Anna's POV.
Wake up stupid, Wake up stupid! I groaned, raising a heavy hand, as I searched blindly for my phone. My eyes were still tightly shut, as my hands rummaged through the confines of my bedside table. Finally, my fingertips felt cold metal and grabbed it. I held the phone in front of my face, and finally opened my eyes. 6am. I groaned again, slamming my head into the pillow. I could have sworn that I had slept only thirty minutes earlier. There was no greater evidence of the love-hate relationship between Sunday nights and Monday mornings. I turned off the annoying alarm, and swung my legs off the bed. I released a deep breath and summoned enough energy to get off the bed. I looked at the sticky note on my wall and read it out loud: You have to keep working hard until you marry a billionaire. My phone chimed, and I was reminded that I was never going to marry a billionaire, but I didn't care. I picked up the phone and read the text from Aiden Smith, my boyfriend. Wakey, wakey, pumpkin. He had done this everyday for the past five years. He was easily the sweetest thing that's ever happened to me. My phone chimed again, and a new text appeared. Don't make me come get you. I'm up. I replied I smiled, and dumped the phone on the bed. He might not be a billionaire, but he's the sweetest thing that's ever happened to me. I said that before. I got ready for what I knew would be another hectic day at work. After eight hours of having to listen to my boss nag about the silliest things, I got off work—tired as usual. Routine. I got a cab back home and dragged my tired feet up the stairs wishing Aiden was around to give me a massage. I stopped dead in my tracks as I reached my door. My blood immediately ran cold and my hair stood on end. Something was terribly wrong. I had hung a tiny piece of thread on the door hinges when I left, but now, it was gone. What was strange wasn't the fact that it was gone, it was the fact that someone took the time to return the thread after entering my house. It was, however, positioned wrongly. My mind raced a series of possibilities: had my past finally caught up with me? Who could it be? Dad? Liam? It certainly wasn't Aiden, he had my keys, but didn't have the patience to return the thread. For fuck sake, he hadn't even noticed the thread after dating me for five years. I dug my hands into my bag and brought out the only weapon I was allowed to carry as a law abiding citizen: pepper spray. Whoever it was was going to get it! I opened the door as gently as I could, then shut it as quietly as possible. The light suddenly went on, but so did my knees into the groin of the closest man and the pepper spray into his eyes. “Sur—prise…” Everyone's shout died out like a man falling off a cliff, as I realized what I had just done. “Oh my God, Aiden. I'm so sorry,” I said, as I dropped to one knee. “I'm good, I'm good,” he groaned, raising his thumb. He was still in a crouching position and it was obvious that he was anything but good. He finally summoned enough strength to stand straight. His face had gone red and the veins on his neck still popped. “Happy birthday, love,” he managed to say. Shit, I forgot my birthday—again. Five years, and I still wasn't used to my fake birthday. I feigned a gasp. “I thought you forgot,” I said, hitting him gently on the shoulder. “How could I? You mean the world to me.” I struggled to contain the butterflies that suddenly sprung up in my belly, hoping my intestinal acids snuffed out the life from them. “Thank you, thank you, thank you,” I blurted out, wrapping my arms around him. Guilt stung at my conscience, but I shoved it aside. It hurt me that I needed to lie to him, but I had no choice. “And who are all these people? I've never seen them before.” “Um, random people…um…” “You don't know them either do you?” If there was anything I knew about Aiden, it was his inability to socialize, which I found really strange for a human resource manager. “Um…no, you don't have any friends, I don't have any friends. I had to rent some—just for the night. I promise they'll be out in a few minutes.” True to his words, after a couple of minutes, the guests all left one after the other and now it was just the two of us. What next!? What would someone who was actually celebrating her birthday do? Aiden flopped on the chair beside me and for a moment simply gazed into empty space. His hands found mine and he gave it a gentle squeeze. “You know, when I first got here, I never thought I'd find love...” I braced myself for the story of how his ex had shattered his heart and left him thinking he'd never be able to love again. I had heard that story a thousand times, and every sign that I showed to tell him I hated hearing about his story just flew over his head. Suddenly, he dropped to one knee. His gaze remained glued to mine—unwavering. What was he doing? I felt my heartbeat quicken at the possibilities. Slowly, he dipped his hand into his pocket. Oh my God! It's happening. He brought out a small box and held it in front of me. A smile tugged at the edges of his lips, while my mind ran riot. He opened the box, revealing an expensive diamond ring. Do they pay human resource managers that high? “This was given to me by my mother and now, I'm giving it to you because I can't imagine life with anyone else but you. Will you do me the honor of being my wife?” “Yes!” I said, trying desperately to contain my joy. I had told my dad that I'd have a normal life and now I did. What could possibly go wrong? I had barely completed the thought when three masked men burst in through the door. Shit! I jinxed it.Anna's POV.“Yes!”That was the last word I said, before my door came crashing down. Three masked men burst into my house. They all held guns—glock 17 to be precise; light, too light it almost felt like you were holding air. Polymer frame, but the barrel and slide? Pure steel. Fifteen rounds of 9mm in the magazine—standard, reliable, efficient and favored by most gang members. Father made sure I recognized every gun from such a young age.I sprung to my feet clenching my fist. Who the hell were these dudes? I just had that door fixed a few days earlier. I parted my lips to speak but quickly shut it when I heard Aiden.“Pl—ease, take whatever you want. J—just don't hurt us. You can have my watch, and my ring—it costs a fortune.”No, not the diamond ring. Not the damn ring.“You're not giving petty thieves my engagement ring,” I gritted out.“It’s okay, honey. We'll get another one,” Aiden said, as he pulled my arm, trying to get me into a less opposing posture.“You're broke, you'll ne
Anna's POV.“Anna, father was murdered…”My breath hitched and my heart felt like lead. I couldn't explain the throbbing pain that took hold of my heart, even though I hadn't seen that man or heard from him in 5 years; it still hurt—inexplicably. But with all the blood he had spilled and the toes he had stepped on, maybe he had it coming. I was hurt, but surprised? I wasn't.I watched Liam's face fall. I had only just realized how terrible he looked. He had bags underneath his eyes and had even grown leaner than I remembered. I knew father's death was taking a toll on him, even though he tried to hide it. He had to look strong, and emotionless like father always taught us, or perhaps I was just seeing what he wanted me to see. Father had also taught us: when we're up against a weaker enemy or an enemy just as powerful as we were, we needed to act strong; but if it was a stronger enemy, we needed to act weak, so we could strike when they least expect.“It was bound to happen, sooner or
Anna's POV“That's Gabriel Martinez, your fiance.”I burst out laughing uncontrollably, my shoulders vibrating violently. Liam however kept a straight face. My laugh was snuffed out like a candle on a windy night.“That wasn't a joke?” I asked.Liam tucked his hand into his pocket and brought out my engagement ring—Aiden. What did they do to him?“No, sister. I wasn't joking.” Liam lifted up the ring and pinned his gaze on it. “Pretty ring. But what were you thinking, sister? That you'd get away from all this? You can't run from the McClain name.”“That name is a curse.”Liam scoffed, threw the ring in the air and caught it, tucking it back in his pocket. I eyed his every movement. He leaned back in his chair. That was his subtle way of threatening me—of telling Aiden isn't safe if I refuse his proposal. “Hate it if you must, but that's our father's legacy and you will respect it,” he said firmly with every trace of warmth seeping out of his eyes.“I want no part of a legacy born fro
Anna's POV.A couple of days passed, and we moved into another safe house. We couldn't stay in any place for too long; and we needed a proper place to prepare to meet the Martinez's. We were meeting today and I needed to score a good impression. I picked the necklace Liam got me and wore it. I looked at my reflection in the mirror and sighed. I looked different, dresser in an exquisite black gown, a perfect contrast to my usual manly dressing. But who could blame me? My father raised me to be a man.I heard a quick knock on the door and Liam walked in. He was clad in a suit and looked just as tense as I did, yet he flashed a smile as he walked towards me.“Ready to go?” he asked, placing his hands on my shoulder. I cringed under his touch, shrugged his hands off and stood up.“Yes.”We exited the mansion and embarked on a long drive to the Martinez's.“Are you tense?”I turned to look at Liam. “No. I should be the one worried about you. You can't seem to tell a lie without your hand
Anna's POV“Aiden, what the fuck are you doing here!?”The words rang in my mind, but never left my lips. Control, I told myself, Control. He froze in his steps as he laid eyes on me, but resumed his pace almost immediately—so fast you wouldn't notice the pause. Everything about him was different, his hair was different; not the tousled hair I was used to. The look in his eyes, his aura—every damn thing was totally unrecognizable. Could it be a Doppler? A Doppler wouldn’t freeze because of my presence. He knew me and I thought I knew him.My heart raced, thumping blood through my body with anger. Anger from the betrayal, from the lies. Was his name even Aiden? Or was everything a lie? Liam seemed to catch on, he had seen Aiden once. He immediately tensed up, with an expression that was pleading to me to remain calm. Calm was the last thing I felt. I wanted rage, to scream and burn this whole mansion down with my fury. But was it worth it? Maybe Liam was right—family was all I had.L