Lara I gulp and close the door behind me. His eyes are on me as I walk toward him. Honestly, this rarely happens. I don’t usually have clients that make me feel so uncomfortable. I remind myself that I can’t be scared as long as I’m in control. I use my professional voice. “Why don’t you sit down, then?”“Sure,” he says before doing as he’s told. I get on stage. I go to the music player and sure enough, there’s a gun there. The sight of it, all black and oily looking, makes me shudder. But I’m glad we’ve been given something. This is better than nothing at all. I turn the music on and then move to the center of the stage. My client sits back and stretches his arms out. He’s watching me curiously and with a hunger that makes my skin crawl. I start to dance next to the pole. I ask him, “You’re new around here, aren’t you?”“Yeah,” he answers, distracted by my swaying hips. His eyes are a vibrant green, and dark lashes are framing his eyes, making them stand out even more. His ski
Dexter I make my way outside of the club. Just seeing her makes me fucking happy. Elated. It’s so ridiculous but I’ve started to come to terms with this. I can’t help the way I feel. I just have to accept it. I start toward my car. I unlock it but then something catches my eye. It’s the kid. He’s sitting on the top of the stairs. I haven’t seen him in a while and so I go to him. He watches me approach him with curious eyes. “Down here again, huh?”“I’m bored,” he answers. “I thought I told you not to come down here again.”He shrugs but I can tell that what he wants to say is that I’m not the boss of him. “It can’t be dangerous out here, kid. Lots of creeps around.”“What do you do in there?” he asks. “In there?” I ask, jerking my head in the direction of the entrance. He nods. “Your mom works there, doesn’t she?”He nods. I can’t tell him what truly happens in there. If she didn’t tell him, then I have no business doing it. Besides, I know how my mother tried to keep her
Dexter “Well, first of all, I came here because I thought that we should find you. You’re our kin, and you deserve to know that we exist. That you have a family.”I nod, and then ask, “Where are you from?”“All the way in Baywood,” he states. “Yeah, a long way away. A whole week to get here. We never thought she got so far, you know? We started looking in the nearby towns and cities. Nobody ever heard of her. We thought that maybe she changed her name. My mother got sick afterward and stopped looking. Then, she asked me to take over as soon as I turned eighteen.”“And you’re how old now?”He’s clearly younger than me. He says, “I’m twenty-one.”“I see,” I say. “You came a long way.”“I’m glad it wasn’t for nothing,” he says. “I’m glad we found you. But I’m sad that things turned out so badly. I really hoped that she had that happy ever after, you know? I grew up listening to stories about her.”I sniffle and nod. “Yeah. It’s a shame, too.”“I was told by Jim about what happened,” he
Lara I wake up in the morning feeling a little bit better than I did when I fell asleep. I’ve been thinking all night. It seems there’s nothing left for me to do but think. I guess being close to Dexter isn’t that bad. I can try to find out where this money is and use that against him. Naturally, if he loses that money, it’ll be the end of him. What would he do without it?I don’t have to go to the club until later tonight, so I take the duffel bag out from under my bed. I haven’t looked at the money since that day, and I haven’t counted it either. I asked him for a hundred thousand, and when I looked at the bag, it seemed like enough money. I won’t count every single more. The bundles are ten thousand each, so I believe that. I start counting the bundles and feel shocked when I surpass ten. I look at the small bundle on my bed and then look back inside the duffel bag.What? Am I mistaken? I count the bundles again. The number keeps growing and growing and when the number of bund
DexterI meet up with Damson for a late breakfast at a nearby diner that I think serves really great food. Naturally, he comes with all the guys from what he calls his ‘squad’. There are five of them, and the leader is pretty clearly identifiable. He’s the big guy with even more eyeliner around his eyes, and I have to admit that I don’t like him. I’ve worked alongside the authorities for a very long time, and so, it’s easy for me to identify a crook. And this guy—this Jules—is a fucking crook. He also likes to intimidate people. We sit in a booth, all six of us. Damson is the one talking the most. The rest of us are just sizing each other up. My cousin is clearly the youngest of the group. The rest seem to be around my age. It’s incredible how I’ve known Damson only for a few hours and yet I already feel overprotective of him. I hope he’s respected in this group and that nobody takes advantage of him. Because I don’t like Jules. Not one bit. By the looks of it, he doesn’t like me
LaraOnce Dexter leaves, I realize that I really don’t want to see the apartment anymore. I wish I could say that he was following me or that he’s even stalking me, but I could tell that our meeting in that apartment was coincidental. And imagine my embarrassment. I’m home-hunting with his money and he caught me red-handed. That’s how I felt. But now he’s gone and even tried to make me feel more comfortable about the fact that he gave me a million fucking dollars. And the worst part? I am reassured. I am calmer about it now. It’s so messed up. I apologize to Nina and decide to go home and stop hunting for apartments. I don’t want to have to run into him again. I just feel so mortified. It’ll take a few more hours for Ander to be free, and so I decide to just drive around. I even go to car dealerships and look for new cars. There are so many that I like. I think I’ll ask Ander what he thinks. He’ll undoubtedly choose something big, shiny, and red, but that’s okay. Why can’t I have
LaraI walk into the private room, way ahead of Dexter, and he closes the door.Tingles spread all the way to the tips of my fingers at the thought of us being alone in the same room. To think that we'll be alone in this room for two hours is...I just have to find a way to see this through and not lose my cool. I have to remind myself that I'm doing this to survive. Nothing more, nothing less. I take a deep breath and try to remember to stick to my professionalism. Although I hate him, I have to treat him the same way I treat all my other clients. On top of that, he has his additional requests. He wants me to be more verbal."So, are you ready to have a mind-blowing evening?" I ask him, trying not to cringe. I hear him let out a short, humorless chuckle. "Vanessa, come on."I close my eyes and force myself to calm down. He's not looking at my face so it's easy for me to make these little facial expressions of annoyance. I tell him, "I'd appreciate it if you would let me do my job,
LaraI take a sip of water and try not to think about how heavy my cheek feels. The woman was gone by the time we went outside to look for her. Goddess, I have no idea who she was or why she did that to me. Who would just walk into a strip club to attack someone?Is she crazy, perhaps?Jensen’s eyes are on my face as he says, “We’ll talk to Ambrose about this. I think we need to really keep an eye on who comes in here. This is dangerous.”“Yeah,” Angela agrees. She’s seated right beside me. She saw the whole thing and is as equally horrified by what happened as I am. “If she had a gun, she would have shot you dead.”I shudder and take another sip of water. The whole thing was so random and honestly, I don’t know what to think about it. My cheek really hurts from that punch. I’m pretty sure it’ll be bruised tomorrow. “You’re sure you don’t know who she is?”“No,” I insist. “No, I have no idea who she was. I’ve never seen her before in all my life!”“Hm,” Angela says, deep in thought.
DexterA month has passed since Finch’s untimely death, and Lara hasn’t quite been the same. She’s been suffering quite a lot, and honestly, I understand why. Nothing he said made sense to me. Yesterday, she told me that she started to understand a little, but this is all a mystery to me. Maybe she gets it because she knew him better than I did. She grew up with him even though he was my biological brother and not hers. That gives her a pretty fair advantage over me. I’m haunted by the brief conversation we had over the phone. I hadn’t guessed at the time that it would be our first and last one. To sum it up, he told me that he wanted me to be Beta, and that he wanted me to promise that I’d take care of Lara and never hurt her again. But before that, he told me that he wasn’t as forgiving as she was and that he was glad I lose a hand. It was a crazy damn day, and it ended so tragically. But slowly, she’s been crawling out of her shell. Of course, her grief is only noticeable to t
Lara“Is it done?” Finch asks me over the phone. I find myself nodding, and then say, “Yes. It is.”Putting my father down was a decision we all made. It was ultimately what was best for everyone. We’ve all been hurt by him, and I think now, we can have that closure. With him being alive, there’s always that fear that he might run away from prison and target us. He’s always been vindictive. We had an incident with Jensen’s father, who had been Ambrose’s employer. When he heard of his son’s death, he orchestrated a prison break and came after us. Well, that’s what we gathered from the Gammas and Deltas who protect us. He never got close, but that didn’t mean the worst couldn’t have happened. He’s dead now, but he was a reminder that Lycans are very vindictive and will stop at nothing to get revenge. We’re all part-Lycan, so we understand this better than anyone else. We’re also vengeful in our own ways. All of us. Finch heaves a sigh. “Well, that’s the end of it.”For some reason,
Dexter“You’re free to pass through,” the prison guard tells me as he opens the door to the visitor’s room. I never thought that I would find myself here. After I sent Victor to prison for the murder of my mother, I thought I wouldn’t need to speak to him again. I didn’t need him to explain to me why the fuck he killed my mother so brutally. I didn’t want to hear any of it. But since I got together with Lara, I started feeling this sense for closure. My story doesn’t feel complete yet, and that’s because there are loose ends that I haven’t tied up. Well, there’s one, and that’s Victor. He’s sitting alone at the metal table. His hands are out of sight, and he looks older than I remember him. Maybe it’s the orange uniform that’s giving me that impression.When he sees me approaching, his eyes don’t leave my face. There’s not a single thought behind them, and as I sit across from him, I try to convince myself not to lose my cool and end this in a way that won’t land me in prison.“D
LaraI stand in the balcony of my room and stare at the moon, which is high in the sky.The sky has never looked more lovely. It’s like a velvety canvas dusted with thousands of glittering stars. Then, there’s the moon, of course. She’s the star of the show. I can’t help but feel gratitude spreading all through my body as I stare up at Her. Things worked out well for me. For us. The air is cool and still, and it’s carrying this fresh scent of pine from the surrounding forest that invades my nostrils every my time the wind blows. It’s so serene at this time of the night. Everything is still and peaceful. Arms encircle my waist from behind, and I feel the coldness of the metal of his prosthetic against my bare belly. I nestle into Dex’s warmth. I know it’s him. His warm scent envelops me like a cloud, and he kisses the arch of my neck sensually. “Awake at this time?” he asks hoarsely. “Couldn’t sleep,” I say. “Today was a good day, wasn’t it?”I think about the trial that happened
Lara"So," Finch begins when I sit directly across from him. "What happens now?"I've been asking myself this for the past few days and honestly, there's no answer. I don't think that's such a bad thing, though. Sometimes, it's great to not be able to predict anything. I want to see where this goes, too. Why should there always be an answer to everything?I tell him this, and add, "I'm happy with the progress that we've made. Isn't that great? We're taking it a day at a time. All of us."Finch looks right and stares out the window to the spot where Ander is flying a kite with Dex. The two of them are inseparable and it's a joy to see. Ander is a lot more active and they get along. "Hm," Finch says. "What?" I ask, my lips curving into a smile. "Stop being so pessimistic all the time. Why can't you be happy with me for once? I know how you feel about Dex, but he's a part of the family now. You have to put in an effort."Finch scoffs. "When hasn't he not been a part of the family?"I
DexterThree days later, I'm as good as new.As soon as I step out of the hospital, Lara is outside. She’s in the driver’s seat of the car, wearing dark sunglasses. The sight of her fills me with a fresh new will to live. When I left her room that night—right before getting jumped by fucking Jensen and his men—I thought there was no hope for us. I left that house with no expectations. But look at where we are now. I climb in the passenger’s seat. I lean toward her and press a kiss to her lips. They’re soft and she smiles against me. For the past three days, she’s barely left my side, and we’ve gotten close in a way that I didn’t think would be possible for us. I’m a brand new man, and suddenly, my life is full of possibilities. “It’s so fucking good to see you,” I tell her as I tuck a strand of her hair behind her ear. She smiles, but then it falters. “We’ve got our work cut out for us. You know what today is.”The reminder makes my heart skip a fucking beat. We both agreed that
LaraWhen we reach the house, I tell the men to stay outside with Dexter. “I’m sorry,” I tell them, looking at the injured man. “It’s only going to be for a few minutes. I’ll send a signal for you to come back.”Dex grabs my hand before I step out of the car. He stares at me and says, “Promise me that you’re going to take care of yourself. That you won’t get hurt.”“I promise,” I say. We stare intently at each other before he pushes me toward him. Our lips collide and we share a brief but passionate kiss. It’s time to go, though. I head toward the house and the gates open. I step in. I can’t meet them yet, not when I’m in only a coat and have my scrapes and cuts on display. I have to get dressed. There can’t be signs of a fight on me. It only occurs to me as I step inside the house that someone could’ve called Jensen to warn him that we attacked. But they didn’t have the time to do it, not when they were fighting for their lives. A man meets me at the door. I think his name is G
Lara But wait. Something keeps tugging at me, and when I pay close attention to it, I realize that it’s the background noise that caught my attention. The rattling chains. That almost metallic sound of the door opening. That’s all familiar to me. I chew my bottom lip and think deeply as we head home. It’s been three minutes since I last spoke to Jensen and I haven’t stopped thinking about that tiny detail. Why’s it all so familiar to me?I close my eyes and try to think. Chains. The first thing that comes to mind is Dexter’s ex. She was tied up in them when he took me there so I could decide her fate. And then there was the sound of him opening the door to the warehouse. That’s how I figure out where Dexter is. Jensen took him to the warehouse where the money had initially been stashed. The realization makes my heart pump faster and I tell the driver. “Stop. We’re going someplace else first.”My nerves are making my fingers shake with anxiety. I just have to take a deep breath
Lara There’s no way that Jensen has Dexter. This has to be another bluff. That’s what I tell to myself to calm down. My heart is slamming against the base of my throat and I find it hard to breathe. “You’re a damn fucking liar, Jensen.”“Am I?” he asks quizzically. “The plan was always to use capture Dexter. Only, we figured it would be hard to get him to talk, considering he’s tough as nails and would rather die than tell us where the money was. I suppose you know about that by now, don’t you? That I’m the one who was your employer? If not, now you do. This filthy fucking rogue took my money and I want it back. I’m prepared to take this to hell if necessary. What the fuck do I have to lose?”I say nothing for a good few seconds as I try to figure out what I have established so far. Jensen is my employer. Earlier, he told me he had someone I cared about and that he wanted to negotiate. I thought it was Ambrose, but it’s actually Dexter. Suddenly, someone comes to mind. I was talkin