Page 5 of Alluring Darkness

Next to me, Rico and Kaden are watching with raised eyebrows as well.

Jace, on the other hand, chuckles and throws an elbow into my ribs. “One of your fucks? Damn, bro, you must’ve really left her unsatisfied.”

“No,” I say.

No, I would most definitely remember fucking someone like this. Confusion swirls through my chest as I watch her straighten again once she’s done. Based on how she looks next to my car, she’s about average height for a woman. But that’s not what caused the confusion inside me.

I narrow my eyes as I study her body.

She looks… soft. Sure, she has a rather slim body. But she also has thighs and hips and tits, which admittedly make her pretty hot, but she doesn’t look nearly athletic enough to be a student here.

“Who is she?” I ask.

My brothers shrug.

By the desk, the security guard flips through some papers. “We got word from the admission’s office that a new student would be starting. I think that’s her, but I can’t find her name right now.”

A new student, huh? At least that would explain why she looks so soft and unathletic. But it sure as hell doesn’t explain why she would stroll into the parking lot and carveSmall Dick Energyinto the side of my car her first day on campus.

“Alright,” Kaden says with a shrug. “We’ll just catch her before school tomorrow then.”

I nod in confirmation, but I still can’t take my eyes off the screen. With stunned disbelief still pulsing inside me, I watch as the girl flicks her long black hair back behind her shoulder and then saunters away.

But just before she disappears from view, she looks right up at the security camera.

And smiles.

I blink.

Who the hell is this girl?

3

RAINA

Only the faint murmur of nurses talking in another room disturbs the silence. Sitting on a chair next to Connor’s bed, I watch the way his chest slowly rises and falls as he sleeps. Then I shift my gaze up to his bruised face.

He looks nothing like me. Dad passed on his straight black hair to both of us, but apart from that, no one would ever guess that we’re siblings. Connor got Dad’s gray eyes and unremarkable features. It’s not an ugly face. Nor a beautiful one. It’s completely bland. The kind of face that people forget the second it’s gone. In other words, the perfect face for an assassin. Our grandfather had the same kind of features. And his father before him too. It’s part of what made the Smith family such a legendary house of hitmen. At least before everything went to hell.

Tilting my head back, I stare up at the gray concrete ceiling and heave a deep sigh.

We used to be rich. And I meanfilthyrich. We used to have wealth on par with what the Hunter family must have, who can apparently afford to buy four of the latest model Range Rovers for their sons without issue. I still remember the extravagant gifts that Dad would always bring home to Mom after he had completed some high-profile job or other.

But that fortune is gone now.

And so is Dad.

Because of one fucking mistake.

I don’t know all the details, since at that point, my parents had been keeping me away from that world for years. But Mom told me that Dad had been hired by the Morelli mafia family to take out some politician. Apparently, Dad made some kind of mistake and everything went to hell. People died, including Dad. Money was lost. And it created one hell of a mess for the guy who had hired Dad for the job.

The next thing I knew, a man in an expensive black suit came to our house with a bunch of documents. I still remember the way Mom’s hand trembled when she signed away almost our entire fortune to him as repayment for the damage caused. It settled the score with the Morelli family, but it left our family on the brink of ruin. Both financially and socially.

And since our parents had declared me too unhinged to become a good assassin, the entire burden of restoring Dad’s legacy and our family name in the eyes of the underworld, as well as saving us from financial ruin, has fallen solely on Connor’s shoulders.

Sadness and guilt twist my heart as I look at my brother’s face again. He never speaks of it or shows it, but I know the immense pressure he’s under right now. And I have never been able to do anything to help him. But that is about to change.

“Raina?”

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