MAVERICKMira chose a song, hit the play button, and the title popped up.“You’re kidding.” It is one of the most popular pop songs on the internet today.“No belting necessary,” she said, laughing. “We’ll just have fun.”“Good choice, considering I can only sing Happy Birthday and Merry Christmas.”“No one is going to score us. Chill out.” She laughed again.“Right, because this isn’t embarrassing enough.” I had no choice but to join with her.She could sing, but I couldn’t. Halfway through the song, I started to loosen up. We even got hip moves on our own until the song ended.“I can’t believe I didn’t hear anyone boo us.” I laughed with Mira. “I need a drink.”When I went back to the bar, Genesis pushed my Martini with four olives.I grabbed the stick and ate the olives before I talked to Homer. “If you ever tell Lake I went to the stage and sang, I will kill you in your sleep.”With a slight smile, he raised his hands for surrender even though he had probably already told Lake and
LAKE“Hey.”Maverick jumped before me and swiftly turned around. Her eyes were wide and red.“Are you okay?” I cupped her head to make sure she was okay. “Drunk?”“No. I had one Martini. How long have you been here?”“Just arrived. Homer said you’re here.”She hugged me tight and sighed. “Can we go home now?”“Are you sure?” I hugged her back. “I just arrived.”“Yes.”“Okay. Go tell your friends we’re leaving.”I went to Homer as soon as she went to her friends. “She seems on edge. Something happened?”“I don’t think so. She was having fun with her friends. I’ve kept my eyes on her until she excused herself to get inside.”“Okay. Thanks.” I patted his shoulder.As soon as I found an excuse to leave Rusher and some of his friends from London, I quickly came here to see my wife.Homer kept me updated and sent me pictures of Maverick singing with her friend. I was glad she had fun, even in her sexy outfit. For me, she pulled it off effortlessly, but in other men’s eyes, her outfit could
MAVERICKWhy did it have to happen to me?I cried in silence in my car. The silence it took, the more excruciating it got. It felt like someone just ripped my heart out of my chest. What did I do to deserve this pain— the kind of pain that I’d never felt before? It was too much— it was unbearable. And what worse could it be? I just stole five million dollars from my husband.Lake was not just my husband—he was everything to me—my best friend, my anchor, my source of light and happiness. He was my soulmate. And now I just deceived him and left him with the thought of saving my grandmother and his legacy, his company, his name, and probably his safety.How was it fair? I did nothing wrong than love the man for who he was, not what he had.I pulled off from his parking area with only a suitcase, clothes, passport, and a few cash I took from his safe. I was grateful everyone seemed to be sleeping, including Homer and Owen. Was the universe doing me a favor? I didn’t think so. How did I en
LAKEI woke up with a satisfying grin across my lips. I stretched my arm out to Maverick’s side of the bed. I expected her to be still curled at this time on weekends. To my dismay, her side was empty.I planned on making her a greasy breakfast for her hangover, and with how we ended last night, she deserved a good massage and a beauty treatment.I got up from bed and went to the bathroom. I used the toilet, then brushed my teeth and washed my face. I put on some sweatpants and a tee before I picked up my phone.“What the fuck?” I blinked my eyes repeatedly to make sure I wasn’t just dreaming. My bank notified me that I just successfully transferred five million dollars to Maverick’s account.I didn’t care about the money. If she had asked me, I would have given her an extra million dollars. Then, another notification came from my safe.“What the fuck is going on?” I dashed out of the room and called her name. Of course, she might be already gone. The notifications were sent four hou
LAKE“Walk me through it.” He led me to the Gunner Room, or the situation room, where his men had access to all the CCTV they could access and the body cams of their men in action.After I told him everything I knew so far, minus the fantastic, mind-blowing sex last night, he ordered his men.The sex was incredible. I could still feel my entire body buzzing in satisfaction. And I didn’t have a clue it was goodbye sex.“Can you access her phone?”“Are you insulting my capability, Mr. Winston?” asked the eyeglasses.“Just do it, Don,” Linden said dismissively.“Uh-huh. It just shut off,” Don said in dismay.“What do you mean? What about her car?” I was about to tell him the plate number, but her GPS just flashed on the screen.“It’s on the third and fourth street,” he announced.Linden nodded and ordered the control man with a mic, “Get a team to that location.”Linden had just finished his order when the car seemed to stop moving or the GPS went off.“What the fuck? It looks like we’re
MAVERICKTerzo stopped asking questions since then. He brought me to a small villa in Marettimo instead of Sicily. He said I was in the right place if I wanted to hide from someone. Since he was far richer than me and people around here and Sicily knew him, he took care of the rent. That was a week ago. He didn’t call, and I did not reach out as well.I hadn’t seen him after that besides some random guy who brought some groceries, coffee, or pastries, and damn, the Cassatelle. It was so good. I would gain weight if I wouldn’t be cautious.I heard the door locked. Terzo trusted his men so much that he gave them the Villa key.“What do you have for me today? Muccunetti?” I stopped my Yoga in the backyard.“Have you been eating?” I stiffened at his voice behind me.“It’s nice of you to show up.” I turned around and smiled. It even felt weird to smile. I cried every night until I stopped. Maybe my eyes or my body just gave up. Everything had an end. Even a robot malfunctioned—what more fo
LAKEYesterday was the best feeling I’ve had in a while. Winston Holdings had finally accepted my resignation. I sold my share, and the company was on the brink of collapse.I felt a huge accomplishment, and I just told my father what a manipulative sociopath he was. It felt so good that I finally got it off my chest.Although my heart was breaking for my wife leaving me without explanation, I felt relieved that somehow everything was becoming clearer. My wife was a victim of blackmail and threats.I answered my phone when it rang. “Yeah?”“Winston?” Hope rose in my chest when I recognized the caller.“Terzo.”“I’m sending you random pictures. You might know the other guys. Don’t worry about the Italian. I took care of him.”“What do you mean?”“Someone blackmailed my sister.”“Fuck you.” I spat out in vain. “You told me you didn’t know where she was.”“Well, I lied. I’m a criminal, remember? I’m a liar.”Fuck. “For just one second, be serious with me, Terzo.”“It’s a good thing that
LAKE“Hey, man.” Rusher was smiling from ear to ear as if he hadn’t been stabbing me in the back and stealing millions of money from the company. How could I detect it if he’d been blackmailing my accountant for years? “It’s Saturday. What’s the emergency?”“Have a seat while we’re waiting for others to arrive.” I was the first to arrive as I read random numbers from the report I received last night. The company’s financial department worked hard day and night to finish what I’d asked them to do. They deserved a raise for coming up with a quick analysis.“Is there a new project that I don’t know about?” No matter how good he was at lying, the truth would always come out when a person was guilty. I could feel the tension in his muscles, and he started fidgeting.I ignored his question and checked my messages and call logs, hoping Maverick would just reach out. I admired her and loved her even more for sacrificing her happiness, even our marriage to protect me and her grandmother.Finch