That night was different. Vin’s body was buzzing with excitement as he hopped into the shower.It had been a while since he was home so early. Normally he would stay at the Tomb or in his office dealing with his several businesses and only return to his residence well after dark. But tonight, he had his reasons. He wanted to wait for Callie.Freshly showered, Vin lounged in the living room with a tumbler of bourbon in his hands. The television hummed low in the background as the reporter covered something about the reconstruction of the city.All was well. Vin made sure of it. With the media being heavily controlled by the Baros family, there wasn’t much that outsiders knew about them.Vin didn’t n
Callie couldn’t remember how many times she came. She lost count after orgasm number six. All she knew was that she felt amazing. Vin gave her pleasure no one has ever done, and she’s confident no one will ever measure up to him.And not to mention how attentive he was afterward. He delivered her punishment for apparently letting someone else touch her during their rehearsals, and she endured his torture like a good girl. And afterward, Vin showered her with praises.“You took that so well, songbird,” he had told her. “Now, let me take care of you.”And he did.Vin let her rest as he ran h
“This had better be the last place, Soren, or I’m firing you.” They had been driving around the entire day from meeting to meeting and now, Soren wanted him to dine with some chick.The lawyer only snorted, “As if you could survive without me to clean up your messes,” Soren replied as he maneuvered the car to park.Vin groaned, this was the third restaurant this week that Soren drove him to. It was also the third dinner date with whichever woman Soren had scheduled.“If you don’t stop driving me around, the media would think I’m dating you,” Vin jested as they stepped out of the car.Soren simply shook his head, “If I don’t drive you, you won’t
Callie remained silent. With emotions still running high, she was worried she might take it out on Vin. She didn’t want to be upset with him, even though he was partly at fault, but his intentions were good. She couldn’t fault him for that.Streetlights illuminated the roads with their soft yellow hue as their car cruised along the highway.“Where are we going?” Callie asked, her first words in a while. They had been driving in silence, with Callie marinating in her thoughts that she realized she didn’t recognize the road they were on.Vin spared her a glance, to check if she actually spoke. “You’ll see,” he replied curtly with a hint of a smirk.Unsure of how to respond, Callie stayed quiet for the time being. Annoying Vin with her questions would only make his mood worse, and she didn’t want that. Risking a glance over at the crime lord, Callie
“Thank you for bringing me to the beach today,” Callie said as they drove back into the city. The faint glittering lights in the distance reminded Callie that she must go back to face the music tomorrow. “And for the ice, and for being with me.”Vin nodded, discomfort clear in his body language. He had told Callie he was sticking around. He didn’t even know why he said that, but it felt right, then. And it felt right now.He wanted to be what Callie needed, what Callie wanted. But the consequences of his words, as much as they excited him, sent terrors all the way down to his bones.When his phone rang suddenly, Vin cursed under his breath.“Raleigh,” he greeted. “What
“Are you sure, you are going to be okay?” Sienna asked for the third time as they walked to the dance studio. “If you need backup, I’m a text away.”Giggling, Callie nodded. “I got it. I’ll be fine, Sienna. Previews are in one week. I just have to hold on for a few more and then I’ll be graduating. And I’ll say goodbye to these four walls that tortured me for years.”Sienna offered her a kind smile. “Never change, Callie. Even if you’re screwing the biggest, meanest alpha male in town, never change.”“What the hell?” Callie laughed, shushing her friend. “Shut up or you’ll start rumors again.”“Sorry, don
She saw red. It didn’t matter that he wasn’t touching those girls, he allowed them to touch him, caress him like they were his and he was theirs.Callie was used to being indifferent, but now that her mood was ruined, she was feeling petty.“Callie! What are you doing here?” asked a dancer who greeted her with a warm hug. “We rarely see you around this time.”That’s right, Callie stayed away from the Tomb at night. It was her first time back underground since the night of the fire. Though she spent time here before to help the refugees, they had been safely transferred to the shelter, there was no reason for her to come down here. She had no idea that the underground club was already up an
Taking the challenge, Callie skipped the foreplay altogether and opened her mouth, fully relaxing her jaw to take all of Vin’s length. She licked and sucked his cock all while staring up at him through her eyelashes. She looked fucking sexy and she knew it.She saw it in Vin’s expression, he was enjoying this blowjob as much as she did. Vin, then, grabbed a handful of her hair and none too gently pulled her off his dick. He tugged hard and she knew her scalp would hurt the next day. He angled Callie’s face up to stare at her fucked-out expression. She was breathing heavily, drool and precum dripping from her chin.“I don’t share,” said Vin keeping his hold on her firm even as Callie scoffed and glared at him.“And you think I do?&rdq
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