My life had been mapped out for me a long time ago. Ever since the day I was ripped away from my mother and the only life I knew and thrown into the depths of hell. There was no one to care about my screams then, no one to shield and protect me from the horror of having my eight-year-old body violated by grown men and women. Now it's too late. So whatever goodwill bullsh*t they were on is totally lost on me. I don't need saving, and I definitely don't need anything in my life that's going to stand in the way of me getting revenge against the ones who hurt me. Had it been a few years earlier, maybe I'd have been won over by the beautiful house with the frilly sh*t on the bed and windows, maybe I'd have fallen victim to the fluttering heart thing that happens when hottie gets close, but it's too late for that.I made up my mind that I wasn't interested even though a part of me wished I could give in, the part of me that was bone tired. I've been going on autopilot for so long with n
I had a big stupid grin on my face as I followed her inside until I remembered her past, and it struck me hard in the gut that after all, she'd been through maybe it wasn't such a good idea to just grab her and kiss her like that. I felt sick to my stomach at the reminder, and my attitude took a nosedive. What the f*ck is wrong with me? That's not like me at all. But she was being so damn adorable with her combat sh*t , and I've wanted to since the moment we met. I've wanted to do a lot of things with her, to her since the moment we met, but for once, I'm at a loss as to how to proceed with a woman.This is something I'd usually talk to my brother about to get another perspective from the person I trust most in life, but he wasn't here, and I had a more pressing issue on my hands. It's as if that kiss had opened up a window in my mind, and I realized that I couldn't treat Roxana the way I would anyone else. As tough as she is, and I don't think for a second that she's pretending,
I know my brother had only agreed because he trusted a few of the others, like Blade and Summers, and had dealt with Lyon once or twice in the last year and had grown some kind of fondness for the guy. I stopped my little mind fart when she jumped off the bed and grabbed her stuff. "Let's go!""What?" Is this some kind of trick? I thought for sure I was going to have a battle on my hands."What do you mean?""You said we have to be out of here soon, right, so let's go." I looked at her trying to read her, but she wasn't giving anything away. "Why the sudden change of heart?" I looked at her skeptically as I tried to recall if I'd said anything that would've facilitated this, but there was nothing that jumped out at me.Surely it wasn't my talk about the FEDs closing in on her. I got the feeling she didn't give a sh*t about that. So what the hell just happened to make her this damn agreeable? To say that I'm suspicious of her actions is an understatement. But still, this is what
I closed my eyes as soon as the plane took off and pretended not to notice the way he'd positioned himself as if to stand between me and the others. The guy sure was trying hard, but I had more pressing things on my mind. Can it really be her? If so, what a monumental coincidence.I reached over to the bag in the seat next to me and patted it down, making sure I could feel the little lump made by the sheets of paper I had hidden in the lining. They would be hard to find unless you knew they were there in the first place, but of everything I kept there, including my weapons, those documents were the most important.I let my mind playback over the last few hours as the smoothness of the flight threatened to put me to sleep. Not that that was going to happen. It's been years since I've been able to sleep with anyone else in the vicinity. The first few years after I'd been taken, I'd spent each night in terror; in fact, from the time the sun started making its descent in the sky some e
"I have to get the hell off this island.""You need to calm down.""Don't tell me to calm down, mob boy, you heard what he said up there. Someone put a hit out on my mom, and it's not who I thought it was all these years. These people that he's talking about, I have to find them, I have to…" I was starting to shake. I was so mad.'This is probably why my dad and uncle didn't come. They knew what he was going to reveal.""They'll be here later; you can kick their ass then. Right now, I need you to think about our kids and keep a cool head. Too many f*cking unknowns around here right now."He wasn't lying, there had to be at least close to a hundred and fifty people on this island right now, and that's not counting the security detail. Anyone watching wouldn't think anything was going on since there were pregnant women and children here, but you only needed to step foot on the place to feel the underlying current.I don't know what I expected when we accepted the invitation t
The jet should be landing any minute now, and I find myself on tenterhooks. I'd listened in on Jason and Roxana's conversation when they were back at the house. Not because I'm a nosy f*ck, but because my wife asked me to save this girl in a roundabout way, and I feel a sense of responsibility to her. I've listened in on others' conversations before, of course, the house is built and fitted out for that, all of the safe houses are.There are eyes and ears everywhere in each of them since we usually deal with rescuing children. It's just another layer of protection that was put in place by the organization to ensure that everyone working with or for us was on the up and up. I don't plan on listening in on those two in the future since it was blatantly obvious that the boy had already staked his claim.That's not what's worrying me now, though. I don't think he picked up on it, but she seemed to give in way too easily at the mention of my wife's name. Not her married name, but her ma
"Are you sure that's wise? These are children we're talking about…wait, did my kid hear about what happened to her grandmother?""No, that's not how it works, Catalina is too smart for that, to just sit and listen. That's why you saw a readout of the meet. The device she used transfers audio to text. Since I know where and what it is, I can turn it off when I need to, and it wouldn't show on her end.""Had she been listening in, that would've been a different story. I'll demonstrate later so you'd see what I'm talking about. You didn't touch anything in there did you? I don't want them to know that I know what they're doing. Since you already know what they and their friend in Asia have already uncovered, you should know what they're capable of. I'm just giving them what they need to carry out whatever it is they have planned.""But, they're eight.""And when you were eight, you were already very proficient with a bow and arrow." I raised my brow at her at about the same time h
"Hey, Pothead, a minute of your time." I caught him bright and early the next morning when he, Cyrus, and Drake were on their way to the beach for a run. Everyone else is in work mode, but these three are on some kind of holiday. Don't get me started on Elena and her sh*t .I refused to look at him since he'd foregone a shirt and was wearing shorts more suited to a man half his age. But since I wasn't here to rip him a new one for being an embarrassment, something I've had to live with my whole f*cking life, I let that sh*t slide."Hey, Colt, what's up, son?" He did some stretches and a little jogging in place action, and I barely refrained from rolling my eyes."Why didn't you or mom tell me that you're cousins?" He stopped moving and stared at me, open-mouthed."Who told you about that?""What if one of my kids came out with a third eye or some sh*t ?"He had the nerve to laugh like he thought I was being funny. "First of all, your mom and I are distant cousins, perfectly