Jordan’s POVI couldn’t look Sierra in the eye. I had failed her. How could I have allowed Dominic to get to her first? Maybe I shouldn’t have shut her down all the times she tried to ask about the mafia; maybe I should have explained a few things. I couldn’t bring myself to even get angry at her for opting to leave. I didn’t give her much of a choice. She saw an out and she took, like any sane person would. You know this thing where they usually say you don’t know the value of a person until you lose them? I could relate to it.Sierra tried to explain her side of everything that happened, but I didn’t want her to. After we finally got home, I told her I wasn’t mad, and that was the truth. However, I wished I had found her sooner. In the mafia, your wife was more than a trophy to make you look good. She was living proof of your capabilities as a leader. If your wife looked miserable, your empire would be miserable. If she looked satisfied, you wouldn’t be lacking as a leader. If she
Sierra’s POVIf Jordan didn’t have my time when there was nothing major brewing, I wasn’t surprised he barely remembered he had a wife since Lorenzo threatened him to go to war. On several occasions, I had to tiptoe around the house because Jordan and his men seemed to be everywhere, planning and making arrangements, and doing this and that. Whenever I was in a good mood, I’d stop by and serve the boys drinks and maybe food, depending on what the chef left in the freezer that week. Sometimes, I refused to come downstairs.Dominic had taken away the only friend I had, so I didn’t have a life anymore. If my husband were more available, I guess things would be a lot different. Our relationship was like the weather, it was quite unpredictable.One minute, we can’t get our hands off each other. The next minute, we can’t stand each other. I don’t remember Jordan ever confessing to me that he loved me, but I did love him. I mean, my willingness to give myself to him must mean something.**
Sierra’s POVAfter scrolling on social media, I took a nap. When I woke up, I realized that Jordan and his men had taken my business elsewhere. I was left with my usual bodyguards, except Andrew. He probably left with Jordan too.I heard some noise from the kitchen and I figured the chef was probably around. He usually came in twice a week to fill the freezer up with various delicacies. I washed my face and headed to the kitchen.In the living room were various shopping bags. I opened each of them to ensure I got exactly what I ordered. I wasn’t disappointed. I picked up my card and left. I guessed correctly because the chef was around. He was making coleslaw, roasted turkey and banana pudding. I couldn’t wait for dinner. When I asked him if I could help him out, he nodded and slid the vegetables for the coleslaw towards me.He did the cooking while I did the chopping. Before I got married, I used to enjoy cooking for the family. After marriage, I didn’t pursue cooking anymore. Jorda
Sierra’s POVThe next morning, I called my dad to let him know I was coming. They still didn’t know about Leila, and frankly, there was nothing else I could do. No amount of procrastinating can lessen the hurt they’ll feel when they find out she’s gone. I went to Jordan’s study to find Monica inching towards him like she wanted the both of them to be one. Jordan was on his chair, looking into his laptop on his desk. It appeared he was describing something to Monica. I didn’t care about that though because I could see through her. She was going to use that opportunity to brush her breasts against my husband's back. I wondered if Jordan knew she was still in love with him.Meanwhile, Andrew was nowhere in sight.“Good morning, babe.” I said to Jordan, announcing my arrival. You would think that Monica would straighten up, but the sly fox retained her posture and even had the audacity to smirk at me. Jordan changed into some casual clothes during the night. I heard him come in, but I
Jordan’s POVMonica was starting to piss me off. I knew what she was trying to do, but I was married now. I was impressed at how Sierra put her in her place several times. This was why I intentionally pushed for our meetings to hold in my house. Monica wouldn’t dare to do anything stupid knowing Sierra could come in at anytime. If it wasn’t for the fact that Monica was an asset in winning this war against Lorenzo, I would have snapped her neck since the first time she laid her hands on me. Sierra didn’t know that Monica had tried to seduce me on multiple occasions. I didn’t think it was necessary to tell her. I was going to take care of it myself as soon as Lorenzo was no more in our lives. The first time she made a pass at me was in my office. This was before we went to my house and I introduced her to Sierra. I took that as a cue to always meet in my house rather than anywhere else.Yes, we were once in love and almost got married, but that was in the past. My dad betrayed Monica’
Jordan’s POV“Are you insane? Have you no brain in that big head of yours? My wife is literally behind you, sleeping on our bed, and you have the audacity to come in here to seduce me?” I thundered.“Whatever happens between us stays between us, Jordan. She doesn’t have to know.” Monica said, drawing the love symbol in the air.I was tired of her rubbish already. “Get out.” She started walking towards me. “Get out. Now.” I emphasized each word again, daring her to take another step towards me. From the side of my eye, I saw Sierra turn in bed. Her eyes widened as they found Monica’s. Oh, shit.“Hi, baby. Monica was just leaving.” I said to her, glaring at Monica and expecting her to do a three-sixty. The little bitch smirked instead and tried to play dirty.“Come on, Jordan. You don’t have to pretend because your ‘wife’ is here.” She air-quoted. “I know you had a good time last night. You said so yourself. You said I tasted better than —”I reached for my Glock and cocked it. I gues
Sierra’s POV“You love me?” I repeated.I couldn’t believe what I had just heard. Jordan said he loved me! He loved me! “Yes, Sierra. I do love you. As you said, this was an arranged marriage, so I didn’t have any expectations. I was hoping to see the kind of person you were first before anything. After we got married, I realized you weren’t daddy’s little pampered princess and I admired that about you. I respect you.”Jordan held my hand in his. “We got talking and I started having feelings for you. I didn’t want that, so I would step back a bit, only to return to the scene eventually. It also didn’t help that we started having complications not long after we got married; with the media, your sister, and my brother.”My stomach growled, causing Jordan to chuckle. “Let’s fill your stomach with food first.” He held me by the hand and we both went downstairs to the kitchen. After we had both eaten, Jordan led me to the living roo
Jordan’s POVAfter the conversation Sierra and I had, I decided to go and finish off some work. Since Lorenzo was out of the picture, I had to ensure all trading routes were redirected and I had to create a central route, one I could control. I pulled up my contacts and started making some calls. Crystal Bay wasn’t going to be trafficking girls anymore. Lorenzo did that shit when he had power, but not anymore.According to the data I was looking at, the mafia got about half of their income from human trafficking while the other half came from protection services, which I handled.I had people who depended on me for hard drugs, so I wasn’t going to stop supplying. As a matter of fact, I didn’t think I was ever going to stop. The drug market is so vast and profitable.For the past two years, I let Lorenzo handle drugs. I told him where he could get the good stuff. But, eventually, he got greedy and cut me off. He started pulling in deals t
Jordan’s POVThe war didn’t end overnight. It took us months of intentional planning, restructuring and rebuilding trust.Carlos and Lorenzo Moretti not only maintained control of their syndicate but did so under stricter rules. Enough with the senseless bloodshed.” No more betrayals.Alessandro emerged as the power broker but moved to settle relations among erstwhile opponents.What about Gabriel Dravamen? He continued to be a wild card but honoured the pact. It meant Sierra would never have to see him again. He slipped away into the shadows, leaving us in peace.***I should have known that peace was an illusion. The second we made a truce, I felt the claws of the past itch at my back, lying in wait for an opportunity. The life we had struggled to break free from wasn’t going to be free easily. When our fragile new beginning unravelled, it was the enemy without who tore it apart but it was one of our own. Night had descended, cloaking the safehouse in lulling tranquillity. Sierra
Jordan’s POVIt was a lengthy, ruthless and tumultuous struggle. Blood spotted the pavement, and the air was still tinged with gunpowder and sweat. Gabriel Dravamen’s cultists had shaken the very foundation of the city’s underworld when they turned against the men of Carlos Moretti. But now, looking at the rubble, I knew this battle would not last forever. I glanced at Sierra, her face smeared with dirt, her hair a wild tangle from their adventure, but the spark in her eyes was still bright with fierce determination. She had fought for me, she had risked everything, and I’d be damned if I was going to let her spend the rest of her life in constant fear. We had to put an end to this insane battle by hook or crook regardless of how weak I felt.“Jordan…Do you think this battle is worth it,” she asked but I looked at her and suddenly lost my words.“What do you suggest we do?” I asked her after taking time to think on her question for a few minutes.“End it. Reconcile with your enemies
Jordan’s POVThere was a palpable tension in the night air, a heavy mix of unvoiced threats. My fingers flexed at my sides, and every muscle in my body stood up, ready to pounce. The instant the door opened on the van I sensed it. Before us, lined up like a barricade, the fleet of cars stood, their headlights casting harsh beams into the dark, illuminating the figures waiting beyond. Dressed in shades of dark, masked under darkness, armed men stood at attention. Their postures screamed discipline, precision, and most importantly, prepared to unleash hell. From the outside looking in, it was evident these were not just hired guns. They were men trained for combat, their loyalty inextinguishable, and their mission palpable. Carlos Moretti moved like a man in command, rolling the cuffs of his pricey suit as though he wasn’t in the heart of a goddamn battlefield. He flourished on chaos; it had shaped him, and if nothing else, I knew he never walked into a fight he didn’t think he coul
Sierra’s POVSilence enveloped us for a heartbeat, the only noise the drone of the engine and the uneven gasps of our party. Inside the van, the air was thick with anticipation and something more, something dark.Then, as my eyes adjusted to the low-light interior, I froze in my throat. In the corner sat Carlos Moretti, wearing a sleek black suit, and dark glasses on the bridge of his nose. A cigar hung limply from one side of his mouth, a thin wisp of smoke curling up to the ceiling.“You all didn’t know I was here. Well, I accept that compliment you gave earlier,” he said, “Oh, you are welcome,” he barely echoed and pumped out more smoke into the air with reckless abandon.Still talking to himself and all, he chuckled, a slow and gruff laugh that sent a shiver down my spine. It went on too long, stretching that moment into something just disgusting, something grotesque and even annoying, that made my stomach flip.I felt like reaching out to him and smacking him in the face to keep
Sierra’s POVA sharp crack of gunfire pierced the night, and instinct kicked in. Jordan was tumbling down with me as a bullet whined past us and struck the concrete wall behind us.My pulse throbbed so violently that I feared it might rupture my ribs. Dominic was already shooting back, his responses quick and exact. Ethan drew his weapon too, well braced as he shot at the men surrounding us. “Go! Go! Go!” he shouted to his men and directed them with one hand in the air as he plunged them ahead whilst the other hand rested solidly on his gun. He looked in our direction as well and nodded his head for us to move to where the huge crates were stacked.I held Jordan and moved towards the crate whilst Ethan watched our fours ensuring we were behind the crates before going head into the battle that had been staged. I wondered where all the police vans had gone because such chaos and ceaseless firing should have bought them out of their cocoons except they had been bought over.Hiding behin
Sierra’s POVI wrapped my arms around Jordan when balance abandoned him and he walked with me like an old man slowly finding his step. He had just been through a serious coma, and I knew he needed time to get his strength back. His body had not fully recovered, but his spirit, his fighting spirit, was as full as a young man's spirit should be. Every step we took together led us onto shaky ground, but I was unwilling to drop the thread. I wasn’t about to let anything or anyone pull him away from me again. As I led him down the sterile corridor, I kept looking back at him, asking him over and over if he was in pain. "How do you feel? Is anything bothering you? Does anywhere hurt?”We had to put up a brave front, of course, but Jordan shot me a cheeky smile with twinkling eyes that had mischief reflected in them, even with that happening.“You’re babying me too much, Sierra. I'm fine," he pouted back with love in his eyes.I couldn’t help but chuckle, though every fibre of my being wa
Author’s POVCarlos stared blankly for a moment, trying to process the gravity of what had been revealed. But he also knew that in a game like this, someone was always behind the curtain, calling the shots. But this new player, this enigma, was the wild card he hadn’t counted on. He looked over at the door, his brain already working out the next few things. The stakes had never been higher. The fate of his family, even the power dynamic in Crystal Bay, it all was at stake and if this new player had been behind it all, the rules of the game would have changed and Carlos needed to adapt fast, or else lose it all.He walked around the room, the quietness in the area surrounding him was murky. The unknown player stuck in his mind and gnawed at him. Who were they? Why had they decided to make their move now? Because he knew all too well that everything was about power in this world, but the ones pulling the strings, those behind the scenes could make or destroy it all.His men had been
Author’s POVOnce Lorenzo and Alessandro were gone, Carlos settled into the same chair, fingertips tapping a gentle beat against his desk as he processed the contents of the file. There was an atmosphere of tension around, and the doubts he had been trying to suppress grew louder by the second. There was no telling the moves of a man who might be willing to betray his own brother.Dominic Pierce was a wild card. But that was something Carlos could not lose, not at stake. Carlos picked up the phone off the desk and dialled a number he recalled by heart with a soft sigh. It was one of his most trusted men, a loyal veteran beyond question. Moments later, there was a click on the phone, and a voice came through to the other end.“Did you knock, boss,” the voices said, low and steady. "What’s the situation?"“I want an update,” Carlos said. His tone was steady, but there was an undercurrent of urgency. “How is it along the outside of the facility where Jordan’s being held?”There was a b
Author’s POVAlessandro had his hands clasped behind his back, standing with a proud and confident posture, but there was a glimmer of awareness in his harsh features. He was expecting this conversation. He knew Carlos would bring up his concerns, it was his nature. No victory was ever too quickly celebrated, and no ally was ever completely trusted.After a long silence, Carlos released a breath. “You’ve done well, Alessandro,” he eventually said with a smoothness that had an edge of something sharper.“Getting Dominic Pierce to play our little game was no small task. You managed to do it, and for that, I salute you.”Carlos leaned back in his chair, his eyes cold, and warm applause echoed through the crowded room. The gentleness of his tone was just a preface to something colder.“But…” he said, letting the single word hang in the air like a dangerous pause. “A brother betraying his own blood?” He cocked his head a little, studying Alessandro’s face. “A man of this sort is not to be