Hollis swore successively and pleaded, "Ugo please get out. Your fingerprint has been registered. Press it on the scanner below the dining table. Drag Castel with you! What the fuck!"
He screamed and the line went dead. I looked at the phone and handed it over to Castello. He examined it."Battery’s fucking dead. I forgot to charge it, " he confessed and put the useless phone back in his pocket.He tapped the scanner under the table and started barking instructions. "Step into the basement, it will lead you to a long walkway that goes straight up." He pushed chips, biscuits and two cans of water into a bag for me."Follow the pathway straight ahead. Once you come to the end of the road, you'll see a drainage cover above. Push it open and head straight. Do not deviate. Keep straight and in twenty or forty minutes max, you'll come to a brown cabin with a dark roof and pine trees behind. Scan your finger on the scanner under the doormat. That should take you insideGunfire suddenly erupted at the back of the crowd, and I saw three of Amory's men go down with a splat. The guard who told me about Hugh's whereabouts had snuck out behind them, taking three men down before getting shot himself. While Amory's men had been distracted by the guard, Castello cocked his fist back and punched Amory right on the nose. Amory fell back like a rag doll. He slid to the floor and his head hit the ground with a thud. One of his men ran to his side but he shoved him away. Disoriented, he wobbled to a sitting position, his nose bleeding, "Fuckin kill him," he ordered pinching his nose with two fingers. Three of his men raised their weapons and, in unison, fired shots at Castello. Castello went limp to the floor. At that moment, I felt like I'd been knocked out of my body. What did I just see? It's not possible. My vision blurred, but my eyes stayed on Castello. I willed him to get back up, to fight back, to run. But he wasn’t moving. Blood soaked up the f
Branches slashed me in the face, and I pummeled full speed into a few tree trunks. I couldn’t see more than two feet in front of me, but I saw the flight lights getting closer, so I didn’t stop. I kept running, often tripping over fallen logs and bushes and skeletons. My legs were getting severely scratched and bruised. My hands were tattered. The adrenaline was pumping too fast for me to feel much, but after a while, my burning lungs were also starting to plot against me. Though my mind continued to speed through, my body was slowly giving up. When my shoulder hit an unseen tree limb, I fell backwards to the ground, and the back of my head hit the hard ground. I forced myself to get up but just fell forward on my hands and couldn’t go on anymore. The forest was dark, the moon was unable to do much for me at this point because it was covered by tree branches. So, it was reflecting off the treetops. Slowly, the torchlights started diminishing. I heard footsteps stomping f
Next, I started feeling the cold through my body. By the time we reached the cabin Castello described for me, my teeth were chattering, and my naked feet and fingers were burning. Hollis carried me toward the building. There was chaos around the property. A couple of his men were there; some were manning the cabin while others seemed to be walking around the property, surveying the land, looking for clues or other stuff, I had no idea. I concentrated on how good it was to hear Hollis's voice again. He carried me into the cabin and immediately into an empty room not giving me time to glance around the space. The bedroom was small but comfortable and most importantly, warm. Hollis released me from his back and made me sit on the mattress. "I need you to take a minute, and then we'll be out of here." He explained as he brought out a thermometer to get my temperature. In the nightmarish haze I was in, I held my arm down to prevent the thermometer from falling off. Then I got up a
I could feel the throbbing in my bruised and bloodied legs. I could also feel the fear and the pain that was lingering deep, slowly rising to the surface. I wrapped myself in the towel that Hollis had left for me and walked out to the small living room where he was standing at the edge deep in a phone conversation. His expression was dead serious, and I knew not to disturb him. I walked into the bedroom, he had already set out some clothes on the bed for me. Like a robot, I dressed myself. I soon heard the sound of the shower and I knew Hollis had gone to wash up.The clothes I had on smelled like him. By the time I was completely dressed, he was out of the shower, dressed already in jeans; his upper body was shirtless. He looked miserable and I could feel my drowned emotions already bubbling up. I strolled back to the living room, there was a heater present, so I felt it was best to stay there and get myself warmed up. I watched Hollis walk to the stove where the kettle was now b
I had no idea where I was or what time it was when I woke up again. Disoriented, I glanced around the room, looking for a clock, and then, I suddenly recalled the events of the previous day. Disarrayed images of what had happened started filtering through in pieces. Gunfire, dead bodies, skeletons, Castello. I gulped to force back down the knot that was growing in my throat and got up. From the windows, I could see that the sun was up and that Hollis wasn't home, a little panic took over me. I shuffled over to the living room, just as he walked through the door, grocery bags in hand. "The grocery store didn’t have much, but I got what I could." He announced, breathless. Placing the bags on the table, he rushed over to me and shocked me with a hug that lasted for a while. He cradled my face in his hands and surveyed it with worry, passing his thumbs over my puffy and scratched cheeks. I forced a cheering smile. "Good morning," he whispered, kissing me on the
"What?" I jolted up. Not sure what pained me most. What he said, or the fact that he dropped me down. "But it's not even up to a year." I reminded him, in case he's forgotten."Yeah, and I'm letting you go." He said.I shook my head, walking to meet him in the living room. "No, don't say that. I can help you with something while I'm here.""No, you can't." He shook his head.My voice broke into a whisper. "I... I don't want to..." I held out to him. "I just told you that I love you." I wondered if my words didn't mean a thing to him. After everything that had happened, we needed each other more than ever. I considered bringing my face a few inches forward to bridge the gap between us, while he continued to shake his head. "The fact that I said I love you, does it mean anything to you at all?" I asked him. He smiled lazily. "You know it does. But I can't keep you here. Surely, this isn't the future you want for yourself.""It is," I said hurriedly
I saw Castello spread on the ground. I yelled at him to get up, but he refused to move. I was frantic. He was lying on the tiled floor right in front of me, and I bent over, trying to get to him, but someone was holding me back. I fought the hand that was grabbing onto the back of my shirt and turned around to see Amory sitting across from me with a long whip. I woke up in a cold sweat. Hollis was already holding me and calling out my name. I was screaming Castello's name. His face had implanted itself in my brain while I was sleeping, and it wasn’t going away anytime soon. Hollis rocked me back and forth as the tears and quivering started up again. But something was different this time. I didn’t want to hold any of it in anymore. After a few minutes of tears, I willed myself to calm down, and I turned to Hollis. He looked sick with worry. "Baby, I'm here." He groaned painfully. "What are you going to do to Amory?" I asked point blank, wiping the wetness from my face. H
I woke up very late, well into the afternoon. Even then, I realized that what woke me up was the sound of Hollis's voice coming from outside. I went downstairs and peeked out the window. He was pacing back and forth on the porch, talking rapidly on his cell phone. I could hear him angrily retelling my story, the parts they didn't catch on camera to whoever was listening on the other side. He was beside himself, and a string of cuss words preceded and followed Frick's name. I took the opportunity to wash my face and have a boiling warm shower. As the warm water washed the soapy leather off my body, so did my remaining jumbled thoughts. Everything in my head was clear again, and, though my heart still felt like it was being squeezed every time I thought of Castello, I didn’t let my brain run away from it anymore. I let myself feel the pain and remember everything as it happened. Then I started thinking of the way forward. I haven't spoken to my father yet. I droppe
We drove down a clear road, surrounded by mountains and hills, and then through cave-like closings. "Where are you taking me?" I asked, trying to keep the panic out of my voice. "I’m taking you home, Emmah Landon," Gideon said, and he looked at me with that goddamn devastating crooked grin. "It's Emmah Huxley. We're divorced." I reminded him. "Yet, you're wearing a ring that would stop other men from coming close." He winked at me, obviously pleased with himself. I ignored him. But why do I have a ring on my goddamn finger? Let's see... I'm yet to get over Gideon... Of course not. I just didn't want to be disturbed by any man, relationship-wise. And... Well, and nothing. "This is not the road to my home," I said, my fingers nervously circling around my ring finger. I saw him flick his eyes over to me, and there was something almost predatory in that lazy, easy smile. "It is now," he said. I tried not to look at the muscles in his arms or how his legs were spread carelessly
He hurled me over his shoulder and started toward the side of the gas station where a black car was readily in wait. I screamed, yelled, scratched his back, yet nothing. Well, I might as well be hitting a brick wall. The area was deserted, there was no one to help, and my screams weren't getting me anywhere. There was nothing hurried about his steps; he took his time, and when we got to the car, he threw me in the back seat and filed in behind me. "Drive." He said, and that was it, his driver or whoever that robotic-looking man was, started the car. "How... What are you doing here?" I asked him, frantic. "How did you know where I was?" He didn’t answer right away, instead, he leaned back in his seat and said, "I've been on your tail for the longest time. There is this thing called a tracker. Since you've refused to see or hear me out, I had to be creative." I knew that must be the situation, but it still took my breath away. "You're kidnapping me, why?" I asked breathlessly
Dear Readers, Thank you so much for going on this amazing journey with Hollis and Ugo. I want you to know that I'm forever grateful for your love and support. Thanks for the gems, the comments, and the reviews. If you've gotten to this chapter, then you're such an amazing human and I'm sending lots of virtual hugs your way. You can always share your reviews on the review page and comments on the chapters. I would love to know what you love about this book. My new book, "RUTHLESS KINGS: THE LANDON BROTHERS," will be live soon on the Goodnovel app. Meanwhile, here is a sneak peek of a few chapters of the book. *** *** *** RUTHLESS KINGS: THE LANDON BROTHERS ** ** I'm never one to put a warning at the start of a book. But, here we go... The following book contains characters that might sound unreasonable, offensive, top-of-the-line, possessive and many more. If you consider an unapologetic, irredeemable obsessively-in-love alpha male offensive and unacceptable, you can
I swallowed, somehow having a faint idea of where all of this was going. A slight laugh escaped my husband's lips, and those damn twinkling eyes of his took me in again, like he'd just seen me and he finds me so endearing, and that look alone made my heart gallop. He placed a kiss on my shoulder. Pleasure shot through me and I inhaled sharply in response. Without warning, he threw me down on our bed. I gasped, my heart soaring when he dropped me, then bottoming out when my bare back hit the cool sheets. Hollis grabbed my bodice, and pushed it up, exposing my ass to his view. I shifted my weight back on the bed, intending to work my way closer to the middle, but before I could, he grabbed my bare legs and dragged me closer to the edge of the bed. On instinct, I grabbed the mattress to prevent myself from falling. "Hollis you..." Before I could finish my sentence, his face was between my thighs. My tummy turned over. "Oh..." When he put his mouth in my cunt, I almost
Hollis yanked off my bra and cupped my exposed skin, teasing over my nipples. My body was a complete inferno even before his lips were moving from mine.I wanted him inside of me and the release as much as I wanted my next breath. But not quite as much as I wanted to show him how much I love him and how happy he makes me.So before he could continue his kisses down my chest and toward my breasts, I pulled back, meeting his gaze, making him watch as I went down on my knees in front of him.My hands landed on his knees and slid forward up his thighs. I watched as an expression of surprise and pleasure crossed his gorgeous face.Then I reached for his fly and pulled out his thick, straining cock, pushing it into my open mouth. "Fuck, baby," he groaned, pushing his cock at the base and tracing my lower lip with his thumb. Then he pulled it out and a gush of precum sipped out. "Lick it," he demanded, holding it and my tongue moved out to trace over his head, tasting him, wetting him mor
"I told you, Baby," Hollis said as we made our way to the front door after our goodbyes. "You didn’t need to be nervous." "I’m worried about my father," I admitted, linking my arm through his own."Why?" He asked, seeming genuinely interested as Nero pulled up with our car, and Hollis pushed me in before sliding in beside me. "He seems withdrawn," I told him, shrugging. "And that isn’t how my father is.""Things have taken a sudden turn and he still blames himself for all of this. He thinks he's the one that put you with me," Hollis said, shrugging."He just doesn't know that it's destiny. One way or the other, we were bound to be together. Don't worry, next time, it will be better." He said. "By next time, do you mean my Mom's next birthday?" I asked, my heart sinking a little at the idea. "I meant the next family function," he replied, shrugging. "I believe there are going to be many of them.""You’re going to let me go?" I asked."Let
"Your wife?" My father came closer. "I didn't stutter. You heard me. Yes, my wife," Hollis said in a firm voice, erasing the distance between them. "Hollis..." I called, pressing a hand into his stomach. Sensing the plea in my face or my voice, his jaw loosened. "I'll go get you a glass of juice." He offered. "I'll like that," I said, nodding, giving him my silent gratitude. "I’ll be right back," he replied, squeezing me gently on the hip, before walking off. "I hoped you’d be happy to see me," I said to my father as soon as Hollis left, but I noticed that his gaze followed Hollis until he heard me speak. I didn't try to hide the vulnerability in my voice. I was upset. And I wasn’t accustomed to hiding that around my family. "Oh, my baby." My father called, his anger falling and getting replaced almost immediately with sadness. "Of course, I’m happy to see you," he started reaching for me. "Are you okay?" He asked, holding me tight
THREE MONTHS LATER**UGOGetting out of the the Garden after months of being kept in and guarded twenty-four-seven was reason enough to put some extra care into my appearance. It's been months since I left the confines of this place. There had been dark days throughout those couple of months. Hollis wasn't always around. I knew they were trying to set things straight.But I had no idea how they were going about it, until my husband came home to me with a bullet wound. My heart almost ripped through my chest. But, he insisted he was okay. And that was the last time he ever left me home alone. "The deed has been done, everything has been taken care of." Maxine had said to me on one of his visits.I still miss Castello, terribly, painfully. His memories remained embedded in my heart.Taking a look at myself in the mirror, I smiled. We were going to see my parents, it was my mother's birthday.Of course, I wanted to look nice, not just b
I was having one of those vivid dreams where I killed Hollis again. Over the time I've been at the Garden, I've had various versions of this dream. But they always end with Hollis's death. At times I pierce his heart with a dagger. Other times, it ranges from a gunshot to strangling him in his sleep. The dreams were always ending with my betrayal. My evil to him and the hurt I caused him. As usual, I woke up sobbing. Indeed there was no peace for me. Then I perceived it, his cologne, the one I checked out in his cabinet the first day I came to the Garden. A high-pitched cry escaped my lips. I'm now hallucinating and imagining the smell of fragrances, my situation was getting worse by the day and I'm not even helping matters. But, what can I do? Absolutely nothing. "Baby." I heard his voice and a sharp pain ricocheted through my heart. But when I turned around to the direction of the voice, in the dim lighting of the room, I saw a figure resembling that of Hollis standing