Trista’s POVI was brought upstairs to the VIP room. The staff member opened the door.“Aren’t you coming in?” I asked. But she shook her head and scurried away, leaving me alone at the door.Hesitantly, I stepped inside.It was a large room that looked out over the auction floor. I could see the lights of the stage shining down below. But the room itself was dark, the lights low.I squinted. Given my poor eyesight and the dimly lit room, I struggled to see. I heard the clink of ice cubes in glasses and low murmurs. There were several people in the room but no one addressed me.Eventually, my eyes adjusted, but only slightly. I saw a few men sitting on a large, black leather couch. The sweet scent of scotch and whiskey permeated the air.They were rich. Filthy rich. That had that demeanor that only ridiculously wealthy people had. They looked up at me, eyeing me like I was some sort of prized possession rather than a person. I didn’t know which of these men had bid on my jewelry, s
Trista’s POVIt was an odd thing to say. Devour me with his eyes?There was something about his tone.I should have bolted for the door. I should have run.But the truth was, I was torn.I was intrigued by this man. Who was he? What did he want from me? He wasn’t human so WHAT was he? Why had he bid on my jewelry and demanded to see me?“Come,” he said again. He was still sitting, in the dimly lit corner. I was strangely drawn to him. Serena acted like he was dangerous. I didn’t feel like that, though. Arrogant? Yes. Bossy? Absolutely. Entitled? You bet.But not dangerous.So, out of curiosity, I moved towards him.It was so damned dark in that room though. I stumbled over a low coffee table and tripped. But instead of hitting the floor, I fell into his arms.He’d caught me with lightning speed. Inhuman speed. If I hadn’t been sure before, I definitely was now.This man was NOT human. He held me, dipped backwards in his arms. He hovered over me. Then he removed one arm from my bac
Trista’s POVI ran out of the VIP room, my dress clutched in my hands. I put it back on as best I could, even though I had to hold it together with my hands. I couldn’t let anyone see me, not like this, so I ran to the stairwell and hid in a corner.Tears spilled from my eyes.What just happened? Who was that man?He looked like Johnson but he couldn’t have been. There was no way! Johnson knew I had poor eyesight. He knew how much I hated dimly lit rooms. Johnson would NEVER try to trick me like that.My breath was coming in ragged gasps. I had to calm myself down.The man’s silver eyes flashed through my mind. Johnson had beautiful blue eyes. And yes, I’d seen them turn a strange sort of uncontrolled red before.But never silver.I wrapped my knees into my chest and rested my cheek on my knee. I was calming down now but I was still very upset.That man had spent a hundred million dollars on my jewelry! Yes, Johnson was rich, but he wasn’t THAT rich. He couldn’t flippantly squander a
Johnson’s POV Fear.That’s what I saw in Trista’s eyes as she pried herself from me. I released her then I watched with narrowed eyes as Trista ran out of the room.“Arggg!” I hollered, plunging my claws into the table. It was all I could do to stop myself from grabbing her. I wanted to run after her but I knew I had to stop myself“What have I done?” I whispered out loud, horrified at myself. My wolf, Silver, growled menacingly. “Get her,” he demanded. “She’s yours!”I shook my head, my claws digging into the table.“No,” I told him.“Yes,” he hissed.“SHUT UP!” I snapped at him.He paced, his fur bristled. “She belongs to you. CLAIM HER!”My hands shook. “I won’t let you hurt her,” I said. “Stop it, you bastard.”Silver stopped pacing. He chuckled, a low, threatening laugh. “Bastard?” he scoffed sarcastically. “A moment ago you were deliberating between fucking her or tearing her to shreds. If I’m a bastard, then so are you. Admit it.”He glared at me, and I saw the gleam
*Warning*: Dear reader, I apologize for the somewhat gory and violent content of these two chapters. It is meant to show that Johnson did go through a dark moment.Johnson’s POVMy mother had called me, out of the blue. I was in the United States, missing Trista. Her words made my blood run cold. “Please come, Johnson,” she pleaded into the phone, her voice barely above a whisper. “Your father’s been shot.”I hung up the receiver and booked a red eye flight to Milan.Shot?My father?But whom?I rushed to their home in the south of France, expecting the worst. I knew by then that my father was involved in some pretty shady business, but I hadn’t known the extent of it until I arrived at their estate.I ran into the lobby of our family home and instantly noticed a strange atmosphere. Instead of being greeted by our butler, the lobby was full of big, burly men in black suits.“Where’s my father?” I demanded, unease settling in. Who were these men? Where was our normal staff?Just then
*Warning*: Dear reader, I apologise for the somewhat gory and violent content of these two chapters. It is meant to show that Johnson did go through a dark moment.Johnson’s POVMy uncle Felix. My cousin Leopold. A dozen bodyguards.All dead.My father?I rushed to his bedside. I lowered my ear to his mouth. Thank god! He was still breathing.Jake walked to the bed and hovered over my Uncle Felix’s body.“Ssshh,” Jake told me, putting a finger up to his mouth. I watched him with wide eyes. Jake was smaller than his twin brother had been, and far less imposing. Yet, watching him there, hovering over his own FATHER, something told me he was FAR more menacing.We listened, and sure enough, Felix was still breathing, although it was raspy.“Oh,” Jake said, covering his heart with his hand. “You didn’t finish him off. You saved him, for me? How sweet.” “I…” But before I could say anything else, Jake whipped out his gun and shot his father square in the back of the head. His skull ex
Johnson’s POVJake suddenly changed directions and walked over to the one-way window. He tapped on it lightly. It seemed he wasn’t going to stop me from leaving after all. So I reached for the door handle.“My oh my,” Jake said, peering out the window. “What have we here?”He smacked his lips and looked at me over his shoulder.“You really ought to come see these ones, Johnson. The one in the gold dress? Mmmmm. She’s delicious.”Wait.Gold dress?Trista was wearing a gold dress. I saw her enter the room with Hazel.“I’d LOVE a taste of her,” Jake said, clutching his dick for effect.Maybe it was a coincidence? There were probably tons of women wearing gold dresses down there on that floor.But then again…What if it wasn’t? My protective instincts kicked in and I went over to the window.“That one…right….there.” Jake pointed at the window and I looked down. Sure enough, he pointed right at Trista. “She’s a tasty one, isn’t she?”My blood boiled.He was leering at Trista and the way he
Johnson’s POVThe men stepped back from the window.“Get me a drink,” Jake told one of them. He nodded and poured himself a whiskey.“You staying?” he asked me as I also walked over to the bar.“Yup,” I said nonchalantly. Even though I didn’t want Trista to have anything to do with me anymore, I couldn’t just abandon her. Not with these men ogling her like that.I’d tried to keep my distance from her. It had damn near killed me though. I missed her so so much. But I was caught up in this whole mess now with the mafia. And I still didn’t know the full truth about my father’s underground business.So I had to cut Trista free.AFTER the auction. First, I had to know she was safe.I poured myself a whiskey and swirled it around in the glass.“You were awfully quiet just now, cousin,” Jake said, eying me suspiciously. “What’s the matter? Don’t you like girls?”I had to keep playing the part. I had to keep convincing these men that I was on their side, that we were in an alliance. At least