Caged Read online

  “I don’t know why you’re here,” I said, taking a few steps backwards toward the couch.

  “Oh, I think you do,” Eddie countered as he walked toward me slowly. He reminded me of a mountain lion stalking his prey—calculated, stealth-like, deadly. He stopped when he stood directly in front of the wall of pictures and stared at them.

  He chuckled, which wasn’t exactly the reaction that I expected. “I knew a lot of pictures were being taken of me, but I had no idea just how many.” He turned his head to look me in the eye. A small smirk lit up his face. “This is quite the invasion of my privacy, wouldn’t you say, Miss Bell?”

  “There’s a patrol car right outside,” I warned.

  “I know.”

  “If I scream,” I began.

  “If you scream, then innocent people die. I have my men in the hallways prepared to clean up any mess that should arise.” He looked back at the pictures on the wall with his arms crossed against his chest. “My hope is to keep this as clean as possible. But that’s entirely up to you.”

  I could hear the rapid beating of my heart in my ears. “I want you to leave right now.” My voice cracked as I issued the demand.

  “Yes, well... we all want things in life, now don’t we?”

  I stole another peek at my phone, wondering if it were even possible to reach it and dial 911 before Eddie could stop me.

  “You could try for that phone,” he said, never taking his eyes away from the photos but somehow reading my mind, “but then things would get dirty.” He turned to glance at me from head to toe with a devilish grin. “Do you like things dirty, Miss Bell?”

  “What do you want?” Asking the words seemed to take whatever breath I had left in my body. I felt faint as I tried to play out every scenario of what might happen to me in my head. The probability of me getting out of this situation alive seemed less and less likely with every gruesome thought playing in my mind.

  “Why do you have all these photos on your wall?”

  “It’s my job.”

  “To have pictures of me on your wall?”

  “Well, no...” I swallowed hard.

  “Then why am I plastered all over your living room?” he asked as he took a step closer and peered at some more intensely.

  “Because it helps me,” I said softly, repositioning my weight from one bare foot to the other.

  “Helps you? How?”

  I didn’t know how much I should answer, but decided I really didn’t have a choice in the matter if I wanted to keep things clean. “Having the photos hung up helps me live and breathe the case. It helps me see the bigger picture.”

  I had just revealed that I was working a case, and he was that case. But I also clearly could see that Eddie Vasco was already aware of that fact.

  “And what is that bigger picture?” he asked.

  “I haven’t found it yet.”

  “And do you think you will?”

  “Well, that depends on if you are here to kill me or not.” I wondered if I could pound on the glass window and scream loud enough for the police officer stationed below to hear me and get up here in time to save my life.

  “Do you think I came here to kill you?” he growled as he took slow calculated steps toward me, closing the distance between us.

  “I don’t know why you’re here,” I said as I spun on my heels and bolted toward the window.

  A sharp pain erupted on the back of my head.

  Darkness...

  Chapter Two

  Eddie Vasco

  I was taught to never hit a woman. My strict Italian mother would be livid with me for knocking Nayla Bell out the way I did. Men did not abuse women. Not a pop to the face or anything that could mar a beautiful smile with bruises or blood. That’s not to say the men in my family didn’t swat a naughty ass here or there when deserved, but we did not physically harm an innocent female in an act of uncontrolled violence. The Vasco family had rules, and that was one of them.

  I would have to ask for forgiveness later in confession and pay my penance with saying my Hail Marys. I also would keep this little tidbit of information from my mother in fear that she would beat me over the head with a wooden spoon if she became aware. But I didn’t have a choice. I knew that Miss Bell would not go quietly. I saw her cagey eyes darting around as she tried to come up with an escape plan, and now was not the time to quiet her screams or deal with her nails clawing at my face. There was plenty of time for that later.

  Catching Nayla’s limp body in my arms, I cradled her closely to my chest, trying to ignore the wafting aroma of rose petals coming from her long chestnut hair. I also tried not to pay attention to the smoothness of the bare legs that I’d scooped over my arm—flesh to flesh. Her small frame made it easy for me to walk toward the wall of photos with her still in my arms. I had never seen anything like it. I thought my mother was bad with all the pictures of me as a child displayed in her home, but this was hands down borderline stalker. Nayla Bell was clearly obsessed with taking me down. This wasn’t news to me, however. You couldn’t be the boss of one of the largest crime families on the Eastern coast and not think that every law enforcer wanted you behind bars. But to see a display of this magnitude in a woman’s apartment. To see me in her home...

  As I exited her place, my men were waiting outside the door. I could have handed Nayla off to any one of them, but I liked the warmth of her body against mine. I would never admit that fact to my men, but I wasn’t going to give up this small pleasure. I would be handling Miss Bell myself. Plus, I didn’t trust the bastards to not take advantage of a lady. Captive or not, she was still a woman and the words of my mother were ringing in my ears. I wanted to silence them—it would make this entire situation easier if I did—but they were still present whether I liked it or not.

  “You take care of the cop?” I asked as I walked down the stairs, paying close attention that Nayla’s head or feet didn’t hit the railing or wall.

  “Yeah,” Frankie—my second in command—said as he followed close behind with his gun ready just in case. “We’re good. The car’s in the alley waiting.”

  I picked up my pace when Nayla began to stir. A soft groan escaped her pouty lips, and her long eyelashes fluttered. I had a sleeping beauty in my arms who was about to become a screaming banshee if I didn’t act quickly. I didn’t want to have to knock her out again, but I also didn’t want to deal with a hysterical woman fighting for her life. I needed to get her in the car before she came to.

  “Pack her a bag and lock up the apartment. Make it look like she went on a trip. Grab her phone on the couch and ditch it,” I commanded. I didn’t need to look over my shoulder to assure someone was doing as I asked. My men always did my bidding without the slightest hesitation. I didn’t just demand their respect, but I also had busted my ass under my grandfather’s reign, as well as my father’s, to prove I was the right man to run this family. I’d earned my position since the day I was born into the mob. I was a young boss, but not a single man questioned my authority. Or at least not a man still alive today.

  When I reached the town car, I positioned Nayla’s lifeless body in the backseat as gently as I could. She was already going to wake up with a nice size goose egg on the back of her head, and I had no intention of adding any more bruises and cuts to her body if I could help it. I quickly walked around the other side of the car and crawled in the backseat next to her. Without giving much thought, I lifted her head and positioned it on my lap. Banging on the bulletproof glass that separated me from the driver, I signaled that it was time to leave. My men would catch up with me later.

  Nayla groaned again and moved her head side to side. I instantly regretted the placement of her head as the side of her face brushed up against the tip of my cock. I didn’t have time for this, and the last thing I needed was to muddy the waters—

  But fuck!

  Her face touched it again, and my cock had a mind of its own as it hardened and tented my slacks like I was some horny teenager. Thank God Frankie and the others weren’t here to witness this. I would have never heard the end of it.

  I stared out the window and thought of the task at hand... focus, focus. I would not look down at her angelic face, her luscious lips, or the way her silken hair cascaded around my thigh. I would not look at her white lace panties that were on full display since her shirt had bunched up when I placed her in the backseat. I would not picture my cock plunging into that pussy of hers that only hid behind a thin piece of fabric.

  Fuck it...

  Yes, I would.

  I couldn’t help but imagine how tight her tiny little hole would feel milking my—

  Like a bolt of lightning, Nayla opened her eyes and sat up. Cowering against the door with wild eyes, she put out her hands to block an attack that wasn’t coming.

  “Stay away from me!” she screamed. “Don’t hurt me.”

  Yes, this was the reaction I was expecting. Luckily, we were already in the car heading to my hideout, and there was no one to hear her cries.

  “Calm down,” I said as I repositioned my throbbing cock so it wasn’t so obvious how hard it still was.

  Her eyes darted around the car and at the passing scenery. “Where are you taking me? What are you doing?” Her voice was high-pitched, and her chest heaved with every syllable.

  “I said calm down. Panicking right now isn’t going to help your situation.”

  She reached for the door handle and quickly found it to be locked from the outside. I couldn’t help but grin imagining the woman jumping out of a moving vehicle in nothing but a t-shirt, panties, and running barefoot on the dirty streets of New York.

  Like a caged animal, she pressed her body further against the door—if that was even possible—as she stared at me with wide eyes
and a trembling lip. “You can’t just kidnap me,” she said. “They’ll find me and”—she glanced outside again—“where are you taking me?”

  I didn’t answer her. I knew she was afraid, but that was exactly what I needed right now. Fear gave me power, and Nayla Bell needed to truly understand how powerful I was.

  “Please,” she said as her body shook slightly. She didn’t cry, which I admired. I figured she wouldn’t break easily, and she wasn’t letting me down in my assumption. I knew she would be a worthy opponent. “You don’t have to do this. It’s not too late to let me go.”

  I still didn’t say a thing but stared out the window instead. I knew Nayla Bell was one of the best lawyers around. I had done my research on the woman. I had studied her every move just as she had studied mine. I also knew that if I wasn’t careful, it was very likely she would be able to read my face. She was trained to analyze people in a courtroom to aid her in battle. I wasn’t going to give her any weapon to use against me if I could help it. She might have been a fierce opponent within the four walls of the justice system, but she was nothing in my world. I would make damn sure she knew that fact by the time this night was over.

  “Listen, motherfucker!” she shouted as she pummeled me with her fists. “Stop this car immediately!”

  And there it was.

  The reaction that I had truly expected.

  I already knew Nayla Bell was no wilting flower. This was the spunk I had prepared for, and I already had a plan on just how I was going to handle this little pistol.

  It didn’t take much effort to snatch both of her hands together while glaring directly into her eyes. “No,” I stated sternly.

  “Fuck you,” she spat. Her eyes glared back but I could see a twinkle of fear in them. I had killed enough to know exactly what the look of fear was, and Miss Bell possessed it even though she was doing a hell of a job attempting to conceal it from me by her aggressive bravado.

  “You don’t know who you’re dealing with,” she continued as she struggled to free her hands from my hold.

  “On the contrary. I know exactly who I am dealing with. You’re the only daughter of Jonathan and Naomi Bell. You were brought up as Daddy’s little rich girl—half Italian, half Jewish—but always struggled to live up to their version of perfection. You attended two different boarding schools and spent more time away from your home than in it. You went to Harvard to study law and graduated near the top of the class but not quite good enough... especially in your father’s eyes. Your mother is a socialite who has to attend a function nearly every evening or has to pop pills to control her anxiety of missing out. You work all the time and have very few friends. You both love and hate your job. You also love and hate your parents. So, yes, Nayla Louisa Bell, I know you.”

  She froze.

  I released her wrists and turned my head to stare out the window again. I’d given her enough to stew on to keep her behaving.

  “You son of a bitch,” she screamed as she punched me square in the jaw.

  I didn’t see that coming.

  “You leave my family out of this! Do you hear me?” Nayla continued to punch me as I shook off the blinding stars from a strong right hook. “Torture me. Kill me. Rape me. Dump my body in some shallow grave, but leave them the fuck out of your sick madness!”

  Snatching her wrists again, I struggled with her attacking body. “I’m giving you to the count of three to stop. One,” I snarled. “Two,” I continued as her body yanked and gyrated around in a futile combat. “Three,” I said as I flipped her body over my lap, pinning her down with the weight of my legs on top of hers to prevent her from kicking. I didn’t torture or kill women. But that didn’t mean I wouldn’t torment her in other ways. Ways that might make her wish I chose to treat her like I treated the men who crossed me instead.

  “Let me go!” she screamed over and over as I made sure there was no way she could break free from my hold. Nayla’s balled-up fists were pinned behind her back with one of my hands, and her body lay rigidly over my knee.

  “Bad, bad choice, Miss Bell. Bad.”

  Her shirt was already halfway up her torso exposing most of her stomach and all of her bottom half. Her panty-clad bottom was on full display, upturned on my knee as I pressed her down. She continued to demand her release, but I ignored her futile dictates.

  “I’m about to show you what happens if you’re bad.”

  Chapter Three

  Nayla Bell

  I had no idea what was going on. I didn’t know if I should be afraid for my life, or livid with my attacker. Fury sizzled through me, but so did terror as I was held pinned down on Eddie Vasco’s lap.

  Should I demand my release?

  Should I beg for mercy?

  Should I just accept my fate and...

  What was my fate?

  Death?

  Rape?

  Agonizing torture that I had only seen pictures of or heard horror stories about?

  And what about my family? Were they in danger as well?

  “The quicker you learn to obey me, the better, Miss Bell,” Eddie said as he applied pressure to my trapped hands at my lower back. One of his hands engulfed both of mine, and no matter how hard I tried to free myself from his grip, I made zero progress. I knew the man was strong. How could he not be, considering he was one of the most feared men in New York City? But I never considered myself to be a weak woman either.

  I tried to kick my legs, but they were restrained as well with the weight of his leg. There was absolutely nothing I could do. And that fact became even more evident when the man reached for the waistband of my panties and yanked them down to my knees.

  “Stop this!” I squealed, but already knew my demands were being ignored. “Stop!” Was he going to rape me? I wouldn’t have profiled Eddie Vasco as a rapist, but I was starting to doubt every single thing that had led up to this moment.

  “You clearly don’t know who I am,” he said. “I’m the boss. I take commands from no one. Especially you.”

  My ass was completely bare. My pussy rubbed up against the fabric of his pants with every move I made as I attempted to escape his hold. I had never been so vulnerable or humiliated in my life. Or so I thought...

  Nothing could have prepared me for what came next.

  I heard the sound before I registered the pain. The palm of his large hand came crashing down upon my ass—over and over again in rapid fire. I remained completely inaudible as a criminal spanked me like an errant child in the back of a car while another man I had yet to see through the tinted glass drove on as if this was a common occurrence. My silence was not due to submission, but out of utter shock.

  Was this really happening?

  Was the head of the Vasco mafia family seriously spanking me over his knee instead of fucking me against my will as I had expected?

  As each slap of his hand grew in intensity, so did the burn. A deep fire blazed not only on my ass but also throughout every inch of me. So much shame and embarrassment flooded within that I could barely inhale. Blood rushed to my face, which added to the lightheaded feeling caused from hanging over his lap.

  “Stop,” I said again, though this time with much less conviction.

  Eddie volleyed several more spanks on my bottom with growing force. “Tell me to stop again,” he nearly growled.

  I should have heeded his taunt and said nothing more, but as I was finding out, I wasn’t exactly making the wisest decisions of late or I wouldn’t be here in Eddie Vasco’s car at his complete mercy. “You can’t do this to me.”

  “I can,” he said as he continued on with the spanking, one painful swat after another. “And I will. You think you know me because you have pictures of me all over your wall.” The stinging blows never ceased as he spoke. “But you have no idea. You’ll soon get a very intimate glimpse into the kind of man I truly am. And your first lesson’s right now. If you don’t follow my orders, there’ll be consequences.” He spanked even harder on the sensitive flesh where my ass met my thighs. “This little spanking will be nothing compared to what I’ll do to you. So, I advise you to tread lightly and do exactly as you’re told. This is a warning. A small and easy warning.”

  This was far from easy, and I couldn’t imagine how much harder this could get.