Princes of Carnage (Pretty Ruthless Monsters, #1)

by Eva Ashwood

“Ruby Riot, the Princes of Carnage, the Hurricane gang—and that’s just off the top of my head.”

His dark hair is mussed up from our altercation, and a sort of savage pleasure fills me as I take in the bruise that’s blooming on his handsome face from where I hit him. His mismatched eyes—one blue and one green—glitter as he stares back at me, his gaze scanning my face.

Atlas snorts, drawing my attention to his face. His features are less harshly angular than Nico’s, but they’re perfectly symmetrical, with strong cheekbones and a straight nose. His brown eyes turn to a color almost like amber near his irises, reminding me of the warm flickering of coals, and they seem out of place against his harsh facial expression and inky black hair.

But the three of them are like each other’s shadows, always together, coordinating so smoothly that it’s like they share a goddamn brain.

No one looms behind me at all times like a shadow, like a part of me, ready to take someone down for so much as breathing wrong in my direction.

He’s always been here when I came before, always lurking somewhere, ready to pounce on me as soon as I come through the door.

Omg is it going to be the one that hates her guts?! 😍🫡

“Good,” Phantom says. “Because this is mine.”

“It could work. We’re each small enough that we probably seem like easy pickings for someone trying to come up and make a name for themselves, or claim a lot of territory in a short time. But together, we’d present a more formidable opponent.”

Omfg they’re gonna have the baddest gang everrrr

“And we’ll need to get married.”

Quinn Kent is pure fire, bright and intense. And I’m looking forward to seeing how hot she burns.

Because he doesn’t know that I’ve been here before.

Quinn is a wild thing, and getting close to her like this is risky as hell. Not just because she’s a viper who looks like an angel. But because she’s the type who could undo us all.

“So I’m making sure that there’s a sign of our union that you can’t just slip on and off when it suits you. It has to be a permanent mark. A reminder of who you’re bound to.”

“You can bite me this time too if you want, mia cara. I like it.”

There’s a reason I wanted this alliance—not just with anyone, but with you. We could be good together, you know.”

As if we’re two trains on the same track, barreling toward each other with no chance of stopping or turning away.

“I can feel you trying to hold back,” he growls. “You don’t want to come for me?” He snorts. “Do you really think you have a choice about that? I can make you feel so fucking good, you’ll forget how much you hate me. You’re my wife, Quinn. What’s yours is mine, remember? Your orgasm belongs to me, and I fucking want it.”

“Hai il sapore del più dolce degli errori,” I say in Italian, the words falling from my lips unconsciously.

“You taste like the sweetest of mistakes,”

The sight of her looking so deeply claimed stirs something primal in me that burns with approval.

Everything from her anger to her determination to her arousal seems to sit just behind those clear gray eyes, like they truly are windows into her soul.

“Sarà molto interessante essere sposati con te, mia piccola e bellissima nemica.”

“It will be very interesting to be married to you, my beautiful little enemy.”

“Sei così avida, mia cara.” He says something in Italian, laughing darkly. “Non preoccuparti. Ti darò quello che ti serve.”

“You're so greedy, my dear.” He says something in Italian, laughing darkly. “Don't worry. I'll give you what you need.”

“If you want him here, then we’ll invite him to join us. Say the word, mia cara, and I’ll call him upstairs right now. You know he fucking wants to. I’ve seen the way he looks at you.”

I went from disliking her to grudgingly respecting her, and lately, that respect has started to turn into something else entirely. Something I shouldn’t fucking feel.

I don’t know why I wanted to pull her closer to me on the couch, to bury my face in her hair and inhale deeply.

making a mental note to check her room and see if there’s a way to block out extraneous light. I don’t like the idea of her tossing and turning.

🥹

still so much about this woman that I don’t know. I knew she was strong, a hell of a fighter, and a competent leader, but this is a strength I didn’t know she had. To bear so much pain all on her own, to keep her head up and to lead her gang the best she can, despite what happened to her. I guess we have more in common than I ever knew.

“You’re not weak, siren,” I tell her. “I’ve watched you for months, and I know how strong you are.”

OMG IS HE PHANTOM?! That was my guess!! But he’s so vocal as phantom 👀👀

“Sometimes when darkness is thrust upon us, we come to crave it later. We want to own it, so that it can never own us.”

“Put your claws away, mia cara. I know you can handle yourself.

I can tell that Nico is on edge, and although he’d never fucking admit it out loud, I know it’s because he’s worried about Quinn.

The way Quinn makes me lose my fucking head every time I’m around her is going to have to take a back seat to business tonight.

She stiffens for a second, as if surprised by the gesture, then leans into the kiss briefly, her body arching toward his as if she can’t quite help herself before they finally break apart.

“Sembri una dea, mia cara. Potresti tentare anche un monaco a peccare.”

“You look like a goddess, my dear. You could tempt even a monk to sin.”

She’s in leader mode now, focusing on getting this done so that no one else in her crew gets hurt. I respect the hell out of that—which makes it even harder to ignore my attraction to her. Because it’s not just her body or her gorgeous face that draws me in. It’s who she is. Everything about her.

“Quid est flos dulcissimus in horto?” “Non flos, sed fructus,”

“What is the sweetest flower in the garden?” “Not a flower, but a fruit,”

“Festum in fructu, bibere sucus,”

“Feast on fruit, drink juice,”

Because that’s what he does, isn’t it? I think, swallowing hard as I stare up at him. He’s the protector. The enforcer. The bodyguard.

“There you are,” he murmurs,

But at the same time, I have no intentions of keeping him out of this. Not when it will be so much more fun to share instead.

and now that he’s standing this close to Quinn, it’s like he can’t take his eyes off her.

“This is for even thinking I would want to fuck Zoey when there was a chance I could have you,” he whispers in my ear.

He takes one look at me and then lifts the blankets in a silent invitation for me to crawl in with him.

“Our demons take longer to die than the people who wronged us.”

He’s dangerous… but maybe not to me. Maybe he’s just the kind of nightmare I need.

“For him to keep it from me and Atlas for so long, it must have been important to him. It must’ve truly meant something to him.”

Run anywhere you like, because no matter where you go, I’ll always catch you. I’ll always find you.”

“I think they’re starting to understand why I watched you for so long. Because you’re fucking beautiful. In everything you do. Every breath. Every expression. Every moan. Every whimper.”

I’m dimly aware of one of them moving to help me up, but Killian growls, making a noise low in his throat. It’s more possessive than aggressive, but the other two back off and let him be the one to reach me first.

“I know what Nico would say if he were here. He’d say he wants to stay married to you.”