Captive Princess

By Winter Sloane

Can she forgive the man responsible for the murder of her entire family?

Eve Valentin knows she’s no man's first choice. Chubby and plain, her only saving grace is the Valentin crime family name, but Eve soon learns that being a mafia princess is dangerous. Eve’s always known she’s flawed, that its wrong to love a killer without a conscience, But she’s also certain that Vadim will never let her go.

Some say certain sins can’t be forgiven. Vadim Solonik knows that better than anyone. He’s put far too many men in the ground to seek redemption but there’s only one prize he’s always coveted. Ever since Eve Valentin walked into his life, he’s become a man obsessed. Vadim will pretend to be her enemy, to be the bastard everyone says he is, but in the end, she’ll be his in every way.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Evernight Publishing
• Release date: Nov 13, 2017
• ISBN: 9781773394824

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Published by EVERNIGHT PUBLISHING ® at Smashwords

www.evernightpublishing.com

Copyright© 2017 Winter Sloane

ISBN: 978-1-77339-482-4

Cover Artist: Jay Aheer

Editor: Karyn White

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

WARNING: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. No part of this book may be used or reproduced electronically or in print without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in reviews.

This is a work of fiction. All names, characters, and places are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

CAPTIVE PRINCESS

Romance on the Go ®

Winter Sloane

Copyright © 2017

Prologue

Five Years Ago

Eve Valentin fidgeted in her new dress. She smoothed the creases with her fingers because what else did she have to do? No one asked her to dance. None of the boys at school ever did, and even amongst her underworld kin, she knew no one would ask her at her sister’s wedding.

Oh, she heard a few boys sniggering behind her back, making bets. Who would ask the fat pig disguised as a mafia princess to dance? Eve pretended not to hear them, throwing a glass of water at the first boy who so much approached the table. He shuffled off after she threatened to tell her father.

This chair taken, princess? asked a deep voice. A man’s voice.

Suddenly wary, she lifted her head and sucked in a breath. A broad-shouldered man dressed in a charcoal gray suit took the empty seat next to her without waiting for her response. Eve wasn’t surprised. Her mother and aunts warned her and her sister often enough about men like Vadim Solonik all their lives. Her sister mostly, because no one noticed invisible chubby girls like Eve. All that mattered was the family name she came with.

Unnerved by Vadim’s stare, she met his gaze, feeling a mixture of foolish and brave. She could have excused herself, found the nearest exit route. Rumors said everyone who tangled with the contract killer, always ended up dead.

Her heart beat so hard, it ached, like the wings of a clipped bird struggling to get free. With shaky hands, she took a sip of the wine glass in front of her. The plain taste of water didn’t help her nerves.

More wine?

Why did Eve feel like Vadim had started taking silent stock of her, leaving her feeling bared, stripped down, despite her new modest dress? Unlike her sister or her sister’s friends, Eve didn’t like showing much skin or anything that constricted movement. Her mother always commented she looked like stuffed sausage in anything she wore anyway. Why bother?

I don’t drink.

Vadim’s chuckle annoyed her.

Vadim was a guest, and as the daughter of Charles Valentin, Eve had been expected to be polite and charming, just like her sister, except everyone knew the truth, including Eve. All she’d ever amount to was a poor copy of Clarissa.

What’s so funny? she demanded, sitting up to her full height, which amounted to five-foot-one. That I don’t drink?

What are you now, fourteen, thirteen?

Fifteen actually. She lifted her chin, dared him to say otherwise.

Shouldn’t you be getting drunk and finding some nice boy to fuck?

His language didn’t shock her. She grew up among rough men after all, mafiosi who spoke their mind and preferred violence instead of words.

What’s it to you? She crossed her arms over her ample breasts that seemed to stretch the fabric of her dress.

Why couldn’t she have small breasts like Clarissa or her mother? No. If Eve started thinking along those lines, then she’d want to scrap everything that made up Eve Valentin and be left with nothing. Eve liked nothing about herself, never fit in with her family anyway.

Wait, why was she suddenly feeling so self-conscious in the presence of a killer who would likely soon forget her?

Vadim motioned for a waiter and let the man fill her glass with wine. Before she could argue her point again, he lifted it and took a sip. She blushed, unable to help it. An indirect kiss. Not that it mattered to a man like Vadim. Even now, she noticed the looks the other women, both single and attached, lingering on Vadim.

You sure you don’t want a sip? You look like you need it, Vadim drawled.

Eve firmly shook her head.

Aren’t you a good little girl?

Does it get your rocks off, to tease poor little fat girls?

Vadim set the glass down, saying nothing. The silence unnerved her.

Eve should have found a way to stay home instead of enduring this awful wedding. The boys made bets who’d dance with her. She ignored them and they eventually lost interest,