PUSHED (Capitol Corruption Series Book 1) Read online

  PUSHED

  by

  Linny Lawless

  Capitol Corruption Series

  Dedication

  To Darice and Zeno Gamble

  PUSHED

  by

  Linny Lawless

  Capitol Corruption Series

  Copyright 2019 by Linny Lawless

  All rights reserved.

  This book is a work of fiction. Some of the places named in the book are actual places found in Virginia, Maryland, and Washington, DC. The names, characters, brands, and incidents are either the product of my imagination and used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or establishments is solely coincidental.

  This book contains mature content and is intended for adults 18+ only.

  Photographer: Eric David Battershell

  Models: Ani and Anna

  Cover Design: Clarise Tan – CT Cover Creations

  Editor: Darice Gamble

  Proofreader: Teri Hicks

  Push

  I’m a dangerous man with a dark soul, and a killer with a depraved taste for blood. I’m in the business of power, money, and corruption in the wicked heart of Washington, DC. They call me Push. Nadia is a like a delicious drug running through my sinister veins. I’ve wanted her since she was just a teenager, but I keep the fierce feelings I’ve had for her at bay. I see fear in Nadia’s eyes when she looks at me. But I also see lust and feel her energy like an aphrodisiac. When her life is in danger, she comes to me for protection. I will keep her alive and keep her as my own.

  Nadia

  I don’t know his real name. Everyone calls him Push. He’s a dangerous and intimidating man, with dark eyes and rugged features. I’m frightened sometimes when I look into his eyes, but he arouses me and I yearn for his touch. My father is a very corrupt and depraved man. My mother died a long time ago and all I have are scattered images of her. The only purpose I serve is to fulfill my father’s greed for money, corruption, and power. I’m given away like a pawn to Lucas Peterson, and he is just as cruel and hungry for power. When my father is taken out by a bullet to his head, I know it was Lucas who ordered it. He wants me out of the picture so he can claim my father’s empire for himself. And the only man I can trust to protect me is Push.

  “Three may keep a Secret, if two of them are dead.”

  Benjamin Franklin

  Prologue

  I was tossed onto my father’s pool table, my arms pinned down above me effortlessly. Monster number one slammed his hand over my mouth. I thrashed my head back and forth, fighting against him, my screams muffled. Monster number two climbed onto the table, and gripped my thighs, spreading them roughly and positioned himself between them. They chuckled as I cried, tears spilling from my eyes. The monster between my legs yanked and ripped my sweatpants apart with his bare hands. I kicked as much as I could, struggling and twisting my body. His sinister smile and fiery eyes focused down between my legs as he shoved his fingers inside me. I screamed out in pain, but the other monster’s hand pressed down even harder over my mouth.

  Warm wet droplets splattered on my face and on the monster’s hand that covered my mouth. I smelled blood but didn’t hear the trigger pull. The hand came away from my mouth. My eyes turned upward to see blood at his temple, his body falling back into darkness. The other monster on top of me didn’t have time to reach for his gun. His eyes went wide as a bullet pierced his forehead. More blood splattered. His dead body slumped on top of me. This time I was able to hear myself scream. Then the heavy suffocating body was lifted off me.

  There he was. Push. Looking down at me, his eyes dark, his brows drawn together. I rose up and threw myself against him, clinging to him tightly, crying and screaming uncontrollably.

  One strong arm came around my waist and another under my thighs, lifting me off the table. “You’re ok, Nadi. They’re dead now.”

  CHAPTER 1

  PUSH

  Nadia was as clean and fresh as I was dirty and stagnant. She walked into Gabe’s parlor wearing flannel pajamas with her hair so blonde it almost white, pulled up into a messy bun. Her petite frame was a breath of fresh air among the tough and imposing men dressed in suits. She was only sixteen. I sat at one of the tables, playing a hand of poker alongside Nolan, both of us with wet, half-smoked cigars hanging out of our mouths.

  “I fold.” Nolan tossed his cards face up on the big round table, stood, loosened his tie and walked away.

  Nadia distracted me from that card game as she walked over to her father and her crystal-blue eyes pivoted to me. She wrapped her arms around his neck, “Can you teach me how to play, Papa?”

  Gabe’s Latino maid, Celia, rushed in through the double doors, “Nadia!”

  Gabe was too focused on the cards he was holding. He leaned away from Nadia, “You know you are not allowed in here, Nadia!” He stood from his chair.

  Celia came to Nadia’s side, “I’m so sorry, Mr. Russo. It will not happen again.” She steered Nadia away, back toward the doors.

  I chewed on the end of my wet cigar, watching her walk away. Her head turned to look back at me.

  Gabe shook his head, his brows scrunched, as he mumbled, “That girl is the bane of my existence…”

  I sensed the coldness Gabe felt for his daughter at that moment, but couldn’t understand why. She was innocent and young, not like the corrupt and depraved men that filled his parlor that night.

  I threw my cards down and stood up, “I fold.” Toking on my cigar, I made my way out the doors and strolled toward Gabe’s kitchen. The lights were on as I entered, and I saw Nadia leaning on the immense island counter, eating a bowl of ice cream with her Latino maid.

  My shoes tapped on the hardwood floor as I sauntered over to one of the grand windows overlooking the backyard of the mansion. Nadia and the maid were deep in conversation, spooning their ice cream as I turned around and leaned against the edge of the counter.

  I blew out a puff of cigar smoke and Nadia turned to look at me, “So why do they call you Push?”

  Celia gasped, “Nadia, don’t speak unless you are told to!”

  Celia feared me. She always did. The side of my mouth couldn’t help but lift in a smirk, “It’s okay, Celia.” I looked at Nadia. Her eyes bright, awaiting my answer. “Curiosity killed the cat, you know.”

  Her head titled, “But I’m not a cat.”

  I smiled, “No. You are not. It’s a name that I chose for myself. That’s all.”

  “Well, I like your name.” Nadia’s smile lit up her innocent cherub face, making that beating muscle in my chest pound hard. She continued to eat another mouthful of ice cream.

  Celia carried her empty bowl to the sink, “Finish up your ice cream and go to bed, Nadia.”

  I climbed into the back of the limo after Nolan around 2:00AM and slid into the black leather seat opposite him. He stared at me then, with a smirk on his face.

  I looked out the window, “What are you smiling about?”

  “I saw the way you looked at Gabe’s daughter. I’m afraid she’s a bit too young, my friend.”

  “I know that. She’s very inquisitive, which I find odd. But that intrigues me too. Most teenage girls are focused mainly on themselves.”

  Nolan laughed, “Just when I think I’ve got you pegged, you surprise me. I never thought a cute young girl would catch your attention, Push.”

  I watched the million-dollar row houses as they blurred past us out the limo window, not responding to him. I didn’t feel like talking. I rarely did anyway and Nolan knew that.

  CHAPTER 2

  NADIA

  It was only 1:00AM, but I had my driver, Mack, take me home.
Well, my father’s home - an immense, four-story mansion in the heart of Georgetown. I had cocktails with my dearest friend, Christina, at the Ritz Carlton. She was there with her current flavor-of-the-month, Jack, a wealthy federal business contractor living in Annapolis, Maryland. They brought along Brandon, a handsome young lobbyist on Capitol Hill. Brandon was touchy-feely. His well-manicured hands brushed along my thigh as we sat in the Ritz dining hall. The drapes were a shimmery gold, with autumn colors of red and brown accentuating the chairs and décor.

  It was getting a bit chilly outside, with fall leaves skittering on the sidewalk as we headed back to my limo. Christina hooked her arm with mine, giggling. “So what do you think of Brandon? He’s a newbie and a rising star around the Hill. He’s got a boyish vibe to him.” She whispered, looking behind us at Jack and Brandon, staggering as much as we were.

  I leaned my head to hers, “Oh Christina. He’s nice. Charming, even. But I think he only wants a chance to get under my dress. That’s it. I’m just not interested.”

  When I stumbled into the main foyer of my father’s house, I realized that I was more drunk than I thought I was. I giggled and hiccupped. My feet were killing me from being squeezed into a pair of black stiletto heels all night. It was sometime after two by then, as the sweet smell of cigar smoke reached the foyer from the huge parlor, closed off to me by two black double doors.

  I staggered toward the wide staircase, my heels clicking on the marble floor. My coordination was non- existent as I made my way up the marble steps, gripping the cherry wood railing. I looked up and there he was. I only knew him by what my father and every man in that parlor called him – Push. I gasped and lost my balance, leaning back farther than I should and was unable to regain my balance. I cried out, ready to accept the fall. But his large hands reacted fast, grabbing my arms and pulling me back to him. My cheek crashed against his hard chest.

  “Be careful Nadia.” The low rumble of his voice made my heart skip a beat. His hold on me was firm, but gentle. I could only imagine what I looked like – a stupid drunk klutz in high heels.

  He steadied me, as I held onto the sleeves of his grey suit. I looked into his dark eyes. They were so intense! I let him go like he was as hot as a flame to a candle. “I’m good!” I slurred, tearing my eyes away from him. God he was so tall!

  He lifted my chin. His brows knitted together. “You’ve been drinking. “

  I leaned away, “Yes I have, Push! I’m not allowed to be here when my beloved father hosts his private parties, remember?” My voice was a pitch too high, and I slurred my words. “And I always come home this way - drunk off my ass!” I hiccupped.

  Out of all the men in my father’s house, I had to slam face-first into him! I had a massive secret crush on the mysterious man ever since the very first time I saw him when I was sixteen.

  He was partners with Nolan Reynolds, another powerful man in the parlor that night. Nolan was tall, dark and handsome with a chiseled jaw, dimpled chin, and brown hair. Some people would mistake Nolan and Push for brothers because they looked so similar. Except Push’s eyes were darker and he often looked as if he was here in the moment, but somewhere else, too.

  I huffed and crossed my arms in front of me. I set my bottom lip into a pout and gave him my doe-eyed look. His facial expression didn’t change. I didn’t affect him at all. He reached for my chin again and held it more firmly. “You’re not a child anymore. Don’t act like one.” He moved away from me and continued his descent down the marble stairs. I watched his broad back in his custom-tailored grey suit, as he walked with a purposeful stride toward the closed parlor doors.

  I climbed and stumbled up the rest of the huge staircase and ran into my room, slamming the door. My heart pounded hard against my chest. I was shaken up by Push’s touch. I had seen him many times before, and he rarely spoke to me directly. Every time he was in the same room as me, I had butterflies fluttering in my stomach just at the sight of him. I feared him. I knew he was dangerous, just like all the people that surrounded me my entire life.

  I remember one night when Push was here with Nolan attending one of my father’s “men only” parties in the parlor. Yes, there were women in that room as well, but they were paid to be there. The familiar scent of cigar smoke wafted from that room, even with the huge double doors closed. I was told to NEVER go into the room. The house maid, Celia, caught me once as I stood in front of those doors, my mouth agape as I peeked through the crack with one eye. It was a very late and chilly winter night and I had school the next morning. I crept down the stairs barefoot, wearing only my flannel pajamas, remembering how cold the floor was.

  “Nadia! Get away from there!” Celia,our maid, berated me with a hushed whisper. I ran and hurried up the stairs, and giggled because no one had seen me as I crept into the huge coat closet to smell Push’s black wool coat. The scent of woodsy cologne mingled with cigar hit my nose like a spinning tornado. I felt tingling sensations between my legs. I closed my eyes and inhaled again so I could memorize the smell of his cologne. I put my hands into the pockets of his coat and felt the leather gloves. I pulled the left glove out and quickly shoved it down into the pocket of my flannel night shirt.

  I ran to my room and climbed back into my king size bed, pulling the thick covers over me. I pulled the black leather glove out of my pocket and smelled it, then shoved it under my pillow and fell asleep with a smile on my face.

  CHAPTER 3

  PUSH

  Strangling a man by wrapping garrote wire around his throat is a gruesome and nasty way to kill. But sometimes wire was a perfect remedy that was well-deserved. My favorite choice for a kill was my custom-made Glock nineteen with a suppressor. Very quiet, and very clean. I liked to kill, when I needed to. And I liked to inflict pain when I wanted to. Inflicting pain for my sexual pleasure was very satisfying. The women who engaged with me knew this, and my relationships were strictly contractual. Nothing more.

  My business partner, Nolan, was the only human being that knew anything about me. We ruled our empire together in this brutal, depraved and corrupt city of the nation’s capital: Washington, D.C. Rich and powerful men of all professions - whether government contractors, politicians, or businessmen- ate right out of our hands. Like leading sheep to slaughter. Our business was in selling to the dark appetites of these men, and at times, women too. Sex, gambling, drugs, kink - Nolan and I fed it all to them. They paid us very well, and so much, that I finally agreed to work with one of Nolan’s trusted lawyers to ensure that my money and business were protected from any federal investigations. Lawyers were probably the dirtiest and most depraved of them all, aside from politicians.

  The business we worked in also required complex technology. Paying tech geniuses to build code for the sole purpose of hacking and shutting down the flow of everything that humans depended on, when it came to the wild wild west of the internet and the dark web. Take that, plus the insatiable appetites of corrupt men, and you had an empire to rule. We had secret partnerships with different families and organized crime syndicates with Russians, Italians, Irish and even the Japanese Yakuza. The Yakuza were at the highest echelon of organized crime, with their strict order and secret code of allegiance and servitude.

  You give a man what he needs, whether it be power, sex or money, or all three. In return, they give you their blood - even their firstborn - to have it all. And we pull or push them like puppets on a string.

  There’s no such thing as legal justice in this formidable world we lived in. The only real justice was our kind: blackmail them, pay them off, or kill them. Power and money could get a man out of a federal indictment, or killed off and never seen or heard from again. Scratched off this world like they never existed, only in someone’s memory. We had the federal government by its throat, and we could have anything we wanted with the snap of a finger.

  My sexual appetites were well fed at The Shadows, the kink club that I owned. It was both a legit business, and my personal playground. I release
d my caged up sadistic side with women who agreed by contract to allow me to inflict pain, pleasure, or whatever I wanted on them. The Shadows was used as a tool to help us gain more power over politicians, businessmen, even local and federal law enforcement. We fed these men and women with sex and sin and they devoured it. Then we used it against them with bribes and blackmail. In this world, we didn’t care which political party a man pledged alliance to - as long as they paid up.

  But all I wanted was Nadia. From the moment I caught a glimpse of her when she was only sixteen years old, I’ve wanted to have her, taste her, touch her. Images of her naked and on her knees consumed my mind. She was innocent and beautiful. Nadia was like an aphrodisiac to me, and my thoughts of her were sexually primal.

  CHAPTER 4

  NADIA

  A solid boulder sank to the pit of my stomach as I walked into my father’s office. I came home drunk again too, but no matter how much alcohol rushed through my veins, making my body languid, the heavy feeling of dread persisted. The double doors to my father’s private office hung open as I entered, the sound of my heels muted on the dark green oriental carpet.

  My father leaned against the front of his desk. The sleeves of his grey button-down shirt were rolled up to his elbows, his arms crossed in front of him with the same look he always gave me. Was it disdain? Revulsion?

  With the wave of his hand he beckoned me, “Come here, Nadia.”

  I trembled a bit, but moved to stand in front of him.

  He nodded to the man sitting in a wingback chair behind me. “You know Lucas. He’s been a business associate of mine for a long time.”

  I didn’t turn around to acknowledge Lucas, because I didn’t like him. All the men that came and went from the house were not good men. They were ruthless and brutal, like my father. And Lucas was one of those men. Lucas must have been at least ten years older than me, with chestnut colored hair and blue eyes. Some women found him attractive, but he repulsed me. Several times over the years I would catch him aggressively ogling me just like the goons who were one step behind him.