Claimed by the Sicilian Tycoon (Criminal Seduction #3)
By: Emma Shortt
Prologue
The three sisters sat around the battered kitchen table, each lost in their own thoughts. Apart from the steady ticking of the clock, and the occasional bleep of an aged appliance, silence prevailed. Despite that, anyone who happened to look in on the scene would have stopped for a longer look. If it were a man, he’d have stopped hoping for a damn sight more than that.
The first sister, Penny, sat with her legs curled under her. There shouldn’t have been room on the chair for her to sit in such a position, but Penny was the flexible one. The ways she could curl her legs had impressed many a man over the years. She wore tight, black, slightly frayed jeans, and an equally as tight tee. It should have been black too, but it had been washed so many times it was almost grey. This was made all the more obvious by the fact that Penny’s raven hair fanned her shoulders, reaching to the small of her back. She sighed slightly, brushed her hair over, and behind, her ears, before fixing her emerald eyes on the picture in front of her.
The second sister, Rachel, the youngest by three weeks, had her legs crossed under the table, her flowered sundress perfectly demure, just skimming her knees. She looked like sunshine and happiness, the sort of girl you couldn’t help but like even as her perfection grated. Her blonde hair was curled like a fifties movie star, and her limpid baby blue eyes were serene. Everything about her screamed innocence.
Rachel knew her job well, and she too had her gaze fixed on the picture laid before her.
The third sister, Lyra, oldest by five months, had her legs sprawled over the side of the chair, so that her feet rested on the spare. She was barefoot, dressed in tiny denim shorts and a scarlet halter neck top. Her huge mane of copper hair—which should have clashed with the top but somehow didn’t—was tousled into an untidy bun, and her slate blue eyes were pensive.
All three sisters had a lot to think about.
“We’re good to go, then?” It was Penny who finally broke the silence, and had her sisters lifting their gazes to her.
“It seems so.” Rachel’s voice was as soft as her curves. “There's nothing left to do. We've gone over the plan a million times.”
“Not quite a million,” Penny said. “Maybe a thousand.”
“Well I feel like it's burned into my brain so I've lost count.”
Lyra snorted, swung her trim, tanned legs down and picked up one of the three pictures off the table. “It should be burned in there. It needs to be."
Rachel nodded. “I know.”
“Think of it like a battle plan,” Lyra added, holding her picture in front of her. “You’d want to be clear on the details before charging in wouldn’t you?”
“A battle plan?”
“Yep, and I’ve definitely been given the hardest mission.”
Penny shot Lyra a look, tilting her head in a gesture that was characteristic to her. “You think? I’d say Rachel has.”
Lyra laughed. “She can carry off the innocent flower look to perfection. I on the other hand…”
“Have to play sex bomb,” Penny said. “Not exactly a chore, sweetie.”
Lyra swatted her sister with the picture, a wide grin creasing her face. “No you’re right, it’s not. But he’s going to be a tough one. You aren’t even going to have to see yours.”
Penny shrugged and picked up the picture in front of her. “A shame. Sebastian Demetrious is all kinds of hot. I wouldn’t say no to a quick tumble.” She held up her hand as Rachel made to speak. “I know! I know! But if you guys had my skills, you could get away with a quick in and out, too. And don’t forget the success of my mission is crucial to both of yours. I fail and the whole project fails. The auction for The Point closes on Sunday. If we don’t have the money by then…”
“We know,” Rachel said. “The plan will fail.”
“The plan is not going to fail because no one is going to fail,” Lyra insisted. “Penny, you’ll get the money so we can buy the building, then Rachel and I will sort out the rest. Your mad skills have got this, as have ours.” She stabbed a blood red fingernail at her picture. “As Andros Casstellini will soon find out firsthand.”
“That he will, sweetie,” Penny agreed, giving Lyra’s cleavage a nod. “I certainly wouldn’t bet against Lyra ‘the man eater’ Matthews.”
The two sisters laughed, but Rachel did not join in. She twirled a length of blonde hair around her tiny finger, and bit down on her plump bottom lip. “I know we’re making light of all of this, and I don’t doubt Lyra’s ability to get what she wants,” she said. “But I still say yours is the most dangerous, Penny. If you get caught…”
Penny and Lyra both shot out their hands to take Rachel’s, offering the comfort that was so natural between them all, the laughter no more.
“No one is going to get caught,” Lyra said. “Least of all Penny ‘the cat’ Matthews. She’s never even come close. And we agreed this all months and months ago. We can’t do what we need to unless Pen succeeds. Screwing this up is not an option.”
“She’s never done anything this big before,” Rachel said.
“You haven’t either,” Penny replied, giving Rachel’s dress a tug around the bosom, before pointing to her picture, that of the notorious Italian playboy Dominic Rimeria. “But I don’t doubt the skills of Rachel ‘the Madonna’ Matthews. So don’t you be doubting mine.”