Maria (Made Men Book 7)

by Sarah Brianne

  Reaching up to take the phone from his hand, she was sure to let her fingers touch his, wanting nothing more than to touch him again since their first meeting and repay the favor …

  …Fiddling for another minute after hearing her bodyguard incessantly banging on the girl’s bathroom door, she decided it was time to step out. It was Nero’s high school graduation. She grabbed her purse, then put one pump in front of the other.

  “Shit! Goddamn …” The cursing from the deep voice trailed off as the man started mumbling to himself.

  She quickly dropped her purse and touched a man’s raised arm, which was holding the side of his face. “I am so sorry. Are you okay? I completely forgot those doors fly open like that.”

  Hearing the muffled laughter, she shooed her watchdog away to go laugh somewhere else.

  “Yeah, yeah, I’m fine.” He said it like he was trying to shoo her away, as well.

  Dang, I hit him really hard.

  “Are you sure you’re okay? Here, let me see.” She grabbed his wrist with her other hand so she could assess the damage she’d done to his face.

  “I said …,” he began harshly as he dropped his hand from his face to look at the woman who’d nearly knocked his brains out. Looking at her, he seemed to have lost his train of thought. It took him a moment before he cleared his throat to change his tone. “I’m fine, really.” He smiled at her.

  She stared helplessly up at him, her eyes unwilling to move away from the liquid gold.

  Feeling his strong arm under her hands, she realized his body definitely wasn’t bad, either.

  Oh gosh. She quickly pulled her hands away from him, trying not to smile in embarrassment from touching him longer than she should have.

  She finally moved her eyes away from his. “I-I’m sorry. I feel terrible that I hit you.”

  Did I just stutter? Being flustered in front of men was something that never happened to her.

  “It’s really okay. It was my fault. I usually walk farther away from the door, but my mind was somewhere else.”

  She smiled back at him. It made her feel instantly better to hear his genuine apology. “There’s no mark yet, but I hope it doesn’t bruise on you.”

  “If it does, it wouldn’t be the first.” He started to lean down toward the floor. “Here, let me get that for you.”

  She watched him pick up her purse off the floor and felt his gaze on her brand-new nude pumps that she had pulled out of the box that morning. Her body slightly tingled as his eyes rolled over her as he stood up straight. Thank you, Christian Louboutin.

  He held her purse out, and when she grabbed it and touched him, she noticed the size of his hand spanned the whole purse.

  “Thank you.” Her hand began to tingle when she slid it off his.

  “You’re very welcome ….”

  She swept her gold-colored hair behind her ear, smiling. “Maria.”…

  …“I’ll be sure to talk with Leo,” she promised sweetly, a promise she might or might not keep.

  Still holding on to the phone, it was Kayne who pulled away this time. Seeing his lingering touch, she knew he didn’t want to pull away any more than she did. It had felt so wrongly right every fucking time their hot skin touched.

  “Thank you,” he said after he did that thing again where he cleared his throat.

  Not wanting to press her luck any longer that Leo could keep her bodyguard on the other side of the door, she stood, showing off her best feature yet again—her legs that made her practically as tall as him in her heels.

  She had to give the teacher credit as she took her time putting on her faux fur jacket. He had the willpower to keep his eyes tastefully above her neck, which made him a fucking saint on account of the tiny bead of sweat that was beginning to form at his brow.

  “I hope to see your father here in the future.” He made it clear it was a one-time only deal for Leo. “But I’d love to see you again under different circumstances.”

  “Me, too.” Maria smiled before walking away. She would give the one-of-a-kind designer purse away just to have his eyes on the back of her head right now.

  “Goodbye, Ms. Caruso.” The words left his mouth when she opened the door to the possibility of prying ears.

  The way he said it held a promise that this impromptu meeting wouldn’t be their last, and it had sent a shiver down her freshly shaven, exposed legs until it pricked every hair up.

  Considering the crown on her head, this was a very dangerous game she felt was beginning to start in her bones, but … she could play it.

  Turning back, she gave him a wink that only he could see. “Goodbye, Mr. Evans.”

  Three

  The Urge to Punch His Cute Little Face

  Leo’s eyes had been permanently narrowed the second she exited the classroom, carefully studying her and ignoring the phone she held out to him.

  “Take it,” Maria snapped.

  Finally, he took it out of her hand but with a suspicious look as he did so. She wanted to get on with it.

  “What?”

  “I … don’t know yet.” It seemed as if his suspicions were mixed with a bit of confusion.

  With a roll of her eyes, she walked back down the school hallway.

  “Oh God! Maria!” Her little brother hissed while hurrying to catch up with her.

  She quickly turned around to see her suit was too close behind for her to have the conversation she was about to have.

  “Todd, what have I told you? Nine steps behind me at all times!”

  “Yes, sorry.” Todd nodded his head, quietly counting her steps before walking behind her again, this time at the greater distance that she had coached him on the first day he started working for her. He was definitely one of the better ones she’d had, not on a protection scale, but on a give-me-some-fucking-space scale. Some of her previous bodyguards had the proverbial stick shoved so far up their asses that she had to be cunning to get what she wanted. Todd, however, was like a love-sick puppy dog that was far too easy to train. She only hoped the poor sucker would last.

  “Maria, I swear if you—”

  “Shhhh!” she hissed back at her brother to keep his fucking voice down.

  “—have a crush on my teacher,” he continued in a harsher but quieter voice, “I swear I’m never going to be able to go to school again!”

  “I”—she tried to lie—“don’t.”

  Not believing her for a fucking second, Leo’s feet cemented themselves to the floor. “You’ve never liked anyone before! We all thought you were probably a lesbian!”

  Her heels suddenly halted next to him. “Excuse m—” Shrugging, she had to agree, especially since she thought she might have been one too. “Okay, yeah, that’s probably fair.”

  This time it was him rolling his eyes as he walked off.

  “It’s come as a shock to me, too, you know. I didn’t expect the first person I’d ever feel anything toward would be your fucking teacher! It’s not exactly ideal for me, either.”

  “I wouldn’t worry about it.” He turned up his head, suddenly feeling better about it.

  “Why?” Maria asked, not liking the smug look on his face.

  “You’re not his type.”

  “Excuse me!” This time, she finished her sentence with more vigor, as this one was actually fucking offensive. “I’m everyone’s type.”

  “Not Mr. Evans’s,” he assured her.

  It was everything Maria could do to keep her voice down to a whisper. “And why is that?”

  “Because you’re young, blonde, and too pretty.”

  Okay, well, the urge to punch his cute little face left, but all those things she already knew, and she didn’t exactly understand how her best qualities were her worst in this situation.

  “Yeah? So?”

  “So, Mr. Evans has had every girl and teacher in this school after him, and the only one he showed somewhat of an interest in was a substitute teacher that some kids caught him out on dates with a couple of
times.”

  “Okay …” She was sensing a “but” , “and” or “if.” Whatever it was, it was coming.

  “And she looked and acted nothing like you.” Leo himself seemed shocked that was who Kayne had chosen to go on a date with. “She was just normal compared to some of the women after him.”

  “Normal?”

  “Yeah, she’s not necessarily pretty, but she’s not ugly, either.” He attempted to put it in words but still could only think of one. “She’s just … normal.”

  “Well, maybe for once a guy likes a girl with a personality.” Heaven forbid.

  “No.” Leo shook his head. “I’ve had her as a sub a couple of times, and she just comes in and hands us packets to work on then sits behind the desk. She doesn’t talk to us and doesn’t care.”

  “Is her name Kendra?”

  “I’m not sure? Maybe. Why?”…

  …Her eyes didn’t move as she glided across the floor. It was almost like an out-of-body experience. Her mind didn’t catch up to what she was doing until their bodies hit each other.

  His reflex was fast, turning around to catch and steady her. “Are you all right?”

  “I’m so sorry. I must’ve not been paying attention.” She acted surprised and a bit disoriented.

  Looking back at Todd, who had followed her, she let him know she was all right. Please stay put.

  He laughed. “I think you’re making this a bit of a habit.”

  She let herself look up into his golden eyes. “Oh no, not you again. Now I feel awful.”

  “Don’t.” He continued to hold her up, not letting her go. “What’s your name again? Maria, right?”

  Smiling, she was happy he remembered. “Yes. I’m sorry. Remind me of yours ….”

  “Kayne Evans.”

  “That’s right.” It was hard to look away from him.

  They both stared into the other’s eyes for a few moments until he finally dropped his hands from her after realizing he hadn’t let her go yet.

  Clearing his throat, he moved up in the line. “What movie did you and your boyfriend come to see?”

  “Huh?” Turning to see an intimidating Todd, she laughed. “Oh, he’s not my boyfrie—”

  “There you are!” A brunette came up to Kayne, smiling.

  Kayne seemed caught off guard at first, like he hadn’t expected her. “Hey, Kendra.”

  Adjusting her fur coat, Maria quickly realized they were here to see a movie together.

  A moment of awkward silence passed between them.

  “Kendra, this is Maria.”

  “Is she one of your students?” the brunette asked.

  “No,” he corrected her before the corner of his mouth slightly lifted. “We just seem to run into each other.”

  “Yes, we do.” Maria chuckled.

  It’s strange, she thought as she looked at the sexy, golden man.

  She almost forgot about the woman standing beside him, too enthralled at the spark she felt between them. It was why she had run into him again, but this time was on purpose. She had wanted to see if she felt that again. Never having it before with any other person, she had missed it, dreamt about it nightly, almost forgetting what it felt like until she saw his silhouette at the back of the line. That was when she had found herself running into him, wanting to see if she could get that feeling back.

  “I think it’s our turn.” Kendra interrupted their staring.

  “Right. Well, it was good seeing you again, Maria. And hopefully, I’ll run into you sometime again,” he ended with another smile.

  “Hopefully,” she wished, watching him walk away with his hand at the small of the woman’s back.

  That was when she felt it. A twitch … in her cold … dead … heart…

  …“Doesn’t matter.” And it didn’t. She didn’t care if Kendra was prettier, funnier, or could fuck a man six times a day and seven on Sunday. She wasn’t the jealous type and never in her life had Maria Caruso ever felt threatened. She wasn’t starting now. She wished Kendra all the luck in the world, because she was going to fucking need it.

  “By the way”—Maria wanted to change the subject to give her baby brother her own scrutinizing gaze—“since when did Nero start rubbing off on you? Calling a woman ‘normal looking’ and texting girls in class. I thought I taught you how to treat girls better than our brothers. I mean, you’re supposed to be the good one.”

  Leo roughly pushed back his dirty blond hair from his eyes, seeming to be just as offended as Maria had been a few minutes ago. “Christy texted me! I just accidentally forgot to turn my phone on silent, and when I went to do that, Mr. Evans took it.” He mumbled even lower, appearing to still be slightly confused, “He’s never taken a phone away before …”

  “Well”—she tossed her blonde locks back behind her shoulder—“you didn’t have it on silent when the class heard it ding, so you probably gave him no option.”

  “Yeah, I guess,” he finally agreed after a few steps closer to their car. “And I only meant ‘normal’ based off today’s standards, you know.”

  “Yeah, yeah, yeah ….” Smiling, she put her arm around her favorite brother, the only one she would ever willingly show much affection to these days. “I knew what you meant. I just wanted to give you a hard time.”

  “Well, just remember that I’m the one who knows your secret … for now,” he joked, and in a way that might have held a slight threat.

  Her maniacal laughter promised her own threat. “You wouldn’t dare.”

  “Yeah, you’re right,” he agreed, knowing his sister too well. “Just remember I have to look at Mr. Evans for the next two and a half years.”

  “I’ll try to keep that in mind.” She messed up his hair a bit before she had enough human contact for one day. Leo was lucky that he was fucking special.

  “Holy shit! Is that your sister, Caruso?” It was your classic, cock-sucking-looking jock, wearing his football jersey—to make sure every living thing knew his life ended the day he flipped the tassel of his graduation cap to the other side—who yelled out before he got in the car that his parents bought him.

  Some things never change.

  “Fuck off, Rick!” Leo roared, shoving his sister in the Escalade. “Next time Dad’s busy, I don’t care even if he is in the middle of killing someone, send Lucca.”

  Four

  Psychopaths were Winners

  Walking into the miraculous home that she grew up in always felt different to her than it did to people who walked in here for the first time. Everyone new would be in awe, wondering what the hell a house like this would cost and curious about all the illegal activity committed to afford it.

  To her, however, it hadn’t been the same since her mother had been brutally gunned down in a parking lot supermarket. This big house had once been a home that held … life. Now it just held precious things with armed guards, and it wasn’t much different than a museum.

  Going through the grand foyer and past the wrought iron staircase, they headed into the open living room that had been connected to the gourmet, white kitchen, due to the wall their mother had made their father knock down after Leo was born. She’d seen it in some ridiculous home magazine, and by the next weekend, the wall had been knocked down, joining the living room, dining room, and kitchen together.

  Maria was like her mother Melissa in that sense—they always got what they wanted.

  “Oh good, Lucca’s here. You can leave, Todd.” She threw a leave now look over her shoulder.

  Todd halted, as if wondering what he should do.

  However, the blue-green eyes glaring at him narrowed, waiting to see his next move.

  When Todd was still contemplating moments later, Lucca spoke coldly, “Leave.”

  It didn’t take Todd long to obey Lucca and got the fuck out of there.

  Shrugging off her jacket, she threw it and her purse onto the huge, white sectional—like they weren’t freaking designer. Feeling her older brother’s eyes now on he
r, she headed toward the kitchen and sat on the stool in front of him.

  Just like her, this city had donned him with his own nickname that, truthfully, she was jealous of. Maria was considered a silly, little princess in a world full of monsters. The “boogieman” was the name whispered on the lips of every citizen in this city. It used to be a harmless tale that you would use to threaten your children to make them behave—telling them that, if they misbehaved, the boogieman would get them in the middle of the night. Now, though, the boogieman breathed the same Kansas City air that everyone else did, and he wasn’t just a nightwalker that came to you in the middle of the night; he walked the exact same streets their children did when the sun was at its highest point in the sky, burning the black pavement. The biggest myth, however, was that he punished children. The boogieman punished any living thing, and that was how you knew something was a true monster—if the fear in an adult was greater than a child’s.

  Maria stared at the cold, stainless steel knife he held in his hand, and her green eyes dueled with the ones belonging to the being who had this city in fear. The thing was, fairytales of weak princesses and wicked monsters were just fucking that.

  “What?”

  Lucca stared at her for another moment before he took the stainless-steel knife in his hand and went back to slicing vegetables. “Nothing.”

  Just as much as she was sure he didn’t like her “what,” she didn’t like his “nothing.” He had figured something out and hadn’t liked what he’d pieced together.

  “What was it that you had to go to the school for?” he asked.

  Trying her best not to glance over at Leo, who was now sitting next to her, she lied, “The usual bullshit from the school—wanting us to either donate time or money, as if there aren’t enough stuck-up moms who aren’t eagerly lined up at the door to help spend the rich daddy’s money.”

  “That’s a fucking joke,” a voice grumbled from behind her.

  Seeing her other brother Nero come in, she understood exactly what he meant. Legacy Prep was a greed-filled high school with a hierarchy that consisted of superintendents, the wealthy parents and students, the faculty, and then finally, the less fortunate who were only able to slip through the cracks due to laws that wanted prep schools to appear more “well-rounded.” Legacy Prep was about as corrupt as the Caruso family.