Twisted Bonds (The Camorra Chronicles 4)

Remo’s eyes darted to Adamo. “C.J.”

Adamo shot to his feet. “How is she?”

“Our doctor’s taking a look at her in the Sugar Trap. I’m heading over there now to discuss the matter with the abusive asshole.” Remo’s mouth twisted. “I thought you might want to join me.”

Adamo climbed out of the ring immediately and I followed after him. “Let’s change first. A few minutes more don’t matter,” I said.

Adamo looked like he was going to protest then he nodded.

Twenty minutes later we pulled up in front of our establishment. Adamo was the first out of the car and hurried into the whorehouse. Remo and I followed a couple of steps after him. In the bar area a few whores had gathered, discussing the events. It was still early, and the majority of clients would arrive later in the day when the strip shows began. Still, it wouldn’t do to have the whores gossiping at the bar. That was bad for business.

“Go to your changing rooms, or talk in your back rooms,” I ordered. The women quickly left, not before giving Adamo small smiles.

Jerry came out from behind the bar.

“Where is she?” Adamo demanded.

“In her usual room,” Jerry said, but Adamo was already hurrying in that direction.

Remo shook his head. “Where’s the asshole?”

“I had Snake take him down to the basement.”

“Was he drunk?” I asked.

Jerry shook his head. “He’d only had a couple of beers. I don’t know what happened.”

“Let’s talk to C.J.,” I told Remo.

We headed down the corridor. The door to C.J.’s room was ajar and she sat on the edge of the bed. Adamo touched her shoulder. A doctor was waiting. The hint of cigarette smoke hung in the air and an ashtray with a few lipstick-rimmed stubs sat on the nightstand. We had a strict no smoking policy in our establishment but I decided to cut C.J. slack today.

C.J. turned around when she heard me and Remo enter. One of her eyes was starting to swell, so was the upper left side of her forehead, and her lip was busted. She was also rubbing her neck.

“Concussion and bruises,” the doctor said.

I nodded.

“What happened?” Remo demanded, prompting Adamo to step closer to C.J.

I raised my eyebrows at him.

C.J. released a low breath. “He’s not one of my clients. Lee usually handles him. He pays her extra so he can beat her and humiliate her in other ways.” C.J.’s mouth curled with disgust.

“That’s not part of the services you’re supposed to offer,” I told her.

“I didn’t. Lee did. She needed the extra cash, but she wasn’t there when he showed up so I decided to take him on. I told him in advance that I didn’t do those things and he agreed to book me for the standard.”

“I assume he changed his mind,” Remo said in a low voice.

C.J. briefly glanced at him then down at her hands. “Yeah. Once we got started,” she said, avoiding Adamo’s intent gaze. “He started making demands. I told him I didn’t do backdoor, but he didn’t care.”

Adamo tensed. “Did he force himself on you?”

C.J. shook her head. “He tried. He shoved me against the wall. That’s where I got the bruise on my forehead. He held my mouth so I couldn’t scream. I bit him. He got even angrier and punched me twice. I fell to my knees and bit his dick. That ended everything.” C.J. regarded me and Remo. “You told me I could decide what I did and I don’t do anal,” she said defensively.

“Your choice. I don’t give a fuck,” Remo said.

“Where’s Lee?”

C.J. shrugged. “I haven’t seen her yet. She’s been strange since she returned to work.”

Lee had worked for us in the past but when she got pregnant, we forbade her from working as a whore and she disappeared without a word only to show up again a couple of weeks ago, asking if she could start working for us again.

“What happens now?” C.J. asked.

Adamo crouched in front of C.J. with a bitter smile. “The asshole will pay, I promise.”

Remo smiled darkly. “Oh, he will.”

“I want to do it,” Adamo said at once.

“You don’t have to,” C.J. said immediately, touching his arm. He stood and stepped back.

“But I will.”

“All right, then let’s get this going,” Remo said, already the familiar eagerness ringing in his voice. I wondered why he’d involved Adamo in this. Did he hope this would help Adamo deal with his own torture? I wasn’t sure it would work for him like it had worked for us. Adamo wasn’t the good boy he wished he was but he definitely wasn’t like Remo and I either.

I studied C.J.’s beaten face, the way she gnawed on her lip. “Why don’t you go home? Take a taxi and let Jerry pay it from the cash register.”

I left, following my brothers to the basement. The second we entered the room with the John, Adamo jumped him and punched his face hard. Remo grabbed Adamo and pulled him back, but the eagerness in Remo’s eyes made it clear he fully approved. “Whoa. Not so fast. We need to talk to the gentleman first.”