Vicious

Chapter Five

Lucio sneers menacingly at me from across the table and every fibre of my being tries not to shrink away from his gaze. 

"I was too much trouble. I came with too much baggage, too many strings. We are too unsavory to raise a family with." He spoke softly, ticking each sentence off as if it were a list - a list I had given him long ago of why him and I would never work. 

I sat in silence. 

"And then," he seethed, "you go and spread your legs for the f*****g enemy." 

I tried not to flinch at his words. 

"THE f*****g ENEMY," he roared. 

"How are they better than us?" He demanded. 

Again, I sat in silence. 

"Tell me!" He shouted. 

I looked up and met his furious gaze. 

Lucio was good looking in a way that only someone from the wrong side of the tracks who had learnt luxury and style, could be. He had clawed and earned everything he had in life, and while I didn’t agree with his methods, I could certainly admire them - admire him. I watched his jaw strain, a vein throbbing in his neck. He would view this as the ultimate betrayal. He wouldn't see that I just needed space from my father and his organisation, that I longed to be normal. And even normal girls fell for bad boys with a bike. No, he would assume the absolute worst - that I was either careless or calculating, but on both accounts I chose a biker over him. 

"How are they better than us?" He asked softly, holding my stare. 

"It just happened Lucio," I explained, half pleading, thinking back to that darkened night of fumbling hands and flowing alcohol.

He gritted his jaw. 

I could see the look of disdain flicker through his eyes, as if I were a society princess - as if my aloofness was an annoyance. I could make this better by simply admitting that it was a mistake and that I needed help 'fixing' that mistake. And yet, I couldn't bring myself to do it. Because even if it wasn't planned - it was mine - and it had nothing to do with my father or his minions. 

How had I once believed that him and I would make the perfect match? How had I once dreamed that him and I would run this empire. 

It was a school girls dream. A fantasy - planted by my father, because what better way to ensure Lucio was tied to the family business than marrying me. 

I looked at that life laid out for me, the confinement that came with it - and I ran. 

"You will remain here until your father returns and then we can decide what to do," he grunted and stood from his chair. As if I were simply dismissed - as if speaking to me was simply too much of a bother. 

"What?" I demanded, "I'm not just handing over the decision of my child's life to you and my father!"

He completely ignored me, barking orders at the door for Tommy to "get the f**k in here." 

Tommy arrived briskly, his gaze glancing between myself and Lucio - as if he too was trying to understand how everything went wrong so quickly. 

This wasn't supposed to be happening. 

"Hold her," he ordered, and before I knew what was happening Tommy held me under my arms, pinning my hands to my sides, as Lucio frisked me, grazing my stomach in disgust until he found what he was looking for - my phone. 

"Wait!" I protested, " I need that!"

Lucio gripped my forearms together, bending down so that we were face to face. 

"You are so lucky that you are your father's daughter because if you weren't I would have you paying for your insolence right now," he spoke softly, the words menacing. 

His right hand twitched against my arm, as if he wanted nothing more than to slap it across my face, causing my mouth to bleed. I know, because I have seen him do it to countless others before. 

And yet, he doesn't. He fists up his hand and shoves it into his pocket.  His other hand places my phone neatly on my desk, taunting me. 

Axel had been right. My only consolation is that I have a three-step verification process on my phone to even access it - in case it landed in the wrong hands. I just didn’t know at the time that those hands would have been Lucio’s. 

"Take her next door and confine her to a room," he commanded Tommy. 

"Next door?" I asked in confusion. 

"A lot has changed since the last time you were here princess. We bought the property next door, so I should probably say 'welcome home'", his false smile made me skin crawl, and for the first time in a very long time, I was scared. 

"Wait!" I called back, before Tommy could sufficiently drag me out the door. 

Lucio simply stared at me in reply, waiting for me to speak. 

I swallowed. 

"When will my father return?" 

Lucio grimaced. "In a few weeks," he dipped his head, "hopefully sooner so he can give the order to eliminate you of that abomination in your belly." 

And then he grinned, "I suppose if he takes too long, I have the authority to make the order as well." 

My eyes flared in surprise. 

"You see while you've been gallivanting around in Luxembourg, telling us that we're all too unsavoury for you, I have been here building an empire. I am your father's next in command and he's slowly slipping into retirement." 

I shut my eyes. I knew my father was aging. He'd talked of retirement, but it was always something that seemed far away. And, if I was honest with myself, I knew that Lucio was being groomed to take over, I just didn't realise it would all happen so quickly. 

I briefly wondered if Axel would be able to get me out. Would his president even allow such a thing? And then, even if Cole did allow for it - it would be declaring war, would Axel even want to? 

"I never said you were unsavoury Lucio, I simply said that I didn't want to bring up a child in this unsavoury environment." 

He grinned then. And there was nothing kind in that smile. 

"How fortunate then, that I may be the one to eliminate that burden from you. Because Vee," he spat my nickname out as if it burnt his tongue, "you will always be part of this organisation, simply because of who you are." 

I stood there, staring at him in dawning horror.

He nodded his head, as if he could see that I understood that even if my father came back, he would make sure the outcome was the same. 

"Your father will never allow you to remain with that thing inside you - it is an abomination!" He slammed the draw of his desk. 

"Then let me go," I pleaded, "let me go and I will simply disappear." 

I started Lucio in his eyes, tears gathering in mine, "please Lucio," I held back a sob. 

He held my stare for a long time before simply shaking his head. 

I shouldn't have come here. It was a mistake in coming here. And there wasn't a thing I could do about it. 

Growing up, Lucio and I had not shared anything more than kisses, because on some level - even then - I knew that he would be possessive, as if he owned me. 

I kicked and screamed as Tommy dragged me backwards towards that green painted door. I shoved the heel of my boot into his shin, my yellow button up shirt tore in the commotion, one of my buttons bursting free. 

“s**t,” Tommy swore, averting his gaze. 

“Just deal with her Tommy,” Lucio growled, “before this commotion interrupts the games in the hall.”

I felt Tommy stiffen behind me, as he pulled out a cloth and brought it towards my face. My palms became clammy and a wave of nausea overcame me, and this time I knew I couldn't blame the pregnancy. 

Cliche, I know. 

And yet I still kicked and screamed, despite the vice grip that I found myself in. In some wild hope that I could somehow free myself, somehow run away - far away. 

“No!” I shook my head, tears pooling within the crevices of my eyes. My legs kicked out into air uselessly as Tommy moaned at me to 'shut up' and that it was 'for the best. 

“No! No! No!” I cried over and over again, trying to shake my head. I couldn't move it much in Tommy's grip. 

Tommy wasn't a bad guy. Not really. Right now he was just following Lucio's instructions, because Lucio was the boss. 

I had overplayed my hand, thinking that my father would save me, thinking that he would be so thrilled at the prospect of becoming a grandfather - a Nonno - that all would be forgiven. In fact, in those same fantasies I thought my child could perhaps bridge the divide. 

I was a f*****g i***t.

Lucio slammed his fist down on that hard wooden table, “ENOUGH!” He shouted. 

And that was enough of a distraction for me to stop fighting momentarily as I glared at Lucio in my own rage. How dare he treat me like this. How dare he dictate what should happen to me and my child. 

It was enough of a distraction for Tommy to pull the cloth over my mouth and nose, the world dipping in and out of focus until I welcomed the darkness, vaguely wondering if this was going to affect the baby. Maybe I shouldn’t have fought. Maybe I should have gone willingly. Maybe I should have just stayed with Lucio from the beginning. Thoughts of Axel wondering where I was and why I hadn't arrived at the club as promised plagued me. 

That was my last thought.