Adam"Given his record," the prosecutor said."Objection, your honor, all previous charges against my client were dropped," my attorney interrupted.My plan to avoid prison would go into action soon. In the meantime, my attorney was trying to negotiate a way for me to not go to jail. Luckily, I had given him a heads up on what was to come. I didn't go into specific detail about the whole situation, but I gave my attorney enough information that he could plan out how the entire case would go.Despite knowing everything would work out in my favor, I worried about the person sitting two rows behind me. I didn't expect Daphnie to attend the hearing. Although she accepted me when she found out I had a record, would she stay by my side now that accusations were made? Would she believe those accusations? I knew she didn't want to."Your honor, the victim identified Mr. Carter immediately.""The victim has yet to be considered a reliable witness," my attorney defended. "He just woke up from a
AdamI opened my eyes to a blinding light.What the hell did I do to make it to heaven?I tried to reach forward, but my hand was being held back. I looked down and saw that both of my hands were handcuffed to rails. I began to tremble and have difficulty breathing.They took me out of the cage and threw a cloth bag over my head. They practically dragged me to wherever they were taking me.They pushed me down on a chair and tied my arms tightly to the arms of the chair. I tried to wiggle free, but the rope was too tight. My hands started to go numb.They took the bag off my head, punched me in the face, and several times more until my nose was broken and bleeding.They took tasers to my arms, stomach, and neck. They put the cloth bag back over my head, pulled my head back, and started pouring water over my face. I couldn't breathe.I kept trying to break free but couldn't."Adam... Adam... Adam!"I was gasping for air. I looked to my right and saw Ben."Hey, you're okay. You're safe."
DaphnieThank God my father's coworkers and boss stepped up to talk to the police about his mental issues. After a couple of weeks, Adam was found not guilty and released from House Arrest. As expected, Detective Halstead was pissed and said he would be closely watching Adam. Once his bank accounts were unfrozen, Adam immediately went back to work to get things up and running again. He was swamped for two weeks.As for my father, I signed off on him being sent to a mental institution for the rest of his life and completely disowned him. I even changed my last name to Hernandez, my mother's name, making me feel liberated.I didn't tell Amber about everything that happened with Adam being arrested or my father being thrown out of my life. Adam and I agreed it was best not to talk about it to anyone; we wanted to put everything behind us.I could tell that Adam was afraid of me leaving him again. Whenever we were together, he would hold me at every opportunity, whether just standing in l
DaphnieWhen I woke up, Adam was sitting next to me; he was already dressed and ready for the day."What time is it?" I asked."Ten.""What?""Yeah, you were exhausted."Adam started stroking my hair."Where's Vader?""He's running around in the field. I already fed him. Shadow and Snowflake are already fed, and I took care of my chores, so you just need to get ready. I'm making breakfast. After we eat, we'll go riding.""Okay."Adam kissed my forehead and walked out of the room. I dressed in jeans, a t-shirt, and boots, put on my hat, and headed downstairs. The smell of bacon greeted me as I stepped into the kitchen."That smells delicious!""Bacon and blueberry pancakes for my queen." Adam kissed me on the forehead. "Eat up."I sat down and completely devoured my bacon and pancakes. The bacon was nice and crisp, and the pancakes were slightly raw around the blueberries. Just the way I liked my breakfast."Ready?""Yeah."Adam took my hand and guided me to the stables where Shadow an
Adam"What the fuck do you want?" I asked."I would watch my language if I were you, Adam."It took everything in me not to go off on him. The only reason I didn't threaten to kill him was that I knew he could do worse than that fire. I took a deep breath."I would like to rediscuss being business partners, and I will honor my original offer to you. This time, however, you will need to get your hands dirty, but I'm sure you'll find a way out of any trouble you find yourself in.""What makes you so sure?""I've been watching you very closely, Adam. I am very impressed by how you got yourself out of going to jail for those assault charges. Even after weeks of studying, my men couldn't find a single flaw in your plan that would lead the police to continue to believe you were guilty."I knew my plan would bite me in the ass, but I didn't think it would hit me this way. I let out a sigh. I couldn't believe I was back in this situation."What do you want?""We will do business together for
DaphnieI sat on the bed next to my dress for the gala. Adam had some business to take care of, so I would have to wait for him to come to get me.My hair was already styled, and a team did my make-up. They also did my nails. My manicure was finished with nude-colored polish, and my ring finger was polished with silver. My pedicure was finished with red polish that matched my dress. All that was left to do was change into the designer dress that was picked out for me.I looked at the time. It was 5:30. Adam was supposed to get me at 6:00, so I decided to get dressed. The dress fit me perfectly. It was as if somebody tailored it specifically for me. The wedges fit perfectly as well. I secured the strap around my ankles and stood up to look in the mirror. I looked beautiful. Usually, dressing up made me feel good, but I wanted nothing more than to put my hair in a ponytail, wash off my make-up and change into yoga pants and a T-shirt.As I looked in the mirror, there was a knock on the
AdamI hung up the phone and put my head down on the table. Working for Don Emilio was just as stressful as I assumed. As soon as I introduced his wine to my hotels, it was a bestseller, and his wine brought more business.In three months, I served Don Emilio's wine in all my hotels and eliminated three of the five other brands I sold. Don Emilio's weekly profit, for wine alone, was an average of eighty-five thousand dollars. As for drugs, he was making a thirty million dollar profit a week. All were just working through me. Like most powerful men, Don Emilio wanted more, so I bought and remodeled twenty-seven hotels and started building eighteen more.I was conflicted about how successful I was. The good thing was that Daphnie would be safe. The bad thing, Don Emilio would want me to work closer to him once six months had passed. I didn't understand why he chose me out of all people. Plenty of people had more connections and were better than me. Either way, there was no backing out.
DaphnieI paced back and forth in the waiting room of the Emergency Department. Adam's blood was still all over me, my hands were shaking, and I was on the verge of having an anxiety attack."Daphnie Hanson?" I heard a deep, rough voice say. I turned around and saw a man who looked to be in his late fifties approach me. His hair was faded, light gray on the sides and dark gray on top. He looked like a man you did not want to mess with. Walking next to him was a man who looked to be in his late thirties with light brown hair."Yes?""I'm Sergeant Voight. This is Detective Roman. Can you tell us what happened?""We were on a date; We were facing each other, and then I heard a gunshot, and Adam fell to the ground," I said as I fought back the tears that threatened to fall."Do you have any idea who could've done this?"I knew who was responsible but didn't know who pulled the trigger. I wasn't sure if I should say anything, as I didn't want to get Adam in trouble."No," I shook my head.
Adam"Shhh... You're okay," I gently cooed as I swayed side to side with Nightingale on my shoulder. She had been crying all morning, no matter what I did. We were ready to go and waiting for Chad and Ben to pick us up.I heard the front door open, and Ben called, "Adam, it's me!""I'm in the living room," I said, hoping Ben could hear me over Nightingale's cries."What's going on?""She won't stop crying."Ben quickly came to my side and asked, "Is she sick?""No. I checked her temperature, changed her diaper, fed her, and she's still upset."The front door opened again. I expected it to be Chad telling us it was time to go; I was surprised to see Maybell walk in."Oh, no. What's wrong?" Maybell asked as she stepped into the living room."I don't know. She won't stop crying, no matter what I do."Maybell gestured for me to hand her Nightingale, and I reluctantly did so. She cautiously walked over to the couch and sat down."She knows what today is; she's sad too."I took a deep breat
AdamI sat in the back of my SUV, trying to calm my rage. We finally found the house. Alexandros has his vacation home signed under a different name; his distant cousin was the legal owner. He probably arranged that for a scenario like this, where he had to go into hiding. It was so obvious yet so challenging to figure out.What was driving me toward insanity was that we had to wait; Alexandros had gone on a brief vacation and took Nightingale with him, leaving Daphnie alone. I wanted nothing more than to break down that door and hold Daphnie in my arms, but Alexandros had a security system that would let him know if someone broke in or out. If he knew I found Daphnie, he would take off somewhere with Nightingale. I needed to make my move when they were together.As we waited, I hacked into the security cameras and would occasionally check on Daphnie. Being so close yet so far away was fueling my anger. I wanted to beat Alexandros to a pulp, crush his skull, stab him repeatedly, and w
AdamThe worst part of any mission was waiting. Alexandros had a vacation home in Pittsburg that was an hour and twenty-five minutes flight, yet I had to wait. Chad had concluded that Alexandros had left his Michigan home a few hours before I arrived. He needed time to get settled and check if I was after him. If he knew I knew his whereabouts, he would relocate Daphnie and Nightingale, making it difficult to get them back.In the meantime, Chad kept an eye on security footage in Pittsburg. At the same time, I strategized how we would get Daphnie and Nightingale back. Chad and I would only be on this mission; it was too risky to send all my men to Pittsburg, and Ace would give away our position if he barked."Sir," Chad said."What?""Security footage shows Alexandros shopping for groceries; Nightingale was with him.""What about Daphnie?""No sign of her, sir.""He knows Daphnie won't run without Nightingale; he must be keeping them separated.""If Alexandros wants a happy family, he
AdamDaphnie and I lay together on the couch. I was leaning against the corner as Daphnie lay her chest on my back so my arms could wrap around her waist. The television wasn't on, nor did we say anything; we sat in peaceful silence. I gently grabbed Daphnie's left hand and ran my thumb over her promise ring.I smiled as I gently kissed her cheek; I was so lucky to be with Daphnie, and I couldn't wait to call her my wife someday."I love you," I softly said.Daphnie giggled and said, "I love you too."I snapped out of the flashback and refocused on checking the accounts of some of Phil's benefactors. I couldn't believe the number of people who supported his work. Then again, these were people in high places, probably unaware of what happened in his clinic. I narrowed it down to a few men closely linked to the stock market and the Greek mafia. Surprisingly, few had private planes; they preferred to fly first class or business.My attention was caught when I noticed one man had bought s
AlexandrosI was foolish to think this would be easy; I paid the doctors to keep Adam Carter hospitalized for several weeks. Still, the man managed to escape and somehow found out I was the one who had taken Daphnie and Nightingale. Now I understood why so many people feared him; the rumors about 'The Devil Dog' were true.I let out a frustrated sigh. I had spent so much time preparing this home for my family, and now we would have to flee. I heard rumors of how quickly Adam Carter worked and hunted down his enemies. I knew it was a matter of time before Adam figured out our location, and I had no doubt he'd bring an army with him.We were currently in Port Huron, Michigan. I had a vacation home in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where we could stay while preparations at our new Ireland home were finishing. If we left now, we could easily escape before Adam Carter could find us. My only challenge would be getting Daphnie to come with me without a fight. After her reaction toward me when she
AdamWith Ace by my side, I walked into my central hotel, ignoring everyone who greeted me. I wanted to hunt down whoever kidnapped my family as soon as possible. Diego could only do so much as this wasn't his expertise. Chad would've been able to find a lead by now and deduce where my wife and daughter were, but he wouldn't help me.I was practically on my own.When I stepped into the elevator, it couldn't move fast enough. My patience was running dry. Every moment I was without Daphnie caused the ache in my chest to worsen. I needed to find her. Without Daphnie and Nightingale, my life had no purpose.I stepped out of the elevator and walked to my office. I stopped a few feet from the door, feeling uneasy in my stomach. Ace's body tensed, and he began to growl. I took out my gun and slowly approached the door without a sound. I kicked the door open and stepped into my office to be greeted by Dr. Phil Sweetheart sitting at my desk."Hello, Adam," he casually said."Dr. Sweetheart," I
DaphnieI woke up with a headache. The pain worsened as I opened my eyes and blinked a few times to clear my blurry vision. I suddenly remembered what had happened. I quickly sat up, ignoring the throbbing pain in my head."Adam?" I called out. "Adam!""Shhh! You'll wake her up," someone said.I looked in the direction of the voice and saw Alexandros sitting in a chair, holding my daughter in his arms."Alexandros," I said in a threatening tone. "Give me my daughter.""OUR daughter," Alexandros said as if he were correcting me. "You know, I was excited when you were pregnant; I was a little worried she would look like that lousy excuse of a husband, but I see she looks just like you. Except for her eyes, we can always have that taken care of. Hopefully, doctors will figure out how to change eye color in a few years, and then she'll be perfect.""What the hell are you talking about?" I asked.Alexandros chuckled and sighed, "Daphnie, you're a smart woman; it shouldn't be difficult for
Daphnie"I'm home!" I called out as I stepped through the front door with groceries in my hands. Adam usually did the grocery shopping, but I wanted to make something special for dinner to surprise him. I walked into the kitchen and put the groceries on the island. I decided to head upstairs to check on Adam and Nightingale since Adam didn't reply.I peeked into Nightingale's room and found it to be empty. I walked down the hall to my and Adam's room and smiled at the site. Adam was sleeping on his back with one hand behind his head and the other protectively on Nightingale, who was curled up on Adam's chest. I grabbed my phone from my pocket and took a picture. After setting the image as my wallpaper, I quietly walked over to the bed. I gently kissed Adam and Nightingale on the cheek and went to start cooking.It didn't take long to prepare the pork shoulder; I started prepping to make mashed potatoes and corn once it was in the oven. After boiling the potatoes, I was startled by Ada
Daphnie"Okay, so the stage will be set up along the east wall, and our table will be to its right," Adam said as he looked over the floor layout for the gala."Will anyone be joining us?""Unfortunately, yes. The board members of my company will be sitting with us.""You invited the board members, who may be working with the FBI, to a mafia gala?""Yes.""Why?"Adam looked at me with a smile."So I can show them who's boss.""Oh, Lord. I don't want to know what you're doing.""I think you'll like it.""Whatever you say."Adam chuckled. "How are the decorations going?""Great, actually," I said as I looked at Adam. "The tablecloths will be white with a smaller gold tablecloth over them. There will be a clear vase in the center of each table with a gold ribbon wrapped around it and white carnations inside, along with the table number. The chairs will be white cushion ones with gold accents on them. The entrance and the stage will be decorated with white and gold balloons. Since everyon