Chapter 58

"I've missed you, Alicia."
Claudia stared in shock and horror as she stumbled into Tyson's living room. Dante Marquez, her ex-boyfriend, surveyed the room as if he owned the place. He looked the same as he had when she'd last seen him a year and a half ago. He was a few inches shorter than her in her expensive heels. His chest and shoulders were leanly muscled. His tanned skin and black hair attested to his Cuban ancestry. He was a handsome man, with dark eyes, a sharp nose and high cheekbones.
Though she despised him with every part of her, she also saw the original appeal. Claudia had spent months agonizing over the stupidity of her decisions. In the face of Dante's commanding presence and good looks, it was a miracle any woman could resist him. Until they saw the darkness that lurked within. It hadn't taken Claudia long to discover his true colours. She wondered how many other women had found out too late.
"Dante," she said quietly.
He turned to her, studying her striking features in minute detail as though memorizing her. Claudia's heart sped up as he reached for her, taking her hand in a hard grip and forcing her to step into the heat of his body. She stiffened at the feel of her soft breasts meeting his hard shoulder. He wrapped his arms around her and held her loosely in his embrace, his eyes searching her face and body.
"Being a rich man's whore looks good on you, Alicia."
Claudia shuddered when he pushed his nose under her ear and nuzzled her jaw. "My name is Claudia now," she said defiantly.
He breathed in her scent and started rocking her as though dancing. Claudia stumbled against him, the adrenalin from the gunfight, the shock from Brandon's pointless death and the blow to her head conspiring to drain all of the energy from her body. His arms tightened around her and he continued to rock her against him, drawing a hand over her shoulder and smoothing it down the cascade of soft, wavy hair. Claudia shuddered in his grip, wanting nothing more than to break away from him, but fearing what her unpredictable ex would do if she shoved him away.
"You will always be my Alicia," he murmured into her hair. "The only pussy to make me want her so bad I was willing to deal with Delgado. You've embarrassed me where he's concerned, Alicia. I'm afraid he wants me to torture you for that thing you took and then get rid of you."
She shuddered again, her breath catching in her throat. "Tyson is on his way, Dante. He's a powerful man. He won't enjoy finding you here in his home, touching his woman."
Dante nodded against her shoulder, still holding her tightly. "That's what I was planning on. We knew eventually he would show himself. The big man himself, drawn out of hiding. He'll discover his favourite possession is missing."
Claudia frowned, still stumbling to keep up with Dante's disjointed movements. "Why would you want him to find you? He's going to kill you when he finds you here. Just go, you still have time to get away."
Dante finally stopped moving and pushed Claudia back a few steps. He looked into her beautiful face, reached out to touch the cheek that was beginning to darken in a bruise. Claudia should have been prepared for the blow. She had known it was coming from the moment she set eyes on her arrogant ex-boyfriend.
His fist hit her square in the stomach, dropping Claudia instantly to the floor. Her arms came around her middle as if to protect herself. Her face strained with the effort to draw in air and gag at the same time. Spots swam in her vision as she slowly lost the fight to get much needed oxygen into her lungs.
Dante bent over her, taking a fist full of her long hair and bringing her face up to his. "I've been waiting and watching, you little bitch, for the opportunity to get my hands on you again. I was going to do what Delgado wanted, torture and kill you."
Claudia moaned as he once more dropped his head into the crook of her shoulder and bit down hard on the tender skin. "But I find I still want a piece of this ass again before I slit that pretty throat." He dropped his hand and squeezed the globe of her ass cheek viciously, drawing a pained yelp from the woman under him.
Still hunched down in front of her, Dante pulled a radio off his belt and said, "Marquez here, where's my ride at?"
A crackling reply answered, "ETA ten minutes."
Dante leered down at her, menace twisting his good looks. "I think I'll fuck you in his bed. We'll find out how much he wants for my sloppy seconds. I'd rather deal with money than shit like Delgado. Now that Miami is closed, I can use the extra cash."
Dante dragged her up by the hair. Claudia reached out to grab the counter for balance, but he yanked her back into his arms, crushing her in a painful embrace. His lips found hers, caressing her gently. Dante had always been cruel that way. Keeping her on edge with his gentleness, wondering when he might turn on her in a rage.
"You're delusional if you think Tyson won't kill you for this," Claudia gasped, trying to push him away.
Dante bit down on her lip drawing blood. Claudia cried out, her hand flying up to her mouth. She felt a trickle of blood flow down her chin from the cut. "He can't touch me, bitch. I have his woman, and I have Delgado at my back. If Tyson King lays a hand on me, he's a dead man."
Claudia tried desperately to reason with him as he began dragging her to the back of the penthouse, toward the stairs that lead up to the bedroom. "You're underestimating Tyson, Dante. He won't tolerate this. He's a possessive man and he's going to lose his shit when he finds out you've touched me. I also think you're overestimating Franco Delgado. From what I've heard, he only cares about his Vegas interests."
He pulled her up the spiral staircase with a hand twisted in her hair. Claudia clutched at the railing trying to keep her balance. He wasted no time with his ten-minute limit. Claudia suspected he planned on leaving the penthouse with her when his ride arrived. She hoped he couldn't do too much damage in that time and prayed that Tyson arrived before Dante could leave with her.
When they reached the top of the stairs and entered the bedroom, Dante flung Claudia around so she was facing him. "I've been watching you with him, Claudia. I know exactly how you like it." He reached out and took a fist full of her blouse in each hand, tearing the delicate fabric easily and yanking it off of her.
"I've seen him buy things for you," he said, reaching out for her and turning her in his arms. He pressed his chest against her bare back and whispered in her ear while yanking the zipper down on her skirt and pushing the material off her hips. "I know he's been giving it to you in the ass. Didn't know you were into that kinky shit, or I'd've gone there first."
She shivered in fear as she stood wearing only her white bra and thong set and a pair of high heels. He pushed her in front of him, walking her awkwardly toward the bed. Claudia resisted, but he held her tightly, pinned against his body. He grabbed a fistful of her long blond hair and shoved her face down onto the bed. He kicked her knees apart, forcing a cry of pain from her. Bent over her with one knee on the bed, hand still in her hair, he breathed into her neck. He reached down and ran his hand roughly over her bare ass cheek, shoving a rough finger into the crotch of her panties.
"Fuck you!" she mumbled into the bedding.
"That's the plan, bitch," he snarled, shoving his erection into her hip and fingering her body roughly. "I plan on taking this little asshole, just the way you like it. I'll tear you apart, make you remember what it's like to be fucked by me."
Claudia wanted to cry. She hated that he was going to have sex with her right there on the same bed she and Tyson made love on. That he was going to take her in a place no man had been yet. She wanted Tyson to be her first and last. She wanted him now with an overwhelming desperation. She wanted to tell him she loved him.
The last thought leant her a burst of strength as she bucked against Dante throwing him off enough for her to bring a leg up and give him a strong mule kick to the crotch. Her aim was slightly off and she got him in the top of the thigh, but the lethal heel she wore added enough emphasis that he felt the kick clear through his groin.
Dante flung himself off of her, standing up behind her prone body. "Fuck, you stupid little bitch, you nearly got me in the balls!" His retribution was predictably brutal. He punched her in the back above her kidney. Claudia slid off the bed in agony and would have curled up in a ball on the floor, but he caught her face in a vicious backhand.
She was saved from worse by the crackling of his radio. "Bird's here. It's time to go."
Dante pulled it off his belt and snapped, "We'll be right out."
He reached down and grabbed her arm. "Get up," he snapped, ignoring her pained cry when he yanked her onto the feet.
Claudia swayed and nearly fainted. Blackness engulfed her, causing her knees to collapse out from under her. With a vicious curse, Dante tossed her roughly over his shoulder. She screamed out in pain when her abused belly hit his hard flesh and stretched her back where he had punched her. She wondered how much more she could take.
He strode quickly out onto the balcony with her and looked around. He took another set of stairs two at a time to the roof of the penthouse where a helicopter was in the process of landing. Claudia's brain was starting to disassociate from her body thanks to the sheer amount of abuse she had experienced in the past hour. She idly wondered how she hadn't noticed Tyson had a helicopter pad before now. She should have assumed, after seeing his fancy car elevator.
Her hair tangled around her head from the blades as the helicopter landed. Dante ran forward and tossed her into the machine, climbing in behind her. The helicopter immediately began to ascend. Thoughts collided in Claudia's head as she pondered the incredible illegality of what was happening to her and how there didn't seem to be much concern for safety as the helicopter took off with its door open and the passengers unseatbelted.
"Tyson!" she gasped as Tyson, Mercer and several of their men ran out onto the pool deck with guns drawn. Claudia stood up, reaching out as though to touch the man she loved, even though he was twenty feet below her and getting farther away. Dante was in her way, but she didn't care, she pressed forward trying to get around his legs.
The helicopter moved from the pad, over the outdoor patio and pool toward the edge of the building. The water of the pool was whipped into waves by the movement of the helicopter blades. Tyson stared up at Claudia and Dante with such deadly intensity she almost felt sorry for Dante. Tyson was going to tear him apart limb from bloody limb.
"Sit down, you fucking bitch," Dante snarled turning to her.
Claudia stared back at him and then made a split second decision that she hoped wasn't the last she would make. She lunged past Dante and launched herself out the door, hoping the pool was deep enough that she wouldn't kill herself. Or possibly hit the edge or go over the side of the fifty-story building, because she never had been good at aiming. Dante grabbed her wrist as she flew past him. Her momentum carried her forward, nearly hurtling her head first out the door.
"Claudia, no!" Tyson bellowed from below.
She stared down at Tyson and reached for him as Dante stood to get his arms around her waist and haul her back into the helicopter. Claudia twisted around in Dante's arms and threw her arms around his neck, surprising him into loosening his grip. Her long hair flew around them, binding them together. She smiled at him, giving him a bloody grin from where he had split her lip and pushed her heeled feet into the seat as hard as she could, launching them both backwards into the air.