Giovanni
"What am I doing here?" she asks, ignoring my question, sounding more steely than I like.“Like I said, Ciara owes me some money." I make a point of saying her name rather than calling her sister."I don't have anything to do with that."“But you do. Given Ciara's current state, well, she's no good to me." I set one elbow on the table, rest my chin on my fingers as she processes this information. “And the only name she could offer up was yours.""Mine?"I nod. It's quiet and I wonder when she's going to get around to asking the two-hundred-and-fifty-thousand-dollr question.“How much does she owe you?"There it is. "A quarter of a million dollars."Her mouth falls open."Ciara has a gambling addiction," I say. “And, as it turns out, a drug addiction too."“But that is much money. Are you sure? I mean...that's a lot of money.""Agree. She spent it quite nicely in my casino, though."She's quiet for a long moment and her eyes narrow before she speaks. "So, let me understand this. You lent her a quarter-of-a-million-dollars to gamble in your casino, then you stole it back from her in that same casino and now you want her to pay it to you all over again?""I stole nothing. Take care with your words, Sienna.""But that's the gist of it, right? And did you know about her drug addiction when you lent her this money?"I lean forward and she draws back. Good because I'm suddenly not as entertained.“When someone comes to me for money, I don't ask why he or she needs it or where he or she is going to spend it or how. I don't give a damn. All I expect is that it's paid back by the agreed upon date.""Let me guess, with a ridiculous interest rate.""That not asking questions comes at a price, Sienna.""Stop saying my name.""But I like saying it. Sienna. It just...rolls right off my tongue." I lean back in my seat, swirl the ice in my drink.She flushes, at a loss for a moment. “You're a loan shark," she finally says.I shrug a shoulder. “I'm many things, first and foremost, the owner and CEO of Giovanni Enterprises, an employer of several thousand people, a lawful, tax-paying business-man with many friends."From the look on her face, she understands what I'm saying."If you think that I can pay you that kind of money, you're mistaken," she says. “I don't have anything close to that.”"Most people don't. Obviously, I didn't expect Ciara to pay me back in cash. We had a different sort of arrangement that suited both of our needs.”Her forehead creases, and a moment later, a look of understanding passes over her face.I grin. "Get your mind out of the gutter. I don't fuck women like Ciara Williams. I never have. I never would. It's not that sort of arrangement."“I don't understand what you want from me then.”The gong sounds as if on cue and Sienna turns to look over the quieting crowd of men.I follow her gaze to where the curtains part to reveal the next beauty, this one a full-figured red-head.I turn back to my guest, watch her in profile. I study her pretty little upturned nose, the high forehead, full lips that part slightly as she takes in the attraction on the stage.“What is this?” she asks."An auction."She looks at me with an expression of shock and utter disbelief on her face."So these men, they're bidding on...her?"I nod.She turns back to watch the girl who is ceremoniously disrobed, and I'm surprised to see she's a natural red-head. So rare these days.The auctioneer calls out the opening number.When Sienna looks at me again, she's flushed and picks up her empty glass of water. Realizing it's empty, she puts it back down. I raise my hand for another but when it comes, she doesn't touch it.“Why am I here?" she finally asks me, voice higher again.Her big eyes are filling up with tears and those tears seem to make them go a soft caramel and all I can think is I bet she's pretty when she cries."Have you figured out what our arrangement was? What Ciara agreed to sell to repay me?"Her throat works as she swallows, and I think I hear it even over the crowd.“I don't..this is..." her voice breaks. "You shouldn't have lent her that kind of money," she says weakly."Ciara's poor choices are not my responsibility."“They're not mine either.”"Well, then we're finished here. There is another way, after all. One I was trying to avoid, considering her situation.""What do you mean?"“I mean, she's in such bad shape already. Beaten badly when they found her.”The color drains from Sienna's face."What do you expect from me?" she asks. “I don't have that kind of money. I don't even know how to get it.”"I'm well aware of that. Watch," I say, turning to the stage just as the girl extends her arms to the two women on either side of her. She's turned and bent and displayed and when the man with the strap walks toward her, the room goes completely still in anticipation.That sound, Christ, that sound of leather on supple flesh and the red-head's sudden gasp as the delicate skin is tested, fuck, it never fails.The red-head's skin turns crimson, the thick stripe glorious against such pale skin. It sends a deep, satisfied murmur through the crowd.When I look back at Sienna, she's staring at me wide-eyed. I wonder if she realizes she's hugging her arms to herself.We remain like this, me watching her, her watching me, as numbers are called out, and the auctioneer asks for more, more, more and soon, the red-head is going once, going twice, sold to the dirty old fuck in the corner."Lucky man," I say, swallowing my whiskey.“I'm going to be sick,” she says.I push my chair back and stand. She watches me walk around the table toward her, craning her neck, shrinking away.I hold out my hand.She looks at it like it's a hot poker I'm telling her to grab.“I can't do that," she says, shaking her head, a tear slipping down her cheek.“Bathroom, Sienna. So you can get over whatever you need to get over and do what you need to do to pay me back.""And if I won't? If I can't?"“Won't and can't are two very different things.”"What will happen to her? To Ciara?"“Let's not go there. Then you really will be sick."SiennaHis hand is huge.Hell. He's huge.I reach out, place mine inside it and it feels warm and rough and when he closes his fingers over mine, his grip is firm, this gesture, it's as though I've already agreed.Because I know what I must do. I know why he brought me here. I have no doubt.You owe her nothing.I haven't seen or had any contact with Ciara in years. I didn't know she was in town.And she can't know that I am.I manage to get to my feet, and he's got to be a good foot taller than me. Even with my pumps, the top of my head barely reaches his chin.Heads turn as Giovanni, his presence at my back enough to guide me, leads me toward a door at the back of the room where a man stands sentry. He opens it at our approach.I hesitate."Go on," Giovanni says from behind me. He's standing closer than I realize and a shudder runs through me at the feel of his breath on the back of my neck.I hear the faint hint of his accent.I heard it throughout our conversation, stronger somet
Giovanni That was her decision.Sienna is taken backstage to be prepared.I sit at my table with Axel across from me. He's back from his errand.Axel Drake and I have known each other since I was sixteen years old. He's one of the few men I consider a friend.There were three years when he left Vegas and went east. It's a time he doesn't discuss though, not even with me. All I know about it is that he and his brother, Hugo, a man I've never met, spent time in prison there and I have a feeling it has something to do with that errand he ran earlier.I understand revenge and I don't care what Axel has to do to take care of what he needs to take care of as long as he's available when I need him. It's an understanding we have between us.He drinks the last of his whiskey and I pour him another.The gong goes off and the auctioneer announces this is the last of tonight's draw. They'll be anxious for it. I only have half a dozen girls at each party. Keeps them hungry."Want me to keep someo
I look at Sienna's tear stained, mascara-smeared face. She still can't see me. The spotlight is too bright on her. But she must recognize my voice and know that it was me who bought her.The men take her down from the platform. She still fights as she's removed from the stage. The curtain falls and the lights in the room go on announcing to everyone that it's the end of the night.Axel chuckles. "Told you," he mutters as I resume my seat."Fuck you," I say, the excitement I feel in my gut something foreign. Something I'd forgotten.One hour later, Sienna is delivered to my penthouse by the same two men in about the same fashion as when she threw that fit on the stage.I'm standing at the window with my back to the elevator when I hear the doors slide open. I sip my drink, watching the lights of the strip in this city that never sleeps.A city of vultures.Hungry.Always hungry.Always looking for innocent flesh with which to fill their bellies.I'm hungry, too.I set my empty glass on
Giovanni I don't like clutter or anything messy, not anywhere in my life.My eyes fall on that tartan again. Why have I kept it all these years? I need to talk to the maid. I don't want to have to see it every time I fucking turn around.Sienna lowers herself into the chair nearest her and farthest from me. She hangs her head and her hair falls forward like a veil between us, but I don't miss the tear that drops.She combs her fingers through the thick mass, sniffles and straightens her spine. She meets my gaze."One night," she says.I nod."And I'm free and you won't hurt Ciara.""Not a bad deal if you ask me.""You're not the one who has to fuck you."I chuckle at that. "You could do worse, sweetheart.""I'm not your sweetheart."I shrug a shoulder. I could give a fuck."What are you, anyway? What's your accent?" she asks.She hears it? I wonder if others do too. I've worked hard to rid myself of it. Rid myself of the past."Scots.""You're from Scotland?""Born in the Highlands."
Giovanni "Stop calling me that. I am not your sweetheart.""You'll be whatever I want you to be. You're bought and paid for, remember? Now get on your knees before you piss me off."Her face goes red, and rage rolls off her.I open my mouth to say something, but I don't expect what she does next.I don't expect her to slap me, not after my warning.Her gasp comes an instant after her hand collides with my face.I force a long, deep breath, feeling the sting of the slap. Feeling the rage bubble inside me. I tighten the muscles of my gut to tamp it down, to control it.I'm bigger than her. Stronger. I can hurt her in a way she can't hurt me. I have to be careful.When I shift my gaze back to hers, she has her hands to her mouth, and her eyes are huge. She's staring at me like she can't fucking believe what she just fucking did.It takes me a long time before I speak."You want to play rough, Sienna?" The words are a low, almost whispered threat.She swallows, shaking her head. Streaks
GiovanniI dip my head down and lick her and hear her sharp intake of breath as she goes dead still.I do it again, circling her clit, then taking it into my mouth."Please!" she cries out and when I suck that hard, little nub, it's moments before her back arches and she lets out a long moan. Her eyes are closed, face tense, hands fisted in their restraints and she's coming. She's coming hard and fuck, she tastes good. She tastes amazing.I don't go down on women. I haven't in too long to even remember their taste.But her. I can't get enough of her and when I ease my grip on her thighs, she bends her knees on my shoulders, squeezes and whimpers.I suck harder, drawing out her orgasm, wanting another."Oh God. Please stop!" She's panting and her thighs are squeezing and she's coming again, bucking with her release even as she begs me to stop.I taste her, relish her every breath, every whimper. I only let up when she falls limp on the bed.I kneel up between her legs, look at the gapi
SiennaI walk back into the bedroom and close the door.I look around, take in the sophistication of the place and for all its beauty, it's sterile. Cold. Too clean and impersonal. Only the rumpled sheets and the smell of sex make it less clinical.I walk into the bathroom, glancing at the lights of the strip as I go. The bathroom is big and it's the only room without windows for walls. I lock the door behind me although I don't think I need to. He won't come in.It smells like his aftershave and I wonder if he ever has women here because everything is so masculine.Switching on the shower, I step beneath the flow. Even his soap, when I lather it, smells like him. Like he's in here with me."You're safe."For some reason, being here, in his shower, in his room, in his bed, I feel safe. Which just goes to tell you how screwy my radar is.It's not that he's not dangerous. He is. But not to me. At least not right now.Tonight, I don't have to double-check the locks. Test every window.Ci
GiovanniShe's asleep when I wake in the early morning.It took her a long while to fall asleep but when she did, she slept heavy, not moving once as I held her. Her hair is still a little damp and I smell myself on her. My shampoo, the cologne still lingering on my T-shirt that she's wearing.Even after my shower and while I dress, she remains a still form beneath the covers of the bed.I leave instructions for her by the coffee machine. When she's ready, one of my men will drive her home. If she wants breakfast, she can go downstairs to the restaurant. They'll know to look after her.On the elevator, I type a text to my attorney.Find out what you can about the Williams family, Senator Sean Williams of Maine. I'm interested in the years Sienna Williams was fostered there. She was eleven years old so I'd guess twelve or thirteen years ago. Goes by alias Sienna Chase now. Photo to follow.I send both the text and a photo of her fake driver's license and it seems as soon as I hit send,