FREDRICKI was beginning to think, that there was something wrong with me as I paced the gold-encrusted space of my chambers, a faceless woman sleeping idly on the bed behind me, out cold.”Goddammit,” I muttered, my eyes flashing as I watched the half-naked strawberry-haired blonde man who was dry-heaving sobs in the blue-tinted mirror vanity.There had to be something wrong, why else couldn't I get the image of Darlene’s puffy pussy lips out of my head? My twin brother’s wife?How the hell was I supposed to get anything done? When everywhere I turn the woman was right there! I’d been on my way to his office, Xander. Couldn't remember for the life of me, where I'd kept my own set of keys, but I decided I was going to give it a shot. He was probably going to be there too, sorting out the last shipment and keeping records, so I hadn't worried too much about the nitty gritty.That was until the sound of a long, drawn-out moan sent a bolt of shock straight to my loins.What the fuck? I
DarleneI could hear them from where I was hiding, the shrill, harried voices of rich women in heat mucking about in their uppity little social circles, the clank of their New York designer wears, and chardonnay wine glasses set my teeth on what I knew would be a night-long grind.I placed a calming hand on my chest, watching the brown-haired woman in the mirror chuckle what I could almost describe as evilly, the ruddy plains of her square face bent toward my hair as she attacked the short curtain of unbending black locks with bobby pins and her instruments of war.”Nervous my Lady?” Mary tittered and I inhaled sharply, my heart slamming once into my ribcage so hard that I cupped my hands to my chest, aiming to catch the stubborn organ.Did I look nervous? My eyes fitted to hers in the mirror, but they remained staunchly fixed on my diamond-encrusted hair, before I cleared my throat, the moment of hesitation passing somewhat awkwardly.“Me? Hardly, I'm excited,” I wheezed, flashing he
FredrickThere were strangers in the foyer of my father’s grand mansion that I did not want there.The elite of the elite standing around the gold and silver studded foyer of our expansive driveway so that it looked like I was some sporangia admiring the carnage in a shark tank.“If it isn't Frederick McKenzie, the mogul’s little brother, Always a pleasure to see the little ones fostering,” Don Baron laughed coarsely, the stubbled folds of his quadruple chin vibrating so hard I reared back, afraid some animal might leap through the folds onto my crepe gold suit.”Baron, I’m afraid I can't say the same, appears you might have been stuffing more than your face,” I gritted impassively. Letting my eyes rest on the folds of his belly that had sagged so far down from his badly designed monkey- jacket that pressed up against his tree-trunk knees.“Now hold on a minute,” Don Baron stammered, raising one plump index that had reddened worryingly at the tips and I watched as the stout man’s face
ALEXANDER“Who was that?” I asked again, watching the man in the gold suit take his sweet time before turning to stare at me dumbly, a light smirk playing on the full line of his lips.I hadn't seen my wife since the night of our rendezvous, rushing into the party like I was freaking Lara croft raiding a gold-encrusted catacomb.I had gotten sidetracked, in my search for who had invited Kayla Storm to the party, wading in the avalanche of files and employee records I had scattered across the marble-finished floor of my office study.It was unbelievable, there were no records of the buxom dark-haired woman anywhere, not at the head office and not in the study! There were no records of her anywhere, even after I’d cross-referenced her ID pictures on the web.“Fucking hell,” I’d gasped, the mouse stiff under my palm as I sat, blanched as a washed-out olive skin, the plastic of the mouse cold under my palm as I looked at the white screen of the search engine.The pressure that had built
DARLENEI watched the woman’s hands reach out to settle on the lapel of his suit for the second time that night, unable to tear my eyes away from the look of what I was certain was faux innocence on her face.“Dar love? Are you okay? You seem a bit cold,” Laura whispered, breaking away from the circle of giggling women. I snapped my eyes from the handsome man’s profile to meet my best friend’s worried face, her large silver earrings catching my eye as they slapped against her cheeks when she leaned in.Ugh! I hated this, the feel of my heart racing so fast it threatened to break from my chest.Everyone was having fun at the party, drinking, and gossiping, even the occasional fist-throwing I'd been surprised to see at one of the elite’s tables, but here I was freaking lovesick and unable to get as much as two flutes of Bailey’s past the lump in my gullet.”Yeah, Yeah I’m fine, just thinking,” I whispered, managing to arrange my face into a somewhat grateful smile, but it must not have
Alexander McKenzie“W-what do you mean? Your father invited me here,” The dark-haired buxom woman whispered, her lip quivering in just the slightest fashion and my ears started to ring.Why would my father do that? Just what was wrong with the mafia lord?I gave the wide-eyed woman a look of disbelief, feeling the corners of my lips turn down with irritation.“He did! I swear on it! Here, I- I have proof,” She muttered, her voice cracking at the confrontation as she dug hastily in her purse, fishing out the gold-embossed invitation letter my mother had made sure to deliver personally to the invitees.”We’ll goddammit Xander, you are one mighty prick,” Fredrick droned beside me as I tried to reach for the card, my hand stilling at the wonder in his voice before I retracted it.“I can leave if you want me to, I-I really would hate to impose,” Kayla whispered and I squeezed my eyes shut, shaking my head, my hand snaking out to grip her wrist faster than I could think to stop it.She paus
DARLENE BERNARDOThe noise of the siren faded around us as I stood in silence with my husband, what felt like minutes since I’d told him his mother had been poisoned.I watched emotions play across his face, the thick black of his eyebrows scrunching together before his lips twitched violently and he let out a loud, reverberating laugh, keeping over and gripping his stomach like he had been kicked in the shin.What the hell was so funny? I hadn't wanted to admit it, but something about the way he was behaving seemed different.It was almost as though he was disconnected, in a different reality, one where I wasn't his wife.Instead, a stranger who had just told him I had a pet fish who I fancied was Whitney Houston reincarnated.“My god Darlene! Have you gone mad?” He boomed, and I felt the whip of shame land heavily in the middle of my back as I turned to see a few heads angled our way, their searching eyes snapping away quickly when they saw I had caught them looking, but the tilt of
AlexanderI was fucked. Fucked in three different languages.So knee-deep in shit that I might as well have been a shit mausoleum humanoid for all I cared.How could I have hurt my wife so? What had come over me?I remembered the first time it had happened, the lapse. Our first night in the heat of the ring’s operations.My father had introduced us to the roguish-looking men, their dark eyes and thin lips lifting slightly with appraisal before settling back into a blank canvas.It had frightened Fredrick, more than it had frightened me when the killings started. Round-eyed men tortured so badly their skin was hanging on to the sinew of minced muscle by a thread.“Where’s the shipment Quavo?” My father grinned at the muscle man shaking his head wildly, but we had all known it was just a formality. The man couldn't very well speak when his tongue had been seared off.I hadn't even been certain he could hear us until the exposed balls of his red-rimmed eyes rested on me.”Dear God!” Fred