Twisted Cravings (The Camorra Chronicles, #6)

by Cora Reilly

I hadn’t let it. Instead I’d thrown myself headfirst into its depth, had followed the current to the darkest part of my soul. For so long, this day had been my greatest nightmare, a fear beyond measure. But fuck, today felt like a rebirth, like a homecoming to my true self.

My monstrous side had come out to play but the revelry had only just begun.

I had a feeling he could switch from easy-going to ruthless brutality in a heartbeat. A Falcone after all.

“Give me a sec. He’s in the cage with Nevio.” My nephew was only six, almost seven, but Remo and he often trained in the cage, mainly to control Nevio’s outbursts and his hyperactivity.

I kissed her cheek and she beamed up at me. “Thank you.” She was the complete opposite of Nevio: shy, careful and peace-loving.

“Cake before lunch? What kind of anarchy is this?” I asked, sinking down on one of the empty chairs between Fabiano and Savio. “Nevio’s wish. Anarchy is his middle name,” Fina said, rolling her eyes. “My wish too,” Greta said softly. Fina gave her daughter a patient smile. “Yours too, but we both know you always say yes to Nevio’s wishes.” “Not always,” Greta said even quieter. “Too often, mia cara,” Remo said, kissing her temple.

I’d never felt like this: as if a simple look could light me on fire.

His kiss was dominance and fire, and it set me aflame in unexpected ways.

He tasted like sin and darkness, and he could kiss in a way I’d never considered possible.

“I don’t want a fucking fake orgasm. I want the real deal and I’m going to earn it, and you will fucking lose control, Dinara.”

“Stay with me,” he ordered, then softer. “Stay.”

“I want to get to know you better. Not just your body, but your mind, your past, your darkness.”

Pain often followed sweet words and kind smiles.

“Become the nightmare even your worst nightmare fears, Ekaterina,” Remo said

Her closeness called too loudly to me. Getting in bed with the enemy was something he and I had in common.

“What she needs will take you on a path you swore to never wade on. It’s a path all of us Falcones are well acquainted with. It’s paved with blood and death, and once you’ve walked it, no other path will ever suffice.”

Adamo made me want to lose control to him. He made me feel as if I could lose control to him without fear.

Losing control had never felt better.

“Even back then I saw your strength, even if you couldn’t. That you are here today, shows I was right. Maybe you changed on the outside, but deep down you are the same resilient child that survived.”

My body and soul had yearned for it. When I was with Adamo, I rarely longed for the rush of drugs that had haunted me for so many years. He was my drug of choice.

what Remo was offering led into the depth of hell.

“I’m a Falcone. Twisted shit is in my blood.”

With Dinara, I felt as if I could finally reveal this twisted, morbid side of myself.

“It’s not that I hate it or that it haunts me in nightmares, Dinara. I enjoy it too much, that’s the fucking problem. I relish in the act of causing others’ pain, at least when I think they deserve it. I wish it were different, but I’m messed up. And the people on our list, they all deserve it so I’ll have a fucking great time doing it.”

Bloodshed was in my genes. All of my life, I’d fought this craving deep in my veins, had dimmed it with drugs and alcohol, but its call had always been present, an undercurrent in my body that threatened to pull me under.

People finally had a reason for the nickname they gave my brothers and me. The monsters of Las Vegas. My monstrous side had come out to play but the revelry had only just begun.

“And bleed they will, Dinara. Their screams will drive away the ghosts their actions left in your soul.”

“I won’t ever be scared of you.” Her face moved very close until it was all I could see. “Because your monster won’t ever hurt me.”

He loved me fiercely. Recklessly. Definitely foolishly.

“There won’t ever be another day without you in my life.”