Kylan The most annoying part of all this was that I was hindsight, I should have seen this coming. My instincts had warned me that Marco was nothing but a conniving snake when I had met him in that parking lot. Hell, the bastard himself basically admitted that all he cared about was money. If he was willing to betray a dangerous Mafia group, then it would stand to reason that he would also double cross me as well. That was part of the reason why I had only offered to pay half the money upfront. But now, the little thief had the gall to attempt to blackmail me. I had to give him credit for being dedicated enough to follow me all the way back to where I live. Although that too was a mistake on my part. It did not matter much though, not anymore at least. Marco had no idea who he was messing with. Or maybe he did, and he just didn't care. Maybe he wanted to be a leech, an irremovable parasite that lived and survived by feeding on the big fish in the water. Well then, it was time
Kylan The drive out of the area was far more slow paced than my arrival had been, and just as I fully entered the more industrialized part of the city, my phone buzzed with a message. A quick glance downwards at the screen showed a short and concise message. 'Done.' I exhaled again slowly feeling all the traces of the humanity that I had tried to embrace gradually ebbing away like the waves of an ocean drifting from the shore. I had tried to play nice all this while, but if my enemies wanted to change the game, then I was going to show them just how hard it could get. I changed lanes with a sharp turn and moved into another street in an instant. My foot pressed down on the accelerator, my focus narrowing gradually until I was certain the black Camaro had all but turned into a blur speeding through the city. The route I took led to the outskirts of the city, particularly to an area that was hidden away from the main roads. I had acquired this property long ago, back when I
KylanSeconds after ending the call, my phone buzzed with a notification. Checking the screen, I saw that it was a message containing the address of the Viper gang's location. I quickly made my way to the car, and with a few swift taps on the screen of my car's smart assistant, I inputted the details and the program replied with a direct route to the location. Leaning back on the seat, I narrowed down my focus and pressed my foot harder on the accelerator. The thin indicator on the meter drew a gradual non-stop arc across the values, climbing higher and higher as the vehicle sped along the streets of the city. The faster I drove, the louder the pounding in my ears became. My heart thumped almost audibly in my chest as the rate of adrenaline diffusing into my bloodstream grew higher. By the time I realized it, the sensation had already become familiar to me. I was beginning to slip back into the man—no, the monster I had once been. Back when I had first begun my ruthless race t
Kylan Pulling out the two guns at my sides, I moved into the nearest building. It was a small storage unit with most of the upper deck still on fire, the flames gradually making their way down the structure. I slipped in silently and soon encountered my first group of enemies, a bunch of gangsters who were hurriedly trying to clear out the resources in the place before the crates were all destroyed by the fire. None of them noticed me until I had put bullets in the brains of two of their comrades. The rest were quick to turn and empty their clip in my direction. But I was already on the move by then. A quick roll allowed me to get in close and the stack of crates which I had hidden behind gave me additional cover. From there, I shot down another gang member who was carrying an assault rifle. The shot startled another person who was lifting a brown crate from the pile. Just before he could turn and unload his gun at me, he found himself instantly acquainted with the ba
Katarina I stared at Kylan with a curious and shocked expression on my face. My ears were definitely deceiving me right, there was no way he could stand there and act normal after everything that I've just heard. A mafia gang had been after me, and nobody cared to tell me? "What did you just say? What on earth is happening?" I inquired, curious and furious. Why hadn't he told me anything, I could have walked out of the house and gotten killed without even knowing anything about all of this. Was this why he had been so distant lately? Could it be that all those excuses for work had been a lie? Kylan sighed, his fingers combing through his hair in frustration. He hadn't accounted for the fact that I would find out about any of this, but he still managed to regain his composure right on time. "Calm down, Kat. I know how this looks, but I was going to tell you everything later." "Tell me when?" I demanded, not willing to buy his words just yet, not without proper explanations at l
Katarina I was the first to rise from the bed, and I couldn't wait for Kylan to open his eyes as well. I had slept all night with one thought in mind, and that was the answer to my question from last night. Where had he been to? Why was he wounded, and who were the men whom I had heard were after me?! I wanted the answers to all of those questions, but it was probably best to not rush things. I remained on the bed, curious and anxious. The alarm was yet to go off, and that was how I knew that my curiosity and anxiety had probably woken me a little bit too early. However, I really couldn't fall back asleep, not with everything happening in my head. Curious, I traced my fingers over his bandages, gently checking out his injuries and the other scars that painted his body like tattoos. There weren't many injuries on him, and the ones he had on didn't seem like they were life threatening. If anything, they gave him a more rugged appearance, and just tracing my fingers over them was
Kylan It had been so long since I've had a chance to really rest that I almost forgot that I had other duties to attend to. This whole business with Joanna and her gang had gotten me on a one track mind for quite some time now. Which meant I had ended up neglecting my company, something that Cole made sure to call to my attention any chance he got. Even though I had told him about the mafia's existence, I hadn't given him the full details just yet. As I got up from my bed with the intention of opening my curtains to let in the fresh morning sun, the memory of the call I received last night replayed itself in my head. It had only been a few days since I wiped out the Viper Gang, but fate still refuses to let me rest easy. Christopher's lawyers were back again, and now claimed to have tangible evidence against me. Something tangible enough that the judge had called me and my lawyers back to court for the next trial. The good thing about this was that Cole had not sounded worrie
Kylan "Cole." "Kylan?" "Before we leave for the court, call in my secretary and have her pick out the documents belonging to those that are already trying to betray us." Cole met my eyes, and a small smile curved his lips when he saw the concealed fury in my expression. "I can already tell how much this place missed having you around. Yeah, I got what you said. Now, what are we going to do about the court case?" I cast the documents in front of me one final disdainful look before shelving the thought aside. I would deal with it later, but for now I had a more pressing issue to take care of. "What do we know so far?" I asked. Cole leaned back in his chair and glanced at the set of black marbles on my desk. "There isn't much information to be honest. The heat only came after that rat Phillip Gaines came here and snooped around. He never saw the private archives though, and as for the records he was able to look at, I had already scrubbed those ones clean. My guess is th
Katarina "I'm sorry about everything..." Kylan apologized the moment we got home. There were tears in his eyes, and he didn't fight them back. "I lost touch with reality, I was more focused on work than our relationship, I'm so sorry—" He hadn't finished when I threw my arms around him in a warm embrace, my own tears already flowing without end. I had no idea how to repay him at this point, and I genuinely couldn't think of being mad at him anymore. He had saved me for the thousandth time. "T..thank you so much.." I cried while sniffing back tears. I couldn't even be mad at him for everything, not now, not after what had just happened. If he hadn't shown up when he did, there was no telling what would have happened to me. My own parents had betrayed me, I had been a fool for thinking that they would change, and I had been greatly disappointed. All they wanted was money, and to them I was nothing but a means of getting that money. I didn't matter to them as long as money wasn'
Kylan While my men surrounded the building and handled Diana's henchmen, I went in to search for Katarina. It took a while, slinking through the chaos and searching from room to another. However, after ten long minutes, I finally found her and called out the second I recognized her petite figure. "Kylan!" She cried, jumping up from the couch to throw herself into my arms. Fresh sobs shook her slight frame as she clung tightly to me, but I could tell that these were tears of happiness. "Get away from him, you bitch," Diana snarled and made to take a step forward, only to find herself staring down the barrel of the gun I had taken from one of my guards earlier. "If you take a single step from that spot Diana, I swear to God I will paint this room red with your blood." She froze there, her body stiff as a board and her eyes wide with shock at the sheer vitriol in my voice. That was when I saw the terror slowly creeping into her expression. Her arms sagged helplessly at her sid
Kylan David paused in the middle of his words and stared at me with eyes full of reservations and curiosity. Even though it was dark in the room, I could practically see the gears turning in his mind behind those blue eyes of his. The amount I was offering was not something he was not used to receiving for a job, but the only jobs that involved that kind of money were the ones that carried a very substantial amount of risks. Eventually he sighed and waved for me to follow behind him. The eccentric man made his way through the dark house with the ease of someone who knew every inch of this place very well. I simply followed right behind him to avoid any accidents until we reached the basement where the hub of his activities was located. He sat down on his chair and leveled me with a dead serious glare. "You know, in all the time I've known you, I've always thought of you as some insanely dangerous individual, someone incapable of losing their cool, who is somehow able to kee
Kylan My first thought was to return back to the location I had just come from. In Katarina's letter, she had mentioned that she was going back to her parents, to wait for me until I would come for her. But I had met Ann just a while ago, and the woman basically swore to me that she had no idea where her daughter was. She did not even give any indication of having seen Katarina recently. As everything was simply not adding up, I decided to follow my thoughts and drove back all the way to the house. The moment I turned into the street, I realized that the blue car that had been parked in front of the house when I had been there previously, was now missing. I rushed out of my own car and raced up to the house. Yelling out their names, I banged my fist on the wooden door several times. As soon as I realized that I was not going to get an answer, I drew back a bit and slammed the bottom of my foot on the door, right near the handle. The lock mechanism shattered at the well placed
Kylan Even though I could understand the reason why Katarina would run away from me again, I failed to accept any of the things Diana had said. Katarina's love had been real, and so were my feelings for her. I just could not accept that it was all a lie. I knew I had lost her once before, back when I had been too short-sighted to see past my own needs and wants. But she helped me move past that, and I found myself finally able to truly love someone. That was why I knew with certainty that she would not abandon me so recklessly, even though I had failed to give her the attention she wanted. As I made up my mind and left my room to enter the hallway, I glanced down at the closed door to the guestroom that was just at the end of the passage. Diana was still inside, and I could hear the sound of the shower which meant she would not be out anytime soon. Besides, I was fairly certain that she would not be happy with me putting myself through so much for someone that left me on her
Katarina Mama immediately broke down in tears at the sight of me, and now I felt bad for not coming to visit or reaching out to them sooner. She seemed genuinely concerned for me, and it was clear that the mere sight of me had driven her to tears. Was I the bad one for not calling them, for running away without saying anything? It definitely felt like it, but I managed to push those thoughts away. "Is it really you? Is this you, Kat?" My mother questioned as she reached for my face, slowly caressing and feeling it with her feeble hands. "It's me, mother. There's no need to be afraid, I'm not a ghost." I replied, before gently pushing her hand away from my face. It definitely felt good to see her after all this while. We had our differences, but she was still my mother, and there was nothing I could do to change that. "Why did you leave? Why did you run away, I had been so worried." She cried as she gently allowed me into the house. Memories of my childhood and all the time
Kylan Diana answered the call on the second ring, and I gave her a short explanation of the situation. The more I tried to say, the more it seemed as if my heart was about to shatter within my chest. I ended up leaving the call halfway when my voice began to waver, my grief pushing me to tears that I had not shed in as long as I remember. I sat there, as lifeless as a stone statue, with a multitude of thoughts flashing through my mind. No matter how I looked at the situation, I could only see the many ways I had fallen short of the things I should have done. But there were all the things I had failed at. Everything had been going so well before now, so how could I have made such a terrible oversight? Had my determination to make everything right caused me to be blind to what had been right in front of me? I honestly had no idea how long it took Diana to arrive. I was so out of it that I barely even heard the front door open and close. She called out my name twice, but I had n
KylanAt some point, I was starting to wonder if these papers were somehow multiplying when I wasn't looking. I had already long lost count of the number of hours I had spent behind this desk, working my mind and body to their limits in an effort to get through the files on my desk. It was probably late by now, and I had lost track of time. But yet, as I looked at the stacks across the black wooden surface, it was as if I had yet to make a single dent. I looked down at the document right in front of me, a complex ledger that was detailing a pending transaction of a high enough level of importance that it required the signature of the highest power in the company. I quickly read through it, putting my advanced processing skills obtained through hundreds of hours of effort and experience. It did not take me long to go through the entire document, finding it suitable before I moved to sign at the right places. Just before I could pick up the next document, my phone lit up with
Katarina Once again I was left alone at home. I had listened and heard when Kylan left the house, and shortly after Diana's car drove out of the premises. I was left alone once more, and had completely lost appetite for the food before me. It was becoming exhausting sitting around all day and doing nothing. And thanks to Kylan always being out every time, I hadn't even had the opportunity to discuss my decision to start working. I got out of my room to return the food back to the kitchen. The smell had begun to make me feel nauseous, and I didn't want that anymore. Bored, I toured the house, moving from room to room and checking out anything that caught my attention. However, it was not enough. The clock was ticking especially slow today, and it was slowly driving me insane. Left with no other choice, I dressed up and left the house for the first time in a while. I needed it, being held up in one place was definitely not good for my physical and mental health. I was