Born in Blood Collection Volume 1 - Cora Reilly Page 0,214

I decided to ignore Matteo for the rest of our dance, hoping that my body would do the same, but then the bastard started moving his thumb back and forth on my back, and every nerve ending in me seemed to jerk to life.

I wanted to kiss him, and not just to spite my father and every other male in our world who thought it was okay to keep women on a leash. I wanted to kiss him because he smelled delicious, and that was exactly the reason why I needed to get away from him quickly.

Sadly, Matteo seemed intent to drive me crazy, because after our first dance he managed to steal two more dances from me, and to my utter annoyance my body didn’t stop reacting to his closeness. I had a feeling he knew, and that was why he kept stroking my back ever so lightly, but I couldn’t ask him to stop without admitting that it was bothering me, and somehow part of me didn’t want him to stop.

It was almost midnight when people started to shout for Luca to bed Aria. She didn’t manage to hide her panic. When she stood and took Luca’s offered hand, her eyes met mine but then Luca was already leading her away, followed by a crowd of shouting men. Anger surged through me. I pushed to my feet, determined to follow and help her. Mother gripped my wrist, jerking me to a stop. “This isn’t your business, Gianna. Sit down. Aria will do what’s expected of her and so should you.”

I glowered at her. Wasn’t she supposed to protect us? Instead she watched without a flicker of compassion. I wrenched away from her, disgusted by her and everyone around us.

Father stood beside Salvatore Vitiello, who shouted something that sounded like “We want to see blood on the sheets, Luca!”

I almost tackled him. What a bastard. New York and its sick traditions. Despite Father’s warning glare, I turned and followed after the men. Luca and Aria were almost at the house, and I had trouble fighting my way through the male guests to get to them. I wasn’t even sure what I was going to do if I reached them. I could hardly pull Aria into our shared bedroom and lock the door. That wouldn’t stop anyone, least of all Luca. That guy was a beast.

A few of the men made lewd comments in my direction but I ignored them, my eyes firmly focused on Aria’s blonde head. I’d almost reached the front of the crowd when Aria disappeared into the master bedroom and Luca closed the door. My breath caught, worry and anger taking center stage in my body.

I was wavering between storming into the bedroom to kick Luca’s ass and run as far away as possible so I didn’t have to hear what was going on behind that door. Most of the male guests were on their way back outside to resume drinking, only Matteo, who was shouting disgusting suggestions through the door, and a few younger Made Men from New York were still around. I backed away, knowing there was nothing I could do for Aria, and hating it more than anything else. So often in the past Aria had protected me from Father, and now when she needed protection, I was unable to help her.

Instead of returning to the party, I decided to go to my bedroom. I wasn’t in the mood to face my parents again. I’d only get into a huge fight with Father, and I really didn’t need that on my plate today. Before I could head down the corridor toward my room, two guys stepped in my way. I didn’t know their names. They weren’t much older than me, maybe eighteen. One of them still sported some baby fat and acne. The other was taller and looked like more of a threat.

I tried to sidestep them but the taller guy blocked my way. “Piss off,” I said, glaring at the two idiots.

“Don’t be a killjoy, Red. I wonder if you are red down there too?” He pointed between my legs.

My lips curled in disgust. As if I hadn’t heard those words before.

The acne guy snorted with laughter. “We could try to find out.”

Suddenly Matteo was there. He gripped the tall guy in a headlock and held a sharp long knife to the guy’s crotch. “Or,” he said in an eerily calm voice. “We could try to find out how long it takes