I stared into his eyes, my heart pounding, about to punch a hole through my chest. “Come upstairs with me. We can turn out the lights.”
He was still holding my hand, thinking about my request. We stood at the cliff’s edge for the longest minute before he spoke.
“I know you couldn’t care less about marrying Alexandrea Wellington. But she’s our future, Damian. Do you get what I’m saying?”
I nodded. “You’ll only be with me… if you can have her.”
Bastian tucked his bottom lip into his mouth and looked away, staring into the expanse of the bay.
If that were the case, I would need to make Alex fall in love with me. Most women looked at my face and said I was hot. Their attraction made them forget what was right in front of them.
I was a predator.
A hunter.
A killer.
I was not marriage material or worthy of someone’s love.
“What the fuck are you doing?” Luca shouted from the veranda, dressed in a black suit and appearing older than his age. “Are you holding hands? Jesus, fuck. You two are weird.”
Our adoptive brother walked toward us, and Bastian released his grip on my hand. He stood a few feet away, sickened by what had almost happened.
Again.
I rarely touched anyone but Bastian. When I was with women, I fucked them from behind. Another person’s skin brushing mine repulsed me because I knew how it felt cold and lifeless. Only Bastian could put his hands and mouth on any part of my body. Instead of revulsion, I felt an intense desire for more.
“I was just helping Damian get cleaned up,” Bastian said, unable to hold Luca’s gaze.
“Uh-huh.” Luca rolled his eyes. “Sure you were.”
Luca knew our secret. He didn’t care as long as we kept fucking girls and went along with his plans.
Marcello joined us, wearing a suit, his usually messy black hair slicked off his forehead. Younger than Luca by eighteen months, he had the same jaw, Roman nose, and dark blue eyes. Where Luca was lean muscle, Marcello was built like a boxer.
“Wellington and his stupid fucking heirs will be here soon,” Luca hissed, his tone laced with venom. “I hate her already, and I’ve only seen pictures of her.”
Alexandrea Wellington was the prettiest girl I had ever seen. If you overlooked how malnourished she was in her pictures, she was a real knockout. She was so pretty and perfect, the kind of girl I wanted to taint just so she was dirty like me, dirty like us.
“If you have to marry her,” Bastian said, “at least Wellington’s granddaughter is hot. You don’t have to like her to fuck her.” He grabbed his dick over the front of his pants and groaned. “And she’s a virgin. So if you don’t want that tight pussy, I’m taking her cherry.”
Alex’s grandfather was giving her a choice between us. It would fuck over our family if she picked Bastian or me. Yet, I wanted to sabotage everything to have him… and Alex.
“I have a better idea,” Luca said with a mischievous grin. “I want the three of you to do everything I would have done to her.” His eyes flicked between us. “Torture her. Make her scream. While I watch.”
I killed people.
Luca hurt people.
Bastian saved them.
Marcello protected them.
Luca and I were the most fucked up, beyond deranged and not quite human anymore. Our souls were black and tainted by our past traumas and the sins we committed to help us heal.
While I felt something for Bastian, Luca felt nothing for anyone. Losing his mother left a gaping hole in this family and his black heart.
“Don’t mess with Alex,” Marcello said, always the peacekeeper of the group. “She’s had a shitty life. This isn’t her fault that she has to marry one of us.”
