artfully bred

  e.m. shue

  Text Copyright ©2024 E.M. Shue

  All rights reserved. This book or parts thereof may not be reproduced in any form, stored in any retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or otherwise—without prior written permission of the publisher, except as provided by United States of America copyright law. For permission requests, write to the publisher, at “Attention: Permissions Coordinator,” at the address below.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Cover Design by Bookin’ It Designs

  Formatting by Mountain Rose Press

  Editing by Nadine Winningham of The Editing Maven

  www.authoremshue.com

  emshue.ak@gmail.com

  Created with Vellum

  contents

  Artfully Bred

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Epilogue One

  Epilogue Two

  BABY BREEDER SESSION 2 SERIES

  About E.M.

  Also by E.M. Shue

  artfully bred

  Vittoria Carbone has been told all her life that she will marry for a strategic union for her family. She is a commodity. Only for his benefit. She thought things would change when her cousin took over the family, but her father hasn’t changed his mind. He still wants her to marry for a union for the family. He chased away the one man that Vittoria wanted. Now she only has her art. The lines and splashes of color tell the story of her pain.

  Spencer Tate only needed to see Vittoria once to know she was meant to be his, but her father won’t allow it. He’s told Spencer he isn’t good enough, so he left to prove he was better than anyone for Vittoria. He’s built his business to be the best in the industry. But two years away from the woman he wants hasn’t only made his heart grow fonder and his desire for her deeper, it’s also proved to him he’s going to have to play dirty to get her.

  When Vittoria’s life is threatened Spencer comes back and he’s ready to do everything to keep her, even put his baby in her belly.

  🩷What better way to ring in the New Year than with babies? 🩷

  This January, join some of your favorite romance authors as they bring you Baby Breeder Session 2, a series all about making babies. Whether it’s a primal, biological need or something else driving these men to breed the women they love, what is guaranteed is these stories are going to be hot and messy. Every happily ever after doesn’t have to have babies, but these men want nothing less than their women round and glowing.

  🩷Check out the special deliveries from the Baby Breeder Session 2 Series here:

  mybook.to/BabyBreederSession2

  Want more from E.M. sign up for her newsletter here https://www.subscribepage.com/t5n0v3

  For You

  chapter one

  Vittoria

  Music thumps through the club. The vibrations pulse throughout my body, causing my heart to feel like it’s beating in time with the music. Bodies gyrate around me on the dance floor. The alcohol coursing through my veins dulls my senses but also numbs the pain in my heart. It’s been like this for two years, and I’m sick and tired of it. Tonight, however, is worse because my life is going to change again. Not the way I wanted it to either.

  I wanted to be married already with a family on the way. Married to a man of my choosing. A man who loved me in return. But life isn’t fair. That’s what my father told me this afternoon when he informed me I was already promised to someone. And not just anyone. He’d traded my freedom to a man who has been our family’s enemy for years. He said it was the best union he could get because none of the good families wanted me. To make it even crueler, my father claimed I was getting too old and wasn’t marriage material anymore. I’m freaking twenty-three. How is that old? There are other reasons too, like a lot of his friends think I’m too mouthy. I just want to be treated like a human being and not a commodity. He also said the union would guarantee that the other man wouldn’t go to war with our family. I hate the man and can’t believe my father is okay with this. That man has tried to destroy the Revello family numerous times.

  An arm wraps around my body, pulling me against it, and I don’t fight it. I want this. I want to forget everything. I want mindless sex and to choose who I’m with. I know I look good and will attract attention. I’m not a runway model, but I’m not ugly or unattractive either. I’m average height. I have a curvy thinner body and long, wavy, dark-brown hair and hazel eyes. I have full lips and even the rare dimples so many girls want. I come from a good family. I’m the cousin to the current head of the Revello family. Honestly, I’m his favorite cousin and his wife’s best friend. Most people know who I am just from a look if they are from Vicenza or Northern Italy.

  All that’s great, but to me I’m a catch because I’m patient, kind, and I want to be a wife. I want to be a stay-at-home wife and mother. I’ve never worked outside the home because my father is very old-fashioned and believes women are meant to be seen and not heard. That’s one of my problems. I like to argue. But back to the good parts. I’ve been trained by my nonna to cook and run a mafia family. My only vice is my art. I love my art. I’m freaking good at it too. Most of my paintings have sold out in the last couple of installations at my cousin’s galleries. Just last week every painting was sold before the first guest arrived to the exhibition. My best friend, Luna, tells me all the time that my work is amazing and beautiful. But my latest pieces have been some of my best works. They are darker and full of more emotion than ever before. I primarily switched from doing landscapes to portraits, putting all my emotions and pain into my art.

  I know why I’ve changed. Why it’s darker. It’s been like this for the last two years since my heart was broken. Since the man I fell in love with disappeared from my life.

  We never got to go on a single date. But he knew me like only a few do. We’d talk whenever we could. He told me about serving in the military. I told him about my fears of never having the life I wanted. He only kissed me once, but I knew I loved him. That kiss sealed my fate. I had thought he felt the same way about me. But I was so wrong. One day he was there, guarding my cousin and his wife, and the next he wasn’t. It’s like he died instead of just quitting because he doesn’t even contact any of us anymore. My father didn’t care when I asked to find out more information. He told me he was just a bodyguard and not meant for me. I was to be betrothed to a man with means. I didn’t care about that. I only wanted love. Now I know I was just stupid and naive.

  The very first time I met Spencer was the day my uncle died. He saved my life. He used his body as a shield to protect me from the bullets and knives that were flying around us. After that I would see him any time I was at Dario and Luna’s house. He was hired to be their personal bodyguard. He’s friends with Luna’s cousin, Anatonia. They had met when he was in the military. She was an agent who worked with him when she was with the British secret service.

  Spencer is tall, dark, and quiet. He didn’t always say much, but when he talked, I always listened. His voice is deep and dark. It caused my body to react in ways it never had before. I loved how it would rumble when he’d say my name. He has an Australian accent. Other than Luna’s accent, everyone around me speaks and is Italian. So I liked the different manner of speech. I found the way he pronounces words or the strange things he says sexy. He reminds me of a dark Chris Hemsworth—big, muscular, and sexy. He has intense electric-blue eyes. When he looked at me, I felt like he could see into my soul and heart.

  I’m a twenty-four-year-old virgin. Men have to ask my father’s permission to take me on a date. Until my cousin took over the family two years ago, I was sheltered and only allowed to go to functions the family hosted. I’d never been in a club like this.

  But here I am. I did sneak out. I even ditched my security detail that Dario has insisted I have of late. I don’t know what changed other than his wife is pregnant, but he’s been more cautious with all of the family. I feel like if there is a threat, I should know about it. I’m tired of men thinking for me. So I made this choice. I snuck out and dressed in an outfit my father wouldn’t approve of just to have one night of fun. I might even let someone take my virginity. At least I would have that choice.

  Dario isn’t as bad as his father or mine. My uncle was horrible. He and my father were convinced that my marriage had to be arranged. That I was going to give the Revello family access to more power. I’m not even a Revello in name, my mother was, but she hasn’t ever really been a mother to me. My father won’t let her make any decisions. She is kept as a pretty piece of property. She works in her greenhouse, and when she’s not there, she’s in bed sick. I want her to be more in my life, but she can’t. My father won’t let her. It’s only gotten worse since we moved into my nonna’s mansion, which is the Revello home. After my uncle was killed, my father said Nonna needed a man in the house and not just security. Dario didn’t want to manage the business from the house. He said business should be handled in an office and enemies shouldn’t be able to just walk into our homes. He set up the business in a large office building in the newer part of Vicenza, where the modern office buildings are located.

  As the body behind me moves with mine, his hips swaying in a sexual way, I don’t feel that longing in the pit of my stomach that I felt just being around Spencer. My skin doesn’t erupt in small gooseflesh. My heart doesn’t thump harder. But I don’t care. Tonight is about me having a say over my body.

  I close my eyes and try to feel something other than the numbness. People still around me. The bodies no longer moving to the beat of the bass. I open my eyes to see my cousin and several of his men fanned out around him. He’s standing in front of me, but the guy at my back doesn’t let me go. He actually tightens his grip.

  “Go get your own, Revello. This one is mine,” the man slurs, and that’s when I realize my mistake. I drop my head and start to pull away, but the alcohol coursing through me causes me to stumble. I giggle, and Dario’s eyebrow raises as he takes me in.

  Dario reaches out a hand to me, but the man behind me doesn’t let go. His hold is now bruising. Most people don’t cross Dario, especially after word got out of how he took over the family. My cousin is feared. So this guy must be drunk or plain stupid.

  “Let me go.” I fight against his hold, but his fingers dig into my hip.

  Dario does what he normally does when he’s upset lately. He pulls a gun and aims it at the man holding me. He holds it there and stares the idiot down.

  “I said fuck off, Revello. Find your own.”

  “She’s Revello,” Dario says in his deep, resonating voice.

  “So what? I found her. She’s mine for the night.” He flexes his hips against my ass, and I can’t hide the cringe of fear.

  I watch as Dario’s eyes flare slightly when I hear a struggle ensue behind me. I try to turn my head, but I’m shoved forward into Dario. My face lands in his chest, and he wraps his arms around me.

  “Take her out of here. Now,” an accented voice growls, causing my skin to erupt in a fine spray of gooseflesh. I know that voice. I struggle to turn around to see if I’m right, but Dario has me hustled through the crowd before I can. The music is still playing, but no one is dancing. They are watching what is going on behind us.

  “Stop, Rio. I need to see.” I struggle against him, but he doesn’t stop. In one fluid motion, he turns and lifts me over his shoulder. I lift up my head, but bodies block my view. “Put me down now, you Neanderthal. I’ll tell your wife.”

  Before I can say another word, we are in the back of a car and speeding away. My head spins from all the motion and what I thought I heard.

  “What do you think you’re doing, Tori?” Dario growls at me, and I turn to him, pushing my hair back away from my face.

  “I was having a bachelorette party by myself. I get to decide who takes my virginity. I want to decide who I marry, but that decision was ripped away from me. Why would you agree to it? I can’t believe Luna let you after what happened to her family because of him.” I turn to look behind us, but all I see is the city fading away. He’s taking me to his vineyard in the country. Away from the city and temptations.

  “What are you talking about?” He rubs his hands down his face, and I finally take him in completely. He’s in a suit that has become his main dress of late since he took over the family. He’s always impeccable, but not tonight. No tie. Coat is a bit wrinkled, and his shirt isn’t buttoned correctly. He must have dressed in a hurry.

  “I interrupted your evening.” I can’t hide the guilt in my voice.

  I am guilty. I’ve fought my father for years and his old-fashioned ways but never like this. Usually, I run to Dario’s to hide out and paint. Or drive around in my small Mini Cooper my father hates. Lash out by wearing semi-sexy clothes. Nothing like tonight though. I was in a club wearing an outfit that borders on sleepwear. My dress is very short and sheer in some areas.

  “You did. But it doesn’t matter. Are you okay?”

  “How did you know? How did you find me?” I slipped my guards. No one should have known where I was.

  “Why were you there?” he asks, not answering my questions. I turn and stare out the window, trying to figure out where I went wrong and how he found me. If I heard that voice correctly. Was it him? Why is he here now?

  “I don’t want to marry him. I won’t marry him. I’ll leave, or…” I pause and look out the window a moment longer, building up my strength before I make a confession. I throw up my hands and spin back around to look at him. “I’ll kill myself.” I turn too fast and the alcohol in my stomach lurches. I slap my hand over my mouth. Dario rushes to grab the ice bucket that isn’t normally in the back of the car. Crap, I interrupted date night. Luna told me he was taking her to a nice restaurant. Even though she can’t drink, he usually gets her nonalcoholic wines and puts them in a bucket like this to make her feel special. I lose what feels like everything I’ve eaten and drunk for the day. I shove the bucket back at him before I collapse in the seat.

  As soon as the car comes to a stop, my door is ripped open and large hands are yanking me out of the car.

  “Take it easy. She just threw up,” Dario says as my head spins again.

  “I won’t marry Mustafa,” I moan.

  The body holding me has a familiar scent that fills my lungs and soothes me in places that have needed it for a long time. I roll my head back and see him as I lose consciousness. I must be dreaming.

  Spencer

  Ihold her against me, wanting to kill every man who saw her in this outfit, but I’m shocked by her words. My eyes flash up to Dario’s, and he’s looking at her with a stunned expression on his face.

  “Mustafa?” I growl the name. The man has been an enemy of the Revellos for a long time. He’s the head of the Nigerian Mafia that has infiltrated several areas of Italy. He is also the man who conspired with Dario’s father to kill off another family and Luna’s own brother.

  “I have no idea what she’s talking about. She said she was celebrating her bachelorette party. I’ll call her father in the morning. You know where her room is.” He’s distracted by his wife, who is about seven months pregnant.

  “She’s going to be pissed when she wakes up. You take her to the room, and I’ll come clean her up.” Luna’s soft voice stops me.

  “I’ll take care of my woman. Go to bed,” I order her as my long legs move across the stone floor to the guest suite that is Vittoria’s.

  Carefully I lay her on the bed and take her in. I know she thinks I fell off the face of the earth and left, but I’ve watched over her every day. I’ve had a personal team on her that she doesn’t know about. They followed her tonight, but I found her by other means. I look down to the gold bracelets that ring her wrist and smirk. If only she knew.

  I want to climb into bed with her, but I know if I do, I won’t be able to hold myself back when she wakes up. I’ve wanted her for so long. This time I’m going to keep her. Her father has no say. But Dario and I need to figure out what is going on with this supposed engagement. She is mine, and I’m not going to let any other man near her. It took everything I had not to kill the fuckwit at the club who said she was his for the night.

  Vittoria stirs, and I reach down to unbuckle her platform heels. I set them by the bed then contemplate stripping her completely, but I can’t torture myself that way. I cover her with the blanket at the foot of the bed and pick up her heels. When I step into her closet, I’m blown away by the amount of clothes. I know she spends most of her time here, but this looks like she lives here. My men haven’t mentioned she does, and I wonder if Dario has told them not to. He is the only person who knows about them; however, I think Luna has an idea.

  Luna knows I’m the one who has bought all of Vittoria’s paintings over the last few years. After I left, I finalized setting up my business. I now run one of the most sought-after security companies in Southern Europe. In two years, I went from just being in the black to a multi-million-dollar business. I’m ready to get my girl, and her father can’t tell me no this time.

  But Dario allowing my men to keep secrets from me is not acceptable. I’ll be talking to them.

 

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