Page 27 of Claimed
Everyone ignored me.
Fine. I’ll run during the goddamn ceremony. Right as the Reverand says, “Do you take. . .” I’m fucking out of there.
We arrived at the imposing double doors.
My stepfather’s men opened them.
I tensed.
The grand ballroom was even more breathtakingly luxurious than the lobby. It was a true vision of extravagance. Crystal chandeliers hung from the high ceilings. Large windows let in streams of moonlight. Red velvet curtains draped the walls.
At the center of the room, a long table was adorned with silver candelabras, delicate China, and crystal glasses.
And near it were men and women dressed in elegant gowns and suits.
Large ivory vases of fragrant flowers stood in every corner of the massive ballroom.
Everyone had been chatting and talking, but it all stopped when we entered the room and they turned our way.
Holy fuck.
And despite the beauty around me, more dread coiled in my stomach, tightening with each step that brought me closer to the center of the room where a large man stood, radiating a terrifying power.
But was it even fair to call him a man?
He was a damned giant.
Very tall.
Well over 6’5.
In fact, he could have been seven feet.
He was younger than I thought he would be, early 30s for sure.
His muscular frame was clad in black designer pants that fit him like a second skin. He wore a midnight black suit and a blood-red tie that actually. . .matched my costume.
What the fuck?
The color combination struck me immediately—together, we looked like a twisted pair, a Vampire Ballerina Queen meeting her Mafia Devil King.
Is that. . .Gianni? No. It couldn’t be.
I swallowed hard.
Vito loosened his hold on me and my stepfather slowed our steps.
And the closer we got, the more I took in his flawless features, the chiseled jaw, the dark black hair that fell slightly over his forehead, and the cold, piercing green eyes that seemed to see right through me.
Even crazier. . .he looked familiar, but I couldn’t place where I’d seen him before.
Still a shiver of recognition slithered down my spine.
This is the Devil of Shadows?
He looked more like an angel.
In fact, I hated to admit it, but for a fleeting moment, I was taken aback by his beauty—the way his mere presence alone notonly commanded the entire room but had my stepfather and even Vito chilling out.
