Salvatore: a Dark Mafia Romance(87)

Lucia was wise and strong. I’d given her what I’d promised, a peaceful life, happiness. And while doing so, I had given the same to myself.

I may not be able to save my brother, but maybe it wasn’t up to me to save him.

I squeezed Lucia tighter and closed my eyes, nuzzling my nose in her hair. Life was both crazy and beautiful, and out of the ugliness and hate, we’d made love. I would not forget to cherish that, to cherish her, forever.

The End





Thank you!





Thanks for reading Salvatore: a Dark Mafia Romance. I hope you enjoyed it and would consider leaving a review at the store where you purchased the book.



Want to be the first to hear about sales and new releases? You can sign up for my Newsletter Here! Want more dark and dirty romance? Read on for excerpts from my other books.



I have a FB Fan Group where I share exclusive teasers and interact with readers. It’s called Natasha Knight’s Badass Alphas. If you’d like to join, click here!



Thank you again, Natasha.





Acknowledgments





Cover Design by LJ Anderson Mayhem Cover Creations



All Images Purchased



Editing by Ann Curtis



Print Formatting by Champagne Formats





Also by Natasha Knight





Beautiful Liar

Retribution

Deviant

Theirs To Take

Captive, Mine

Alpha

Given to the Savage

Taken by the Beast

Claimed by the Beast

Captive’s Desire

Protective Custody

Amy’s Strict Doctor

Taming Emma

Taming Megan

Taming Naia

Aching To Submit

The Firefighter’s Girl

Dangerous Defiance

Her Rogue Knight

Taught To Kneel

Tamed: the Roark Brothers Trilogy

What the Doctor Ordered Box Set

The Disciplinarian

Pierced





Beautiful Liar (Excerpt)





Prologue




Slater



My bike’s engine rumbled as I pulled into the parking lot of Hello Kitty Kat, a little strip club outside North Bend, Oregon. I took it all in: the old, windowless cabin-like structure; a red neon sign above the door, flashing the image of a half-naked woman wearing the predictable cat ears and a tail; the letter O burned out so it read HELL KITTY KAT.

Four bikes stood in a row near the entrance, but pickups took up the majority of the parking spots in the lot. For a Thursday night, the place was hopping.

I pulled my bike into line with the other four, killed the engine, and grabbed a pack of cigarettes out of my pocket. I lit one and took a long drag. I held the cigarette between thumb and forefinger, got off my bike, and headed for the entrance. Before I reached it, two men pushed the door open. Music drifted out, a slow, predictable tune to which I imagined one of the kitties stripped. I checked my watch. A little after one in the morning. This was a twenty-four-hour establishment, and I admit, the day the shit had hit the fan, I’d found myself at a strip club similar to this and hadn’t left for a full forty-eight hours.

One of the men stumbled into me. I caught and righted him. He looked up. And up.

“Oh. Sorry man,” he mumbled.

I was a big guy. Six feet six and 250 pounds of muscle covered in tats. The man stepped backward, and this time, his friend caught him.

“Lou here’s had a little too much to drink,” his friend, who seemed the less drunk of the two, said, slurring his words.

“No problem.” I tossed the butt of my cigarette on the ground.

The guy nodded and quickly took Lou toward his truck. I saw him glance back at me and pocket his keys. “I don’t think I can drive, man,” I heard him say.

“Well, I know I can’t,” Lou said.

They both apparently found that hilariously funny and, after recovering from their belly laugh, walked toward the road.

Two less drunks behind the wheel tonight. That was a good thing.

Crushing the still smoking butt under my boot, I pulled the door open and entered. The place reeked of beer, sweat, and horny men, but I didn’t care about that. I was here for one reason and one reason alone.

The woman onstage finished. The men cheered and whistled while she collected her discarded garments and, after blowing one final kiss to the audience, left the stage.

“What can I get you?” the bartender asked.

“Whiskey.”

He nodded and poured out a glass of Jack. I paid the man and took my drink to find a quiet place in the back just as the music started and the lights went up on the stage. I finished my first and ordered a second while watching two more women dance before it was finally her turn.

The whole room went still. I leaned an elbow on the table and rested my chin on the backs of my fingers as music began to play and soft light settled on the stage. For a moment, it seemed like the whole place held its breath until she finally appeared to a round of whistles. The spotlight followed her feet, encased in strappy, high-heeled sandals, as she walked toward the center of the stage where the pole stood. There, she turned to the side, hands gripping the metal as the light slowly caressed her calf and rose up along her thigh, to her hips clad in dark lace. When she moved, it wasn’t like any other stripper I’d ever seen. There was something different about her, something just out of reach. She didn’t belong here, and that fact made her all the more desirable.