Born in Blood Collection Volume 1 - Cora Reilly Page 0,244

anything else, so what was stopping me?

“Come on, Gwen. I’ll make it good for you,” he said as he tried to shove his hand into my panties.

I clamped my legs shut and pushed his hand away. I didn’t want him to touch me there. For some reason the idea that he’d be the first to do that made me sick. “I’m really not in the mood. And I’m getting my period,” I said to stop him from bitching around anymore. It was a fucking lie. The stress of the last few months had pretty much stopped me from having much of a period at all.

But he didn’t know that. I just wanted this make-out session to be over, so I could grab my laptop and figure out where to run off to next. Sid would find a new girl quickly. His cute Canadian accent, laid-back nature and dreadlocks were a huge hit among German girls.

He didn’t even bother hiding his annoyance, which in turn really made me want to push him off and tell him it was over. “You’re never in the mood,” Sid grumbled. “Jerk me off at least.”

Anger shot through me at his demand. When I didn’t react, he grabbed my hand and pressed it against the bulge in his pants. Where was the peace-loving idealist now?

With a bang, the door flew open. Before either Sid or I could move, three men stalked in. Matteo was one of them. Oh holy shit.

CHAPTER EIGHT

Gianna

Matteo was first to enter, his dark hair messy and wet from the rainstorm raging outside, his white shirt plastered to his upper body. In that moment, I almost felt silly for thinking I could ever forget him. He was more man than all the guys I’d met combined. His dark eyes settled on me, then on my hand, which was still pressed against Sid’s crotch. There really was no question what he’d walked in on, and his face twisted with fury.

“What the fuck, dudes?” Sid shouted.

“Shut up, shut up,” I wanted to scream. I didn’t get the chance. Matteo crossed the room in a few steps, grabbed Sid by the arm and hauled him off me. Sid landed on the floor hard, face twisting with pain, then anger. Matteo towered over me, nostrils flaring, eyes almost black, and a look in them that made me want to hide. I met his gaze straight on. He wanted to scare me. My fear was something I’d never give him.

Sid stumbled to his feet and almost lost his fucking pants. He must have unzipped them at some point to make it “easier” for me. He headed for Matteo. I jumped to my feet, knowing I had to intervene before things got even worse.

“Get out of this apartment or I’ll call the fucking cops,” Sid said.

God, no.

Matteo sent me a look that made me realize just how dangerous this situation was. Not for me, but for someone who should have never gotten dragged into the fucking misery that was mob life.

“He doesn’t mean it,” I blurted.

Sid glared. “The fuck I do.” For the moment, he seemed to have forgotten about his peace-loving ideals.

Matteo hadn’t pulled his weapons yet. I wanted to convince myself that it was a good sign but a glimpse at the two men with him made my heart plummet into my shoes. They were both my father’s men and they had already closed the door and were standing beside it with expressionless faces. A closed door was never a good thing. Nothing I could say would change their minds because they were acting on my father’s orders. They would do what he’d told them. There was only one person who could help me now.

Sid got right into Matteo’s face as if he wanted to punch him. Matteo didn’t even twitch, only stared down at Sid with the scariest look I’d ever seen in anyone’s eyes. Even without knowing who Matteo was, Sid must have sensed just how dangerous the man in front of him was. Sid took a step back, his eyes darting between Matteo and me. I jerked into motion and stepped between Matteo and him. “He doesn’t know anything. Please, just let him leave.”

My father’s men laughed and one of them murmured something that sounded remarkably like “slut.” Matteo’s expression darkened even further. My father’s men were watching him expectantly. I’d insulted Matteo by running away, and worse by being with another man. In our world there was only one thing a man in