Page 2 of Tainted Beginnings (Dark Syndicate 7)

I first saw her when she walked in with her friends. There are four of them sitting at the table. Two brunettes, a blonde, then her. The sexy mermaid stood out amongst the group and this sea of people.

I’m not sure what it was exactly about her that caught my attention. Yes, she’s beautiful. Hollywood gorgeous. And that mid-length, figure-hugging navy dress she’s wearing with those fuck-me heels screams exactly that—fuck me.

There are many beautiful women here, and I’ve fucked even more, but what got my attention was the spark I saw in her eyes when she looked at me. It was brief, but it was there.

She looked away first and was right to. That would have been her innate instincts telling her to stay away from me. All beings have those instincts when faced with danger. Listening to the warning keeps them safe and away from dark creatures like me.

I’m a very bad man, and she looks like a good girl.

She looks like the kind of woman I should never touch. And that just makes me want her even more.

As she lifts her pretty, little head and her gaze collides with mine, I see that spark again.

This time, she doesn’t look away as quickly, and I feel more like the devil I am for holding her gaze and making a point of ensuring she knows it’s her I’m looking at.

We’re about thirty feet apart, but the magnetism of the attraction rippling between us makes it feel like she could be standing right next to me.

I might not have found the man I came to kill, but I found her.

And I’m going to end tonight with her in my bed and those long legs wrapped around me as I pound into her.

ChapterTwo

Tennessee

As heat creeps into my cheeks and races down the length of my body, I look away from the ridiculously handsome stranger staring back at me.

I only looked back because I could feel eyes on me like I did before when I first saw him. I wanted to know if the heated gaze I could feel boring into me belonged to him—it did. I alsoonlykept looking because I wanted to see if he was truly watching me and not someone else. Like one of my friends, my cousin, or the ladies behind me.

After you’ve gone through the type of shit I have, you start to doubt yourself.

Andeverything.

And…every man.

Now that I’ve confirmed he’s definitely looking at me, I wish I hadn’t indulged in the temptation to stare because now I know he’s even more gorgeous than I thought.

And now that I’ve basically eye-fucked him, I’ve embarrassed myself.

It’s just that I wouldn’t have believed a guy like him could be looking at me. There’s no way I’m his type. He looks like the kind of man who would have a

supermodel or some Hollywood starlet on his arm.

Like all the other men here, he looks suave in what can only be an Armani suit. But the way he wears it, so casually and effortlessly, as if he’s in a Davidoff advert, takes the definition of sexy to another hemisphere.

His short, cropped hair draws all the attention to the chiseled features of his face, he’s got powerful shoulders built for the military and a body with the type of muscles that have evidently been through hours of training.

Although he has light hair, I guessed from his olive skin and Mediterranean features he must be Italian, and my God, does he confirm what my aunt Grace-Anne says about European men—that they have this classy passion about them that could melt your panties with one look.

I’m sure mine are barely hanging on to my hips.

God… I am far too worked up, and I need to calm down.

“I saw that,” Bree bubbles, pouring on her Southern accent that’s just a fraction tamer than mine and Georgia’s.

“Saw what?” It’s best I pretend I don’t know what she means.

“You know what,” Quinn cuts in, shaking her head at me while Georgia nods with mischief glittering her eyes.

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