Filthy Rich (The Five Points' Mob Collection, #2)

by Serena Akeroyd

“You’re very handsome,” I whispered, my voice husky. He arched a brow. “Thank you.” His voice was toneless, but his eyes gleamed with humor. I felt gauche, very young and stupid, until he leaned into me, pressed a kiss to my temple, and whispered, “A handsome gr...

Even if we led shorter lives thanks to our affiliations, we still had a long time on this earth to be tied together. I didn’t want to spend every day miserable, and that kiss? His tenderness? While surprising, they filled me with dreams I shouldn’t have. That I was foolish to have.

Declan clapped me on the back mere seconds after Father Doyle, the boring bastard, declared Inessa and me man and wife.

I was going to burst. And I didn’t intend for Inessa to be on the receiving end of that tonight. I knew she was a virgin, knew it like I knew my fucking name, and there was no way I was blowing off my rage on her body when she was new to this shit. I needed a long, hard fuck, but I wasn’t going to get it.

Also, I wasn’t going to scare the shit out of her. She was my wife, whether she or I wanted her to be, and we were going to be stuck together for a long ass time. No way did I want her flinching every time I fucked her. Not only would that drive me insane, but it would kill my boner.

I was a dangerous man, and I knew it. I owned it. But even though she wasn’t my chosen ...

The fucker who had, on the other hand, I didn’t have ...

Her eyes flashed for a second—in anger? Then she snorted and raised a hand, clapped it to her mouth, and giggled. Fuck. That sound did shit to me.

Sure, it reminded me that I felt like I was robbing the goddamn cradle, even though Dec had reminded me for the twenty millionth time that she was legal, that today was her birthday, but also, I liked it. It suited her.

“I don’t want to cause trouble.” In all honesty, she couldn’t have picked anything worse to say. I gritted my teeth. “I won’t hurt you.” Her eyes turned sad, and she tipped her head down. “They all say that.”

With a delicacy that I was only known for when it came to killing people behind a scope a thousand yards away, I reached up and held her chin in place. “I will never hurt you, and no one else ever will either.”

She tugged her chin free from my two-fingered hold, and something told me that behind the war paint she had slathered on, she was blushing—not with nerves, but anger. “Don’t make promises you can’t keep.”

“My father never beats my mother,” I proffered, hoping she’d find comfort in that. “And Finn, who you’ll meet later—” “I know who Finn is. I know most of your family,” she commented dryly. “It’s just you I don’t know.”

“I didn’t want to get married, and I sure as fuck didn’t want to get married to an eighteen-year-old.” Her eyes widened, even as she muttered, “Be grateful the age was specified. If Papa could have, he’d have married me off to you at sixteen.”

My top lip curled in disgust. Disgrac...

“He did it, didn’t he?” I repeated, just needing confirmation. “Svetlana started it.” Her words were matter-of-fact, showing me my wife was smart enough to sense that I wasn’t going to back down from this. “But Papa finished it.”

“Don’t call him Papa in front of me. Papas,” I mocked, “don’t do this shit to their kids.”

“We didn’t want each other, but we’ll get along well if you don’t piss me off.” “And what if you piss me off?” She huffed. “Like you are now.” The spirited question surprised me and had me gri...

I noticed Inessa looked at my face a lot. Like she was trying to read my expression… Then, of course, I got it. Call me fucking slow, but I could sense she read a face to read the mood.

Her fucking father was going to pay. I didn’t give a shit that she’d been his longer than she’d been mine. The second that fucking contract had come to exist between our families, he should have treated her with fucking kid gloves.

She reached up, surprising me further by letting the tips of her fingers trail over my smile. When she stopped, tilting her head to the side, I asked, “You aren’t scared of me?” The notion was unusual. Most people were scared of me outside of the family. With good reason. I was a lethal mo...

I mean, she had been. I’d seen that back at the altar. Especially when I’d taken a long ass time to raise her veil. Now? Something had changed. Because I intended on having sex tonight, I wasn’t going to complain ...

“You’re not the biggest monster I’ve come across.” Her words floored me. Fucking floored me. And not because I was jealous either. Our eyes met and held, and out of nowhere, a flame soared between us, arcing into being. The lust came as a surpri...

When Vasov, her cunt of a father, almost toppled into me, I reached out to stop him and took advantage. Within seconds, his arm was behind his back, and I jerked upward. Svetlana the Slut screamed as I dislocated her husband’s shoulder.

“You’ll lose your fucking hand if you touch my wife again,” I growled over his screams that had guards surging forward and guns being drawn.

My eyes darted over to my father, and while I had expected some anger, I wasn’t altogether surprised to see the excitement in his eyes. He was a si...

His words were calm, too calm, when he questioned, “Vasov, is my son’s bride wearing bruises?”

A flurry of Russian came from Svetlana, who darted forward to attack me. My mother, God love her, stuck out her foot so the bitch went flying.

I laughed, amused by the scene, and Da followed me. Ma shook her head, and Father Doyle, standing in the corner, sighed. “It’s a sinful day to be fighting, Eoghan.” “I’ll make it up to you, Father,” I rumbled. “I’m sure the church needs a new stained-glass window or something.”

jerking Vasov’s arm higher, forcing his whimpers into a whole other octave, and stating, “I mean it, bitch. You touch her again, and I will slice off your hand and throw it to my dog. You fucking understand me?”

He didn’t reply, just cried out his agony. Svetlana, on the floor, called something to Inessa in Russian, and I wasn’t surprised when her voice, calm as anything, intoned, “Eoghan, that’s enough, don’t you think?”

“He hurt you.” “And you’ve hurt him.” Her smile was soft. “Thank you.” She meant that. Those two words…they were genuine.

And again, that flame arced between us, and even as my dick grew hard, I released her cunt of a father to stride over to my new wife. She knew I’d protect her now, knew I’d honor her, so there was no better time to sign her life into my keeping. And mine into hers.

I’d known, because I’d listened to the organizers plan the reception, but it was non-Russian to the core.

We didn’t have any of the usual traditions that were part and parcel of a celebration such as this one—there wasn’t even the traditional recanting of, “Gorko! Gorko! Gorko!” which was the declaration after the first toast for the couple to kiss, to chase away the bitterness of the alcohol used in the toast.

Still, all told, it hadn’t been a bad party, mostly because every time I’d felt the strain of my new circumstances, I’d looked over at my father, who had his arm in a sling, and who sported the face of a pissed off bear who’d been awoken from hibernation two months too early. Straightaway, that sight cheered me up.

Eoghan had made it known, quite clearly, that he didn’t want a wife, and yet, he’d gone to great and dangerous lengths to honor me. To show me the kind of husband he’d be.

The only thing I didn’t believe? That he wouldn’t hurt me. All men hurt women.

I knew that just as I knew I was a Bratva daughter in a Five Point family who would never truly trust me. I was the enemy. The Trojan Horse they believed would betray them at the first...

Because Declan was trying, I murmured, “I don’t actually like chocolate.” My wry comment had his brows lowering. “Thought all bitches liked chocolate.” Nose crinkling at his phrasing, I m...

His eyes twinkled, but what surprised me was Eoghan’s chuckle. “You teach him some manners, Inessa. You’d think he was raised on a pig farm with that mouth of his.” Declan’s eyes widened to such a degree he looked like he was in a cartoon. “Me?” he boomed, pointing his finger at himself. “Me? I’m the one with the mouth of a sailor?” Eoghan grinned—I saw, because I cast him a look to see if Declan...

“My loyalty comes with a price,” I informed him. “How high a price?” I saw distaste flutter into his eyes, and his mouth curved into a quick, derogatory flash that told me what he thought of that answer. Simply, I told him, “You already paid it.”

“Your price is that low, little bird?” he rasped, and maybe I was crazy, but I could hear the lilt of Ireland in the words. “I did that for pleasure.” “You did that for me,”

Hell, most men wouldn’t have even noticed beneath the heavy makeup I was wearing. But Eoghan did. Eoghan was different. I liked different.

I hadn’t expected that. Hadn’t anticipated that I might want him. That my body could come to crave his.

But here I was, my pussy getting slick, and all because this man had his hand about my throat and his gaze was focused on my mouth… Would wonders never cease?

Though I was a virgin, I knew enough to recognize what I was experiencing. I’d touched myself, had used vibrators, so desire wasn’t new to me. What was new? That the desire in me was inspired by this man.

Obedience, ha. We were all on a leash. Even Eoghan.

His fingers squeezed my throat, letting me feel the pad of each digit, and rather than be threatened by the move, it felt good. Oddly…right.

And yeah, I knew that was weird, but nothing about today had turned out like I’d expected. I’d thought I was leaving the house of one brute and entering the house of another, but Eoghan, though his eyes hid a multitude of sins, didn’t give off the same v...