Page 72 of Made to Sin

I let out a sardonic laugh at the bitter realization.

The woman hated me, and I wasobsessedwith her.

Mamma warned me about women like her. The ones who were so beautiful that they could steal your heart without a warning, and you wouldn’t find out until it was too late.

Well, it was already too late. I could fight it all I wanted, but she was in my head, and I couldn’t seem to stay away. It was only time before the carnal part of me won and took her for good.

Greed ruined a family.

I trained to not be greedy, to be smart.

Yet I was fucking greedy for her.

There was no point in pretending, no point in torturing myself anymore. She was mine, and I would make sure she knew it too.

When she let me stand so close, to touch her, I understood why people prayed to reach Heaven. She made me want to change paths and go on the road to redemption.

Perhaps my soul was as blackened as she said because Heaven felt too good for someone like me. If anything, she was the bane of my existence, the punishment for my sins.

Lust was not my ultimate weakness.

Katarina was.

“SOYOU’RELIVINGWITHYOURenemy now? Your life is a freaking book plot, Kat,” Emily’s said in between bites of her udon.

I rolled my eyes at her insistent nickname for me. I didn’t see the need to shorten my name, but she was one of the limited friends I had, so I made an exception.

We were eating together after our long volunteering shift as tradition. Just because Marco was no longer a part of my life didn’t mean I supported the organization any less.

I had asked Luciano to drop me off to volunteer when he went to work. The people who saw me get out of his car gaped. I wouldn’t be surprised if they knew his status. You would have to be dumb to live in New York and not know about the syndicates.

As they were talking about it throughout the day, I realized I couldn’t hide my life from Emily anymore. Although the others had no bad intentions, I didn’t want our friendship to be based on rumors. And so, I told her my full life story.

I started from how I was forced into marriage to how I was living with one of the most feared bosses in theCosa Nostra. It probably broke some code to talk about the mob to outsiders, but it wasn’t like I was revealing top-secret operations.

“In books, the characters got a happily ever after. My lifedoesn’t feel that happy,” I countered.

She booed at my pessimism. “It’s because you’re halfway through the story. You have to wait for the romantic part.”

“Yeah, if that’s halfway through the story, does that mean my life will end in another few years?”

She scowled. “That’s not what I meant, and you know it.”

“I’m just saying, Kat, this could become something if you let it. Think about it, what scary mob boss goes through this many lengths for a girl he didn’t care about?”

Her words brought weird flutters in my stomach. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I knew she was right. Still, I had a hard time believing Luciano and I could become something more. Marco ruined the concept of Made Men for me, and it would be too soon before I let myself fall for another one.

A fancy SUV pulled up to the curb, interrupting my conflicting thoughts, and I had no doubt it was the driver Luciano promised he would get for me. Not only was the car tinted to the point it was illegal, but the driver that got out was Arnold. He couldn’t be on Beneveti property with a Camello plate unless he had permission. I learned that the hard way.

I wiped my mouth and stood. “My ride’s here. Thanks for the meal, I’ll see you next time.”

“Bye, don’t forget what I said!”

How could I ever?

I rushed my goodbyes to Emily and ran up to the car to greet the old man. “Arnold, I missed you! What are you doing here?”

He opened the back door with a smile. “I miss you too,Signora. I work forSignorBeneveti now. There wasn’t much for me to do for the newSignorCamello, so I quit and came here.”

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