Hazel POV“Hey, mom”, I say as I kiss the top of her head. She opens her eyes slowly and offers me a small smile.“Hello, love”, she says as she tries to sit up on the bed. I help her up, pressing the button to raise the head of the bed, and she smiles, pulling the blanket higher.“How are you feeling?”, I ask as I pull out the carton of orange juice from the plastic bag and some cupcakes. Mom smiles, watching me. I pour some juice into the plastic cup for her, and she grabs it with shaky hands.“I am tired”, she says, leaning back on the bed and resting her head against the pillow. I sit at the end of the bed and watch as she forces herself to keep her eyes open. “Mom, you should rest”, I say, and she shakes her head, watching me. She offers me her hand, and I take it. Her skin is pale and cold. I stand up, grab another blanket from the end of the bed and cover her. She smiles, thanking me. “How was work?” she asks, and I smile. It’s not every day that I have a good day at the dine
Elliot POV“If she is worth it, we will make it happen” keeps playing in my head. I decide I need to find out of she is worth it. I walk into my office, and I sit behind my desk as I start typing away on my desktop. I look between the three shared screens in front of me at the information I start retrieving. I can’t find Hazel anywhere. I put the information from the hospital on the search, her connection to the Russians. I have been searching for hours, and frustration takes over as I move my hand throwing all the contents from my desk on the floor, leaving only my desktop there.I stand up, passing my hands through my hair as I walk to the window of my penthouse. I cross my arms in front of my chest as I watch people crossing the road to head to central park. I close my eyes momentarily as I take a deep breath. I walk to the bar area I have in my house and pour myself a tumbler of whiskey, and go back
Hazel POVI smack my hand on the alarm clock which is loud with music waking me up. “I hate you”, I let out as I stand up and look at the time, it’s only five in the morning and I am already hating life. But to be fair I hate life before coffee anyway.I put my slippers and robe on and walk to the kitchen. It’s very old inside my house because the air con is broken and I don’t have the money to fix it. I make my coffee and rest with my hip against the kitchen sink as I sip on it slowly. My hands were around the mug trying to warm them up. Has been snowing lately and that makes my life harder. Usually, the snow only comes closer to Christmas but this year has come earlier.After getting myself ready I walk carefully through the streets. “Hey Hazel, a little early to be walking around alone”, One of my neighbours say and I nod
Elliot POV "This is really delicious, and I guess I'll have to come in every day for this", I say after eating some of the food in front of me. Hazel laughs slightly and I smile watching her. Her laugh is melodic, pure and innocent. She looks beautiful when she smiles, casual and unconcerned. She looks like an angel. "And then you will lose your perfect figure and end up a fatty like Joe here", She says and I look at her understanding perfectly well what she said, she was checking me out just like I have been checking her out. I feel my cock twitching at the thought of her watching me undress. I push away those thoughts as I adjust myself without letting on. "Don't worry, I tend to exercise a lot more if I come to have breakfast here every day. Maybe you could help me out", I say before shoving some pancakes into my mouth to shut me up before I tell her I want to
Hazel POV“What time do you finish work?”, He asks, and I look him in the eyes.“Three”, I say, and he nods his head, looking at his watch.“I’ll see you at three”, he says, leaving fifty dollars next to his coffee and walking out as he puts his jacket back on. I think my brain just stopped working as he did that, and when I look at the money, I frown. He left more than sixty per cent tip. I raise an eyebrow and put the money in my pocket, making a mental note to give him some money back if he ever shows up at three.“Hey Hazel, can you work an extra hour?”, Caroline asks. I shake my head, telling her I can’t. “I am sorry, I am meeting someone when I finish”, I let out, and she frowns, looking at me. This was the first time I had ever told her no to an extra shift.
Elliot POV I drive as fast as I can without getting attention over my driving. The last thing I need is to be stopped by the police right now. I was late to pick up Hazel, and when I got there, she was fucking gone. Obviously, this is all my fault. I should’ve driven and gone straight to pick her up, but no. I stop my car a few meters away from where I see the police and the ambulance. They have found the body already. Great. I can see Hazel talking to a tall Hispanic guy. I frown as I watch him cry. He is the husband. I know that. “I didn’t call her”, I hear Hazel say, her voice trembling, and so are her hands as she grabs her phone to show to the police. I recognise him. He is one of the ones that are on our payslip. He does some dirty work for us when we don’t have time to do it ourselves. He is our rat inside the NYPD. “Miss, can you show us your phone?”, he asks. I wrap my arms around her body from behind, and when his eyes meet mine, he understands she is off limits. She lo
Hazel POV The house Elliot takes me to is luxurious, and he holds my hand and leads me to the back of the house, where there’s a massive swimming pool. I have never had the chance to swim in a place like this. The pool house is so warm it feels almost tropical. Elliot turns to me and starts undoing my coat. “It's very warm in here, even the water,” he murmurs as he presses a kiss to my lips and slips my coat off. Elliot pulls his T-shirt over his head, revealing an incredible dragon tattooed on his chest. I can’t help but trace a finger along it, and I trail the loops of the beast’s tail along his hard-muscled skin. The dragon’s tail goes around his side and over his back. This man is magnificent. I can see how broad his shoulders are, and his chest tapers down to a narrow waist and hips. I can’t take my eyes off him, and my tongue edges out to lick my lips as he unbuttons his jeans and they slip to the floor. Elliot looks up at me, his brow raised and a quir
Elliot POV Dropping Hazel home has become my new normal this week, after the best sex of my life in that swimming pool we haven’t done anything. She hasn’t invited me to her house, I pick her up from work, or from the hospital and drive her home and she never asks me if I want to come in. It’s like she is trying to avoid me without actually avoiding me. Today is Hannah’s funeral. And I will be attending the damn thing with Hazel. I look in the mirror as I adjust my black tie, when I hear a knock on the door, “Come in”, I let out and I see Everly walking into the room. She smiles as she closes the door behind her. “Today is the day?”, she asks as she sits on the edge of the bed, and I nod my head. I absolutely hate this. After killing someone we usually send the clean-up team, we don’t go to their fucking fu
Elliot POV“Thank you, dad”, Jasper says, shaking my head. I nod as I watch him walk over to the girl's wife. I can’t believe my oldest son is married. He’s only nineteen, and he is already married. I tried to keep him out of trouble, but trouble found him. His high school sweetheart. He is a man, and he is extremely responsible; it’s not like he is an inconsequent teenager. I don’t even think he was ever a teenager. He was always serious and very responsible towards his siblings and us.“You’re welcome, son. Have you said goodbye to your mother?”, I ask, and he shakes his head. I know that this will be the hardest thing Hazel has ever gone through, watching her firstborn son leave the country to follow his wife’s dream.“Not yet. Eliana is talking to mom”, he says, and I nod. She is not a bad girl. She was always trouble, though, she was a re
Elliot POV “Where are you?” I ask as soon as Hazel answers the phone. “We’re home; why?” she says, and I can tell she is chewing on something, and I take a deep breath. I am so grateful that none of my kids is involved in this life. They all just want to study and have nothing to do with it, and I am here for it. “I need you all to stay inside, and please, please don’t fight me on this one”, I say, and I can hear Hazel taking a deep breath on the other side. “I have another call”, she says before she puts me on hold and answers the other call. I swear to god, if it's Killian asking for her to go there, I am going to fucking lose it. “Babe, I got to go, Killian called. They were attacked”, she says, and I take a deep breath. “I asked you to sta
Theo POV“I guess that is it”, Killian says, and I nod as I stand up, ready to leave his office. “Theo”, he says, and I look back, and he stands up.“This is going to be dangerous, and it is going to take a long time; take Elliot and Joseph with you”, he says, and I nod. There’s another war brewing, and I don’t like this at all. We had peace for so long that now we are all on high alert.We’re going to a mafia meeting. Killian can’t attend as he has had a target on his back lately. Joseph is growing up to be a great man, he is in training, and Killian is giving him his everything. I walk straight to Elliot’s office, and when I open the door, I can see him teaching Gabriel how to hack into the national bank. Great.Gabriel, my son, hates everything that has to do with physical activity, he hates
Killian POV“Kids, stop running”, I shout as my three kids with Ashley start running through the corridor towards Ashley’s office. Joseph, the oldest one, is now ten, and he is becoming as bubbly as his mother, and I absolutely love it. He says he wants to be just like her when he grows up, and I swear I am so proud of him.“Kate, slow down”, I say, and she ignores me as she runs after Joseph, that is holding her doll hostage. “Give it back”, she shouts at him, and he laughs and holds it high above her head. Kate is short like Ashley, while Joseph, well, he is tall. He is taller than a normal ten-year-old. He is the tallest in his class.“Daddy”, Kate complains as Jo, my youngest one, watches as her older siblings fight over a doll. Jo is a lot like me, quiet, she pays attention to everything, and her eyes scan e
Hazel POV“Come on, and we have to go”, I shout at Elliot, that is coming out of the kitchen like nothing is going on. He looks at me with an eyebrow raised, and I can’t help but laugh. “Come on”, I say, grabbing his hand and pulling him out of the living room towards the door.“I need my shoes, Hazel”, He says, and I roll my eyes. Men… Why are they never prepared? Killian called me in full-on panic mode. The man kills people for a living, and he deals with criminals and terrorists all the time, but his wife goes into labour, and he becomes a fairy that doesn’t know what to do.“Where is the kid?” he asks, and I roll my eyes. Their older baby Joseph is a sweetheart.“He’s with the nanny. They had her on call”, I reply, and he nods, walking into our bedroom to get his shoes. H
Hazel POV “That’s not possible”, I let out, and Elliot rests one hand on my knee. “My mother told me she had an affair with Elliot’s dad, and then she met my dad, and she went to live with him, got pregnant, and Ell’s dad lost it, he tried to kill her”, I let out and Killian nods. “Yes, that’s the official story, but no one told me. I saw them together. I saw your mother telling my father she was pregnant with his child. Elliot’s dad lost his shit when he found out his best friend slept with the woman he loved, but he couldn’t do anything against his father, but he could against his mother. Your mother was already pregnant when she moved in with your stepfather”, Killian says, and I shake my head. I stand up and start pacing around while Elliot watches me. Killian stands and walks to me. “I was pissed at you, I wanted you gone; you were a constant reminder that my father fucked over my mother”, he says, and I understand that. But… what? “You’re…” I st
Hazel POV“How have you been?” Ashley asks as we sit on the couch. I smile, looking at her, I missed her, and I missed Everly.“I am okay, I think. I was shocked when I saw a woman in the kitchen this morning”, I let out, and Ash frowned, looking at me.“A woman? What woman?” she asks, and I realise I didn’t explain myself properly. “Is he fucking serious?” she says, standing up. I grab her arm, and she sits back down while I try to explain to her.“No, not like that, calm down”, I say, and she looks at me confused and takes a deep breath sitting back on the couch.“It’s the new housemaid”, I say, and she nods. I can see the stress leaving her face, and she smiles.“Oh, Michaela? I forgot that she was working
Elliot POV“I am sorry”, Hazel whispers, and I shake my head. She shouldn’t apologise, ever. She has no reason to. I am the one that fucked up, and I am the one that put her in danger, I am the one to blame. I cradle her face between my hands and look into her eyes. Her hazel eyes are shiny from the tears, and they are puffy and red. I feel regret in the pit of my stomach.“Don’t you ever apologise? It was all me, all my fault. I should’ve kept you by my side like you wanted to. I will be the one apologising to you for the rest of our lives”, I let out. The feelings are eating me alive. I have never felt like this before. This is a new feeling, this is new, and I don’t like it.“How about we both stop apologising?” She asks, and I realise if we want to move on, we need to leave the past in the past and keep loving each other. We need to keep making each other happy and fight for our love, fight for us.
Hazel POVI feel Elliot’s hands moving up and down my bare back. I open my eyes to see him staring at me. I blink a couple of times, trying to adjust my eyes to the light that invades our bedroom from the window. I groan as Elliot pulls away, standing up. I frown, watching him, missing his touch already. I support my body on my elbows and watch him walk past me and into the bathroom. I flop back down, smirking at the image of his bare ass. He has a fantastic ass. I can’t get tired of it, and it's covered in marks from my nails. Scratches. I close my eyes, hugging my pillow.“We need to get up”, Elliot says as he walks back into the room, I can hear the water in the bathroom and I close my eyes shaking my head.“No, I’m tired”, I say, but Elliot straddles me, sitting on my ass and leans down, kissing my neck. I feel a shiver