VINCENT"What the hell do you mean that there are no available flights to New York right now?" I was pacing about in the hotel where we currently were, and James was nervously trying to keep checking for available flights.I could tell he was panicking because I had not been able to stop barking orders at everyone since I heard the news. I was not going to just accept it this time, just believe that she was gone.It was why I shoved my pride aside and I called Sawyer. The bast*rd did not pick up my calls. He ignored 15 fucking times. I called Simon, but Sawyer was not picking up his calls either and he was also not in New York in that moment."I'm going to fucking kill Sawyer the moment I arrive in New York. The moment I set my feet in New York, he better go the hiding because I will not be friendly." I told James just as he pressed his phone to his ear again. "I've called him like twenty times now too, he has not picked up. I called Whitney, but the call went to voicemail too. What
VINCENTI got to the hospital in five minutes as it was not far from Sawyer's house. Coupled with the fact that I drove like a mentally disabled citizen to get here."Katerina Montego. Where is she?" I asked as soon as I got to the receptionist table. The receptionist looked up at me with a frown on her face, ready to say vile things to whoever it was that disrupted whatever it was she had been doing with her phone.When she realized it was me though, she swallowed and stood up at once."Uh.. Good evening Sir," She greeted with a large smile. "Katerina Montego. What ward?" I asked in a firmer tone now.She nodded timidly, then skittered over to a laptop, checking for it. Then she looked up,"Ward 117, ICU section. Have a nice—" But I was already walking away from her, half-running to the ward where I had been directed to. I stopped in my tracks when I got to the hallway where the ward was located. Whitney and Sawyer stood there, hugging each other. What the hell was going on this
KATERINAI never want to relive the past few days ever again. The second day after I woke up, it still didn’t feel real. I lay there, staring at the sterile white ceiling, trying to make sense of everything. My body felt heavy, like it wasn’t mine, weighed down by the layers of pain and exhaustion. The dull ache in my side was constant, pulsing in time with my heartbeat, though it was nowhere near as sharp as before. Still, every small movement reminded me it was there, a deep soreness under the layers of bandages that wrapped tightly around my stomach.I shifted slightly in bed, wincing as a wave of discomfort rolled through me. My muscles felt weak, stiff from lying still for days, and I had to fight to keep the panic at bay when my breath hitched from the tightness in my chest. Even breathing was strange—each inhale shallow, like my lungs didn’t trust themselves to fully expand, afraid they might tear something loose.I couldn’t stop thinking about how close I had come. The though
KATERINAKelvin and Vincent did not return that day. Larry fed my meal to me and stayed with me until late at night. We discussed about a lot of things but mostly about the case. I hated the fact that we had just met and I was already dragging him into my drama.So, after watching him sit there, going through his phone for a couple of minutes, I muttered, "I'm so sorry I dragged you into this."He looked up from his phone, his brows creasing as he questioned, "Dragged me into what?"Sighing, I continued, "Into my problems. I drag everyone into it, even those that have nothing to do with it."I tried a small laugh, but I ended up clutching my side in pain. Larry shook his head, standing up to check if I was fine. After he confirmed I was not bleeding or anything, he sat back on his chair,"Look, you did not do anything. It's not your fault that you got stabbed. Stop thinking like that, it would only slow down your recovery process." He advised, patting my hair."What if I tell you tha
VINCENTSawyer was acting funny, so I sent a couple of my guys to trail him. He was not at the top of my problems, though, but I had to be sure that my suspicions were just suspicions before I could let him in on too much.I did not dare tell Katerina about my suspicions, though. Knowing her, she would just tell me to stop helping her because he was her supposed 'best friend' and all I was saying or thinking was simply because I never liked him.I could not deny the fact that I never liked him, but still.I had just recently sold my soul to the devil. As I stood there and watched the doctors check her to confirm that everything was okay, my mind traveled to the events that led to my decision, and how Owen had accepted me to the club with open arms.Of course, I was no high-ranked, yet. According to my brother who took my place as the head of the mafia, I had to earn the trust of the brotherhood. I had been accepted into the syndicate though, performed the required rites and started t
KATERINA"Thank you…" I murmured with a wide smile on my face as I accepted the last batch of my get-well-soon flowers. I stood by the edge of my bed, my bags packed and ready to leave.Today, the little note read; 'My fighter. So proud.'I had only received a note with the flowers a total of three times since I had started getting them, and they always made me smile.My cheeks hurt from the way I kept smiling. How did I even get to deserve all this? This man was everything I had ever prayed for and a lot more. He was perfect; how could anyone be so perfect?He walked in at that moment, mirroring the smile I had on my face. I bit my lip, holding the flowers to my chest.He extended his arms and I walked into them without any hesitation. I stayed there with my eyes snapped shut for a good while before I started, "Thank you so much, Larry. Even with your busy schedule and all, you made this whole hospital experience better than it originally would have been. I'm really so grateful for y
VINCENT"We got a lead on the Kelvin guy." I looked up to see James briskly walking in with a serious look on his face. I stopped what I had been typing into my laptop and outstretched my hand to take the documents he was offering me. After one last long look at him, I opened the documents, only to look back up at James."What the fuck does this mean?" I questioned, stunned."What it says. It is still a probability though. We have gotten hair sample from Whitney, we would now proceed to get probably same sample from Kelvin. If it is a match, then our suspicions are right." He explained, but I could not believe it."It cannot be. How can Sawyer be Whitney's brother? They have different surnames, and I have known Whitney since she was a child. I mean, her father is top in the state. I know her mother as well, she has no siblings." I told him. He sighed, coming to sit on the chair across mine. "That is the thing. I think that they are half-siblings. We have not yet confirmed it, though
KATERINA"I'm not telling you this so you can do something rash to him. I just… I needed someone to talk to and Kelvin…" I thought about saying this to him.. telling him I did not trust Kelvin, but then I decided against it. "I'm telling you this because Kelvin has been really busy lately. And you know, you know what happened with Whitney. It is not some random gist though, just in case you start to wonder if I called you here just because my friends are unavailable." I said to him, trying to stifle a moan when he pressed on a spot that really did it for me.He looked uninterested, but at the same time, he looked like he wanted to hear me out. That was the thing with Vincent. I just really could never figure out what exactly the man was thinking. Most times, at least."Do you want to hear it?" I had to ask to be sure.He looked up at me. "As much as I enjoy rubbing your feet, Katerina, I did not drive all the way from my office to this place just to do this. Of course, I want to hear
KATERINAWhitney refused to tell us anything more after that. We stood there, threatening her with all manner of things, but she never budged. She just sat there, smiling crookedly and laughing occasionally.I finally convinced Vincent to leave there and we both went home, hoping to figure out what exactly Whitney meant with everything she said about Ava ourselves.This morning, I woke up in his arms and peered up to see that he was awake already, focused on his phone. He had wrinkled lines in his forehead and dark circles around his eyes, and I could not help but feel a twinge of worry for him.The man had been working so hard these days and somehow, I knew that it had something to do with what Whitney had said about his child.Ava was acting… well, she was still detached from her father but she was every bit the bubbly child around me. Her nanny lived with us now, and continued to take care of her, in better living conditions… it was what she wanted, and she had been very grateful.
VINCENT I slammed my car door shut before I went over to the other side to open up for Katerina. "Thank you," she muttered, looking as eager to see Whitney as I was. She looked even more eager, but then again that was probably because the woman literally wore her emotions like a sleeve. We walked briskly inside the prison walls without really saying anything else to each other; we had talked enough on our way here. It was only when we were getting to her cell, that Katerina turned to face me, telling me, "I am going to let you talk to her. You are the one who is mostly affected by this, I would let you question her and whatnot without any interruptions but I also want to say stuff to her too, just so you know." She informed me, and I nodded, not wanting to say anything in response at first, except that nod, but after a quick glance at her face, I could see the desperation in her eyes for me to be okay and just like that, I just couldn’t keep to myself any longer. I threw m
KATERINA"Oh God, Ava!" I cried out as the little girl bolted away from the living room as we all had reacted too slowly because of course, no one had expected that from her.Vincent was the first to run after her, and also the first to recover from the shock. He was behind her in no time, and I was next, followed by the nanny.Luckily, the butler was quick enough to stop her. Ava was crying and kicking in his arms, demanding to be set free, but he was not having it."You aren't going out of here without adult supervision, woman!" He yelled, but she was not having it."Let me go! My mommy will hurt me, she says he's the bad guy, I cannot be around him, please…" She continued to cry. My heart broke in pieces for her. What kind of a mother was Whitney for crying out loud? "Your mother hurt you, and you still think your daddy is the bad man?" Vincent blurted out and I pinned him with a look, but he did not spare me a glance, his eyes were still transfixed in his daughter who refused to
VINCENT Katerina pulled the door open for me, mumbling to the butler, "Never mind. I got this." And then she smile widely at me after opening the door, wrapping her arms around my body in a tight hug. Her smile was nervous as fuck, as if she had something to tell me, and I knew that she did. A child was in here, at the living room. I had peeked through the surveillance, because my girl sounded nervous as fuck and I had to know what was making her like that. It was either that or me storming out of the meeting I was in. There was a nanny with the little girl too. She was claiming that the child was mine, and Whitney was her mother. But how the fuck did that even happen? Katerina pulled away from me, her face twisting in an offended frown, "You don't want to hug me back?" She started to step aside, but then my hand gripped her waist and I pulled her to me with force so her body collided with mine. Katerina gasped, then burst into a fit of giggles as I planted kisses al
KATERINA There was some commotion outside the front door. I had just heard it as I got out of the bathroom, trying to prepare to go shopping at the mall for a few essentials since I did not have work today. I ended up just throwing on Vincent’s T-shirt and a pair of shorts before heading downstairs to see what the noise was about. The noises grew louder as I approached the door and I pulled it open at once on reaching it. When my eyes met with a little girl's with her dark curls falling softly around her face, clutching a worn stuffed bunny, I almost thought she’d stopped at the wrong house. But then I noticed her eyes—a striking, familiar gray. The same piercing color that belonged to Vincent, with a touch of softness that reminded me of Whitney. Next to her stood a woman, exhausted, holding the little girl’s hand firmly, as if afraid she might lose her any moment. Our butler was asking questions, his gaze shifting between the woman and the little girl with polite suspicion.
VINCENT"I feel like I cannot leave this bed even if I tried to." Katerina groaned and I smirked, turning back to face her."Same. I think you would not be able to walk throughout today. After what that pussy had to go through last night." I muttered, and she was quick to chuck a pillow in my direction, and I chuckled, letting it hit me as I turned my face to the side."You're such an animal in bed…" She whined, trying to sit up, her cheeks pink with a blush. I stopped to stare, my cock hardening again as I watched her. So fucking gorgeous, I always wondered how I was lucky enough to bag her again…Those brown eyes peered up at me through her thick lashes, and I could jog help walking over to her to plant a kiss on her lips. She let me, placing a hand on my naked chest while the other hand held the duvet tightly over her tits.I laughed, pulling away from her lips as I looked down, "Why are you hiding my girls from me?""Because you get hard faster than I snap my fingers and this tim
KATERINAA MONTH LATERThe energy in the room was electric. Owen’s business launch had pulled in a crowd and the air buzzed with excitement and the hum of conversation filled the grand hall. New York City sprawled in glittering lights beyond the tall windows, adding to the glamour of the night. All these did not still sit well with me. The mafia men starting up businesses just to cover up their tracks which consisted of money laundering, drug trafficking, murder and so much more. However, Vincent had recently explained his reason for joining the mafia after swearing off it all his life. There was really no way out, so I had to learn to deal with all these… at least, for him, and the sacrifice he made to keep me safe.Standing near the bar, I sipped my champagne, scanning the crowd until my gaze landed on Owen’s girlfriend, Mae.At first, I did not fully recognize her because I had only seen her in pictures, but then I looked more closer, I realized it was truly her. She was all curls
KATERINAShe missed.Whitney missed the shot by one tiny inch and just as she aimed to shoot the second time, a stick slammed into her head from the back.The gun dropped from her hand and fell with a clatter to the ground. I saw the moment that the blood started to drip down from the side of her head and her eyes drooped almost shut. Whitney fell to the ground in a heap and I looked in front of me to see Vincent finally making it to where I was crouched in a sitting position. I placed my both hands either sides of his face, crying hard. Everything that was happening just did not make sense to me. It was true that I wanted to hurt him in the beginning, but now I just could not stand seeing him like this. My heart broke in pieces just looking at him while he seemed so helpless, so pale, like he could just pass out anytime soon.The room still spun with smoke, thick and suffocating, the scent of burnt wood and fabric searing my lungs. My mind barely registered what had just happened—on
KATERINASmoke filled the room, thick and suffocating, the heat growing unbearable. My throat burned with every breath, and my chest felt like it was about to collapse from the pressure. I could hear Vincent struggling, his body tense beside me as he worked to cut through the ropes around his wrists. The flames crept closer, inching toward us, consuming everything in their path."I'll get it. I'll get it, firecracker. We will get out of here." He swore while he kept struggling to loosen himself.I felt the tears sliding down my cheeks, but it wasn’t the smoke that made me choke this time. I thought about how close we’d been to ending all of this madness, to finally being free. But now, trapped and helpless, every second felt like an eternity ticking down to an end I wasn’t ready to face. Panic clawed at me, making my heart race wildly as I pulled against the ropes that bound my wrists, desperation filling every fiber of my being.Finally, with one last, fierce yank, Vincent broke free