Beautifully Brutal (Southern Boy Mafia #1) Read Online Free Page A

watching as she walked away, not willing to play this game with her here. Too many eyes on them, too many people who didn’t need to see the emotion Max was unable to disguise. Courtney meant something to him. Hell, she meant everything to him. And based on experience, Max knew that his enemies, those who thought they could take him down or disrupt his business, wouldn’t shy away from using her against him.
    It wasn’t until he noticed RT and Trace speaking to the man Max had been expecting to show up that he realized the games had begun.
    Special Agent Dan Duchein had arrived.
    Which meant the real party was about to begin.

Chapter Three
    A weakness…
    Those were easy to resist, right?
    Courtney forced herself to walk away from Max, reminding herself—again—of the reason she was there tonight. It certainly wasn’t to steal glances at him from across the room or battle the jealousy that coursed through her when she saw him talking to other women. She was the one who had broken it off with him nearly a year ago, which meant she had absolutely no right to be jealous.
    No right to him at all, in fact.
    It wasn’t easy, pretending not to want him, but then again, it never had been easy to walk away from the one man she wanted more than she wanted anything else.
    For the past two years, since the very first time she’d given in to Max, making out with him in a hallway in this very house, she’d felt as though she were living in a modern-day version of Romeo and Juliet. Her family, a group of elite security advisors, spent their lives protecting people, saving them from dangerous situations, handling their every protection need in some cases. As for Max’s family … they were gangsters fueled by money and power, and they’d stop at nothing to get what they wanted.
    She and Max were from two very different worlds.
    And it’d taken every ounce of willpower she had to stay away from him, but somehow Courtney had managed for the last year. She’d used her best friend, Marissa, as an excuse, wanting to focus all of her extra energy on bringing her back home after their families had started stashing Marissa in safe houses across the US in order to keep her safe from the man who was hell-bent on kidnapping—or worse, killing—her.
    How well did that work for you?
    Ignoring the prickly voice in her head, she forced her attention on the mission. Z was waiting at the rear entrance of the lavish ballroom for Courtney to deliver Marissa to him. They needed to get their principal out of there, and that was Courtney’s one and only job at the moment, ensuring Marissa made it safely from point A to point B.
    There were voices sounding in her earpiece. Excited, eager voices. Trace. RT. Z. The determination in their tone spurred her into action as she made her way across the room, coming to assist.
    “Well, look there. It’s none other than Special Agent Dan Duchein. Didn’t know you had an invite to this party.”
    Courtney noted the urgency in her brother’s voice. Apparently their guest of honor had arrived and set his sights on Marissa, as they’d expected him to.
    “We need to get her out of here.” That had to be Duchein. He sounded almost frantic. Impatient.
    Trace’s voice broadcasted in her ear again. “Her?”
    “Marissa Trexler,” Duchein snarled. “The woman behind you?”
    Courtney continued walking while waiting to hear what Duchein’s excuse would be. He didn’t disappoint.
    “I’m here on official business. We got some intel that this is a setup. You’ve walked her right into a trap. The Adorites won’t let her leave here alive.”
    Courtney rolled her eyes. If that’d been the case, Max would’ve had Marissa eliminated before they stepped foot in the house. He wasn’t the type to delay the inevitable if he felt it would benefit his cause.
    “Ask him where his backup is.” RT’s voice came through loud and clear, but Courtney had yet to locate where her team leader was.
    As she continued