Taken_ A Dark Mafia Romance - Piper Stone Page 0,18

the horrors. A flood of memories rushed into my mind, vile and ugly reminders that my family’s wealth and influence had been built on a sea of lies, a cruel twist of fate. Every family in the closely knit community followed the obligations of the great Council, a group of men who determined who was honorable enough to receive such a blessing, something many in secret called a curse.

Yet everyone followed the ritual for fear of retribution.

And my family was no exception, my father actually admiring the Council members early on. Then something had changed.

“Upon your twenty-fourth birthday, you’ll receive the greatest gift, the Box. Inside, you will find your true destiny in life. This is a great honor and one that is not to be taken lightly. You will be required to honor the contents, including any connections made. If you do not, there will be severe consequences, not only to you but to your entire family.”

The words returned as if from a nightmare.

Only I was wide awake.

The horror was about to begin.

Chapter Four

Matteo

Lust.

I was almost consumed by it, the taste of the luscious stranger still floating across my tongue. The softness of her beautiful skin continued to tingle my fingers, the heat of her body remaining. My cock ached just thinking about her.

“Christ,” I whispered to myself. Since when had I allowed myself to become attracted to any woman that quickly? She was far too engaging, enough so I could have easily swept her away from all this bullshit.

Except I was one of the two stars of the evening. What bullshit.

Anger.

Revenge.

The words had already filtered into my mind more than once. I stood in the wings of the oversized white tent, even more disgusted than when Christian had been in my office. I’d switched from champagne to scotch in an effort to calm my rage. Even the pleasurable and very unexpected meeting with the lovely woman in the greenhouse hadn’t been enough to soothe the savage beast clawing from deep within my gut.

For a few seconds, I allowed my thoughts to drift to the unexpected meeting, the insane connection that we’d had. If only I could choose who I wanted to spend time with.

Yeah, if only.

Everything about her had been unexpected, her brazen attitude and luscious figure drawing me in immediately. She’d even fueled the dominating man inside, my hunger raging to the surface. I’d wanted to take her right there, shoving away the pots and dirt, ravaging her body for hours. I hadn’t cared that guests could find us, spying on our carnal act. The thought of their gawks and cheers made my mouth water.

Perhaps I was more like my brother than I cared to admit.

One thing was certain. I’d wanted to shove my cock deep inside, filling her with my seed.

Claiming her as mine.

I chuckled at my barbaric attitude, the desire that continued to roar through me. She was a mystery girl in her sleek black dress, the silky material barely hiding a creature made from the very heavens. Long legs, a voluptuous hourglass figure, and silky red hair were too much to ignore. She was the kind of woman every man watched from afar, her perfume lingering for hours. I hadn’t looked at a woman in long enough that my longing was off the charts. She was a precious jewel to be trained and dominated.

Owned.

But that wasn’t going to happen, at least not in the traditional sense. I’d been betrothed to someone else, a girl who had no idea what she was in store for. I had no doubt Winter O’Brien would need significant coaxing as well as convincing to play by the rules.

Hell, I would.

My cock ached to the point I was in tremendous pain just thinking about the beautiful stranger. I only hoped Winter was mildly attractive. I rolled my eyes, loathing the ugly thought. What did I actually care what the girl looked like? The arranged marriage was in name only. My name. I had no intention of caring about the woman in the least.

I didn’t need instincts to tell me what to anticipate when the poor O’Brien girl opened the Box. My name would be the one nestled inside, as if placed there twenty-four years before. Bullshit. That wasn’t possible, but only three people knew that was the case.

And we were all family.

I had to wonder if the other two Council members were also in on the decision, condoning the reasons why my name had been purposely placed in the Box.