ACE.“I asked you a fucking question. Have you thought about fucking my baby girl from the night you fuckers stole her from us?” Nathanial bellows.His emotions of rage, torment and disgust are valid. Flynn claws at my calf, gasping to fill his lungs with air, his eyes ready to burst out of their sockets.I release the pressure of my combat boot from his neck. He spits a mouthful of blood on the leg of my Armani pants, and I let out an irritated groan, pressing my foot down on his throat with my body weight behind it.Nathanial runs the tip of his tongue across his upper teeth and rubs his hands together. “I will ask you one more time. Did you think about fuck-” His voice trails off as gunshots ring out to our right.Holden is firing some asshole’s brains out, splattering the concrete with blood. He tosses me a menacing smirk as he wipes the droplets of blood from his forehead and nose.“These clowns don’t deserve to see the light of day,” Holden grunts.Nathanial and I look at one a
My mother takes my hand and leads me down the stairs to what appears to be their basement. When we reach the bottom step, my jaw drops as my eyes take in the scenery of the room. My heart will be the death of me if it doesn’t learn how to slow down. The walls are covered in black foam. In the corner of the room is a trolley with surgical tools neatly laid out on top; in the other corner, there is a makeshift cell with iron rods embedded into the ceiling and floor. Unable to take it all in before bile rises from my stomach, I turn and look at my mother, who is staring back at me. “Is this the Taurine Family’s torture room?” I ask her with apprehension lining my voice. “Yes.” My mother replies without hesitation, turning her head to look in front of her. “I don’t want to be here. I’m not a killer.” I blurt out, willing my feet to turn and run up the stairs. Unfortunately, I find myself rooted to the spot when one of my father's men drags a very flustered-looking Olivia through a h
TWO DAYS LATER: ACE. “So, it is true? The Taurine princess has returned home?” Wicked asks as he enters my office with a glass of bourbon in one hand and a cigarette in the other. Hiding the stunned expression on my face, I rub my hand over my brow, “When did you get in?” I wasn’t expecting him to arrive until the end of the week and now that he is here in the flesh, I will have to put my plan in motion by getting him in a room with Eleni Drakos. I’ve considered Holdens’ suggestion and with the little amount of time I have before the wedding is to take place, I need Juan Lopez gone; out of the picture. Closing my laptop, I lean back in my chair as I remove my reading glasses and place them next to the laptop. I drum my fingers against the desktop as I watch him take a seat in the chair in front of me, looking like he hasn't had any sleep for the past couple of days. “It’s true. Amelia Taurine has returned, and she is with your Aunt Andrea and Uncle Taurine, settling in.” I reply
I look at my reflection in the mirror and I don’t like what I see.I can’t believe I allowed my mother to drag me to the bridal boutique, three hours out of the city.Everything is starting to feel a little too real, and on the inside, I am silently dying from a panic attack.Tonight is the night that I am to meet my future groom. My mother keeps telling me how handsome Wicked is and how much he resembles Ace. Even if my mother is speaking the truth, Wicked isn’t Ace.And my soul will continuously mourn for him every day that we are apart.I have thought about running away many times when the opportunity has shown itself, but every time I look into my mother’s kind eyes, I just can’t.If I willingly run away, I know it will break her. I have heard the house staff chattering in the kitchen about my mother being bedridden for many years because she used pain medication to pass the time.Today marks eight years of sobriety for her, and I don’t want to be the reason for her relapsing. I’v
ACE. I’m unable to tear my gaze away from Amelia. She is standing there, looking like a perfect little doll, missing my touch but looking like a scared little lamb at the same time. When I received Andreas’ call, it was like a punch in the gut. I have never dropped anything I was dealing with so fucking fast as I did during my meeting with Ismail. Business is business and Amelia… She is like my lifeline that I didn’t know I needed. Ismail will have to wait. I pat my hand on top of my thigh once again, “come here, Little Bird.” I say in a more authoritative tone that has her obeying me. As she lowers her ass onto my thigh, I tilt my head to the side and take a look at her back. The wounds are healing nicely. Leaning forward, I close my eyes and press my lips against her heated flesh. I hear her gasp as her spine straightens upon contact, and I smile as my lips linger over her bareback. If I could take away the pain and the ugly that comes with her past, I would in a heartbeat.
My mother rushes over to me the second Ace leaves the store with a small roll of cash in her hand. “He wants you to buy this one.” My mother sighs as she tilts her head to the side as her eyes devour the gown. “Who knew he had good taste.” She mumbles with her brows pinching together. “Mum…” “Yes, darling?” Her gaze snaps up to meet mine with a smile that shows no true emotion she has learned to master across her face. “Did you know he was going to tell me that I was going to marry him and not Wicked?” “Yes. When I asked Ace if he felt the same for you after his brawl with your father, I already knew the answer, but he didn’t”. “How?” “Ace and I, we…” “You dated?” “Hmm, I wouldn’t call it dating because I was with your father at the time. Ace and I weren’t physical, and I was never unfaithful to your father. I guess our lines and emotions got blurred throughout us spending too much time together. He looks at you the same way he used to stare at me. It’s intense as his eyes dra
Wicked sits down beside me as my father takes his place at the head of the table and my mother sits on his right – across from me.Kara places our plates down in front of us, “Wicked, it’s so good to see you. I hope you have been keeping well?” She says in hushed tone, touching his shoulder as she slips a piece of paper inside his denim pocket.My father clears his throat, “that will be all, thank you, Kara.” He growls with a scowl on his face, disliking the way she is interacting with my supposedly future husband.Wicked casts me a side-long glance with a shit-eating grin on his face. “The house staff have always been so… accommodating to my every need when I visit here.”I pick up my utensils and begin to cut into my large piece of steak that is covered with mushroom sauce, “that’s refreshing to know. I could tell from the first time I met, Kara that she was very cooperative when it came to one's needs.” I shove the piece of meat in my mouth and turn to look at him, chewing with my
ACE. My gaze keeps drifting to the clock on the wall in my office at Infinity Club as I try to contemplate Wickeds’ reaction when he sees my ring on Amelias’ finger. Fuck Nathanial for excluding me from their dinner tonight. It’s such a dick move and he knows it. “I have a seller who is willing to give us 50% upfront for five keys.” Ismails’ voice reaches me through the self-pity party I am internally throwing myself into and yanks me back to reality. “I have a briefcase of Delilah already put into vials for you to sell on your floors.” He waves his hand forward and one of the two men, he brought with him tonight, steps forward and places the silver briefcase on top of my desk. He puts the code in, opens it and pushes it forward. “How many and how much do you want me to sell them for?” I ask as I close the top down and wave for Royce to enter my office. “There are eighty vials inside that case and another eighty in that one,” Ismail announces as he turns his body to the side a