Beautiful Desire

BEAUTIFUL DESIRE THE BEAUTIFUL MEN SERIES BOOK TWO K. WOODS ER SLOANE CONTENTS Content Warning Prologue 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 Chapter 20 Chapter 21 Chapter 22 Chapter 23 Chapter 24 Chapter 25 Chapter 26 Chapter 27 Chapter 28 Chapter 29 Chapter 30 Chapter 31 Chapter 32 Chapter 33 Chapter 34 Chapter 35 Chapter 36 Chapter 37 Chapter 38 Chapter 39 Epilogue Epilogue Two Also by K. Woods & ER Sloane Acknowledgments About the Authors Copyright © 2023 K. Woods & ER Sloane All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the authors, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review. This book is a work of fiction. All names, characters, locations, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or used in fictional manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental. Cover Designer: Lee Taylor @ Coffin Print Designs Editing & Formatting: Carmen Richter @ CPR Editing Proofreading: Mackenzie Letson @ Nice Girl Naughty Edits CONTENT WARNING Please note the following novel contains material that may be triggering to some readers and is not suitable for those under the age of 18. Triggers: Strong language, kidnapping, violence, blood, and murder. You can’t go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending. -C.S. Lewis For anyone who was ever told they couldn’t do it. HELL YES, YOU CAN! PLAYLIST “Versace on The Floor” – Bruno Mars “Return of the Mack” – Mark Morrison “Because of You” – Ne-Yo “Too Close” – Next “Somebody Else” – The 1975 “Perfect” – The Piano Guys “Alone” – Jessie Ware “Falling” – Harry Styles “Oh My God” – Adele “Forget Me” – Lewis Capaldi “I Won’t Let You Go” – Switchfoot feat. Lauren Daigle “Jealous” – Labrinth “What Have I Done” – Dermot Kennedy “Cover Me In Sunshine” – P!nk “I Believe in Us” – Lèon “High for This” – The Weeknd “SoulMate” – Justin Timberlake “Lose It All” – Sam Tompkins “Fall In Love Again” – Rag’n’Bone Man “Scars” – James Bay “Forever and Ever and Always” – Ryan Mack “Say You Love Me” – Jessie Ware “If Ever However Whenever Forever” – Picture This “I’ll Be Waiting” – Cian Ducrot “Love Like This” – Lauren Daigle “Rescue” – Lauren Daigle “If You Ever Want to Be in Love” – James Bay PROLOGUE ARTURO Age 16 - Sicily “Arturo! Andiamo,” my father’s voice booms up the stairs, letting me know it’s time. Shit, it’s time. I’ve been dreading this day for the last two years, since I learned what was expected of me on my sixteenth birthday. I’ve tried everything I could think of to get out of tonight, but my only way out of this is if Death comes knocking – which, if I don’t go through with this, it will. My life has already been planned out for me since before I was born. It’s expected of me to join the family business: working with my two older brothers, Armando and Alessio, under my father, Giuliano Bianchi, Don of the Cosa Nostra. But that’s not what I want at all. For years, my father has talked to us about our initiation, and the excitement in his voice when he spoke about it had us all hyped up. I couldn’t wait for my turn to be a man and join the famiglia. But that all changed two years ago when it was Alessio’s initiation. My brothers and I were very close; we were each other’s best friends. Though I was the youngest of three boys, we did pretty much everything together. When Mando had his initiation, I was only ten and don’t remember much about that night – only that from that night on, he was no longer my fun-loving brother who would play “cops and robbers” with me. He was so busy being my father’s shadow and learning the famiglia business that we hardly saw him anymore. Alessio and I were always the closest, since we’re only two years apart. With Mando’s absence, we became inseparable. That was, until his own sixteenth birthday came around. None of us knew what happened the night we turned sixteen. My father never went into detail about it. He just made it seem like it was the best thing ever and made all three of us excited for it. Armando never came back to see us that night to tell us either, so we were still in the dark about it. We knew it had to be something big, because we were told that was the night we finally became a man and joined the Cosa Nostra alongside our papa. What happened on Alessio’s birthday changed everything. I found out what was expected of me, and I was determined to not let that happen, no matter the cost. The sound of heavy footsteps can be heard through the walls, and moments later, my father enters my room. Standing in the open doorway, he assesses me with judgement in his eyes before speaking. “What are you doing? It’s time to go. Move it!” he roars. He starts to turn around, and before he can walk away, I stop him in his tracks with my next word. “No,” I say calmly, but firmly. Halting his movements, he turns back around to face me before taking slow, controlled steps toward me. Stopping just a hair’s breadth away, he says, “What did you say to me?” “N—” His hand moves so fast, I don’t see it coming. Before I can even get the full word out, he raises his right hand and punches me square