Darlene "Dad! I can't do this" I whisper shouted. "Why?" He asked, clearly confused as to why I wouldn't take his decision. I so badly wanted to roll my eyes at the fact that it was an obvious reason why I couldn't do what he was expecting me to. My father, Mr Bernardo had accepted a marriage proposal from the McKenzie's, on my behalf! Could you imagine my face when he broke the news to me this morning? "I simply can't marry man I have never met, I mean what if he's not the one for me?" I asked, stress evident in my face but my father waved it off with a flick of his hand as if to dismiss my obvious worry for nothing. "Is that it?" He asked me, I looked to mum who as casually knitting in her chair, squeak quiet almost as if she didn't want any part of whatever it as that my father and I had going on. Even though she was supposed to be even more engaged than I was. Mum had always been like that and my father and I had always been like this too. He would make decisions f
Darlene For the first five minutes, we sat beside each other on different stools without exchanging as much as a greeting. In fact, the only sound that could be heard inside the bakery was the sound of our teeth munching on the delicious mini salted chocolate tarts I had baked. And maybe, the sound of my mother's conscience calling her out for allowing my father sell me off to an unknown man in marriage; that is, if she was not here to try to convince me even more, on behalf of my father. She was the first to break the awkward silence, "You know we love you, right?" She inquired. Usually, when she asked, I had the answer at the tip of my tongue, but at the moment, I was not so sure anymore. When my mom realized that I didn't plan to give her an answer anytime soon, she continued, "Well, we do. Your dad... I don't know what has come over him but I'm sure he still loves you very much." I scoffed. "Really? If he did, I don't think it would cross his mind to sell me off. I don't t
Alexander "I will marry her, father. I will, I'm only asking for some more time." I pleaded as I stood before my father in the company's conference room. A meeting had just been concluded and all board members had evacuated the space, all except my father, my twin brother, Frederick and myself. My father had yet again, brought up the issue of marrying Darlene Bernardo, the daughter of the baker. I was not opposed to it, simply because no one could ever say no to my father, but I was only concerned about the time frame. I was definitely not in the right frame of mind to get married in the coming month, like my father had informed me. "You will be given no more time, Alexander. You are thirty already and I just clocked sixty. A little too old to handle an entire Mafia ring, don't you think? You need to get married, any time from now. The date will not be shifted any further." He spoke, a trace of finality laced in his words as he took a drag of his cigar and blew the smoke directl
Alexander I cleaned off the blood on my palms with a white handkerchief and my face also, after which I exited the scene where I had just shot a man dead, leaving my boys to clean up after me. It was a chore now, something that had to be done. This was the life I was brought up in. The life I had gotten accustomed to, the life I now held dear. The Mafia ring meant everything to my father and consequently, to me and my twin brother. It was our obligation to keep it running, no matter what. I slid into the passenger seat of my silver Honda Accord, having finished what I came into that neighborhood to do and my driver began to move the car. My thoughts drifted back to what made me finish off the man I'd just killed. He had been owing thirty grand for a year now, and he'd been running. If there was anything I detested strongly, it was when they ran around with my money. Like they did not know I wasn't a man of mercy. They always ended up finding out in the comfort of hell, I always
STEFAN MCCOY "Boss. We've got news" from where Stefan sat, in the midst of the girls who shaked their asses With seduction. Stefan kept on looking at the girls, clearly ignoring the men who had ripped bodies and were clad in all black. Stefan was on a whole different vibe, taking a drag from his cigar as he puffed on the ass of one of the girls who wore less clothing than a table top. "Boss..." Desperation evident in his voice as one of the men that stood still said, the one who spoke earlier, trying to get his attention. "Yes?" Stefan sounded even more sinister and more distant than they recognised. "It's urgent sir" the same man replied, still on the edge. "Isn't everything urgent?" Stefan looked dead at the man go stood good few inches away from him. "Sir..." He persisted, earning dangerous eye from Stefan "... It's about the chameleon" that got Stefan to stand up abruptly, even though there was currently a girl who was giving her all on top of him. He pushed he
DARLENE I swallowed hard and stared straight at the table, eyes nearly popping right out of my sockets. "What?" My voice was in whispers that came out strangled and unheard. I wished I had walked into anything else. Anything else other than the entire Mckenzie family sitting there, on a table in my Dad's bakery. I recognized Mr Mckenzie anywhere and in any form. Every now and then, he loved to show face in my father's bakery and bless us with all sorts of money and gifts that, if I do say so myself, were actually very unnecessary. I hadn't seen the rest of the family before, but I didn't need to be told twice that the beautiful woman who sat by his left and the two handsome men who rounded the other quarter of the table, were the rest of the family; their aura stood out like a gem in the midst of full stones. They oozed off regality in all shades and with heads held high and shoulders poised in the air, postures straight and confident, even while sitting, anyone could have been a
I wanted someone to wake me up from my nightmare. This nightmare. The more I breathed, the more I realized how real this was. How I was going to get married to this man. This man whom I barely even knew. Don't get me wrong, Alexander Mckenzie was gorgeous. He was absolutely breathtaking. And ridiculously, even. So far, he seemed to have a well mannered behavior too. I liked the air around him, how sophisticated and chill, nearly mysterious it was. I liked how he seemed to listen more and talk less, while Idid the reverse. That was even a shock to me because I was extremely nervous the entire time. I was awkward too. I wasn't sure what to say or how to act, so I spoke out the first thoughts that came into my head and blabbed it without a filter. And maybe, he also had a good sense of humour. Because once in a while, he seemed to chuckle slightly at my stutters. Alexander seemed like a great man. However, I barely knew him. And one thing was certain; amidst all that silk hair, pret
"You like flowers?" Alexander McKenzie's voice was gruff and I was aware that behind the short curtain of hair that'd fallen over my face as I bent to admire a hibiscus bush, he was watching me."I do! Even the ugly ones!" I gushed, unable to help the smile that lifted my already high cheekbones. Flowers and cakes and maple syruped donuts, I wondered if that made me a typical romcom barbie."I don't, all that hardwork for a few pretty days before they wilt and die off." The man muttered, the toned muscle of his bicep flexing through the silk line of his crisply ironed suit.Yes, I imagined he much preferred everything plastic. It reminded me of Laura Diego, my best-friend since ever. She'd vehemently denied getting any work done, but I'd noticed the lift of her big foxy eyes.I wondered what she would think of the Mafia prince."Huh." I settled for instead, and he cleared his throat, rubbing the nape of his neck awkwardly."So, what was your childhood like?" I fished, unsure why I wa
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