Chapter: CHAPTER 105ABIGEALI HAD to admit, leaving the country wasn't such a bad idea. It had been an impulsive decision, sure, but as I sipped a cocktail on a balcony while gazing at the stars, I couldn't bring myself to regret it.I couldn't remember the last time I hadn't been weighted down by one obligation or another. Whether it was finding justice for my brother, or trying to assassinate Blaine without him catching a clue.No. We're not thinking about him. Not today, not ever.The one thing I regretted though, was letting Anna have her way when she insisted on helping me pack because I didn't have the energy to argue. She'd taken out all my usual everyday clothes and put in their place flirty sundresses and cocktail gowns and bikinis that left little to the imagination, with a little note that said ‘Now you're ready for the other kind of smashing’ with a little winky face.I shook my head as I recalled. Not that the new wardrobe had done me much good. Every man that had approached me so far either
Last Updated: 2025-03-23
Chapter: CHAPTER 104BLAINEEACH DAY, I wondered why I bothered coming into this office when all I did was drink and stare into space. I had a pounding headache and a hazy memory of the night before. Where had I gone?I remembered heading into a bar. I remembered talking to a blonde who looked vaguely like the girl I was trying to forget. It got hazy from there.Did I take her home? She wasn't there when I woke up and the disapproving glances from my aunts weren't more intense than usual, so no. I chugged Advil down with whiskey and almost laughed at the irony.I leaned back in my chair trying to piece my night together but I'd barely started when a voice interrupted me. “It’s a bit early for happy hour.”I tensed and tightened my grip on the glass. “It's happy hour somewhere,” I said casually.Footsteps walked further into the room. “I hear you've been terrorizing our employees in my absence," Jordan said.“If terrorizing means making sure they do their jobs and do it well, then yes, I've been terrorizin
Last Updated: 2025-03-22
Chapter: CHAPTER 113ABIGEALTHERE WAS a knock on my bedroom door, but I didn't move an inch from where I was and just hoped the noise would go away. But it didn't. Instead, the handle turned and the door opened. I still gave no reaction, as from the voices I knew it was Anna and Melanie standing in the doorway. Melanie took one look at my ramrod straight figure sitting in a chair close to the window and turned to Anna. “How long has she been like this?”“I don't know. Sometimes she'd be up and about and talking, then she'd be back here. I'm not sure what to do,” Anna whispered.“You realize I can hear every word, right?” I said without looking back.“You were meant to.” Melanie walked further into my room and stopped beside me. “What do you think you're doing?” She snapped.I looked up at her and smiled vaguely. “Hi. When did you get back? You look great.” She and Jordan had taken a vacation to a country I didn't remember, since things were still tense with Blaine.As soon as his name came up in my th
Last Updated: 2025-03-22
Chapter: CHAPTER 112BLAINE“WHAT IS wrong with you? What's wrong with all of you?” I snapped, flinging the pieces of paper that my employee just handed me in the air so they scattered and fluttered around. “All the fucking numbers are wrong. I do not pay you huge amounts of money to be met with such incompetence?”“But sir, we worked with the data you got from your office.” One of the workers squeaked, trying to hide behind the files she was holding. “I'm sorry sir, she's new to this department.” The one who was still trying to pick up the papers said. “We'll fix it, sir.”“Better do, if not you and Goldilocks over there are fired. In fact, all of you.” The whole department looked at me in shock before averting their eyes. None of them wanted to be the focus of my attention.I swiveled around and stalked away, my admin Chris walking behind me. “Did you get the analysis done for the Wexler acquisition?” I asked.“No sir, I-”“Damn it, Chris. When did everyone become so lazy? What kind of business are we
Last Updated: 2025-03-22
Chapter: CHAPTER 111ABIGEALTHIS PART was one of the hardest. Kat and Melanie had done most of the cleanup while Anna rested against a wall. I walked up to them and surveyed the space.“Is this everyone?” I asked.“Everyone who resisted. Under those cloaks, some of them were children, some barely old enough to drink. And one of them came at me with a knife.” Kat rubbed her eyes like doing so would erase the image.I looked at the bodies scattered around the floor. “Did you…?”“Of course not. Jesus, do I look like a monster?” Kat looked offended.I held up my hands, then let out a sigh. The plan was to wipe everyone out, but I couldn't do that with a clear conscience. The girl I'd seen was about Juan's age.Perhaps if they became problems a few years later, I could deal with them then. “Got the gasoline?” I asked.Melanie held up the two kegs. I took one and helped her spread it around while Kat supported Anna's weight and helped her outside. When we'd exhausted the kegs, we went out the back exit throug
Last Updated: 2025-03-22
Chapter: CHAPTER 100ABIGEALI WAS stripped of my weapons and pushed into the main hall. The red cloaked people formed a circle with me, Anna, Morgan and his father in the middle. I refused to call him my father, as he'd never been one to me.I knelt beside Anna and took out a strip of clothing, using it to bind her leg. “How did this go so wrong?” I whispered.Her face was pale from the blood loss. “They were on me so fast, I didn't see them coming?” She groaned as I tightened the bind. “The others are safe though.”“Then we might still have a chance," I said lowly. A gunshot made me flinch.“Any more whispering and I'll put the poor girl out of her misery," Soliz said. I glanced back to glare at him. “Stop threatening her. I already gave you what you wanted. I surrendered.”I squeezed her arm lightly and rose. “What exactly do you want from me?” I asked him.“I want you to join us.”I shook my head. “Not happening. Next.”“You are a Soliz, whether you like it or not. I am not leaving my organization in
Last Updated: 2025-03-20