caress up and down her body.
Marking.
Claiming.
Making her mine.
Until she begged me to stop.
I wouldn’t.
I couldn’t.
Years of pent-up sexual tension would do that to any man, and I was no different. She had the power to bring me to my knees if she sought it out enough. I refused to allow her to come in between my brother and me.
Even though I wanted her more than anything and anyone.
“Eden.” I gestured for another drink. “We started without you.”
She reached around me, grabbing the shot from the bartender. “You always do. I’m no longer surprised. So what are we celebrating?”
I slowly turned, keeping my eyes locked on hers. Fighting with the urge to glance down her body. Eden demanded respect, attention; I’d never treat her as if she was just another victim of my charm.
She was different.
Immune.
Not interested.
She loved me, but not in the same way I did her. Hence, the fucking knife in my thigh senior year. Saying some shit about dying rather than hooking up with someone who used scratches on his bedpost as a way to climb to the top.
There was a joke in there somewhere about being on top, spewing out of my mouth, of course. The way she was looking at me had my mind lost in its own thoughts.
Tristian must have noticed. He cleared his throat next to us, simply saving my ass. She’d hit me; I knew it. It was one of the things I loved the most about her.
She was feisty.
Bitchy.
Always needing to have her voice heard and be put in her place.
Hence, why I made her cry often. Despite her dramatics and fucking temper tantrums, she always came back for more. I had that effect on women.
You want to know how to keep their panties wet and under your demand and control without them even knowing it?
Piss them off.
Ignore them.
But always do it with a grin.
There you go, you’re welcome.
Bringing my focus back to him, Tristian stated with pride in his tone, “Your father and the Capo just made this asshole his captain.”
Despite desperately longing to go from associate to made man, he didn’t have it in him. He was The Famiglia’s accountant, for fuck’s sake. All he saw was the glory behind the bloodshed. Men praising each other for the mentality of kill or be killed.
He never saw the lonely nights.
Showering the blood off your body.
Burning yet another suit because to keep it would criminalize you.
He didn’t see the demon I saw in the mirror every day, and I would die before letting him see just how much this life stole from you… bit by bit.
Piece by piece.
Until you were nothing but…
A soulless devil.
CHAPTER TWO
“We stop looking for monsters under the bed when we realize they’re inside us.” —Joker
Romeo
“He did?” Eden’s eyebrows furrowed, standing by the bar. “But…why?”
I placed my hand over my chest, feigning offense. “You wound me, fair maiden—”
“Oh, shut up.” She waved me off. “I mean you’re pretty, and I’m sure with all your experience you know how to tie a good knot or pretend to strangle someone, but come on, you barely have ten kills under your belt and—”
“Fifty-seven, but who’s counting?” I corrected. “It’s just a number, right? Double it, and it’s probably how many women I’ve fucked.”
She winced, quickly recovering. Knowing it didn’t matter, I saw it.
I saw everything.
Particularly when it came to her.
“I think it’s time to get extremely drunk. You in?”
She was still gaping at me like she didn’t even know me. Obviously, blown away with how many enemies I’d killed, or maybe it was how many women I made come on my cock. Either way, I needed to get away from her shame, and her judging stare burning a hole in my body.
“I’m gonna hit the restroom. Be right back.” Tristian, the fucking traitor, nearly ran in the opposite direction taking down an elderly couple in all his haste. He hated confrontation; again, he was just an accountant, for fuck’s sake.
I sighed and gazed after him. “Zero tact.”
“Absolutely none.” Eden shrugged. “It’s why he’s so charming.”
“Wait, him?” I pointed in the general direction of the bathrooms. “My older brother? Charming? Are you already drunk?” I pressed my hand to her forehead only to feel the prick of a knife against my favorite part of my six-pack. “Do it, I dare you.”
“I’ve done it before.” She jerked her hand away and sighed. “And yes, if you must know, I think he’s charming. He’s—” she lifted a shoulder in a weak shrug “—he’s different, you