DARLENEThe mass of reporters crowding the gates clustered around my bright red convertible, their white faces animated by pressing against the glass until the gates opened and I shot into the expansive driveway like a bullet train.I snapped my phone from the charging port, biting down the urge to hurry up the lot into the house when I caught sight of Stephanie McKenzie’s perfect face.She was standing in a loose line in the front foyer with some groundskeepers and maidservants, staring at me expectantly as I closed the distance between us.“Darlene! Y-you’re okay!” Alexander’s mother chortled, and I jerked away in surprise when her hands clamped warmly against my arms.“What's going on? Is Mr. McKenzie okay? Why is everyone outside?” I started, looking at the maids who avoided my stare, turning their gazes downward instead.My heart had begun to thump oddly in my ears again as I took in their side-long glances, what was going on here?“Where’s Alexander? I need to speak to him! Ther
FREDRICKI could tell my touch had aroused my brother's wife, because she jumped away from me like a grasshopper from a child’s fingers, the minute my palm grazed the small of her back.Was Darlene playing hard to get? I couldn’t tell. It had never been easy for me to understand women, my brother seemed to have inherited all my father’s charms in that area.The woman seemed to observe me for the longest time, and it felt harder and harder to breathe as her soft hazel eyes followed mine before she smiled.“I have no idea, I’m just happy everyone’s safe.” Darlene sighed, turning away from me so that I got the uneasy feeling that she was hiding something from me.It seemed like an eternity since I had kissed her, and the urge to press my lips against her full pink mouth rose suddenly so that I had to dig my hands into my palm to resist.I took a cautionary step back. I didn't know how she would react to it, and the last thing I needed was Alexander getting riled up and remembering what h
ALEXANDER“Laura? W-what are you doing here?” Darlene gasped, wheezing as she backed into me, away from the woman, so that I felt my hands automatically come up to hold her protectively.The sore spot on my head had not stopped throbbing since we left the killer shack in the woods, my mother’s hellish driving putting more thorns in my eyes than the whole situation had given me.I eyed the woman gingerly, giving her a strained up-and-down look and not bothering with the fake smile my wife was giving her.“Yes. It's late, you can't just waltz in here whenever the fuck you please miss Diego,” I ground through clenched teeth, and my mother gasped, clutching her bare neck and looking as scandalized as a church maiden who had suddenly gotten been asked to go up to the pope’s room.“Alexander McKenzie! That is why no way to speak to a woman!” My mother shrieked, her voice hard and icy as I watched the smile drop from Laura’s face before jerking back into place when my mother spoke.My wife’s
DARLENEI watched the stately black limousine of Mr. Mckenzie’s car as it inched in slowly into the manor’s expansive gravel lot through the blue-tinted glass of our bedroom window, before my husband cursed loudly.I jerked away from the scene with my heart pounding hotly in my chest, letting the curtains fall and turning to face Alexander as he paced the length of the room, his muscles flexing under the rolled-up shirt sleeves.”Laura Diego cannot stay in this house.” I deadpanned, drawing a ragged breath when the sound of a door slapping shut made my husband slam to a stop, striding over to me and leaning easily around me to peer out the window.I tried not to move, feeling the heat of his hard chest press possessively over the soft mounds of my breast as he loomed over me, filling the space so that I could only breathe into his neck. He was so big...so, him, it was all I could do not to lace my hands around his back and demand that he take me there and then. Erase the memory of th
ALEXANDERI was the only one in the cool darkness of the room when I groaned awake, the room blurring in my vision as I stretched, my eyes resting on the low flame in the stone hearth.“Dar?” I groaned, running my hands through the warm crease where her body was supposed to be. I struggled to my feet, taking a deep breath as the whirl of emotions raced to meet up with me.Where had she gone off to? I turned in a slow arc, taking in the marbled white and black modern aesthetic of the room, the silk gold walls, and the high dias of the king-sized canopy bed with climbing plants idling on the bedside.“Darlene? Babe?” I called, tracing my hand over the gold glass of the breakfast cart that had been wheeled into a corner of the room, shouldering into the hallway instead, the rubber soles of my shoes squelching wetly on the tiled floors.The draft of coolness that had nothing to do with the overhead conditioning swept over me as I looked over the black stair banisters to the empty living
FREDERICK MCKENZIEI watched the woman settle her round backside on the gold sofa of my bedroom, resting her hand on the pinpoint of her crossed knees.It felt weird, the way the woman seemed to dig her claws into my personal space when I had convinced myself I didn't have any up until now.Laura McKenzie was not an ordinary woman, it was getting clearer day by day. But Darlene was far from ordinary either. “What do you want Laura? We both know you aren't pregnant. There’s no way for you to be.” I gritted, staring at the woman dead in her blue eyes and watching her roll her eyes.“If I had a dime for every fucking time someone in this damned manor has asked me that, I’d be rich as fuck Ricky,” Laura chortled, letting out a self-righteous huff before I let one corner of my mouth crawl up into a bitter smile.“It's Frederick to you, Diego, you might think you've got some sort of fucking trump card up your sleeve lassie, but lemme tell you something you don't know,” I rasped, stooping u
DARLENEI stopped pacing to listen to the sound of footsteps that echoed out suddenly above me, snapping my hands away from their cage on my chest and backing away farther into the dark hollow under the staircase.I had no idea what time it was, how long it had been since I left my husband in his sleep upstairs to seek out his twin brother.I knew Fredrick enough to know that he always came down to the winery to snag a bottle, a fully-functional addict like I was.“Saints,” I whispered, holding my breath as the silhouette of a well-toned man descended the stairs, shuffling languidly to the halo of yellow light that lit up the winery of the far wall before I let my shoulders drop, following on his terms like the freak that I was.“Stalking me now, are we Dar?” Fredrick whispered suddenly, his back still turned to me, and I froze, clapping a hand over my mouth to keep from gasping as my chest rose and fell with frantic breaths.“Fredrick, there's something you must know,” I stated, matt
ALEXANDERI rapped my fingers against the steering wheel, gauging the distance between the nose of the matte black BMW and the chain-link iron fence that separated my father’s safe house from the pavement where I had idled the car as silver spigots of rain beat down angrily on the glass.“What the fuck is taking so long?” I growled, feeling my lips curl with disdain as I snapped open the door, gritting my teeth at the sudden wash of ice-cold rain that slapped at my thighs and locking the door behind me, scurrying to the fence and rattling the lock angrily before it gave way, allowing me to run head first into the foyer, until the grand arch of the entryway cut me off from the heavenly blessings.I was panting when I rapped my knuckles hard against the thick bronze metal of the front door, jerking back in surprise when the door gave way under my hand to reveal Prince Charles’ roguish face.“My, don't you look a fright!” The purple-eyed man drawled, the pink bow of his lips curling into
DARLENE“Rise and shine sleepy heads! Breakfast’s ready!” Prince Charles’ booming baritone cracked through my skull before a wash of yellow light bored through my closed eyelids so that I groaned, breaking into a chuckle when Alexander groaned beside me.“Fucking hell Charles, did your parents not teach you to knock?” My husband hissed, throwing the soft white duvet away from his hard body and stretching to his feet to snatch the coffee mug the purple-eyed man held out like a peace offering in one hand, his gaze sliding over to me and darkening a shade before he smirked.“I don't believe they did,” He whispered breathlessly, nodding his head to the door where the strawberry blonde-haired man was leaning against the doorframe in brown capri pants, a pearly grin stretched across his smooth face.“Have some decency Frederick, my wife’s in the room,” Alexander whispered, scoffing loudly and sipping his tea as I stretched a yawn and shimmyed away from the bed to rest my head on my husband’
FREDERICK“Die motherfucker,” I gritted, pressing my finger into the claw of the trigger and feeling the gun jerk in my hands, the impact pulling me forward so that I tumbled into the stone flooring.“Come on! Go go go!” I screamed through gritted teeth, waving my hands wildly at Darlene and pushing her around the car as she surged through the barrage of shots pummeling us and firing off a few more rounds as the Umbrella man roared with pain, tearing the knife from his eye with an impossibly loud sucking sound.“I need to get closer,” I hissed through my teeth as I rounded the bend of the car to meet Alwxander’s tense body where he was hunched, hiding from the rain of bullets with Darlene curled in his arms.I swallowed the bile that had risen in my throat, jabbing my fingers into my palms to battle the wooziness that stabbed the sides of my head and peering through the rim of black sedan to see that the man now had a gaping hole in one eye that still spurted blood as he glared around
STEFAN MCCOYMy knuckles were white on the trigger as I watched the man’s hard body as he walked slowly into the room, his eyes never leaving the gun I had pressed dutifully against his wife’s empty ass head.“No sudden moves Alexander or I’ll have the woman’s brains plastered across the floor,” I growled through clenched teeth as Alexander staggered into the room with his father and more of my men surrounding them.I had known something was off the minute I left the penthouse, even before the sound of gunshots echoed out behind us and I asked Markov to turn the car around.The white penthouse with its flashing lights and tall pine trees loomed as ghastly as ever, as I motioned the men every which way, feeling adrenaline rush through my veins when the sounds of gunfire exploded around the sides of the house as my men sniffed the bastards out like the rats that they were.“Please, McCoy, don't do this, My wife has nothing to do with this okay? I’ll, I’ll give you whatever it is you wan
DARLENE“Something’s wrong,” I whispered breathlessly, feeling the hairs on the back of my neck stand straight as I watched the man with the Jerry curls stride away from the large lattice silver gates, a gun held tightly in his right hand.“What the fuck do you mean something’s wrong? McCoy’s going with most of his men! This is our cue to go in, grab the twins, plant the bombs, and hightail the fuck out of here in time for Mrs. McKenzie’s dinner special,” Erwin snapped blithely from his crouch beside me, the rim of a sniper rifle held tightly in his hands, as he peered through the scope.“Lassie’s right, this seems too easy, they must have found out about the decoy car approaching already, that's the only reason for him to leave...and yet,” Williams McKenzie growled on my right flank, raising the tight hulk of his frame into a low squat and inching to slap himself against the tree, the burnt orange blackness of the forest blending perfectly with our camo gear.“We should-” Erwin start
ALEXANDERThe bright fluorescent lights tore through my eyelids to fry my eyeballs before I had even opened my eyes. I groaned, the soreness in my arms and stiff legs making me groan louder as I let my head fall back into my chest.What the hell did the bastard hit me with? Fucking hulk?“Ugh!” I groaned, screwing one eye open to lock gazes with my brother’s blanched face and watching him sag with relief when he saw that I had opened my eyes.“Alexander? Fuck! Thank saints you're okay,” He rasped breathlessly and I felt the scowl deepen between my eyebrows as I glared at the swollen purple bruises on his face that had left the skin of his face puffy and red.“Your buddy didn't take too kindly to you I reckon, stabbed you in the fucking balls just like you did to me you piece of shit!” I barked acidly, watching my brother rear back on the chair that he was strapped to like he had been slapped.I looked down to see I was lying on some makeshift gurney table, feeling my heart pound wildl
DARLENE“Where is he? Where’s my husband?” I whizzed when I caught up to the ring chief scowling in the middle of the road, his hands fixed patiently on his narrow hips.“He’s gone Dar, that McCoy took him,” Prince Charles gritted, eyeing me carefully before I noticed his hand cupping the large gash on his chest, the trickle of blood pooling on the purple suit staining the area black.“Here, let’s get you to the car,” I gritted through clenched teeth, managing to push the words past the lump that had grown in my throat and tugging the man’s hand free when he resisted before hooking it over one shoulder, grunting when he leaned his weight on me a little.I could hear the whirl of sirens in the distance as they got closer and I yelped, slamming to a stop when the purple-eyed man stopped suddenly in his tracks.What the hell was it with mafia men and having death wishes? I tried not to look at the nasty knife wound on his abdomen or the purple and red bruises on his chin and focused inst
FREDERICK“Did you have to do it that hard?” I whispered, feeling tears gather in my eyes as I watched the Umbrella Man tower over my brother’s limp body, his brown eyes almost luminescent in the dark.“Quiet Frederick, you're ruining my groove, take him.” Stefan McCoy growled and I felt my heart hammer in my ribs as the masked ninjas dropped from the trees like banana monkeys, hooking my brother’s hard body onto the stretcher as I watched on with widened eyes.“Is he dead?” I rasped breathlessly, feeling panic burn in my chest as I trotted after the men, the crunch of dried leaves under my feet sounding loud in the silence as the masked men marched my brother to the large white van that had been parked off to the side of the highway.“Not yet,“ The Umbrella man whispered, rubbing his hands together in glee as they loaded him into the van and I felt a flicker of doubt spark in my chest.“So it’s all good now right? Everything will go as planned now?” I coughed, scarcely trusting mysel
ALEXANDERIt took longer than I would have liked for my eyes to adjust to the near blackness as I entered the forest.“Where are you? You son of a bitch,” I ground through clenched teeth, waving the gun this way and that and aware of the way I was panting loudly, carefully placing one foot in front of the other.My arms were starting to get sore from holding the gun up and high, my knuckles white on the trigger as I crept along the line of trees, freezing when I thought I had heard the distinct sound of a tree branch snapping.Could this get any fucking worse? Did the motherfucker have to pick the shittiest forest in the whole of New York to make his dramatic comeback?“Go on and run away like the coward that you fucking are McCoy, I can smell that cheap perfume from a mile away,” I jeered loudly, feeling goosebumps rise on my skin when my distorted voice echoed back to me in the blackness.I tried to focus past the hum that had started in my ears but my mind was not following my eyes
DARLENEMy husband hadn't made any sense when he got off the phone with the purple-eyed man and it made even less sense now as we sped toward the edge of town with his knuckles white on the steering wheel.I braced myself against the cool leather of the dashboard, trying to calm the staccato beating of my heart in my chest as we sped through the stretch of asphalt and felt a wave of nausea press insistently against the roof of my mouth.“Are you sure about the address?” I wheezed, unable to bear the silence any longer and risking a glance at the chiseled line of Alexander’s jaw, the way his piercing green eyes were starting dead ahead, his flock of obsidian black hair falling over his face as the muscles of his shoulder and bicep flexed when he fishtailed the steering wheel.“White Villa at Maple Street, I didn't know he lived there, there's only one of the kind, you can't miss it,” He whispered, and even though I knew the steel in his voice couldn't have been meant for me, it made sh