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Jeremy's POV Her reaction is blanched with shock as I pull her head out of the water, giving her five seconds to catch her breath before plunging her head in. Her red hair forms a crimson halo, flouncing around my hand as she thrashes around in the water. I stare, transfixed at the ethereal image. I pull her back, studying her facials as she coughs, sputters out water, and tries to pool in large gulps of air at the same time. “You aren't helping, Dian.” She glares at me through wet blue contacts, “My name is Josephine—” I plunge her head back into the water and shake it for good measure then I toss a towel into the water. She gets the message and her hands scramble for the piece of cloth, scrubbing off the make-up and contacts in record time and taps on the tub but I give her another ten seconds before pulling her out. Her loud gasp echoes as her head is whipped out of the tub, tremors racking through her body. I study her pale features. “Crimson strands, Porcelain skin, Dark
Jeremy's POV I was eleven the first time I'd noticed her. The Parent Teacher Meeting had come with a shitty weather that Saturday afternoon and Grandma continuously squeezed my hands as the teachers sang my praises about my unrivaled IQ while subtly griping about my social life or lack thereof. Belleville, a teacher amongst the rest, had been expressing her grief at not pushing me hard enough to get with the other kids to which Grandma responded with a patronizing nod. I sighed my boredom at the shameless ass-licking Belleville was putting on as my eyes roamed lazily until they landed at a figure beyond the door. She wasn't the most beautiful girl I'd ever seen but there was something about her, something about her eyes, even with the huge round glasses, they were different. As I looked into their brown depths, a weird deja vu feeling knocked into me. It made the hairs on my nape stand straight. I stared at her but she wasn't looking at me, she was drooling at Justin Kingston,
JoJo's POV The party lights are off, the music has stopped and it feels like hours later when the girls find me huddled in a corner of the bathroom. I look like a drowned cat all shrunken and shaking with wide eyes and a face bare of make-up. “Why didn't you tell us?” Mal asks after I recount every last detail. “I didn't think he'd find out.” I defend, my world blurring in large drops of tears. “You walked right into his trap.” She counters, her eyes flashing. “Calm down, Mal. She's all shaken up.” Ken intercedes. “Those assholes, they think they can match all over us?” Mal raves. My ears twitch. Assholes? “I'll show them not to mess with me.” She stalks into her bedroom and Ken and I scramble after her. “What’re you gonna do?” We follow, hot on her heels. “I'll teach them a lesson.” “What'd you mean, them?” I ask, confused. “The little sidekicks he sent to distract us.” “They weren't little.” Ken quips. “Malakai Falconer and Junnev Knight.” Mal spits out, typing someth
JoJo's POV “Girls!” Mom calls from the Kitchen. “Come on, it's your first day!” Aunt Sherry stands at the sight of our disheveled appearance and meets us at the edge of the stairs, concern etched all over her face while Uncle Will buries his head in the morning paper “Why do you three look so rough and beat up on your first day of Senior year?” She turns to her husband, “Will?” He shrugs, “They're right in front of you, ask them.” He evades successfully because Mom throws her questioning glare back at us. At Kendrick. Oh no. “Kendrick?” She urges. Our heads snap to Kendrick, signaling her to seal her lips but she's already biting her lips like a cat caught with a cookie jar. Kendrick can't lie to save her life so when she blurts out, “We threw a party at the beach house last night and now we're so hungover we might need to take a break from school today, please Aunt Sherry?” Mal and I breathe a sigh of relief. Good one Kenny! Aunt Sherry turns her accusing gaze on her husban
Jeremy's POV I throw another punch at Junnev, but he evades it this time and rebounds with a sharp uppercut to my jaw, my head snaps to the side and I relish the stinging pain. I deliver swift jabs to his ribs and the sound of bone cracking echoes through the empty gym. “Time out!” Malakai calls from outside the ring, and I disengage. “You alright?” I ask him. Junnev grunts from annoyance as he limps out of the gym’s boxing ring, holding a hand over his injured ribs. “You snapped my jaw,” I reply dryly, feeling irate for some unknown reason. I should've broken his hand or bashed his skull against the bloody ring “I told you to go easy, Kila. Our first match of the season is tomorrow. How am I supposed to run over a hundred yards with a cracked rib?” Nev groans. “You’ll be fine, just throw some ice over it with pain meds and you'll be good as new.” I snap my jaw back in place and floss the metallic taste of blood from my mouth with some water. “Or better still, call your girl
JOJO'S POV I'm fuming as I walk towards a shiny black Ford truck and try the freaking latch of a handle, it doesn't budge. Of course, he would threaten me, that slimy asshole. “Go wait by the car Dukes or you can watch as your family's history gets splashed across tomorrow's morning paper.” I stand out in the less-than-busy parking lot, glaring at the ground to keep the younger passers-by from sighting the Jojo Dukes hovering around some car like a creep. I flinch the moment I spot Claire Eastwood and her convoy step out from a Barbie pink Porsche. She'd thrown her sweet eighteen the night we'd thrown the invite-only party. They'd have to pass Jeremy's car to get to CrispFries and I can't avoid them because Claire and I locked eyes the second she stepped out of the car. I hear their snide remarks from the fifty-meter distance they're briskly covering and my head turns towards the CrispFries building. Jeremy's at the entrance when something grabs his attention, making him tur
JoJo's POV The car screeches to a halt and I'm swinging the door open, and sprinting to the sidewalk to puke out my guts on the sidewalk. I heave and hurl until my stomach is empty, my throat is scratchy and my eyes sting from the stench. I groan, “I really don't feel so good.” “You’re having a concussion, Dukes.” A warm palm is pressed against my forehead and I moan at the feeling, “So warm.” A plastic bottle and two pills are nudged into my hand. His voice orders, “Drink.” “So grumpy,” I mumble. “Drink.” He urges again. “What is this? Poison?” He doesn't respond so I lift my head to see his face but the asshole's busy typing on his phone. Well, fuck him. I rinse my mouth off the vomit stench then swallow the pills with another gulp of water. Feeling my stomach settle a bit, I stand up. I need to get home. He's already waiting in the car, “Hurry up, Dukes you're burning daylight.” I glare at him, I'm feeling a bit better doesn't mean I'm in the best condition to “hurr
Jeremy's POV My work cell buzzes from the drawer and I ignore it in place of slathering cream all over my Jawline Like an annoying fly, the cell buzzes again. I answer. “What’d you want?” “Manners boy!” A voice gone scratchy from seeing the bottom of a bottle for decades answers. “Father,” I grit out. He grunts and tries to stifle a cough, “What’s this I'm hearing?” “What are you hearing?” “You’re in a relationship?” I grab the razor and methodically begin scraping off the shaving cream. “Answer the goddamn question, Kila.” “Yes.” “How dare you! You piece of dogshit, I raised you to be a formidable ruler yet here you are, led by your cock, blinded by a piece—” “I haven't forgotten your teachings, Father.” I cut him off. “Then loose the girl.” “No.” “What did you say, boy?” “I'm not getting rid of her, not yet.” “What are you up to, Kila?” “Nothing that'll affect you in the long run.” “Who is that child?” “The daughter of an acquaintance.” “Wrap up your games, kid.
JOJO’s POV Two Months Later… They were graduating high school today but Josephine would always go back to that day each time she passed the workshop. She and over three hundred graduates passed by the workshop today but no one spoke about it. They had all forgotten. It felt like they'd forgotten everything linked to him along with him and that made Josephine sick to her stomach. One month ago, She, Junnev, and Jeremy were hanging on for dear lives in the hospital. Of their three cases, Jeremy’s was the most baffling because apart from the external injuries he suffered from the accidents and the cement, the doctors couldn't find anything wrong with him. So why wouldn't he wake up? They closed off Jeremy in a special room for “intense observation purposes,” that's what they called it. They kept him there until he was cleared for flight to be transported back to America. Junnev knee joints were broken from the weight of concrete. He’d woken up during the surgery, his tone mighty
Kendrick tried to stand but her ears were ringing so badly from the explosion so she used her hands to cover them and suddenly there was a semblance of peace in the chaos that had become the world. Kendrick blinked debris and dust from her eyes as she looked around, trying to find a familiar face. She couldn't see past the dust that had formed from the explosion but she could hear the awful screams and the rapid-fire gunshots and those sounds would stay with her forever. Bullets were flying left and right and Kendrick knew she had to get out. She needed to get out of there before she got hit by a stray bullet or before the ceiling caved in or before she died from a heart attack so she put one leg in front of the other and trudged along. The dust was settling and she could see certain parts of the building clearer. She looked around the unconsciously fed bodies of men to see Jeremy and Junnev covered with debris and as she got closer to them, her mouth widened in horror. They wer
Jeremy couldn't comprehend when the plan started falling apart but it had in fact… fallen. Lying in front of him were two bodies, Josephine was lying on the dirty ground, blood pouring out of her chest, yet she tried to sit up. Jeremy ran to her and took her trembling body into his arms, trying to apply enough pressure on her wound but crimson just kept flowing to the ground, steadily forming a pool of red around them. She’d run into the line of fire as he shot at her kidnapper. Why did she do that? Why? He racked his brain for a tangible reason but came up empty. Next to her was the masked kidnapper, they called her The Mistress. He had heard tales about her horrible doings since he'd been a tween, each one more fearsome than the last yet here she was, fallen by a mere bullet. She was dead. “Kila!” His father's men called from behind and he whipped around to see Maxim holding onto his bleeding neck. Apparently, the Mistress had decided his father would be her last victim.
“You are more like a pirate than an actual cop,” Junnev sparked after Burkely ended the call. “I am retired, Kid. Besides, all my years of following the law and reporting everything I saw left me without a wife, a roof over my head, and eventually a Jobless alcoholic with no future except nabbing one man.” “That's…” “Pathetic, I know.” Burkely fished out another stick of cigarette. “I'm a living, breathing bundle of addiction!” Burkely finished his tirade with his arms spread apart– eagle form on the sidewalk with a wide smile, pasted on his face as horns blared from vehicles passing by them. Junnev tugged his hands down and hissed through clenched teeth, “Control yourself, Old man. We don't want to draw any unwanted attention to ourselves.” Burkely shrugged out of Junnev’s hold and glared up at the kid, “Don’t call me an old man. You know my name, so use it.” “I'll call you whatever the fuck I want since you are the one who keeps forgetting,” Junnev responded with angry sparks
Something was wrong and Doc was certain, it had something to do with Josephine. The Dukes couple and their men were currently situated close to the bushes, away from the main road. Their men were well hidden with their guns and rifles in the surrounding bushes while waiting for the signal from their bosses who were inside a parked reporter van down the road. Doc was furious, anxious, and more so, scared as she got out of the van and paced down the length of the road. She tried again and again to get a hold of Jeremy Vongov but his line was switched off. “I told you we shouldn't have trusted him.” Will quipped from the back of the vehicle. “This is no time to point fingers, Will. Something bad has happened and we need to do something.” “How about you get Mallory and Kendrick and their friends involved? Get them to track down Jeremy.” Doc turned away from her husband, “It's too dangerous Will, why’d think we've been knowingly throwing them off course? Our hackers will easily h
“There was something in the air,” Jeremy thought to himself as he stalked to the back SUV where his father was already seated. Maxim looked composed and rather cheerful as he watched his son get into the vehicle from his side eye. “I told you no one was to touch her,” Jeremy growled in a chilling tone. “Oh, stop your grumbling, we have a big day ahead of us.” Maxim waved him off and grabbed the glass of vodka on the armrest, taking a healthy swallow. Jeremy schooled back his features and settled for a stiff smile, “Yes, we do Father.” “Good,” The vehicle sets in reverse and slowly pulls out of the driveway then it accelerates as the driver moves down the road and silence settles in the vehicle. Jeremy uses the quiet to finalize his plans by sending out a few texts and receiving a confirmed reply. “Tell me boy, how did your talk with the redhead go?” “That's none of your business.” “Humor me.” Jeremy locks his phone and focuses on his father, “Why do you care?” “Because yo
JOJO'S POV The truth hurts, doesn't it? Jeremy steps into the room right after his father slips out and goes into a full-on wrath when he sees me in chains and I want to slap him. I want to punch him so hard in his nutsack that he feels something's wrong down there each time he takes a step. Motherfucker, I want to stump on his ugly heart and crack it into a thousand tiny pieces. Pieces so tiny, they'd be impossible to place back. I want to break him. So badly it hurts to sit there quietly and do nothing. Which is what I’m doing when the chains are finally gone from my wrists, instead I ask, “What happened when you were eight years old?” He stiffens and his eyes turn into a void. “Jeremy?” I call but it's like he can't hear me. “Jeremy?!!” I call louder, shaking him a little. “Uh, Josephine?” “I asked you a question.” I probe, not letting up. His eyes harden to black stones, “It's none of your business.” “Of course it is, I want to know how you came to grow up in Ameri
Maxim Vongov Maxim's teeth grounded to his jaw as he realized how much time, his son had taken. It was time to make the trade and Jeremy was nothing if not time conscious. The kid was getting sloppy. He watched from the monitors as Jeremy kissed his girlfriend goodbye and left the room. Maxim turned to Yuri, “Make sure he's detained properly.” “Another safe house?” “No, he'll come with me but I want him restrained, twice as much as before.” “I'll get it done, boss.” “I want an audience with the girl.” “I'll arrange it, boss.” “Good and make sure my son doesn't know about the little visit.” Yuri nods his acquiescence just as Jeremy bounds into the room and Yuri subtly leaves. “To what do I owe this pleasure, father.” Unsurprisingly, his bastard of an heir didn't look very happy to see his father after locking him up in a house for more than twenty-four hours. “Did you tell the girl?” He bares his teeth at his father, “That has nothing to do with you.” “The fucking ingrat
JoJo's POV I wake up in his arms, feeling the warmth of his body heat fanning against my skin. His breath is shallow but when I crane my neck to see, his eyes are shut. He's asleep. I need to pee, so I try to untangle myself from his arms but they only tighten around me. “Whereareyougoing?” His deep voice is a gruffy rasp and I feel its feathery weight on my skin as he rolls us to the other side of the bed. “I need to pee!” I whisper-yell, squeezing my sore thighs in impatience. “Okay, okay.” He begrudgingly lets go of me and I slap his chest before I scurry over to the bathroom. In my birthday suit. At this point, I can't be embarrassed about rushing off to the bathroom barebacked with him in the room. Not after he’s fucked me ten ways to Sunday. I bend over to pee and I realize Jeremy cleaned me up earlier and that single thought has me holding onto my chest and hyperventilating in the kitchen sink. What does this mean? Why did he clean me up? Does this mean we're togeth