To survive in a world full of chaos, one must learn to embrace it. It was hard— Callie knew that awfully well. She lived in a city where guns were easier to acquire than medicine, and where violence was the answer to everything. A place that the government has forgotten about and where the police worked for infamous crime lords. To survive amid chaos was hard, and Callie was only barely able to hold her head above water. And with each passing day, she feels herself sinking further and further, deeper into the filth. “Ugh, can you believe this?” Sienna asked with a sigh. She and Callie have been friends since they were teens. Now, they go to the same community college where the bulletin boards are riddled with dozens of warnings, curfew notices, and missing person posters. “You would think living so far away from the Ashen City would protect us from the scum that live there—” Sienna shook her head in disbelief. “But no, we still live in a nightmare.” Callie looked away from her beau
Callie stared in open horror as the gray-eyed man brought a glass of water over from the sink before pouring it all over her uncle’s unconscious form. The coldness jolted him awake with a shriek of pain, undoubtedly from the many sores and open wounds he had sustained. “Stop! Who are you?! What do you want?” Callie yelled in hopes of distracting the men who invaded their home. Three of them, she counted, including the one who took pepper spray to the face. The man holding the glass stood up straight and cleared his throat before he wiped his bloodied hands across the front of his shirt. “Pardon me,” he said before making a grand gesture of bowing to her. “Well, I’m Soren, and these are my colleagues.” It was the way the man called Soren spoke that told Callie something was off about him. There’s a playful tone in his voice every time he speaks as if nothing ever fazes him, treating everything like a joke. His movements are big and satiric, but he showed no sign of weakness. With bi
Soren let out an unhinged chuckle at Callie’s remark. As a debt collector for the mafia, he must have seen dozens of different reactions to the mention of Vincent Baros, but he somehow found Callie’s reaction the most fitting. “I knew I liked you. Sit tight.” He didn’t need to force Callie inside the waiting vehicle, she went without resistance. Soren followed inside. With only the two of them sitting in the spacious backseat, Callie sat as far away from Soren as she could. Callie didn’t know what to expect once the car started driving toward the Ashen City. She had only heard rumors about it, and some stories from her university buddies who have dared to sneak inside for a peep at what life in the city was like. All their stories were horrifying. For the first few miles, after the car drove past the border, Callie felt the anxiety grow in her chest. The place was extremely gray. Most of the buildings they passed were either destroyed or unlivable. And though the ashes from the gre
Never in her life had Callie felt so small as she did in the presence of the mafia boss. Vincent Baros radiated an aura that told her to run away. He was exactly like the stories; tall and proud, with eyes slightly slanted, giving him a menacing countenance. He smelled nice, of cedar and rosewood, effectively cleansing Callie’s nose from the heavy scents of cigarettes and sweat that reeked around the club. The club halted all operations once Vin entered the scene. The music was turned down to a dull pump, and the people had started to back away from the commotion. The mafia boss looked down on Callie, frozen in his hold. He watched as her eyes dilate from what he assumed was fear. Callie’s legs shook as Vin took most of her weight, keeping her from falling. Without letting the woman go, Vin directed his attention at the three men he caught touching her, zeroing in on the man with a half-hard cock hanging out of his pants. He must be high out of his mind. “Attempted rape in my club?
Callie barely registered the pain as her nails dug deeper into her forearm. Nothing registered anymore. Not the noise in the club, not the stench of blood, and not Vin’s voice that told her to stop. As soon as Vin noticed, his hand came lashing out to grab Callie’s to pry her hand away from herself. “Stop doing that,” the mafia boss barked out, but Callie only looked at him through her tear-filled eyes. It was like Callie was possessed as she struggled in Vin’s hold with nothing but pure adrenaline. Pained screams left her mouth when Vin accidentally gripped her injured wrist too tightly. Suddenly there was a sharp jab against her neck and Callie was out like a light. Panic filled Vin’s eyes as he watched the life drain out of Callie’s eyes. “What the fuck?” Vin was surprised, but he managed to catch Callie before she could fall to the floor. Behind her, Soren stood holding up a syringe muttering, “Sedative.” As if no other explanations were needed. Vin looked disgusted– offended
The air pressure in the room seemed to drop because Callie found herself having trouble breathing. With Vin’s face so close to hers muttering those dangerous words, Callie was starting to realize how much trouble she was in. True, Vin saved her life, but he did it at the cost of three others. Any man who can pull a trigger without remorse is someone to be feared. “Follow me,” Vin said before grabbing the discarded black jacket from the floor and throwing it to Callie. Quickly putting the jacket on, Callie followed him deeper into the apartment. With her heart hammering in her chest, Callie could barely appreciate the luxury that was Vin’s apartment. The large space must be filled with nothing but furniture and accessories from designer brands. When they got to what appeared to be the kitchen, Callie’s eyes zeroed in on a gorgeous blonde woman who seemed to be waiting for them. She was tall, maybe five-foot-nine, with perfect porcelain skin. She wore her hair in a low ponytail with
Vin was minding his business, scanning through yet another missing person’s case that landed on his desk, when Ella burst into his office. “Don’t hurt her.” The mafia boss looked up from the document and fixed the doctor with a hard stare. And when he spoke, there was a dangerous edge to his voice. “Ella, you know better than to barge in here unannounced.” Ella was used to being reprimanded. She wasn’t the type to bend to anyone’s will outside of the bedroom, so in this case, she wanted Vin to hear her. “I’m sorry,” she apologized, anyway. “I’ll take any punishment for speaking out about this. I know it’s not my business what you do with your women, but please don’t hurt Callie.” Vin didn’t plan on hurting her. He wouldn’t hurt a woman. But having Ella stand up for her, made him all the more curious about his new little pet. Shifting from foot to foot, Ella started becoming uneasy under Vin’s piercing gaze. “That’s all I came here to say. Oh, also! I know you like it rough in th
The knock on his office door came earlier than Vin expected. The heavy wooden door opened and Callie walked in barefoot. She was still wearing Vin’s shirt that Ella had found in his closet the night before. She was a petite thing with innocent and delicate facial features. Soren told him she was twenty-four, but Vin would believe it if she said she was eighteen. Vin’s shirt looked big on her, but she carried it well and the shirt couldn’t conceal the curves of that delectable body underneath. “Come closer,” said Vin as he watched Callie awkwardly take in his extremely minimalist office. There was almost nothing in there apart from his mahogany office table and chair combo and some bookshelves. “Look at me.” Careful brown eyes met his blue ones, and something about Callie’s vulnerability and innocence made Vin’s dick twitch in his pants. And she was beautiful, no question about that. Not even the pinkish swell of her cheek could mar her beauty. “Callie Moore.” It was the name Vin sa
Fresh out of the bath, Callie softly called out that she was done.The woman who had prepared the bath for her entered with a white fluffy towel draped on one arm, and a salve resting in her other hand.“Thank you…” Callie started when the woman handed her the towel.“Nabi,” the woman answered, tucking a stray piece of hair behind her ear.“Thank you, Nabi. I’m Callie.”Nabi offered a small smile as Callie slipped into a fresh white robe, then she led the singer to sit in front of the vanity.“I’ve heard your name before,” said Nabi as she pulled one drawer open to grab a brush. Slowly, she took a section of Callie’s hair and started to brush it.Callie didn’t ask her to elaborate. Somehow, people knew her name by her association with Vin, and every time, nothing good came out of it.They stayed silent even as Nabi pulled the hair dryer out of another drawer and started to dry Callie’s hair. The blonde brushed and pulled sections of Callie’s hair and pinned them away from her face in
Callie’s ears rang with Cullen’s howling of frustration but her mind remained on the memory of Vin. His words, no matter how hurtful, his touch no matter how brief.She couldn’t look him in the eyes, feeling disgusted to put on display like that to a man who threw her out once. But she caught glimpses of him. His tired eyes, the downward curve of his mouth, the way his shoulders sagged a bit, these were details only Callie noticed. To anyone else, Vin was a picture of a bored man, but Callie saw through the façade. She saw the darkness that ringed his eyes, his pale skin, and sunken cheeks. Her stomach twisted with worry that he hadn’t been eating well.Maybe he’d changed his mind. Perhaps he’d come to save me, Callie thought earlier. But Vin’s words cut too deeply to be fake. She was a passing plaything. And she will never be more, because Vin had cast her aside for the second time.Callie’s empty stomach tightened as she swallowed the bile that threatened up her throat. Disgust cra
Vin drummed his fingers onto the tabletop of Cullen Reich’s private game room. The wait was pissing him off. He had a clear idea why Cullen ever so politely invited him into his territory and into his private establishment.“He’s going to gloat,” said Soren during their earlier meeting. “Callie will be there, that’s given. But we have no news whatsoever after her location was confirmed. We don’t know if…”“We don’t know if she’s alright,” Vin finished for him. “She’s alive. That much, I’m certain. He wouldn’t call me out like this otherwise.”The date of their meeting came. Two full days after Callie left, no, since Callie was taken.Vin reached into his jacket pocket and retrieved a small flask. The whiskey burned down his throat, but it did nothing to ease his nerves.On the outside, he was a picture of calm, but the storm in his eyes betrayed his exterior.Callie was somewhere in Reich’s territory. The plan was already in place, he only needed to set a few more pieces on the board
Callie woke up shivering and sputtering the water that was thrown in her face. Disoriented and cold, she was pulled from the floor and forced to sit in a wooden chair.“Tie her legs and arms,” said a voice she vaguely recognized. “I don’t want her filth touching me.”Callie’s head pounded along with the throbbing ache in her jaw. She ran her tongue across her lips, surprised when she tasted copper upon them. The slap from earlier must have left a cut. A shiver ran down her spine as she felt her wrists being bound together by zip ties, followed by her ankles.“Is she alive? Wake up, darling.” It was the same voice, deep and masculine, but it held a sinister vibe that Callie couldn’t help but shiver. Another splash.Sputtering and coughing, she slowly opened her eyes, groaning when the bright overhead light invaded her vision, worsening her headache.Memories came flooding back after she’d regained her bearings.She had been kidnapped; beaten; drugged three times with sedatives; and now
Ella stared at Vin’s back wondering what the best way to murder him was. She’d asked him—no, begged him before not to hurt Callie, and yet he still did.The doctor waited until Liam was out of earshot before she spoke, and she didn’t bother disguising the venom in her voice.“You fucked up,” she told him icily. “You fucked up big time, Vin. Callie is a one-in-a-million. No, one in a zillion!” Ella watched Vin’s shoulders straighten as he faced her, his face a mask of indifference. “You’ll never find another woman like her, and you gave her up just like that, for what?”Vin’s skull throbbed with a migraine on top of the ache he felt in his right thigh. With his hands fisted at his sides, he fought through the pain to answer Ella.“I didn’t give her up,” he replied. “I gave her freedom.”His voice sounded strained and tired, but it held a hint of doubt.“Are you trying to convince me or yourself?” Ella scoffed. “You’re an idiot.”She turned his back on him and started to put away the
The air in Vin’s office seemed to thin by the minute. It had not been a day, and yet Callie’s absence weighed on him like they had been apart for years.There was only so much he could do to distract himself from the fact, but Sienna, Callie’s best friend was not making it easy for him.“How could you?” Sienna asked, disbelief thick in her voice. Vin didn’t need to look up from his laptop to know she was glaring at him. He had enough on his plate, Sienna’s outburst was the least of his priorities, but Raleigh’s presence warranted the crime lord’s attentionRaleigh was like a son to Vin, so when he looked up and saw confusion and disbelief in Raleigh’s eyes, Vin’s chest pricked.“I never question you, Vin. You know that,” the boxer said in a low, even voice. “But this is just wrong. You know more than anyone that Callie belonged here with us.”A muscle throbbed at Vin’s jaw upon hearing those words.“That’s enough,” he growled. “I don’t need any of your opinions, and I do not appreciate
Callie’s heart thudded in her ears. Nothing registered except for the pain, so much pain that she couldn’t tell what was hurting.It was like Vin ripped her heart out from her chest, dropped it on the ground, and stomped on it with heavy boots.Tears blurred her sight, she struggled to pull herself and the suitcases out of the elevator, and once the doors closed behind her, she collapsed.It was over.She hit the ground hard, scraping her knees and palms, but the pain was nothing compared to the pain in her chest.She sobbed into her hands, crying out, uncaring that a few stories above her, Vin was probably hearing her as he sipped on his drink, uncaring.The tears were unrelenting as was the stabbing in her heart. She sat on the ground, crying until no more tears fell from her eyes. She cried until she felt exhaustion wrapping its arms around her. She needed to leave before she collapsed in front of Vin’s elevator.Mustering the strength to stand was equivalent to squeezing her heart
Soren stared at Vin, worried about his friend. He had suspected that the letter would contain some kind of message from Jimmy, but he didn’t want to break the news to Vin. There was no way to make this easy for him.Vin could lie to himself all he wanted, but anyone with eyes could see that he was in love with Callie. And his reaction to the letter he held in his hands was proof of that.“Callie’s free,” Vin whispered a second before crumpling the piece of paper in his hand.The world seemed to spin around Vin. Callie had been a constant in his life for only a few months, but he knew he couldn’t live without her.Everything in him screamed not to let her go. To find an alternative. To buy her back. But another part of him, the moral side of him, knew that Callie deserved to be free.That deal was to play with her, right? Never did he think he’d be this devastated when this day finally came.Callie wasn’t a bird trapped in his cage anymore, and she deserved to see the world, as the wor
“Where are we going?” asked Liam as he sucked on his chocolate drink. Vin helped him get strapped into his seat in the back. “Home. We’ve been gone for too long.” Callie looked at Vin nervously, but she managed to plaster a smile on for Liam. “You hear that Liam? We’re going home!” she said excitedly, buckling her own seatbelt. She turned to Vin then. “You okay?” Vin glanced over at Callie as he eased the car out onto the highway. “Yeah, why wouldn’t I be?” But Callie could tell something was wrong. Something had been wrong since the night of her attempted kidnapping. Had she said something to piss Vin off? But if she had, then he would have called her out on it already. Vin wasn’t the type of person to hold back on her punishments if she needed it. So, what was wrong now? “We’re driving straight home,” said Vin after a couple of minutes on the road. “If you need something, just let me know. We can pull over for food or bathroom breaks.” Callie’s eyebrows scrunched together