Sex & Mayhem 04 No Matter What (39 page)

The man’s dark
eyes burned like two hot coals, and when he bared his teeth with a
predatory grin, Ghost didn’t regret a thing. He would
not
let this man lay a finger on Luca, ever again.

Antonio
snorted. “Really? Go home, little boy, while you still can,” he
said, taking a step toward the dropped gun. “I’ll pretend that
didn’t happen and forgive Luca this one last time.”

All Ghost
needed to do was keep the fucker occupied until Tooth came. Then
they could overpower Antonio, handcuff him and… do something. He
didn’t have time to think it through further.

“You’re never
fucking touching him!” Ghost yelled and threw himself at Antonio,
fists first. The man-beast grabbed him by the head, unexpectedly
spinning around. Ghost already felt gravity pulling him away, but
he held on to the fucker for dear life. They crashed into the green
table, which crumbled under their combined weight and sent them to
the floor. Antonio punched all air out of Ghost’s lungs, but Luca’s
searing scream kept Ghost focused.

Ghost had never
been in a fight of this sort, but he was in survival mode right
now. Waiting for Tooth was becoming hard when every half a second
in this fight could mean Antonio sticking his fat finger into
Ghost’s eye socket, or knocking out his teeth.

Ghost rasped
for each breath, grabbing the wooden leg to push a part of the
table onto Antonio’s head, but Antonio pulled away, turning and
squashing Ghost into the floor. There must have been some sort of
glass, because a piercing pain stabbed his back once he landed on
it.

Something
rumbled against the floor where Ghost touched it with his ear, but
with his mind hazy from the blow, he only reacted when Luca
screamed “Left!”

He moved his
head, only to see a scratched dumbbell hit the floor so hard the
wood dented slightly.

He grunted in
panic, but all he managed was to hit Antonio’s face with his elbow.
He realized why he was so bad at fighting like this. It wasn’t just
Antonio’s weight or experience. Antonio was ready to kill him,
smash his head in with that dumbbell, or shoot his brains out if he
could reach the gun. Because Ghost was fighting for time, not for
life or death, he’d already lost.

Antonio groaned
something in Italian, and the sharp pain in Ghost’s back kept
shifting with whatever was stuck in there. Ghost held on to
Antonio’s thick wrist, trying to keep him from grabbing anything
else, but that seemed to be the least of his worries while Antonio
still had the goddamn dumbbell in his hand

Ghost grabbed
it with both hands to keep it from smashing his face in, but it was
a fight against both Antonio’s strength and the weight of the
dumbbell itself. Antonio smashed his bare fist under Ghost’s jaw so
hard it felt as if Ghost’s teeth crumbled from the impact of it.
The punch also threw Antonio off balance, and Ghost managed to send
the weight to the floor. He pushed himself up, rolling on top.

Focused on
pushing away the dumbbell, Ghost hadn’t noticed Antonio grabbing
something else entirely. The skipping rope seemed completely
innocent until Antonio pushed Ghost back to the ground and pulled
it around Ghost’s neck. He began gasping for air, desperate to push
away the rope, but even Antonio’s red sweaty face was becoming
blurry.

“No, Antonio,
please! Please, you don’t need to do this! I’m gonna go with you!”
yelled Luca, a dark shape barely visible above Antonio’s shoulder.
Each rattle of handcuffs against the radiator was like thudding on
Ghost’s brain. For him to get a grip. To think. To act.

Antonio bared
his teeth, tightening the hold on Ghost’s neck. “I’m gonna fuck him
on top of your damn corpse!”

It wasn’t about
time anymore. If he didn’t make it, he’d be dead, and Luca would be
taken away by Antonio. Raped. Beaten. Dead.

It
was
life or death.

Ghost patted
the floor around him, desperate for something to grab. Whatever it
might be. Ghost’s fingers curled around what had to be a pen or
pencil as black spots began appearing in front of his eyes. He made
sure he was aiming with the pointy bit, and stabbed it straight
into the side of Antonio’s neck.

And right away,
the hold on Ghost’s neck eased, Antonio’s eyes went wide, and he
choked up, trying to grab the tool. Ghost pulled it out, and the
small wound exploded with blood, spraying Ghost with the thick,
coppery liquid.

Antonio grabbed
the side of his neck in an attempt to stop the bleeding. He tried
to get to his knees, only to fall on top of Ghost, twitching and
coughing as he fought for breath. Ghost screamed, and stabbed
Antonio’s neck a few more times, trapped under the bulky body,
which shuddered, choking him with not only its weight but also the
mixture of the coppery odor and some heavy cologne.

Luca was
screaming his name, but Ghost was paralyzed under the massive body,
which was stirring over him every time Antonio tried to get up and
failed, unable to stand up in the slippery pool growing around
them. His blood was on Ghost’s lips, in his eyes, in his damn nose,
and soon, it was all he could sense.

It wasn’t just
Antonio going through his last trembles, Ghost was shaking under
him, both numb and completely on the edge. He’d seen many dead
bodies, but not this way… Not dead by his hand. He couldn’t
breathe, with another man’s blood drowning his lips. He pushed on
Antonio’s shoulders, but the body was too heavy, his arms too
weak.

“Ghost, you
okay? Ghost!” Luca’s voice was trembling, but the heavy thud of
boots in the background was confusing Ghost even further. Then, all
of a sudden, the weight was lifted off him, and he saw Tooth’s
scowling face.

“Fuck,” growled
Tooth. “You hurt?”

“I― I… I don’t
know… I think…” Ghost was completely shattered, not even sure if he
was crying, or if it was blood dripping down his face.

Tooth let out a
growl and pushed his hand into the pockets of the now-immobile
body. When he finally pulled out a tiny key, his hands were tinted
with blood.

“For fuck’s
sake,” he muttered and handed the key to Luca, who stared at them,
paler than Ghost had ever seen him. His skin sported a sickly
purplish shade.

“Oh... G-god,”
he whispered, trying to open the cuffs with trembling hands.

Ghost would
have loved to hug him if his own legs weren’t made of
marshmallow.

“I think
there’s something in my back.” Ghost rolled over to his stomach,
and the pain of it hit him again. “He’s dead, isn’t he?” he
whispered and closed his eyes. He never meant for it to happen.

“Yeah, and now
we’ve gotta deal with the fucked-up owner of this dead mongrel,”
hissed Tooth.

Ghost felt a
sharp pang, and the pressure in his flesh was gone when Tooth
removed it with ease.

Luca fell on
him, his warm arms pulling Ghost tighter against that beloved body,
bringing a scrap of purpose to this horrendous act. At least Luca
was safe now, and that bastard would never lay his dirty hands on
him again.

“I just wanted…
to win some time,” Ghost uttered and tried to pull away. “I’m all
dirty…”

Luca only
tightened his embrace, shaking as he molded his body against
Ghost’s. “You crazy, crazy man...”

“I couldn’t let
you do this. You deserve better.” Ghost closed his eyes, trying to
regain some sanity.

“Go get cleaned
up somehow. No one can see you like that,” hissed Tooth, walking
around, assessing the situation.

Luca was
frantically kissing Ghost’s face but pulled him up. “Come... come
on, baby.”

Ghost rubbed
his face with his sleeve and sniffed. “I won’t let go of you,” he
whispered, following Luca out of the room. They were walking so
tightly together it was getting difficult to move, but neither of
them wanted to let go.

Luca swallowed
hard so close to Ghost’s ear he could hear it. “Frederico will go
fucking mental... what’s gonna happen to us?”

“I don’t know…
I just― I didn’t want to kill him.” Ghost actually found the chill
outside refreshing. It helped him breathe. “Let’s see if he has
something in his car we can use to clean up. Did he hurt you?”

Luca looked
away, tightening his hold around Ghost. “No, you made it on
time.”

Ghost gave Luca
a hug, but yelped when something fell next to them with a hollow
thud.

Antonio’s wide
open eyes stared at him from the ground.

“What the fuck,
Tooth?” Ghost yelled, looking up into the window from which Tooth
had tossed out the body.

Tooth spread
his arms aggressively. “You want me to get that shit on me, too? I
have to fucking scrub the floor here while you shower!”

Luca led Ghost
away, and his steps weren’t much steadier than Ghost’s. His breath
was coming in shallow gasps, but the way he was holding onto Ghost
spoke volumes about how he needed the assurance of his
presence.

“You saved me
again,” whispered Luca.

“I will always
be there for you. No matter what.” Ghost walked with Luca to
Antonio’s car, trying not to think of the man he’d murdered. He
could still taste his blood.

Luca exhaled
and untangled himself from Ghost’s arms, only to face him. “I love
you forever... and if that’s what you want, I’ll go with you
wherever you want to go.”

“You got no
choice now, do you?” Ghost let out a raspy laugh, but he knew it
sounded a bit desperate.

Luca gave him a
weak smile and pulled on Ghost’s cut. “We need to take all that
off...”

Ghost nodded
and they walked over to the car. After rummaging through a suitcase
with Antonio’s things, they found a towel and two bottles of water
Antonio would never need anyway. There was also money and a
computer much more expensive than any of them owned, but taking
anything appalled them both.

Luca had Ghost
sit on a concrete block, naked, and scrubbed him with the sparsely
wet towel. It wasn’t a caress, but at least Ghost could close his
eyes and pretend it wasn’t to remove blood out of his hair.

“Please, don’t
ever leave me,” he whispered and opened his eyes, because every
time he closed them for longer, he saw the pencil drowning in
Antonio’s neck.

Luca pressed
his lips together. At least color was back in his face. “I won’t. I
swear.”

“No, you need
to press the green button first,” said Tooth, pulling Antonio’s
body over the dirt. He was talking into the phone he was holding
with his shoulder.

Ghost watched
Tooth, unmoved by death, efficient in dealing with a body while
calmly telling his boyfriend how to use the new TV. Ghost would
never truly be a part of this. Whatever ‘this’ was.

Much later,
when they were finally done, Luca gave him a clean tracksuit taken
out of Antonio’s suitcase, and sat with him, pushing himself
against Ghost’s body with desperation. It was clear nothing would
ever get them to part. Not the Villanis. Not the Coffin Nails.

Forever, no
matter what.

Ghost:
Hi, I’m
back.

Zara:
!! How are
you feeling? Will you be okay? :(

Zara:
I was so
worried I couldn’t sleep.

Ghost:
:* I’m
all right. Doctor says my arm should fully recover.

Zara:
I wish I
could be there for you right now. Are you in pain?

Ghost:
It stings
a bit, but I’m busy with this little dog. It started following me
everywhere. Poor thing lost it’s front paw. Sorry I didn’t talk to
you earlier. Couldn’t get any Internet.

Zara:
I don’t
want to worry like that ever again :(

Ghost:
I’m
actually sorry that I’ll be going back to the US soon. It means
I’ll be further away from you.

Chapter 23

Grim grinned at
Luca from across the room. It seemed that having fresh blood on his
hands put him in a better mood. Apparently, Priest had him kill the
two top men at the Rabid Hogs MC in order to teach the other club a
lesson in humility. Luca chose not to think about that too much, as
he suspected even worse was to come after this kind of
retaliation.

After a proper
shower in one of the rooms upstairs, Luca and Ghost were sitting on
the leather sofa in clean clothes, silent and still shocked by what
had happened in the last few hours. But at least they were
together.

When Antonio
had taken Luca, he’d clearly believed he could get away with it.
Luca would be Antonio’s boytoy for the next few months so Ghost
could get his old life back. But Ghost loved Luca enough to want
him back. He found Luca, saved him from more brutality, he’d killed
a man for him. There was absolutely no doubt in Luca’s mind now
that they were meant to be. No coming back from this. He’d been
stupid to leave. He would never tell Ghost that, but while he was
horrified to see Ghost take a life, Antonio’s dead eyes made him
feel warm inside. The fucker would never hurt a soul again.

It was sad to
see Ghost so affected by it though. Ghost held Luca’s hand as they
sat there under Grim’s supervision, but he didn’t say much. The
patched members of the chapter were having a meeting to which Ghost
and Luca were obviously not invited. Luca was pretty sure their
fate was being decided behind the door to the office. He didn’t
believe the Nails would just give them away to the Villanis. He’d
seen enough to know the club protected their own, and while pulling
Ghost in was a stretch, Luca was certain that allowing the mafia to
take them equaled throwing them to the wolves. He was also sure
that the Nails weren’t happy with Frederico dealing with the Rabid
Hogs behind their back. If there was one thing the Coffin Nails
considered a priority, it was respect. Something that Frederico
clearly didn’t have for them.