Prologue

I lay in my bed smoking a cigarette with these two dumb bitches I picked up at the bar last night asleep next to me. The sheet was tossed over my naked body barely covering anything. The blonde on my left rolled over and placed her hand on my thigh. I smirked a little, same shit different night, I thought to myself. The women always wanted me but I never wanted them for more than a night of fucking. These two women would be no different. I pushed the blonde’s hand from my thigh which made her roll back over. I saw my phone light up on the nightstand next to the bed. I reached over and grabbed it. When I looked at the number my anger rose a little. What the fuck does Mike want?

Flashback

I see her smile as she held me close when we danced at prom. My Catherine, we had been seeing each other for a few months at this point. She was my best friend, Mike’s, little sister. Mike and I had been inseparable since we were in kindergarten. My family life was never the best, but his mother had become like a second mom to me. I remember one night Mike and I had hidden in the basement for hours waiting to scare Catherine, but instead, we scared his mom. She screamed so loud and then chased us up the stairs. We couldn’t stop laughing so she caught us in the living room.

I had always seen Catherine as a pain in the butt, a little pipsqueak until the day she turned sixteen. It was like overnight she blossomed into a beautiful woman, and man did she turn heads. When we started to see each other we decided not to tell Mike. She, being the wonderful person she was, didn’t want to come between our friendship. She had told Mike that she had no one to go to prom with so that I was taking her. He bought it and had decided to skip the prom himself, so we had the freedom to do what we wanted. It had been a perfect night and the night that she gave herself to me. However, after she graduated we drifted apart. She was going to college and I was working with Mike. It was also becoming hard to keep our relationship from Mike, so we decided to just be friends.

Then three years ago our lives were changed forever. Catherine was in a car accident with her parents on the way to the airport. She was pulled from the car by a man named Trevor Woods, but her parents were not so lucky. They were both killed, and poor Catherine was traumatized. Little did we know that her parent’s death was no accident and that we were about to go through hell and back. While Catherine was in the hospital, Mike was approached by a man named Seth. He informed Mike that his father, James Scott, was the leader of a gang in Chicago, and that with his death Mike was now to be the one who took his place. At first, Mike thought he was crazy, but then the man that saved Catherine, Trevor, confirmed everything. He told Mike that he was James’s second in command and that was why he was there and saved Cat.

Over the next few months, Catherine, Mike, and I all moved in together and Mike asked me to be his second in command. Catherine and I also started seeing each other again, at first behind Mike’s back, but then he caught us. That was an interesting day. 

Mike and I were about to go at it when Catherine stepped in between us, she always did know how to calm us both down. It was at that moment that I realized how much I loved her. I told her I loved her that day. It turned out that Mike had already thought we were fucking around, but he never knew how serious it was. Then someone had broken into the house while Mike and I were gone. Catherine was attacked by someone when she came home and it was then that we decided to have Seth, one of our men, stay with her for a while.

A year after the break-in Catherine convinced Mike to let her stay home alone while we went to work. Well, that was where she thought we went. See Mike hadn’t told her yet about their dad and the gang. It was then that she was attacked by some men from a rival gang. Luckily, Trevor had been keeping an eye on her for us and was able to kill one of the men and then get her to a hospital. It was then that Mike told her everything and we decided that it would be safer for her to go to Chicago. She would stay with Trevor at the house that James had in Chicago. It was safer and no one would know she was there. See the leader of the rival gang was looking to try and make Mike back down so he could be in total control of Chicago. The man’s name was Carter.

As much as I hated to be away from her I agreed with Mike and we sent her to Chicago with Trevor while we searched Portland for Carter. We had told her that if we couldn’t find him in a week we would be in Chicago with her. The night before she left we were able to sneak away for a little bit. I took her down to our spot, it was a quiet little spot by the Wilson River. It was very secluded and the perfect spot for what I had planned. I had made my way out there and covered the trees in lights and placed rose petals all around. When I brought Catherine out there that night I covered her eyes and held her close to me as I guided her. She laughed as I stumbled a little over a tree root still holding her hand. After I got her set in the right place I told her to open her eyes. I stood behind her as she looked around. While she was in shock looking at the lights and rose petals I knelt down on one knee behind her. When she turned around I held a diamond ring in my hand. The tears filled her eyes as I spoke. “Catherine, you are my whole world. We have been friends, lovers and now I want you to belong to me forever. Will you please make me the happiest man alive and become my wife?” She smiled and nodded her head.

“Yes, Jensen. Yes.” I hopped up and took her in my arms as I slide the ring on her finger. Little did I know that in a week I would lose her forever. After she left and we knew she was safe, we searched all over for Carter. We couldn’t find him so we made our plans to go to Chicago. The night before we left, Someone attacked us. They had knocked me out and left me for dead in a burning house and taken Mike. All I remember was thinking that I had to get back to Catherine. She needed me and I needed her. Somehow that gave me the strength to save myself and make it back to her.

The look of shock and happiness on her face as I stood in the doorway of her room was priceless. She ran into my arms and we held each other for what seemed like hours. Then our happiness was ended with one text message from Carter. He wanted a meeting with Trevor to discuss the surrender of our territory in exchange for Mike. You see he didn’t know that I was still alive. So Trevor agreed to the meeting and we thought we would have the advantage. We were both wrong. We did have an advantage, but he had one trick up his sleeve. Even after his death, Carter screwed us anyway. Just when we thought we had won the battle out walked that bastard Seth with Catherine. He held a gun to her head and ordered us to drop our guns. We all did so and he had some of Carter’s men tie us up.

He stood there going on and on about getting his revenge against us because he should have been the number one or some stupid shit. I couldn’t focus on him because all I could see was the fear in her eyes. It was then that I felt the coldness of a steel blade against my wrist and turned slightly to see a blonde woman cutting my ropes. As soon as I was free I jumped to my feet and ran towards her. Seth had pushed her away from him and pointed his gun at me. It was all in slow motion as I saw the love of my life leap in front of me as Seth fired his gun. All I remember after that was watching her fall to the ground in front of me and then Mike shooting Seth in the head. The woman of my dreams and the woman I was going to marry was dying in my arms and I couldn’t do anything about it. I held her as she whispered she loved me and took her last breath.

End Flashback

The blonde woman looked up at me and smiled as she crawled up my body and gently stroked my leg with her hand. “Hey baby, do you want some help getting back to sleep?” I looked at her, as the man I had become came out. 

“No, I want you and your friend to get the fuck out of my bed.” I pushed the other woman out of my bed and heard her hit the floor.

“What the fuck was that for? What is your problem?” The woman looked up at me from the floor but quickly changed her attitude when she saw my face. She quickly got up and grabbed her clothes and the blonde did the same. As they walked out the door the blonde turned back.

“You’re an asshole Jensen, go fuck yourself.” She quickly ducked out the door as I threw the lamp across the room.

“Fucking bitch.”

My phone went off again and this time I answered it. “Hello.” Mike’s voice came across the phone.

“Jensen, it’s Mike. I need you to come home, bro.” I laughed. 

“Why the fuck would I come back there? There is nothing there for me.” I could hear the aggravation in Mike’s voice. 

“You know that I wouldn’t ask if I didn’t really need you here.” He was right, in two years he had never called me for help. 

“What is it Mike I am kind of busy here?” Mike’s voice softened a little but he still tried to pull the I’m the boss’s attitude. 

“Look, Jensen, you are my best friend and one of the best men that I have. I will explain everything when you get here. Will you come, brother?” Damn him, using that brother word with me. 

“I will see if I can. But like I said I am busy. I’ll let you know.” I hung up the phone and slammed it down on the nightstand. Who the fuck did he think he was asking me to go back there?

I lit another cigarette and placed my hands behind my head as the memories came flooding back. When I left that night, I never thought that I would have to go back and face my decision to leave. The memory of the night that she left me never to return, the night that I lost all my humanity came back to me. I had held everything in for Mike and the gang because they needed someone to be strong. But the night before the funeral I had found out something from Dr. Kegan that I never told anyone, not even Mike. That was why I left and why I had never returned. Catherine had been my whole world and now she was no more. When I saw her leap in front of me and take the bullet to save my life I lost what humanity I had. She had chosen to leave me and she took all of me with her.

The first few weeks after I had left I had just traveled not knowing where I was going. Then one day while sitting in a diner eating breakfast, it had hit me. Mike had told me that his father had a connection in New York that had wanted us to start a chapter there. So I decided to go and start the chapter and Mike agreed with me. He left me alone and I left him alone. I built my reputation and my business in less than a year. My men respected me, the woman wanted me and my enemies feared me. I had a penthouse in the middle of the city where I took my bitches and then my warehouse where I conducted my business.

I started to get angry. Why the fuck should I go back? What? Those pansies can’t handle their own shit so they call me to come and clean up their mess. Well fuck them, I don’t care anymore. I have my own shit going on and I don’t have the time for their petty bullshit. Someone was stealing from me so I didn’t have time to go save their asses anyway. Mike may be the leader of the gang but I run this shit here and I didn’t want to go back to taking orders from him. I took a deep breath and calmed myself. I sat thinking about everything until the sun started to come up. Fuck it, I will go back and help them clean up their mess, but we do shit my way.