Beautiful Trouble: A Dark Mafia Romance

That word, frustration. It was like she could read my mind.

“You’re still useful. But if you keep pulling stunts like this, then I might change my mind and get rid of you.”

“Would your sister like that?”

I sucked in a breath. “I told you not to speak of them.”

Her face paled slightly. She’d made a mistake and knew it—my rage fired like a kiln.

“I’m not threatening them,” she said quickly. “I just don’t think Penny would be happy if I disappeared.”

“Don’t mention her again.” I reached up and fisted my fingers into Winter’s hair. She sucked in a breath and clenched her jaw. “Do you understand me? Don’t ever speak of my sisters. They don’t exist to you.”

“Why are you so obsessed with them? They’re grown adults. They can handle themselves.”

“You don’t know us at all.” I moved closer, brushing my lips along her chin. I despised this girl so much and wanted her all the same. She was dangerous, and bringing her here might’ve been a mistake—one I’d pay for dearly if it hurt anyone I loved. “Don’t presume you have any clue what Penny or Erin think. Stop pushing, stop acting out. Sit still and be good.”

“Go to hell.”

I moved back and bit her lower lip hard.

She sucked in a shocked breath. I pulled her hair harder, and she groaned in either pain or pleasure—I couldn’t tell, but my cock strained against my slacks, eager to rip free and taste Winter’s incredible body. I kissed her neck, then her shoulder, and before I could take it any further, I released her.

She pushed me away. Her face was flushed, her mouth hanging open in surprise, anger, and something else.

Eagerness. Desire. Need.

She touched her fingers to her swollen lower lip. They came back bloody.

“You asshole.”

“Tell me you didn’t enjoy that, and I’ll never do it again.”

She shoved past, smearing her blood on my suit jacket as she stormed down the hall.

But she didn’t deny it.

I watched her go, heart racing wildly, before I returned to the conference room.

I was distracted, just like she wanted.

But at least I’d been right about Anthony. The Ukrainians were laughing, and he was pouring vodka shots. Hadeon’s smile faltered as I approached the table, but at least he didn’t look like he wanted to murder me anymore.

“I apologize for the delay,” I said, accepting a glass from Anthony.

“Looks like you two got a little rough.” Anthony fingered the bloodstain Winter had left behind. “Anything we should know about? Maybe you got the girl pregnant?”

I gave him a look, but the Ukrainians all laughed.

Even Hadeon.

I smiled at them, forcing the rising bile in my throat back down by swallowing a mouthful of vodka. It burned but eased the knot in my gut.

“We should return to business.”

And with that, I sat down, and we planned.

6

Winter

My lower lip throbbed.

I stared at it in the mirror. The bleeding stopped soon after I got back to my room, but it was still plump and tender and swollen.

He bit me hard enough to break skin.

I couldn’t believe it. That fucking animal.

And worse—

I liked it when he kissed my neck.

The pleasure mixed with the pain and surprise sent a heady dose of endorphins screaming into my skull.

He kissed me.

Or got close to it.

That was the second time he used this strange, messed-up attraction as a weapon against me, and I hated him even more for it.

I hated that he knew I wanted him. And I despised myself for these feelings.

Every time he touched me, it was like I needed to throw my body against his. Like he was a planet and I was a meteor destined to crash into his surface.

When I finally did, I knew it’d be painful and incredible and raw.

But something was happening in this house, and it wasn’t just this war with Roman.

Something with his sisters.

He was protective. I understood that, or at least I could pretend to. I didn’t have any close family of my own, aside from my mom, but she was out in Vegas dealing blackjack to drunk millionaires. We spoke on the phone a few times every month, but otherwise, I was alone in the world.

Which was why Cassie meant so much.

Except she was gone now too.

Darren, though, that piece of garbage monster, had his sisters and his brother. I didn’t understand what was going on between these people, but I got the sense that the Servant household wasn’t normal.

How could it be?

I pulled myself from the mirror and got changed. Provoking him like that wasn’t a good idea. Parading around in front of him in skimpy outfits was only going to make him want me more—and prove to him that I couldn’t control my impulses.

I had to be better. I had to come up with a new plan.

I grabbed the bracelet from the nightstand and reluctantly snapped it onto my wrist as I headed out into the hallway. My two guards detached themselves from the wall nearby and followed. I called them Jekyll and Hyde—the tall, skinny one was Dr. Jekyll, and the muscular, brutish one was Mr. Hyde. They trailed along at a respectable distance as I stomped through the corridors, took the stairs, and pushed through the back door and out into the sunshine.