MAEI stole a drink and got myself drunk when I got home. I was off tonight and Eli was out working so I turned on some music and danced around in the room, then watched some movies on my phone.They had left Isis's iPad in here, but I could not bring myself to touch any of her stuff yet, and when Eli asked, I told him they were off limits too.My mind went back to my interaction with Owen. At least he was no longer on my neck about disloyalty and shit. Okay, and why did he ask me out? I finally voiced the most important question in my head.He had tons of other women at his beck and call that he could ask out and he chose to ask me. I could not help but think that it was because he felt guilty and pitied me, yet another part of me did not believe that. A man like Owen did not look like he had even the slightest pinch of pity in him. So, why?My body reacted to him, no doubt—which just meant that I was physically attracted to him—even if it had significantly reduced after the whole th
MAETrevor had won the elections and so, the party held.Owen sent me a dress, a clutch and a pair of shoes. There was a note which read; 'This shade of green would match your hair and eyes perfectly. Learn some manners before the said time.'Of course, I rolled my eyes at that. I wondered why those women flocked around him when he was such a brute. My subconscious literally laughed out loud at me, because we both knew why they were like that. Man was gorgeous. But still, I felt nothing but rage and pure hatred for him, considering the kind of man he was.Sighing, I stared at the dress Owen sent, a floor-length emerald green piece with a daring slit up the side. The fabric shimmered faintly under the light, making it look far more expensive than anything I’d ever owned. The matching clutch and heels sat beside it, equally as pretty.I hated this man, and being around him was the last thing I wanted, especially right now but staying home wasn’t an option. Not with him. He’d either send
OWEN"… finally, I am glad to be standing here with my mayor—Trevor, and I am sure that he would be the best thing to happen to this city." I promised them, sharing a look with Trevor, a practiced smirk on my face. He laughed, patting my shoulder.Trevor stood tall and powerful beside me, and to the crowd, Trevor was a lot bigger than I was. I was simply a billionaire fan who had several companies and made a lot of money.Trevor was the mayor, therefore, he ruled the city. They were so blind, loud and completely wrong. I did not hate it though…After the whole speech and pleasantries, I went back to my seat on the table and cooled off a bit, watching the ceremony go on.I was struggling to enjoy the party. It was not an unusual thing for me not to enjoy a party; the only unusual thing was the fact that I was bothered about not enjoying the party.Strange.I looked around for Mae a number of times, but it looked like she had left the party. Except… that was so unlike Mae. She did not h
MAEThroughout the car ride, Owen's hand stayed on my thigh and as a result, I could not really move properly. I hardly knew why, but I wished it was because he was a monster and I felt like he was dirtying me up with his bloodied hands. Only, it was far from that. I just did not want to come to terms with what it was, exactly.As for talking, we barely said a word to each other until the car stopped right in front of a huge ass mansion. No, a castle.Was this the president's house?There was a low gate that opened automatically before he drove into the compound. My jaw was almost on the floor as I realized what was happening. This was really Owen's house. I saw the small smirk on his face as he noticed my awe, and I managed to shut my mouth and get out of the car before I could bring more disgrace to myself.Someone took my purse at the door and greeted us in the warmest way possible. I kept looking around and thankfully, Owen did not comment on it; just led me in and let me continu
MAEThe nightmares didn’t stop. It didn’t matter how many sleeping pills I took or how exhausted I was by the end of the day. Every time I closed my eyes, I was back in that bathroom, staring at Carter’s girlfriend, lifeless and broken on the tile floor. Sometimes, in the dreams, it wasn’t her—it was me, sprawled out, blood pooling beneath me. I’d wake up gasping, drenched in sweat, feeling like I’d never truly left that room. I thought the incident had not affected me that much—turned out I was so wrong.I started avoiding everyone. The girls at Casa Eleganza whispered behind my back, but I didn’t have the energy to care. They always gossiped about something—this time, it was me. I overheard snippets: "She's losing it," "She looks like a ghost," and the ever-popular, "She's gonna get herself kicked out if she keeps this up."Scar was the only one who dared to say it to my face. "Mae, you need to pull yourself together. You're going to get yourself kicked out." She told me one afterno
MAE"Ye deserve to be fucked in the arse by a man who knows how to do it proper!"That was Mr Marcello. He was not only a frequenter at the strip club where I was, but my father's former 'friend'. Their friendship which was built from going to the same gambling house sadly ended when my father decided to add him to the long list of people he owed.I forced a smile and took the old man's tip off his wrinkled hands, slipping the wad of dollar notes in my little bra with my eyes focused on his reddening face which was obviously due to his arousal.He grinned, flashing the best set of pearly whites I had ever seen in my direction. Obviously fake, but still beautiful… must have cost him a lot. "Two thousand for the night." He offered.I shook my head. "I only strip, Sir, nothing else. My colleagues here can take up your offer though, if you want.""Five thousand."His hand reached upward to feel my boobs which was only covered with a small, glittery, almost non-existent bra.I slapped his
MAEFilled with fear, I quietly took a few steps back and hurriedly texted Liam on my phone.He was online, thank God, I thought as I typed out my message.ME: He's here. The Owen Powers is here, in our house. He has my dad. I think dad is owing him some money. You need to come over.How could dad be owing the most powerful businessman in Houston, literally? He owed a lot of people, granted, but how the hell did he even get the guts to add this to the list?My heart thudded in my chest as I waited for Liam to read the text, then start to reply. Dad was groaning in pain as he took every hit, but I knew I had to finish making these plans with Liam before I could even think of heading downstairs.My eyes were transfixed on the screen, so much that I had not noticed how the entire place had grown dead silent.Liam's reply popped up on my screen,LIAM: Stall them. Stay where you are. I'll try to see if I can get backup. Please, Mae, don't fuck this up. I know my colleagues will not be wil
OWENI never hesitated during a kill.This was business. It was meant to be a smooth in and out. Probably cut off some hands, some toes, an ear… some slow torture before I called it a night.Nobody told me Miguel had a daughter—a redhead, to be precise.She sat there on the dirty floor, begging for her father's life, even if we both knew that it would be a lot easier for her to just let me put him down, to make sure she would not have more debts to clear in the future.Her answer to my question was, "He cares about me. He just has a bad drinking habit, we are working on it."I scoffed, thinking hard. Her offer was sensible.After all, what would I gain by killing off her father for nothing, when I could just take his daughter for myself, have her work for me as whatever I want for free.She was making a point. Maybe Miguel could live."Get up." I ordered and she hesitated, probably thinking of telling me that she could not, because of her hurt leg, but thinking against it in the end.
MAEThe nightmares didn’t stop. It didn’t matter how many sleeping pills I took or how exhausted I was by the end of the day. Every time I closed my eyes, I was back in that bathroom, staring at Carter’s girlfriend, lifeless and broken on the tile floor. Sometimes, in the dreams, it wasn’t her—it was me, sprawled out, blood pooling beneath me. I’d wake up gasping, drenched in sweat, feeling like I’d never truly left that room. I thought the incident had not affected me that much—turned out I was so wrong.I started avoiding everyone. The girls at Casa Eleganza whispered behind my back, but I didn’t have the energy to care. They always gossiped about something—this time, it was me. I overheard snippets: "She's losing it," "She looks like a ghost," and the ever-popular, "She's gonna get herself kicked out if she keeps this up."Scar was the only one who dared to say it to my face. "Mae, you need to pull yourself together. You're going to get yourself kicked out." She told me one afterno
MAEThroughout the car ride, Owen's hand stayed on my thigh and as a result, I could not really move properly. I hardly knew why, but I wished it was because he was a monster and I felt like he was dirtying me up with his bloodied hands. Only, it was far from that. I just did not want to come to terms with what it was, exactly.As for talking, we barely said a word to each other until the car stopped right in front of a huge ass mansion. No, a castle.Was this the president's house?There was a low gate that opened automatically before he drove into the compound. My jaw was almost on the floor as I realized what was happening. This was really Owen's house. I saw the small smirk on his face as he noticed my awe, and I managed to shut my mouth and get out of the car before I could bring more disgrace to myself.Someone took my purse at the door and greeted us in the warmest way possible. I kept looking around and thankfully, Owen did not comment on it; just led me in and let me continu
OWEN"… finally, I am glad to be standing here with my mayor—Trevor, and I am sure that he would be the best thing to happen to this city." I promised them, sharing a look with Trevor, a practiced smirk on my face. He laughed, patting my shoulder.Trevor stood tall and powerful beside me, and to the crowd, Trevor was a lot bigger than I was. I was simply a billionaire fan who had several companies and made a lot of money.Trevor was the mayor, therefore, he ruled the city. They were so blind, loud and completely wrong. I did not hate it though…After the whole speech and pleasantries, I went back to my seat on the table and cooled off a bit, watching the ceremony go on.I was struggling to enjoy the party. It was not an unusual thing for me not to enjoy a party; the only unusual thing was the fact that I was bothered about not enjoying the party.Strange.I looked around for Mae a number of times, but it looked like she had left the party. Except… that was so unlike Mae. She did not h
MAETrevor had won the elections and so, the party held.Owen sent me a dress, a clutch and a pair of shoes. There was a note which read; 'This shade of green would match your hair and eyes perfectly. Learn some manners before the said time.'Of course, I rolled my eyes at that. I wondered why those women flocked around him when he was such a brute. My subconscious literally laughed out loud at me, because we both knew why they were like that. Man was gorgeous. But still, I felt nothing but rage and pure hatred for him, considering the kind of man he was.Sighing, I stared at the dress Owen sent, a floor-length emerald green piece with a daring slit up the side. The fabric shimmered faintly under the light, making it look far more expensive than anything I’d ever owned. The matching clutch and heels sat beside it, equally as pretty.I hated this man, and being around him was the last thing I wanted, especially right now but staying home wasn’t an option. Not with him. He’d either send
MAEI stole a drink and got myself drunk when I got home. I was off tonight and Eli was out working so I turned on some music and danced around in the room, then watched some movies on my phone.They had left Isis's iPad in here, but I could not bring myself to touch any of her stuff yet, and when Eli asked, I told him they were off limits too.My mind went back to my interaction with Owen. At least he was no longer on my neck about disloyalty and shit. Okay, and why did he ask me out? I finally voiced the most important question in my head.He had tons of other women at his beck and call that he could ask out and he chose to ask me. I could not help but think that it was because he felt guilty and pitied me, yet another part of me did not believe that. A man like Owen did not look like he had even the slightest pinch of pity in him. So, why?My body reacted to him, no doubt—which just meant that I was physically attracted to him—even if it had significantly reduced after the whole th
OWEN"Speak." I ordered as soon as she was inside. She frowned, as if offended by my tone, but knew to say nothing.Her voice was hoarse with strain as she started, "The Castellenos. Carter is working with the Castellenos, hopefully you know who they are."Oh I knew who they were, alright. Fucking bastards. The election was in two days, and we would finally have our winner, after which would be the party for celebration, but they were planning something up their sleeves as usual.Trevor had the upper hand of winning and for now, he was lodged in my house, protected by the largest amount of guards that had ever surrounded my building.Seemed to me like they were about to come up with another plan, and Carter, my head of security knew what it was. Or her?How did she know about the Castellenos in the first place?I looked back at her, worry lines showing up on my forehead, "And how do you know about the Castellenos?"She swallowed, then took out her phone, typing fast. I took a good loo
MAE"The boss traveled. You can request to see him when he returns." One of his guards told me the next day and I was deflated. I did not know what was going on with dad. So I asked if I could speak to him on the phone or something, and that it was very important, but they asked me to pass the message through them.I tried to. I told them Carter was working with a rival mafia group, but they just stared at me like I was crazy and sent me off.I called Liam, and he said he did not know about dad's whereabouts either. Apparently, dad was not dropped off at home last night. Of course, dad’s number was not going through and I did not personally have Owen's number.I had no idea how I got through dancing that night, but I somehow did, and I rushed to the room and continued to ignore Eli.Five nights later, he confirmed my suspicions of being gay by bringing in a man into our room and asking if I would be okay with another person sleeping with us here.I just gave him a nod and slipped on A
MAE"Your father is in the backseat of my car. Tonight, you will either tell me what's going on with you, or he takes a bullet to his head. I'll keep killing everyone you love until you decide if this secret you are keeping from me is really worth losing so much." Owen whispered, just as his big hand released my ass, going up to my hip instead.I pushed his hands off me completely, shock taking over my features. "Wait. What did you just say?""The exact same thing you heard. Get dressed and come with me."I did not have to be told twice. I rushed into the closet and just threw on a shirt like nightgown that stopped just above my knees then some lace panties.I had just stepped out of the closet to meet Owen leaning by the door when he thundered,"Get back inside and wear something else. I did not ask you to come with me so you can strip for your father." I opened my mouth and closed it like a fish, then looked around in search of anything I could just throw on."But it's covered…" I
OWENI was not supposed to be in Casa Eleganza tonight, but then Marco called and told me he was looking for her.Mae Rivera.Apparently, Carter had caught her making a sneaky phone call and before he could get evidence, she ended the call and threatened to lie against him if he tried to expose her. She ran off, too. Not that I fully trusted this Carter of a guy, but this awfully sounded like something that woman can do; especially after all she had been through lately.I could have left Marco to find her and teach her a lesson… or even any of my snipers could do that, but I had a surprise for her, so I could not do that.As I drove, I tried to shake off the nasty feelings I had that kept screaming in my ear about the fact that she had gone through so much. She should have thought of that before crossing me. I do worse to others, I thought. Why was it a bloody big deal with her? I did not have an answer to that, of course.Finally, after what seemed like years, I parked my car in fron