Page 3 of Hunted Vengeance

Fuck.

Chapter One

COLETTE

I’ve madesome mistakes in my life—although not too many, seeing as my father has kept his thumb on me for most of my life. But one that I regret is losing my virginity to one of my father’s men when I was fifteen years old. I wanted it gone, thinking that if I were to get rid of that pesky thing, it would give me a sense of control and freedom.

It did not.

In fact, all it did was get my father’s man gone instead. I never saw him again after that night. I also never asked about him, either. I assumed that if I needed to know, my father would have told me.

Because that’s the way he was.

I wasn’t allowed to ask questions, I was barely allowed to exist, and if it were something that wasn’t my business, he’d tell me so. I stopped questioning anything a long time ago. My job was to quietly exist and follow orders, nothing more, nothing less.

My father acted no differently toward me, but something told me that he knew what happened between me and his man and that he took care of the cause. He didn’t know that I was the one who came on to him.

It was my one and only time of rebellion. But the result was also what made me shut down and never even attempt to rebel again. I’m sure that was my father’s entire intent. He does love a good mind game. It was the last time I tried to take control of my life… until I met him.

Merrick Steele.

Even his name drips with sex.

I shouldn’t have come on to him when I did. I’ve never done anything like that in my adult life before. Granted, I’m only twenty, but there was something about the man that made me want to trace every part of his body with my tongue.

It wasn’t just looks, but heishot. It was more than just his out-of-this-world hotness, though. It’s the way he carries himself. The confidence he exudes. He isn’t afraid of anything. Not of my father, not of his men—nothing.

When Merrick Steele walks into a room, he is the one in charge—nobody else exists.

When I’m in the room, the biggest difference is that between us, I’m the one who doesn’t exist. I was drawn to him alone for that reason. I felt like if I could have a little piece of what radiated, then maybe, just maybe, I might have a chance at life.

There’s also the simplistic fact that this man is probably the only one who could take on my father and release me from my chains. The only man who could ever free me. And he tried. I give him anAfor effort if nothing else.

Merrick Steele was worth every crack in my heart. He broke every single part of me, too. However, even with that, the few months of bliss and of belonging to him were worth the hell that I’m living right now.

It was worth my father using me as a pawn in his games. Something he was likely to do anyway. I’m sure he has some sort of long-term plan, which is why I’m not with my husband but instead back in New York.

Also, why I’m not in Florida detached from my father’s world the way I used to be. I fucked that up big-time… by fucking Merrick.

My father isn’t just some guy who hired Merrick’s security firm to install door locks and cameras.

He’s more than just a business owner.

My father is Adriano Bellucci.

He’s the head of the Bellucci Mafioso, which originated through my great-great-grandfather in Northern Italy. Venice, to be specific. I’ve never been to Venice, but my father has talked about it enough that I feel as if I’ve lived there for a whole lifetime.

Especially being locked up in either of his homes. Which I am, always. Either in New York or Florida, nowhere else and nowhere in between. Both of his homes are decorated in all ornate Italian art and furniture.

I always wondered why we didn’t just live in Venice. Maybe it would be better to be under lock and key in Italy rather than the US.

But the truth is that I’ve never been out of my father’s control, except when Merrick took me to North Carolina when he was forced to marry me against his will.

Living in Nights, North Carolina, was the first time I tasted a semblance of freedom. I didn’t know that life could be as sweet as it was when I lay beside that man. Sure, he was angry that my father forced his hand, but he never took that anger out on me.

Merrick might have ignored my existence during the day, but I was okay with that because the way he made me feel at night was worth it all.

Every single second.

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