[LAURA]“Are you always such a chatterbox, agent Jorden?” Agent Dickens quipped, breaking the silence as we sat in the boat he insisted on hiring to take me home. I had made it clear that I didn’t need a chauffeur, but some men are stubborn as hell. Dickens was certainly one of them.I arched an eyebrow, giving him a brief, skeptical look. “Well, some of us prefer to let our actions do the talking. You know, the strong and silent type.”He chuckled, his eyes scanning our surroundings as the boat smoothly sailed through the water. “Fair enough. But I have a feeling there’s more to your quiet demeanor than meets the eye.”I let out a humorless chuckle. “Everyone has layers. No one is as simple as they may seem at first glance. I’ve learned that people are often hiding something, whether it’s their past, their true intentions, or their own demons.”His gaze returned to me, as he settled in the seat more comfortably. “What about Xavier Perazzo?” he inquired with a slight narrow of his eye
[LIZZY]Sometimes I wish I could have done things differently. That if I had another take on life, I would have made fewer screw-ups and more rational choices.These days, I can’t even recall the last time I got something right.Seriously, it’s all a blur.I wish I hadn’t been so stupidly naive back then, which eventually led me to put my trust in all kinds of wrong people. I mean, what the hell? Take Vector, for example.That man is all sin and nothing holy. Everyone knows that.But getting involved with him was only the tip of the iceberg. I willingly shot myself in the foot when I not only tried to run away from him but also kept a secret—a secret that would ultimately push him to reach for the gun in his nightstand drawer and finish me off.But I’m not thinking about that when he is occupied looking at me with those intense, dark eyes of his, like he knows something I don’t. It’s both thrilling and terrifying, because if there’s even a teeny chance he can read my thoughts, I’m in
[XAVIER]I should’ve been smarter than to get sexually involved with Hazel’s teacher. The last thing I ever want is to disappoint my daughter.So why couldn’t I control my impulses?I can come up with countless reasons for losing control, one of them being the desire for intimacy. After all, every man has his needs, right? The last woman I slept with was Aurora, and it was during our secret affair that she conceived Hazel. The exact point when I stabbed my brother in the back and made an enemy out of him for the rest of my life.I know Mir has moved on. With Zarina in his life, he couldn’t care less about what I do or don’t do anymore. Of course, he would be furious if Hazel got into serious trouble because of me, but to be honest, I would be the first to blame myself for allowing it to happen in the first place. He would have to get in line if he had any desire to make me suffer.All I’m saying is that my sex life is nobody’s damn business but mine.But still.Still, I feel guilty fo
[LIZZY]“Can we go to the zoo, Lizzy? Can you please take me? Please? Pretty please!”I take a deep breath, fighting the urge to massage my temples and relieve the tension building up around my head, feeling like an earthquake in my skull.Joey has been relentless since the crack of dawn. I have no idea where he heard about the Tropicarium Park in Jesolo, but ever since his curious eyes caught sight of me, he’s been like a broken record, playing the zoo visit tune on repeat.Now, it’s like wherever I go, he’s right behind me, trailing like a lost puppy, whining and pouting, begging me to take him to the park for a visit.We are currently in my room. I have bathed and changed after the unplanned run I went on this morning. I don’t know what came over me, but I found myself wide awake at four in the morning, unable to doze off again. Curiosity got the best of me, so I thought I’d see if Vector had returned. To no surprise, his room remained just as vacant and dark as it had been for the
[VECTOR]“What do you have for me so far?” I ask, eyes on the closed door as I lean back and wait for something useful to come out of the mouth of the man on the other end of the call.It’s been a few days since Romeo Conti left for New York. He should have something for me by now, or at least, I’m hoping he does. I already asked Oranzio Petroni’s men to get him all the help he needs. The man has agreed. Now I just hope to get to the bottom of this blast as soon as possible.“I did some digging around. The locals in the neighborhood don’t have much to say, except that the family moved in shortly before Ms. Jones joined them. Actually, some people even assumed she was part of their family, like a sister-in-law or something. Anyway, I’ve hired some additional help to gather more intel. But for now, all I’ve got is a feeling that something about the family doesn’t sit right. The husband was definitely a cop, but as for the wife… some folks claim she was a housewife, while others insist t
[CRISTIANA] It shouldn’t come as a huge surprise that I don’t have much say in the family matters. They all think I’m either too young and too naive to know or understand anything. I’ve been raised my whole life as if I were some delicate princess who would be corrupted by the darkness of the outside world. They thought I was too pure for this harsh reality, too easily fooled to avoid attracting trouble. In a sense, that pretty much sums up my entire life. I’ve grown up with not only overprotective parents but also a deranged brother who considers chopping off the fingers of any man who dares to look in my direction as his favorite pastime. And if that weren’t enough, throw in an irrational and hot-tempered older cousin who happens to lead a notorious crime syndicate. It’s a recipe for an impending catastrophe. The only relief I have in my not so run of the mill life is my sister-in-law who happens to be the only sane person I can freely talk to or reason with—Zarina is the only
[VECTOR]“How long are you going to sit there like a fool, Vector? If you have something to say, why don’t you just say it?” Sofia’s words cut through the air, accompanied by her familiar wicked grin. She disgusts me to the core, but despite being a sociopath, she’s the only family I have left.Perhaps that’s why, when I feel lost and unsure of what to do, I find myself unlocking the doors to my past and descending into the basement. It’s where I keep my adopted sister imprisoned, bound by shackles. For what she did to my family, she should be buried deep underground.But it seems the apple didn’t fall far from the tree. Even though I have countless reasons to grab my gun and shoot her in the face, I keep her alive, hoping that someday she will come to understand the pain and destruction she inflicted upon the only people who cared for her.She tore them apart.She destroyed everything that mattered to me—the family who took her in, loved her, and gave her a chance at redemption. The
[TREVOR]“Are you positive it was her?” Laura asks again, and I can’t help but roll my eyes. Even though she’s keeping tabs on me from a safe distance, her repetitive questions really get on my nerves.I don’t have anything against her, except for the fact that her involvement with these mobsters seems way more sinister than a cop’s should be. But who am I to question her motives? As long as I get my share of the deal, I couldn’t care less about what drove her to join such a dangerous game. All that matters to me is ensuring Lizzy’s safety, and I couldn’t give a damn about anything else.“There’s no way to be sure, babe.” Doesn’t she already know this? Things rarely go according to plan when dealing with these mobsters. They’re too crafty and cautious to be fooled by people like her and me. That’s one of the reasons why they never get caught, and even if they do, nothing sticks to them. Like I said, they’re way too careful.If there’s one person I can be honest with, it’s myself. And