Twisted Cravings (The Camorra Chronicles, #6)

by Cora Reilly

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.

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

“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.

“You are many things but not a vassal. Sounds like you have ambitions to become a regicide to grab the crown for yourself.” Fury raced through my veins at the accusation. Even when Remo sometimes drove me up the wall, he was my Capo and my brother. I loved him and would rather chop myself to pieces before betraying him like that.

“Adamo’s not the hero in this story. Nor are you or my father. I’ll be the hero in my story.”

Dinara tilted her head. “Are you the wolf in the sheep’s hide, Adamo?” “Do I look like a sheep to you?” I asked, mildly offended.

I tilted my head toward him. “They are the best.” “I need proof.” Adamo cupped my neck, startling me and pressed his lips to mine.

He reminded me of a predator who’d tasted blood for the very first time and had become addicted instantly.

My mind screamed to stay in control and as if Adamo could sense it, he pulled back slightly, his lips still so close they brushed mine when he spoke. “Stay with me,” he ordered, then softer. “Stay.”

his eyes appearing black in the darkness, like they belonged to the devil I’d made a pact with.

That day had awakened something I had more and more trouble suppressing. My dark side—a side I still feared and despised often. The rare moments of acceptance and the peace they’d brought me scared me even more, however.

“Sometimes we are our own worst enemy.”

“You’re trying to be a good girl so people hurt you less?” I frowned then nodded. “Don’t,” he said firmly. I looked up. “Don’t ever try to be good to people who hurt you. They don’t deserve it.”

Nothing can break you unless you allow it.

“You’re going to have nightmares if you watch something like that,” she said to me. “I like those nightmares,” I whispered. “Become the nightmare even your worst nightmare fears, Ekaterina,” Remo said

Tell her what’s waiting for her. Let it be her choice.”

“What look?” I barely recognized my voice. It was laced with venom, not directed at my brother. Nino briefly glanced toward Remo, who must have entered while I’d been absorbed in the horrors on the screen, before he said, “A look I usually only see in Remo’s eyes. The hunger for blood and violence. The need for death and destruction. As a baby and younger child, you looked exactly like Remo. And on occasion a similar temper would shine through.”

I thirsted for normalcy, even as my own nature often called for another direction. I wanted to be better, wanted to forgive instead of avenge, to sympathize instead of condemn. I could feel compassion unlike Nino and even Remo. That made my desire to torment others—even if they deserved it—so much worse.

For the first time, Remo’s twisted psycho logic made sense to me in all its brutal enormity.

Remo met my gaze and nodded. “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.” I didn’t deny it because the call of my inner demons demanding blood and pain was stronger than my drug cravings had ever been. They promised to be even more rewarding and I was eager to believe them. I’d avoided torture and killings for a reason. I enjoyed them too much. Guilt settled in later—when I mourned the person I should have been. No matter how much I wanted to be different from Remo, I sometimes thought I was more like him than any of my brothers.

“Dinara was worried that I’d treat her differently after I knew. Now I think, how can I not knowing what I know now? She went through some horrible shit that must have left deep scars.” “Definitely, but when you met her those scars were already part of her. She didn’t change. She’s still the same girl you met.”

“What fascinated you?” “The racing, definitely. But more than that, it was the conflict I sometimes saw in your eyes during cage fights. As if a blood-thirsty part battled with your conscience. You reminded me of myself. My father thinks I belong in the light, but I don’t fit in there.”

“Kill her or do whatever else you see fit for someone like her after everything she’s done.” “Broken me?” I clipped, even if it was a tone not fit for a Capo. “I don’t see someone broken when I look at you. And if you think you are, then you should try to fix yourself because no one else can.”

I snorted. “Some people might see it as a virtue to refrain from killing.” “Those are usually people who’ve never seen the dark side of life, and tasted how good it can be if you bend it to your will.”

revenge was a different beast. It stemmed from an even darker urge. Yet, I wanted to follow its calling.

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.

“You know Remo better than I do, and even I know he’d never use me like that.” “That man doesn’t have a kind bone in his body, Dinara. There’s a reason why he controls the west without a hiccup.” “There’s a reason why you’re Pakhan, Dad. Still you live by certain rules. One of them makes sure you’re allowing me to do what I do even though you disapprove, and the same rules have Remo Falcone see me as off-limits as well.” “Having men like us in your hand, that’s a powerful position to be in, I hope you realize that,” he murmured,

“Adamo saved me. He gave me what I needed to forget the past. He brings me happiness in the present and he makes me excited for the future. Isn’t that more than a silly infatuation?”

She closed her eyes, trying to lock me out but I kept stroking her cheeks with my thumbs and eventually she covered my hands with hers. “I hate that you know me so well, that you know how things work in the messed-up world I live in. I should have never let you in.” “I didn’t give you a choice,” I said quietly. “Just like you didn’t give me one either.”

Dinara stiffened but when she faced me her expression was cold. “Maybe. But from this day on, it’s none of your business.” She ripped open the door of her Toyota. “You can’t run away from what we have, Dinara. We both know that emotions, dark or light, follow you wherever you run.”

“I need your advice,” I interrupted him. “I thought Nino was your advisor of choice.” I didn’t say anything. Of course, Remo would put his finger into the wound. “That you choose me to give you advice tells me you already made up your mind and need encouragement for an irrational and emotionally charged endeavor Nino would disapprove of.”

“Dinara ended things between us because her father threatened my life.” I fell silent. I wasn’t a kid anymore, but Remo’s protectiveness hadn’t really caught up on that yet. “Did he now?” Remo asked in a voice that rang my alarm bells.

“If Greta fell in love with an enemy, could he stop you from killing him if his love for her was true and if he tried to prove it to you by risking his life?” “No,” Remo said without hesitation. “Even if that meant Greta would never forgive you?” “Greta can’t be separated from Nevio, nor should she be separated from her family. We are her safe haven. I’d never allow anyone to take that from her, not even for love.”

“You handled my father very well. Few men know what to say.” “I don’t know your father, but I know men like him. I’ve grown up among my brothers, and trust me when I say no one’s more homicidal than Remo.”