Chapter 35 Time check -10pm. Ash isn't home yet. I toss and turn on the bed trying to catch some sleep. My body is fagged out but my mind is strangely alert. I relive the details of the day, hoping it will enable me better understand what happened at the induction ceremony and why Stalker guy lied to me. No matter how hard I try, I'm not able to wrap my head around why. Time check - 11pm. Ash is still not back and I'm not even close to feeling sleepy. I pace the length and breadth of his room almost twenty times, hoping the exercise would tire me out. Unfortunately, it only makes me feel caged, so I open the door and peep outside. I hear sounds coming from somewhere in the house so I close the door and lean against it. I don't want to look like I'm spying on anyone. What he devil could Ash be getting up to at such an ungodly time? Probably with a woman, lying to her that he loves her, exactly like he did to me. Anger spikes through me and I shake it off. I can't stay caged in h
Chapter 36Codex.The dying assassin's last word for where Guilang is.Exactly what the fuck does it mean?Can it be a code word for another word?I've tried re-fixing it into almost a dozen different words and sent out Moro and Lobos to almost every area and street looking for the various names that could stand as whore houses.There were Code, Docex, Doe, Oder, and so much more.Unfortunately, they always came back with a no success rate.Three days, and I still haven't found out what that word means. There hasn't been anymore attacks on the warehouse where Jia is kept, but Guilang knows, and I know as well that I'm nowhere close to figuring out where he's hiding. The fucker is bidding his time. I'd love to act cocky and say I'm doing same, but I'm not. I'm working blind here, and he knows it. He's probably laughing to himself wherever he is and making me stew, but he better not forget. . .I've got Jia
Chapter 37After taking a shower, I lay down, but I'm not able to sleep.The one thought running rampart through my mind is what Ash told me. Donald works for the Russian mafia, and now Ash is going to kill him. He may already even be dead now. I change positions, trying to get comfortable as my mind continues to replay what Ash said to me.Donald is a paid personal of the Russian mafia.After recalling those words over and over again, I shift positions so many times I lose count.I sit up abruptly, anger fueling my veins, making adrenaline pump into my system. I remove the pillow from behind my head and throw it as far as I can, which isn't very far at all. It lands at the foot of the bed."You don't get to rule my life, Donald asshole." I shout into the air.Damn! That felt good.Suddenly, the anger seeps out of me when I realize I'm here, safe and sound, and without a single scratch on my body, all because
Chapter 38 Shut this down, Ash. Guilang is trouble. Words Lobos threw at me while he let me punch the living shit out of him a week ago. He should already know. . . I like trouble. I devour trouble. I enjoy chasing trouble until it can no longer haunt me. All this started with me wanting top quality drugs. Drugs I still haven't gotten yet because talks between me and Guilang's goons went sour. Well, since I started this whole shit, it's only fitting for me to end it, yeah? In the process of looking for Guilang, I found two illegal prostitution joints right here on the east side of LA. I tipped off the police and they swooped in immediately and had it shut down. Underage kids - male and female -were found. Mostly Asian. They were taken back to their country and integrated into the social service system. I heard some who were kidnapped were rejoined with their families. I despise people who prey on the weaker sex - children and females. I despise it even more, when they utilize th
Chapter 39 He shakes his head and water sprays everywhere, some droplets landing on my boots. His eyes are a bit unfocused as they land on me, but then they widen after a few seconds and he shuffles backwards until his back hits the wall with a shallow sound. He looks from koldis to me, and his eyes grow from dull to wild, and then to frantic - looking. "Good morning, sleeping beauty." I say, moving closer. Koldis chuckles from behind me. "I do hope you had a good night's rest?" My eyes flick to the empty plate a short distance away from him. "Looks like you were well taken care off as well." He says nothing except to swallow noisily. His Adam's apple bobs furiously, no doubt from fear. Shock. Or whatever the hell is running through his mind. "If you want out of here." I flick my forefinger around the basement. "You're going to have to play a game." I give him a smile, the one I reserve for slime balls like him. He stares at me dumbly, waiting for me to continue speaking. I chuck
Chapter 40"My goodness, Lis, your wardrobe is bursting full."Clarissa fingers a dress in leaf green. I know what she feels. It's soft delicate silk and wraps around my body when I wear it, making me feel and look like a sex bomb. She touches another dress, and yet another, and then she turns round to look at me."How did you get so many clothes in just two months?"I shrug, as I try to hide a smile because what can I say. Ash hasn't stopped with the gifts. The man spoils me silly by buying clothes, shoes, and jewelry for me, and even though I always protest, it falls on deaf ears.He said, and I quote- I want everyone to know you're a queen. My Queen.Even though he hasn't told me he loves me after that first love declaration, I know he does. It's in the way his eyes soften as he looks at me, and the way he holds me after he ravages my body. Speaking of which, I can never get enough of his hands on me.I
Chapter 41I give up when I realize I've been going over the same line for the past ten minutes. I sigh as I look up from my textbook and flit my eyes across my environment.Library environment . . . CheckQuiet atmosphere. . . CheckText books & Notes. . . CheckConcentration . . . UncheckFor the life of me, I can't seem to concentrate on a single word and that's bad for me because in less than an hour, I've got my first set of tests and school will close thereafter for a short break. t's not like I'm going to fail if I don't read. I go over my notes everyday, but I'm a stickler for repetition. I need to know I've got every last detail into my system and not go chewing my pen during the test.Perhaps the problem is because I haven't heard a word from Ash ever since he travelled and it's toying with my mind. He said it would take only a few days. Three days tops, he had said, but it's been over a week now,
Chapter 42🎵Ring-a-ring-a -rosies.A pocket full of posies, A tissue, A tissue, we all fall down. 🎵Joy swells in my heart as we come to a stop, mother's hands tightly encircling mine. Her eyes twinkle as she looks at me."Martha, stop filling Batista's head with girl stuff, that boy is going to become the mafia boss when he grows up."Dad's voice wafts over to where we're still hunched over on the ground, trying to regain our breaths. Mum tenses as she turns to see dad, who is already advancing towards us, his countenance dark and forboding."Oh, Marco, please don't say such things, he's just a boy, let him grow up the way he should, with joy, our love, and guidance."Dad prowls closer to us, his hands coiled by his side in fists. "Are you going against my authority?"Mum's hands drop from mine as she stands on unsteady legs. Her bottom lip is slightly open and trembling. She bends and whispers for me to
Chapter 108"Fuuuuck! Must you place this shit around my neck so tightly?" I ask Night eyes with a frown.Night Eyes rolls his eyes but doesn't say anything except to tighten the tie around my neck like a damn noose. He says I've been acting like a prissy bitch since I woke up this morning and realized it's the D-day. My six trusted men, now my groomsmen, are sitting around dressed up in white tuxedos drinking champagne while I'm sweating buckets inside this suit that's more like a straight jacket than any other thing."Will you get your feet off my precious table, Moro?" I say, tugging on my collar as I eye him from the corner of my eyes.He just smirks and continues sipping on his drink like I didn't just give him an order."Ouch, fuck! What the-? Will you take it easy? My neck's not a damn concrete, Night eyes.""Quit bitching, Ash, anyone hearing you would think you're not dying to get married to Alicia,
Chapter 107 The ride is fraught with tense silence and not even Ash's hand in mind does anything to alleviate the tightness in my chest and the dryness in my mouth. I'm freaking the fuck out. He keeps rubbing circles on my open palm with his thumb trying to soothe me but it's pointless. Getting to the meeting place doesn't take long because there's not much traffic. I look up at the large white building as Ash drives into the driveway and my eyes immediately home onto the bold signboard displayed on the front of the building in red capital letters that reads - THE CAMORRA. "You've gotta be kidding me!" Ash chuckles. "I told you they rule everything in Italy so don't be surprised about that." "I understand that, but they kill, and steal, and-" "Ah, ah, ah! Don't say that to anyone here, Hazel eyes, they rule everything, yes. . ." He nods. "Even the police, so hanging up a big old signboard isn't going to make it less real." My heart sinks, because what he just said is even worse
Chapter 106 When I wake, it's still dark outside and there's no one on the bed beside me. I sit up as panic begins to claw its way inside my chest but when I hear the shower going, I know what happened last night was real and Tanya is alive. Even though I haven't gotten much sleep, I feel energized. I feel happy.We're going to have to face them tomorrow.My heart plummets when I remember Ash's words from the night before. He sat me down and told me there would be reprisals and that I needed to get prepared for whatever the five dons that run the Canmora will do. He was a bit evasive about what the reprisals were but I don't need to be a rocket scientist to know it has to do with shedding blood.I'm petrified as his words wash through me but as soon as the door to the bathroom opens, I shake it off and paste on a smile as Tanya comes back inside the room. Her blonde hair is wet and longer than I've ever see
Chapter 106The ghost of Tanya doesn't float toward me as I initially thought, she walks toward me instead, smiling mischievously exactly the same way Tanya used to when she was alive. I blink repeatedly but she's still there, still smiling, and still looking at me."T.... Tanya?" I say once again, noting the tremor in my voice.Tanya's ghost smiles wider. "Hi, sis."Instead of fainting, as most women would, I let out a piercing scream loud enough to wake the dead. A hand snakes around my waist and it takes a few seconds for me to realize Ash is speaking to me.". . . relax, it's alright, please."I focus on his face as his words finally break through my consciousness. "Is. . ." I lick my dry lips. "Is her ghost still there?""I'm right here, sis." Tanya's ghost says from right behind me.This time, I'm not able to take it as the cold hands of oblivion wrap around me and enfold me in their arms.*". . . going
Chapte 105 Ever since I was kidnapped, I had slept fitfully, always keeping an eye open for when Rita and her minions would come to torment me. Not that it would stop her - no, but at least I would be somewhat ready. Now that I'm free, I feel a sense of peace steal through me as the hum of the car engine wraps around me. Soon, I few my eyes close as the movement of the car lulls me into a deep sleep. I don't know what wakes me up but the car has stopped and Ash is coming down. I blink repeatedly to remove the vestiges of sleep still clinging to my eyes and cloudy head before I come down from the car and look around. What I see in front of me gives me pause for thought. It's a plane. Ash is standing in front of it shaking a man's hand as he nods to something he's saying. He turns to me and beckons for me to come over. My legs feel a little wobbly from being cramped up in the same position for goodness knows how long but I manage to walk over without falling. Ash introduces me to the
Chapter 104Ash carries me up the stairs and doesn't let go, even when I tell him I'm okay and can walk, still he doesn't allow my feet to touch the ground. I try to tell him that carrying me - bridal style - will only slow us down but he's not having it.He's fast on his feet, I must admit but that niggling fear is sitting pretty on my chest once again and not allowing me to breathe well. As soon as we get up the stairs and into a hallway, he slows down and looks left and right. His eyes have gone keen and sharp and I don't need to be told we're both in danger. If they see him carrying me out of here, we're both dead.At least I will be.The scorned woman will forgive Ash. . . maybe.I watch his face as he watches the surrounding before moving stealthily. I feel his muscles flex and bunch as he carries me. His strides eat up the floor as he moves toward a door at the far end. I slide my eyes from his face an
Chapter 103I don't know how long I've been kept in this basement. I can't really say for certain, but what I do know is that I've been tortured with icy water that was dunked on me. I've been slapped around and beaten within an inch of my life. I've almost been raped but the scorned woman said she didn't want any of her men to touch me so I could be tight enough for all the men I would get to sleep with at the brothel I will be taken to eventually.The funny thing is, with every taunting word, every action, and every little thing I go through, I grow more hardened, more determined to live. If this is how people are reborn into criminals, then I'm going to be a living example and I'm not backing down. The scorned woman comes to see me every day expecting me to grovel and beg for freedom as well as for my life, but when she sees the blazing fire in my eyes and the determination, it only drives her around the
Chapter 102"She did WHAT?" My voice screeches on the last word and it's all I can do not to throw a hissy fit.Fuuuuuck!"I warned her! I told her about the danger of leaving this house. Does she even know what will happen to her if Dominatrix gets her hands on her?"Clarissa is practically wilting at my outburst. I know I shouldn't take it out on her but it was her responsibility to try to keep Hazel eyes here at home, where she belongs."Tell me once again what happened and don't even leave anything out." I sit on the bed and listen as Clarissa stammers her way through."We. . . I m. . . m. . . mean she-"Someone bursts into the room without knocking and I don't need a crystal ball to let me know it's Night Eyes. He must have been informed by Hilda about my roaring 'cause that's all I've been doing ever since I came home an hour ago. It's fucking two in the morning and Hazel eyes isn't at home. I had to he
Chapter 101It takes me a few seconds to realize I'm swaying - not like a pendulum - but it's a movement not caused by me.It takes me another few seconds to realize I'm unable to move my limbs- what the fuck?It takes me yet another minute to notice everywhere is dark and that I'm blindfolded. That's when the stark realization hits me in the chest -Not again. . .I've been kidnapped.I begin to thrash against the bindings holding my hands hostage at my back and those at my legs. My only joy is that my mouth is not bound, so I open it and scream, but even that is fleeting when I feel the solid nudge of something against my temple.It's a gun. It has to be a gun."One more word out of your pretty mouth and I'll pump lead into your head. Nod if you understand me."I nod immediately and a small sense of relief flits through me when the weight of the gun against my head is removed. I close my eyes, even though I'v