“Ensure that everyone is safely inside their homes! I need a team to search the woods nearby!”Several officers broke off to their assigned tasks. The scene outside the mansion was mayhem. Red and blue lights flashed for miles. They bounced off the nearby homes and cars, casting everything in their urgent hue.“This is the police! We have a search warrant!” He could feel his heartbeat in his ears.No answer. Fine, he had expected that. What criminal would happily open their door to a squadron of police? Good, he thought. Makes the game more fun.“Surround it!” he commanded. His forces circled the home, guns pointed at windows. He kicked the door open, and they poured into his home. It was barren. No movement, no lights, no noises. This is bad. “Fan out and search! He’s in here somewhere!” Checkpoints had been established all over the city, so there was no way Eugene could be anywhere.Heavy footsteps filled the house, rattling crystal vases and gilded chandeliers. Captain Whitlock mad
“I… I don’t want you to stop.”He’d never heard a sweeter melody. His mouth descended on hers, capturing her lips in a searing kiss. Their bodies were alight with passion as the kiss deepened. Their lips mashed against each other, as if trying they were trying to destroy each other. It was hungry and desperate and spoke of months of closeted longing. Her hands wound his hair, reveling at the familiar feel of his thick strands. Lucien’s arms looped around her back, pressing her body into his.An urgent beeping filled the room, forcing them apart. Audrey’s heart rate was through the roof, and any minute and a gaggle of medical personnel would rush into the room if she didn’t calm down. Their foreheads touched as they caught their breath.“Sorry,” he said, not sounding sorry at all. “That was building up for a while.”“Yeah,” she panted. “I had almost forgotten what that felt like.”“Forgot?” Lucien pulled back, affronted. “Well, I guess I’ll just have to remind you.”Audrey giggled as h
“This city is in for a wild ride. Some crazy shit is going to go down. I feel bad for anyone involved.” She walked away to continue her sweep of the house.Captain Whitlock wanted to punch a hole in the wall.“This is some bullshit!” he yelled, startling a couple of the CSI techs nearby. He went into an empty room and called Mark. That was the only other person that could know what was going on.“I’m just saying, you had people watching this house at all times. How did none of them see anything?”“I don’t know. I ran hard surveillance. People were sending me reports by the hour. Everyone that walked in and out had been accounted for.”“So, how did this happen?” Captain Whitlock growled. “How did someone slip in, murder a man who was the focus of a city wide man hunt, and then slip out without leaving a shred of evidence? Are you sure you can trust all your people?”“Yes,” Mark paused. “But I’ll look into it. If there is a traitor, you’ll have him within the hour.”“You need to know. T
“Who is at the damn top?” The more he read, the more disturbing things got. Eugene had committed some horrific crimes all to appease whoever had loaned him the money to pay off his gambling debts.“Rest is distress, you vile sack of shit.”The journal described robberies, hostile takeovers, more kidnappings, murders. Each entry more monstrous than the last. One particular entry stood out.‘I’m not stupid. Lucien has figured out by now that I’m behind the kidnapping of his precious woman. It would have gone by less messy if I had paid attention. The last time I saw him he was dating Mia. Imagine my surprise when I kidnapped her first and she told me that Lucien had essentially kicked her out of his life. Sad for her, but fortuitous for me. A woman scorned is an amazing weapon. Mia has turned out to be an invaluable ally. While spouting words of undying love for Lucien, she was more than willing to assist me by planting the drugs in his car. A drastic distraction, but a necessary one.M
Becca sat up and stared at him. Her eyes were soft, her heart full of warmth from his words.“Hmm,” she mused. “Hot, smart, and sensitive? How are you real?”Damian looked down at his lap and chuckled.“You’re going to have to stop complimenting me like that. You’re going to make me blush.”“I could do a lot more to make you blush,” she wiggled her eyebrows.“Seriously, though,” he looked back at her. “We’re just getting to know each other. I don’t want to overstep any boundaries. But… there is a way I think I can help you.”“Yeah? What’s that?”“I hear your father is a building contractor.”“He is… or was. He’s too sick now to run the business. Once I’m recovered, I plan to try and save it. Why are you bringing that up?”“I want to add your business as a preferred vendor for my firm.”Becca’s eyes lit up. She practically sprang up from the bed.“Damian…”“Don’t try to say I shouldn’t. I want to. I, um… researched your family’s business and I was impressed with the work. It won’t guar
His grounding personality along with Becca’s fire would mesh greatly. It was a perfect match in her eyes, and it was her fervent hope that Becca and Damian would be able to find happiness in each other.“You two sound like you’re having a great time,” Lucien teased as he walked back into the room.“Just plotting against you,” Becca answered.“Should I run now?”“Not yet,” Becca looked him up and down, as though she was scanning him. “You don’t have anything to be afraid of.” She made her way out of the room. Before she left, she turned back and looked at them. “…for now.”“I thought Tracy was bad,” Lucien shuddered after Becca left. “She is terrifying.”“You have no idea,” Audrey smiled fondly. “So, where did you go?”“I was taking care of a few things for work.” There was a sort of melancholy in his voice that made Audrey pause.“You mentioned you wanted to talk to me about something last night?” she prodded.“Yeah. I was wondering where you were going to go. You know, after leaving
The trip from the hospital started was thick with silence. Lucien wanted to pretend he was okay with her going back there, but inside he was fuming. As far as he saw it, there was no reason for her to go back. She belonged back in the city with him. If she didn’t want to live with him, fine. He could get an apartment for her and Bella to live in. But to be honest, he didn’t like that either. And there wasn’t any reason for her to continue to work for Damian. Or anywhere. He could provide and take care of her. All of their needs would be met, and Bella would never want for anything. He made more than enough money to ensure that Audrey every desire was catered to. When Bella grew up, she would have the finest of everything.But she refused him.Audrey wanted to continue to live her life away from him and then in the same breath tell him she wanted to be with him. It didn’t make any sense at all. Why couldn’t she understand what he was trying to do?“Our lives can’t be just about each ot
You’re not serious,” Mark laughed. “You’re mad because she won’t drop her life and run to only exist as who you need her to? She can only have a life if you want her to have one? Don’t you hear how insane that sounds?”“That’s not what I meant.”“Yes, it is. Let me guess. You want her to quit her job, uproot her father from his facility, that he loves and is thriving at, move out of her apartment, lose all sense of her own identity, so she can move in with you and do nothing?”“Why do you make it sound so bad?”Lucien retorted.“Because it is! It’s terrible! That’s not how relationships work!”“Then what am I supposed to do? I don’t know how this works. Do I just see her sometimes and let her just… do whatever?“Yes! You make plans, and then they get cancelled because she doesn’t have a babysitter. You see each other on weekends. Whatever the arrangement you had before is dead. And you aren’t married. You don’t own her. You never will. She’s your girlfriend now, and you’re going to tre