Bound by Vengeance (Born in Blood Mafia Chronicles #5)(47)

Growl put his tie around his neck and then fumbled for a minute with both ends until he made a sound of frustration and threw the tie on the ground. That was probably why he hadn’t worn a tie at the last party. A small smile tugged at my lip and I stepped forward. “Do you need help?”

Growl’s eyes darted toward me, looking caught. Then they slowly slid down the length of me. Only moments before I’d felt bad because the dress wasn’t new, because everyone would knew I’d worn it before, but now, with the way Growl looked at me that suddenly didn’t matter that much.

I quickly looked away, scared about the way his expression mattered to me, and pointed at the tie on the ground.

“Can you do a tie?” he asked with a hint of surprise.

“Of course,” I said as I walked toward him. His eyes followed every move. I often had trouble reading his expressions, but now there was no need for guessing: lust and appreciation. It sent a thrill through my body.

“You look like a lady,” he rasped.




Growl

Her movements were pure grace. There was nothing mundane, nothing cheap about Cara. She was a girl born to be a princess and now she’d been degraded to being a mere servant. Maybe Falcone had wanted to take everything from her, but this, her upbringing, her beauty and grace, that he couldn’t take from her. Perhaps he’d hoped he’d break her so irrevocably that she’d become someone else, that she’d lose that part of herself. But he wouldn’t do that.

He was a monster. Would always be. But he could appreciate something precious, something as valuable as Cara, and he would never destroy it. He wasn’t good, there was nothing grey about him. He was all black but he was trying to be good to her. Never as good as she deserved but as good as he was capable of. It wasn’t enough, he realized it every day. He would never be enough.

She picked up the tie and stepped close to him, her sweet, flowery scent filling his nose and making him want to bury his face in her long brown hair.

Her long, elegant fingers nimbly tied the knot. Fingers meant to hold breakable glasses of Champagne and be decorated by only the finest jewelry.

She smoothed down the tie once she was done. There was no hesitation or fumbling. She was made to be the wife of a man who wore suits every day. Growl sometimes caught himself wondering if she’d imagined being Cosimo’s wife, of tying his knot in the morning and greeting him with a kiss when he returned in the evening. She admired her work, then peered up at him with her blue eyes. “Done.”

He’d never felt less worthy than in that moment. The dress she wore was perfection on her, as if it had been made for her. She was made for cocktail parties and elegant soirees. He was made for dingy pubs and dark-alley clubs.

Their paths would have never crossed if it weren’t for Falcone’s vengefulness. Cara’s suffering had led to the most precious thing in Growl’s life, and still he couldn’t regret it. He was selfish. He was glad he’d been given the chance to have someone like her.

He peered down at his watch. “We need to leave.”

Cara tapped a finger against the glass of his watch. “I wouldn’t have pegged you as the Rolex wearing kind,” she said curiously.

“I’m not. The watch belonged to Falcone and he gave it to me as a gift for a job well done.”

Cara’s expression became stone, eyes flashing. “Like me.” A bitter smile tugged at her perfect red lips. “But I’m not as valuable as that piece around your wrist.”

“You are worth more than anything I’ve ever owned or will ever own.”



Cara

He meant it as a compliment but the words stung nonetheless. Being compared to a watch, even if you won in the end, wasn’t something I enjoyed. I knew he couldn’t grasp the effect his comparison had on me. He was trying to be kind to me, and that was still surprising me every day.

There was a moment of silence before Growl cleared his throat, a rough and deep sound. “We shouldn’t be late.”

I nodded. I didn’t care if we were late. Everything in me screamed at the mere idea of going to that party, but I had to keep my calm if I wanted to get through the evening without making a complete embarrassment out of myself.

Growl headed toward the door and unlocked it. Bandit and Coco accompanied us to the threshold and watched us close the door with accusing eyes.

I let my gaze wander over the neighborhood. An elderly black couple sat on their porch two houses down. I’d never seen them before and they looked too decent for this area. Perhaps they’d lived here all their lives and only in the last few years everything had become run down. Their heads turned our way as Growl and I strode toward his car. We were probably liked an apparition dressed in our finest evening wear. People around here usually had no occasions to get dressed up at all. Growl nodded at them and they nodded in turn but then quickly turned their heads away.

To my surprise Growl opened the door of his car for me and I climbed in, careful not to jam the hem of my dress in the door.

I gathered my hands in my lap and started rubbing them against each other when Growl pulled out of the driveway. My fingers were icy despite the mild weather. When rubbing didn’t help, I raised them to my face and blew warm air into my palms. Growl turned his eyes away from the street to look at me. “What are you doing?”

“Nothing,” I said quickly.