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Wickedly Twisted 31
We laugh together and some of my nervous energy clears up, but that doesn't last long, because another small crowd of made men enter in a rush, followed by a tall Greek girl in a white blouse with dark wide-legged pants and perilously high heels. She stands looking around like a goddess straight from Mt. Olympus until she spots me and smiles.Helen walks over and waves hello. Eros's sister looks like him, but not as big, and her features are softer and much more feminine. "Hello, Cara," she says and glances at Ophelia. "You're the owner's daughter, correct?""Uh, yeah, hi," Phel says. "You're Helen Khazan."Helen laughs lightly. "The one and only. Mind if I steal Cara here for a second?""Please do." Phel gives me a look that means I'll be talking about this with her later."Tell your dad I'll be back soon," I say even though I'm sure Demetrios would gladly let me close the entire diner down if I asked him to.I follow Helen toward the back where her security entourage cleared some ro
Wickedly Twisted 32
ErosI step over broken glass and the smell of burned wood and scorched plastic fills my nostrils. Lycus moves behind me, and several of my most trusted soldiers are spread throughout the building."When did this happen?" I ask quietly.Lycus grunts as he picks up an expensive bottle of whiskey, the bottom cracked and the insides already leeched out and likely burned. "Last night," he says. "Fire company got here but by then it was too late."I clench my jaw and nod. The club is blackened and ruined, the central bar a pile of charred and destroyed wood. I can barely make out the shape of the place—the dance floor, the tables, the decorations on the walls and the lights in the ceiling—but the scatter of bullet holes near what's left of the DJ booth are unmistakable."I assume the proper bribes were dealt," I say and Lycus nods. "Do we know who it was?""Pavone," he says with gravity in his voice."No doubt about it. Witnesses claim it was four Italian guys.""Only four?" My eyebrows ra
Wickedly Twisted 33
CaraI'm standing on the balcony looking out at the lake when Eros comes home. The sun's setting over the water and the colors sparkle with the waves, and I force myself to turn away and meet his gaze."Always beautiful," he says, staring at me and not at the water.I feel myself blush. "How was your day?""Uneventful." He joins me at the railing. "The Italians are making noise, but nothing I didn't expect.""Really? Are you okay?""We're fine. You worry more about yourself." He glances at me. "I haven't spoken to you much since dinner. Are you holding up okay?"I grimace slightly and stare down at my hands. I'm not sure how I'm feeling—it's really hard to piece it all together. He tried to warn me that things would be difficult, but I didn't really believe him, not until Anissa was standing there calling me a piece of trash to my face at least."Your sister visited me today at work."His eyebrows raise. "Really? She set foot in that little diner? Amazing."I give him a look. "Why do
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CaraI'm a nervous wreck all the next day at the diner. I keep thinking about Eros, the paperwork, becoming the Greek crime lord's wife, everything that goes along with my new position in the world—and it scares me half to death.But it's better than being out on the street with nothing but a pair of expensive vintage sneakers to my name and a violent, angry ex-husband trying to hunt me down.I keep catching looks from the made guys hanging around. I'm not sure if they know what's happening tonight, but I keep wondering if they're going to come up to congratulate me. Instead, they remain silent, keep their distance like always, and I'm left alone with my anxiety."You okay, girl?" Phel asks midway through the afternoon, once the lunch rush is over. "You've been jittery all day.""It's nothing, I'm fine." I give her my best smile. It feels completely false.Phel leans against the counter, eyebrows raised. "Ooookay, right, so what's up? You look like you're about to vibrate out of your
Wickedly Twisted 35
CaraThe coffee is warm and strong. It tastes good as I step out into the alley behind the diner. There isn't exactly fresh air since the dumpsters make the whole place smell faintly like garbage, but at least back here I can sit down on the concrete and get my head together.I knew this was happening. Marrying Eros was always part of the plan.Now it's real.He protects me from Christopher. I provide him with some legitimacy in his family. It's mutually beneficial—and won't last forever. Someday, maybe someday soon, we'll go our separate ways.But I keep thinking about him, about his hands on my hips and his mouth against mine, his low laughter, the way he spreads my legs. I think of being with him, being with him for real—not for some short time, not for weeks or months, but years, an entire lifetime. Could I be the crime lord's wife? Could I give him children and live in this world?I don't know. It scares me, but it also fascinates me.The power and the drama, the terror and the e
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ErosShe looks so small in that enormous bed as Dr. Kalivas checks her over. The Greek doctor is an old friend of the Khazan family, but I can't stop myself from hovering closely, making sure Cara is completely safe."She'll be okay," the old doctor says and gives me a tired smile. "All she needs is rest.""Are you sure? There's no head injury? No concussion?""No, nothing like that, only minor lacerations. She'll bruise, but I've patched the minor cuts. She'll be okay."Relief floods me. "Thank you, doctor."He nods and leaves the room. Lycus will pay him on the way out.For now, I have eyes only for Cara.She smiles at me, sitting up straight in bed, her hands folded in her lap. "I'll be honest, I thought the wedding certificate signing would be the most eventful part of today."I laugh softly then sit on the edge of the bed. I put my hand on her leg as I stare into her eyes, my stomach a churning mess of desire and anxiety. "The doctor says you're okay.""He's right, Eros, I'm fine
Wickedly Twisted 37
ErosI pace across the basement beneath a recording studio we own on the south side of the city, snarling like a tiger.Hector Constantinou hangs by his wrists from a reinforced steel pipe, blood dripping from his beaten and mangled face, his shirtless torso turning purple from the bruises blotting his flesh.My muscles ache. My fists burn from where the flesh was scraped off, smashing Hector's ugly face over and over. I've been working him for the last hour, ignoring his pleas to stop, ignoring everything but his pain.Hate flows from me like a flood, and I don't know how to stop it.I don't know if I want to.I tilt Hector's chin up and make him look me in the eye. He's a big guy, older, in his early forties. The kind of Khazan family lifer that would've been happy sitting around a diner eating gyros until he died of a heart attack at fifty. Except he ended up here instead."Who ordered it?" I ask him, enunciating each word nice and slow."Zale," he whispers. "Zale set it up." He co
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CaraI stand in my closet, stomach a churning mess, looking at all the dresses hanging on the racks. I move through them, one at a time.None of them are me. They're all expensive, designer, the sort of thing that would cost more money than I've ever had in my life. They're all my size and fit like a dream, but none of them are mine.I close my eyes and try not to think about that big thug Hector pulling me from the alley. I try not to think about Christopher staring at me from the car with that smile on his face.Like he was going to own me again and couldn't wait to drag me through hell."Wear white."I start and turn around. Eros's standing in the doorway, looking at me. He's in a black suit with a dark tie, his hair combed back, looking more put-together than he has in a while."I thought we were keeping it casual?" I ask, my voice shaking slightly. Nerves jangle down into my fingertips. I'm more nervous than I realized."You're the bride. Wear white." He walks to me and brushes a
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