Prince POVThe men exchange glances, clearly considering the offer.Good. When they give me the name of whoever set this up, I’m going to make sure they regret it. I’ll cut them open while they’re still alive.“No.” The word comes out cold, emotionless, and I stare at him in disbelief.“Are you crazy? I’m offering you twice what they paid!” I snap, my voice rising in frustration.“Prince, leave it!” Ghost barks, but I ignore him.“No! What the fuck is wrong with you?” I shout, my anger boiling over.The man tilts his head, his posture relaxed as if this is all a game to him. “Look, we’ve got some requests for you two later. That’s what’s important. The money? Perfect. It’s a nice incentive, sure, but what we’ve been asked to get from you two? Well, that just makes this even fucking better.” His words hit like a punch to the gut, stopping me in my tracks.“What? What the hell could you get from us that’s better than money?” I demand. There’s nothing. Money gets them drugs, power—what e
Ghost’s POV All I see is red. The moment Prince grabs the first guy, I lunge at the other three, fists swinging wildly. Every punch is fueled by pure, unfiltered rage—at them, at myself. The look in Prince’s eyes when they revealed their plan replays in my mind like a cursed loop, driving me forward. I have to get us out. I have to stop this. A punch lands hard against my jaw, making me stumble back, but I recover quickly. Reaching out, I snatch a knife from one of them, the sharp edge gleaming as I swing it without hesitation. The blade sinks into a guy’s arm, and he howls in pain. My other hand moves instinctively, gripping another guy by the hair. With all the strength I can muster, I slam his head into the wall, the sickening crack echoing in the room. “STOP!” a voice shouts behind me, but I don’t stop. I can’t. The adrenaline is too much, the need to fight overwhelming. I swing the knife again, aiming to take another one down. “Stop, or he’s dead!” The words cut through the ch
Ghost POV I’ve done it, and there’s no turning back now. Even if I wanted to, there’s no contact. Maybe that’s for the best? I can’t second think this or change my mind and realise how fucked up it is. “Ahm.” The sound has me looking up to see Max still waiting. “You’re back again,” I say, and he nods. “Why wouldn’t I?” He steps closer, and I snap the phone, throwing it into the glass of water. “Secret business?” he chuckles, looking at the broken phone. “Something like that,” I say with a shrug, before standing. He steps closer, his lips brushing against mine. “I was thinking, why don’t we switch it up?” His mouth moves down my neck, his fingers slowly unbuckling my belt. “I fuck you for a change.” His words have me laughing. “I don’t do that, ever.” I don’t know why, but I don’t, and I’m not about to start doing it. “You have no idea what you’re missing,” he mutters as he kisses my neck. Maybe he’s right and I don’t, but I’m not about to take that step yet. Leaving the club
Prince’s POV I stand there, confused, frozen in place. I was ready for them to come at me—ready for the punches, the kicks, the inevitable abuse they’d try to use to break me. I braced myself for it. But instead, they’re going for Ghost. Why? Normally, they’d beat you into submission, make you feel the pain until you crack. But this? This is different. Why the hell are they targeting Ghost? Not once did it cross my mind that they might hurt him to get to me. As I watch, my fists clench at my sides, my head shaking involuntarily as one of them kicks Ghost hard, his body jerking forward with the force. He groans, and the sound grates against me, clawing at something raw and unspoken inside. “Stop!” I yell, lunging forward, desperate to get between them. My movements are frantic, fueled by anger, by guilt, by something I don’t want to name. But before I can reach them, strong hands grab me, yanking me back. “You want us to stop?” The leader sneers, his voice cold and calculated. “Th
Prince POV “Why?!” he roars, stepping closer, his anger radiating off him in waves. “If they kill me, they lose all leverage! You’re fucking safe! You don’t like me—you fucking hate me—so why not just let them kill me?!” “Because I do,” I whisper, my voice barely audible. “I didn’t fucking lie, alright? I hate you, Ghost. I despise you so goddamn much, but I…” My words falter, my head shaking as the truth threatens to spill out. “Are you serious right now?” he snaps, staring at me like I’ve grown another head. “All this time, I’ve tried, and you’ve refused. You’ve told me you hated me—that us kissing meant fucking nothing!” “I didn’t—” “No, listen!” he shouts, cutting me off, his voice raw with frustration. “You can’t accept how you feel about me, but you’ll do it for them?” He gestures toward the door, his anger palpable. “I couldn’t let them keep hurting you,” I admit, my voice shaking. He laughs bitterly, the sound hollow and sharp. “What they did was nothing compared to you
Ghost’s POV I’m fucking lost. The way Prince is kissing me, the way his hands move over my skin, it’s got my mind spiraling, unraveling until there’s nothing left but him. The kiss is rough, relentless, and as it deepens, more and more clothes hit the floor until we’re completely naked. His hand wraps around both of our cocks, his grip firm, and I swear I’m losing it. My breath hitches, my chest tightens, and for a fleeting second, I think I’m dreaming. This feels so fucking good, so overwhelming—but wrong. Why the hell does it feel wrong? Determined to push the dark thoughts away, I grab him, turning him roughly and pin him against the wall. My lips trail down his neck, biting and sucking, leaving marks as my hips buck forward. My cock drags along his ass, and he pushes back into me, his body moving like he’s begging for it. But the feeling doesn’t leave. That heavy, suffocating sense that this is wrong. It clings to me like a weight I can’t shake. My movements falter, and I stag
Ghost POV “I want it,” he says firmly, his tone resolute. “I told myself that now is the right time. There’s a reason. I can go back and say we were forced into it. Doing it now makes me feel safe, like there’s a cover story. I wanted this, Ghost. I agreed because I want to. Because, deep down, I want to know how it feels.” His words stop me mid-step. My body freezes as I process what he’s just said. Does he mean that? “Everything in me is driven by fear,” he continues, stepping closer. His voice is raw, exposing something vulnerable and real. “Fear of what others might think, what they might say. That’s why I refused to let you near me. But this—” he gestures between us, his breath hitching, “—it gives me an excuse, a reason. I can tell myself I had no choice. But the truth? I wanted this. Knowing that you were with other men pissed me off, but I hid it!” His face is inches from mine now, his words spilling out with intensity. I stare into his eyes, torn between believing him and
Ghost Pov The sound of the shower turning on fills the silence. Sorry? First thanks, now sorry? What the hell is happening? I push myself up and follow him into the bathroom, stopping by the shower. The steam is already rising, clinging to the air, but all I see is him. “Why the fuck are you saying sorry?” I demand, my voice cutting through the sound of the water. He looks at me, droplets already running down his face, his expression uncertain. “I saw your face, Ghost. You looked… disappointed.” What? My chest tightens, and I shake my head. “No. I was fucking confused. You said thanks, Prince. What the hell? We fuck, and you say thanks. Like it’s part of some deal.” He nods slightly, his gaze dropping, and I step into the shower with him, the warm water soaking through my skin. “I didn’t know what to say,” he admits quietly. “That’s just what came out. I’ve never done this before, Ghost. I didn’t know what to say.” The tension in my chest eases slightly, but my mind is still ru
Ghost POVI can’t fucking breathe. The rage burns so hot it threatens to consume me. I slam the laptop shut, the sound echoing through the room.When I return to the front, the staff are still lined up against the wall. The woman who spoke earlier trembles, her eyes darting to me in fear. I hold up a file, my hand shaking with fury.“This,” I growl, my voice dripping with venom. “This is what you’ve been doing? Torturing kids? Breaking them?” My gaze sweeps over the staff. “Who gave the orders? Who carried them out?”The man with glasses finally speaks. “We… we just followed the guidelines. It wasn’t personal!”“Not personal?” I laugh bitterly. “It was personal to the kids you destroyed. It was fucking personal to Prince.”My finger tightens on the trigger, but I stop myself. Not yet. Instead, I step back and motion to my men. “Shoot the ones who didn’t show up in the footage against Prince. Leave the rest.”Gunfire erupts, deafening and final. The staff scream as bodies drop to the f
Ghost POVAs soon as I’m in the car, Josie throws her arms around me, clinging like I’m the only thing grounding her. My father’s glare is like a dagger, sharp and unyielding, but he stays silent. The drive back is heavy with unspoken words, the kind that fills every corner of the car, pressing down like a weight. I know he has things he wants to say, demands he’ll make, but I have something else on my mind—something I need to do.When we finally reach the estate, I follow him straight to his office. The moment the door closes behind us, I walk to his desk but refuse to sit. My body is tense, charged with the anger and purpose bubbling beneath the surface.“You’ll want to sit for this,” he grits out, his tone low and biting.I let out a sigh but comply, sitting down reluctantly. “I have something I need to do,” I say, my tone firm. “I need a team of men.”His eyes narrow as he studies me, suspicion etched into every line of his face. “We’ll get to that, after we talk about what happen
Prince POVMy father’s voice breaks through my spiraling thoughts. “Myself and Salvatore have worked to ensure these stay private! Only he and I know. Everyone else thinks we never got anything.”I don’t let my expression falter as I respond coldly, “Keep it that way. I don’t want them out.”His face hardens as he stands abruptly, glaring at me with the full force of his authority. “Are you really giving me orders?”“You just said I’m officially the boss,” I snap, meeting his glare without flinching. “So yes, I fucking am! Delete every single fucking copy.” I stand, the tension between us thick and suffocating. “If they get out, people will know we have weak spots, and others will try to take me again. Not to mention they had fucking Josie! Using her to make us do shit, so delete it.”He tilts his head, studying me, as if weighing his next move. “They never had her! When you two didn’t return, we locked down everything. It was fake!”Fake? My fists clench at my sides as I fight to kee
Prince POVI join in the search, my pulse pounding as I frantically check every door, every corner. Finally, I find a door that leads to a narrow staircase. “Here!” I shout, the word bursting from me like a lifeline. Ghost appears immediately, his pace urgent as he rushes forward, overtaking me to take the lead. He reaches the door first but stops abruptly, his body tensing.“We’re going back, Prince. Stay in touch, let me know you’re okay, but I will stay away,” he says quietly, his tone devoid of the intensity I’d expected. His words land heavily, and before I can respond, he starts climbing the stairs, his movements brisk but mechanical. At the top, he shoves a hatch open, flooding the space with blinding light. I groan, shielding my eyes as the brightness stings and distorts my vision.Ghost climbs out first, pausing at the top to extend his hand toward me. I stand at the bottom, my eyes flickering back to the rooms behind me. A hesitation grips me, rooting me in place.“Prince, c
Prince POVTime seems to stretch and warp in this place. Ghost and I have tried to piece together how long we’ve been here, basing it on the number of times we’ve slept or when they bring food, but it’s impossible to be sure. Ghost thinks we’ve been here two weeks, while I feel like it’s been just a week. Then again, with everything going on, I can’t seem to focus long enough to figure it out. My mind won’t let me. I’m too wound up, too mentally wrecked to think straight.Meanwhile, Ghost is grinning like a damn cat who got the cream as he places his cards down, triumphant once again. I groan loudly. I’ve lost, again! There’s no way he’s not cheating. I mean, come on—how the hell is he winning this much? It defies all logic.At one point, I was so sure he was hiding cards somewhere that I actually told him to strip down so I could check. He kept his hands firmly in front of him the entire time and, of course, there was nothing. Still, I’m not entirely convinced. There has to be someth
Ghost POV“Fuck,” I gasp, my voice raw. “Prince, I—”“Say it,” he demands, his tone razor-sharp, each word punctuated by another relentless thrust. “Say you were wrong.”I bite down hard on my lip, torn apart by conflicting emotions—my pride and my desperate, aching need for release. “I—I was wrong,” I finally choke out, the words barely audible over the pounding of my heartbeat and the sound of skin against skin.Prince’s hips falter, his movements growing erratic, and with a guttural groan, he spills inside me. His hand tightens around my cock, and the combination of sensations sends me careening over the edge. My vision blurs as I shudder violently, waves of pleasure crashing through me and leaving me breathless.We collapse together, tangled on the cold floor, our bodies heaving with exhaustion. For a long, drawn-out moment, neither of us speaks. The weight of what just happened settles over us like a suffocating blanket, impossible to ignore or push away.Finally, Prince rolls of
Ghost POVAnd then he moves. With a guttural growl of frustration, he surges up, closing the distance between us, his lips crashing into mine with a force that leaves me reeling.The kiss is violent, desperate, a collision of teeth and tongue and pent-up emotion. It’s every argument we’ve never finished, every touch we’ve denied ourselves, every unsaid word spilling out in a chaotic, messy, passionate clash.I kiss him back just as fiercely, pouring every ounce of frustration and longing and anger into it, and for the first time, it feels like we’re finally saying everything we’ve never been able to put into words.When we break apart, our breaths come in harsh gasps, mingling in the charged space between us. Prince’s eyes bore into mine, wide with a mix of shock and something dangerously close to desire. His lips are swollen, the evidence of our clash still fresh, and for a fleeting moment, he looks torn—caught between running and diving deeper.“This changes nothing,” he whispers, b
Ghost POVI didn’t sleep. Every moment replayed in my head, over and over—how the wedding got pushed forward, how wrong it all felt, and then Prince’s bombshell admission that he’s been in charge all along.That shit hit me like a brick. I didn’t see it coming, and it unraveled everything. Because it means all this time, Prince made moves without a second thought about me. He didn’t think about how I’d feel, didn’t consider the fallout. He just did it.And then he couldn’t even say he’d stand up to his father if it came down to my life. He couldn’t promise he’d say no if ordered to kill me. I’ve been so focused on wanting him, on trying to win him, that I didn’t stop to see how little he actually cares.This wasn’t always like this. We weren’t always enemies, always fighting. We were close once—close enough that I thought, deep down, he still held some care for me. But now I see it. He doesn’t. He never cared enough to stop his father from killing me. He wouldn’t hesitate to do it him
Prince POV“Your silence just confirms it,” Ghost says, his voice low and bitter. He downs the drink in one swallow, his back turned to me now.I don’t know what to say. I can’t go back and change what happened to Marcello. I can’t undo what I’ve done. All I know is that I didn’t want my father to think I was weak, didn’t want him to think I was soft on Ghost. And now? Now I’ve destroyed the one thing I wanted to keep intact.The door opens, and neither of us moves. Ghost glares at his glass, and I stare at him, waiting. This tension, this unspoken storm between us, was inevitable. At least it’s happening now and not hanging over us later.“Figured you could do with something to pass the time between giving us videos,” the man sneers from the doorway, his voice grating and smug. He lingers in the doorway, watching us like we’re his entertainment.I don’t turn to face him; I’m too focused on Ghost, silently willing him to speak. Say something. Anything.“You two seem busy, just don’t f