CHAPTER 13“The more we deny that we have a dark side, the more power it has over us.” __ Sheryl LeeJORDAN POVAll the air that was going down my pipe got trapped in a balloon, causing me to heave out and start coughing frantically.A smooth hand found my back and started patting softly, but the coughs never seized. “Ahhhmm… I am so sorry. I didn’t mean to startle all of you. It was just… Oh, silly me.” I watched as the hostess got up and poured a glass of water before rounding the table and walking to me, then held it up for me, an apologetic smile on her face. “Thanks.” I wheezed as I took the glass and gulped down the whole liquid down. WHAT IN THE ACTUAL HELL?“I was just… Oh, my word. This is embarrassing.” Mrs. Cattanio-Alderman laughed off nervously as she started walking back to her seat, her face flushed and making her look 20 years younger than her actual age. “That’s actually a good idea.” My dad jibed in, and I stopped myself from throwing the empty glass at his head.
Chapter 14 “There are those who are afraid of the dark, not just because it’s dark, but because of what’s inside the darkness.” — Timothy LongJORDAN POV“And then another one bites the dust. Hell must be freezing and demons fleeing with the way everyone is just getting hooked. Tell me, what in the world is going on? Is the earth running out of women or something?” Quin drawled smoothly before winking at me, the glass of whiskey lingering on his lips for a moment. “Something,” I grumbled nursing my own whiskey like it was some kind of a relaxing charm.“Besides, I haven’t agreed on getting married.” I finished the sentence, the word ‘married’ sending a jolt of pain to my brain. I was too fuckin young to be tied down to a woman. Not just any other woman, but Melody.“What’s the worst that can possibly happen? It’s Laura Fuckin’ Alderman you’re marrying. That alone is enough to put you down that aisle by the altar and marry the shit out of her.” Quin’s voice crackled over the blastin
Chapter 15“We’re all but broken men searching for meaning in a twisted maze which is called the world.” – Eddie MELODY POV I felt like a stupid teen tiptoeing out of the house and hiding in the shadows. The hd=ide and seek from the cameras made me feel even more sheepish that I found myself giggling along the driveway that felt like both a millisecond and a fuckin’ century. ‘ For starters, I couldn’t believe I was sneaking out in the middle of the night to meet my supposed fiancee. That’s if he signed the papers. But I loved the feeling. I couldn’t believe I was getting adrenalin pumps by the stupidest thing ever. If any of my sisters ever tried this, I was going to break both their legs and have them sitting in a wheelchair for a minimum of 2 years. “Signora.” Dante, our head of security erupted from the bushes just right by my side. I stopped myself from planting my heel in the middle of his head, right where his cranium was soft enough to be shattered into pieces. “Damn it, D
Chapter 16Nobody on this earth is perfect. Everybody has their flaws; everybody has their dark secrets and vices. – Juice Wrld MELODY POVIt has been a whole week since I saw him. But the memory of his laughter and the way his car smelled of him was forefront and center of my brain. There was nothing I could hold without the voice in my head whispering ‘Jordan’. Every waking hour of the day, I thought of the man.I hate to admit it, but I could feel the danger looming in the distance. Jordan was slowly transforming into something entirely apart from what I had planned. He was becoming a sole part of my life, a weakness. “MEEEEEEEL!” Momma’s loud yell disturbed my musings. I jolted from my seat before fixing the diamond necklace on my neck, then fixed my hair just a little before hoisting my clutch and running out of my room.“Coming Mother,” I screamed back as I walked down the vast hallway towards the big Victorian staircase. “Look at you. We are all waiting for you.” Mama's com
Chapter 17“There is nothing in the dark that isn’t there when the lights are on.” – Rod Serling MELODY POVThe sun burned hot and unforgiving for the late afternoon. I imagined if I laid down on the patio, right on the bricks instead of the perfectly mowed grass, I would be scorched nice and well like the eggs I had for breakfast.Not caring to dwell on the matters of the gods being angry with the people and deciding to barbeque them for the greater good, I charged into the house before racing to the elevators that were on the left side of the foyer on the farthest wall. The sound of my heels against the marble floors was ghostly and haunting.My parents' house was more than the blinding lights and vastness. The four floors above the ground were every architect's dream, and the three floors stretching beneath the ground were the base for all other nighttime activities. And no I don't mean sex. There was smuggling of diamonds and guns, drugs, and making fake cash before laundering it
“Hope begins in the dark, the stubborn hope that if you just show up and try to do the right thing, the dawn will come. You wait and watch and work: you don’t give up.” – Anne LamottJORDAN POV“First night as an official couple. What are your plans for the rest of the night?” I intoned latching a hook onto her bandage, then smiled down at her before brushing a pad of my finger on the rough material. “I had planned to take a long bath, soak inside my tub while reading My Stepbrother and His Friend…” she mused lightly before a burst of loud laughter rumbled out of her at my shocked expression. “Not what I had in mind.” I contradicted, my hand falling on her bare thigh. “You might have a better idea. I’m all ears.” She threaded her fingers with mine, and for the umpteenth time since I stepped foot into her bedroom, I wondered if I was in the presence of Bloody Mel, or the sweet innocent Laura. The latter was rather befitting. The woman in front of me had laugh lines at the corn
“You are only as free as you think you are and freedom will always be as real as you believe it to be.” – Robert M. Drake JORDAN POVThe morning came sooner than I hoped, and I fought curses from raining down my mouth as I rolled off the bed before sitting on the edge of it, my feet disappearing into 4 plies of lushness and softness of the big rug in Mel’s room. My head felt heavy, and my back felt like it was under the endless torment of being pricked by millions of needles every now and then. My skin was hot, feverish even, and my breath smelled like I swallowed 10 dead frogs. A heavy groan escaped from my mouth as I got up, and winced when a slicing pain soared through my back. I stood stoic for a second, letting my body get accustomed to being awake and very much alive. I must have pissed the gods. That would be the only plausible explanation to my sudden rotten luck. But hey, all of that started when Melody walked into my life. But last night made me see her with a differen
Chapter 20“We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light.” – Plato MELODY POVUnease settled in the messy puddle of my stomach, terror icing the blood in my veins with every tension-filled second. Damir showed up unannounced in the morning, before dropping a bombshell to our lap that they were invaded by some miniature cartels forming all around him. I previously thought it might take time before the dimwits revealed the color of their roots, or show the world how stupid they were. But all of that was a white lie. They were up and acting. And they were acting fast. They did not just attack our Russian base. They hit us in the stomach by bombing our Krokodil plant. And that was going to cost us a fuckin’ arm and a leg to recover. Krokodil was lethal, and it was our best-selling drug thus far. Man-made morphine that guaranteed you a prolonged state of high, and some sweet, sweet addiction. I grew impatient in