Grace POVI shake my head slightly trying to keep myself in check, I can’t believe this is happening to me, “What can I say, you are only collateral damage,” he says shrugging and I stand up the chair falling back with a thud and his eyes move to mine as he rests back on his chair still holding his knife and fork. The man hasn’t stopped eating since this entire thing. I hold the knife in my trembling hand as I raise it pointing it at him. His eyebrows arch as he looks at me, shaking his head. “What do you think you’re going to accomplish with that?” He asks and I look at him, shaking my head as the tears roll down my cheek. “Put the knife down, principessa,” he says, and I shake my head violently. “No, you’re an animal, you’re a criminal,” I say and he laughs again, nodding. “Yes, I am, and I had my eye on you. You are way too pretty to be with only one man,” Lorenzo says, and I frown as he stands, shoving his hands into his pants pockets. His large belly hanging over his belt with
Dash POV“This way,” Priest says as we enter the living room and it’s completely empty. “Clear,” he shouts through the communication system as we walk up the stairs, but something catches my eyes when we move. “What is that?” I let out as I walk to the wall where a small red handprint is marked. I look at the painting as Priest, Prank, and Storm keep an eye out. “Help me out,” I say as Storm starts touching the painting at the same time as me. “This is a secret path,” I announce and Priest curses under his breath. “Jagger, keep an eye out in the back. There are secret paths inside the house that most likely lead them out,” I announce, and I don’t wait for my brother’s reply when I open the path and step inside. It’s dark as fuck and there’s no light at all, but luckily, our masks have night vision. I turn it on, stepping inside, but a hand stops me and I look back to see Priest shaking his head. “That is fucking suicide, brother,” he says and I pull my arm away from his grip, stepp
Dash POV“Where is Grace?” Marie says as soon as she enters the waiting room where we were told to wait for news of Grace. “Where is she? How is she?” Marie keeps bombarding me with questions and before I am able to reply Jagger replies. “She’s inside, the doctors are with her,” Jagger lets out and her eyes move from me to Jagger and then back to me. She shakes her head as tears spill down her cheek and I pull her into an embrace. I know the woman used to hate me, but I also know she has come to like me. “She is going to be okay,” I whisper against the top of her head as she nods slightly. “She is a fighter, and she is going to pull through,” I say, trying to convince the both of us. I know Grace is fighting. The doctor told us they had to give her blood and take care of open wounds. “How did you find her?” Marie asks and I shake my head as she pulls away from me and her eyes meet mine. Her eyes are a reflection of fear and tiredness. “Where was she? Why isn’t the police here?” She
Dash POVAs soon as we arrive at the waiting room, the doctor greets us, shaking Marie’s hand, and she smiles politely. “How’s Grace?” She asks immediately, not letting the doctor say anything. I understand her concern. I feel exactly the same way and if the doctor doesn’t start talking right away, I am capable of ripping his fucking head off. “Grace has lost a lot of blood, and we had to bring her back twice,” the doctor says and I close my hands into fists. Twice?“Oh my God,” Marie says covering her mouth with her hand as I pull her into my arms and she cries as she looks at the doctor, who keeps giving us all the details of Grace’s condition. She is worse than I thought, and I know who’s going to pay for it as soon as I get out of here. “Can we see her?” I ask the question that keeps popping into my mind every second. Marie nods, agreeing with me, and the doctor smiles politely. “I would recommend one at a time. She is very frail, and she is still in the ICU,” the doctor says a
Jagger POVWatching my brother almost go through everything I went through has become my worst nightmare. The way he was barely breathing while we tried to find Grace was killing me. I don’t wish that pain on anyone, especially not on my twin brother. He is everything to me. He is the only person I can rely on. “Are you sure you want to do this?” Ghost asks and I nod as he wraps my wrists and hands. Ghost has become a good friend in the last few months. “You can still leave,” he adds, and I shake my head. “Are you trying to get into my head?” I ask, looking directly into his dark eyes. and he shakes his head, cocking his head to the side slightly. When I am done, I walk out of the changing rooms straight into the cage where I am about to have my first underground fight. Ghost introduced me to this world and I come here every time I want to distract myself. There’s something therapeutic for me watching people bleed. “Remember what I told you,” Ghost says and I nod. This is an under
Dash POVI walk straight into the room where all the instruments are kept. Things here are different from the safe house. The cells are like rooms and we can’t keep the stuff inside because otherwise they could use it against us or against themselves. Gathering my favorites, I smile as I grab the baseball bat, the knife, and the nail remover. I shove them into my pocket as I rest the baseball bat against my shoulder and I walk into Amber’s room. Her eyes meet mine and she immediately moves against the wall. “Please, don’t do this Dash, I can give you more information,” Amber says and I can’t help but laugh at her poor attempt at getting out of this. “I’ll tell you whatever you want to know,” Amber says, and I shake my head as I grab my phone from my pocket. I log into the security camera feed and show the bitch she is not alone anymore. Amber gasps, covering her mouth with her hand as she sees her pile of shit boyfriend or whatever Parisi is in the other room. He is tied to the wal
Grace POV“I can walk by myself,” I let out with a giggle as Dash lifts me from the car. His arms holding me bridal style as he carries me to the elevator. His eyes meet mine and he plants a small kiss on my lips as we wait inside the elevator. The doors open, taking us into our apartment and when we are inside, I look around trying to find my furry friend, but disappointment takes over as I can’t see him anywhere. “Where’s Crow?” I ask Dash and he smiles as he puts me on the couch. His eyes follow my every move as I adjust to my position. “So? Where is he?” I ask and Dash sits next to me, smiling. “Jagger has him, because I was spending so much time in the hospital with you he offered to stay with him, shocking I know,” Dash says and I widen my eyes, nodding. “I never thought I would see the day the big bad wolf would become a teddy bear and decide to offer his help with a dog,” I say as I laugh, and Dash smiles. “Are you hungry? I can make you something to eat,” he says and I sh
Dash POV“What do you mean, you do things that would make my skin curl? What do you mean by that?” Grace asks and I close my eyes for a few seconds and when I open them, her eyes widen as if she is finally understanding everything. “I am innocent Grace, and I will make sure no one comes back to hurt you,” I say, and she stands up so fast it makes my head spin. “Careful, you can’t do that,” I say, but she ignores me as she paces around the living room. “Are you telling me you are like Parisi?” Grace asks and I stand walking to her. I place my hands on her neck and her eyes meet mine as I caress her skin lightly with my thumb as I shake my head. “I am nothing like that fucker, I don’t traffic women, I don’t rape women, I don’t force them to do things they don’t want, and I sure as hell don’t hurt innocent women,” I add and Grace’s eyes widen again as her hands fly to touch mine. Her hands gripping mine but she doesn’t push away. “I am not like him, but I am not innocent,” I say and s
Jagger POVEntering the elevator, I press my key card to the reader and the doors close immediately. I hate sharing the elevator with people, so I like to come early, before everyone is supposed to start. Today is a bad day for me. It’s been ten years today since my life changed and made me the man I am today. The elevator doors open and Janet looks at me with a wide smile. I look at her, shaking my head slightly as I walk to her desk and she offers me a cup of black coffee. “Good morning boss,” she says and I raise an eyebrow, looking at her and her shoulders slump as she looks at me. “What? Can’t I try to make your day a little better? Today is your dark day after all,” she says and I nod slightly, offering her a small smile. I don’t smile a lot lately, I don’t have a lot of reasons to smile, anyway. “Every day is a dark day,” I correct Janet, and she crosses her arms in front of her chest giving me her sassy attitude and I nod “Thank you for the coffee,” I tell her and her entire
Dash POVStanding at the altar waiting for Grace to walk up to me is making me more nervous than I have ever been in my life. Waiting for her to walk to me in her wedding dress, ready to make me her husband, is the weirdest feeling ever. The past year I have spent showing Grace how much I love her and how important she is to me. The Bridal March starts playing and I look at my brother, who is standing next to me while I adjust my jacket. Fiddling with my hands seems to be helping with the anxiety of seeing Grace.Everyone stands up and then I see Grace walking towards me next to her mother. The veil is covering her face, but I can see her smile underneath. Once they stand in front of me, Marie kisses me on the cheek before offering me her daughter’s hand. I hold Grace’s hand, bringing it to my lips before I remove the veil from her face and her eyes shine with happiness, but it soon disappears when her eyes move from me to my brother standing behind me. “What happened to Jagger?” Gr
Dash POVOne year laterOpening my eyes as I feel the sweat dripping down my face and my heart beating fast makes me sit up straight immediately. I look around the room, remembering I am in Jagger’s house. Today is my wedding day and Grace came up with the whole shit. I am not allowed to see her before the wedding kind of crap.I tried to explain to her that superstition made no sense, not when we lived together and shared a life already, but she made me promise I would respect what she wanted. What can I say? The girl says jump and I ask how high. I am entirely in her hands and she can do whatever the fuck she wants with me that I will allow her to. Pulling up a pair of shorts that I left on the chair, I walk out of the room towards the living room to find my brother with an ice pack against his lip. I raise a single eyebrow as I step closer to him and chuckle as his bruised face appears behind the ice. “Holly shit, Grace is going to fucking kill you, and those bruises won’t be any
Dash POVI open my eyes and immediately regret doing so. My mouth is dry and my vision is blurred. I move my hands up and down my face, trying to wake up, but the headache makes me flinch. I groan in frustration and when I move; I feel something next to me in bed. No, no… Fear strikes and I stand still, not wanting to look at how much I fucked up last night. Getting drunk is one thing, but hooking up and ending up fucking a random girl is an entirely different kind of fuck up. A fuck up, I will not forgive myself. Gathering the courage to look after taking several breaths, I move slightly to see Grace sleeping next to me. I look up and then look at my side again, sitting up on the bed in one movement. Not believing my eyes, I smile, but at the same time freak out a little. How the fuck did I end up in bed with Grace?I look around the room, not recognizing it, and then look down at my body to find a pair of green boxer shorts I have never seen in my life. What the fuck? Looking arou
Grace POV“Grace, dinner is ready, sweetheart,” Mom says as she opens my bedroom door. I nod my head slightly without lifting my head from the pillow. “I’m not hungry,” I whisper back as I feel a single tear roll down my face. I have been crying on and off since I left Dash’s house. Everything he has told me, plus everything else that happened, has taken a toll on me. It’s like my brain has gone into overdrive and shut down. Refusing to cope with what is happening.Mom takes a deep breath as she sits on the edge of the bed, resting her hand on my legs. I look at her and I can see the concern plastered all over her face. “I am worried about you,” Mom says, and that is the last thing I want. She doesn’t deserve to be feeling this. She has gone through so much, I hate putting another thing on her back. Mom looks like she has aged years in the last few days. The betrayal, the divorce, my dad’s death, and my kidnapping have taken a huge chunk of her life away. “Sorry Mom,” I say, sitting
Dash POV“What do you mean, you do things that would make my skin curl? What do you mean by that?” Grace asks and I close my eyes for a few seconds and when I open them, her eyes widen as if she is finally understanding everything. “I am innocent Grace, and I will make sure no one comes back to hurt you,” I say, and she stands up so fast it makes my head spin. “Careful, you can’t do that,” I say, but she ignores me as she paces around the living room. “Are you telling me you are like Parisi?” Grace asks and I stand walking to her. I place my hands on her neck and her eyes meet mine as I caress her skin lightly with my thumb as I shake my head. “I am nothing like that fucker, I don’t traffic women, I don’t rape women, I don’t force them to do things they don’t want, and I sure as hell don’t hurt innocent women,” I add and Grace’s eyes widen again as her hands fly to touch mine. Her hands gripping mine but she doesn’t push away. “I am not like him, but I am not innocent,” I say and s
Grace POV“I can walk by myself,” I let out with a giggle as Dash lifts me from the car. His arms holding me bridal style as he carries me to the elevator. His eyes meet mine and he plants a small kiss on my lips as we wait inside the elevator. The doors open, taking us into our apartment and when we are inside, I look around trying to find my furry friend, but disappointment takes over as I can’t see him anywhere. “Where’s Crow?” I ask Dash and he smiles as he puts me on the couch. His eyes follow my every move as I adjust to my position. “So? Where is he?” I ask and Dash sits next to me, smiling. “Jagger has him, because I was spending so much time in the hospital with you he offered to stay with him, shocking I know,” Dash says and I widen my eyes, nodding. “I never thought I would see the day the big bad wolf would become a teddy bear and decide to offer his help with a dog,” I say as I laugh, and Dash smiles. “Are you hungry? I can make you something to eat,” he says and I sh
Dash POVI walk straight into the room where all the instruments are kept. Things here are different from the safe house. The cells are like rooms and we can’t keep the stuff inside because otherwise they could use it against us or against themselves. Gathering my favorites, I smile as I grab the baseball bat, the knife, and the nail remover. I shove them into my pocket as I rest the baseball bat against my shoulder and I walk into Amber’s room. Her eyes meet mine and she immediately moves against the wall. “Please, don’t do this Dash, I can give you more information,” Amber says and I can’t help but laugh at her poor attempt at getting out of this. “I’ll tell you whatever you want to know,” Amber says, and I shake my head as I grab my phone from my pocket. I log into the security camera feed and show the bitch she is not alone anymore. Amber gasps, covering her mouth with her hand as she sees her pile of shit boyfriend or whatever Parisi is in the other room. He is tied to the wal
Jagger POVWatching my brother almost go through everything I went through has become my worst nightmare. The way he was barely breathing while we tried to find Grace was killing me. I don’t wish that pain on anyone, especially not on my twin brother. He is everything to me. He is the only person I can rely on. “Are you sure you want to do this?” Ghost asks and I nod as he wraps my wrists and hands. Ghost has become a good friend in the last few months. “You can still leave,” he adds, and I shake my head. “Are you trying to get into my head?” I ask, looking directly into his dark eyes. and he shakes his head, cocking his head to the side slightly. When I am done, I walk out of the changing rooms straight into the cage where I am about to have my first underground fight. Ghost introduced me to this world and I come here every time I want to distract myself. There’s something therapeutic for me watching people bleed. “Remember what I told you,” Ghost says and I nod. This is an under