Pretty Reckless

Copyright © 2023 Ria WildeAll rights reservedThe characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of the publisher.This ebook is exclusive to Amazon and Kindle Unlimited. Any downloadable copy found on any other online platform means it is an illegal copy and not approved by Ria Wilde.Cover design by: Ria WildeProofed by: Charlotte Brassington Contents CopyrightPrologueOneTwoThreeFourFiveSixSevenEightNineTenElevenTwelveThirteenFourteenFifteenSixteenSeventeenEighteenNineteenTwentyTwenty-oneTwenty-twoTwenty-threeTwenty-fourTwenty-fiveTwenty-SixTwenty-SevenTwenty-eightTwenty-nineThirtyThirty-oneThirty-twoThirty-threeThirty-fourThirty-fiveThirty-sixThirty-sevenThirty-eightEpilogueMore by Ria WildeUntitled Author Note Pretty Reckless is a dark standalone MMF romance.There may be content in this book that some may find triggering.These include graphic violence, blood, use of weapons, mentions of attempted SA and attempted murder of a minor (past), violence against FMC (not by MMCS), organized crime/Mafia, grief/loss & extremely morally gray characters.This is a MMF romance.This is NOT a love triangle.Scenes will include, MM, MF, MFM & MMFThere is a HEA.Expect to see some cross over characters from the No Saint Universe however this book is a complete standalone and does not contain any plot points from the other books set in the city of Redhill. Prologue Fifteen years before. He was drunk again.Has those fucking scumbags over. Again. “Shh,” I whisper down to her, her small form shaking with violent tremors that I swear rattle both our bones. If we stayed quiet, they’ll leave us alone. This was the worst foster home I’d been in, to date. The girl in my arms has said the same. I wondered often how these types of people even make it through the vetting process, but I guess that’s CPS for you. Anyone is good enough if it gets us out their hair. “I’m scared, Enzo,” she whispers with a shake. We have become close in the year we’ve been here together. Best friends of sorts. Soul mates. A bond nothing could break. I loved her. She loved me. We were young but we understood the depth of it. I would protect her always. “I know,” I soothe her with a hand on the back of her head. I was so much bigger than her, but then I was abnormally tall for a fifteen-year-old and she, abnormally small for a fourteen-year-old. “Where’s the little one?” I hear one of the men say. A rough laugh and the creak of old leather shifting as someone stands sends warning shivers down my spine, “I’ll fetch her.” “No.” The word is a breath of terror from her. I felt it at the base of my throat, and I curl myself tighter around her, shielding her. They couldn’t have her. I wouldn’t allow it. “Get the fuck out the way, boy,” Steve, our current foster fucker orders. “We’ve got visitors.” “Stay the fuck away.” I glare up at his ruddy face, his eyes bloodshot and unfocused. There were fresh tracks in his arms, and the potent stench of beer, cigarettes and sweat wafts off his unwashed body, staining the air. His clothes hug his body, three sizes too small, the stained white material of his shirt stretching over his large stomach, not long enough to cover the strip of hairy skin between the edge of that and his waistband. He made me sick. “Please,” she begs with tears tracking down her face. He reaches for her, and I lash out, slamming a hand into his stomach. But while I may be tall, I wasn’t big, I had no muscle, no strength. He laughs as if I were a fly bouncing against a window looking to escape. His thick hand slams down onto the back of my neck. Her scream fills my ears, and she latches onto me, her body coming with mine as he throws us both out of the closet and into the hall. We land in a tangle of limbs. I don’t get a chance to recover fully, barely on my knees, when he grabs my neck again and slams my head into the wall. I go down, a loud buzzing erupting inside my head and my vision turning cloudy. The threat of a blackout loomed but I couldn’t let it take me. Stay the fuck awake, Enzo. Stay the fuck awake. “Enzo!” She wails, her voice muffled like my head is underwater and she’s trying to bring me to the surface. I kick at the fog in my brain, trying to break the surface, to take a breath, to get to her. She screams again. And again. And again. I fight. Thrash. I could feel my body jerking on the floor, but I could not get through this sludge inside my head. Get up. Get up. Get up. I hear laughter. Crying. Screaming. Get up, Enzo! I stumble to my feet, my thin, weak legs carrying me down the hall, a hand braced to keep me upright. Everything swims in my vision, but I go straight, holding the walls to maintain my balance. They’ll be in the lounge; the table will be covered in needles and cigarettes and empty bottles. They’ll make her sit in their laps while they touch her. No. Not anymore. “Ah! You fucking little bitch!” I get to the room in time to see the blood pouring down the side of one of the guy’s head, his hand cupping his ear with red liquid oozing between his fingers. Blood coats her mouth and then she spits something onto the stained carpet. Flesh. That was a part of him… his fucking ear! She tries to run to me. I step forward to catch her. We’ll get away. We will run far from here. We will go and never look back. I open my mouth to call her name but she’s not quick enough, I’m not quick enough. The guy she bit grabs her suddenly and tackles her to the floor. I stumble