Prologue
PROLOGUE
Calum
“ S ir, are you sure you want to do this?”
Alessio’s hesitation is personified by weakness.
It was different when I started. We were all different back then, and I know my driver longs for the days where my reputation didn’t send shivers of ice down the back of spineless men.
Maybe I’m more callous than I once was when wealth flowed freely, and my partners held more respect for me than they did fear. That’s what happens when a man is forced to become a beast.
As the limo comes to a slow stop in front of the castle bathed in the dark night, my thumb runs along my hard jaw line, skimming over the deep scar that made me who I am. The glittering candlelight and floral scent that filters in through the cracked tinted windows doesn’t hide the ruthlessness of the men attending tonight.
The elite and upper class, better known as the devils in Armani suits that run this city, don’t hold a flame to my brutality. They can hide behind the masquerade of tonight, their flutes of expensive champagne and cloaks of luxury, but we all know who we really are. I don’t intend to hide behind a damn thing. Just like they don’t hide their unease around me.
One of the few partnerships and personal relationships that hasn’t changed since then is with a man named Carter Cross. He took what he wanted when it came to all matters . I’ve decided I’m no better.
Annabelle will leave the ball with me tonight. There’s nothing that will change my mind of that.
She’s beautiful, and the opposite of the beast I became. More than that, the business deals I can acquire with her father’s reputation . . . well, he owes me, and I’ve decided beautiful Belle is what I want in the place of his debt.
Am I sure I want to do this? I answer Alessio with the grim reality, “I’ve never been more sure of anything in my life.”