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
Sierra’s POVJordan’s guards bowed their heads as we both entered his office. He plopped me on his chair and walked around his desk to sit by the edge.“Can somebody explain to me why my wife was under water for over three minutes, yet nobody thought to do anything about it? I ran downstairs and found you guys standing around. What if she was drowning?” Jordan directed at his guards, looking from one to the other.“I don’t want a repeat of this. My wife is my utmost priority, whether or not I’m around. She commands the same respect and attention that I do. Am I clear?” The guards nodded. “Treat her like you treat me. Respect her as you respect me. Protect her as you protect me. What happened today must never happen again.” All the guards chorused ‘Yes, boss’ prompting Jordan to point at the door. “You may return to your duty posts now.”The men filed out of the room. Andrew was going to leave too, but Jordan called him back.“Finalize the details with Gordon today. I don’t want anyth
Sierra’s POVAfter my appointment at the salon, I decided to go shopping. My plan was to distract Jordan while his meeting was still on. My hair had been straightened, so it was sleek and shiny. I loved it! I just had to find the perfect outfit to pair with it. Finding what to wear wasn’t so difficult. Jordan often told me how much he loved that I was curvy, all I needed to do was to find an outfit that would highlight all the sexiness in me. I finally settled for a pair of short, leather shorts and a black, leather bralette. To crown my outfit, I finished the look with a pair of boot heels. My makeup was simple, yet alluring. I didn’t do much, I told the makeup artist I wanted a smokey look with some red lipstick. And boy, when I looked in the mirror, I couldn’t even recognize myself.I looked drop-dead gorgeous.When I got to the club, I walked directly to the bouncers at the entrance and told them I was Mrs Pierce. They both looked at me like I had grown horns. They requested my
Sierra’s POVAmelia gave me the cue to go in. As I walked in, all the lights went off except for the one in the dancing section. It was a small space with a pole sitting right at the center. Thank god I was wearing shorts because I didn’t know how I would have danced around the pole with a skirt or a dress. I seductively walked towards the pole, swaying my hips, and walking around it for effect. I had a mask on because I wanted to see if Jordan would recognize me with the mask on. I started dancing like I saw the ladies do in the bar. I could see the men from where I was. Jordan was sitting with a man whom I figured was the Gabriel Amelia told me about earlier. Beside Gabriel was another man I didn’t know. Andrew was behind the couch on Jordan’s side. When our eyes met, he silently shook his head. I almost gasped. Andrew had caught me! He knew who I was. The silent shake of his head was probably a form of scolding. I didn’t care though. I was more concerned about whether Jordan had
Jordan’s POVI knew right from the moment she walked into the room that she was Sierra. She was my wife, how did she think I wouldn’t recognize her simply because she had a mask on?Gabriel Draven, the guy I was having the business meeting with, couldn’t stop grinning the whole time. Gabriel led a dangerous cult and they specialized in producing any kind of weapons, including bombs. Usually, we’d buy from them and my men would go pick them up, after a proper checkup. But with the way my empire was growing, I wanted us to have a renewable contract binding both businesses together.That way, we didn’t have to run out or wait for when we had a new mission before getting weapons. With a steady supply, we could build an arsenal of our own and eventually become a supplier to other empires.However, I forgot all about that when I realized that Gabriel was ogling my wife. The first thing I thought about was getting somebody else to replace Sierra, so I called Andrew and told him to get some
Sierra’s POVAs soon as Jordan shut the door, Amelia screamed excitedly, forcing me to scream as well. Her expressions were contagious!“Girl! Your husband is whipped!” She exclaimed.“I don’t think so.” “Don’t you dare pretend to be humble about it. You told the man to put you up in all his offices and he agreed. Do you know how much of Crystal Bay Jordan controls? You’re basically going to be everywhere.” “Stop exaggerating, Amelia. It’s only in his offices.” I took the dress out of her hands and started taking off Jordan’s jacket.There was no stopping Amelia. “And do you know how many people go in and out of those offices on a daily basis?”She had a point, so I stopped arguing. Amelia didn’t come with underwear, so I had to put on the dress the way it was. Thankfully, the bust area was a little padded. “What happened to your panties?” Amelia asked knowingly. When I remembered where Jordan kept them, I started coughing. “I don’t know,” I said to her and got up to leave. The dr
Jordan’s POVAmelia held Sierra close, her shaking hands absolutely revealing that her fear ran very deep. It was deeper than we thought possible.The two women broke out in small shivers and their eyes darted from each other to the lifeless corpse lying motionless on the floor. In the safe house, the room was dimly lit and the silence that had settled inside the room was almost unbearable. The whisper of the wind outside was the only sound amidst the gravity of the moment. Andrew’s body was lifeless, a chilling reminder of the chaos he had wrought in our lives. I gazed down at him, my breaths coming out in sharp bursts as the adrenaline from the scuffle started to wear off. Whatever sick game Andrew had been playing, I was very sure that I had aborted it before it had a chance to take root. Funnily enough, I felt no sense of empathy or remorse for his death yet. The only thing that bugged my mind were several questions whose answers I guessed the Moretti family would have answers
Jordan’s POVI turned away, unable to hold her stare anymore. I glanced back at Amelia, who was biting her lip to stop herself from speaking, yet no words came out. Her pain was visible, her hands gripping the edge of her seat as if preparing for a crash.The engine was silent now as the car came to a slow stop. I looked out the window, grateful for the short distraction. It was obvious that we had arrived at the safe house. The sun left its presence on us as we alighted. I stepped outside and took a deep breath, the cold air doing nothing to settle my own inner chaos. As Amelia’s whispered cry of Andrew’s name echoed in my ears, Sierra’s accusation that Andrew’s betrayal was not a choice but a result of desperation rattled through my body.Sierra stepped out of the car behind me, looking over the horizon. “You can hate him as much as you want,” she said softly, as if reading my mind. “But remember sometimes people do the wrong things for the right reasons. And sometimes they don’
Jordan’s POVWith Sierra’s head resting against my shoulder, the gravity of the moment began to sink in deeper than I expected it would. For a man who spent years training himself to extinguish every flame of emotion, this was something else. Her delicate but stubborn presence was a reminder of what I was actually battling for. But I didn’t dare show it. Not here, not now.The engine of the SUV sang as it rocked over the bumpy terrain and nothing but the occasional crackle of the radio broke what was otherwise an impenetrable silence. My team was too disciplined to pry or comment, but I sensed their watchful eyes in the rearview mirror.So, I kept my eyes out the window, pretending not to see how her breathing slowed as she moved in closer. Ignoring that faint catch in her voice as she started to mumble some incoherent words muffled by the sound of tyres on gravel.“What is it?” I whispered, my voice soft enough for her alone.Sierra did not reply right away. Her words were a jumble,
Jordan’s POVI was happy that my wristwatch was not hijacked from me like every other thing was. I looked at the time on my wrist and tapped my feet on the floor almost simultaneously like one who was too impatient to wait.Suddenly, I heard a loud noise. It came from outside and it was almost deafening. Following the noise were the numerous shouts of despair. Metal crashing on metal interrupted reverberating in the atmosphere. Everyone in the cell with me stood at attention. All I did was just allow myself to relish the chaos of the moment with a smirk stealing a spot on my face. Just then, a hand fiddled with the padlock of the door to the cell where we were kept. He was fully armed. He tried to force open the door to the cell. My heart rate sped up but my outward composure remained steady. Alessandro’s men were shouting over the bedlam of gunfire. From the corridor, I could hear them screaming at the top of their voices.“Cover the east entrance!” one voice barked, panicked. “Do
Jordan’s POVAlessandro basked in that moment of perceived victory while I was frozen with my hands secured and muscles rigid. His smug smile widened, his injured leg not quite being able to hold his weight as he barked orders to his men. The scene might have been laughable if the stakes weren’t so high.But that’s precisely how I wanted him to feel: powerful.And I let him keep a tight grip on the illusion of control, which only played into the delusion that he had me, Amelia, and Sierra completely and utterly in his power. Well, if only he knew. Perhaps, he wouldn’t have shown off himself this much. I stifled a chuckle as I looked at Sierra and Amelia, defiance etched on their features, even though we were in desperate straits. They also didn’t know the whole plan, but they trusted me completely. That trust was everything to me and I knew that in a matter of time, all would be laid bare.The cell door closed behind us with a cold metal groaning sound. The door lock was rusty in a
Sierra’s POVWe were in the pit for what seemed like forever and the darkness spread around us like a blanket. None of us was comfortable with the situation as we couldn’t sit nor could we even lay down. We simply stood all through. My muscles throbbed with such a tension that it felt like I was literally standing on my bones, I felt fatigue in the trap, and my mind whirled with queries and fears. My whole body felt like they weren’t my own. I hadn’t been this way in a long time. It wasn’t such a good feeling to have, believe me. And then, all of a sudden, the net under us shook vigorously and began to levitate slowly.“What’s happening?” I asked, my voice drowned out by the groan of the apparatus raising us.The net started to rise, dragging us slowly up, out of the bowels of the pit. It heaved with every step, the sensation churning my stomach, but I tried to steady my breath as I bit my lips. I shifted my body many times in a row to find balance.As we climbed higher, a dim spec
Sierra’s POVI released my grip from Andrew's hand immediately because I felt that I needed enough space to run off and hide as we fled the scene of Alessandro’s hideout. My breath was coming in gasps and it was unrhythmic. My chest ached and my legs burned but as I kept a high pace of flight, motivated by that inherent gut instinct for survival.As we bolted away, we heard Alessandro’s muffled profanities trailing behind us, then a definite thud almost as though his body had dropped to the floor.Jordan’s shot to his thigh had done its work. He wasn’t going to be chasing us anytime soon, but that didn’t mean we were out of the woods. We were still very much within his territory and that foretold danger.The night was uncomfortably still, except for the sound of gravel giving way beneath our panicked feet. My mind whirred with thoughts of Luca and what he might be possibly doing in the underground hidden safe place where he was stowed. I could imagine how blanched his face would be.
Jordan’s POV The room erupted into chaos. In a flurry of action, Andrew and I ran forward, guns drawn, footfalls in sync. The men surrounding Alessandro weren’t able to respond. I looked at their shocked faces, to find out we had taken them by surprise. They didn’t recognize us, but it didn’t matter. The element of surprise was on our side. The first shot broke the quiet, a loud jolt that ripped through the night. I had not thought, nor had I hesitated. I fired true, and bagged one of the men who had lunged for his weapon. Andrew was next to me, moving me quickly and efficiently. He took another man to the ground, disarming him before a second shot brought him down. Alessandro’s gaze caught mine from across the room, and for half a second all was still.’ I couldn’t afford to let the moment wash over me, but I felt it the rush of relief, of knowing he was alive, that he was here and we were taking him, taking him out. However, there was no time for relief. Not yet. Not until
Sierra’s POVWe kept driving until we reached a safe house far away from the just-blown-up new hideout. Shortly after we stepped in, Jordan barged into the house too. He looked so battered and unkempt.I was at the kitchen table, hands wrapped around a mug of coffee, trying to steady my nerves. The heat of the cup didn't soothe the storm raging in my veins. It wasn’t just the fear of Luca, or for Jordan, or even for me. It was this great unknown of what we were going to deal with. The stakes were higher than ever, and the cost of failure was unimaginable.In the next room, Amelia suited up and went over her equipment like a well-oiled machine, fluid and precise. She needed this moment when everything was on the line. I carefully tucked Lucas into an underground hide-out within the safe house with some snacks to quench the rage of hunger before we returned.Jordan, too, was quiet. He sat opposite me, his face taut with a slanting glare, his eyes dull from staring into a vacuum. He w