JACE โJRโ ASHER/ TRIGGERLAY LOW, COOL HEAD, DONโT FUCKING POKE at Amatoโs business lest I wanted the whole mission to be in jeopardy.The way I saw it the whole mission might as well have been in jeopardy right at this fucking second. Not even the taste of tobacco on my lips could smooth the tension that was so damn palpable in my car.The thought of putting on music soured through my head but immediately died down. Last thing a princess like her needed was heavy rock music making her shiver far more than she was at the moment.Because thatโs what she had done. Fifteen minutes, thirtyโmake those thirty-one seconds and her thighs scrunched together. Her eyesโฆdark filthy orbs lingered out my window every five seconds and her hands tried to grasp reality by clutching her Gucci purse so damn tight her nails were an inch from breaking.I could hear her breatheโฆ messily, angsty, afraid. I had never been the sort that did emotions. The sort that calmed down a person let alone a woman when t
CONNOR/ KADE HAWKINSYOU WENT TOO FAR.NOT EVERY REDHEAD IS TINA HANKS.SHE WAS SCARED, NEW PLACE, NEW PEOPLE, TONS OF SHIT, AWAY FROM HER FAMILY.Iceโs words haunted me through breakfast all the way to my date with Lucia Amato, another woman whoโd landed her ass in hot soup outside my club, Deluxe.My CCTVs outside Deluxe picked up what happened yesterday. Some piece of scum threatened Lucia, her new bodyguard protected her and whilst I was grateful, she could have died and whether I was using her or not, it wouldnโt sit right with me if she did because she was a good person.โI gotta bounce and the guys arenโt back yet from their second searchโThe first search for the Zetas yesterday was a complete waste of time. The fuckers were two steps ahead of us and theyโd already relocated before we caught up to them.Then the Lucia thing happened and I was forced to check up on her, act like a loving and concerned fiancรฉ even though I knew I fucked that up too.โIโm on my way homeโ, I took
JACE โJRโ ASHER/ TRIGGERTHE BOYFRIEND OR IN THIS CASE FIANCร was a piece of shit whoโd glanced at his phone the whole time the princess tried to make small talk.Youโd think me knowing she had a fiancรฉ and actually watching said fiancรฉ kiss her sloppily would tone down whatever shit going on in my body about Lucia Amato but it didnโt.On the contrary, it fueled this want in me that had turned primal when I saw her in that skimpy bikini by the pool.Fucking gorgeous, wet, curvy and holding a paint brush while she was so lost in her world unaware that I was watching her, drinking in her features and wondering how a woman like her existed and how I hadnโt fucked her yet and gotten this over with.But thatโs the thing, she was a princess to everyone including me.I didnโt give two shits about Nicolas Amato having my head on a silver platter if I as so much as touched his daughterโs ass. Naah that shit didnโt scare me. I was going to touch her, yes enjoy the fuck out of wiping every memo
CONNOR/ KADE HAWKINSI DIDNโT DO SHIT as she blinked rapidly her eyes falling on my chest which if we were being on honest here, the heaving, the fist still stroking my length told the fucking tale.I was horny as fuck and the minute she told me she didnโt have a boyfriend it was hard to not imagine myself between her thighs smelling her womanhood finding out for myself whether underneath all that sass she was clean shaven or her pussy was fuzzed with hair.As the telltale of the water streaming down the tiled floor, my chest heaved, the hair sticking to my forehead as it dripped droplets of water, our eyes locked and I took in that little gasp of hers, that nervous clenching of her thighs hidden by that white robe.Fuck, did she have anything underneath that robe?Fuck, Kade. Fuck.For a passing minute, we were locked in this intense stare.She was stunned and I was mad.It was not the first time a woman saw me stroke my length or drenching wet in the shower before. Naked, that is.O
JACE โJRโ ASHER/ TRIGGERโAND ON HIS RIGHT, WE HAVE MICHAEL MARKOVICHโMarius, the occasional driver of Nicolas Amato pointed blandly at the punk seated at the lanai, sharing a cigar with the boss.The Armani suit clad guy turned twenty-four last year getting his trust fund after his fatherโs death and while he was new in the game, Michael Markovich was pretty well known.A business man on the outside and a shady arms dealer on the inside. AND LIKE Nicolas Amato, the Feds had nothing on him but rumors and the regular witnesses that disappeared before they could take a stand in court.โOn the left is Callum PallisโAlso known as โthe Italian donโ and his story was the same as all the bastards seated there plotting some dangerous shit all for power and more money.Born into a family who ate crime for breakfast.Born into the mafia and ran the family business.Same shit as Michael Markovich.โThey show up whenever?โ I asked playing dumb.The whole reason Marius was telling me all this wa
CASSANDRA BATESSTOP AND SMELL THE ROSES.You know I never thought about that expression at all but isnโt that how we humans were programmed? To live life by the book.Education being the most important, a good job, a solid career, marriage, kids then death. Everyone had that dream and maybe I did too.Maybe I spent most of my time in high school nose deep in a book, googling the most profitable careers and all that paid off when I shipped off to college, worked my butt off for a job that now that I stopped to think aboutโI didnโt really give a shit about.Point was, everything happening to me maybe it was God trying to seep a little bit of coke in my life, a little bit of changes instead of the same old same old shitty lives people lived.And thus, here I was stopping to smell the roses.No job, frankly maybe I didnโt even have an apartment to go back to either.No expectations, no stalking people on Instagram and later questioning how other women maintained slim bodies while I could
JACE โJRโ ASHER/ TRIGGERโIโM SORRYโShe hiccupped.I really didnโt give a fuck sheโd cried her way here or that sheโd soaked my handkerchief with tears and snort I almost felt sorry I didnโt have another one to hand it to her.โItโs okayโThere was no shame in mourning, no shame of expressing how you actually felt and normally this type of pain didnโt end.If she could have seen her fatherโs body sprawled across the living room like some dog left to rot, damn it, she would have been crying harder than she was now.The pain of losing someone didnโt just evaporate from your system in a day. It would take years, eternity even to process that you were alone.And in this case, Lucia Amato was alone. Her father was gone and Iโm pretty sure Michael Markovich made it his mission to eliminate the fiancรฉ too.โWโWhere are we going after this?โHer glossy dark eyes searched mine and I was tongue tied for a minute.I wasnโt supposed to fucking save her, the mission was over but I had paved my wa
KADE HAWKINS/ CONNORโI DONโT LIKE THONGS, THEY RIDE UP YOUR ASS AND LEAVE YOU UNCOMFORTABLE AS FUCKโ, Cass wiggled in her chair and when her eyes met mine and they dilated she realized the words had slipped right out of her mouth loud enough for me to hear.Jesus Christ, I loved her boldness.And whether or not she knew it, letting me know she had lace underneath that Versace designer dress made my pants a little bit tight.She was outgoing, she spoke her mind and she literally didnโt take shit from anyone me included and maybe that was the whole fucking reason I was congealed to her ass since day one.โI like cotton on you way better than laceโ, I shot, she took a napkin from the table wrinkling the tip of her nose when she didnโt like me talking or me in general.โDonโt be smug, Kade. That was not meant for your earsโโReally? I donโt know I could help with the situation; Iโve handled thongs beforeโHer puckish smile dissipated into thin air as she stared at her food.I hadnโt fuck
CASSANDRA BATESTHREE WEEKS OF INCONSISTENT NAGGING.I was so mad at him, I wanted to kick him in the shins for everything. But hurting him was hurting myself too and I wasnโt prepared for that.The first week Kade had made it clear no woman of his was staying in a walk-in closet carrying his kid and so heโd rented a luxurious penthouse for me.I took it under the one condition I would be paying rent monthly. That was my first mistake, assuming he would even take my money after the lustful and apologetic look he gave me when he left me in my new apartment.The second week was even more stressful. With him showing up at my apartment door with breakfast and baby necessities I didnโt require yet.The third weekโฆIcarus woke up and I had been beyond thrilled knowing I hadnโt somewhat killed him. I visited him everyday and everyday Kade Hawkins was there, waiting for me with a grin and donuts and healthy drinks I hadnโt asked for and I rejected them.Rejected him. Not missing the pained ex
LUCIA AMATOTHEY said when your turn to die came, you could feel it in your bones. Feel it in the way you faded into nothingness not knowing what was beyond death.When that bullet had hit me, somehow that feeling had latched onto me. The feeling of welcoming death and saying goodbye to everything.Yet when I opened my eyes, light stinging my eyes with a vengeance, the last person I expected to see was the love of my life glancing down at me like an answered prayer.โHey, princessโ The smile he wore was enough to tell me everything was okay. I wasnโt dead. We werenโt separated, everything was going to be okay yetโฆMy hand searched for my tummy, the IV needle injected to my hand hurting far worse than a bee sting.โHey, hey, heโs fine. The babyโs fineโI didnโt realize there were tears in my eyes up until he said that.And when the first tear fell down my cheeks and the rest came crushing like hail, my throat throbbed as I whispered โSorryโ over and over again.I jumped in front of hi
KADE HAWKINS/ CONNORTHERE WAS only so much shit a man like me could take before he went berserk.I was on the verge of losing the one man who I would call my brother. The one man who was more of family to me than anyone else in this shitty world.On the same fucking day, the woman I would have gone to war for dumped my sorry ass. Regretfully telling me she was done with meโฆfor good.And that shit, her tears, her words ate me up, nothing bloody made sense anymore.โShe needs a minuteโ, my brother from another father quipped beside me not knowing the hell I was going through, the sting that was Cassieโs words and the gnawing fact that I had hurt her and I hadnโt apologized to her yet.โSheโs done with meโ, I muttered and we stood in foreboding silence looking at the theatre doors where Iceโs surgery was still going on.โGood because her handing your ass is your wake-up call to chase after her and earn her forgivenessโ, Jr continued, I still couldnโt understand why they all stayed.Jaso
CASSANDRA BATESEVERYTHING HURT.Physically, emotionally, mentally, I wasnโt doing okay even as the doc assessed me for the hundredth time in the night.Seating at the edge of the bed, trying to piece everything together, I was on the verge of insanity and knowing that Icarus was somewhere in this massive hospital trying to hold onto dear life because of me devastated the hell out of me.The doc offered me a wan smile, all I could do was pretend that I wasnโt going mad when the truth of the matter was, I was. Indeed, going mad.โEverything looks fine, Ms. Bates given your umโฆearlier predicament. A few scratches here and there, nothing major enough to affect the baby. I would recommend a few ointments for the-โI had already tuned him out the minute I heard a word I didnโt think would ever be directed at me.Reality came crushing in and with it so was confusion and happiness and anxiety and everything a person like me whoโd just been kidnapped and slapped with a dose of heartbreak coul
ICARUS โICEโ HAWKINSEIGHT YEARS AGO, I WAS THE SAME fucking schmuck working for Lucas Hawkins. A scrawny kid with a maid for a mother, no father, no money, no fucking worth to anybody.And hell, I would have been the same loser all my life after mumsy died of typhoid or some shit of the sort had it not been for HIM.KADE FUCKING HAWKINS. MY GODDAMN SAVIOR. My partner in crime. My brother.The same bossโ son who thought we were equals. The same kid who had everything I never had and hated it.Money. A powerful father. Power. He had it all and the fucking kid hated every inch of it.I envied him. All my eighteen years of being his best friend and I envied everything he had. But apart from envy? I looked up to him. He might have been a sour pussy, hell a pain in the ass but the kid had his heart in the right place, had that urge to do what needed to be done to get ahead in life and I respected that because I wanted it too.And when the kid got his first dose of power, I straight up jump
CASSANDRA BATESโW-WHAT?โA pulsating headache threatened to split my head apart as I winced.I moved my handโฆat least tried to anyway because my hand felt numb. Both my hands felt numb and any tiny movement made something rattle against my body.Prior memories of what happened came to my mind all at once upping the headache even further.I was crying, damn it after what had happened with Lucia, Kade and Jace, I had ended up like some hobo on the street crying thenโฆthenโฆMy eyes shot open and like someone had knocked my head with a bat, everything came back biting me in the ass.The unwelcomed light ate my eyes without mercy but thatโs not what made my heart pulsate madly in my chest.It was everything in my surroundings, it was in the way, my hands, my legsโฆI was tied up!I was tied up!What was this placeโฆhowโฆoh God what wasโฆI sat in the middle of the largest warehouse Iโd ever seen and I would have been at ease if there were other thigs in here but noโฆit was me alone in a creepy p
JACE `JR` ASHER/ TRIGGERLEFT, RIGHT, FRONT, THE beeping machines haunted me. I hadnโt slept a fucking wink not that it had mattered because the fucking doctors took their time in there.Four hours and counting, theyโd completed the surgery but none of them geeky fucks had showed their asses to explain what was going on.How was she?How was my kid?โHow are you holding up?โ Ontario shot me a passive look and I shot him an equally tired one.Everyone was here but, in all honesty, I felt alone. I felt helpless and most of all I felt like someone had gutted me and yanked my entrails from my body.The chief, Flames, had brought every goddamn man in B&A to console my ass but heโd avoided me entirely and I had a good hunch it was because of the one man no one talked about.My bloody fucking asshole of a brother.The one whoโd escaped his grave and unleashed hell on me.I didnโt answer. Ontario lay his arm across my shoulder.โYou should have never fallen in love, buddy. Christ, you look wo
CONNOR/ KADE HAWKINSTHE WINSTON BLUE DIAMOND ring THE SIZE OF MY HEAD stared back at me and I could only stare back at it nursing a whole lot of emotions that wracked and unnerved me.I breathed but I wasnโt really breathing.I tried to think but every ticking moment went to what happened yesterday.Stupid. Fucking stupid.Why hadnโt I realized, why hadnโt IโJr was alive! They all were and I hadnโt searched enough, hadnโt spent every last dime of daddyโs money to look for them.I had been stunned the minute the forty something year old man stared at me like he knew me while ironically aiming a rifle in my damn face.Then as if all the memories that had been caged in a tight little box had been unleashed, I remembered him.Remembered him with my father.Remembered him carrying me in his shoulders telling meโฆtelling me to call him Uncle Jay.And thatโs what I remembered; he was Uncle Jay. The cool uncle. The one who pissed my fathโCallan most of the times.And the man who peeked at me
JACE โJRโ ASHER/TRIGGERโJ-Jace, THE BABYโโT-the babyโHer blood oozed from that spot on her chest I was trying so hard to apply fucking pressure on.Her eyes were dimming and there was nothing I could do as I held her, my hands trying their best to incorporate every single fucking thing I had learnt from B&A about handling a situation like this.โStay with me, princess. Okay? S-stay with meโMy voice croaked; my heart pumped so hard I could hear the blood thrum in my ears with an uproar.She was making it. She was going to make it. The baby was going to make it.She had to. They fucking had to.My hands were bloody, covered with her life, covered with my mistakes, when she opened her lips to speak, I saw life ebb out of her the same way my mother and fatherโs screams had assaulted my ears as fire took them away from me.โLuce? Lucia? Come on, baby. Donโt, donโt do this. DonโtโโAnd when my eyes couldnโt see shit, every noise I had tuned out since Luciaโs body went limp in my arms ca