Page 106 of Savage Ambition

“You must be quite pleased with yourself.” His tone carried the chill of a morgue freezer. “That was a willful act to antagonize that boy to the point of violence.”

“As if I would let such filth defile me,” I replied with calculated arrogance, eyes still downcast.

His hand shot out, gripping my chin and forcing my face upward. “Your insolence tests my patience. One more misstep and you’ll discover how displeased I can become.”

“Forgive me, Father,” I said, my tone contrite.

“For which transgression?”

My stomach tightened. “Sir?”

“I heard every fucking word you said to that boy.” Salvatore’s fingers dug into my jaw until I tasted blood from my cheek cutting against my teeth.

Shit, I had gotten too carried away in my game of punishing Jace. I had made the cardinal sin of forgetting about the ever-present cameras. Of course Salvatore had been watching.

“Have you forgotten who owns your body?” His voice remained terrifyingly soft as he wrapped his hand around my throat. “Every hole, every drop of cum, every fucking breath you take belongs to me. Did you think you could give away what’s mine?”

“Father, I would never disrespect you in such a manner.”

“Did you put your cock in that girl?” Each measured word fell like a sledgehammer against bone.

“No, sir,” I lied. “Jace has hated me since high school. He assumed I’d taken his sister’s virginity, and I encouraged the misunderstanding to break him. His hatred made him believe anything I said.”

Salvatore’s free hand moved lightning-fast, striking me across the face with enough force to split my lip. “If I discover you’ve lied to me about this, I’ll have Raphael chained in Santino’s playroom by midnight. And you know what Santino does to the pretty young ones. How long do you think your brother would last before he begged for death?”

The threat sliced through me with such brutality I nearly vomited. I dropped to my knees before him, the ultimate gesture of submission. If I had to give him a blow job to get out of the mess I had created, so be it. It wouldn’t be the first time. “The Gennaro name commands respect because of your ruthlessness. I exist only to honor that legacy.”

“Your cleverness is both your greatest asset and your greatest liability,” he said. “Don’t let it make you careless. Remember what happened to the last employee who thought himself too smart for his own good.”

I suppressed a shudder, remembering the screams that had echoed through the basement for three days before merciful silence finally fell. “I won’t forget my place, Father.”

He forced me to stand. “See that you don’t. Between that little stunt with the boy and Shaw, you have a lot you need to make up for.” His thumb traced my split lip, smearing blood across my mouth in a gesture of ownership. “Luckily for you, Shaw seems to be far brighter than his so-called friend.”

The mention of Shaw’s name in Salvatore’s mouth was like hearing a death sentence. Questions burned on my tongue, but asking would only confirm what he suspected. Interest was vulnerability, and vulnerability was death in his world.

“I would be more upset if it weren’t for the fact I can understand your infatuation with the boy,” he continued.

“Oh?” I asked in a neutral tone. Remaining silent would also be to my detriment.

“Don’t misunderstand me.” His fingers slid down my throat, tracing a path to my hip where Shaw’s mark had been. “If you ever do something like that outside of these walls again, I won’t be so lenient with my punishment.”

He dug into the spot where I had claimed Shaw. “You’ll suffer far worse than the indignation of that pathetic excuse for an existence who was hauled out of here.”

I forced myself to remain still, fighting the instinct to flinch away from his touch. “And if I said it was my punishment to him for leaving in such a disgraceful manner yesterday and an incentive for him to return tonight?”

“Never again.” His hand slid up my torso with possessive familiarity before wrapping around my throat. He applied no pressure, but the weight alone conveyed that my next breath existed only at his pleasure. “Or do you need another reminder about what happens when you disobey your master?”

The memory of my last “reminder” flashed through my mind. He’d subjected me to five days locked in total darkness, with only enough water to keep me alive in between beatings, while Raphael had no idea where I had disappeared to. Salvatore would play me the security footage of my younger brother crying alone in his bedroom to drive the knife deeper into my wound.

“No, Father,” I demurred in genuine submission.

“Good boy.” He released my throat to pat my cheek with mock affection. “Oh, and Shaw has been warned as well.”

The casual delivery of those words made my heart seize. “I’m sure it will be sufficient,” I stated blandly. I needed to see Shaw, to verify he remained unchanged after whatever Salvatore had inflicted.

“Perhaps. But I will enjoy his punishment a great deal if he dares to disobey me.”

The threat hung in the air between us. Salvatore enjoyed his punishments. The more intimate and brutal, the better. I’d seen him break men with nothing but words and a knife that never touched skin. The thought of him turning those skills on Shaw made me sick.