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
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 POV With 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 wer
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 POV Amelia 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
Sierra’s POVI trailed Luca as he walked into the mini hall, his steps brisk but weighted down by an emotional burden he seemed desperate to shake off.It wasn’t as if the air in the hall was the best. In fact, it was no fresher than the disposition outside, and I knew that Luca wasn’t the type to just walk away for a breath. He wanted to escape from all of the chaos and the additions that layered like lead weight. I knew that he needed his expectations and unanswered questions to be met and answered.As I followed behind him, I kept my distance because I didn’t want to make him feel that I was prying into his affairs or trying to get words out of his mouth. The silence between us stretched like a rubber band, except for the faint sound of our footsteps against the tiled floor. I hadn’t come to interrogate him or to try to force a conversation he wasn’t ready to have. I was more selfish yet I needed to know. I wanted to ask him what Enrico had told him... and more than that, I need
Sierra’s POVJordan’s loud command seared through the stillness of the moment. “Let’s move! Now! Before the darkness catches up with us,” he barked, his voice ricocheting off the empty walls. There was no room for pressure in his tone.Within minutes, the steady whirl of a helicopter’s blades penetrated the space, drowning out any last-minute trepidations or second thoughts. Dust and debris whirled about us as the chopper closed in, its huge blades gnashing the air with a grating, mechanical whirr. One after the other, we got into the cabin, the space inside was enough to take us all but the weight of everything we hadn’t said hovered like an unseen fog.Amelia slid into the seat next to me, clutching her knees as if trying to hold herself together. On her other side, Luca was stiff and silent, jaw clenched, gaze fixed on the window as though the darkening horizon contained all the answers he needed.Jordan settled across from us, his height folding uncomfortably into the tight space
Author’s POV The scene starts in a dark room with the weak brightness of one overhead light making stretched, sinister shadows on the grimy walls. The air was filled with the pungent odour of cigar smoke curling slowly around Moretti who sat in the huge leather chair in the middle of the room. Clad in an elegant black suit mind, he faced away from Alessandro, who stood there bedraggled and beaten. Alessandro’s breaths were shallow and ragged. His shirt, once so pristine, was now tattered and smeared with blood, clinging to a body soaked in sweat but on this night, even in his own battered state, he sounded desperate, his voice quaking just enough to convey the agony of his unsoundness. “Please,” Alessandro stuttered, his voice urgent and scared. “I was ambushed. I didn’t see them responding that soon. It wasn’t... It wasn’t meant to be like this.” The figure in black offered no immediate response. The only sound in the room had been the soft crackling of the Cohiba cigar
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