Damon’s POVI approached the front door slowly and cautiously, reaching my back pocket for the small handgun I usually carried around. I couldn’t tell who was at the door, so I had to be cautious. The doorbell dinged again, and I tapped the view button on the biometric door screen.A wave of relief washed over me when a familiar face filled the screen, and I felt my muscles start to relax. Thank goodness it wasn’t the apps—then I felt a sudden kick in my guts. But what was she doing here?As if on cue, the doorbell rang again, and her voice came next. “Open up, Damon! I know you’re in there.”I groaned, feeling a sudden wave of anger, as I opened the door. “What are you doing here?” I queried, my furrowed brows and creased forehead showing her just how displeased I was about her sudden appearance.But, Alina being Alina, she just swept past me, into the manor, blatantly ignoring me, and my question. “Ouu, what a magnifique place you’ve got here,” she crooned, her eyes jumping from o
Damon’s POV The Griffin Marauder rolled to a stop in front of Club X, the infamous hottest, and most dangerous club in New York. It was where any, and everything went down, from drug dealing, to prostitution, to gambling. It was the heart of New York’s crime underworld, and I owned this fucking place. It was not just one of the very many businesses I owned; it was the most successful, and deadliest. I stepped out of the car, adjusting my pitch-dark suit jacket as my eyes roamed around the vicinity of the club. There were girls, and women, littered on every corner, calling out to the staggering men who passed them on their way to the entrance of the club. “You’re sure he’s in there?” I asked Marcus, who had rounded the car and was standing beside me now. “Yes, boss. I confirmed the intel.” I nodded and started to make my way to the entrance, ignoring the desperate voices of the sex workers. “Hey, sweetie,” one of the voices stood out, louder and clearer, “I can show you w
Damon’s POVShe ran in the opposite direction when she saw Marcus and me, but she was obstructed by the men who stood guard a little further away from the suite. “Bring the bitch to me!” A pudgy man with a scar on his cheek stood at the entrance of the suite, his blazing eyes trained on the girl who was still desperately struggling with the guards. Marcus leaned in and said in a low voice, “That’s him, boss. Julio Carabera.”I cocked a brow, a little amused.They still hadn’t noticed Marcus and I. The men pulled the girl by the arm, dragging her towards the pudgy man as she walked and flailed her legs. When they had pulled her close enough, Julio raised his palm and struck her face. “How dare you?!”“Please..” The girl scrambled to her feet, rubbing her palms together in a desperate plea. “Just let me go, please,” she sniffed. “I’m sorry..”Something about this girl reminded me of Iris, and I felt something move in my chest as I watched her cry and beg, even as she was being punch
Damon’s POVA gun cocked behind me and Marcus stepped forward, pointing from one man to the other. “Stay back, motherfuckers. Any one of you take one more step towards the Don, and I’ll blow your fucking brains off.”This was a careless and pointless move because any of these men could be carrying a gun. That they carried golf clubs and sticks did not mean they lacked gun power.One of the men daringly stepped forward, and Marcus shot at the wall very close to Julio’s legs. “I warned you!” he barked, cocking the gun again and aiming at Julio’s head this time.Julio shrieked, scared shitless for his life. “Do as he says you bastards!” he screamed at the men, who were his guards.The men stepped back, naturally obeying the order of their master.“The problem with foolish men like you,” I started, pulling him with me into the suite while beckoning the girl to follow, “is that you fail to recognize when mercy is being shown to you. How incredibly foolish is that?”Pointing the gun at the
Damon’s POVThe downside to seeing and meddling with a lot of blood was severe nausea. I don’t know about others, but the sight and smell of blood nauseates me so much.That was the major reason I carried around a decanter of vodka. But I had run out. So as soon as I had gotten to the manor, I had run up the stairs into the house and was finding my way to the kitchen in quick strides.“Welcome, sir.”“Thank you, Ryder.” I handed him my jacket and poured myself a full glass of whiskey.He watched me intently as I drank from the glass, unmoving. “Is there a problem?”He hesitated, then shook his head, “No, sir. I would ask Mary to prepare dinner right away.”He turned and left, and I poured myself another glass, downing it in one go. I wasn’t a heavy drinker, but this was necessary.There had been so much blood…I closed my eyes and shook my head, trying to delete the memory.I walked out of the kitchen to find Mary setting the table. “Welcome home, Mr. Vyon.”I nodded, pulling out a ch
Iris’s POVWhat was happening? Why was my heart thudding loudly against my chest, as Damon carried my almost naked frame across the room, in his arms?What was he doing? What did he plan to do with me?“Put me down!” I shrieked, kicking my legs and hitting his shoulder. But it did nothing to stop or deter him.He threw me down on the bed and threw his weight atop me, trapping me in place with his much larger frame.“Just…stop fighting,” Damon scolded in a gruff voice, grabbing both wrists in a strong grip, with one hand, while the other found its way to my thigh.Wait a minute—my thigh?My breath hitched in my throat as he started to trace his fingertips up my thigh, slow and steady, each spot burning as he moved on to the next.I felt a squirm in my stomach, and a thousand confusing flutters in my chest. This had to be fear, right?I gasped and squeezed my eyes shut as he palmed my thigh suddenly, gripping it, and I held my breath, feeling a wave of pain…mixed with something else. So
Iris’s POVThe next time I saw him was after I had finished reading the James Cullinan thriller and was returning it to the library.He had been standing in that window, staring at the library window, as if in wait. I ducked behind the door as soon as I saw him, not wanting him to see me too.Who was he? He looked a little older than me, but he was still in his early twenties.I could tell, even from a distance.A loud thud interrupted my thoughts, and I stilled, wondering what had made the sound.It came again soon, loud and clear before I could make out what it was.Someone was throwing rocks at the window in quick succession.Baffled, I dashed out from behind the door in time to see the boy aiming at the window.What the hell?!He paused when he saw me, a small, satisfied smirk on his face.I dashed out through the side door of the library, to the balcony, flames burning in my chest. I would be closer to him on the balcony, and he would hear me cuss him out. Loud and clear.He saw
Damon’s POVMarcus was yelling in the boy’s face now, while I just watched silently, from inside the car.“Tell me, who the hell dives in front of a moving car to save a stupid cat? Isn’t that ridiculous?!” His veins were almost popping out of his neck. “You should be glad we just decided to let this slide, but instead!” he banged the car bonnet, instantly stepping on my nerves. “Instead,” he continued, “you stand there asking me to apologize? Because the stupid cat got hurt?”“Yes.” The boy looked quiet, but he had a kind of menacing aura.Marcus scoffed. “C’mon, boy. Don’t whine over something so trivial. They say cats have got nine lives, right?”As he turned to head back into the car, the boy grabbed his suit jacket from behind, pulling him back, to my surprise, and Marcus’s.Did he have a death wish?In a mad rage, Marcus flung his arms around. Deliberately hitting the boy smack in the jaw. “Get your filthy hands off me, boy!”I decided to step in here. They were starting to crea
Damon’s POVThree months earlier“So, you got a new tattoo?”The voice of the therapist pulled me out of my thoughts, and I pulled my gaze away from the window facing the garden, looking down at the still-fresh tattoo on my arm.“Yeah..” I murmured, tracing a finger across the face on the tattoo, lingering around the eyes that stared back at me.“When?” The female therapist asked, and I shrugged, not taking my eyes off the tattoo.“Just a few weeks back, I guess.”“Really? Can I see?”“Sure,” I mumbled, heaving a sigh.She rose to her feet and moved around her desk, coming over to where I sat and leaning forward behind me.“Wow,” she exclaimed quietly, a little amazement in her voice. “That’s a unique face. A pretty one, at that.”“Yeah, I know right?” I replied, the corners of my lips tilting up in a small smile. “It’s a face I keep seeing in my dreams, Andrea.”Andrea, my therapist, stood back then and observed me closely, almost lik
Iris’s POVA year laterI stood at the floor-to-ceiling window on the balcony of the condo, admiring the beautiful night view, my mind a melancholic mess.It had been that way since that night after Damon had fallen off that cliff.And we hadn’t seen him since.There was nowhere we hadn’t looked.But Damon was nowhere to be found.I’d cried and cried for months, but to my greatest despair, that was all I could do.Sometimes I wished Luca hadn’t showed up with Gary when he did, because then I’d have been killed too, and I wouldn’t have to deal with this pain.At least I’d be dead and buried, probably alongside him.It was as I’d seen him falling off that cliff that I knew I was in love with Damon Vyon, my heart falling right out with him.And I never got a chance to tell him how I felt…“What are you thinking about?”I whirled around to see Luca standing at the balcony door, watching me with a sober expression on his face.He too, had not remained the same ever since Damon disappeared
Iris’s POVThe gun fell out of my trembling hand, clattering to the floor.Did he just ask me to shoot Damon?No, no. I couldn’t.Sighing and pushing his fingers through his hair, Zach bent down and picked up the gun, approaching me menacingly. “Don’t piss me off, pretty girl,” he snapped, his tone laced with derision, as he pressed the gun into my hand again. “Shoot him, I said.”“No!” I screamed now, intentionally throwing the gun far from me, and as it tumbled over the cliff, Zach let out a deep growl and whirling around, he struck me heavily across the cheek.“Fucking bastard!” Damon yelled, struggling viciously to break free of his chains, and tears blurring my vision, I stared down at him, knowing very well that this would end badly.How could we possibly get out of this?What miracle could happen?“Hey you,” Zach snapped his fingers at one of his men, “get me another gun.” They quickly came forward, presenting him with a new gun, and he took it, observing it closely.“Now,” he
Damon’s POVI stared up at the chief coward—Zach, was it?—my vision blurring.Ah. So it was him? The one I’d replaced?This story he recounted.. triggered the memory of a day I’d kept buried and locked up, unconsciously, the pain coming right back and whipping me emotionally.That little boy from back then. I stared at the scar on his chest, remembering how I’d felt seeing him bleed out on the floor that day.“You seem to be getting your fucking memories back, don’t you?” Zach spat, his eyes growing darker than they were already.Of course, that day had been a fucking bloody day. So how could I forget?*****Fifteen years ago“W-what are you doing here?” The man who called himself my father stuttered, staring at me with a fear I’d never seen in his eyes before.We stood facing each other on the rooftop of his new law firm, a stick of cigar in his hand, dark circles underneath his eyes.Had he even been sleeping? Well, how could he sleep, after he sold me off to that maniac of a mafia
Damon’s POVHe glared at me for a long time, saying nothing, his eyes taking on a distant look. Then rising to his feet, he cleared his throat.“It’s your money, quite alright,” he started, shoving his fingers in his pocket, alongside the flash drive, “but this money is nothing compared to what you stole from me, Damon.”What the heck was he talking about? What exactly would I steal from a stranger like him? Someone I knew nothing about?He stopped pacing for a while, staring down at me. “You might have forgotten,” he scoffed, “seeing how fucking clueless you look right now.”“Look,” I started, frustration climbing into my tone, against my will, “I don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about, or how you got your hands on that. But if it’s the money you want, you can keep it.” “Just let her go,” I added, nodding in Iris’s direction. “She has nothing to do with any of this.”He looked back at her for a moment, then threw his head back in a maniacal laughter, shaking his head.“Who sai
Damon’s POVThe slap of the wind on my face was what woke me up this time. Slowly, I peeled my eyes open, every part of my body aching, my head throbbing painfully.Where was I now?Fuck…Iris..There was no time, and here I was..lying around, letting that weird woman keep putting me down.Looking around, I slowly realized where I was. On a cliff? How come? How did I get here? That weird woman couldn’t have carried me here all alone, right?This was a cliff..had to be. That was one explanation for this much breeze and open space.Grunting, I tried to move around, and I was a bit disappointed to find that I was still bound by wrists and ankles. What was I expecting?I tried to turn around then, and someone’s foot pressed into my back, pushing me back to the ground.“Well, well,” an unfamiliar voice rang out from behind me, cold and rusty, and excited, “look who we have here.”I tried to turn around, to see who had joined us, but the person that had their stinky foot on my back pressed i
Iris’s POV“Where the fuck have you been?”I was jammed in the backseat of the moving car, between a woman who smelled heavily of putrid blood, and the man who had slapped me earlier, my hands and feet still bound very tightly, the ropes cutting into my flesh.I had no idea where we were headed.“Well,” the woman cleared her throat, “is that how you thank me for making this fucking easy for you?”Sighing, the man leaned back in his seat and pulled the woman into his lap.“Unlock the windows, Dante,” he ordered, twisting his nose upwards, “it smells so fucking rotten in here.”Then he turned his attention to the woman in his lap. “I’m sorry, my beautiful Anna,” he murmured, stroking her hair. “I was just carried away with all that’s happening, you know. Everything’s happening all at once, and I mean, it’s good. Trust me.”She smiled, reaching into her pocket and retrieving a pack of cigarettes. “Okay..” she murmured, “what do you have to say about my performance?”“I’m duly impressed,
Iris’s POVI’d thought this vile-looking man could be bluffing when he’d insinuated that he had Damon, but from the way his eyes sparkled right now, I feared it wasn’t just an insinuation. He’d meant it.And what was that he said? He wanted me to kill Damon? Why would I do that? Why would he want that? I mean, it was clear now that this man was an enemy of Damon’s, but why would he want me to kill Damon?As I glared up at him, my eyes burning, my heart ramming hard against my chest, I tried to regulate my breathing. Tried to mask the fear that now clouded my senses, making my tongue as heavy as lead.I swallowed hard, wincing from the pain of my hair being pulled right down to the scalp. “You want me to do what?” I demanded, my tone laced with that same fear I tried so hard to mask.Scoffing, he let go of my hair and rose to his feet. “You try to hide it,” he started, “but you seem to be quite distressed by what I’d just said.” He paused, shoving his palms into his pockets and glaring
Zach’s POV“Anna did all of that?”I stood with my back to Dante, staring out the floor-to-ceiling window, the corners of my lips turned up in a satisfactory smile.“Yes, boss,” Dante replied. “We were just on our way to send a message across to Damon Vyon when she called with the information.”Throwing my head back, I let out a small chuckle, clapping my palms dramatically. “She’s a real vixen, isn’t she?” I muttered, shaking my head. “It baffles me, you know, how very alike we seem.”“So,” I continued after a few moments of silence passed, “we have Damon Vyon in our hands right now? Is that truly so?”“Yes, boss,” he replied. “He’s currently at the warehouse we’ve prepared. We await further instructions from you.”“Great,” I murmured, thumbing my beard.I didn’t think it would be so easy to capture Damon Vyon. I’d spent all these years planning, envisioning, dreaming, wishing. Seeing how deadly he was. And now, Anna had pulled it off like it was a fucking walk in the park.I was dul