Beautiful Carnage: A Dark Mafia Bully Romance (The Boys of Sinners Bay Book 1)

by Caroline Peckham

The guy kept his eyes on me and slowly reached beneath the counter for the shotgun he no doubt kept ready for just such a scenario.

  I continued my approach, wrapping the ends of the chain around my fists as I went.

  “Who?” he asked, his arm tensing as he eased the gun into his grip.

  “A man with the face of an angel and the soul of a demon,” I said. “He took something very precious from me.”

  “I wouldn’t know anything about that. Why don’t you go on back to town and look elsewhere?”

  “I think I’m in the right place,” I replied, ignoring his suggestion. “The man I’m looking for is called Rocco Romero.”

  The guy’s eyes lit with recognition and I smiled hungrily as I reached the counter.

  “Never heard of him.” He raised the shotgun suddenly, pointing it right at my face.

  I remained still for a long moment then lunged forward, hooking the chain around the gun and yanking it aside just as he pulled the trigger.

  The shot blasted out and a hole was ripped into the wooden floor to my left.

  Before he could try and fire again, I ripped the gun right out of his hands and threw it down behind me.

  “Now,” I said darkly. “Let’s try that answer again.”

  I lay in bed with Rocco, my hand resting on his chest as it slowly rose and fell in time with his breaths. It was late morning and he’d not let me out of his sight since we’d burned Guido’s body. He’d also claimed me all night long so I was aching in places I hadn’t even known existed.

  He couldn’t seem to sate his appetite for me, and I had to admit I had the same problem with him. The way Rocco took my body was rough and possessing, like he’d die if he stopped. I couldn’t get enough of it, giving as good as I got. I was starting to think a savage lived in me too.

  I slipped out of bed, leaving Rocco to sleep and he remained passed out even when I laid a kiss on his lips. A small smirk pulled at my features. I couldn’t help but feel a little proud that I was the reason this bear of a man was exhausted. He’d awoken a voracious creature in me and he couldn’t tame it – though he sure as hell tried.

  I pulled on one of his shirts and headed out the door, walking downstairs and through to the kitchen. Coco was sleeping on a bed of pillows in one corner and jumped up to lick my ankles in greeting. I dished him out some dog food, wondering why the hell the Romeros had some here, but really not sure I wanted to know at the same time. Then I started making a batch of pancakes and Enzo and Frankie soon appeared, drifting toward me like hungry wolves.

  “I hope we can keep you forever, bella,” Frankie said, taking a stack of pancakes as I handed them to him.

  “Yeah, especially now you killed our creepy cousin. Maybe we should throw a party for you later,” Enzo said with a disturbing grin, taking his own plate. It was weird how easily all of the Romeros had accepted Guido’s death. I was starting to see that the three of them had their own moral code, and what was weirder was that something about it made total sense to me.

  “Or you could set me free? That’d be good enough as thanks,” I said lightly and the two of them laughed.

  I sighed internally, thinking about Rocco. What were we going to do about us? I couldn’t stay chained here for the rest of my life, even if he did think that was a viable option. And quite frankly, it angered me that he did. He might have wanted me under lock and key, but I certainly didn’t want to be kept that way. I dreamed of a free life for both of us. I just couldn’t see how it was possible. But I knew with all my heart that I wanted it to be.

  It wasn’t long before Rocco appeared, strolling into the room in grey sweatpants which were riding low on his hips. He looked edible and I half wanted to forget my breakfast and gorge myself on him instead.

  “Pancakes?” I offered, holding out a plate.

  He took it, grabbing the can of whipped cream and squirting it all over them with a smirk.

  “You don’t like sweet things,” Frankie commented in confusion.

  “I’m starting to.” He grinned darkly and I blushed as I remembered him eating the cakes off of me right over the island his brothers were currently sitting at.

  He sat down next to Enzo and I took the place beside him, his arm brushing mine as he ate.

  We weren’t exactly keeping it a secret from his brothers that we were hooking up, but if they hadn’t realised before, I guess a night of my screams filling the house had done the job.

  I’d been embarrassed for about five seconds last night before I’d been so lost to the pleasure Rocco had given me, that I’d forgotten what part of the world we were in, let alone that there were other people in the house.

  Now, in the quiet of the morning, I was slightly more self-conscious over that fact.

  Rocco’s phone rang and he hooked it out of his pocket before bringing it to his ear. “Yeah?” he answered, then he fell very still. His bicep flexed and his jaw started to tick. “How long do we have?” he answered, rising from his seat and looking to his brothers. “Well give me your best guess, asshole.” He paused for a long moment and my heart lurched as he spat, “Fuck!”

  He hung up, shoving the phone into his pocket with an intense look.

  “What is it, fratello?” Enzo rose to his feet, his hand dropping to the hunting knife at his hip.

  “Rocco?” Frankie questioned.

  My heart hammered as Rocco’s eyes turned to me, looking like the world was falling apart. “Nicoli has found the house. He’s on his way. Phil thinks he’s already close, which means he will have an army right behind him.”

  My breathing grew frantic and I slid off of my seat, pushing a hand into my hair. Nicoli was coming for me? But that meant parting with Rocco, saying goodbye. And though I didn’t want to be a prisoner anymore, I didn’t want to lose him either.

  “Sloan,” Rocco’s gruff voice cut through my thoughts as he turned me toward him, his gaze burning into me. “We have to run. Come with us.”

  Enzo barked a laugh. “Slap her in chains and take her.”

  Coco barked angrily, his hackles raising.

  “Shut the fuck up!” Rocco roared, then snatched my arm and pulled me from the room into the lounge. He slammed the door and cupped my cheek, dragging me close. “If you want to go, I’ll let you. Though it will kill me, bella. You may as well take my beating heart with you if you choose that option. But I don’t want you to. I want – no – I need you to stay with me.”

  “Rocco…” I backed up, needing space to think, to breathe. What did I want? Was I really going to run from Rocco?

  If I did, I’d never see him again. I’d be forced back into the life I led before, forced to marry Nicoli. I’d spend the rest of my days under my father’s thumb. I’d never feel free again.

  “I can’t live in chains,” I gasped, hardly able to draw in air as I felt the pressure of time closing in on us. How could I make such a weighty decision with not even a moment to think?

  Rocco’s brows pulled together, something shifting in his gaze. “I’ll never chain you again, amore mio. Come with me and I’ll make us a new life. I’ll give up this one if I have to. I’ll gift you more freedom than you’ve ever known.”

  I stared at him, breathless, trying to decide if I trusted the words he spoke. The truth blazed in his eyes, his promise clear. He’d keep it, I knew he would, but I didn’t know how I knew that. The thought of going back to my old life was simply too suffocating to even consider. So this was it. The choice I had to make which wasn’t even a choice at all when it came down to it.

  I nodded, swallowing the lump in my throat. “I’ll come with you.”

  He rushed forward with a look of relief, dragging me into his arms and pressing his mouth to mine. He fisted his hand in my hair, groaning as he clutched me to his chest like he feared I’d turn to dust at any moment.

  A whole life opened up before me, full of possibility. A life at Rocco’s side, our fates tangled together, the two of us defying our families by being united. It was the
most insane idea I’d ever had and yet it made the most sense to me in the world.

  “I am yours from my black heart to my tarnished soul,” he growled powerfully. “Take it, own it, destroy it, I don’t care so long as it’s in your possession.”

  “I love you, Rocco,” I said, my heart beating out of rhythm. I’d never said those words to anyone. Not like this. Not in a way where I felt them with every fibre of my body. It was like they were written into the essence of my being, permanently branded there to defy anyone else who sought to claim me.

  He smiled boyishly, something I’d never once seen on his face. It was open and sweet and made him look so handsome. He opened his mouth but fell quiet as the door swung open.

  Rocco’s brothers spilled in like they’d been pressed against it on the other side.

  “She fucking said it!” Enzo said in surprise.

  “Merda santa,” Frankie laughed, taking out his wallet. “I didn’t think you could do it, Rocco, but shit, you really can make any woman fall in love with you.”

  I stepped away from Rocco, a horrible feeling of dread swirling through my chest. “What are they talking about?”

  Rocco looked between his brothers and me, an expression of horror twisting his features.

  “Come on. We need to go, we can talk about the bet later,” Frankie urged, glancing over his shoulder nervously.

  “What bet?” I breathed, taking another step back. My pulse was too loud in my ears and a voice in the back of my head was screaming at me to beware.

  Rocco moved toward me with an apology in his eyes and I waited for some explanation, but it didn’t come.

  Enzo raised his brows. “You better explain, fratello. The principessa’s heart is breaking. Isn’t that what you wanted anyway? Might as well rub salt in the wound and enjoy it.”

  I turned to Rocco with a burning intensity in my gaze, everything they were saying clicking into place in my head. He gave me no answer, his expression taut.

  “Tell me what they’re talking about,” I demanded, moving behind an armchair when he tried to get close again. I needed to hear it from him before I believed this, but I was also terrified of him confirming it. Because a small part of me was still hoping he’d deny it.

  Rocco looked desperate as he stared at me. We were parted by only a meter of space but it suddenly felt like a whole ocean.

  “I made a bet with my brothers,” he rasped out, his features contorted. “I never thought-”

  “What bet?” I snapped again, my fingernails biting into the back of the chair.

  Enzo and Frankie shared an awkward look, glancing at their brother to see what he was going to say.

  “I bet them that I could…” He swallowed thickly, his gaze hardening to stone. “That I could make you fall in love with me.”

  Panic bloomed. My world tilted and spun.

  I clung to the armchair harder, feeling like I was going to come apart if I let go.

  The pitiful look Frankie gave me drove a nail right through my chest. Because they were serious, this was actually happening. Rocco had faked it this entire time just for the sake of some callous bet.

  He’d tricked me, lied to me. Made me think…

  I cringed full bodily, turning my back on him, holding a hand over my face as I realised how stupid I’d been. I’d let a Romero into my heart so he could break it and torture me beneath my flesh. He’d wanted revenge on my family and this was it. What crueller way to harm my father than to make his daughter fall for him and break her heart?

  I suddenly felt sick, my breakfast churning in my stomach and threatening to come back up.

  This was all Rocco had wanted. He’d even convinced me to run away with him. How could I have been such a damn idiot?

  “Sloan, listen to me-” Rocco started.

  “Listen to you?” I spat hollowly. I turned back to face him, finding Enzo and Frankie sidling towards the door. “Fuck you, Rocco. Fuck all of you!”

  “It was a game at first, but it’s not anymore,” he implored.

  “Liar,” I hissed, pointing an accusing finger at him. “At least own your lie. Drop the shit, Rocco. You’re a good actor, but the scene is over.”

  I blinked back the tears which were searing my eyes, threatening to make me weak in front of him. But no more. I wasn’t going to be his captive, his game. How dare he? How fucking dare he?

  Gunshots rattled beyond the window and I gasped as I lurched around to look at the snowy slope outside. My heart hammered against my ribcage and adrenaline flooded my veins. Rocco’s brothers burst back into the room and Coco charged in with them. Frankie scooped him up and snatched his pistol into his grip at the same time.

  Nicoli was here. He’d come for me. I didn’t want to return to my father’s side, but I sure as hell wasn’t going to stay here with the Romeros. With Rocco. And once I was home, it wouldn’t be so hard to slip away. I wouldn’t be in any real chains. I’d pack a bag and run. I’d make my own life and no one would ever have a say in it again.

  I grabbed Sloan’s hand and yanked her away from the window as the glass shattered. She screamed as we rolled across the floor and I pinned her down, creating a cage with my body to protect her as more gunfire rang out.

  “I’m sorry, bella and I promise I’ll make it up to you. But right now we need to get the hell out of here,” I growled.

  “Get to the cache, Rocco!” Frankie called from the far side of the room where he was taking cover beside the window with Enzo. “I’ll cover you!”

  “We’ll meet you out back,” I yelled as the shots rang out so loudly that I could hardly hear myself think.

  He started returning fire with his pistol and I leapt up, dragging Sloan to her feet too and running from the room.

  I held her hand tightly, refusing to let go as I dragged her out into the hall.

  “Let me go, Rocco!” she demanded. “You said you’d let me go if I wanted to leave!”

  “No,” I snapped, she’d said that she would come with me before Enzo opened his big fucking mouth. That was good enough for me. I wasn’t letting her run off while she was angry. She’d realise the truth in time, but right now we just needed to get the hell out of here. We were outnumbered, out-gunned and as much as it pissed me off, outmatched. There was no way in hell that the three of us could take on a hoard of Calabresis armed to the teeth. And I’d die before I let them take Sloan from me.

  More shots were fired and the heavy crash of someone trying to break down the front door sounded again and again.

  I dragged Sloan after me down the hall, throwing open the door to Papa’s office before racing inside and pushing her into a corner so that she couldn’t escape me.

  I ripped a huge oil painting of a mountain scene from the wall to reveal a safe set into the brickwork. I jammed my thumb against the code reader as I punched in the code to unlock it. Mamma’s birthday. He’d never changed it. Never stopped loving her, even after all this time. And I was beginning to get a sense of what that feeling was like.

  I ripped the metal door open and started grabbing guns.

  I threw a rifle over my shoulder then jammed three pistols into the back of my pants.

  I grabbed the bag filled with ammo next, knocking a stack of cash out of the safe in my haste so that hundred dollar bills scattered all over the carpet. I tossed the bag over my other shoulder and snatched Sloan’s hand again as I ran back for the door.

  She dug her heels in and I stumbled as I spun back to face her.

  “I need to go, Rocco,” she growled.

  “No,” I snapped. “The bet was thoughtless and cruel and stupid but it doesn’t have anything to do with what you just said to me. That was before I-”

  A huge crash came from the front of the house and Enzo’s pained cries made my heart leap up into my throat.

  I wrenched the office door open, pulling the rifle from my shoulder and burst out into the hallway just as a flood of Calabresis poured inside led by Nicoli fucking Vitoli.

&n
bsp; “Sloan!” he bellowed, his eyes wheeling about as he hunted for her and I took aim.

  Just as I squeezed the trigger, a warm body collided with me and I was knocked from my feet as Sloan tackled me.

  Sloan rolled across the floor to the other side of the hall as I my shot went wide and the Calabresis scattered to take cover. My rifle fell from my grip, clattering as it rolled out into the hall.

  Footsteps pounded across the landing upstairs and my heart thundered with panic for my brothers as the Calabresis opened fire.

  I snatched a pistol from my belt and fired back at random, scrambling across the hall towards Sloan as she cowered against the wall.

  I dragged her through the door into the dining room and raced across the wide space with her in tow.

  “Sloan!” Nicoli bellowed again and I felt her indecision as she tried to pull back against me.

  I tightened my grip and dragged her through the door at the far end of the room and out towards the back of the house.

  The back door was clear and I ripped it open before pulling her out into the snow. We didn’t have time to grab coats or even shoes and she shivered as her bare feet met with the snow and goosebumps raced over her exposed flesh.

  The sound of breaking glass came from upstairs a moment before two bodies leapt from the balcony which lined the back of the house.

  “Fuck!” Enzo cursed as he rolled to his knees and dread coursed through me as the snow was stained red beneath him.

  “We can’t face them. There’s too many,” Frankie said as he got up, glancing between me and Sloan. He still had her little dog tucked into his arms and the furry thing didn’t seem to have any intention of getting down. “We have to run.”

  “What happened to you?” I demanded of Enzo as I helped pull him to his feet.

  “Flesh wound,” he cursed. “Hurts like a bitch but I can run.”

  “Let’s run then,” I agreed.

  I tossed him a pistol and I grabbed Sloan’s hand again as my brothers led the way out across the snow towards the forest. We kept a hidden shed about a mile up into the woods with snowmobiles, cash, clothes, anything we might need for a situation like this. All we had to do was get there.