Saturday, August 17, 2024

Beautifully Savage Butterfly (Mafia Bound #2)


Another day, another lucky chance at another ARC. "Beautifully Savage Butterfly" is the second novel in K.M. Neuhold's Mafia Bound series. 

["Being savage in the ring is one thing. The way Elio Moretti craves my violence outside the ring is another.

I feel like I’ve been fighting my whole life, and tapping out has never been an option.

I can live with owing money to the Morettis. I can even live with the constant guilt that my brother is the one paralyzed in a hospital bed while I live his dream. What I can’t live with is Elio Moretti, second in command to the infamous crime family, showing up to all my fights, sitting in the front row, watching me like he can’t look away, and barging into the locker room to patch up my wounds and invade my space.

The Morettis are monsters. Vicious, brutal sociopaths. So, why is Elio so eager to get on his knees for me?

He’s as desperate to give up control as I am to take it, but is giving in to these primal urges enough of a reason to sell my soul?

He claims there are worse people in this city than his family, and the deeper I get dragged into his world, the more true that’s starting to seem. Can I really fall in love with a Mafia underboss? Is it even possible to walk away?"]

THIS BOOK!!!! D:

They understood each other...after Orion let go of his hate. 

Yes, Elio is spoiled, but being the second in command of a mafia isn't exactly easy (on the soul, on the heart, on the head). You see things, deal with things that other people can't even imagine, and then, when you want a moment of peace or vulnerability, you don't know who to trust. Orion eventually realized that, saw all the broken pieces that made Elio Elio and stuck around anyway.

Elio also eventually realized why Orion was being stubborn, pigheaded, and frankly, a little fucking holier than though (and exact quote from Elio--to which he paid for). He's also dealt with things that most people can't imagine, had to handle things that others couldn't handle, and done all of that virtually on his own for so long. Elio saw him, saw the savageness and anger; he helped Orion with his demons, helped Orion with his debts, and helped Orion relax a little. 

I mean honestly, Orion did so much judging that he literally said, "Elio fucking Moretti is not a subby brat begging for a spanking, he's a goddamn killer." As if one cannot occur with the other. As if Elio is anything BUT a subby brat begging for a spanking. But don't worry, Orion figured out that their traumas (and kinks) matched pretty freaking well. 

Quote of the Day (Elio about Orion): "Am I starting to wear him down a little? Not much, hopefully. I don't want him domesticated, I just want him tame enough to keep. Actually, I don't need that either. i want him to want me. Outside of that, he can stay as feral as he likes."

QotD 2 (Elio about Xav/Sparrow): "They gave me a fucked-up kind of hope that even the twisted souls can have mates. I both hate and love them for that."

Trigger Warnings: casual violence related to MMA, bad guys getting what's coming to them, human/sex trafficking (of minors), and more.

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#deadlylitlesparrow #mafiabound #mafiaboundseries #kmneuhold #books #queerbooks #queererotica #bodicerippers #bookstagram #bookphotography #ilovebooks

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