RivenAnna Josephine is in my fucking living room. Large as fucking life.Her piercing eyes are as wide as fucking saucers, her pretty mouth flapping harder than the bird flapping around the ceiling.My eyes don’t know where to look first, at her, at the crow in my fucking house, or at the state of the place around her. My white carpet is filthy with muddy boot prints. The cushions on my perfect white sofa have been trampled, and they’re covered in mud too. There’s bird shit splattered over the front of my TV, my mantelpiece is in fucking disarray with several of my picture frames smashed on the top.And her, covered in shit, mud and feathers, a picture of horror as she stares right back at me.“The door!” she yells, but I’m too fucking dumbstruck to move. The crow flaps straight over my head and out. She races after it, and I hear her angry wail before I find her in the open front doorway. Her eyes are wild as she glares at me. “You let him out! He needed his foot taking care of and
“Do you have any money?” I look her up and down. It’s a marvel that her beauty shines through the state of her tattered, filthy clothes. Her boots are grubby and old, and I can see a flash of pink sock through a hole in the toe.She shakes her head. “Not yet, but I can earn it. When I get a job I’ll pay you back.”I can’t stand to look at the living room anymore so I step out and close the door behind me. The hall is also covered in boot prints and so is the kitchen. I dare to peek into the dining room and groan in disbelief to see the rainbow shards of what used to be my prized glass sculpture.I hear her footsteps behind me. “I’ll pay for that, too.”I swear under my breath. That sculpture was almost ten grand, a stupidly extravagant purchase at an auction house down in London.I should order her to fuck off out of my house and never fucking come back. I can’t believe she’s even still here, following me around while I uncover more and more of her fucking catastrophe.But Kennedy.Ev
KennedyI should’ve called Anna last night. Or I should’ve at least tried. Even better, I should’ve turned back up at Riven’s and told her I’m not going to be pushed away by her sticking her middle finger up to everyone trying to help. I should’ve told her that if things were different, if I was ten years younger and hadn’t spent the last five months with her on my books, that I’d be falling into bed with her in a heartbeat, for right or wrong.I should’ve told her I care. That I care too much.Riven’s right; this is a midlife crisis and it’s getting the better of me. I can’t get her out of my mind, and it takes every scrap of determination to stay focused on my meetings through the morning, knowing full well she’s at Riven’s getting up to Christ knows what.If she’s even still there.The idea she’s taken off again sends a chill up my spine.I’m talking through career options with a kid called Brooklyn when I feel my phone buzz in my pocket. I hope it’s her calling. I hope it’s her wh
“This is so fucking out of order,” he snaps and I nod because it is.“I’m sorry,” I say, which is the truth of it. “I was in a corner. I was trying to do the right thing.”“The right thing would have been to book her into a fucking hotel, Kennedy. The right thing would have been to let me know you’re using my fucking house as emergency accommodation. The right thing would have been to fucking tell me you found her in the fucking first place.”I nod through all of it. Yes, yes and more yes.I feel like a fucking idiot, more off the rails than even I fully realised.“It isn’t his fault,” Anna offers and her simple defence makes my heart pang.“It is my fault,” I counter. “This was my decision, Anna didn’t ask to come here.”“The crow’s your fault,” Anna tells Riven and I will her to shut up before she talks herself into a bigger hole than we’re in already. “You need to fix your fucking fence. It’s dangerous.”It’s a three way stand-off, all of us staring and nobody speaking a word.Rive
AnnaPosh guy isn’t so much of a dick as I thought he would be. I normally hate rich people – they look down their noses when I pass them on the street like they’re so much better than me. But being rich doesn’t give you a free pass out of Dumbville. Having money doesn’t make your shit smell any better than mine.I thought I’d hate this guy, Riven, but I don’t. Even though he’s a negligent asshole with his fencing, and his temper is as hot as mine, he doesn’t seem like an absolute total douche.I feel a weird sizzle when he’s close, and it’s not just because he’s a proper man – like Kennedy –but because he’s different to everyone else I’ve ever met. A different different to Kennedy.Kennedy is strong and calm and considered. Kennedy looks at me as though I’m someone who could be somebody someday. He looks at me as though I’m more than my shitty reputation, like I have my own mind and my own brain and my own reasons for acting like I do.Kennedy gives me hope I’ve never dared to have b
RivenI try to work out if they’ve fucked or not. Kennedy’s got stronger control over his fucking dick than I have if he hasn’t fucked the girl already.Whatever heated exchange they’re having on my living room carpet dries up as I return. You could cut the atmosphere with a knife as Anna scrubs the carpet like a lunatic.Oh how quickly things change.This morning I boarded a plane with the sole intention of putting an end to Kennedy’s Anna Josephine insanity for good. This evening I’ve invited the crazy girl to stay in my home, not for Kennedy’s sake, but for hers.Hers and maybe mine.I’m rarely excited by anything, but I’m excited by her.When I was a kid, I loved going to watch daredevil stunts with my dad. I loved the guys on bikes doing flips in the air and the people getting shot out of cannons. I loved magic shows where the pretty assistant always got sawn in half in a box.It always felt so exhilarating – the inevitable buzz of adrenalin that zipped up my spine at the thought
KennedyI should be long asleep when the text message sounds.It’s Riven, of course, not Anna.My heart thumps at the possibility that she’s already decimated his patience. Maybe she’s already descended into hissing monster Anna and he’s thought better of his offer. Maybe it wouldn’t entirely be such a bad thing, having to bring her back here.Maybe I could hide her from Pam long enough to figure something out. Maybe having her around could work, even if I won’t allow myself to cross the line with her. Maybe I’d even be able to help her through her shit without having to check all the right boxes at work.I open the message, expecting the worst – but it’s nothing like that.Man to fucking man, Kennedy, are you gonna fuck the girl or what?My reply is instant, even though my gut aches with it.Of course I’m fucking not.It takes a while for him to reply. I’m just about drifting off to sleep when the phone bleeps at me.But you want her? I’m talking for real here.I don’t let myself go
AnnaI know Riven and Kennedy both think I’m being a lazy bitch who doesn’t give a shit, not for all the advice they’re trying to give me, and not for the way they sigh and shake their heads and try to work me out. I tell them nothing about the work I’m doing on the fences while they’re busy in their day jobs. I tell them nothing about the way I leave Riven’s place every morning and dig around the outbuildings for supplies as soon as his big fancy car pulls off the driveway.I keep my mouth shut because I’ve never done this kind of shit before and I don’t want to look like a total fucking idiot for getting it wrong. I’ve never hammered in fence posts and strung wire fencing, and trimmed back overgrown hedgerows and measured out planks before. I check out videos on my phone through Riven’s Wi-Fi whenever I’m grabbing a quick sandwich for lunch, and I may not have any swanky grades from school, but by the end of the first week of sorting out Riven’s neglected grounds, I think I might be
DANEFuck! It had taken longer than I had anticipated dealing with Eric, that I’d lost sight of my goal—to get to Tel’annas. By the time I’d knocked him out and left him for the Feds to deal with, she had been loaded into the back of an ambulance and was being rushed to a hospital. Dread started to pool within my gut thinking the worst as I scanned the chaos around me, looking for the one person responsible for the shit storm we were currently facing.“Did anyone see where Blaze went?” I yelled down the comms, hoping that at least someone in my team had been keeping an eye on him. Maybe it had been the guilt that had stopped me from going straight for her, I couldn’t tell. “We need to find out which hospital they are taking her to, I want feet on the ground there when she arrives, we can’t leave her unprotected.”All day I had been quietly trying to convince myself that everything would be okay after this, we’d be able to go back to what we were, but somewhere deep inside I knew that
TEL’ANNASPain radiated from my shoulder, I knew going into tonight that Blaze had changed the plan, he assured me he’d told the others of the change and after much apprehension I’d agreed to it. But fuck me, even though it was a blank I’d been shot with it fucking hurt like a bitch and I hit the ground like a sack of potatoes.Anarchy had descended over the fight ring. It was enough of a distraction that no one noticed Alexander Ducane had made his way over one of the exits. Playing dead and stuck in this tiny cage, there was nothing I could do.Everyone was out to save themselves, they were running for the exits as the guards and security tried to round them all up. Some were trying to fight their way out, while others were resigned to the fact they’d been caught and put up little resistance.Towards the middle of the ring I could see Dane and Eric going at one another. The look on Dane’s face fucking scared the shit out of me. Max Ducane had disappeared into the chaos and the othe
DANEI’d let my anger get the best of me last night. I saw the hurt briefly flash in Tel’annas’s eyes when I had the club whore grinding all over me. It gave me a small amount of satisfaction knowing that it had affected her, just as much as having to watch the little show she and Blaze put on affected me. The only difference was while mine was out of spite, I had trouble making out whether her little act was done in order to keep up the charade or if there was something little more starting between the two of them.“You’re just lucky you didn’t do anything you couldn’t come back from Dane,” Madden had been giving me shit all morning over the night before, and it was starting to really piss me off. “You didn’t hear the hurt in her voice as she watched man, it fucking killed her.”“Okay I bloody get it Madden, I fucked up,” I snapped at him, I’d had enough at this stage, and I didn’t need this shit right now, not when we were about to head into the final stages of the plan. “Can you j
TEL’ANNASWe’d been here for an hour and already I was ready to get out of here, unfortunately Alexander had other plans. The asshole had spent the last thirty minutes talking to some of his other backers and from the little I could make out, something had them scared. More than a few wanted to pull out, stating they wanted nothing to do with whatever revenge plan he had cooked up.Hearing that, I could only surmise that either my family or Dane had figured out the other parties involved and had applied some pressure. It gave me some hope that all was not lost and a small amount of satisfaction that Eric was full of shit—my family did care. I still hadn’t been able to make contact with Dane, and Blaze had been busy playing his part, schmoozing the others that shared the VIP balcony, always making sure I was within his reach.Security had been beefed up tonight as well, many of whom I didn’t recognise, although that wasn’t hard given I’d barely been allowed to leave the room I’d been
DANEI should have guessed this little party would be held at the Dolls House. I mean why hold it in a classy establishment when you could invite the scourge of society to a place and ply them with alcohol while throwing pussy at them.“No one is to drink,” I turned to my guys, even as the words left my mouth I had doubts about whether I’d be able to stick to the order. I wanted them to be alert at all times tonight, I had no idea what we were walking into. We’d seen the floor plans for this shit hole, and had been inside once or twice since we’d arrived in Claymore but we were not as familiar with it as I'd have liked. “I want eyes on all our targets, if an opportunity should arise, we take who we can.”“Dane, Blaze said not to cause any trouble,” Madden reminded me of the conversation we’d had. And yeah of course I know I was asked not to cause waves, but it won’t stop me if the opportunity comes my way.“Don’t care,” I said as we made our way to the entrance of the club. I had mor
TEL’ANNASMy nerves were frayed, ever since the night of the fucking live stream, even the slightest movements made me jump. Blaze tried everything he could to reassure me there’d be no repeats of that fucking shitshow, I just had trouble believing him. I’d tried numerous times to reach out to Dane, yet Madden always answered and kept saying it wasn’t a good time, then would go on to ask what had happened.No matter how many times he asked, I couldn’t find it in myself to discuss, hell even I was having trouble coming to terms with it. Dane had told me to do what I needed to, and I had to a certain point. I had no idea how far I’d have to go, and when I realized the gravity of it all, it was too late by then. The room was full of people, guards had guns, I had just retreated into myself and tried to block it out.Thankfully Blaze had left me since, having sensed that I was not in the mood to talk to him, at this stage I’d convinced myself I had been stupid to blindly follow along. Ra
DANE“What the fuck happened the other night?” I could hear Madden talking on the phone. The last three days I’d done nothing but train. It was all I could do to keep the images of my Princess on her knees out of my head. “He’s been raging ever since the damn live feed.”It took a full day before I’d been ready to talk to anyone after the crap show. Madden and Ax had really stepped up and taken charge. They’d had to sedate me in order to get me to calm down and in that time they’d found out a whole fuck load of information that we’d been able to use.Jonah had been able to identify almost eighty percent of the other contestants and all of the other partners that Alexander Ducane had gathered on that night. While I’d have liked to have had some say in the planning that followed, Madden had really stepped up as my VP. Liaising with Stryker to have their resources work on taking out the financial backers.I wasn’t quite sure exactly what they had told the Lennox’s about that night but f
TEL’ANNASMy skin crawled as the guards led me back to the room I shared with Blaze. The events of the night were on constant loop inside my head, everything on display for everyone to see. Gripping my robe tightly around my body, I tried to assure myself I’d get through this. I did what I had to do to survive. When I closed my eyes all I could see were the faces of the men who’d jerked off while I was strapped to the table. I heard their moans as they reached their release and smeared it over me as if they were laying claim.When I’d entered the room the first thing I did was run to the waste bin, everything inside me came up. Angry tears ran down my face as I stepped into the bathroom. Making sure the door was locked, I’d trusted Blaze before and that had landed me here. I felt dirty and ashamed. I had no doubt that Dane and some of the others were privy to the deprivation I’d experienced tonight.I rushed to the toilet again, the mere thought that Dane had witnessed tonight's even
DANEMadden, Ax and I had gathered in my room, laptop ready for the Contenders Preview. About an hour ago we’d all received an email from the organizers, with a link to an invitation for a special preview of what we could look forward to. My stomach had been in knots ever since.“You ready for this?” Madden asked. It was a loaded question if I ever heard one. Was I ready? Fuck no, there was no preparing for what was about to unfold. I just shook my head and let out a loaded sigh.“Let's just get this over with,” I answered. Checking my phone one last time, still no answer from Blaze. That didn’t sit well with me, once we’d read the initial email, I’d reached out in order to find out more about the event, but there had been no reply which didn’t help with the angsty feelings I had.Both men just looked at me, a silent message passed between them before Ax clicked on the link. I was thankful that I’d given Jonah one of the links for tonight, because it became evident rather quickly tha