Total pages in book: 62
Estimated words: 58794 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 294(@200wpm)___ 235(@250wpm)___ 196(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 58794 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 294(@200wpm)___ 235(@250wpm)___ 196(@300wpm)
I followed his line of sight around the ballroom and shrugged. “Like I don’t belong here.”
“You have as much of a right to be here as me.”
“I’m not a Cormac.”
Sonny frowned, then raised the glass of amber liquid in his hand to his mouth. “No, unfortunately, Arlo will never see the O’Sheas as one of us. But don’t worry, Rhi. I won’t let the Salvatores touch you.”
If you only knew, I wanted to say. Your best friend touches me in places that would make you want to wring his neck.
Sonny hated how the Founders treated my family. His mother, Savanna Cormac, was my father’s youngest sister. She was an O’Shea, but she had upgraded her status when she married a shipping tycoon and won the jackpot.
Sonny was a billionaire and the heir to a massive empire. My father did well for someone of his upbringing, but we were criminals. And my father didn’t even bother to hide his penchant for violence.
My cousin shoved a hand through his short blond hair and smiled so wide he revealed a set of pearly white teeth. Everyone loved Sonny. It was impossible not to fall for his charms. With his good looks and piercing green irises, I rarely saw him without a woman on his arm.
“I’m not worried about the Salvatores,” I assured him. “They can’t hurt me.”
I stole a glance across the room as I drank from the flute of champagne Sonny handed me. Marcello spent most of his time by his older brother’s side. Luca and Marcello looked so much alike they could have been twins. Except Luca had a permanent cruel look plastered on his handsome face.
Bastian and Damian, the adopted Salvatores, flanked Luca, their gazes aimed at the same woman. They shared the senator’s daughter like she was a toy. Kali Marx flicked her blonde locks over her shoulder, a fake smile in place as she worked the room with her father.
Senator Marx had sold his soul to the Devil to rise to his position, and he owed everything he had to Arlo Salvatore. Most of the people in this room were indebted to Arlo. Even my father was here to beg for his help.
Sonny extended his hand to me. “Care to dance?”
I peeked up at my charming cousin and placed my hand in his. “One dance. And then I’m going home.”
A victorious smirk pulled at the corner of his mouth. “If I do my job correctly, you won’t want to leave.”
I moved my hands to his shoulders. “How do you figure?”
“Because in about twenty minutes, you’ll be having so much fun you’ll forget all about the bored housewives of Devil’s Creek sizing you up like a fresh martini.”
I raised a suspicious eyebrow at him. “What did you do?”
“I might have spiked your drink to loosen you up.”
I scoffed. “Seriously? What did you give me?”
“Just a little something to take off the edge.”
As he whipped me around the room once more, I looked for Marcello, who was no longer at his brother’s side. Instead, I found my worst nightmare.
Even with a silver mask covering his face, I could spot Cillian in a crowd. He stood beside Arlo with a drink in hand, armed with a wicked smirk that made my blood boil. Cillian’s eyes met mine with their usual intensity, and a shiver ran down my arms.
His expression said, You are mine, little one. So don’t you dare think about running from me.
Chapter Two
Marcello
I sat beside my father and Luca at the table at the front of the ballroom. My two adoptive brothers, Damian and Bastian, were on Luca’s right, as usual. From the moment my father took them into our home and called them Salvatores, they were Luca’s shadows. If you saw Luca, Bastian and Damian were never far away.
I sipped the scotch in my hand and surveyed the room. Every July, my father hosted his famous Midsummer Night’s Dream party at the Salvatore Estate. It was the event of the year. The room was filled with influential men who could make or break someone’s future. Everyone wished for an invite, but only those my father could manipulate were allowed to attend.
Servers passed us with champagne and fluffy pastries. My gaze traveled across the room, landing on Rhiannon O’Shea. She moved through the crowd and grabbed a flute of champagne from a tray. I could see a hint of mischief on her beautiful face. A girl like Rhi didn’t fit in at an event like this one.
She popped a tiny pastry into her mouth, washing it down with half the contents of her glass. From a distance, I studied every movement she made, trying not to stare too hard. Only Luca knew about my fuck buddy. Rhiannon was the girl I called whenever I needed to satiate my desires. She was down for just about anything and had never told me no. Sonny would have killed me if he knew about the filthy shit we’d done together. His not-so-innocent cousin was far from a saint.