The thought hit Roberto like a punch to the gut: Did he know about Finch?No, impossible. Roberto shook his head and dismissed it just as quickly as it had come. No one knew. Devlin least of all. But the flicker of unease twisted in his chest, stubbornly refusing to dissipate.“I want to keep her safe,” Roberto said, his voice lower, more resolute. “I can’t do that if I don’t know where the threat’s coming from.”Devlin, leaning casually against the car, tilted his head with a knowing look. “If she’s not telling you, there’s a reason.”“She doesn’t trust me.” The words left his mouth bitterly, and their weight felt heavier than he expected. Sure, he’d known it deep down, but saying it out loud made it real. Kylie didn’t trust him. He dragged a hand over his face, trying to will the frustration away.Devlin’s smile was faint, tinged with something between sympathy and exasperation. “And what have you done to earn that trust?”Roberto faltered, his jaw tightening as the truth hit home.
When Kylie agreed to spend the day with Roberto’s sisters, she’d envisioned a spa outing, complete with massages and mimosas—a much-needed reprieve from her chaos-filled life. Instead, she found herself standing outside a dimly lit warehouse near Fenway Park, her unease growing as Sophia, Roberto’s older sister, confidently led the way inside.The loud bass reverberated through her chest the moment they stepped through the door. A sea of bodies writhed in sync with the music, the club's pulsating lights illuminating the scene in flashes of red, blue, and gold. Kylie’s gaze darted to Keira and Sloan, the younger sisters accompanying them, but neither seemed fazed by their surroundings. If anything, Keira looked thrilled, her wide grin suggesting she was ready to dive headfirst into the chaos.Sophia maneuvered through the crowd with practiced ease, her commanding presence parting the sea of dancers. The younger women trailed behind her, and Kylie had no choice but to follow. They climb
I dig the smell of fear. It's pretty intense, you know? When it comes out from them and mixes with their cheap perfume and desperation, you can almost taste it in the air.Tonight, the club reeks of it.I'm sprawled on the bed in my usual private room, waiting for my next... appointment. The sheets are scratchy against my skin and probably haven't been changed in weeks. Not that I care. Everything in this shithole is disposable—the furniture, the booze, the girls. Especially the girls.My fingers drum an impatient rhythm on my thigh. Where the hell is she? I check my watch—an ostentatious, goldplated monstrosity. It's all for the show, of course. The girls see it glinting on my wrist, and their eyes light up. They think they've hit the jackpot.They're always disappointed.The door creaks open, and I sit up, ready to unleash my displeasure on whoever's kept me waiting. But the words die in my throat as I take in the sight before me.She's new. That much is obvious. The way she hesita
The Dust Raven glittered dully on the dirty floor of the strip club's VIP area. Kylie's gaze hooked onto it, her heart thumping so hard she felt it may explode right out of her chest."A Dust Raven? Really?" she thought, a crazy giggle threatening to leave her lips. "Only men with something to prove carry those..."For a minute, time appeared to stand still. Kylie could hear her own rapid breathing, the distant throb of bass from the main room, and Daniel's low, ominous chuckle. The rifle rested between them, a lethal promise waiting to be fulfilled.Kylie's mind raced. She'd never held a real gun before, let alone fired one. Sure, she'd seen them in movies, but this was different. This was life or death."Screw it," she thought, steeling herself. In one seamless action, she reached for the weapon.The metal was cool against her feverish fingertips as she picked it up. It was heavier than she thought, and her arms trembled slightly under its weight. Kylie fumbled with the safety, her
I'm lost in the pages of Tolstoy when Liam bursts into the library like a hurricane in an Armani suit. I don't bother looking up. Maybe if I ignore him, he'll go away."Daniel Hayes is dead," he announces, voice dripping with drama.I grip my book a little tighter, willing myself not to react. Daniel Hayes. Now there's a name I hadn't expected to hear today. Or ever again, if I'm being honest."And?" I manage, keeping my tone as flat and uninterested as possible.But Liam, being Liam, isn't about to let me off that easy. I can practically feel the manic energy radiating off him as he plops his designerclad ass right on the antique coffee table in front of me. Dad would have a fit if he saw."And you know what that means," Liam grins, snatching my book away. I resist the urge to snatch it back. That would only encourage him.Instead, I sigh, resigning myself to whatever scheme he's cooked up this time. "Shouldn't you be talking to our father about this?"Liam leans in close, his voice
Kylie PovI swear to God, the second I walked into that damn reception hall, it felt like the walls were closing in on me. Like physically shrinking around me. I had my arm linked with my dad's, and all I could think was how much I wanted to bolt. But there I was, playing the good daughter, head held high, while my insides twisted into one huge knot of panic.I tried to focus on the people milling around, but it was like trying to see through the fog. Everyone's voices blended into this dull, mind-numbing hum, and my heart—Jesus, my heart was thudding so hard, I thought it might explode. I felt like I was on the edge of something like I knew something awful was about to go down, but I couldn’t confront it yet. I couldn’t stop it. I was just stuck, waiting for the hammer to drop.My mind kept drifting back to Aiden. The pit in my stomach grew with every step we took. "I miss you, big brother," I whispered in my head. "If you were here, none of this would be happening. You always had th
Kylie PovI leaned against the cold brick wall, pressing my hands to my mouth like that would somehow stop my brain from spinning. I couldn’t shake the feeling that this was all just gonna come back to haunt me. Kahlo... his death was supposed to be the end of the nightmare, right? So why the hell did I feel like I was trapped in another one? My fingers were trembling, and I closed my eyes, trying to calm the storm inside me."I don’t think I can do it again," I muttered to myself, barely above a whisper. "I’m gonna have nightmares for the rest of my damn life about what happened to Kahlo."And, of course, the only person who should've been giving me a heads-up on what was going on today? My dear ol' dad. He spent the entire day with me, going over the restaurant finances, like everything was business as usual. Not one word about this new arrangement with Roberto. Nope. Not a single goddamn word."He didn’t say a thing. Not one goddamn thing."I wanted to scream. Hell, I wanted to bre
Third povKylie knew she was in trouble the second she walked into her father's study and found Roberto there instead. He was standing by the window, his big frame blocking most of the light, making him look like a dark shadow against the sunset. When he turned to look at her, his eyes were cold and hard, like ice."Miss Morgan," he said, using her last name in a way that always made her stomach do flips. "Just the person I wanted to see."She tried to back up, to leave the room, but he was faster. Before she could blink, he was there, right in front of her, so close she could smell his cologne—something expensive and spicy that made her head spin a little."Your father hasn't been keeping what's his safe." The words came out soft, almost gentle, but Kylie could hear the threat hiding underneath.Her mind started racing. *Oh God, Oh God, Oh God*. What did he know? What had her father done? She needed to think fast, needed to find a way out of this conversation before Roberto said anyt
When Kylie agreed to spend the day with Roberto’s sisters, she’d envisioned a spa outing, complete with massages and mimosas—a much-needed reprieve from her chaos-filled life. Instead, she found herself standing outside a dimly lit warehouse near Fenway Park, her unease growing as Sophia, Roberto’s older sister, confidently led the way inside.The loud bass reverberated through her chest the moment they stepped through the door. A sea of bodies writhed in sync with the music, the club's pulsating lights illuminating the scene in flashes of red, blue, and gold. Kylie’s gaze darted to Keira and Sloan, the younger sisters accompanying them, but neither seemed fazed by their surroundings. If anything, Keira looked thrilled, her wide grin suggesting she was ready to dive headfirst into the chaos.Sophia maneuvered through the crowd with practiced ease, her commanding presence parting the sea of dancers. The younger women trailed behind her, and Kylie had no choice but to follow. They climb
The thought hit Roberto like a punch to the gut: Did he know about Finch?No, impossible. Roberto shook his head and dismissed it just as quickly as it had come. No one knew. Devlin least of all. But the flicker of unease twisted in his chest, stubbornly refusing to dissipate.“I want to keep her safe,” Roberto said, his voice lower, more resolute. “I can’t do that if I don’t know where the threat’s coming from.”Devlin, leaning casually against the car, tilted his head with a knowing look. “If she’s not telling you, there’s a reason.”“She doesn’t trust me.” The words left his mouth bitterly, and their weight felt heavier than he expected. Sure, he’d known it deep down, but saying it out loud made it real. Kylie didn’t trust him. He dragged a hand over his face, trying to will the frustration away.Devlin’s smile was faint, tinged with something between sympathy and exasperation. “And what have you done to earn that trust?”Roberto faltered, his jaw tightening as the truth hit home.
Roberto woke to an empty bed. The sheets beside him were cool, her absence stark in the early morning stillness. He turned onto his back, staring at the ceiling as he processed what had happened. She was gone. He didn’t need to check the rest of the apartment to confirm it; the silence said everything.She’d waited until he was asleep to leave, slipping out like a thief in the night.Anger and relief warred within him. He wasn’t sure whether to be pissed that she’d left without a word or grateful that she’d spared him the awkward goodbye. Their conversation last night had pushed her too far—that much was clear. But how could it not? He’d seen the shadows in her eyes, the weight she carried. And those bruises. His fists clenched just thinking about them, ghostly marks that whispered of a threat he couldn’t name.Whoever had left those marks on her throat was still out there.And she wouldn’t tell him.He exhaled sharply, dragging a hand down his face. He couldn’t fight an enemy he coul
Roberto’s gaze lingered on her throat, his expression unreadable, but the tension was evident in the hard set of his jaw. “Just like the bruises,” he murmured, his voice low and rough. His eyes traced the space where the marks had long since faded, as if he could still see them.Kylie’s breath hitched, the memory of those bruises tightening like a phantom grip around her neck. “Roberto, please.” Her voice was soft, pleading, yet there was an undercurrent of steel in it. She needed him to stop before he shattered the fragile walls she had built around herself.For a moment, it seemed like he might push her further. His hesitation hung heavy in the air, a charged silence that made her heart race. A small, treacherous part of her almost wished he would press on, pry deeper. The memory of Daniel’s death was like a raw, festering wound buried inside her. It poisoned her every thought, every feeling. Sharing that burden—unloading even a fraction of it—would feel like tearing open the wound
Kylie never thought it could be like this. The heat of Roberto’s hands on her hips grounded her, tethered her to the moment as his cock filled her completely, making her lose all sense of where she ended and he began. The shadows of his room wrapped around them like a cocoon, intimate and all-consuming. Their jagged breaths mingled in the quiet, each exhale fueling the fire between them. When his thumb found her clit, stroking it with deliberate precision, the sensation sent a jolt through her entire body, igniting her nerves.Her cry was half-moan, half-plea. “Oh God.”Roberto didn’t stop. He did it again, his rhythm devastatingly perfect, matching the roll of her hips as she slid down onto him. She tried to hold onto the fragile thread of control, but it was slipping away, unraveling with every brush of his thumb and thrust of his hips. Her eyes fluttered shut, surrendering to the pleasure building in her core like a crescendo she couldn’t resist.“I can’t—” she gasped, her voice tr
The weight of Kylie's words hung in the air, thick with the grief she hadn’t fully expressed. “That’s how I felt about Ronan,” she said, her voice soft but firm, as though saying it aloud might force the emotions she kept buried inside to the surface. “He was always in my corner, even when we were growing up, fighting like cats and dogs.” A deep, painful shadow flickered across her face, and Roberto could see the grief she’d held in check for so long breaking through the cracks. “I miss him,” she added quietly, her voice thick with unshed tears.“I’m sorry, angel,” Roberto murmured, instantly regretting his choice of words, as if simply mentioning her loss would bring it rushing back in full force. He pulled her into his arms, not sure what else to say, but knowing he had to say something. “I didn’t mean to bring up bad memories.”She pulled back slightly, her gaze steady but heavy. “No, it’s okay,” she replied with a shaky breath. “He’s gone, no matter if we talk about it or not. An
Roberto wasn’t ready for the effect Kylie would have on him. He swung open the door, and there she stood—softly flushed from the bite of the cold air, her hair tussled from the wind, her blue eyes locking onto his like they had all the time in the world, drinking him in just as much as he was drinking her in. The sight of her made the knot in his chest loosen, and he couldn’t keep himself from speaking the words that had been building in him all day.“I missed you.”Her smile was like the warmth of the sun breaking through the clouds after a storm. It hit him with the force of something deeper than simple affection—like an anchor in the middle of a tumultuous sea. “I missed you, too.”The words were barely out of her mouth before his lips were on hers, unable to wait another second. Her lips were soft and warm, and when they met his, everything else in the world faded. She melted against him, her arms sliding around his neck, pulling him in, just as much as he was pulling her. He nipp
“I will say, Kylie, I’m surprised by what you’re proposing.”Kylie felt the familiar weight of her father’s gaze on her, but she refused to let it show. She’d been working toward this moment for days, weeks even, ever since Roberto’s attack had thrown everything into chaos. She had pushed and prodded her father relentlessly, and only today had he finally relented. He promised to hear her out—though whether he truly believed in her plan or was just indulging her, she wasn’t sure. His admiration now, that glint in his eyes, almost made the whole fight worthwhile.Almost.She swallowed her nerves and steeled herself. “They’ll be expecting a full-frontal assault. But that's exactly what makes it a bad idea. They’ll be prepared for it. They’ve already fortified their positions. Instead, we hit them where it hurts, without risking lives. Destroying one of their factories will cripple a major source of income for them. And we’ll be able to do it with minimal casualties.”The words felt like
Four days later, Roberto trudged up the stairs to his room, his body dragging like a weight had been tethered to his feet. The exhaustion wasn't just physical—it was the kind of weariness that seeped into your bones after days of futile phone calls and failed plans. He felt as though he had been sprinting a marathon, and yet, he had nothing to show for it. James hadn’t returned a single one of his calls. The men he’d sent to canvass the area around *Tit for Tat* had been chased off by Halloran’s men—again. His father was incommunicado, and Aiden? The same damn thing. No one was talking to him about the larger plans, the ones that really mattered. It felt like everything was slipping through his fingers.To top it all off, his younger sisters had taken it upon themselves to ensure he made a full recovery. Every time he turned around, Sloan was there, pushing him into the nearest chair with a soft, worried smile and draping a blanket over his shoulders. Keira was just as bad, practical