BEAUTIFUL SINNER

  PIPER STONE

  CONTENTS

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Afterword

  Books of the Sinners and Saints Series

  Books of the Benedetti Empire Series

  Books of the Merciless Kings Series

  Books of the Mafia Masters Series

  Books of the Alpha Dynasty Series

  More Mafia and Billionaire Romances by Piper Stone

  Books of the Dark Overture Series

  Books of the Club Darkness Series

  Books of the Dangerous Business Series

  Books of the Montana Bad Boys Series

  Books of the Alpha Beasts Series

  More Stormy Night Books by Piper Stone

  About Piper Stone

  Copyright © 2022 by Stormy Night Publications and Piper Stone

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

  Published by Stormy Night Publications and Design, LLC.

  www.StormyNightPublications.com

  Stone, Piper

  Beautiful Sinner

  Cover Design by Korey Mae Johnson

  Images by Depositphotos/VitalikRadko

  This book is intended for adults only. Spanking and other sexual activities represented in this book are fantasies only, intended for adults.

  CHAPTER 1

  Sevastian

  Nine years before

  Danger.

  I woke with a start, the air from the open window thick with humidity. I hated the fact my mother preferred fresh air, requiring us to keep our windows open a good portion of the year. Perspiration trickled down both sides of my face, the stench of my own sweat as thick as the mugginess in the room. I rolled over, glaring at the neon red lighting of the clock. Three-ten a.m. Almost every night for the past month I’d awakened at exactly the same time.

  Groaning, I tossed to the other side, staring at the crack underneath the door. In two days, I’d leave for the university. Two days. My brother, Alexei, had graduated a year before, regaling every day he’d spent in the brutal regimen as having been an heir to a fabulous throne. Now he was handling operations for my father, learning every aspect of our business, determined to take over when the time was right.

  As the youngest, I was only given the privilege of attending because of who my father was. The Pakhan, the notorious leader of the Bratva in New York. No one challenged him. Whether saints or sinners, politicians or other Mafioso families, they all knew how dangerous he was. They called him unhinged. That’s what I adored about him.

  However, I was itching to spread my wings, not kowtow to another set of rulers. The university was special, creating monsters out of boys, coaxing them in how to become ruthless leaders. Now I was going to join the ranks.

  Fuck.

  Sighing, I tried to will myself to sleep, closing my eyes once. Then I heard a noise. Jerking up my head, I continued to stare at the darkness underneath the door, only I was now able to see shadows. The sweeping sensations of danger hit me once again. Someone was passing by my door, coming from the stairs. I crept out of bed, moving toward my dresser and removing my Beretta. I’d been taught to shoot before I was finished with little league baseball, my father insisting I understand both the power and responsibility of using a weapon.

  I heard a creak of floorboards only a few feet away from my room. My parents’ wing was on another floor entirely. Only my sister, Tatiana, and I remained at home, Alexei just purchasing his first New York City condo and our oldest brother Viktor spending more time in Russia handling business than in the US. I moved to within inches of the door, taking my time turning the knob, pulling it open a few inches.

  There was a light, only I could tell it was coming from a beam.

  A flashlight.

  Someone was inside the house. We were surrounded by my father’s soldiers, the house wired to the gills with security measures, but with the open windows, it was still possible for someone to get inside unseen.

  Keeping low, I moved into the hallway, both hands on my weapon, following the source of light. While it was possible my mother was checking on Tatiana, who’d been sick lately, the bad feeling churned in the pit of my stomach. I remained silent until I noticed Tatiana’s door was open.

  When I heard a muffled cry, I reacted instantly, rushing into the room. I didn’t need a light to tell me that two men were attempting to abduct my sister. No one touched her. I’d protected her for years, fighting off bullies, beating several until they were left close to death. These two bastards would never be allowed to touch her. I wasted no time, pulling the trigger twice, catching both men off guard.

  Their bodies slumped, one falling directly over Tatiana.

  I rushed forward, noticing the bastard still had some life left in him, the barrel of his weapon placed against my sister’s forehead.

  “Savi!” she moaned.

  The fucker grinned at me, the wash of moonlight highlighting his evil expression.

  No. Fucking. Way.

  I managed to yank him off her just a split second before the gun was fired, wrestling him to the floor and knocking his weapon away by several feet. I issued hard punches, one after the other, but still the man remained alive. As I fought, I was finally able to aim the pistol, but the fucker snapped his fingers around my wrist, his enormous size giving him the advantage. He was fighting to shove the weapon under my chin. Fuck, no.

  I butted his head with mine. He groaned, managing to roll me over, using the heel of his hand, snapping it under my chin. Pain tore through me, but I ignored it, scrambling to get out from under him. I jammed my fingers into his windpipe, able to jerk away, gasping for air. We both jumped to our feet, but he lunged toward me before I could get off another shot.

  Tatiana screamed, the sound of terror echoing.

  “Run, Tat. Run!” I hissed, but she wasn’t moving. Goddamn it.

  He threw a punch then went for my sister again. I was finished with the asshole.

  The man was huge, outweighing me by at least fifty or more pounds. My mother called me a late bloomer, my slight frame making me appear much younger. However, I’d been required to train hard in martial arts, easily dragging the man off the bed and onto the floor for a second time, wrestling with him for only a few seconds before I had him in a choke hold.

  Then I popped three more shots into his head.

  “Savi!” she yelled over and over again.

  All hell seemed to break loose, sirens going off outside, the sound of male voices floating in through the windows. I tossed the asshole aside, lifting her away from the carnage and backing away from the window.

  “They were…” she sobbed, her fingers clamped around my neck forcefully. “They were going… to hurt… me.”

  “Sshhh… You have to be quiet,” I whispered in her ear. “There could be more of them.”

  The moon streaming in through the window allowed me to see her nod. I heard thumping from the floor above. My parents were awake. For all I knew, the entire house was crawling with enemy soldiers. I wiped blood from my face, trying to figure out what the hell to do. Where were our damn men watching the house?

  There were more shots, at least six.

  She was still crying, trying to wrap her leg around me. “Listen to me. I have to find out what’s going on.”

  “No! You can’t leave me.”

  “Tat, I have to.” I walked her toward the closet, keeping my weapon pointed toward the hallway. Then I opened the closet door as quietly as possible. My father had special panic rooms build in every bedroom and several other locations. I’d called him nuts. Now I wanted to praise him. Once inside, there was almost no way to penetrate the area. My sister hated it, the drills my father had insisted on giving her nightmares for weeks, but I had no other choice.

  “No, please. Please. I’ll hide under the bed.”

  I forced her onto her feet, shaking her so she’d listen to me. “You don’t understand. If they capture you, I’ll never see you again. I promise I won’t be long.”

  “Promise. Promise?”

  “Have I ever broken a promise to you?”

  She shook her head. The motherfuckers were going to pay for terrorizing my sister. Tears continued to run down her cheeks, her entire body quivering. I gently pushed the concealed button, cringing when I heard another two shots. They were far too close for comfort.

  While she tried to be brave, I could sense every emotion, the horror that wouldn’t leave her for a long time. When she was safely inside, I closed the door then bolted toward the hallway, peering around the door jamb. I heard footsteps coming up the stairs and turned toward them, lifting and holding my weapon in both hands.

  “Prend
i il bastardo,” one of them hissed.

  My mother screamed.

  More gunshots.

  Hard thumps.

  Loud voices.

  When the second asshole fired, I was forced to jump back, the bullet slamming into the wall next to me.

  Italian. Jesus Christ. The damn Mafioso was attacking us. I didn’t hesitate, popping off several rounds, the rage boosting my adrenaline. I jumped over them just as they dropped to the floor, racing up the stairs. Our soldiers were still MIA, which wasn’t a good sign. While I knew the staff would be hiding in their rooms, the men my father employed as enforcers should have broken down the goddamn door by now.

  As soon as I made it to the landing, I noticed my mother out of the corner of my eye. She was fighting with one of the assholes who was trying to pin her down. My mother was small but mighty, able to handle herself in almost any situation, but not this time. She yelped, trying to kick him. I moved forward without hesitation, smacking him against the side of the head.

  Then I popped three shots into him. This was getting out of hand.

  My mother was able to kick him off, gasping for air as she crawled up the wall.

  “Your father. I think he’s been shot.”

  “Are there more of them on this floor?” I asked, already heading toward their bedroom, pulling her behind me.

  “There were three, but two of them left.”

  Reaching down, I tossed her the asshole’s weapon then headed into the bedroom. My father was on the floor facedown. “Papa.” I rolled him over, fearful he was gone. Blood covered a portion of his tee shirt, but from what I could tell, he’d been hit in the shoulder. “Wake up, Papa.”

  I had to find out what we were dealing with. I grabbed my father’s phone from the nightstand, then moved to the window, darting glances outside. Even with the moonlight, it was impossible to tell if there were more. I dialed my father’s main enforcer. Sergei was always on duty. He never left his post.

  No answer.

  “Where the fuck is everybody?” I tried Ivan. No answer. Then Josh, the only American my father had decided to trust. He’d become my best friend over the last few years even if he was a few years older. He’d pledged allegiance to my father without hesitation, protecting my family as if it was his own. We’d played football together, my father too busy to toss a ball with me. Hell, the man had shown me boxing moves better than any of the other soldiers could issue.

  He wouldn’t die. He was too mean and tough.

  “They’re dead, my son,” my mother croaked, terror crawling into her voice.

  “No. Josh is alive. He has to be.”

  I slowly lowered the phone, the echo as it rang and rang and rang pounding into my ears. Whenever my mother used the term ‘my son’ it meant she was either furious or distraught. Tonight I knew it was both.

  I turned toward her, taking gasping breaths. She was shaking, her breathing so hard I was worried. And her face. I didn’t need light to see the same terror in her expression I’d seen in Tatiana. I was going to kill the fuckers. The ringing continued. Then someone answered.

  “I have a message for you.” The voice wasn’t one I recognized, husky and rough as if the man had smoked four packs of cigarettes every day of his life, the broken English difficult to understand.

  “What?” I barked, fisting the phone with enough force the plastic case cracked.

  Pop! Pop!

  “Now, we’re even.”

  Even.

  One massacre for another. Blood spilled. Lives lost.

  The fucker had just killed my friend.

  The war waged on between our families, all in the name of total control over the city. Hissing, I glanced at the screen then tossed the phone across the room.

  The Vincheti family would soon learn nothing was over.

  Far from it.

  The war was just beginning.

  CHAPTER 2

  Sevastian

  Six months later

  Spring.

  There was nothing good about the season. Pollen. Allergies. Fucking flowers. Who the hell liked flowers anyway? I’d been called back from the university, forced to attend a function with my father. It wasn’t that I minded getting away from the ridiculous power plays that occurred every day on the campus, but I also didn’t want to be reminded of the carnage that had happened inside the house.

  There were far too many new faces, the men replacing those who’d lost their lives while trying to protect ours. My father had even hired a bodyguard for Tatiana, as if that had helped her nightmares. She’d written to me often, letters that were full of anguish, begging me to come back. I couldn’t help her or return on a permanent basis until I’d received my degree.

  The house had been redecorated, the grounds swept of any sign that six people had been murdered in cold blood, but that couldn’t hide the ghosts lurking in the darkness. I shook my head, glaring out into the garden.

  Nothing could change that night and the fact my father hadn’t started a war pissed me off. Maybe that’s why I hadn’t wanted to return home. He’d always handled business before anything else. Why he’d held back I couldn’t understand. I’d wanted to crush the Italians, destroying everything and everyone they cared about, but my father had refused. He’d even been hesitant to allow me to return for Christmas. Tatiana had begged him, wanting nothing else under the tree.

  Now I stood in my father’s office, waiting for his arrival. Whatever big event he wanted me to attend, he’d spelled out exactly what I was supposed to wear. A dark suit, crisp white shirt, and red tie, complete with the black onyx cufflinks embedded with our family crest. Who the hell was he trying to impress?

  My father walked in without hesitation, his long strides putting him behind his desk within seconds. He appeared well, completely healed from the gunshot wound. When he leaned over his desk, I realized he’d never look healthier in his life. He’d even gotten some sun on his face.

  “We don’t have much time, son, so I’ll cut right to the point. You’re a man now. You more than proved your worth with how you handled the invasion.”

  My father rarely gave compliments.

  “Thank you, Papa.”

  “Now that you are, it’s time you have the glory of working with me on an important mission.”

  “Mission?”

  “Maybe that’s the wrong word to use, but it will help change our future.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  He looked away briefly. “I’ve waited for months to retaliate against the Vincheti family.”

  “Why did you wait? Why not tear them apart?”

  “It’s called patience, son, and the right opportunity. Continuing the war will solve nothing. Innocent lives will be lost and even I won’t tolerate women and children being killed because of our need for power.”

  “Does that mean you have a plan?” I was pissed. Was the old man getting soft?

  My father took a deep breath, moving to his full height. He was a formidable man, not necessarily in size but in stature. I hoped to command a room like him one day.

  “One that will bind us together and stop the bloodshed.”

  “Bind us together? Why in the fuck would you want to do that?”

  “Don’t you raise your voice to me. I am still your father!” He pointed his finger at me, fury in his eyes.

  “Yes, sir.” I knew when not to cross him.

  He moved to the couch, grabbing his jacket. There was a small bag positioned underneath it, bright red foil with a silver bow. What the hell was he planning on doing?

  “I’m making a business arrangement with Cesare Vincheti. Before you say anything, I assure you that it will be lucrative for our family. It’s also in everyone’s best interest.” After putting on his jacket, he brought me the bag. “This is a gift for Giada Vincheti. She’s turning thirteen today. You will keep her company when I propose my plan to Cesare.”