RIVEN BLACKWOOD POV Hazel had cried for me. And I still couldn't wrap my mind around it.She'd shed ugly tears for my pain and kissed my scars as if they were the most beautiful part of me.I pressed the shover button, my head dropping against the wall as the water poured in torrents around me, beating hard against my neck and back.Hazel was killing me.She'd cried for me, and it wasn't just because she pitied me; no, I could tell by her eyes that she'd been truly hurt that I was hurt. She had seen my pain that everyone else chose to ignore, and it had broken her.My heart burned in my chest.I could still see her face in my head, the redness of her eyes, the tip of her nose, and the way her lips trembled as she said sorry repeatedly. I was sure that I was forgiven for lying to her. It should have made me happy.But I was selfish, and It wasn't enough for me. I wanted more. I wanted her to choose to stay with me, I wanted her to love me, with all my scars and fucked upness.The wat
HAZEL STYLES POV He watched me, his eyes dark and intense."Are you sure?" he asked, his voice a rough whisper. "I might not be able to stop if you change your mind in the middle, little rabbit" It was a warning. My stomach flipped. But I really wanted it. I needed him to touch me, I wanted him to do bad things to me. Fuck the consequences.My fingers caressed his cheek, my gaze locked on his. "I want you to make love to me" I whispered.He smiled, the smirk on his lips making my heart stutter in my chest."Good girl," he said and was going to kiss me, but then his eyes widened, and the next thing I knew was being shoved and hard.I slammed into the counter, my head blanking out for a few seconds.What the hell...I barely finished the thought when the windows exploded, shards of glass raining down on us as gunfire erupted, bullets flying into the room and shattering everything at the top of the counter. The sound was deafening.My instinct told me to run. I started to get up."Sta
RIVEN BLACKWOOD POV Hazel brought her head down, her eyes clenching shut, and I drove out of the garage at full speed.Fury raged in my chest, the feeling burning up my lungs as they opened fire from all sides. I swerved hard, my car hitting those at the side, before accelerating forward.Their cry of pain did nothing to ease my rage as I drove over those who couldn't make it out of my way in time.The crunch of their bones and flesh as it shattered under the car's tires filled my ears.Could Hazel hear it, too? God damnit! She had already been through so much, and now she had to experience this, too.As I drove forward, more men came out, their automatic weapons a lot more dangerous as they started to aim at the tires.I swerved to avoid getting hit, my heart hammering in my chest even as I screamed at my head to focus. There was no room for fear. Fear only got people killed.Bullet rained around the car, the sharp gasp of Hazel every time I swerved, twisting my gut.She was definit
HAZEL STYLES POV "I love you, Hazel," Riven's voice whispered in my ear, his hand grazing my cheek. But there was something wrong. He looked all kinds of wrong. And the hand that was touching my face was sticky with blood.He suddenly grinned, the blood on his face dripping into mine. "You should have run when I told you to, little rabbit"****A sharp gasp escaped my lips as I woke up, my body trembling as my heart pumped hard in my chest.Realizing that it was all a nightmare, I took a deep breath and let it out, then did it a few more times until the trembling stopped and I could focus.I sat up, then groaned as pain wracked through my body and made me dizzy. It was like I'd been run through by a truck. My limbs and hands all felt like lead. What the hell happened to me.I glanced around the dimly lit room."Hello" I called, but my voice came out hoarse and small.My mouth was parched and my throat felt like sandpaper. I gripped at the bedsheet as my eyes darted around the unfam
HAZEL STYLES POV "It's exactly as I said. After your little accident in the woods, Riven met up with me and told me you were too much trouble and he didn't want to be bothered with you anymore"Maybe in the past, I would have been gullible to believe his word, but now I knew better. Riven loved me too much to abandon me. Whatever was going on, there had to be an explanation for it.Julian smirked, his smile stretching. "You don't believe me, do you?" he stated, then laughed. "You know what, it doesn't even matter. The truth remains that you've been abandoned once again, and that too by someone you gave your heart to"I fisted the sheet. "I think you should leave since you have nothing good to say..."His hand thrust out and I flinched, pain coursing through my arms as he gripped my shoulder hard."When the hell are you going to stop this madness, Hazel. You found out that that bastard lied to you, and what did you do? You chose to go away with him. Now I am telling that he betrayed
RIVEN BLACKWOOD POV *****A WEEK EARLIER Cold water splashed onto my face, and I gasped awake, choking as some of it got into my lungs.I blinked, trying to get my vision to adjust to the dim lightening in the room as water dripped into my eyesI tried to move and groaned as pain zapped through the length of my arm.Both of my hands were chained above my head. And I could tell that it had been a while since I passed out as they were so numb that I couldn't even feel them.My legs were also fastened to the platform I was chained to, making movement almost impossible.I gritted my teeth as I tested the strength of the iron and found them unyielding. What the hell was going on."Are you finally awake, son?" Father said as he stepped into my line of vision.My heart froze to a stop, my ears ringing as everything that happened rushed back to me. I looked around the room I was in wildly, then glanced back at Father when I didn't see Hazel."Hazel" I called out, then gasped as a punch stru
RIVEN BLACKWOOD POV PRESENT CONFERENCE ******"You need to look into the man who abducted me for Julian. There was something off about him. He wasn't the usual type of hitman Julian normally uses." Ethan said as he followed me through the hallway."Father already has someone looking into it. After Julian dies, he would be next" I said with no feelingEthan stopped in his tracks, and I stopped too, my hands poised next to where my gun was. I turned to face him."Are you alright?" I asked, my gaze sweeping the hallway for any potential threat."I'm sorry," he started, his gaze dropping to the floor. "I'm sorry for what happened with Hazel. If I hadn't been careless and gotten kidnapped, none of this would have happened" I clenched my fist as a surge of anger washed over me."You don't need to apologize," I said then turned away from him because every time I looked at him, all I wanted to do was carve into his face and watch him bleed to death."I got an update that she woke up today
HAZEL STYLES POV "What are you going to do" Lena asked, her voice cutting through my thoughts. I turned to face her and then let out a sigh as I rubbed my hand over my face."I don't know, Lena" I answered, then sighed as I glanced around. "I just feel so tired honestly. It's like I can never catch a break no matter how hard I try," I choked out, then shook my head as tears welled up In my eyes. "I understand. These past few months have been really crazy"But it wasn't just crazy. Everything was literally messed up. It was like every time I had something good going for me, tragedy struck and took it all away. It's always been that way. On the night of my birthday, I lost my parents, then I almost got killed by a stalker as my art career started to kick off, and now I was separated from Riven just after I made up my mind to be with him. It was like each time I managed to take a step forward, I ended up taking two steps back.When was it all going to bloody end?I met Lena's gaze and
HAZEL STYLES POV The sounds of waves crashing against the shore pulled me out of the dark fog I was in, and I slowly regained consciousness. My eyes opened, then I glanced in the direction the sound was coming from, but I was only met with a thick black curtain. Where the hell was I? I blinked hard to clear away the fogginess from my eyes, then slowly pulled myself into a sitting position.I winced, my head hurting all of a sudden. "Ugh. What the hell happened to me. Did we get into an accident or what" I muttered to myself, my gaze darting around the room I was in. I couldn't really see much because aside from the table lamp that looked like it was running out, there was no other source of lightning in the room.Where the hell did Ethan take me for me to be able to hear the sound of the waves so close?I grabbed my head, trying to recall what had happened and how I got here but it was all blank. "Ethan" I got out, my voice scratchy. I waited for a few seconds but no answer came.
EARLIER ETHAN BlACKWOOD POV I got to my feet, my eyes bulging as I stared at David."What the hell are you talking about? What do you mean you got intel that Riven is going after Julian.""Exactly what it means, boss; I have a feeling that Riven has been keeping an eye on you, boss. It's no coincidence that he found Julian so soon after he escaped our hideout""Or maybe he has been keeping an eye on Ksar," I said, refusing to believe that he knew that I had been planning to betray him. "I told him to look into Ksar after the whole kidnap." "That could be the case but we can't rule out the possibility that Riven already knew everything before now and was just bidding his time to attack""I refuse to believe that. Riven would have had me killed if he knew what I'd been planning. Family means nothing to him, and what he despises the most is betrayers—" David's face was a grim mask. "—Except, this was all a game to him," I stated, realization dawning. He found out that I was planning t
JULIAN STYLES POV "You chose such a shitty place as a hideout, Julian; I had more faith in you," he said, his eyes darting around the room. He looked disappointed. "You should have just stayed where Ethan was keeping you," he said, and I met his gaze. How the hell did he know that Ethan had been keeping me? Was it just a guess to see how I would react?If he was just baiting, he wasn't going to get anything from me. Yes, Ethan fucking betrayed me, but if Riven killed me, then he would be the only one left that could take him out. Dying sucked but I guess I would be able to rest easy knowing that Riven would be joining me soon enough. He would die at the hands of his own brother."What the hell are you going on about, Riven?" I let out a breath, my injuries flaring as my heart pumped hard in my chest. "If you're going to kill me, just do it"He smirked. "We will get to that part Julian, you don't need to be in such a hurry"I stared at him, my hands clenching at my side. If only I h
JULIAN STYLES POV "You look like shit," Ksar said, the scar on his face bunching as his face scrunched up in disgust. "I can't believe you let that bastard get the best of you"I groaned, my face furrowing in pain as the wound on my stomach pulled when I tried to sit up. "Don't move around too much, or you're going to get infected," Ksar warned then came to sit in front of me. "How are you feeling? You've been passed out for two days"I glanced around the sparsely furnished room. "Where am I?""A shitty motel" he answered, then smirked. "You lost everything, so you don't get to be picky." "Fuck off, Ksar"He smirked. "So, Hazel is in charge of the company now, huh?" he said, then scoffed. "I mean it was hers in the first place, so I guess this was just everything going back to its proper place""Are you going to be like this?" I asked and jerked when he suddenly leaned close."I'll be however I want to," he growled, then pulled back, his narrowed eyes digging into me. "So, how are
ETHAN BlACKWOOD POV "Home sweet home," I got out as I stumbled into the house and hit the light switch. Light flooded the whole space, the painting of Hazel I'd bought catching my attention from where it hung on the wall.I walked toward it, stopping when I got close enough."So beautiful," I said and started to trace the vivid colors with my fingertips."Today was so shitty Hazel. I had to sit and watch you and Riven be together and as if that was not enough, I had to deal with that crazy woman. Can you believe she threatened me? She threatened that she was going to tell Riven that I have feelings for you," I groaned, suddenly feeling sick. Hunching over, I took in a deep breath and stumbled to the floor as I lost strength in my legs. A wave of nausea washed over me, cold chills breaking out all over my body."Fuck, I shouldn't have drank so much," I groaned, waiting for the horrible feeling to pass. Seconds ticked by, and once I felt more steady, I pushed myself to my feet. "This
ETHAN BlACKWOOD POV "You shouldn't have pulled a stunt, Keira. You just ended up making yourself Riven's target and don't think he's not going to come for you just because you two used to date"Keira's hands clenched around the drink she was holding. "Shut your fucking mouth, you coward," she gritted out, then downed the shot in her hand, slammed the glass on the table, and screamed like a mad woman, her hand banging against the counter repeatedly."You're going to fucking hurt yourself" I snapped and tried to grab her hand. She shoved at my arm hard, her chest heaving from her outburst."Don't fucking touch me! We had a deal. You were supposed to be on my side but when it came down to it, you couldn't even stand up to your brother, you fucking coward."I was so done with her. "If you stuck to the plan maybe I would have kept to my end of the deal. You were supposed to pretend that we were back together, but what did you do? You let your stupid jealousy get the best of you," I said a
HAZEL STYLES POV "I'm sorry about tonight. It wasn't supposed to go like that"I turned to face him, my eyes lingering on his face. "I actually expected a little bit of animosity you know. I would have been very worried if everything went too well," I said, meaning it. He grinned, then took my hand and pressed a kiss to it. We walked in silence, the cold air comforting."You looked so hot asking her to leave, you know," he said, meeting my gaze. "I wanted to fucking kiss you""You did kiss me" I reminded him. After Keira had left he'd turned to me and kissed me without a care that his father and Ethan were watching.He grinned. "Well, I want to kiss you again," he said and yanked me close all of a sudden, his hands tangling in my hair.I drew my head back, my eyes widening. "What are you doing?""What do you think" he said, his breath fanning my face, his scent seductive. Ugh, why was it so hard to resist him.I shook my head and pushed at his chest but he didn't budge an inch."Ar
RIVEN BLACKWOOD POV I cocked my head, my icy stare fixed on hers."Am I late? I made sure to set my alarm, so I'll be here on time."There was no way she was doing something so daring. "What are you doing here, Keira?" I asked, and she crossed her arms, her head tilting to the side, the sweet smile on her lips stretching."I came for dinner. Ethan invited me," she said, and my gaze cut to Ethan. Him again? God, everyone was testing my patience these days. It didn't take much for me to spiral out of control; they knew that, so why were they acting out all of a sudden?"Did you invite her, Ethan?"The corner of his mouth twitched. "I mentioned it in passing; I didn't actually think she would come,"Keira rolled her eyes. "Don't be such a coward Ethan. You wanted me here, and that's why you invited me."Father cleared his throat and smiled at her. "Well, we made a feast, so you're welcome to join us since you are already here. The more the merrier right"I glanced at Hazel, hating tha
RIVEN BLACKWOOD POV THREE DAYS LATER "Are you nervous?" I asked as we stood in front of the door of my father's mansion.She glanced up at me, her smile faltering for a moment. "Shouldn't I be? I don't think your father is a big fan"I cupped her chin, my thumb grazing her cheek. I loved the way the simple contact had my heart racing."Well, you're mine, so he has no choice but to be a big fan. Besides anyone that does not like you must have some sort of brain disorder or something, because you're the most lovable person I know"She chuckled, the sound of her happiness making my heart twist. God, she was perfect, and I couldn't help but fall in love with her all over again."That's so reassuring," she said and slowly pulled her face away from my grip. I missed the contact almost instantly. It was hard to be in the same place with her and not touch her. She was like a magnet, always pulling me closer and closer, and no matter how many times I touched her, it never seemed to be enoug