Alex's POVIt all happened too fast.Too fast for me to get a grip on.I didn't understand how I pulled my gun and ran out of the room or how even Nikolas followed my steps. But Maxwell seemed to understand my father's motives before us as he was the first to leave the room.I heard the gunshot before I saw who fired it.Then another one; The sound bounced off the walls and felt like it shook the whole house.Fear grabbed me by the throat and every cell in my body tightened at the dark thoughts that coursed through my head.Then, I saw him, one of my father's guys.I didn't think, I didn't hesitate, I immediately aimed and fired making a bullet go right through his chest. Another bullet came from my side and hit him right in the head, jerking his body backward before he fell dead on the ground.A harsh breath pushed its way out of my chest yet it didn't ease any of the tightness that wrapped around my lungs. My gaze shifted to Nikolas just right by my side; I didn't allow myself to dw
Alex's POVLife has a way of testing someone's will.It's either by having nothing happen at all or by having everything happen at once.With me, it's the latter.All at once.One after the other with no breaks in between.From the moment she came back into my life, from the moment Nikolas showed up until now, not once have I been able to take a normal breath, not once have I been able to close my eyes and just sleep.A stuttered breath sneaked past my lips and frustration blistered below my skin as I pressed the back of my head against the headrest. I shut my eyes and scrubbed a hand over my face, preparing myself to embrace what's about to come.I pried my eyes open and looked at Lily in the backseat. She had her eyes closed, peacefully sleeping, her head resting against the door and her small hands wrapped around the seatbelt.Like a little angel, she looked so pure and innocent.If life hated me so much for the things I've done before then why would it give me something so beautif
Nikolas's POVComfort.I'd gone without it for a lot of years. It was this deep empty hole in my chest searching for anything to fill it; aching as it kept on eating at my inside, day after day searching for satiety but never was able to find it. It kept on getting deeper and deeper till it sucked all the light from inside, leaving me with nothing but darkness.And that darkness surrounded me, wrapped me inside out. It took parts of me and embedded itself into my core, always there taunting me, mocking me, reminding me I'd lost the right to be loved.But when this woman looks at me, when those green eyes that's so similar to mine caress my face with so much softness; all of a sudden that darkness starts to fade away and light swoop right in.When she smiles; Comfort - that foreign feeling - surrounds me.And it leaves me questioning everything, including myself. Do I deserve it? Hell to the no I don't.But once again, when she finds out what I did; when she discovers that I turned out
Cara's POVIt was dark.It was cold..really cold.A shiver went down my spine and my feet started to ache as I moved forward. Air heaved in and out of my lungs, jagged and coarse. I wrapped my arms around my frail body trying somehow to protect myself as the lights around me dimmed; it became darker, colder but that didn't stop me. I didn't know where I was heading to, but my body seemed to know the destination better than me, my mind wasn't the one in control and I just felt myself stop at the threshold of a house.It looked old, torn up, just like I always imagined it to be; Crumbling and decayed.My pulse thundered and pain grabbed my throat in a tight fist; Beneath me, the house blurred. It started to fade and it was replaced by something so different, by something so bright; It was all in my head, the images that flashed, the smiles, the voices my ears heard; It was all in my head. The sound of my light footsteps as I ran around, the squealing of my laughter as he caught me and t
Cara's POVMy steps took a hard stop when I heard a gunshot coming from the same place Alex went to minutes ago.Sickness coiled in my stomach and I immediately turned around; Roman stood in my way, his hand on the door holding it open for me, "Get in the car." He ordered.I shook my head and tried to walk past him but his hand wrapped around my arm and stopped me from moving any further."Cara-""No, leave me!" I snapped as I tore his hand away.Another gunshot sounded in the air, it also came from the same place.What's happening?My pulse sped, and I pulled in even breaths, trying to calm myself and the panic that had built up in my nerves. My heart dropped into my stomach as my eyes scanned through the trees trying to clear my vision and catch any glimpse of him.I can't just stay here. I have to go. I have to see if he is alright.He is all alone there.And - Oh my god- Nikolas.. he is here too.If it happened and these two were in the same place alone. I am pretty sure one of th
Roman's POVA gust of cold wind blew and chilled my face. Coldness blanketed my skin as I placed the tip of the bottle to my lips and gulped a full mouth of the liquor. My fingers wrapped tighter around the glass as the taste left a burn when it passed my throat. I took another gulp before I leaned my back against the car and tilted my head back, breathing deeply as I eyed the sky.It was a clear, moonless night. It looked peaceful and at ease. It was silent. No voices and no one around except for the demons in my head whispering things I am not so sure I am capable of, drowning me in the chaos of their thoughts.I welcomed the darkness as my eyelids dropped down, air pushed in and out of my lungs, jagged and coarse. A growl rumbled at the base of my throat. I hated every fucking second of this day. My jaw clenched and my eyes glided open before I angrily threw the bottle away. It fell at a distance, glass shattered as it hit the ground. The crashing sound crawled into the inside of m
Cara's POVI may have gone mad..crazy and insane.Maybe I am being unreasonable, or maybe I have just lost my mind.Because instead of pushing that button, here I am, talking with that exact man who ruined my life, the same one who broke me over and over again.Here I am, asking for his help.Some may not agree, but there are few things out there that hurt so much more than just a broken heart.Something physical.Intense.Real.An affliction with no antidote.Because no pain can come equally to what I felt at that moment, how it was all ripped away from me when I saw life ever so slowly leave his eye; nothing can take away the vision of him as he slipped away from me.It doesn't matter which way you slice it, look at it or analyze it. It'll always come up with the same sum... same fact, that he is dead.And the man who killed him is still out there. Still breathing, alive and planning more ruin.Alex's father must be punished.And I know Nikolas is the one to do it. He is the one rea
Alex's POVI hated.Everything and everyone.My vision clouded with anger, and my heart pounded harder as I made my way out of the hospital. The feeling flared like a sickness clawing at the inside of my stomach. My leg bounced with the nerves prodding my anxious feet. My hands shook with that old rage, the gnawing impulse that clipped my nerves, that need to get back inside and pull him the fuck away from her.I stopped, my steps halted and I just stood there. The mere thought of them together brought my sanity right to the edge. I fisted my hair in my hands, doing my best not to lose my shit, trying to keep from coming unglued here in the middle of the fucking day.Anger clenched my jaw, the emotion in an all-out war with the part of me that kept giving her reasons, the part that trusted her with all its being, that part that refused to believe in what they all say...that part didn't even want to acknowledge what my eyes just saw.But the image slammed me in quick succession - her w
Katherine's POV"Here is number one," Alex said as he handed me Lilly.I gave her to Ashton before I turned around and received the second package, "And here is number two," He added as he handed me Max and his bag. The little boy settled between my arms without making any noise. He rested his cheek over my chest as he played with the piece of bread in his tiny hands, chewing on it and making a mess over my clothes and his."Is that all?" I asked, my eyebrow raising and Alex nodded, "As far as I know, I have only two kids," He said, his eyebrows pulling closer in utter terror, "I hope there isn't more of them out there.""We all have our doubts about that," I said and he shot me a glare.His eyes flickered to Max in my arms and they softened right away before he inched closer and kissed his cheek. He ran his hand over the boy's soft hair and Max looked back at him, smiling as he let out that happy baby noise that makes my ovaries explode.I pouted at his cuteness and tightened my arms
Five months later...Cara's POVI pressed my palm over my bump when I felt my belly tightening and my muscles stiffening. I walked forward shaking that uncomfortable feeling away.My stomach and back muscles contracted painfully and I slammed my eyes shut.Breathe in. Breathe out.Phew.If you think that I am gonna have the baby right now, well I hate to burst your bubble, but you're wrong. I've been having these amazing false alarms all over the past week.I lost count over how many times I dragged Alex to the hospital. Poor thing, I gave him way too many unnecessary heart attacks.Five days has passed since my due date and my baby is not planning on coming out. WHY? Just why?I've never felt more uncomfortable.I walked into the kitchen and my eyes fell on Katherine preparing the meal with Ashton assisting her. She's so lucky, Alex never helps me. Sigh.Ashton's gaze went to me and he smiled, "You're still pregnant?" He asked amused.Is he making fun of me?He is, isn't he?That son
Cara's POVLove is a pretty powerful drug. When you feel it, you really feel it.It can suspend time, making the whole world seem still except for you two.My mother once told me that there's a vast difference between love and true love. I never understood it, not until now.True love knows no depth. It's an endless tunnel that sweeps you up in the whirlwind and you're never quite free from it. It stays with you and it gets you addicted like nothing else. There is no breaking free after, no moving on.True love isn't ordinary. It doesn't come around often and that's how you'll know it's genuine.I thought I knew what love is when I first met Alex, when he took my hand in his and I fell into his arms, like I was always waiting for it. It felt like a fairy tale at the moment, it was magical..in a way.We had our ups and downs back then, but it was simple. We were just two lost people, learning how to fall in love. It was new for us, to open up and let our guard down, we weren't used to
Alex's POVI never believed in fate or destiny.All the soulmates and meant to be crap, they never made sense to me. The concept that no matter what we do, the outcome is sealed, that we are just puppets in the grand scheme of things...That concept is ill.But what is scarier is that people actually believe in it.They say what's meant to be, will be.That in the end, everything unfolds the way it's supposed to. As if destiny is not the choices we make.I just don't believe in that.Yeah, I believe that I fell in love, but I believe that I chose her, I believe that it was my choice...not something written in the stars all those years ago.It was my choice.Like I chose to be with her; now, I am choosing to leave her behind.I am choosing to move on.For the very first time, I am choosing to be selfish.On a heavy exhale, I stood up, for a moment I gazed at her. I couldn't help but think that what we had was so beautiful, it was everything I ever wanted. She was my everything. But all
At the day of the incident...PART TWO05:30 amEmma's POVFear.Fear is shackles, it is a knife in the gut slowly twisted, it is a constant hammer on the head.Yet fear is also just an illusion, but not an amusing one brought about by a conjuring trick. It's like the ghosts of a child's nightmare - a fragment of our own imagination. A lie.Whenever fear and I crossed paths, I walked with confidence right past it.For years and years, I didn't feel it because I believed that there is nothing to fear but fear itself.But all of that changed now.All my defenses evaporated as my eyes locked down with his. They were a deep, earthy brown - the color of the earth after torrential rains.He smiles at me. It is soft, so soft, a contradiction with the cruelty in his eyes."Emma," He whispers, my name parts his lips ever so gently. He was never gentle.The fear sits quietly, eroding the person I was born to be. What starts as a contortion of my stomach becomes a feeling of being smothered by a
ONE YEAR LATER...NEW YORKCara's POVLoving someone is one of the biggest chances we ever take.I consider it unfair, because it's rarely a conscious decision we make. It's something beyond our control.That love, it either blossoms slowly and gradually grows, or it hits us hard, shocking us with its sudden intensity.Sometimes it's a cure.And other times it's a curse.In my case, it was both.It was the one thing missing from my life, the thing I needed the most but when I finally had it, like a drug, I couldn't live without it.Falling in love, it was inevitable.This...all of this was inevitable.It was bound to happen. I couldn't avoid it, no matter what, I couldn't run from it.It's weird, but I always had a feeling that something this bad would happen one day. I always sensed a storm brewing at a distance, waiting for the best moment to strike and ruin us in its wake...and the sad thing, it actually did.The storm wrecked us. Took parts of us. Changed us.That storm, it broke
Alex's POV"Can I ask something?"Oh, it speaks.I didn't answer right away, I can feel her eyes on me as I drove us to our destination. Without turning, I nodded my head, ushering her to carry on, although, I would've preferred this drive to be silent."Would you...Would you really do what you said on the phone?" The amount of fear in her voice almost made my chest tighten, "Would you hand me over to your father like that?"I turned to look at her, my brow arched as I asked, "Do you want the truth?" She immediately nodded her head, eager to hear the answer.I looked back at the road ahead of us, "Yeah, I would." I honestly said, "If it wasn't for Nikolas, who I am pretty sure will literally kill me if I did it, but if it wasn't for him, I would've just handed you to him in exchange for my daughter."I felt her shift in her seat uncomfortably, her voice shook a little, "Are you going to do that now?"I turned to her, to see the lone tear streaming down her cheek and I shook my head, "
Alex's POV"Hel...Help?" She stuttered, conflict reigned in her gaze, questions, worry, and blatant confusion. Her eyes drifted between us, trying to take it in, her hand plastered against her chest as she asked again, "You...you want my help?"See, even she is surprised."It's Frank," Nikolas said, her wide eyes went to him, "This is gonna include him knowing that you're still alive, but don't worry, it's safe, I wouldn't do anything that would put you in danger."Her legs moved her backward, the force of the news hit her a little bit. She seemed to regain control when she looked at me and lightly shook her head, "I still don't understand."I found my voice again and said, "He has my daughter," I swallowed hard, "And we can't find him, we think...well, Nikolas thinks that if he knew you're alive, he'll show up and that will take us one step closer into finding her." I explained, emotions pushed at my chest and I carried on, "If you don't wanna do this, no one is gonna force you, we-"
Alex's POVFlames of fear licked through my body, kindling the madness the thought of losing her created in me, and my gut twisted into the tightest knot.What does he want from my little girl?If he wants the baby dead, then what does Lilly have to do in the middle of all of this?"Who did this?" Liam asked the guy, but the young man was already slipping away, the liquid oozing down his shirt took a darker color. Liam shook him, "I said, who did this?" His voice bellowed in the hallway, slamming against the walls and returning back as an echo."Who else do you think?" My voice didn't sound familiar to my own ears; Liam turned to me, his gaze drifting from the dead guy, "It's my dear father, who else would do something like this?"His brow raised before he got to his feet, "Well, I can think of one other person who would do something exactly like this." The words harshly tumbled out, his hand curling into a fist, anger taking over his eyes. It's weird, seconds ago he was the one tryin