vinnie had picked me up outside, but it was his uncle who was waiting for me in the backseat.

I knew the moment I opened the door it was too late to turn back; my life as I knew it was over. I was raw and not ready as he ripped my clothes and brutally tore through my innocence. The smell of his breath, his panting in my ear, and the pawing of my body left me struggling to survive a living death.

That ride to Vinnie’s condo was merely the beginning of the loss that was my innocence. After that was stolen, he had Vinnie train me, teaching me how to sell my body for profit. The higher the bidders, the sicker and more twisted their appetites became.

My parents were oblivious; my father overworked, my mother resenting what she thought was normal teenage adolescent behavior. Both Vinnie and Marcus threatened, in detail, to kill them both if I so much as breathed a word as to what was happening around me.

Vinnie met my father in public once. It was a set-up, a tactic exacted to keep me quiet, scaring me into submission. He shook my dad’s hand as I stood beside him, shaking and scared at a high school football game. When my father introduced himself, he told my dad what a beautiful daughter he had and how life’s full of twisted and sick people. He explained to my dad that it’s only smart to be on the lookout for these men at all times. I was young and truly believed there was no other way to help them, so I stayed quiet until Vinnie’s greed and possessive nature took hold, the night he got me pregnant with Decklan.

My parents’ reaction to my pregnancy was absolute insult and devastation. The thought of their teenage, troubled daughter having sex with random men was blasphemy. This was their version of what happened and they never asked for mine. Even if they would’ve, I don’t know that I would’ve offered the truth. At the time, it was easier for them to believe I was a whore versus explaining my weak truth.

My opportunity to change the course of my future detoured in one week. I dropped out of high school and moved in with Vinnie when I was sixteen, swearing to my parents that he was the love of my life and would take care of me.

My dad tried to talk me out of leaving, but my mother, God, it was as if my leaving came as a relief to her. She no longer had to explain my existence. I was there one day and gone the next.

After giving birth, and life started going back to what it was before, I left. Leaving Decklan with my parents that day was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do. Now, I’m being made to make the decision to leave Ace. The exact same scenario is playing out before me, but now I have more to lose. My life and Decklan’s are precariously hanging in the balance.

“She’s fine, Uncle, I assure you. She’s just been welcomed home and soon she’ll be back for good.”

“I don’t know. Is he worth it? That kid of yours is half-Irish-whore.” They converse in front of me as if I’m not here. I realize now that my son is their blood and they’ve waited for him; my compliance in bringing him here without fear is needed. I’m the staple of the perfect family photo, the one who holds it all together to avoid others asking too many questions.

Vinnie looks to me and in the darkness of the room, I still make out his face in the city lights coming through the shades. “If she’s trouble, she’s dead. She’s a luxury, Uncle. She’s not a necessity.”

As Marcus gets close and pulls my hair, my oversensitive body reacts and a small scream breaks my armor in the façade of bravery. “Cherry, you remember me, yes?” His accent is thick and his breath is stale. “I need you to listen to me carefully, understand?”

When I don’t respond fast enough, I’m given another yank to my hair, leveling us eye to eye. “Answer.”

Although my throat burns from bile and my thirst is savage, I softly utter a response. “Yes.”

“I’m entitled to your son. I’m his great uncle; his blood is my own. Let me explain this once because, frankly, it bores me to waste my time in doing so. If you run, alone or with him, I’ll rain down on your life in such a way you’ll wish you were already dead.”

I shudder briefly before he continues. “Your son will be sold as punishment for your crime in running away from me the
first
time. His body will be used as yours once was; a receptacle for men to deposit their dirty and filthy sins of their souls. Do you want this for him?”

My body shakes in response, envisioning Decklan lost, scared, and alone in whatever capacity Marcus deems him to live in. “No.”

“Sarah, is that her name?” He stops, as if waiting for me to answer. I don’t, so he continues as if feeding me knowledge I don’t already have. “She’s only fourteen, Cherry. Just a year younger than you were when we met for the first time. So young and vibrant, her future waits for her, doesn’t it?”

Shaking his head as he tsks softly, he gets closer to me, looming over my face. “If you run, she’ll meet me the same way you once did. She’ll spread those young, beautiful, lean thighs for me and I’ll make her bleed just the same as you did. I wore your innocence for hours after, do you remember? When I’ve finished with her, I’ll ensure she knows you’re the reason she was made to suffer.”

Uncontrollable tears stream down my temples as he holds me in place, once again strengthening his grip on my hair.

“Ace will suffer, but he’ll suffer a living death stained with anger and resentment; so much so he’ll wish he were dead, as well. I’ll pick apart his life bit by bit. I’m not a complete monster. In the end, after Sarah is mine, I’ll tell him you said goodbye to him as I stole your final breath. He’ll pay your debt with his agony, Cherry.”

Shutting my eyes as my heart breaks in my chest, I beg through a breaking sob, “Please. Don’t.”

He doesn’t stop his words of torture, mentally shredding my life in front of me, person by person. He continues as if not hearing my pleas. “Your Peril family will be next. Mr. Hem and Mr. Shame, your precious knights in shining armor, will suffer in watching their beautiful women succumb to my men. They’re not invincible, Cherry; no one is. These men have pride, there’s no doubt, but pride can’t help them forget all the bad things that happened to them, can it? I’ll be sure they know, just like the others, their lives were torn apart because you weren’t strong enough to be the mother and wife you should’ve been all along.”

He’s describing in detail the villainous evils I survived and what each of them will be forced to endure. “Your mother isn’t a kind person; she’s consumed with herself. She’s the reason you became what you are. You blame her, don’t you?”

I shake my head. It’s true. I don’t blame her. I just wished for her to love me the way a mother should love her child; the way I love Decklan.

“She’ll die quick and painless, in thanks for treating you for as the whore you are. However, your father will be broken. Hammers to the knees, Cherry. He’ll bleed for your decision to run. He’ll know, too, that your decision caused his pain.”

Letting go of my hair, my head falls back to the pillow. “You have no choice in this. I won’t explain again. If I have to, or if I find you out of line, I’ll do exactly as I just promised. My words will hold true, do not question or doubt this.”

As he stands above me, looking down now with a softness in his words, he finishes. It’s as though he’s talking to a child, offering a soft lullaby. “Decklan will be in good hands. He’ll have his mother and father. Your parents will spend their miserable lives missing you and him, but it’s a small price to pay in comparison. Ace will grieve the loss of you leaving, but he’ll recover nicely once he meets someone else more suited for him. Sarah will keep her innocence. Your Peril family will remain untouched and none the wiser. Even you, old and broken, will remain under guard and unharmed as long as you’re compliant. I just want my great nephew to take his rightful place within this family. Vinnie will take care of any needs you have, and this will ensure I never have to see your Irish whore face again, dead or alive.”

When he turns back to Vinnie, I exhale with fear. “Did I leave anything out, my nephew?”

Vinnie’s tone is quiet and strained. I’ve never heard fear in his voice, but after the detailed description of terror that was delivered to me, I can only assume he’s nervous, as well. “No, everything’s covered. I’ll clean her up and send her back; this will keep her family in California quiet. It’s a risk, but it’s a necessary one.”

“What about her parents here? Do you have something for them?”

Vinnie, as always, has a plan. “I’m going to take her with me after her face heals to visit her parents. I’ll convince them that I’ve longed for her all these years, and finally she sees the light and understands we belong together. If they don’t accept it, I don’t care. I’ll get the boy back. Cherry’s of age and it’s not kidnapping because she’s going willingly. I’ll handle it.”

Shaking his head, he rubs his chin in thought. “I trust you will, Vincent.”

Turning back to me, I find Marcus’s eyes in the darkness. He runs his finger across my stomach and my muscles contract to the touch, fearing what he’s planning. “I don’t believe she’ll risk anymore, will you?”

I don’t respond. He knows, as well as I do, he has me. My son will be in my care, I can protect him with my compliance. They need me, for now, to ensure his transition. I’ll never know how much time I have left with him, until they don’t need me anymore.

Marcus laughs at my fear, walks away, and heads for the door. “Check her for ticks, Vincent. You don’t know what that rabid dog has brought into your home.”

After Marcus leaves, Vinnie turns on the bathroom light and his silhouette envelopes the room. Rubbing my cheek softly, he whispers his words as though his gentleness will soothe me. “He will kill you, Cherry, and we both know he won’t hesitate. You’re going to do this, without a fight, aren’t you?”

I nod in agreement, knowing what I’m about to do. Going back to say goodbye to Ace will be my final act of freedom.

I let a tear slip down my face, swearing to myself it’ll be the last.

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

Ace

THE DRIVE HOME from picking Cherry up from the airport is quiet. Her voice has lost all enthusiasm, her skin is pale, and she’s fidgeted the entire way. She’s another person. She’s just been gone three days, but I don’t recognize her at all.

She’s got bruising under the heavy makeup she’s wearing. I haven’t asked about it, but I will. She knows I hate that shit and since she’s been here, she’s never worn it to this degree. She won’t look at me; another indication, something’s very wrong.

“Baby, are you hungry?” I ask this not because I think she is, but I’m attempting to bring her out of herself and focus. I remember her behaviors when she used drugs at Peril. It was me who took care of her, attempting to hide her habit from the others.

She shakes her head in response.

Reaching across the front seat, I put my hand in hers. She’s cold to the touch and although it’s fall, Las Vegas is far from freezing this time of year. “Are you gonna talk to me or did you come back a mute?” I say this jokingly, but truth surrounds the question.

She looks ahead to the road in front of us and gives me a pacifying response. “I’m okay, just a long flight. I need a shower.”

I don’t answer, hoping what she says is truth. Since we’ve come here from Ohio, I’ve never questioned her, and I don’t want to start now considering she just left Decklan behind and won’t see him for another three weeks.