"I believe that a good man does bad with good intentions. But does a bad man do bad with no intentions? Or good with bad intentions?" – Jean AntunezMELODY POVMy ears popped on the descent, and I woke up from a deep slumberish haze of running in the darkness.A warm hand rubbed my back comfortably, easing the tension of the unconscious world from my mind and stilling me to reality before lush, soft lips placed a soft kiss on my forehead. I must have fallen asleep listening to Dante and Jordan's endless wrangling. The two men were inclined on driving me crazy with their unfounded fights over nothing. Literally nothing. And if Jordan hadn't actually mentioned it, I would have not realized that Dante kind of hated him. Okay, maybe hate is a strong word, but Dante couldn't stand the thought of Jordan, and that alone was entirely up to Jordan. I refused to believe that whatever discord they had was tied down to Jordan being engaged to me.My man's stubbornness was the only thing that was
"Light always needs a source of energy, darkness does not need a source of energy. Therefore, darkness will always beat the light. One day when light disappears the darkness will prevail." --Smash HitsMELODY POV"What role will I play in taking down the bad boy trafficker?" Jordan asked before throwing another small pebble into the water. We watched in silence as the tiny stone fractured the surface of the water, creating big waves as it skated on the moonlit surface before settling with a tiny pop. The blackness under the sparkling surface swallowed it whole without mercy, stealing it from our sight and dragging it to the world of the unknown that lay beneath the pitch blackness. The waves slowly died and I found myself wondering if my life was like that tiny pebble, or if I was the darkness lurking beneath the sparkling glamour I put up front. I have terrorized enough lives in my years of living, so the darkness was probably the only thing that could define me."Melody?" Jordan's vo
"Twilight – a time of pause when nature changes her guard. All living things would fade and die from too much light or too much dark if twilight were not. "– Howard ThurmanMELODY POVMy mind couldn't seem to register anything going on around me. Things were either moving too fast, or my mind was lagging behind at a tortoise-on-morphine pace. But my senses were on hyper-alert, and there was this annoying voice screaming in my head constantly, tweeting incoherent nonsense that echoed all around my brain.Everywhere my eyes landed was nothing but thick redness that covered my brainpower like a heavy cloak, and the only thing keeping me on solid ground was Jordarn's hand on my lower back. The heat leaking from his palm alone was a whole living thing, and sense and clarity were its symptoms of liveliness.My stomach flipped and turned, unease settling on my shoulders with a crushing weight.I felt it in my bones and in the air around me, and the voice in my head concurred with dripping awa
"When you’re surrounded by a world of constant lies, manipulation, and deceit, that dark energy is bound to seep into you eventually." – Jeffrey Bowyer-ChapmanMELODY POVA cold whisper washed down my spine as Jordan picked me up from where I was curled on the floor. Without breaking a sweat, he spun me around, and butterflies floated in my belly with an echo when his eyes connected with mine. With the back of his hand, he wiped the bitter, salty rivulets off my cheeks and the pool underneath my chin.A familiar presence burned my back, and I tilted my head to find Laylah with a white leather coat clutched in her hands. She held it up for me and I silently slipped my hands into it before tying a suffocating knot on my front, then eased a stilling breath into my lungs.Silence stretched on the tide of time, fear screaming louder than the rapid breathing that surrounded the room. There was a foreign coldness that lurked and hung on the ceiling like a dark cloud. Like a presence from ano
"The water in a vessel is sparkling; the water in the sea is dark. The small truth has words which are clear; the great truth has great silence." - Rabindranath TagoreJORDAN POVThere was something about her. I am talking about my girl. She was the flat definition of evil and nightmare; a thin cross between world reckless and hearts on sleeves. Those were the few things I could come up with at the moment, yet I knew what she smelled like... Like home to me. I also knew how she tasted like, and how her traitorous body submitted to mine, betraying her. So in conclusion, my girl was many things. Yet I could think about how awesome she was in everything she did.I loved how my presence alone seemed to ruffle her perfectly refined feathers. How she hated handing over control yet it came so easy when I demanded. The little sounds she made in the back of her throat when she was lost in thought.But what happened today showed me the greater side of her that she didn't show to many. Yes, it s
"If a man is dumb, someone is going to get the best of him, so why not you? If you don't, you're as dumb as he is." - Arnold Rothstein.MELODY POVI sat in the middle of the bed dressed in nothing but Jordan's fresh dress shirt. I would have absolutely loved to dawn the one he wore today; if it weren't for the fact that he drenched it in the shower after he found me in an ice bath. Honestly, my man needed to master the calm the fuck down skills before he got us all killed. The remote controller felt like a brick in my palm as I flipped through channels, in search of something that would kill time as I waited for him. But the channels were filled with stupid rom-com, and I wasn't the typical kind of girl who'd sit down and watch that crap.I was about to throw the tiny device across the room when it finally landed on a channel that had something worthy to watch.Right on the screen were two news anchors, one female, and one male. Beneath their seated forms was a red belt with big blac
"It takes many stepping stones you know, for a man to rise. None can do it unaided” ~ Joe BonannoMELODY POV -My mind ran amok with a thousand thoughts.One of them being everything that Jordan said to me last night. A part of me knew I have been quite unfair to him, wanting to rope him down and not letting him spread his wings fully while he was meant to fly high with the eagles. But in my defense, I was used to shouldering my own shit that it felt unreal to have someone who was willing to carry the whole burden with me. It has always been Melody against the world. Yes, I had three baddest fathers and an army of men who'd lay their lives on the line for me, but the responsibility that came with governing that army and protecting it was a deadly weight on my shoulders.And if we were to be quite honest, we'd come to the conclusion that my guy wasn't quite ripe for the life he had to live with me. Yes, he was there, but not fully there with the savage dogs I had at my beck and call.M
"Judges, lawyers and politicians have a license to steal. We don’t need one.” ~ Carlo GambinoMELODY POV"The cars are waiting, signora," Douglass informed peeking through the open door of the jet.I broke up the kiss and pulled off Jordan's lips before staring at the convoy of black Cadillacs parked outside the jet. There had to be 13 of them, and we were just transferring a renowned trafficker from the airport to our torture chamber. One would have thought we are picking Queen Elizabeth from the grave."Get rid of the convoy, Douglass, this is not the pope's parade," I yelled back before smacking my lips on Jordan again. He chuckled in my mouth and ran his big hands down the length of my back."And get us something white... and small," I called out again, and a confused sound came from behind me."I am taking Jord with me. The rest of you can go to the manor." I clarified because I hated to be disturbed the most. And he's done a fair share of that since stepping foot in here. Sadly
"Together, we are untouchable. Like Bonnie and Clyde." ~ UNKNOWNJORDAN POVI knew he had to die. I knew I should have killed the bloody bastard the first time I learned of everything he had done, instead of letting him breathe for another second. Nothing killed a husband more than seeing his wife crumbling and fumbling for control when everything else just continued spiraling, and I hated that I seemed powerless and helpless about it all. Peter Rothschild should have died a long time ago, but I hesitated;And now he was brazenly threatening everything that my wife and her family had worked for so long… for decades. Maybe I wasn’t being loyal to blood. But blood alone was not what made you family. And learning everything that my grandfather did just proved that. My family was with Melody, because it was with her I got to be the man I was today. And the mere fact that my in-laws would burn the whole world for me was what made them family to me, and I wouldn’t trade them for anything.
“Any distraction tends to get in the way of being an effective gangster.” — Terence Winter~THREE WEEK LATER~MELODY POVIt was nostalgic. Almost not disheartening now that I knew where it came from. Like back when I was young and everything was just going so smoothly. I woke up every day and lazed around the rest of the day like a headless, aimless chicken with nothing to do on my hand. Maybe I was so used to spilling blood that going on for three weeks straight without seeing red coating my hands was a sin in itself.But this one was boring as hell. Sure, it was better when I was younger and didn’t know what had happened when my fathers were all home. But now I did, and I kind of missed the thrill of the fight. With these thoughts coursing through my mind, I glanced at an empty space beside me on the bed, and then thought hard on it. The sun was already out, and it was dang late. But I had no fuckin’ plans. Sure, I could visit the coke plant and see how my people were doing, and
“Best way to not get your heart broken is to not have one.” ~ UNKNOWNMELODY POVWe slipped through the security, and one of the guards (whatever his name was) took us up to the VIP booth on the second floor. “The Eagle is one of the most… he is not our usual client. So we thought we could take him up to the VIP.” He explained, stopping outside the booth that was covered with a violet curtain. “Is it true he is unarmed?” I asked with knitted brows, and the man nodded. “He didn’t bring any of his dogs?” Jord chimed in, and I looked at him before shifting my questioning gaze at the gaze. “He just showed up. No underman, nothing.” The man explained with a puzzled shrug, and my gaze collided with Jord’s.“Sounds fishy.” He said the exact thing I said when Douglass laid the news to me. “Okay, bud. Keep out on the lookout for things. And if you see anything out of place, kill it. No second thought or hesitation.” That came from Jordan, and if I wasn’t as puzzled as I was, I would have
"Blood makes you related, and loyalty makes you family.” ~ UNKNOWNMELODY POV“The Eagle is here.” The words caused the hairs on the back of my neck to stand on attention. My expression morphed from one of softness to stone cold in a fraction of a second, and I heard a small whistle coming from the other side of the terrace where Emily stood. I gave her a stink eye before getting up from where I was perched, then walked away without much of a word.“What the hell is Valero doing here? Is he armed?” I asked when I was out of ear shorts, already racing down the stairs to put on different clothes. I didn’t approach situations like those clad in jeans and a sweater. “That’s the exciting part. He is alone. He didn’t bring anyone with him and he is unarmed.” He revealed, and my confusion spiked through the roof. “Where are you? Is he with you?” I got into my bedroom before heading straight for my closet, then rummaged through my collection of leather pants because truth be told; nothing
"A guy told me one time… don’t let yourself get attached to anything you are not willing to walk out on in 30 seconds flat if you feel the heat around the corner.” ~ Neil McCauleyMELODY POVThe touch came in innocent; like the feel of a light feather when it ghosted against the skin. My mind exploded under the two stimulants of the hot, soft tuch and the thickness and richness of the hot chocolate, causing heat to flood to every single part of my body. Every cell in my body buzzed with alertness when Jordan’s strong arms trapped me against the kitchen island. It was 8 in the morning, and he had to have left for work already. Sometimes I liked to picture us living in the classic French house with a white picket fence and annoying shit machines running around the house and wreaking havoc in nothing but diapers. It was safer to have a little bit of reality escape, especially when it was free to think. “What are you thinking of?” He drawled, his fingers caressing my barely dressed self
“I don’t like violence, Tom. I’m a businessman. Blood is a big expense.” ~ SollozzoJORDAN POVThe evening was pleasant, with the fresh scent of a live city and blinding lights. Few clouds hung from the sky staring down at the world like they were watchers of humanity. The air was dense, and humidity painted small vapor droplets on the windows. Everything was pleasant, everything but the LA night traffic which was a colossal pain in the ass, and every second we wasted traipsing in a convoy made me want to lose my mind.. Melody's presence was a heavy entity dominating my resolutions by my side, and her thoughts were so fuckin' loud I couldn't focus on anything but everything that turmoiled in her mind. And to think we ditched our own party and ran behind some retarded folk gangster to save the damsel in distress still sounded so crazy to me. But in all honesty, I would do it all over again if my time with my woman was guaranteed. I mean, what can I say? Mel always had that effect on m
"Do not fear death. Death is just a reformation of something even more magnificent. Death is where it all starts, death; it’s not the end.’~ UNKNOWNJORDAN POVAs though it was waiting to be opened, the first thing to flash across the screen was a blurred video that seemed to play on a broken loop. A few seconds in, everything cleared, revealing a very familiar, sweet, and feminine voice. The voice belonged to none but Emee, and that spiked my interest in knowing what exactly was in the device she gave us.Probably because I was still in wonder. Wondering how the hell someone like Emee, someone so kind and loving ended up licking the ass of someone as horrible as Peter. None of this made sense. Grandpops... He used to be... he was so different. He was a man. A father. Or maybe everything I saw through the eyes of a small boy was just a facade, and everything I saw was him trying to butter me up and suck me into his lair. Just that my father refused to give him that chance. And Emee
"I don’t wanna be a product of my environment. I want my environment to be a product of me.” ~ Frank CostelloEMILY POVLike a ray of sun piercing through the darkest clouds of a bitter storm, her presence alone was the resemblance of the sweet taste of redemption. For over twenty years now, I have been living as a hollow of a woman I once was. I saw myself changing in front of my eyes, from a loving, caring human into this shell of a human that cared less about… anything. My soul was so empty, my heart so drained. I lived every day like it was my last on earth, having no hope of seeing tomorrow or even the thirst of dreaming about the future. Everything was here, yet so out of reach. I had everything a woman my age could think of. Everything money could buy. But happiness? Freedom? Those were the two things that millions in my bank account failed to give me. Of course, on my most blue days, I drowned my sorrows in a bottle of the world's most expensive alcohol, but that was just
" “The loudest one in the room is the weakest one in the room.” — Frank LucasJORDAN POVI didn’t realize the restlessness that ghosted under my skin until I tried to sit down and calm the fuck down while trying by all means not to murder my grandad who stood in front of me like a pompous dick he was. I watched with obsidian as my wife skitted across the room towards the wine cabinet, then poured some good whiskey in the four flutes before returning with a tray. Always a good hostess she was!‘’A drink?” She stood in front of me and bent down to place the tray, sounding as though she was making an offer while I knew damn well in my heart and my soul that she would blow the fucker’s brains out if they tried to turn down her whiskey offer. Nothing got in the way of whiskey to Mel. And I just loved her for that. Emily jumped up and took a glass, passed it to Peter who leaned in to place and caught her by her nape before devouring her face in a sloppy wet kiss that had me gagging eve