“Oh, that dress is not nearly short enough,” Daniel said, his eyes traveling up and down my body. I glared at him and placed my hands on my hips. We were in my apartment. Daniel looked distracting in a long black dress shirt and dark jeans. But he was frowning at the black dress that I usually wore for parties. I didn’t know what he was talking about saying that it wasn’t short enough. The dress went to my upper thigh and if I bent down low enough, it would show my ass. “Audry, we are going to an underworld party. All the girls dress…um, provocative there. I don’t want you to stick out,” Daniel explained. I rolled my eyes and stomped into my room. He did have a point. I did have a dress that suited the occasion that I hadn’t worn since my party days in college. It was neon pink, a color that went well with my blonde hair. The neckline was plunging and the hem only covered the tops of my thighs. I squeezed into it and studied myself in the mirror. The dress
“They have private rooms here, Audry,” Daniel murmured when we pulled away from our kiss. My pussy grew even more wet at his words. I knew why he didn’t want to leave the club. If we stepped out of Utopia, this spell that had come over us would be broken, and with the cold night air would come a clear head and remind us of all the reasons we shouldn’t be with each other. “Lead the way,” I answered Daniel with a grin. He grabbed my hand and led me away from the dance floor down a dark hallway with many doors. The farther we got away from everyone, the quieter it got until the only sound I could hear was my own heart beating.Daniel walked to the final room and knocked on it. He waited thirty seconds and when no one answered, he opened it. I didn’t even take a look around the room because all I could see was Daniel. All I could feel was his hands all over my body and his lips on mine. He had me pushed up against the door, his lips on my neck, and my legs were
I left Dominic’s office with my mind so full of thoughts I wished I could open it up and dump them on the floor to get some relief. I walked back to the front door, but another voice interrupted me again. This time it wasn’t Mr. Molton, it was his son. “Can I talk to you?” I spun around to see Daniel with his arms crossed and leaning against the staircase banister. He looked cute in his pajamas and rumpled hair. The tension between us was awkward, it had that morning-after feeling.Even though I wanted nothing more than to leave and be in my own space to think things through, I knew I would have to face Daniel sooner or later. Besides, I didn't want to stand in the entryway in my revealing night-before dress any longer. Being caught in it by Mr. Molton had been embarrassing enough already.I nodded and followed him up the stairs to his room. I studied his large bedroom since I didn’t have a chance to do so last night. It was twice as big as my own apartment and th
My insentient phone alarm went off and I groaned, shutting it off and immediately going back to sleep. The next thing I knew there was a pounding on my door and my eyes sprung open. Shit! I slept in. I let Daniel into my room so he didn’t wake up everyone in the hotel. I rushed around getting ready while he stood in the corner with his arms crossed, sighing impatiently. We left the hotel and walked to the street the gang members had said the deal was going down.Since we didn’t have a car to wait all day in like a normal stake-out, we did the next best thing and went into a coffee shop that was open at this early hour. Daniel ordered a black Americano and I got a large iced coffee. We sat at a table by the window. The street was in full view. All we had to do now was wait. We waited, taking turns looking out the window so as not to look suspicious, but the street remained quiet since it was a Sunday morning. The only people on the sidewalk were early-mornin
*Daniel* I strode down the sidewalk with my hands shoved into the pockets of my pants. I didn’t take the bus back to my house because I was too angry to sit still. I couldn’t believe Audry had joined my family because she wanted to ruin us.What was she planning to do? Sell all of our secrets to other gangs? Slowly turn us against each other? Destroy us from the inside out? Have us all arrested?How had I allowed her to wrap me up in her web of lies? I had always held her at arm's length and didn’t trust her when most of the gang did, especially my father. But then I had been the one to suggest we work together. How could I have been so stupid? Had I allowed my attraction for Audry to cloud my judgment? Was the real reason I wanted to work with her because I found her hot? I shook my head, disgusted with myself. My father was right, I had no business being the leader of our gang. I made terrible choices that didn’t put our family first. I pulled
“What’s your name anyway?” I asked Audry’s friend. We were sitting at Audry’s kitchen table, trying to decide what to do next. Both of us had our arms crossed and were glaring at each other from across the table. How was I supposed to trust this guy in order to find Audry? I didn’t like his smug face and attitude. “Lyle,” he answered with a frown. See? The bastard had an attitude with me. Lyle probably saw me as a threat because he wanted to fuck Audry. Idly, I wondered if he slept with her just like I had. The thought made my fists clench in anger. “Listen, I can find Audry on my own, you can go back to wherever you came—”Lyle’s phone started to ring from its place on the table and he looked down in excitement at it. “Is it Audry?” I asked, leaning forward trying to see his phone screen. Lyle looked at it and his shoulders sagged with disappointment. “No, it’s just my boyfriend. I’ll call him back later,” he explained, and put down his phone.
*Audry* “Hello there, Audry,” Lorenzo said to me pleasantly. It seemed like he was greeting me like we had simply run into each other on the street, not like he had kidnapped me and tied me up in some random basement. I glared at him. “Hi, traitor,” I said, struggling to get out of the ropes. But each time, it would just get tighter until the point where it was painful. It seemed like there was no way for me to escape right now. I needed to talk to Lorenzo until I could figure out another plan on how to escape. “Oh, there’s no need for name-calling, Audry. Especially in the position you’re in,” Lorenzo taunted me. That asshole. “How could you, Lorenzo? You were my father’s best friend! How could you work with the Taddeos? The people who had him killed. How could you sex traffick young girls when you have daughters yourself?” I demanded, my voice steadily rising. It wasn’t smart of me to lose my temper with him, but I couldn’t help myself. He had betr
I waited in the dark for who knows how long. I had no idea how much time was passing, all I had to time it with was the beat of my own heart. I wished Lorenzo would come back and do whatever he was planning to do. Sitting here waiting in the dark was terrible. I hated the feeling of impending doom. Right before I was about to call out for Lorenzo to shoot me and get it over with, I heard heavy footsteps on the stairs. Lorenzo came back into the room and flipped the light switch on. He was wearing a triumphant grin. Shit. Whatever made him happy couldn’t be a good thing for me. “Well, I talked to my partners and we all agreed the best thing to do now is kill you,” he told me bluntly. “You mean you asked your bosses and they ordered you to do that,” I shot back. Lorenzo looked furious, then pulled out his gun, aiming it at me. “You know, you really shouldn’t provoke the man with the gun,” he growled. “I didn’t get the chance to be the one to kill
Before I could even fully enjoy the feeling of Daniel’s tongue against me, he stopped what he was doing and I felt a hand clamped over my mouth. I looked over and somehow Daniel was next to me. “I seem to remember asking you to be quiet,” he said with a stern expression as he took his hand away from my mouth. “Oops, sorry,” I said, not feeling apologetic at all. “Are you going to keep quiet? If not, then you won’t get what you want,” Daniel warned me. I pretended to zip my mouth closed. He smiled. “Good. Now I can enjoy myself again.” Then he was back on the floor, kneeling in front of me in a blink of an eye. Daniel licked my wet center and I had to stuff my fist in my mouth to keep from screaming again. He set a fast rhythm, licking my pussy and rubbing my clit. Daniel pushed his finger into me and it took him a moment because I was so tight around him. “Damn, baby. I need to get you ready to fit my cock inside you,” Daniel told me when he ca
Daniel was standing in the middle of the room holding a bouquet of orange tulips and plastic black flowers. I loved the color palette he had chosen because I automatically knew what he was going for—Halloween colors. “What did I do to deserve these?” I asked as I walked over to where he was standing and took the flowers from him. My cheeks began to warm as I held the bouquet, chewing on my bottom lip.Daniel shrugged. “I owe you a lot more than flowers,” he said with a grin. “This is only the start of the surprises though. I’m taking you out of town. I think we could both use a little getaway.” My heart began beating with excitement as I gripped the flowers.“Pack a bag. We are going somewhere for two nights.” I opened my mouth to ask more questions, but he held up his hands. “That’s all I’m going to say right now.”I tried to get it out of him while I packed, but he wouldn’t say a word. I was so excited to leave this city behind us for a little while. We had
After I shot Aaron, I immediately turned to Dominic.“I’m so sorry. I-I…” But I didn’t have an excuse other than the fact that I thought it was the right thing to do. The right thing for me anyway. Even though we had technically agreed that I could be the one to kill Aaron at our last meeting, it felt like the situation had changed. I didn’t regret shooting him, not even for a second, but now I was scared of how everyone was going to react. Mr. Molton was the leader and it was his decision. I was hoping he wasn’t mad at me. Also, the Chief of Police was here. Sara could easily arrest me for what I just did. It could be technically counted as murder because Aaron hadn’t been pointing a gun at me when I shot him. There were many witnesses to my crime. All these scenarios were going through my mind in rapid succession and I was beginning to feel dizzy.“I understand why you shot him, Audry,” Mr. Molton told me. He patted my shoulder in a fatherly sort of way. Dominic
I didn’t even lift my gun to defend myself against Aaron. I didn’t have enough time and all the fight seemed to have seeped out of me now that Daniel was lying motionless at my feet. In the back of my mind, I realized that I could hear again. But what did anything matter if Daniel was dead? I knew I should be angry and screaming with rage right now. But I felt paralyzed by my numbness. My brain refused to accept what I knew to be true. I wouldn’t even allow myself to look down. I couldn’t.So much had happened tonight that I couldn’t process Daniel was dead and I was about to be shot. Was this really how our story was going to end? After everything we had been through this past month, this was how it all ended? I just hoped that someone took out Aaron after he shot me.I closed my eyes, accepting my fate. Then something amazing happened. I heard someone grunt on the ground. It sounded like Daniel, but I didn’t want to get my hopes up. Could it be my imagina
Chaos ensued and for a moment, I didn’t know which way was up. On pure instinct, I crouched down and covered my head as bullets flew through the air. I army crawled to the Moltons’ side because that was my best chance at survival.I heard gasps of pain and thuds as people fell. I just hoped that it wasn’t any of my friends. My jeans tore on a rock and I felt warm blood seeping through the hole in my pants, but I kept going. I couldn’t afford to stop.Now I was public enemy number one. I had just tried to kill Taddeos’ gang leader.How had I not noticed that the gun wasn’t loaded? I wasn’t in my right mind, to be fair. I had been so focused on wanting to kill my father’s murderer that I hadn’t inspected the weapon I was given to do it. I should have finished the cadets. I dropped out before target practice. I kept crawling over to the Moltons’ side and made my way slowly but surely. My heart felt like it was pounding in my ears. It felt like someone was controlling
*Audry*I held on tight to the gun as Aaron led me through the large house. It was completely different than twenty minutes ago. I watched as the Taddeos ran around the house to prepare for the trade-off with their biggest enemies. I watched in horror as everyone collected guns from hidden places around the house.I clutched my weapon and stared at the huge firearms the members were arming themselves with. I noticed that most of Taddeos’ members were burly men with serious expressions on their faces. The Moltons were sure to be outnumbered. I was fearful for Franky, Lyle, Mina, and all the other friends who made up the Molton Family.I wondered if Sara Walker was going to be present at the trade-off. Would she be bringing her team? “I thought you wanted peace?” I asked Aaron, and looked pointedly at his team preparing for battle. He was leading me to a sitting room with his hands behind his back. “Just because I want peace, doesn’t mean I’m a fool,” Aar
*Daniel*The plan was in place. A group of us were going to collect Audry. Which included my father, Jace, Uncle Gabriel, Franky, Lyle, Mina, Sara Walker, and some of her team. We were all gathered in the meeting room for a debriefing of the plan. Chief Walker was on speaker phone; she and the team she was able to gather on such short notice were meeting us at the Taddeos’ home base. It had been my idea to offer a new peace treaty. That was the bullshit deal I was offering Aaron. But I wanted to end this tonight. I was going to end this long war with the Taddeos once and for all. I was pretty certain Aaron could see right through my offer. Just because he was an awful person, it didn’t mean he was dumb. Tonight was going to end in a shootout. I thought we were all aware of that. Uncle Gabriel and Jace were tasked with the job to get all of our weapons from the vault in the basement. They were handing them out now. Franky was explaining to Lyle how to hold and shoot a g
“What would you like to talk about?” I asked Aaron. He took his time answering me. Aaron got up from his desk, walked around it, leaned his legs back on the wood, and crossed his arms. I wanted to roll my eyes. I wished he would just get to the point. But where was the fun in that? The longer he drew this out, the more enjoyment he received from watching me squirm.Was he planning on torturing me in his professionally looking office? He definitely was twisted enough. “Well, I just want to make sure you have all the facts to the story before you decide whose side you are on,” Aaron said calmly. “What story?” I asked suspiciously. I couldn’t control my emotions anymore. I let my guard down and I bet he could see every thought on my face now. But it seemed like he was done playing games. Aaron was ready to tell me the real reason he kidnapped and brought me to his home. “The real story of the night your father died,” Aaron replied, picking up a manilla f
*Audry*At first, the car ride there was surprisingly uneventful. One of the large bodyguards took my phone away. Aaron sat in the backseat with me. He sat annoyingly close, something that pissed me off. But I couldn’t voice my opinions because there were three other bodyguards in the car with us all who had their hands on their guns. Even the man who was driving had his gun in the drink holder.I contemplated whether I should try and reach out to snatch it, then I could shoot Aaron. But I wouldn’t even get the chance, because his bodyguards would shoot me before I could even get a good grip on the weapon. Aaron knew he had me trapped. I glanced over at him and he had a smirk on his face. His plan had worked. He was going to use me as bait. Could he somehow know about the ‘relationship’ I had with Daniel? Did he think Daniel would come to rescue me once he heard about my kidnapping? Did Aaron think the Moltons’ son cared about me that much?Because of the way thing