Secrets and wars leave the deepest scars.
Evelina Conti has always worn a mask. She is an Outfit principessa, respected and adored. She wasn’t allowed to be anything else. Her father went from a grieving husband to the Outfit boss, and now that Riley heads the family, Eve is more suffocated than ever. No matter how much she hates it, the Conti princess still has a role to play. A little attention from Theo DeLuca seems innocent enough, but nothing is when it comes to him. And certainly not when everyone believes that Theo is out to kill her.
Theo DeLuca has a target on his back. His biggest problem is figuring out who put it there when everyone is aiming at him. He doesn’t need a woman causing him issues, but the Conti princess keeps showing up at the worst times, and he’s the one left saving her. Between the men surrounding him that Theo can’t trust, and the past he can’t outrun, Evelina might be the one thing he doesn’t have to question. But when Riley decides to use Eve as his next move, even Theo might not be able to save her.
The war in Chicago is not even close to being over. This game is deadly. Each hand played cuts another mark into someone else. The Outfit boss is struggling while the men around him are rallying. As the body count continues to rise, the families keep losing.
Sacrifices are a part of war. No one will walk away from this without scars.
***
PLEASE NOTE: Scarless & Sacred is not intended to be read as a standalone in this series. It is the third book in the series and should be read after the first two books. Trigger Warning: Scarless features graphic violence and scenes of past abuse.
“I haven’t noticed you at church since your brother’s funeral.”
Theo tensed in the driver’s seat and his hands gripped the steering wheel tight enough for his knuckles to turn ash white. “I’m not ready, I suppose.”
“I get that.”
Chuckles answered her back.
“No, Eve, I don’t think you do. I’ve got a few things left to get finished, and when I go back, I’d like to get all of my confession out in one good, long sitting instead of three or four. Besides, confession is meant for those who don’t wish to repeat their sins. Mine are ones that won’t go away until others leave, too.”
Evelina’s brow furrowed as she took in his words. He spoke about it so candidly, like he’d been thinking about it for a while.
“Are you talking about my father?”
Theo’s gaze cut to her as he took a corner sharply. “And if I was?”
Evelina shrugged. “Look elsewhere for someone who cares, Theo.”
“You care. Trust me, you do. Even the people we hate always manage to pull some sympathy from us, even if it’s just a little bit. Regardless of whatever you feel is wrong with your father, he’s still your blood, he still helped to put you on this earth, and you still love him, Eve. Simple as that.”
“He didn’t care much about my mother these last few months.”
Theo blew out a slow breath. “You’re not Riley. He’s not you.”
“Is that how you feel about your brother or uncle?”
“Hmm?”
“Your brother and uncle. You were close to Ben but not really Dino. Is that how you feel about them, like your sympathy is greater for one, but still there in some way for the other?”
Theo’s hands tightened on the wheel. “You ask a lot of questions.”
“I’m a curious girl.”
“Woman.”
“What?”
“You’re a woman, not a girl. You stopped being a girl years ago, Eve.”
Evelina shivered in the passenger seat. The shadows of the passing street lights darkened Theo’s features. She couldn’t have hid the reaction even if she tried. Just the way his voice dipped into a lower cadence, and he passed her another silent look that said he could see she was very much a woman and not a girl was enough to make Evelina ache.
And wet.
“You did that on purpose,” Evelina accused.
Her voice was weak.
Or turned on.
Theo raised a brow high. “I beg your pardon?”
“That … that … right there,” Evelina struggled to say as she waved at him.
Theo laughed under his breath. “Babe, I have no idea what you’re mumbling about, but all right. Whatever makes you happy, I guess.”
“Stop it. You did do that on purpose, Theo. Just to distract me.”
When his tongue snaked out to wet his lips as his hands slid across the steering wheel smoothly to take another turn, Evelina’s throat went dry. He handled his car easily, like he was holding onto feathers when in fact, the Stingray had one hell of an engine under the hood. She couldn’t stop the thoughts slamming into her one after the other as she watched him drive.
Is that how he touches a woman? What do those hands feel like when they grab hard enough to hurt? Is that how he would touch me?
Jesus.
Evelina made a noise under her breath and turned her attention to anywhere but Theo DeLuca for a moment.
“Eve?”
“What?”
Evelina had all she could do to ignore the heat between her legs and the air in her voice. She completely refused to even look at Theo again until she could manage to do so without contemplating how she could get his hands on her while he drove at the same time.
Stop that right now.
“I kind of did that on purpose,” Theo admitted.
Bethany-Kris is a Canadian author, lover of much, and mother to three young sons, one cat, and two dogs. A small town in Eastern Canada where she was born and raised is where she has always called home. With her boys under her feet, snuggling cat, barking dogs, and a hubby calling over his shoulder, she is nearly always writing something ... when she can find the time.
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