AnnaI hate seeing Kennedy so sad. I don’t understand all of it, but I know it’s bad, and I know it’s about work.I also know how hard he tried to work with me when I was sitting across his desk every week. He’s good with people. He cares.Even if that place is stuffy and snooty and no good for people like me.I don’t think now’s the time to tell him that, so I keep my mouth shut and do what I can do, which is mainly make coffee.He closes his newspaper and pulls me tight against him as I dish out the drinks, and it’s nice to feel him smile against my cheek.“I’m sorry,” he says, “I don’t mean to seem miserable. I’ve been looking forward to seeing you.”I nod. “I’ve been looking forward to seeing you, too.” I look over at Riven. “Both of you.”I love how Kennedy’s arm feels around my waist. I love the smell of him in his suit.He’s wearing the tie I bought him and it makes me feel proud.“Did they say anything?” I ask. “About me, I mean? Did you get into trouble for helping me?”“No,
KennedyLoving Anna Josephine is everything I thought it would be. More than I thought it would be.Because the Anna Josephine who snapped and sneered at me every week in my office has transformed into a girl who’s everything I knew she could be.Even more than I knew she could be.I know I said packing my clothes and bringing them here would be way too soon, but here, in bed, with Anna snuggled into my side and Riven pressed up against the back of her, it feels anything but soon.It feels like all roads led here, even if I didn’t know it before it happened.The whole town undoubtedly knows Anna is here, even if they didn’t even know where here was before now.Riven’s house will have been discussed and pointed out, questions raised over just what’s going on between the man they know makes a shit ton of money out of insurance, and the mouthy little gypsy girl they shake their head at in the street.But I don’t care.My job is the only string left holding me to any of their unwanted opi
AnnaAfter all those years of feeling I had nothing to live for but a disgusting excuse for a brother who made me do things that no girl should ever do, I suddenly have a whole world in front of me.I love wandering through the fields every day – especially today.Especially since there was a knock at the front door this morning and I had to sign for a parcel with my name on it. I had to ask three times to make sure the courier was sure, but there it was in print – Anna Josephine – my name right over the address. I stared at it for ten whole minutes before I opened it, and when I finally tore into the box it took my breath.A new pair of boots in just the right size. The delivery note said from Riven and Kennedy, you earned them with a string of kisses underneath. I still have it in my pocket. I don’t think I’ll ever take it out.I love feeling the mud under those new boots as I set off across Riven’s beautiful farmland with a load of planks on my shoulder and a hammer stuffed down my
I’m just grabbing myself a coffee when I feel the shiver in the air. It’s not cold. It’s different to that.A sixth sense. A shudder in my mind.And then I know. I sense him before I smell him, and smell him before I see him, a waft of weed hitting my nose from the dining room doorway.He props himself in the frame like he owns the place, hood up high so his eyes look even darker than usual.“Made me fucking come for it, didn’t you?”I play it cool, just like always. “Had no fucking credit on my phone, nor bus fare either.”He looks about the room and I hate how he ogles everything. “Landed on your feet here. Fucking some posh guy so I hear. Whole shitty town is talking about it, a silly old bitch directed me right to your door.”“I’m working here,” I tell him. “I’m fixing fences.”“Fixing fences and sucking dick,” he sneers. “Have you missed mine? I bet you fucking have, you filthy little bitch.”“Don’t flatter yourself,” I snap.“Shame,” he says and takes a step forward, “since you
RivenMy crazy idea for Kennedy’s career wouldn’t let go once it started. That’s why I called the bank today and set up an appointment. That’s why I marched in there with a hastily drawn up plan and opened a new account all ready to start.It’s crazy but perfect. Perfect for both of them.I can’t fucking wait to fill them in on the news.I’ve got more money than I’ve ever known what to do with, and more than enough time around work to help with the practicalities of setting up something like this. I make sure I’ve got my folder of ideas on the passenger seat as I buckle up and head for home.I know I’ll be earlier than Kennedy, I’ll just have to keep my mouth shut until he gets there.There’s a crunch of glass under my foot as I step inside. My brow creases as I stare down at it, and it takes me a second to realise it’s the mirror from the wall, smashed to pieces.What the fuck?Memories of walking in on Anna for the very first time come flooding back to me, and I guard myself against
AnnaI want to tell him but I can’t. Even now I can’t let them throw Margaretha in prison. He’s my brother. He was there for me when no one else was.My heart is breaking worse than Riven’s, even though I can’t show him. My heart is breaking because I know I can’t come back from this, because no matter how much Riven’s eyes say he wants to forgive me, I know he won’t.I know he can’t.I know he’ll never trust me again.I wish I could say I’m sorry, but I can’t. Even though I can’t bring myself to land my brother in the shit, I can’t bring myself to confess all this either.Riven’s glaring right at me as I hear Kennedy’s car pull onto the drive. I want the ground to swallow me up and never spit me out again, but I’m standing right here with nowhere to run and no one to turn to.Kennedy doesn’t even notice the destruction as he steps through the door. He sees me before Riven but he’s already got questions of his own.“Kevin Baker was asking directions to your house in town earlier, why?
AnnaI don’t know how long they hold me there, but I never want to move.I’m scared I’ll fall apart without their arms around me. I’m scared I’ll shatter into pieces and never pick them all up again.I remember all the times the guy who called himself Margaretha touched me. I remember all the times he told me that that was what love felt like.But love feels nothing like that, and I know it now.I want to forget every second I ever spent with him. I want to feel how much I’m loved for real this time.I want to feel kind hands on my body. I want to feel kisses that give, not kisses that take.I want them. The only two men who’ve ever counted.I need to know I’m still theirs and they’re mine, and words aren’t enough.Words will never be enough now I know how easily a random guy like Kevin Baker could speak whatever he wanted in my ear.I’m still in their arms as I press my lips to Riven’s neck. Kennedy is still pressed to my back as I reach for him.Riven doesn’t respond at first as I k
RivenIt took me a few days before I sat Anna and Kennedy down and talked them through my great new vision for the future.I waited until the police visits stopped with such frequency and all Anna’s statements were taken. I didn’t take the file out of my car until we heard that Kevin Baker was in custody and the evidence was stacking up nicely.Fingerprints, text messages, a load of druggy mates who sold him out at the first sign of a police car at the door.He’s going down for it, that’s a certainty. He’d better hope it’s a long sentence – I’ll still be tempted to choke the life out of him if he’s ever unlucky enough to cross my path.So, there we had it. An arrest, a new furniture delivery and Kennedy’s official acceptance of his resignation, all in one day.It that’s not a good day to make life plans, I don’t know when else would be.They’d been nervous as I sat them down at the new dining table. Glancing at each other as I cleared my throat and flipped open the file.A charity ini
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