Stainless steel clanked on the floor, and the operation table rattled when they bumped into each other. They ran as fast as their legs could take them to the door.I planted myself by her side, and on seeing me, she busted into a fit of uncontrollable tears. They ran down the sides of her face, soaking the pillow underneath her head. The turmoil of emotion I felt after setting my eyes on her again could hardly be expressed.Quietly, my fingers began working the ropes bound around her wrist while my eyes did the scanning of herappearance. Even though she was a teary-eyed mess, her beauty remained untainted.Watching her cry helplessly squeezed my chest in the most uncomfortable way. There were tiny patches of skin on her tangled head, some missing hair. I grated my teeth. Dark bruises on her cheeks, her jaw…everywhere. But something else was different. I worked the second rope on her wrist, observing her with more attention. She’d gained some weight.No, that wasn’t it.Twisting fully,
RosalynA day was all it took to release the beasts from their cage. A day. Barely twenty-four hours even.After Father’s funeral that night, they came hungry and angry—draped in the most expensive designer suits in the racks. Black on black, as always. They couldn’t even wait before ransacking Father’s closet to retailor his suits to their fit.They stood by the door, cold steel blue eyes pinned on me, licking their lips in anticipation of the next phase of trauma they were about to put me through.At the field, after I read the eulogy, I heard the men speaking. The older men. They put their hands on Sean, patting his back and muttering commendations in Irish. I knew what it meant. He was the next in line—the next to rule us since Father was gone.“Get up.”Sean’s voice had always been rougher around the edges than Ronan’s, but the latter had more sparks of craziness in his eyes.“Why?”I’d been crying, mourning the loss of my hero. I didn’t want to get up. I didn’t want to go out. I
“Nikolai?”His footsteps were quiet as he ambled closer to the side of my bed. Brown hair fell forward, hanging over his eyes when he peered down to look at me. A few strands had grown from his hair, casting a soft youthful glow over his hard features.I had to tilt my head back a bit to catch a better glimpse of his face and the hard glare he gave me. “Your lips are dry.”I wanted to smile that he’d noticed but suddenly remembered there was really nothing to smile about.“I’m thirsty.”“Here.” He picked up a glass from the top of the nightstand and handed it to me. He had barely shown any considerable concern or anything out of the ordinary, but I felt warm tingles spread throughout my body.“Thank you,” I mumbled.I took a sip and felt a delicious shock ripple through my skin when he held my head back and nudged the glass to make me drink more.Quietly, I obeyed and dropped the glass, finding nothing better to do than fidget with my fingers. “Ronan is dead.”His answer came in a hea
A broad daylight confession. A sharp hook, reeling me in like a helpless fish.His thumb brushed my cheek, and his eyes held the most sincerity I hadn’t seen since the last time my father told me he loved me.“You…. I…um…. I have never wanted any other woman as badly as I want you.” He eyed my lips, the timbre of his voice dropping to an even more husky tone. “When you ran away, I….”He pulled back, his eyes suddenly snapping back to that cold, unfeeling glare, as if he’d been slapped back to reality with a wet cloth.The absence of his hands on my skin left an unwelcome chill, and my eyes followed him as he rose to his feet. He pushed up his sleeves, flexing those hard muscles before his hands slipped into the pocket of his pants. He looked at me like he was about to school me.“Here, with me, you’re free to do whatever the fuck you want: grocery shopping, go to the mall, go for a swim. If you want to play video games, virtual reality, or chess. If you want to have takeout or eat atL
NikolaiTwo Weeks LaterNo woman more beautiful.No woman more fucking perfect.Adorned in her simple white gown and a crystal princess tiara, she offered a small smile, blushing underneath her veil, and I swear I felt my heart shift. It was a sudden move, stopping my breath for a second at her glowing radiance.The world around us spun in blurs. A haze or, better yet, a fucking dream. I barely heard the voice of the priest but watched her lips move when she said her vows. Her eyes twinkled like tiny diamonds sparkling in a sea of green. She seemed happy, content.When we picked the gold rings out of the velvet cases for the exchange, they glimmered like sun rays. Gold was intentional, priceless,andcustomized.When she lifted her finger, I leaned forward, whispering into her ear, “Look.”I tilted the gold double band, and her gaze dropped to the tiny gold-brown lettering and symbol crested on it.Rosa∞The smile on her lips moved to her eyes, shining even brighter when the ring slid
I smirked, sticking my two hands into my pockets and looking past her head toward the exit, where the remaining guests hopped into their cars to leave.For the wedding after-party, she said she wanted something simple with a bit of magic, so I arranged for it to be held on the field, a distance away from the main house. It ended an hour ago. We’d waited for the guests to leave and were heading now to our cars lined up on the driveway.“I don’t dance. Not anymore.”“I bet that’s not what Katherine will say.”She thought she’d mumbled it under her breath before she turned her head away, her smile looking like a permanent fixture on her face, but the light in her eyes now dulled.I opened my mouth to respond when blonde hair appeared in front of us in a flash—a woman. With blue eyes glittering like shiny disco balls and a sleek silver dress, she spread her arms around Rosa for a hug.“Oh, my God, Rosalyn? It’s really you.”We stopped walking. Timur and Anatoly and the rest of the men beh
Rosalyn“The name of the song is ‘Carry You Home’ by Alex Warren.” I put the phone down and looked up at him. “And Hannah was right; it isn’t a country song. The singer dedicated it to his wife. How romantic.”The corner of his lips made the smallest curve in a smirk, but he didn’t glance away from his phone. He kept tap, tap, tapping away. “You get a new phone, andthatis the first thing you decide to check.”I shrugged, folding my arms. “I guess.”Dismissively, he scoffed, returning his full attention to whatever business he had to attend to, and pulled out his iPad from the messenger bag on the passenger seat beside him.Shyly, I ogled him, sweeping my eyes from the snug fit of his bold Matcha green cashmere sweater to the black skinny jeans framing his lean, muscled thighs and then the suede glow of his black Timberlands. He looked delectable, and it almost hurt to look at how beautifully perfect this man was, so I looked out the window instead. Regardless, his image was permanentl
Paris?Now, reeling back to the present, we sat in an uncomfortable, awkward silence, facing each other in one of his private jets.“You’re staring.”I blinked, playing with my fingers and bouncing my sneakers on the beige cabin rug. “No, I’m not.”“Yes, you are.”“No, I’m not.”He turned off the iPad, slid it to the messenger bag, and folded his arms across his waist, looking up at me. Mirth lingered in his gaze, and he shrugged a shoulder.“Yes, you are.”I shifted my foot, crossing one leg over the other, and faced him squarely. The jet jerked under a wave of mild turbulence, and I glanced at the roof, calming my racing heart before responding. That quick scare somehow made me even more nervous.“How would you know?”“Easy. I could feel your eyes on me.”“I was looking out the window.”“Then, I guess, I’m the window.”A small smile tugged on my mouth. He was just so full of himself, wasn’t he? “You’re just proud. You think you’re the center of attention.”Mimicking me, he crossed h
I got up from the chair, walking past Arlo to the door as I watched them both. Like the colors of a rainbow, my brother had different sides. He had his days: good ones, bad ones, crazy ones, and bloody ones. I didn’t trust him to keep his cool with this foolishly brave girl. But fuck interfering. I wasn’t going to stop him.Whatever he decided was going to be her fate. She was his problem to deal with now.“Let him do whatever he wants. My only concern is those two.”“But Enzo….”“I’ll blow his fucking head off if it comes down to the worst.” I was unbothered, and I made sure he understood that.“You know what? Forget your fucking brother….” The Italian and Rafa were still at it. “You’rethe piece of shit, you crazy fuck! Who stands in the middle of the road with a gun anyway? My papa’s going to have your head for this!”“Boy, am I going to enjoy killing you. You called me a dog. Pleased to inform you that I barely bark; I fucking bite.” Theshinkechoed in the room, and silver pressed a
TimurI adjusted the gloves against my wrist and tossed the syringe to the floor while I watched the sight of them resting against each other,Pchelkaand her brother. They both had bloodied faces, but I was more concerned with the sunshine princess, whose golden hair had mingled with streaks of red. The other one, with dark eyes and a spitfire mouth, had her eyes shooting daggers at me, Rafayel, and Arlo.She’d woken up first.“I’ve heard a lot about you, Timur Yezhov, but none of those briefs warned me ahead of time that you’d be this dumb.”“I’m going to slice your fucking tongue off, bitch,” Arlo sneered beside me in Russian, but I raised a hand. There was no use spilling her blood yet. We had to hear more from her; then I’d decide if keeping her alive was worth it. Her feistiness was interesting to watch—entertaining, even. She was good sport.Jerking my chair closer to their huddled bodies, I propped my elbows on my knees, leaning forward. She didn’t even flinch. Cocking her head
Jayden shot me anare-you-serious-right-nowlook over his shoulder, still marching forward toward the pavement.“They don’t have Honda Odysseys,” he emphasized, like that wasn’t already obvious. “And they don’t do simple.”Then, he halted in his tracks, allowing me to step beside his huge frame. Taking my hands in his, he let me in, permitting me to see the fear in his eyes for the first time that night.“Look, Seri, I know this is not the life you planned for either of us. You’ll miss your kids at school, you’ll miss the house, you’ll miss everything. But none of us could have known what Dad did, the debt he owed. I promise we’ll sort out this messafterwe leave. Those goons can’t know we’re gone.”Sniffling tears, I nodded and pulled him in for a brief hug before we got to the car. Subtly, he knocked on the window three times. It was eerie, like a secret Morse code only he and the driver understood, and when the door opened and the driver walked up to us, I blinked in disbelief.The la
Serena“And you’re sure this is a good idea?” I asked for the hundredth time. And, again, earned a tired, frustrated growl-slash-sigh from Jayden.Upfront, he stopped walking and turned around with his flashlight pointed directly at me. I squinted, raising my arms to shield my eyes from the bright rays. We were in an abandoned dry canal—one I didn’t know how Jayden had managed to find. Dressed in a black hoodie with a backpack slung over his shoulder, standing at the center with that annoying flashlight, he looked like a villain—a teenage ninja villain.But it was just Jayden.“Take that thing out of my face, please.”I couldn’t see his face, but I knew my brother well enough to feel his vexed eye roll. He dropped the flashlight and turned his back to me, continuing his trek down the canal. Quietly, I shifted the knapsack on my backpack, following the sharp outline of his broad back as he trudged deeper into the swallowing darkness.“No, it’s not a good idea,” his voice echoed around
“Fuck! I almost had him,” Rafayel cursed, dropping his cards beside mine.“My apologies, but this is important. Level one shit,” Arlo said, looking anything but remorseful for interrupting our moment.I didn’t mind because I knew he had something—he always did.He stopped in front of me, flashing his phone toward me as if I could see the screen. A sly grin tugged at the corner of his mouth. “Got updates on the Skye siblings.”The Skye siblings.Truly, level one shit.“Good or bad?”“Somewhere in between. They barely leave the house. They’re scared. Real scared.”Satisfied, I approved the update with a nod. Of course, they were scared. They knew exactly what was coming and couldn’t run far enough. But Arlo wasn’t done.“But that young one,” he continued, his eyes narrowing slightly, “Jayden.”“The boy?”“He’s got eyes of fire. They know we’ve been watching and are gonna try to run. I see it.”I sat up straighter, grabbing the cards. “Then let them.”He paused, and Rafayel raised a ques
TimurRafayel dealt the cards with that familiar glint of mischief in his eyes, but his face remained calm.Clicking my tongue distastefully, I leaned backward on a chair, folding up my sleeves. We sat across from each other, the low rumble of thunder muffled in the background. It was supposed to be one of those rare moments when we had some peace, no business to deal with, no chaos to clean up—just a game of cards between brothers—until the clouds gathered.“It still bothers you, doesn’t it?”Rolling the cigar stick between my fingers, I trimmed the end with my cutter. “Sometimes.”“And the dreams?”I fixed the cigar between my lips, bouncing my feet up and down the rug. “Stopped about a year ago. Stop talking, and let’s play.”Fucking lying through my teeth. The dreams hadn’t stopped. Not since that night after I was literally tied to a chair and forced to watch one of my father’s techniques for truth extraction. The aggressive thunderclaps, the artistic splash of red on the walls,
Serena“Who were those men?”That was the first thing Jay had asked five nights ago after the unannounced visit of the men in black.Quickly, I’d wiped the tears off my cheeks with the back of my hands. My feet stopped moving, pausing by the counter. I was about to put the cake away, ready to chuck it inside the fridge, when he stormed into the house, confused, concerned, and angry at the same time.I’d wished him a happy birthday, but Jay didn’t care, not about the wish or the cake I’d spent hours baking. Instead, we’d spent the wee hours of his birthday talking about the Russian mafia and the debt our late father owed.We sat in the living room tonight, the same cloud of gloom and uncertainty hanging over our heads as more rain pelted the glass windows. He parted the curtains with his fingers again—for the fifth time exactly—and the view was the same: rain, dark, cloudy skies, billows of what appeared to be dusty wind, and a black truck with bright white headlights.“They’re not goi
“This…this is outrageous!” Waving the paper midair, eyes zeroed in on me, glaring with instant anger. “My dad died last year, so you can’t get anything from him.”“We are well aware of that because he stopped paying last year.” Eagerly, Arlo gestured toward the contract. “Read the last line.”She did.And she jumped to her feet, red-hot with anger. She was trembling with tears, the prickly pines emerging from within as she got ready to defend her home and her brother with everything. “No.”I sat back, assessing her while she faced my underboss.“Technically, yes. Oliver signed that contract.”“And I don’t care! You…you guys can’t do this. It’s evil. How can his debt pass on to his male blood relative? It washisdebt, and we knew absolutely nothing about it. Jay doesn’t know a thing. Please, I’m begging you. He’s only seventeen. He’s still a child.”“Child, my fucking foot. I cut a man’s finger off at fifteen. Your brother’s already fucked a woman, and you wouldn’t even know.”Realizing
TimurI sat on the couch in the dainty living room, Arlo standing beside me and Kristian and Vasili by the door. Everything was more her than Oliver: the colors, textures, and smell. She owned the space, and her composure and confidence were the indicators.Placing the basketball cake on the center table, she took the seat opposite mine, crossing her legs with elegance and chewing her bottom lip with her nerves all over the place.Raising her head, she looked me in the eyes—a sparkling pair of blue eyes that reminded me of the reflection of clear skies on the vast ocean. She was not tall, but when she squared her shoulders in a feeble attempt to appear fierce, her height edged upwards.“You claim that you’re my father’s friends, and yet, I don’t even know your names.”I shouldn’t have been surprised that she wanted an introduction. She looked like the type, anyway.“Timur Yezhov. Not exactly pleased to make your acquaintance, Miss Serena Skye, given the circumstances.”“Arlo.” Arlo ra