•KINLEY•I pulled my phone out while telling Luca the truth about what I had been up to with Hilton.Now that I was aware of the reason he was doing what he was, I was sure we could still trust him.We just needed to help him make sure Martha was safe."Who are you calling?""Fin. I have an idea that will help all of us.""Kinley? Do you have news?""I do. But I need you to meet me, and get Gianni here too." I gave him the location and hung up."Gianni is going to skin me alive, why are you bringing them here? I trusted you with this.""You trusted me for a reason, Luca. You know we would never let anything happen to Martha. I just wish you would have told us what was going on sooner. A lot of this mess could have been avoided.""Kinley, they have my wife. I couldn't risk her life. I don't even want to do this right now. If they kill her-""They won't, okay? Trust us, please."Luca looked around as if he was worried someone was looking at us, "If they find out that I'm telling you, th
•GIANNI•"Where the hell is Renato? That kid is always late to something."Kinley chuckled, "He texted me, he's just picking up his girlfriend."I shook my head, he had been talking about this girlfriend for a while now but we had yet to meet her.Today was the big day.I looked over at Luca standing in front of the barbecue.Ripley was sitting busy typing on her phone. I couldn't believe both of my kids had grown up and I had been blessed enough to see them grow.If Fin and Luca hadn't done what they did for me, I may not have had the privilege of having these years to watch my son and daughter grow into a man and woman.We invited Fin for this barbecue, but he was away undercover for work so he wasn't able to make it.I looked over at Kinley and my mind went back to that night all those years ago at the shipping yard.She had run over to me in such a panic when she heard those gunshots. She thought I was shot.In actual fact, it was Fin who shot one of the men guarding Martha.After
I pulled my jacket tighter around myself as I stood outside the club doors. I had just finished with another grueling shift at the bar and was waiting for my lift, who I was sure had completely forgotten about me, I had been waiting for hours. It was rather late, but I knew I would need to walk home, I had forgotten my phone behind and had no way of making any calls to get someone to fetch me. With a heavy sigh, as I shivered from the cold night air, I began my walk home while wishing I hadn't chosen to wear such a short dress; it wasn't exactly the safest area at the best of times. The cold chilled me to the bone as my skin pickled with goosebumps, each step I took felt colder than the last. I was thankful I wasn't far from the flat I rented with my cousin Dom. I couldn't help but shake my head at the thought of him, he had been the only one in my family to ever really understand me without any judgment. He understood that I resented my entire childhood and wanted to part from
My eyes were still covered by the cloth and my hands were still tied behind my back as I was forced to walk forward by the firm grip that held onto my upper arm. I couldn't tell which of the men had me, but I assumed it was the smaller man who had Auburn hair and hazel eyes, he had looked the kinder between the two of them. The man Dom had called Gianni on the other hand had terrified me. His cold eyes were so dark they looked like black pools; I wouldn't deny that he had good looks though, he was tall with broad shoulders and thick arms, and his short dark hair complemented his tanned skin. But where he may have had good looks, it did nothing to take away from the fact that simply looking at him had terrified me, and it had nothing to do with the scar over his eye either. You could immediately tell that he was a cruel man, from the hard look on his face, and the lack of emotion in his eyes. "There's steps coming up." I nodded my head to acknowledge, I was thankful that it was in
GIANNI "Why do you look so pissed off?" Talon asked the next morning as he walked into my office. He paused, "Is that a cut on your nose?" I glared at him, "I went in to her last night. Bitch kneed me in the face." Talon's face went white, "Is she okay?" "Is she okay? Did you not fucking hear me? She's the one that attacked me!" "What did you do to her?" "Nothing! I went in and my dick got the better of me. Almost fucked her but she kneed me in the face. And you know what I did after that? I walked the fuck out." Talon shook his head, "She's going to be difficult. And we both know that Dom is going to take forever to get all the money paid up." I felt myself get annoyed again, I didn't want to have this conversation right now, "Talon, I know what I'm doing. If you're so worried about her, you deal with her. But she stays alive, she is our only leverage." Talon nodded begrudgingly, "Fine. I'll play the babysitter." "No, Scott will handle her." I knew Talon well enough and the
KINLEY Tina had returned with me to my room where she had left me. I took a long shower before putting on a pair of shorts and a simple top before going into the room. I paused when I saw Gianni sitting at the dresser, a glass of amber liquid in his hand. His black jacket was gone and the first few buttons of his black shirt were undone, revealing a glimpse of the tattoos on his tanned chest. He watched me silently as I walked over to climb onto the bed. "Those attacks, do they happen often?" He asked suddenly. I shrugged, pulling my knees to my chest before pulling the comforter over myself, "I, uh, sometimes. It depends on my level of anxiety I guess," I felt uncomfortable speaking to my captor about this. He took a sip of his drink before pouring more into the glass from a bottle on the dresser. I took a breath as he came over to sit on the bed. He wasn't close to me, but I could feel my chest begin to tighten again. "Here," he held out the glass to me, "I'm pretty sure
KINLEY I had just stepped out of the shower, wrapping a fluffy towel around myself as the door opened. I yelped in surprise, Gianni stood at the door. "Have you never heard of knocking?" I asked, both terrified and annoyed. He wore a black dress shirt with black slacks that complimented his tanned skin. Really, Kinley? Checking out your kidnapper now? He smirked at me, "How are you feeling today?" "I was feeling just fine until I saw you." He walked over to me and I willed myself not to begin shaking. He backed me up against the cold tile wall, his fingers slowly trailing up and down my arms leaving a trail of goosebumps behind. "You smell good," he brought his face to the nape of my neck and I trembled. I was both terrified and sickly turned on by this man. It made me feel sick. "Join me for lunch?" he asked, his lips brushing against my skin as he spoke. "It's not as though I have a choice." "Of course you do," one of his hands dropped to my thigh, lightly running his
KINLEY I sat in the front seat of Gianni's car, a few other cars of his were parked nearby, filled with his men. I wasn't sure exactly where we were, but it was a pretty empty place, a park of some sort with overgrown grass and empty buildings, Gianni had stepped out to go over to another car. He said they were doing business and he needed to collect something. I assumed it might have been drugs or something along those lines. I knew I couldn't run, there were too many of his people around. Getting out of the car to stretch, my eye caught sight of something in one of the empty buildings. It looked very much like a sniper. I spun, no one else seemed to notice it. Talon looked at me and caught the line of my attention. He frowned up at the building and everything went to hell right there. I wasn't sure where it came from but there was a shot fired and suddenly everyone was jumping from cars and shooting. I crouched down, the loud gunshots sending me into a panic, I began to f