Page 43 of Forbidden Cravings

MASON

Touching Casey had been a mistake. This entire trip had been a mistake, but Donelli had insisted I come instead of Tyson, which worried me. Tyson was the liaison in Armina. If Donelli wanted to see me, that meant he was wavering in his loyalty to me. Either that or he needed something that Tyson wasn’t in the position to agree to.

Riley had left for Bridgeville two weeks earlier. My men and I had dropped her at the border with a new car, a loaded pistol, and every fighting skill I’d ensured she learn before she left me. It still hurt to admit she was gone. Riley had been my life until she hadn’t, and when I’d brought her home from Bridgeville, I swore I wouldn’t let her go. I’d broken my oath to myself, and now she was in Greyson’s hands. My one instruction was that she text me the minute she was there…something she’d failed to do, leaving me waiting for hours. My mind had been a mixed mess of nerves and images until the phone rang, Greyson’s voice coming through on the other end instead of Riley’s.

“Her terms were steep, Brinks,” he’d said, and I’d clenched my fists, ready to take my plane to Bridgeville and land it in the middle of his damned city. “But I accepted.”

The relief had flooded through me as I heard Riley fighting playfully for the phone in the background. He scolded her, making my hairs bristle. What they did was their business, but I didn’t want to know, and I certainly didn’t want to hear.

“I’m fine, Mace,” she said, and I could hear the smile in her voice.

“I want a text from you every day. You tell Tides if you miss a single day, I’m coming in there with my guns loaded.”

“No, you won’t. But I’ll text you anyway. I love you, Mason.”

“Love you, too, Ri.”

That was the last time I’d talked to her, but she’d dutifully texted me every day since. Her text buzzed as I headed down the hall. Glancing at it, I sent her a quick note back, glad to have my mind off Casey for a few seconds.

Casey was another story entirely. While Riley leaving me had hurt, there was a deeper void that hadn’t healed since Casey returned to Armina. Seeing her today had filled the void, but I knew it would return. Touching her had been unavoidable, especially after the interaction with Tony. The little prick. Hearing him call her princess had my blood boiling, and I knew it would take everything I had not to deck him when I saw him again.

Angie, Donelli’s daughter, slammed into me as I entered the main hall. She was holding a pile of clothes and a pair of heels in her hand, but it wasn’t enough to hide the skin her skimpy bikini left exposed.

“What the fuck?” she asked, snapping at me. Her brown eyes were bright in the sun that seeped in from the open balcony of the room. They quickly perused my body before her red stained lips turned upward. “Well, well, does daddy have a new henchman?”

I hardened my eyes, not caring that she had no clue who I was. I knew everything there was to know about the spoiledparty girl. I had a file on all the families I dealt with that included their children. Knowledge was the kingpin in my business.

“You ever call me a henchman again and I’ll make sure your father cuts your credit line off, Angela.”

Her brow creased, the only imperfection on her beautiful features, although her attitude marred that beauty. It didn’t matter to me that her breasts were pushing the tiny triangles of her suit, or the strings on her bottoms showed her thin hips and emphasized the waist that dipped in seductively to what I could only imagine was a perfectly flat stomach, her long legs highlighting calves that looked like she spent hours in the gym sculpting them. I knew too much about her to consider laying a hand on her, not that I would now because Casey’s body was the only one I wanted to touch. Angela Donelli may have tempted me in the past, and had I not known what a bitch she was, I wouldn’t have thought twice about fucking her. But I knew exactly who she was, and even though he hated admitting it, she was more Tyson’s type than mine.

Besides, I had a gorgeous hazel eyed beauty who I planned to take my sexual needs out on until my plane departed.

“Who are you?” she asked, her tongue coming out to lick her top lip. Damn, she was a temptress, and I wondered how many men she went through in any given month.

“No one you want to know.” I stepped around her, feeling her eyes on me as I continued my path, two of Donelli’s men taking the lead and escorting me to the dining room. I waited several minutes, admiring the view of the coast beyond the windows, before Donelli arrived.

“Mason Brinks,” Donelli said, walking in and giving me a firm handshake. “It’s been too long.”

“It has, Donelli. I need to make a point of coming to your province more often. It certainly is warmer here.”

“Indeed, yet you send your partner out all the time, as if you don’t like us. I don’t believe you’ve been to see me in years.”

He sat down at the head of the table, motioning for me to sit at the other end. Pushing his mid-sixties, Vince Donelli had once been as feared as Tides now was, but as Tides’ power grew and the Bad Omens settled in his backyard, Donelli’s once secure hold over the other families in the province buckled. One thing I appreciated about Donelli was his open mind. He saw an opportunity in the waves I was making among the families. I challenged the old establishment, and he understood that to survive he needed to change, so he made an agreement with me. It was one we’d had for well over a decade and one the other two families in the province quickly imitated. I kept peace between the three, helped them when needed, and my reputation kept the Bad Omens from their backdoors…until now.

“Tyson prefers to represent us,” I explained, taking my seat. “It gives him an excuse to check up on Casey.”

“Ah, yes. My men told me you made a point of finding her when you got here.”

“Tyson likes to keep an eye on her when he can and since this visit is mine, that mantle passed to me.”

A server placed a wineglass in front of me, but I stopped him from filling it. Donelli took a long sip of his red wine. “I forgot you weren’t a wine drinker. You should try it, Mason. What was it you preferred? Scotch, if I remember correctly?”

“Excellent memory.” I watched as the server moved to the bar on the far side of the room, returning with an empty glass and a bottle of scotch. I surveyed his every move, just as I knew my men were doing.

“Why the formalities, Donelli?” I asked, not comfortable with the way he was positioning me as the inferior power in the room. If anything, we’d always been on friendly terms. He’d watched over Casey for us and treated her almost as well as he treated hisdaughter. There had been nothing but good rapport between our families. I knew how quickly that could change, but I’d never had my doubts about Donelli’s loyalty before.

The doors burst open, and I stood, hand to my jacket, my men all grabbing their guns.

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