Bound by Vengeance (Born in Blood Mafia Chronicles #5)(52)

But I still wasn’t in the best state of mind and it took me a while to notice a man leaning against a car and smoking a cigarette. I didn’t know him but Growl seemed to from the way his fingers on my arm tightened in warning.

“Nice catch,” the man called.

Growl ignored him and tried to pull me past him. But the man pushed away from the car, threw the cigarette down on the ground and smashed it with his shoe. He smirked. “How do you fit your big cock into that small lady mouth of her?” He sounded drunk, and I swore to myself never to drink as much as tonight again.

Growl suddenly tore away from me and I stumbled but caught my balance in the last second, bracing myself again another car. I gasped then whirled around when I heard a muffled scream. Growl had grabbed the man by the neck and threw him down on the ground. He kicked him in the ribs twice then leaned down and punched him in the face. The man moaned and blood spewed out of his nose and mouth. “Don’t,” Growl rasped in a voice that sent cold chills down my back. “Don’t ever talk like that again or I’ll gut you and strangle you with your f*cking bowels.”

The man coughed.

“Understood?” Growl asked, shaking the man roughly.

“Yeah,” gasped the man in a blood-soaked voice.

Growl wiped his hands on the man’s suit before he straightened up and sent one of the bellboys a warning look. Then he returned to me with a calm expression. No sign of his previous fury was visible.

“Why did you do that?” I asked as he led me toward his car, which was parked on the side of the road near the entrance gates.

Growl helped me into the driver’s seat. “Because you’re mine and I won’t let anyone talk shit about you.”

“In the house, at the party, they were all talking about me.”

Growl looked back toward the brightly lit house and for a moment I worried he’d storm back and beat up a few more guests, but then he looked at me. “They were clever enough not to say anything when I could hear them, and most only feel sorry for you. They say bad things about me, not you.”

The way he stood there, with a few droplets of blood on his white shirt and cold determination on his striking face, he looked like my avenging angel. Who could be better to seek revenge than Growl? He knew how to hurt people, how to destroy them. Could I convince him to help my sister and mother? Even if he never let me go, perhaps he’d at least help them get away from Las Vegas and start anew. He was conflicted, I could tell. Could I make him go against Falcone after all? His amber eyes bored into mine, and a flicker of hope rose in me. I wouldn’t give up. He was my only chance.



Growl

Growl had been suspicious from the start. Why would Falcone invite them? Now he knew. It was to humiliate Cara, and by doing so, him. Growl had never cared about what people said, what Falcone said. He’d lived his life, tried to survive, never wanted or needed much.

Falcone’s only purpose tonight had been to humiliate Cara. Growl’s blood boiled at the memory. Growl didn’t let anyone humiliate what was his, especially Cara.

For some reason that girl meant something to him. He’d never cared for anyone, except for his dogs and perhaps himself, but with Cara, he wasn’t sure what was happening to him. He didn’t want to care about her. He knew she didn’t want him. What she was doing was tactic, a way for her to survive what had been meant as a horrible punishment.

Growl didn’t know what was going on in her. If perhaps she didn’t hate him as much as he suspected. Sometimes she looked as if she didn’t hated being around him that much. She enjoyed his touch and sex and his kisses, that was obvious. That was something he could understand, but beyond that she remained a mystery to him.

And it didn’t matter either way. She was his and he would protect her. Even against Falcone. That man had been ruining Growl’s life for far too long. He’d never found the motivation to go against the man despite everything Falcone had done to Growl.

Growl wasn’t even sure why. He would kill anyone that tried to kill him. He wouldn’t even hesitate. But Falcone? Growl wasn’t sure what had been keeping him from revenge all these years. Falcone was his father, but Growl didn’t think that was why. Growl didn’t feel anything when he said or thought the word ‘father’. It was an empty word for him. And yet his father was still alive. Had he deep down been hoping that Falcone would see him as his son? Growl couldn’t even answer that question. And now he didn’t have to anymore. It was irrelevant why he hadn’t taken revenge on the man yet.

Something had changed. And the reason for it was Cara. In some way, Falcone had set everything in motion. By giving Cara to Growl, he’d signed his own death warrant, because Growl wanted to help Cara get revenge. He wanted nothing more. Falcone always called him his killing machine. Falcone had created the monster, and now it would come to kill its creator.

Perhaps she’d stop hating him if he did. He couldn’t hope for more than that. He knew nobody could ever like him, and he’d accepted that.





CHAPTER TWENTY


Cara

Growl had been very quiet since we’d returned from the party yesterday. I couldn’t tell if it meant that he was still thinking about helping me.

Growl flicked his thumb over my clit, tearing me from my thoughts. He pushed a finger into me. “I want your full attention,” he rumbled, pushing into me again.