crunch down the rest of the biscotti, then drain the last of my espresso. My muscles relax, and whether it’s the effect of the baked good or the coffee… Or perhaps, a combination of both, I don’t know, but I feel almost human."So, what are you guys doing here?" I glance between them, "Don’t you have enough work to take care of? Do I need to rebalance the systems and make sure you all get more to do?""Whoa!" Alessandro blinks. "You don’t remember?""Remember what?""You,fratellone,who never forgets a work gig. You don’t remember why we are here?"I blink around at them, "I still remember all my work appointments—""Except why we are here?" Fabian smirks."You guys going to spill it, or what?""May I?" Alessandro glances at the rest of the guys, who nod."Go right ahead," Fabian acquiesces. "Enlighten fratellone,here, about what has slipped his mind completely.""Enough with the f*cking drama." I scowl. "The hell are you guys trying to imply?""That you are right." Alessandro tilts
Violet He left me. Yet again, he hadn’t let me come. Well, neither had he come, to be fair, and then, he’d left. I know because, after I’d gone to my room and showered, I had marched out and back to his room, which had been empty.I had walked down the stairs, headed to the living room, found it also empty. So was the kitchen…. Apparently, he’d left… And he hasn’t returned. Guess he has no intention of coming home anytime soon. I had come to the kitchen, after smelling the coffee and toast and hash browns searing on the griddle, and for a second, I had thought that it was Alessio … But sadly, it wasn’t. I finished my breakfast on my own, and wandered around the house, before finding my way back to the library. I had lingered there, picking out more strategy books likeThe Princeby Niccolo Machiavelli—of course, he’d have Machiavelli in his collection—Meditationsby Marcus Aurelius,A Book of Five Rings: The Classic Guide to Strategywritten by someone called Miyamoto Musashi who had bee
Alessio I yank her even closer and she digs her elbow into my side. My body nstantly jerks in the need of her . Hasn’t she realized by now that any hint of violence from her only turns me on? Maybe it’s why she’s tried to kill me twice, and both times, the connection between us has only grown stronger. What the hell? Why hadn’t I realized this before? That the more she tries to hurt me, the more I want her. The more she wants to push me away, the more I need her. The more she tries to prove to me that she can do without me…the more I want to imprint myself on every pore of her body. "And you are—?" Beauty holds up her hand. "Leaving," I snap at the same time that Nikolai walks around the table to take her hand in his. "Very pleased to meet you…" He tilts his head. Beauty laughs. "Violet" she murmurs, "call me Violet." "A fitting name for the woman who has brought the Capo to heel." He kisses her fingers and every muscle in my body goes on alert. "Relax, Capo," Nikolai drawls, "
Vilet The ring, which had refused to come off my fingers all this time, had finally slipped off in there. Maybe it was a sign that he’s right? Maybe I had been wrong to come back for his fake funeral?He had written 'whore' on my skin, and I guess he really meant it. He doesn't really want me. In fact, he’d rather let me go than admit that he feels something more than hatred for me. Hell, thestronzois half in love with me. Only, he doesn’t want to admit it. And hell, if he hasn’t converted me to using Italian words in my vocabulary in a matter of weeks. I have only known him for a fraction of my life, and already, it feels like he is a part of me in a way that nobody else has ever been before. Why am I still so attracted to him? Someone who is a psychopath…and a criminal…probably, a murderer.I draw in a breath and my lungs burn. I stomp down the steps of the nightclub, past the bar on the ground floor that has two bartenders restocking the shelves behind the bar. I reach the door, p
AlessioDamn it ,I shouldn’t have let her go. I snatch up the ring that she had flung down on the table. I close my palm around it and the edge of the diamond seems to bite into the flesh of my palm. Shi*, what was I thinking, letting her leave like that? I slide the ring inside my pocket, then pull out my knife and flip it, catch it by the handle. I stare at the polished blade. The edge of which I had sunk into her skin when I had carved the mark of my possession of her.Was she right? Did I do that because I wanted to own her? To make her mine. To have her as my wife to cherish, to protect, to love… No… Not that. I am not capable of that emotion. No, my feelings for her are already way more complex than that. If I had asked her to stay, if I had given in to the temptation she is... In that gorgeous dress which had clung to her like a second skin, outlining the thrust of her breasts, the curves of her hips, and pulled tight across her thigh... I would have never been able to let her g
Alessio I fold my arms across my chest, "I am going to find whoever did this, and when I do… I am going to destroy their entire bloodline. Every. Last. One of them."Neither Fabian nor Alessandro contradict me."There are only two gangs who would dare do this," Massimo murmurs. "It can’t be the Bratva because we’ve struck a deal with them. Which leaves—""The Kane Company." I roll my neck from side to side "Would they dare come right into my territory and do this?""They attacked you on your turf." He’s referring to an incident a few months ago when four unarmed men had attacked me. I had managed to overpower them, and even brought two of them in for questioning. One of them had swallowed poison and died, the other, I had knifed. We hadn’t gotten much from either of them, but it stood to reason that it was the Kane Company who were behind both incidents."They are the only ones with enough gumption to attempt something like this."Alessandro scratches his chin. One of his eyes is h
VioletI squeeze my eyes shut and prepare for impact. I crash into something hard. Solid. The shock smashes through my system. I groan. This is not going to be pretty. Am I going to look like one of those people who jump from a height and ends up splattered over the sidewalk? Not that I have seen any in real life, thank God… But I have seen enough movies to know it’s a gruesome sight.The ground under me moves… Huh? I snap my eyes open, stare down into blazing blue eyes. Gone is the coldness, the remote look he had worn when I had last seen him. This man is angry…livid with the kind of rage that vibrates off of him and slams into my chest."You jumped." he growls, "you f*cking jumped.""It was only from the second story, besides I…I didn’t have a choice."Debris rains down on us and Michael steps aside, his movement so graceful I can only blink as he stares up. I don’t take my gaze off of his beautiful face as he growls, "Who the f*ck is up there?""One of the men who kidnapped me."His
VioletI squeeze my eyes shut and prepare for impact. I crash into something hard. Solid. The shock smashes through my system. I groan. This is not going to be pretty. Am I going to look like one of those people who jump from a height and ends up splattered over the sidewalk? Not that I have seen any in real life, thank God… But I have seen enough movies to know it’s a gruesome sight.The ground under me moves… Huh? I snap my eyes open, stare down into blazing blue eyes. Gone is the coldness, the remote look he had worn when I had last seen him. This man is angry…livid with the kind of rage that vibrates off of him and slams into my chest."You jumped." he growls, "you f*cking jumped.""It was only from the second story, besides I…I didn’t have a choice."Debris rains down on us and Michael steps aside, his movement so graceful I can only blink as he stares up. I don’t take my gaze off of his beautiful face as he growls, "Who the f*ck is up there?""One of the men who kidnapped me."Hi