DARLENEThe sound of the large bronze door creaking open as it gave under Alexander’s fingers was enough to send ice-cold chills down my spine.My fingers had turned to stone on my husband’s burly bicep as I watched his face for any signs that would reveal what he was seeing inside, before he moved, the action tugging me to follow him in, however much I wished to remain in the open, where it was safe...where we could run.‘Come on Darlene, keep your head in the game, eyes sharp! Your husband needs you!’ I muttered inwardly, steeling myself as the dimly lit foyer of the living area came into view, my eyes roaming over the black cushion seats sitting idly in the wide space as though they were regarding us as much as we were regarding them.“It’s empty, there’s no one here,” Alexander’s voice snapped me out of my stare down with the sofas and I turned to stare up at him, shocked to find that he had slipped my grip and was standing a few feet away from me, his hard chest rising and fallin
ALEXANDERMy knuckles were tight on the steering wheel as I fish-tailed the black BMW in the traffic, careful to keep my eyes on the road this time and struggling to see past the wash of fluorescent that the other drivers blinded me with.“Calm down Alexander, It...It might be nothing, You can't get in the manor without a key card,” Darlene’s wispy voice coaxed from the passenger side so that I turned to stare her in the eye, cringing when she recoiled into herself, back to her shell.Goddammit, why did I have to be such a fucking asshole and lose everyone around me? I still couldn't get the bloody image of Priest’s body out of my head and my brain scrambled when I tried to remember if he had a wife.I didn't think he did, but with the way the ringmen were, it was obvious that I was the only one with my life out in the open, my cards displayed, face up.I knew nothing about the other men’s personal lives, but somehow, they seemed to know everything about mine. I watched Darlene open a
FREDERICK“What the fuck is wrong with you?” I bellowed, knocking my hand into Ghost’s stunned face and watching his head whip back to crack against the wall in satisfaction.“How fucking dare you?” I ground through clenched teeth, the bitter feeling of bile rising in my throat as I watched the gray-eyed man rub his hand over his face before staggering up to flash me a bloody grin.“Geez Ricky, calm the fuck down, will you? I was only sightseeing, heard a lot about your manor here, and wanted to come to see for myself,” He chuckled evilly, glancing up at the staggering mass of the manor behind me as I clenched and unclenched my fists, aware of the harsh rise and fall of my chest.I felt the rage bubble so hard in my chest that I shuddered, remembering how I had caught the bastard peering into my parent’s room clapping a hand around his mouth and marching him to my room with freezing hands.I would have dropped him then and there, put a tidy 22’ caliber bullet in the back of his head i
DARLENEMy heart had not stopped pounding in my chest since the scene in Alexander’s parent's room. I watched William McKenzie pace the cool tiles of the living area, his rubber uggs slapping loudly on the floor as he paced from end to end, the bright wash of fluorescent light making his shock of blonde-dark hair appear ghastly.“What the hell is taking the boy so long?” Alexander’s father whispered and I felt Alexander squeeze my hand tightly, turning to see the clenched line of his jaw working silently.I pricked his fingers with my pinkie, my heart thudding oddly in my chest when his almond-shaped green eyes swept down to me, the rage in his expression clouding over when he caught the pinched look on my face so that his other hand came around to wind through my hair, pressing my face into his hard shoulder before I felt his lips press into my hair and my heart warmed over.“Should we tell them?” I whispered, knowing that his parents must have noticed the blood-soaked shirt I had bee
ALEXANDER“Who the hell is that?” Darlene whispered when her hazel eyes met mine and I inhaled sharply, feeling something hot press against my chest.I felt her cold fingers press into my arm as we stepped out into the hallway, my heart hammering way too loudly in my chest when the sound of fists rapping frantically on the front door suddenly cut off.“Mom? Dad? What the hell is going on here?” I growled, feeling the furrow in my brows deepen when I took in the cops that had gathered at the front door, Detective Bowler’s grinning face leading them as he marched right into our living room, swaggering with his hat tipped back, as though he owned the place.The chills ran down my spine in torrents as my brow knotted over so much I was certain the dark lines had tangled.“Oh, look who it is! Alexander, McKenzie Junior himself! Looking a tad hard on the eyes are you?”Detective Bowler drawled with a fake cheer so that I felt my lips curl as I watched the man swagger into the room, folding hi
FREDERICKThe Ghost was dead. It was the only thing I could think of as I staggered along on the dirt path beside the highway, hooking out my thumb as yet another wash of yellow headlights blinded me and sped past, blowing dust in my eyes.“Bloody hell,” I groaned, struggling not to breathe too deeply as my lungs burned from the pain that had not stopped tearing at my sides and back.I fisted the phone I had fished from the gray-eyed man’s shirt pockets firmly in my hand, the memory of the pike thrust firmly through his open mouth and shooting out the back of his head and chest as his bloodied eyes stared on sightless burned into my scalp.“You’d done what any man in your position would do Frederick,” I whispered to myself, patting my matted hair and chest as I limped on, feeling like I had just stepped on a landmine and walked away without a scratch.I hadn't realized it then, when I first left the scene of the accident and found myself at the penthouse, how awfully inconvenient it wa
ALEXANDERI felt the sweat gather on my brow as I paced the length of the modern furnished study in the McKenzie manor, shrugging off my best friend’s hold when he went to put his arm around me.I was going mad, trying to figure out who could have put the fucking tape in the penthouse, when the sound of the news presenter’s voice echoed from the plasma television that had been fitted into the walls.“Darlene McKenzie, wife of the billionaire mogul and first son of the McKenzie brother has just been arrested for suspicion of murder in the couple’s mansion in New York, we have our correspondent on the line, Andrew-” The botox-faced woman warbled in that robotic voice the newsmen always had before I snapped at Dennis like a hound dog snapping at red meat.“For fucks sake! Turn that shit off!” I roared, glowering at the copper-haired man as he fumbled over the bag of chips he had been holding, ambling for the remote when I cut him off.“Wait!” I barked, narrowing my eyes at something odd s
DARLENEI shivered when I placed my back carefully against the polished brick tile of the cell, keeping my eye carefully on the crazed-looking woman that had been muttering to herself on the other side of the room.I hiccuped, wiping at the tears that streamed down my face that had dwindled to whimpers as I wrapped my hands around myself, trying to still the quiver that wobbled my bottom lip.“Rise and shine pussy cat!” Detective Bowler cried loudly, startling me enough that I jolted, whipping my head to the hallway outside the wrought-iron bars just in time to catch his baton knocking against the steel and setting my teeth on edge.I hadn't slept a wink the other night, the memory of the bloody scene in the penthouse attic bathroom plaguing my dreams enough that I woke up screaming multiple times, tossing and turning on the uncomfortable prison bunk, encased in my own sweat.“You bastard, let me out of here! My husband would never let you get away with this!” I growled, scrambling to