Page 7 of Made to Sin

I watched as her wide eyes fiercely darted around the room, examining every detail as if she knew the secrets. There was no explanation for why I felt so drawn to her, but my body instinctively wanted to walk closer.

Despite the urge to explore the fascination, anyone that dangerous was not worth it. I angled my head away and continuedtoward the bathroom.

I managed to forget about her for the minutes it took me to clean up. Honestly, it was a bit distracting to think of anything when the pink and brown swirls of murder poured off my hands in rivulets. No matter how many times I drew blood, I hadn’t had it on me since I put down my fists for Glocks. Tonight was an exception when I caught a rat snooping through my personal files.

Just as I was walking back to my table, the luring woman ran straight into me. I held in an amused laugh at the curse of fates. I wasn’t some giant that was easily recognizable through the crowd, but anyone with a little common sense would look at where they were going.

I held onto her waist to steady her, but as soon as I touched the gentle curves, I had to let go. The blood I took warmed my palms, but her heat was comparable to dipping my hands into boiling water. Maybe hell was catching up to me because everything about our interaction burned.

My father would roll over in his grave if he saw how much a woman, a total stranger, was disrupting my discipline. He was far from a good man, but he was a smart one. He knew he would die one day, so he trained me to be his replica.

Since I was old enough to walk, I was forced to train with full-grown Made Men who were commanded to beat me to a pulp if need be. A person could only take so many beatings before growing vengeful. I went ballistic and killed my first man at eight years old.

Still, despite what my father preached and what I let most believe, I was only human. I made mistakes.

Within the ten minutes since I’d arrived, I made at least three of them. My first one was looking at her. The second was not letting her fall. The third was standing there long enough for her to open those pouty, bottom-heavy lips.

The woman pulled one over on me when she said my namein that silky voice, each word pouring out like sin. It was a relief she chose to end it before I did something rash like pinning her to the wall and demanding she say my name over and over for the novelty to wear off.

The thought was impulsively reckless, so I settled for staying quiet and staring at her perky ass when she walked away. It was a low point in my life, but my eyes reacted on their own. I was too busy clenching my fist, fighting the desire to follow through with my original idea.

The ease of her departure didn’t last long because, like the man above wanted to punish me, she swayed her hips straight to my table. Of fucking course, she was the wife of the man who asked me for an alliance days prior. I didn’t need the Camellos, but she solidified why I was going to reject Marco’s offer.

I didn’t think it was possible, but her doe eyes grew twice their size when her husband introduced us. It was the same look my enemies had when they pleaded for their lives.

“Nice to meet you,Katarina,” I said, purposely savoring her name on my tongue.

I watched as she squirmed, sadistically smirking to myself that I was the cause of it. Now that I’d met her, the insane part of me didn’t want to forget her or the fear on her face.

She became its muse and fed into its darkness. It was a miracle I could concentrate on any conversation with her nearby.

The part that got shit done called her a distraction.

In my years of work, the quickest method to rid of any distractions was to shoot it. Unfortunately, if I killed her, it would cause a war with her husband, and bloodshed was the last thing I needed after my father’s death.

“So, Luciano, what are your plans since you’ve taken over? It might be hard to keep up after everything Salvatore pulled. Send my late condolences for your old man,” Carlo Moretti, don of my rivaling family said. The disrespect was dripping from his grinningmouth, but I was grateful for a new topic to think about.

The old fucker had been unsuccessful at trying to take my father down for years, so, like a vulture, he waited for someone to do the dirty work. He got his wish when a supplier with a death wish shot my father after a deal fell through.

I ran a hand down the length of my tie. “Hard to keep up? Wanna send your men for a test run?”

The table shifted into an awkward chuckle as the onlookers fidgeted with something from the napkins to the champagne flute in front of them. Carlo eventually joined, but the veins popping out of his forehead told me he thought it was anything but funny.

“Quick to jump to violence there. I could see the apple didn’t fall far from the tree,” he dug.

Maybe the mention of my father would have hurt if he meant something more to me than a mentor, but he didn’t. Carlo could probe and poke all he wanted, but my father was as dead to me as he was six feet underground. If I didn’t shed a single tear at his funeral, I definitely wouldn’t now.

I smirked. “Guess not. But after researching my father’s ass for so long, you should know us Benevetis also don’t reveal our plans for how we run the family.”

Carlo’s haughtiness faltered at my condescending behavior as I rested back in my chair, lazily sipping my whiskey, daring another person to speak up.

I should have guessed the only one brave enough to speak was none other than Katarina herself.

“Luciano, I believe Carlo is simply asking about the general details since we all share New York, don’t we? It would be a shame if we didn’t know our neighbors. There is no need to assume the worst of his intentions.”

She said my name in that obnoxiously sweet tone to annoy me, and her lips tipped up ever so slightly at my narrowed eyes.

Marco’s red ears and flared nostrils looked like he wanted to strangle his wife, whereas Carlo’s relieved wrinkles looked like he could kiss the ground she walked on. Two very opposite sides of the spectrum, yet I didn’t know which I agreed with more. The woman had no filter, but I couldn’t exactly say it bothered me. If anything, I was impressed by her bravado.

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