Page 6 of Blood in the Water

I rolled my eyes. “Great. Thanks, Cas.”

Max was an enigma. I had my eyes set on him for years, and if my future was to further the Vero Family legacy, then Max would be the one to do it alongside me. I did not want to consider the possibility that my efforts were over before they even began.

If Max saw me as his little sister, I’d have to make him see I was no longer that little girl. She was gone. In her place stood the woman ready to become a mafia queen. And I deserved an actual chance at his attention.

“I want to eat and then dance all night,” I said as I finished what little champagne remained in my glass and rolled the stem of the rose between my fingers. “I need to put this in water, too. Coming?”

I didn’t wait for his response because I knew he’d follow. He was always there, right beside me, to keep me safe. Tonight would be no different.

But this time, his hand caught my elbow as I started to walk away. He yanked me back against his broad chest, and for the first time, I felt acutely aware of all the strength he kept hidden underneath that suit. His palm grazed down the skin on my arm to rest against the hand that still gripped the rose.

“You’re a woman in my eyes, princess,” Cas whispered against my ear. My mouth went dry as his breath tickled my neck. An entirely unexpected heat bloomed in my body. Something brushed against my cheek, brief, soft, before it retreated. Were those his lips? “You don’t have to prove it to me.”

He let go of my elbow and straightened, running his free hand down the front of his suit.

The way those blue eyes bored into mine left me breathless. I opened my mouth to saysomething—what exactly, I had noidea—but someone slammed into me from behind, their arms wrapping around my middle.

“Leona!” My best girlfriend, Chiara, shouted in my ear. “Happy birthday! I’ve been waiting for you to come eat!”

I blinked and swallowed, still in shock at what Cas just did. Whatever emotion was on his face was once again locked up behind his walls. Quickly, I turned around to return Chiara’s hug. “Thank you! Oh my God, I’m starving! Everything smells divine.”

“Let’s go eat then! I saved us a table.” She gripped my hand and pulled, but I resisted.

My eyes flicked toward Cas, and he nodded. “Go ahead, you can eat. I’ll be right there.”

I studied him for a moment, that heat still lingering, before turning and letting Chiara lead me through the party.

3

CASPIAN

She was so fucking beautiful, and I couldn’t do anything about it.

Story of my fucking life.

It had always been her, and me, and him—the three of us versus the world.

The two of them had been joined at the hip since practically birth because their fathers were best friends and sworn brothers in the mafia. But I didn’t join the party until I was ten when Leona saw me living at a park and took me in like a stray cat. Her father kept me alive on the condition that I initiate into the mafia and train to become an enforcer. I didn’t have anyone or anywhere to go, but that day, I chose to live for her alone. I had never been good enough for anything—not a family or care in the world until her. She saved me. A little 6-year-old with a heart too big for her ruthless environment. From then on, I became part of the Family, joining her and Max everywhere they went. Back then, I promised myself that I’d work as hard as possible to earn my place beside her.

But then we grew up, and she chose him.

Even in those early days, I knew I’d never be good enough for her. She was a princess, a beautiful, shining beacon of hopethat my childhood self needed to survive. I was the poor boy who lived in a dumpster with only other street rats for friends. The best I could do was work hard enough to prove my worth and pray that she’d see it one day.

And now here I was, brooding at her birthday party, glaring daggers at any boy who tried to get within ten feet of her. I’d had to intimidate at least five boys from the other mafia families and at least ten of her college friends—that’s all they were, boys. Boys with fearful eyes and weak hearts.

Thank fuck I was good at looking menacing. Nobody dared to breach the invisible wall I’d erected around her.

I chugged another glass of champagne while watching her shake that ass on the dance floor, surrounded by all her closest friends.

Nothing really new. Nothing really exciting. Another day of Cas bodyguarding the princess.

Except that motherfucking dress was driving me crazy. And now thatnecklace,and the way it nestled in between her perfect boobs.

I was fucking jealous of diamonds.

Of course, Max would get her that masterpiece of a necklace. He could give her the world. I could not. I had only joined the mafia for her; I had risen through the ranks for her, and yes, I had earned a fortune over the last five years, but this world was not my blood. Not like them.

Sure, I was fucking good at what I did. I was the best, but between me and Max, he was the prince she deserved. I stopped fighting how jealous I was of him when I was about sixteen. He would take the place beside her, and I chose to stay behind her, protecting her with my life.