LORENZO POVThe FBI director did as told. Seeing the three of us dominating his wife’s ward, and knowing that she was even changed from the one he thought she’d be safe at, he didn’t have much of a choice but to get his ass moving. And from there on, we did a search of our own. Verzi had a few of his men flown in from Texas to give a hand, and everyone got to help. With the FBI and more than 100 of our men on the search, we were guaranteed to find her. Either by nook or crook.As for me, I was weak. I felt it. Everything in me was barely hanging on and I knew if we didn’t find her before the end of today, then something was going to happen to me. Call it intuition or some voodoo, but it was all over my body and I couldn’t just ignore the signs. From the hospital, Xander had us piled into his car and drove us out of the city. It didn’t take long before he rolled into some clean neighborhood with clean, lined trees on the sidewalks and children milling around. It was a peaceful place an
XANDER POV“They gave her a shot,”Ava’s voice called out from my office doorway. I nodded not bothering to look up from the pc in front of me. The sound of her heels against the wood flooring was heard as she delved deeper into the office until she stood in front of my desk. The scent of her strong perfume hit hard, penetrating through the haze I was in.“Her vitals are stable; she should be waking up soon. Although it would be better if she stayed in a coma for some time. Her body needs rest.” She explained, and I nodded still. Why were the numbers not adding up?She heaved a huge sigh before sitting in front of my desk and became still as death. That had me looking up from the work in front of me.“What?”“I don’t know how she does it. Being so strong and escaping death this multiple times? It’s like she has nine lives or some shit. No matter what happens, she always comes back.” She said in a low voice as if she was speaking to herself. I didn’t reply, there was nothing to say at t
CIELLO POVThey say love is the strongest factor in life.Of course, a hard nut like me never believed in that shit. Bazookas and grenades are the strongest factors in life because they bust with just a click, destroying everything in their vicinity. That was what I believed all these years. The love that was talked about in the movies and in novels never really fazed me, because to me it sounded like nothing but big BS.But then, I saw it with my own eyes.The moment SHE arrived in Dark Woods, she arrived with this enchanting vibe that just lit up the whole place. It was in the way that she accepted everyone without question or judging them. The sense of belonging that she always managed to give to everyone. Be a stinky motherfucker who sleeps with pigs at night, Senorita would accept you nonetheless. And my bosses, the kings I worshipped with everything inside of me, strong men who never bowed to anyone and had the world dancing in the palms of their hands, seeing them so humbled an
ISA POVLife.No matter how miserable and sorrowful it can be, the fact remains that is the gift bestowed to us by the most high. And it can never be changed that we only live once. I know I have cheated death quite a few times, but eventually, there will come a time when I shut my eyes, and they will remain shut forever. Maybe they would open, but not in the given lifetime.But now was not the time. Yet!So when I felt the consciousness slipping through and brightening the darkness I was in, I allowed it whole. The first thing I heard was the sound of the heart monitor beeping, as a sign of life. I didn’t waste time and quickly peeled my eyes open. For the first time in what felt like forever, I felt, alive. The horrors I have experienced came tumbling into my mind, attempting to drown me in great despair. But now, I was a phoenix reborn from the flames. I have been through hell and back and nothing was ever going to erase that or step in my way.I braced myself on my elbows and slowl
ISA POVDAY 2“Ari, you need to eat something.” Valerie called out gesturing to the food covered on the cart next to my bed. I didn’t reply, my mouth felt too heavy to even open. I rolled my eyes and turned to the side, then covered my head with the blankets and ignored her completely. I heard her giving out a loud sigh of defeat before she walked out of the room, not saying even a word. I wasn't moody, at all. I just needed to be alone. And luckily, someone understood the meaning of LEAVE ME THE HELL ALONE.~~~DAY 3“LEIGH-ARI, IT IS NOT TIME TO TAKE SHOWERS YET. YOU KNOW THAT.” Ava screamed from the door of the bathroom I found when I was parading the halls in the ungodly hour when everyone had gone to bed. The room where they have locked me in didn't have a bathroom inside, so I could only come out to have a nice good, cold shower to clear my mind. I didn’t pay her any attention and ignored the blood that oozed from the bandages around my waist, then watched with fascination as
XANDER POVThere comes a point in life where you are crippled by an intense sense of helplessness, not seeing the highly preached light at the end of the tunnel. You are standing in the midst of nothingness, vaguely aware of the problems and struggle around you. You can see the tears and hear the cries around you, but then this undying sense of defeat is just way too heavy to think through, nothing penetrates through it because you have no idea of what to do, or even where to start.It has been a whole month now. A whole month plus some days and Leigh-Ari haven’t said even a single word to anyone inside of this house. At this point, I was ready to do whatever it took to get her to talk. Even if she told me to chomp off my dick and feed it to dogs, I would do it in a heartbeat. Because no one knew what ran inside her mind every time she sat there, quiet and still as death without uttering a word to anyone. It was almost weary and eerie to be around her. She looked like someone who is s
VERNERO POV“Miss Jones, it’s so good to see you.”The little American woman gushed over Leigh-Ari who stood in front of her, beaming with the biggest smile etched on her face. Lorenzo, Xander, and I exchanged confounded looks as we all watched the mutual exchange between a gang of women and Leigh-Ari. She was smiling and laughing with them as if nothing had happened. It was as if there was this switch she flicked on and all of a sudden, she was a bubbly, happy person again. But something about the way she exaggerated it all told me it was all but a façade, and that she had a role to play. No matter how much we may try to get her to be her old self, there was never a time we were going to go back to those days. I just knew it. What had happened changed her completely, and I was dying to know how I could make everything right again. We were all dying. I could see it in everyone’s eyes; we were dying with helplessness and great defeat.“Everyone, meet Vernero, Lorenzo, Val, and Laura.
DISCLAIMERI AM SURE ALL OF YOU HAVE NOTICED, THAT ARI IS NOW BEING ADDRESSED BY HER REAL NAME. SO DON’T GET LOST IF YOU SEE HER IDENTITIES BEING LOOPED AS THE STORY GOES BY.RARE~~~LEIGH-ARI POVI stood on the terrace outside my bedroom facing the night sky and enjoying my bottle of whiskey. The glass was way too bothersome, and the liquor hit differently when I gulped it straight from the bottle. I had on my face, the biggest grin which I even thought my face was going to split into two. Me, motherfucking Leigh-Ari Montreal who grew up hell-bent about saving lives, either by nook or crook, a girl who would chomp off a damn head if anything got into my way of saving a life. I was always someone who would rain hell like a hurricane on anyone who told me anything about cartels because of how bloody they are. I used to flinch and shudder from the mere mention of cocaine, M&M, and shit. Yet here I was, with a smile of triumph after successfully cleaning 50 fucking thousand dollars, and