ã€ŠKylie Bray (Love, Hate and Billions)ã€‹


 Chapter 1 (Kylie)

    Chapter 1 (Kylie)

    2000- Liston Hills

    ¡°Kylie Bray gets your bee-hind in here youngdy, don''t make mee get you.¡±

    I climb out from under the dining table, ¡°I said I ain''t eating it!" Putting my hands on my hips I crease my

    lips together.

    "Kylie you are too, your mama s on her way back. Don''t make me call her."

    I stamp my rubber-covered feet, "I''m eight I can do what I want and I ain''t eating it, Aunt Milda, I ain''t

    eating that meat. I saw them cut cowsst week, papa said that¡¯s where mama buys her meat from, I

    ain''t eating it.¡±

    I turn and run through the front yard, the greenwn crunching under my feet. My aunt screaming, but I

    don''t care, papa said she needed the exercise, and I agree. If those dresses of hers got any smaller

    her boobies were gonna pop out. I turn my head, andugh as her yellow flower dress creeps up her

    thighs, I know she''sing after me,

    ¡°Kylie,¡± She yells so loud, ¡°you love meat, Tanner made it just for you, Kylie,e on, I don''t wanna

    run, KYLIE.¡±

    I run faster,ughing because there is no doubt in my mind that my aunt could catch me.

    I jump on the cemented frog, then on the fountain bowl. I''d done it so many times with not a care in the

    world.

    Big hands haul me up and spin me around. Giggling hysterically.

    I shriek, "Put me down Stone."

    He doesn''t listen, he never does, instead, he throws me over his shoulder.

    Property ? 2024 N0(v)elDrama.Org.

    "Michael I''m so tellin¡¯ your papa." Heughs, jumping up and down, causing me to flop on his shoulder.

    "You need to be careful Ky, didn''t I tell you about jumping on the fountain," he scolds me.

    My small fist drum on his back, "You tell me a lot of things Stone it doesn''t mean I''ma listen."

    Michael is my second eldest stepbrother. He has ten years on me, with a brain that is unmatched, he is

    a genius. Whatever my Michael reads he memorizes it.

    My mama always says he is a thinker and even though she isn''t really his mama she treats him just like

    he is her own.

    One time I was on the way to the stables when I saw them talking alone. I snuck around the side of the

    barn so they wouldn''t see me. My mama was crying, and Michael just held her, he said it didn''t matter

    what David thought, he said she was special.

    I didn''t understand it then, I know David doesn''t like my mama, no, he actually hates her.

    I wonder why though, because he loves me, he tells me everyday when he calls just before bed.

    David is my eldest stepbrother and is currently I quote ¡®suffering¡¯ in Harvard University studyingw. He

    is the opposite of Michael, he hates studying, despises reading and lives for partying, but he loves his

    family, except mama.

    They argue for everything and Uncle Hector has to often get involved. I hate those times, because

    David has a temper like Uncle Hector, bossy, bossy, bossy. But like Uncle Hector I know David would

    be there if I need him, he would fix anything. Which was how he chose what to do with his life. From a

    young age he wanted to studyw and be a politician.

    I''m not sure what that is really, but Kevin said David would be able to run for president one day and I

    know that the president is bossy. I mean he has to be to control a country, right. And who is bossier

    than my David?

    Vincent, who is the third eldest in the family, just turned fourteen a week back. He lives with his mother

    in Seattle. I hardly ever see him and when I do, he pretends that I''m not there, like I care, psst.

    Last week Uncle Hector told us during lunch that Vincent wouldn¡¯t be allowed to visit much anymore

    because he had ¡®stuff¡¯ to do. Uncle Hector didn''t seem happy about that ¡®stuff¡¯ but I was like whatever, I

    have lots of brothers.

    Then there''s Kevin, my half-brother who is twelve going on thirty. Once, I watched him fall off the acorn

    tree and hurt his back, he shed one tear and was so quiet I cried for both of us.

    I remember thinking maybe the fall made him lose his emotions.

 Chapter 2 (Kylie)

    Chapter 2 (Kylie)

    I asked Kevin that day if he lost his feelings,

    he just smiled and said he ain''t got any.

    It didn''t bother me as much as it hurt mama, so now, I make sure to have them for him. Whenever I''m

    around him, I help him out when he doesn''t know what to do.

    We have eye signals and hand signs. I even spent three hoursst month teaching him tough and

    frown.

    My stomach pained at how muchughing I did.

    T¨ºxt belongs to N?velDrama.Org.

    My mama walked into the game room and looked at us like we were crazy, maybe we were but I didn''t

    mind, and neither did Kevin.

    My Kevin is special but also dangerous, he has a dark side to him that I sometimes see when he thinks

    no one is paying attention, but he is also my protector.

    And then there is my baby half-brother, Jace, he''s eighteen months younger than me. He, well I''m not

    sure how he will turn out and what ce he¡¯ll fit in the family, but from the day he was born he always

    had a piece of me.

    He looks just like my mama, with the biggest and brightest blue eyes and blonde golden hair.

    David said Jace was going to break lots of hearts when he got bigger, but I just worry about people

    breaking his. Jace seems more mellow, and softer, but maybe it''s just because he''s still so young.

    But what do I know, I''m eight.

    He is after all a Stone, thest of the Stone brothers.

    They ARE all the children of my mama s husband, Hector Stone, owner of Stone Fort International and

    the 7th richest man in the world.

    Except for me, I am the only girl in the family, but I''m not a Stone.

    I am a Bray, Kylie Bray.

    Daughter of billionaire extraordinaire Marcus Bray and Heiress Hunter Orniel.

    My papa has two children from his ex-wife Janice, Mason who is a few months younger than Jace, and

    baby Natasha, she''s like four or five. My papa doesn''t see them too often but Janice apparently isn''t

    too well so that is gonna change soon.

    I can''t wait for that to happen, it might be nice being the eldest for a while.

    At Stone¡¯s Estate, they are always trying to boss me around.

    Jace is too young so he doesn''t count.

    My mama did count, big time.

    She likes making me stand by the wall. She says it''s good thinking time, apparently having an answer

    for everything isn''t ¡®good behavior¡¯.

    I don''t get it, I''m not even that naughty.

    My papa lets me say what I want, why couldn''t my mama just do the same.

    I¡¯d always stayed between my mama and papa. They both love me equally, but mama says, my papa

    doesn''t know how to tell me no and it''s important I learned it from her.

    I asked her why did he have to tell me no, when it was so easy to just say yes.

    My papa only wants me to be happy, what is so wrong with that. My mama said it was for the same

    reason I was asking.

    I didn''t understand that, so I asked my brother David. He is no genius but I like the way he exins

    stuff to me, and boy did he exin it. Apparently when I grow up happiness is going to mean ¡®shit¡¯,

    because big people like the word NO.

    So it is torture to say I''m stuck with mama this holiday and that means my three older brothers. I love

    my brothers, step and real, but boy are they bossy.

    The one holding me over his shoulder, while I scream and drum my small fist on his huge back, him, I

    love the most and that is only because David yells at me when I''m naughty and I don''t spend much

    time with the others as I do my two older brothers, David and Michael.

    Jace is my favorite brother because he is cute, but he is also young and my mama''s baby, so he stays

    with mama a lot, and I don''t like staying around mama too much.

    Kevin spends most of his time with his friends in the forest or climbing trees. I only join when I don''t

    have anything else to do or he asks me to.

    And me, well I spend most of my time with Michael and his girlfriend, Willow, they¡¯d been dating for two

    years now.

    They always let me hang out with them when they are at home, or going out to football games.

    This is cool because when David is with any girl he says it''s adult time and leaves me behind but he

    does take me out a lot.

 Chapter 3 (Kylie)

    Chapter 3 (Kylie)

    Last weekend he took Kevin and me to Disneynd for the entire weekend and we all bunked in the

    same suite, the best weekend ever.

    ¡°I can''t breathe Stone,¡± I whine lifting up my head, readying myself to do some serious damage to his

    back by ramming my head into it.

    I¡¯d seen how the Bulls do it, there is no better time to try it out.

    I stop short when I see a small girl waiting by a motorbike, looking like she''s upside down.

    She must be about Jace''s age, but I can''t be sure with her face all blotchy.

    Michael puts me on the ground and spins me around by my shoulders, forcing me to look at him as he

    kneels in front of me.

    I smile and heughs.

    I know what''s funny, I have a crooked tooth in the front. Pushing his ck-rimmed sses up his nose

    he shakes his head like he doesn''t know what he is going to do with me. My papa does it too.

    I always looked up to my brother Michael the most. He doesn''t have blue or brown eyes like the others

    in the Stone family, his is green like Uncle Hector.

    Most people find him scary because he towers over everyone and he is all bulky and strong, but he is

    cool, like so cool. How could I not like him?

    "Kylie meet Dakota Larken." He moves back, slightly to the left and all my attention focuses on the

    small girl.

    I smile at her as she sniffles, it''s obvious to me that she''s crying. Michael stands up and ruffles my hair.

    I smack his hand away. He knows I hate it when he does that, I''m no boy.

    "You two talk,¡± he says, ¡°Make friends, I''ll keep Aunt Milda busy."

    I giggle when he walks toward the mansion ying his hands in the air and so does Dakota.

    "I''m Kylie, Kylie Bray, whatcha doin¡¯ here?"

    Taking a small step towards me, she sniffs and wipes her nose with a tissue. I would''ve done it with my

    floral dress.

    "Michaels helping me with biochemistry."

    Giggling because she sounds funny, I ask,

    "You a genius like my Michael?"

    "Your Michael got nothing on me, I''m smarter than him."

    Hands on my hips, my head tilts to the side,

    "Is that so."

    She put her hands on hers as well, "It is."

    I shake my head, the heat from the sun making me squint my eyes. I''m getting thirsty, but I''m also

    curious about this young girl.

    "How old are ya" I drawl in my coolest southern twang.

    My mama would''ve shouted at me by now, she hates when I do that. I don¡¯t get it.

    "Five, you?"

    "Eight, you live ¡®round here."

    "Aha, we just moved to Liston Hills."

    She stuffs her hands into the pockets of her yellow dirty shorts obviously nervous.

    I watch her do it, and my eyes catch on her blue conversece-ups. I have one in every color, hers look

    worn and I love it, that is the trend now at our school, but my mama always throws mine out and

    reces them the moment it starts fading, maybe this girl would swap with me.

    "Cool, why ya crying."

    Wiping her light brown eyes, she exins, "My cousin keeps teasing me. My dad''s the President of

    The Sin Riders Motorcycle Club and they all have nicknames, I didn''t let it bother me before but my

    cousin keeps calling me nameless geek."

    I frown, that¡¯s just mean, I hate it when Kevin teases me.

    He always picks on me, calling me ¡®skinny bones¡¯ or ¡®rat face,¡¯ it just makes me so mad and we end up

    fighting.

    Well I would, he¡¯ll just sit there and watch me until I get tired. Then he would ask me am I done.

    I always smack his head before I answer yes, and he smacks mine right back.

    Why I do it, well I am a Bray.

    Content rights belong to N?velDrama.Org.

    My papa says a Bray never gives up, so I guess it''s just in my blood.

    "I can get you a nickname. Will ya feel better? my papas good at naming things." Obviously, I''m hoping

    she''ll give me her shoes if I help her out but I don''t say a thing.

    Her face scrunches up like she''s thinking.

    What is there to think about?

    Finally, she nods her head with a big smile, I smile back. I like smiling even though my tooth is crooked.

    My mama said I should wear it as an achievement, it''s part of life.

    "Come on,¡± I tell Dakota, ¡°let''s go call my papa."

    We sneak in through the back door of the kitchen.

 Chapter 4 (Kylie)

    Chapter 4 (Kylie)

    "Ssshh, we don''t want my aunt to catch us, she''s crazy." I roll my eyes.

    Using my finger, I move it in circr motions to make my point.

    "I heard that Kylie."

    I squeal, grabbing Dakota¡¯s hand in a tight grip.

    My aunt is waiting by the other kitchen door that leads to the passage. Her cheeks are flushed and red.

    She must''ve ran to the tree house on the end of the property. Why would she think I¡¯d go there.

    Aunt Milda isn''t blonde like mama but she did have the famous Orniel blue eyes. She is my mama''s

    younger sister but not the brightest.

    "I need to call papa Aunt Milda,¡± I tell her.

    Her response is a stern look, but we both know she isn''t fooling anyone. My Aunt is as soft as mush,

    crazy, but soft.

    I don''t chance it though, I am still scared she might call me back to eat that meat.

    Keeping my grip tight on Dakota¡¯s hand I waste no time pushing past my Aunt.

    My mama keeps telephones and cell phones all over the house, so it doesn''t take me long to spot the

    one on the white sofa.

    Letting go of Dakota¡¯s hand I throw myself on the couch, dialling my papa. It doesn''t ring long before I

    hear my papas voice,

    ¡°Kylie.¡±

    ¡°Papa, I need help, it''s business.¡± I drawl in my squeaky voice.

    My papa is silent before he startsughing. I am confused as to why he isughing. I hear a giggle

    behind me- Dakota isughing too. It must be something in the air making all these people crazy.

    After hours, which is really just a minute my papa clears his throat, ¡°What can I do for you Miss Bray.¡±

    Now I start giggling, my papa is so funny,

    ¡°Papa,¡± I roll my eyes,

    ¡°My new friend needs a nickname.¡±

    ¡°A what honey?¡±

    ¡°A nickname papa, you know like Stone calls me Ky, she says her papa own them motorcycle clubs

    and she needs a nickname.¡±

    My papa is quiet, before he clears his throat, I don''t know why he does it so often,

    ¡°I see, Michaels new student.¡±

    ¡°You know her papa,¡± I question.

    ¡°Yes, honey, how about you give her a nickname, then it will be special. This is something you can

    handle yourself Kylie. You are my daughter honey, I trust you.¡±

    I sit up straight at the tone in his voice, my papa trusts me to handle this myself, I won''t let him down.

    ¡°Okay papa, I gotta go, love ya.¡±

    ¡°Love you too honey.¡±

    I jump off the couch, eyeing Dakota tapping her foot. I look at her face. Taking in her hair that is almost

    white with big dark brown eyes and skin so pale it hurts my vision,

    ¡°How about Snow, We can call you Snow, like Snow White.¡±

    She frowns, ¡°That''s as bad as nameless geek, I don''t even like fairy tales.¡±

    I put my hands on my hips. Who doesn''t like fairy tales, psssst? A smarty pants, I think.

    ¡°I''m just thinking aloud, give me a break, gee,¡± I roll my eyes.

    The front door opens and the voices down the hall perk me up.

    Mama''s home.

    ¡°Mama,¡± I yell.

    It isn''t long after when she walks into the lounge and I spot the shiny bracelets with all those stones she

    likes wearing.

    I look at Dakota, who is gaping at mama because my mama is very pretty. I know that, I see it too,

    along with the entire world. Blonde hair, blue eyes, and white thighs, mama is the perfect Southern

    Woman.

    I resemble my papa, with ck hair and brown eyes. I neverin, looks ain''t important to me. I

    prefer strength. Michael always says a strong mind is just as beautiful as a sharp face.

    I p my hands together, ¡°How about Rock.¡± I am careful to speak better in front of my mama and drop

    the ent, famously known as the ¡®Kylie Twang.¡¯ My mama never wastes time giving me time out - by

    the wall.

    ¡°What are you talking about Kylie,e give me a hug.¡± My mama is wearing a grey suit today, she

    was helping Hector with his work this past week because we¡¯re all going to the L.A home for the

    holidays.

    ¡°I''m trying to give Dakota a nickname,¡± I say before I throw all my weight on her.

    I''m tall but my mama catches me, giving me a big kiss smack on the lips,

    ¡°A nickname ha?¡± She asks.

    Nodding, I smile when my mama''s blue eyes quirk up in that way that makes Uncle Hector all mushy.

    ¡°Yeah.¡±

    Dakota''s small voice steals my attention and I turn to face the five-year-old, ¡°Rock is too boyish, I want

    a girl''s nickname.¡±

    I scrunch my brows up in concentration, turning my head to look at my mama, and that''s when I get it.

    I scream,

    ¡°Diamond, Diamond.¡±

    Moving out of my mama''s arms I beam at Dakota, ¡°Your name can be Diamond.¡±

    She frowns before nodding and runs towards me, with open arms, ¡°Diamond is good, really good,

    Kylie.¡±

    I lift her up and we both fall down,ughing,

    ¡°We are so gonna be best friends.¡± When I say those words I don''t know at the time how true they

    would be.

    Together we ruled right through high school. There was nothing that could separate us, not even us.

    Who would have thought that a simple phone call would do what hundreds of others had failed? But

    even then distance makes the heart grow fonder, for us it gave us POWER.T¨ºxt belongs to N?velDrama.Org.

 Chapter 5 (Kylie)

    Chapter 5 (Kylie)

    Ten yearster

    Washington

    We all have our growing points, defining moments that shape us into who we be. Some take a

    ride on the wild side just doing whatever the hell they like.

    Maybe it''s car racing, hiking, sky diving, drugs, anything to feel that pulse losing rhythm.

    The oue can go two ways, addiction or death, but hey, we''re born to die any way, might as well

    speed it up.

    Others go through loss, that major kind, like their parents dying, sisters getting raped or brothers

    getting murdered just because they tried to be men and walked through that forbidden dark corner. The

    list goes on.

    Those people take you to emotional levels most wouldn''t even have nightmares about.

    If you¡¯re lucky enough and you love them, there is no passion greater than what they¡¯ll give back to

    you.

    No matter how dark that road you walk on.

    Then there are people like ME, who never searched for the freedom of choice, who was never burned

    with the taste of death.

    But one time in their life it all came crashing down and turned them into that soulless, jaded, ice cold

    being. Until they were unrecognizable but for the sins they scorched on this earth.

    ¡°Kylie, we going to bete,¡± Diamond screams, but it''s not louder than her fist going to war on the door.

    Who knew she''ll TURN into a banshee when I told her I¡¯ll take her to the Catelli house.

    My butt is glued to the edge of the bed.

    I''m slipping on my white Prada shoes when her patience runs out and shees barging in like a

    princess on steroids.

    Looking up I stare at my best friend since second grade as my ck hair brushing my shoulders

    reminds me I''m due for a cut.

    I always keep it short in the summer. The ends curl wildly in the morning, and I''m too darnzy to iron it

    out every darn day.

    My Grandma used to say, tame the tongue, smooth the hair, keep those fake smiles when needed

    because it¡¯s only going to give you wrinkles, and never forget to carry your boots.

    ¡°And I said we¡¯ll get there when I''m ready since when did bitchiness ever rhyme with Diamond,¡± I drawl.

    Her brown eyes spark.

    Blonde hair now two shades darker swishes along her lower back, as she puts a hand on her hip

    ring at me,

    ¡°Since now and just because you have issues with your brother doesn''t mean that I have to suffer, I

    want to see Ren. Who knows when I¡¯ll see him again Kylie.¡±

    Suppressing the urge to roll my eyes, I fail miserably.

    I stand up to my now full six foot three inch frame after the added four inch custom made designer

    shoes I received as a gift from Davidst week and smirk,

    ¡°You saw him yesterday, and you are going to see him today, and most probably tomorrow and the next

    day.¡± Watching as her face cracks, I continue,

    ¡°And the next day, and probably the day after that and the..¡±

    Diamond bursts into a fit of teenager giggles, hands in the air surrendering,

    ¡°Okay, enough, you got me, I get the point, bitchiness and me are a no go.¡±

    Smiling at this small glimpse of the teenage girl that peeps out of my genius friend every blood moon,

    I pick my clutch off the hotel bed. My mood is lighter than it was five minutes ago.

    The Stone Heart Pce hotel in Washington where we¡¯re currently staying this weekend belongs to my

    brother, Michael.

    He bought it for basically pocket change three years ago, and has since turned it over into the best

    hotel in Washington State using what he calls ¡®Air energy¡¯, and his imprable ¡®lock n key¡¯puter

    program, that is basically controlled over voice.

    Once you book a room, your voice bes activated to that room for the length of your stay.

    From the shower running to pre-ordering room service, it''s all managed by voicemand. Pretty cool

    and genius, but to Michael, it''s not perfect.Property ? 2024 N0(v)elDrama.Org.

 Chapter 6 (Kylie)

    Chapter 6 (Kylie)

    Because as he so publicly pointed out the down side to it was-

    If you can''t talk, you can''t get the full experience.

    Which brought the reason why Michael was inventing a system that worked from thought.

    ¡°Lights off, door open,¡± I order without raising my voice as I stride toward the white carved China

    (maind) doors. Diamond''s five foot eight inch frame walks ahead and her pearl ss nail polished

    finger tips keeps the door open for me.

    Once the door is locked I turn to my young friend, who insisted wearing ts today, ready to ask the

    winning question, ¡°Which of my brothers did you say was waiting downstairs again.¡±

    Cringing, her lips thin, which isn''t thin at all, since her lips have always looked overly plump,

    ¡°Vincent.¡±

    Just kill me now. Out of all my brothers, Vincent is the worst one I could get stuck with tonight.

    Normally they have turns watching us when we go on our rampage. It''s the hard rule Diamond and I

    Content rights belong to N?velDrama.Org.

    had no way out of when it came to leaving Liston Hills- our home town, eight months ago.

    With Diamond¡¯s dad facing charges on illegal fire arm possession and attempted murder, it was a no

    brain-er she stayed with me.

    My dad was recently assigned with temporary custody of Diamond until her eighteenth birthday.

    Due to Diamond''s background and questionable family, my entire family worried about both of us and

    came up with the stupid idea that we get chaperoned at night.

    My brothers don''t trust bodyguards not to lie so they agreed to do it on their own.

    Normally I have a few days to prepare my brain for which brother¡¯s ass-hole-Ness I have to put up with.

    But not tonight, it''s Michael''s turn. Just thinking about him hurts.

    I cried and begged for his forgiveness but all he ever said was, ¡°In order for me to forgive you Kylie I

    would have to forget and that requires time.¡±

    Though he said it over the phone I read his words for what he just refused to say - he would never

    forget, never forgive me.

    The mere thought of my actions causes something in my stomach to churn.

    Six months have past since that night, one hundred and eighty three days today since he called me Ky.

    I couldn''t me him, I don''t.

    My fuck ups cost him Willow, his long time girlfriend, his true love.

    The same woman he chose to propose to on the very day that I ruined it, on the night of my eighteenth

    birthday.

    The obsidian floor length silk wrapping my body from my chest to toes blows to my right, outlining the

    shape of my toned thighs as Diamond and I leave The Pce in identical dresses.

    Assaulted with the chill of the wind and the stench of car fumes my nerves rise with pinpricks of fear

    spotting the Bentley waiting right in the center of the pick up zone.

    The stiff smiling Larus, Vincent''s driver sh bodyguard holding the door open, only reinforces my

    dread.

    His tie is always the same ck dull shade with his crisp white shirt and ck suit a size toorge.

    It just isn''t him.

    Larus is too rough on the edges.

    His nose is beyond disfigured that even his smile seems malicious.

    I never liked the guy and for good reason. Those dead eyes of his just make me shudder and not in a

    good way.

    ¡°Ms Bray, Ms Larken,¡± I pat him on the back mumbling a soft hello. When he stiffens at the brief contact

    I slide into the back seat, all pleasantries forgotten.

    A pair of hazel eyes assaults my mood further, wrecking it with every second that ticks by, ying me

    with its sharpness.

    I huff,

    ¡°Vincent,¡± feigning frustration, when I am anything but.

    His chisel jaw tightens, jerking his head with a robotic nod that I am supposed to take as a hello.

    Normally if it was any other guy, I would''ve blessed him with my Southern charm and schooled him on

    manners of how to treat ady.

    But with Vincent, I merely drop my gaze and pretend that he did actually greet me.

    In fact in my mind I pretend that he kissed my cheek as my other brothers would and asked me how I

    was doing.

    Diamond ms the door quickly as she gets in, earning her a chilling re from Larus. Which she

    matches with one of her own.

    I nudge her to snap out of it before turning my attention to the window.

    I don''t expect Vincent to say anything, he is normally quiet in front of an audience.

    I guess I should''ve known something about today is different,

    maybe noticed that he''s edgy,

    tense,

    but I don''t.

    His gaze however I do pay close attention to, it''s inscrutable as he takes us both in - me sitting close to

    the window and fifteen year old Diamond stered to my side.

    Leaning back in his seat opposite me as the car moves, his legs spread apart.

    We make a sharp turn into the chaos of Washington¡¯s peak hour as his hands tten on his thighs,

    and just like that he is the imposing MAN I havee to know.

    But, I don''t really know him.

    The glint from the big ring on his index finger- a permanent reminder of who he is and what he¡¯s done

    to get there taunts me with that singr piece of knowledge.

    Does anyone really know him?

    I ask that question thousands of times in my head, every freakin¡¯ day, always I arrive at the same

    nd, depressing answer.

    Vincent Stone isn''t the type who would allow such a thing.

    To Vincent, letting someone know you is a weakness.

    Vincent Stone is hardened by purpose,

    he is calcted,

    Everything he does has a higher, more important oue.

    A singr goal.

    I know that much.

    How could I not when the very reason he is even in this car is for one,

    POWER.

 Chapter 7 (Kylie)

    Chapter 7 (Kylie)

    Sneaking a nce from the corner of my eyes I stare at his face,

    Our eyes lock and my breathingbored.

    My body freezes, Unbending at the scrutiny in his transfixed stare.

    I''m not fooled by the casualness he is trying, and seeding to impersonate, a little too well when he

    asks,

    ¡°Who''s the brains behind this one?¡±

    And neither is Diamond as we exchange a silent agreement when she shifts.

    Years of friendship make it easy for us tomunicate without words.

    We both knew this morning when we decided to do this that he of all my brothers would suspect

    something because of where we were going.

    But he doesn''t need to know we already thought about all of that.

    We have our own agenda tonight.

    And although Vincent is on to us,

    Hecks something vital, something only Kevin has- true perception.

    You can''t have it if you have emotion and my brother Kevin has non of that, he feels nothing, too bad

    for Vincent he isn''t here.

    I wouldn''t tell any of that to Vincent, he is cold and mean but he has emotion.

    Lots of it going by the hard angry re he is giving us as he taps his fingers restlessly on his thighs

    waiting for us to answer.

    Diamond shrugs as if she doesn¡¯t give a shit about anything, which she actually doesn''t unless there''s

    tequ involved or a score to settle.

    I was the shit she first gave to when I decided to be a wing-man to my douche-bag ssmate, Aldane

    McDonelly two years ago.

    Why? Because, where Ie from there¡¯s a thing called hierarchy and I am top of the food chain.

    I am a Bray and part Stone which means I am a LEADER. And I didn''t just lead, I RULED Liston High

    Private school.

    Some preppy footballer thought he¡¯d try take over, so it was his party I was attending with Aldane.

    At the time I didn''t realize the only wing Aldane wanted me to man was the one between his legs when

    he spiked my drink.

    Michael and Kevin got there just in time.

    And even though Kevin beat the crap out of him, Aldane ended up with lice on his dick,pliments of

    Diamond of course.

    To say I made his life hell after that was a child''s statement to what I really did. My family bugged me to

    press charges but I was no pushover. His daddy might be a man with connections but I have an entire

    family of them.

    Aldane was denied entry into every university he applied to.

    His football career was over.

    By the time I was done, the boy couldn''t even get into a low grade college in Hong Kong. His father

    eventually kicked him outst fall, when he was charged with assault.

    The rest, well I don''t give a damn, he wasn''t important enough, to begin with.

    Diamond sighs knowing we''re going to have to give Vincent something to appease him.

    cing her head on my shoulder, she huffs,

    ¡°Which version do you want Vincey? The long one which has partial truth or the short one which is

    I try very hard to keep my grin hidden by cupping my hand over my mouth and facing the bustle of cars

    and Washington¡¯s city lights.

    Diamond isn¡¯t one to use terms like ¡®bullshit¡¯ often and when she does, it always cracks me up.

    ¡°The one where you act your age and tell me the fucking truth for once,¡± he quips.

    My heartbeat spikes with anger, and even a tinge of fear that I will never sanely admit to at his harsh

    undertone.

    Diamond however is unfazed.

    I guess growing up as a biker princess does that to you, leaves you with a backbone made out of

    titanium, even at fifteen.

    ¡°Okay, well.¡±

    Content ? N?velDrama.Org.

    Checking her watch, she narrows her eyes,

    ¡°That¡¯s the long version.¡±

    Diamond sighs again, a sign she is already getting bored.

    I think part of the reason is also to piss Vincent off.

    Diamond is what I call a temper tester. She pushes you until you explode, then she does it all over

    again.

    She once pissed David off so badly that he took her over his knee and spanked her in front of the entire

    Stone family and I mean cousins, aunts , uncles and even grandma Suzie

    It is one of the things nobody talks about.

    It didn¡¯t work very well, either than just tick her off.

    Two weeks after the spanking, David showed up to the Stone¡¯s Estate bbering and on the brink of

    tears.

    Mama couldn¡¯t understand what was going on and questioned David about it.

    He didn¡¯t understand it himself, none of us did. I was just thinking, at least David was hugging mama

    It took a call to Michael and a few hourster we had our answer.

    Diamond mixed David''s vitamin powdered shake with birth control pills and hormone recement.

    Turned out Diamond wasn¡¯t so thrilled about the spanking. Turned out that Diamond never had a

    spanking before David gave it to her.

    ¡°With traffic off the next interstate, we have an approximate of thirty-seven minutes to wrap this up.¡±

    Diamond pauses and points to the front of the Bentley.

    ¡°That''s if the tortoise in the front ups his speed by at least 20miles per hour.¡±

    Larus¡¯s answer to Diamond¡¯s words is the car divider going up.

    Well, fuck you too buddy.

 Chapter 8 (Kylie)

    Chapter 8 (Kylie)

    ¡°That man better learn to treat me good, ¡®cause one of these day''s I''m gonna nt a bug up his ass ¡®n

    it''s not going to be the eight legged kind.¡± Diamond¡¯s threat is no idle one.

    I know she¡¯ll do it. Scratch that, what I mean to say is I know that she is going to do it.

    The groan from Vincent matches my internal one because I know who is going to be cleaning up her

    mess when she is done.

    The only difference between him and myself, I had ten years to learn to figure Diamond out, he barely

    has one.

    That is how long he has been back in our lives.

    It is how long I have secretly fallen in love with the man,

    KNOWING that he will never love me back.

    To Vincent Stone I am just an eighteen year old girl he has to babysit. He always said it.

    My stepbrother has never failed to remind me of my non-existent ce in his life. It wounds me deeper

    every time.

    But his words only make me bleed on those rare asions when we''re alone.

    I fool myself into believing that just maybe he''s not so cold,

    Just maybe he DOES feel something for me besides me being the nuisance he is stuck to hang around

    with.

    I fool myself because I am not one of those people who remain strong when faced with unrequited love.

    I am the person that always gets hurt, because I choose the wrong guy.

    Vincent is the wrong guy, I know that, but even knowing, my heart isn¡¯t epting.

    ¡®There is nothing there,¡¯ he couldn''t have made himself more clear.

    To Vincent Stone, we are not rted,

    NO, not rted at all,

    oh and not friends,

    definitely, not friends.

    I¡¯m just the unfortunate task he gets stuck with on a few asions.

    When I was sixteen I crushed on this boy, his name- Dexter Kent.

    Yes, The Dexter Kent, blonde hair, green eyes and rough falsetto smile, also soon to be the youngest

    CEO of Kent Vaults International.

    Though two years younger than me, there was just something in Kent''s eyes that made me blush. I

    was sixteen and I thought it was love.

    After months of watching his pimple free face, I built up enough courage to ask him out.

    My brother Jace, told me I had to make the first move ¡®cause I was a Bray. No guy in their right mind

    would ask me out, least not a fourteen year old.

    Dexter said sure, like it wasn''t a big deal, like I wasn''t a big deal. At sixteen and my ¡®world revolves

    around me¡¯ phase-

    I was crushed.

    I locked myself in my mama''s rose house and curled on the bench next to a red rose bush.

    My family obviously looked for me. Mama found me pulling the pebbles off a red rose.

    I knew that they tracked me using the watch I got for my birthday.

    I wasn''t stupid, at the time I just didn''t care. My heart was dying.

    Mama didn''t say a thing for a while, just sat quietly on the bench next to me. It was the first and only

    time I asked mama for advice. I asked her about love, what was it like.

    I figured she had to have known, she loved Hector.

    I was certain because when he walked in the room my mama always stopped breathing when his eyes

    finally found hers.

    Wasn''t that love?

    Property ? 2024 N0(v)elDrama.Org.

    My mama picked her own rose that day before she answered, she was so thoughtful, serious and for

    once since I turned thirteen I listened as she spoke,

    ¡°Love is a way of life, it''s not just an emotion Kylie, it''s sacrifice, time and hard choices.¡±

    She twisted the red rose carefully between her fingers, her eyes lost to that simple task,

    ¡°Loving someone is understanding them, knowing that like a rose grows in different shades, a human is

    made up of different pieces.¡±

    She picked a dried pebble off the rose before she looked at me and said that some people were a bit

    rusty around the edges, mixed between dark and light, but like the rose, If you peeled the outer parts it

    always revealed the true beauty within.

    Mama said that the ones that die on the outside are the most beautiful once you''ve peeled off the outer

    She removed the dead pebbles from that rose and handed it to me as she stood up,

    ¡°How can you not love that rose Kylie?¡±

 Chapter 9 (Kylie)

    Chapter 9 (Kylie)

    Looking at the rose I wasn''t sure what she meant, and I said as much, my mama smiled at me,

    ¡°In order to understand love, you would have to understand hatred first, and the only way to learn that

    is to experience fear.¡±

    Mama touched my cheek and walked out, leaving me alone with that single rose in my hand and my

    own pebbles scattered to the floor.

    I never got what she meant that day and I didn''t understand it for the eight months I dated Dexter.

    I knew I didn''t love him, I knew it because when he started liking other girls I didn''t even bat an eye-

    But I did understand it the day Vincent Stone walked back into my life.

    I was seventeen and my brother Kevin was already patched into The Satan Snipers Motorcycle club in

    Houston, Texas.

    I was meeting Kevin for lunch in Seattle at a small restaurant near one of the Universities I was

    applying to.

    I hardly got to see him since he joined the navy years back. And like always whenever an opportunity

    presented itself to meet with him I took it with both hands.

    That day was no different.

    I love my Kevin, I understand him as no one else does.

    And the fact that he was meeting me, even though he had ¡®shit¡¯ to do, proved that my brother loved me

    in his own detached way.

    I never need the words when his actions speak so loudly.

    So that day I made sure I was a couple of minutes early.

    I never thought I¡¯d see Vincent walk into the same restaurant. What were the chances, right?

    Dressed in a crisp charcoal three piece Italian Suit that screamed money and power Vincent was too

    overdressed for the small ce. I remember the hot sh of nerves riddling my belly.

    Content bel0ngs to N?vel(D)r/a/ma.Org.

    His eyes, his sharp indented nose, the strong jaw that probably got shaved twice a day.

    I couldn''t really say or pinpoint the exact thing that drew me to Vincent.

    What did I see in him that day in the restaurant? I can''t tell you because honestly speaking there is no

    other way to describe my stepbrother besides for what he is, imposing and dangerous.

    Maybe that''s what I see in him, maybe it is the idea of him, but what a god damn idea it is.

    That day in the restaurant his dark blonde hair was short and neatly cut, no gel or messy do.

    He was clean shaven and his sharp hazel eyes found me before I even sat my ass on the chair.

    I wasn''t sure what to do, I didn¡¯t know whether to greet him, or pretend I didn''t know him.

    Because I really didn''t know him, if I did I would have informed him that the restaurant was for Varsity

    Students and locals, while insisting he had the correct outfit.

    I also would''ve switched my dark washed up denims, red and ck Jordan''s and ck Vest for

    something more feminine.

    I didn''t do any of that because it was years before that day in the small family owned restaurant when I

    Then, Vincent Stone was a teenager and I was just a kid who didn''t care that he never spent the

    holidays with us, or was always too busy to ride horses around the property.

    That day in that small restaurant¡¯ dressed in his four thousand dor suit he was a full-grown man, and

    I was barely a woman.

    That day I cared and I didn''t stop caring.

    There are times when I wish I didn''t, but God save my tortured soul, I would do it all again.

    Vincent didn''t greet me that day, he didn''t even look at me again.

    He sat in the back, ignoring my sly nces until Kevin walked in, then he got up, buttoned his jacket

    and strode toward us.

    He patted Kevin on the back, whispered a few words, and still didn''t look at me.

    He proceeded to straighten his suit jacket staring right past me before he left the restaurant.

    The whole thing was clipped, even my mind couldn''t find a more appealing way to describe the

    incident, but it oddly hurt, hurt a lot.

    Kevin never asked, he never stated, but I knew he knew something was up.

    I wished I had the courage to have asked Kevin, I didn''t. I was weak then, still learning, still growing,

    my heart on sleeve, my emotions in my eyes.

    It was monthster when I saw Vincent again.

    After that, I saw him often enough since we frequented the same ces and he was for all intent and

    purposes one of our chaperons.

    So a yearter here we are- my sappy heart in my eyes and his behind a steel vault.

    Sadly, there is no way to suppress the doughy expression that¡¯s clearly pasted on my face when my

    other half begins telling Vincent one of her ¡®she said, I said¡¯ stories.

    ¡°Two weeks ago, I spotted this squirrel at the dumpster behind Trilogy, and then I got to thinking about

    the atoms and fusion. So I called Michael¡­¡±

    It is Vincent''s luck that his cell rings.

    Though even luck has a way of turning bad, twisting its wicked intent to master the course of one''s

    destruction.

    The paleness of his face as he opens his mouth to speak is the first sign.

    The phone slipping from his grip carelessly on his thigh and falling on the car''s carpeting is thest.

    When he looks at Diamond, I just know.

    I know what ising before it leaves his mouth before it pours the gasoline to the fire that is destined

    to burn.

    ¡°There was a shoot out, the Scottish, I¡­Reno, I¡­AA..FUUUCK.¡± His nostrils re, as he roughly glides

    his fingers through his light hair, struggling to say it, say that which thousands have said before, and

    even more, have heard.

    My friend doesn''t wait to hear the rest before she nods and the tears well up in her eyes.

    What did I say about emotions? He has them.

    I don''t scream like Vincent, nor do I cry silently like Diamond. I just hold my best friend¡¯s hand and look

    into Vincent''s destroyed gaze as he barks orders to Larus, promising death, pain, vengeance in the

    name of a man who wouldn''t have wanted any of it.

    Giving them both my strength because, maybe I am weak, maybe I¡¯m not yet privy to a tough life but I

    wouldn''t show it, not when those around me need me to be strong.

    My psych won''t allow it.

    Death has an odd way of just happening, it is never predicted regardless of what Nostradamus implied

    unless it¡¯s predicted by the one holding the gun, or doing the killing.

    Diamond would tell you differently. She said so when shepleted an equation that could possibly

    predict one''s death.

    She once used it on Reno, she said forty-two years it¡¯ll take before his death. She predicted she had

    twenty of those years with him.

    This weekend would''ve been their first month, today it marked hisst breath.

    I wish I knew now what I woulde to know in the future.

    This day in the Bentley, across from the man who owned my heart, I console my best friend, thinking

    that the worst part is over.

    She¡¯d be fine, this is just thest hurdle.

    I¡¯ll say something now- it is just the beginning, I wasn¡¯t aware as I sat there in the car, that we didn¡¯t

    even make it to the iceberg. We still had to get there before we fell.

 Chapter 10 (Kylie)

    Chapter 10 (Kylie)

    Made men.

    Society have us believing they are criminals, killers, monsters. They are the cause of all the crime in

    America. Maybe they are, Maybe they are the vicious inhuman

    beasts, that our parents tell us about.

    But one of them was also my friend.

    He¡¯s the reason Diamond can sit at that damn desk everyday lost in her own world. The reason why I

    get to live another day, because a made man was what saved our lives.

    Reno Catelli was a made man, he was also Diamond''s boyfriend and one of the very few friends I had.

    Now he''s gone, killed at age neen.

    ¡°Eterno riposo, concedere a loro, o Signore , esciare che perpetua risplenda ad essi luce, Maggio

    le anime dei fedeli defunti attraverso il ricordo di Dio, riposo in pace. Amen. Our Father, into your

    hands, O Lord, we humbly entrust our brother Lorenzo Michel Catelli. In this life you embraced him with

    your¡­.¡±

    Standing in the back of the grave-site near an old frail tree I listen to the priest preach about death and

    life, the importance of forgiveness and prayer, all the while I watch Diamond from across the crowd of

    people.

    She refuses to look at me, standing sturdily next to her dad. Not too far from the Catelli family and their

    people but not too close either.

    Guess having been the girlfriend of a made man has its perks even in death.

    It is hrious to think about.

    A few days ago I was teasing her, ¡°You saw him yesterday, and you going to see him today, and most

    probably tomorrow and the next day.¡±

    Those words will forever haunt me when I¡¯m not in front of preying eyes. But every time I stare at

    Diamond, those words would make me bleed.

    Standing under the Seattle breeze, my vision nted on my best girl, I know she doesn¡¯t me me for

    not seeing him onest time.

    I¡¯m aware Diamond needs me now more than ever. I am the one she¡¯s hoping would understand, who

    would give her strength to move on from this.

    I just can''t do it now.

    I can''t mourn the death of my friend, not yet. I need answers, justice, and her safe, she is fif- fucking-

    teen.

    Diamond doesn''t need this in her life. Her mother was a deadbeat junky who died when she was three.

    Her father is looking at seven years in prison at least and that¡¯s concurrent.

    Though Diamond has The Sin Riders, they¡¯re just a small motorcycle club that doesn''t have enough

    manpower to protect her.

    Not like The Satan Snipers Motorcycle Club can, not like Vincent and his men. But getting them to look

    out for her isn''t going to happen.

    These people didn¡¯t have the patience or the inclination to look after a girl that would prove more work

    than just letting her go, even if you offered them millions.

    I know, I tried.

    They couldn''t be bought as easily, as some small group of misfits, more so when they would have to

    protect her from our own government. And let''s face it, babysitting an arguably crazy fifteen-year-old

    biker princess wasn''t high on these people''s to-do list.

    But, that could change and fast if I were to share her expertise with either group, but I couldn''t, I

    wouldn¡¯t.

    And as the family started to throw roses and soil on the ck coffin, I knew I''m not going to toss my

    friend anywhere.

    I''m going to protect her and just hope that in a few months from now Michael will fulfill his promise,

    whether he hates me or not.

    Diamond steps onto the small stool stationed next to the coffin.

    Her ck knit dress, loose and ragged to match the inner turmoil she faced these past four days.

    She wants to know why.

    I see the questions hidden in her eyes. I hear everything from the silent, loud nces she gives me in

    the morning when we''re having our breakfast.

    I wish I could tell her, I can¡¯t, Diamond can¡¯t know the whole story.

    Her mind wouldn''t be able to handle the truth which has kept me up these past four days:- the killers

    didn¡¯t want Reno.

    They want the one who could make a nuclear missile using scrap metal. The person who works for the

    government. It didn''t just put her in danger but everyone around her too.

    The people that killed Reno wanted the one person who would give them true power, her, Dakota

    Larken.

    I won''t let that happen.

    The only thing keeping me sane as I stand here in this miserable ce tainted with death and sorrow is

    my money in the bank and the certainty that if things get of hand I could always turn to my brothers.

    Not Vincent,

    Never him, but my other brothers, David, Michael, Kevin and Jace.

    Those four would follow me into hell, all I have to do is ask.

    My attention deters from Diamond as she ces her rose on the coffin that holds her soulless

    boyfriend¡¯s body captive.

    The ck suit approaching me with long strides through the back crowd of people now holds my vision

    hostage.

    Its imposing stature belonging solely to only one man, who is by default the only Stone to attend the

    funeral, Vincent Stone.

    T¨ºxt belongs to N?velDrama.Org.

    Unlike Hector''s other children who are from Sandra Decoster or my mother, Hunter Orniel, both Texan-

    born women.

    Vincent''s mother is Italian, Taliya Raseto. The eldest daughter of Ricardo Raseto, head of the Raseto

    family and a member of the Famiglia.

    A short affair after the death of her husband, finally produced an heir to the Raseto family, Vincent

    Raseto Stone aka my stepbrother, a made man.

 Chapter 11 (Kylie)

    Chapter 11 (Kylie)

    I didn''t know that the Famiglia epted men that were only half Italian, but what do I know about the

    Mafia, not much.

    The stubble on his jaw is new. The dead look in his eyes as he approaches me isn''t.

    We never had much of a rtionship.

    Content rights belong to N?velDrama.Org.

    Vincent was raised by his mother and until a year back he was only a name attached to a teenage boy.

    But ever since that day in the restaurant I wanted him to notice me, like I noticed him. That day he

    wasn''t just a guy with a name,

    he became more,

    even after he ignored me, pretending that I was nothing.

    But why try so hard to pretend unless it could be something right?

    It is no secret that I want to have a close rtionship with him but not like the one I share with David

    and Michael, I want more. He knows that. I know he knows, because I told him recently. However, it

    would never be. I have epted it.

    What other choice do I have, when all he ever does is remind me I am nothing to him. I¡¯m aware that

    my feelings for Vincent won¡¯t just shut off.

    It can''t die without being med, because to kill something it would have to be rooted- a lifeline, a living

    thing.

    My penchant for Vincent Stone has none and I''m sure his hatred for me, or ¡®deep disregard¡¯ as Reno

    put it, stems from that mere fact.

    He wants me to whither, disappear but unfortunately for him I am front and center. Reno¡¯s death came

    at a high price and soon the Famiglia would know who killed their own.

    It wouldn''t be long after that when they figure out why.

    Taking in the crisp sour air, that mixed with the stench of dposed flesh I don''t take my eyes off the

    six foot three inch man as his muscr thighs swallow up the distance that separates us.

    He stops next to me, the roughened texture of his suit jacket brushing my bare arm, eliciting shivers

    down my spine.

    ¡°What the fuck are you doing here Kylie? Go home! I¡¯ll bring Diamondter.¡±

    His eyes crinkle in what I can say is certain HATE.

    Nostrils red in disgust.

    His mouth, his sulent mouth, his finest weapon, shattering me with just words.

    I can spend hours talking about the times Vincent has hurt me with his skilled tongue,

    but now,

    today as I stand here with so much on my tinum te, that statement,

    his statement rips me.

    I am weak in this moment, so frail. And as my tears threaten to spill even I too hate myself.

    Robbing me of what little bit of self morality I have left.

    My knee length dress feels like it''s getting stripped off, leaving me naked, vulnerable , freezing in my

    pacific of torment.

    I despise that my emotions give him so much power to hurt me, but it sickens me that he does it over

    and over again.

    When will I learn to be strong enough to control my treacherous heart.

    I am a strong person, I am tough, but why with Vincent Stone do I feel worthless and small.

    ¡°Marco and Deno were kind enough to extend the invitation to me,¡± I say.

    My eyes focus beyond him, trying not to look at him, attempting my best to keep this voice of mine

    strong, ¡°Reno was my friend, so please just, just leave me be Vincent.¡±

    His eyes widen a mere fraction, the only evidence to his surprise.

    The person in front of us turns around, her wrinkled face frowning, taking us both in- Vincent''s angry

    scowl and my doughy eyes on full disy. We shouldn''t be having this conversation where we''re

    standing.

    Vincent has the same thoughts as I do and it isn¡¯t long when I feel the bite of his fingerstching into

    the naked flesh on my arm, pulling me further away until we¡¯re blocked by a tree a good few meters

    from the grave-site.

    The sad thing about it?

    I don''t even care a dime that he''s pulling me roughly, that there''s no affection or deeper meaning to his

    actions.

    I am like a deprived child given that which it craves, for that child it could be a dummy or milk, for me

    it¡¯s Vincent Stone¡¯s hand on my skin.

    With a tiny step back, he drops my arm like it is infected. The action isn''t enough to jolt me out of my

    stupidity I always possess in his presence.

    Will anything ever be enough?

 Chapter 12 (Kylie)

    Chapter 12 (Kylie)

    My breathing picks up as I inhale the strong scent of his cologne and the brandy on his breath. The

    rush of heat beating between my legs, a familiar wanton of sinful lust my body possessed when Vincent

    was in a close proximity.

    On one side of the bridge I hate these unrequited predilections. It haunts me with what I could never

    have. The other side, that disturbed part of me thrives in the knowledge that I want this man, who is so

    unattainable.

    I''m like a Lioness who wants, needs the chase.

    If everyone could have it,

    I don''t want it and no one can have Vincent Stone because Vincent Stone is a man bound in blood and

    honor, born with death on his hands and a target on his back.

    Vincent Stone is a made man and nobody owned a made man besides God, the mafia and himself.

    ¡°Jesus fuck Kylie, do you honestly think they want you here.¡±

    Those words do what his cologne and brandy scented body couldn¡¯t. They finish me.

    ¡°What?¡± I don¡¯t recognize that soft note as it leaves my mouth.

    Who is this weak girl?

    Who is she, this girl that¡¯s talking? Where am I, Kylie Bray, the vivacious girl from Liston Hills?

    Where is she gone? I scream inside my head.

    ''Stop, you hurting yourself, please just STOP''. Except I can''t, there is something wrong with my head.

    There is something not right inside me.

    I am standing in front of this man, who I continue to love even though he has time and time again hurt

    me.

    His face frozen in a harsh angry scowl. He is stabbing me, with words, but they still cut deeper than a

    puncture to the gut and I am allowing it.

    What is wrong with me?!

    Why do I have these feeling for this man?! I need help.

    Who is going to help me?

    ¡°You pathetic, pining like a little bitch in heat, embarrassing me at my cousin¡¯s funeral. I''m going to tell

    Content bel0ngs to N?vel(D)r/a/ma.Org.

    you ONE time, I. Don¡¯t. Fuck. Little girls! , So stay the fuck away from me Kylie, I don''t NEED your

    brand of fucked up, I already have my own.¡±

    I flinch at the grit and harshness of his tone and the proximity of his suit covered body. His words, it is

    too much.

    My tears spill silently as my mind and body cripple on the inside.

    Did Vincent not understand that he tears me apart when he opens his mouth. He fractures me with his

    harsh intent. His demeaning words that is poetry to my fucked up heart, lyrics to my sickened soul.

    Demon eyes re at my sappy ones, telling me that he understands it very well, but just doesn''t give a

    fuck, because I am nothing to him.

    This is it.

    I would no longer love this man. I would learn to move on from Vincent Stone.

    How could I not, when it is obvious he loathes me.

    He is a made man and I am just a nuisance.

    I push at his chest wordlessly. Leaving him as he stumbles back in shock. My heavy feet storm away

    from him. If he wants me gone, I am darn going.

    My friend isn''t lying in that coffin anyway, he''s dead and hopefully his ghost is beating the fuck out of

    Vincent¡¯s soul.

    ¡°Kylie I''m not done talking to you.¡± That snarly voice just makes my feet move faster as my throat clogs

    tighter. I will not cry, no I am not going to cry.

    ¡°You said enough, you want me gone, I''m going. And I won''t be back.¡±

    I don''t stop or slow down as I say these words. Not knowing if they are meaningless, not knowing

    whether I am going go through with it.

    I want to convince myself that I don''t give a penny if he hears it or not. I want to say there is so much a

    person can take and I had enough, but I know somewhere in me that it''s not.

    But there were serious problems to attend to than getting ripped to shreds by Vincent Stone.

    I don''t need this crap but I take it. I feel like a junky addicted to shit drugs and I fucking hate myself at

    this moment for it. I keep doing this, keep allowing him so much power.

    Vincent Stone is a huge asshole and I know , I so know that I should hate his ass.

    He needs a taste of his own medicine.

    ''Kylie, get your ass here now.¡±

    ¡°Leave me alone Vincent.¡± My voice sounds strong and I am d I got that from my dad.

    I am a Bray, weakness was and is not in my forte, in my blood. Vincent Stone made me weak and

    instead of nurturing it he used it as the worst form of torture and I want to be done with him. I will try

    anything to just forget him.

    ¡°I''m sorry, OK, I''m fuckin¡¯ sorry, can you get your ass here now, please.¡± Sorry, huh.

    ¡°Now isn''t a good time, I got somewhere to be.¡±

    My feet pick up the pace. Deciding to detach itself from my head and heart which both get a sick thrill

    that he actually apologized.

    How more fucked up could I get? I am aware of my problem, many women suffer simrplexes.

    There IS an entire blog dedicated to this problem called, ''the addiction barrier''.

    ¡°Yeah, and where is this somewhere.¡±

    I can''t understand why he is now curious, but I''m too revved, too angry at myself to stop.

    Part of me, the weak part that craves anything Vincent Stone wants to answer, wants to talk to this man

    even if it means me getting hurt in the end as he cuts me with that ded tongue of his.

    Sometimes I wonder whether it is just me that he chooses to treat so savagely or is it all the female

    poption.

    Do the women in his bed get that sharp vicious tongue to hurt them as he hurts me. Do they also have

    these crazy enving emotions burning deep inside them for this man like I do?

    Do they stalk his social media, and search his name twenty times a day like I constantly do. Or is it just

    me?

    Maybe Vincent is a man you can''t help but be obsessed over.

    Maybe the women crave that harsh scowl of his and the dead eyes of this man with a frozen soul.

    That could exin my soul depicting desire for him. I am addicted to the danger, fixated to the allure.

    Do I crave it? Is something immensely wrong with me.

 Chapter 13 (Kylie)

    Chapter 13 (Kylie)

    I think about this as I wear out my Prada heels. Blinded in anger because Vincent with any other

    woman makes me jealous. They have sex with him, they have his hands on their body.

    And I? Me, Kylie ''Fucking'' Bray, billionaire that can practically click her fingers and have men crawling

    on the ground can''t have Vincent Stone even smile at me.

    I hate it, I hate me, I hate him.

    No I still love him. My mind is a jumbled mess, it is thinking thoughts, bad thoughts.

    ¡°I''m going to church,¡± I yell, sarcasm rich and deep in my notes, ¡°My mama always says it''s best to

    confess before youmit sin, then you can enjoy it better.¡±

    ¡°What sin do you n onmitting Kylie,¡± He shouts back, still following me, which is a first.

    Vincent never follows me, ever. Why is he following me?

    T¨ºxt belongs to N?velDrama.Org.

    I am leaving this man behind. Forgetting about him is now the new in with Vincent Stone and I. And he

    is following me.

    ¡°I haven''t thought about it yet.¡± I say in all honesty, and it is. I just know it is going to include Vincent''s

    head probably detached from his body. Obviously I don''t share this with him, but the thought definitely

    holds appeal.

    The vibrationing from my heart takes me for surprise. I stop mid-step. Still so revved up, my

    breathingbored. Seconds pass before I realize it is my ear piece I keep for my phone.

    With onest look at the scowling Made Man that now stands in front of me, I slip my fingers in my bra

    pulling the earpiece out. I stick the silver metal in my ear.

    My eyes involuntarily train on Vincent''s shirt buttons.

    The breeze of the wind blows in my direction and my nose greedily inhales all that which I would never

    have, all that is him.

    I love Vincent and I hate him for not loving me back.

    It is said that a want is stronger than a need because of the desire for it. With Vincent it isn''t just a want,

    but a bone deep need.

    One with so much control over you that you have no choice but to whither in a nket of agony for not

    having it.

    ¡°Where the hell are you?¡± The shouting voice on the other side of my earpiece brings me out of my

    stupor and though it is hard, I leave Vincent standing alone.

    Walking even further away from the grave-site out into the sun and closer to my car.

    There is someone whoes before my craving. One person that holds priority in my life and I don''t

    know why. I''ve never questioned why. I just understand that he has toe first even if he is angry with

    me. Even if he is treating me as bad as Vincent.

    ¡°Michael.¡±

    My voice is strong, as my insides mix with a whirl of, hurt, pain, confusion, excitement, fear. It is like I

    am sinking into an ocean of trepidation.

    Michael didn''t call anymore, we barely said a few words to each other via text and even that has

    be nonexistent in recent weeks.

    It''s a sad day to admit that I am the biggest fuck up in history.

    What I did to Michael those months ago on a drunken dare was life-altering.

    His girlfriend bared witness to it, and even now I remember her screaming while Michael just stood

    there watching her.

    It was a few dayster that David called, informing me of how bad of a fuck up I actually made.

    Michael was waiting that night at the back of the club to propose to Willow. Unfortunately that day due

    to me, Willow broke it off with him.

 Chapter 14 (Kylie)

    Chapter 14 (Kylie)

    I tried talking to her but the woman insisted it wasn''t my fault. I was young, teenagers always did dumb

    shit, was the way she saw it.

    The fact that my brother is even calling me after I ripped his heart from him means one thing. Whatever

    it is has to be life or death.

    Ever heard someone say a day can change your whole life? For me, for my family we don''t require an

    entire day, we just have to answer a phone call and that takes seconds.

    ¡°Jace is missing, David and I are heading to Liston Hills now, get Diamond, she''s needed. Kevin and

    Storm will be joining you two. I have the jet waiting at the University you got twenty minutes.¡±

    The phone goes dead, which is no surprise there, Michael hates idle chit chat.

    Growing up around him I got used to what other people considered ''not normal'' behavior. They weren''t

    lying when they said it, they weren''t talking smack when they said he was rude either.

    But that was, and will always be Michael Stone. He isn''t a peoples person, he lives to make the world a

    better ce. His drive to seed in doing that has always been at full capacity.

    Michael once said that people wasted too much time thinking about doing something instead of just

    doing it.

    Michael believes in positive time consumption, he is a genius just like Diamond but different.

    His outlook on life is not appreciated. He knows when to hold his tongue when to pretend and lie but

    most of the time he just doesn''t care.

    One time I was sitting by his desk waiting for him to finish off his work and take me for tacos when he

    got up and came to see what I was doing.

    I told him I was watching inspirational videos because they made me feel good. He took myptop

    away from me and set it down on a pile of papers on his desk.

    I recall thinking how much trouble could a sixteen-year-old me get into if he knew I was watching porn

    and the only inspiration I was getting was that I needed more yoga sses.

    Michael luckily didn''t look at my screen, but somehow I knew he knew I was talking smack. I was Kylie

    ¡®the trouble maker¡¯.

    Michael took me by my shoulders making me stand and looked me dead in the eyes, my own burned

    as our gaze connected. He said something to me that day, that I haven''t forgotten. He said that there

    were only three types of people on the earth,

    the thinkers, the doers, and the in-between ones and those three types of people were separated by

    two different mindsets, eptance and ambition.

    T¨ºxt belongs to N?velDrama.Org.

    Michael said it was how we understood ourselves that counted the difference. He said the ones who

    epted could be greater than those driven by ambition as the ones who were epting were doers.

    And the ambitious ones could be greater because they were the in between ones.

    He said the entire world worked like this. They just didn''t realize it yet.

    Michael said even I was one of the other and the mind could always change. He said the mind was so

    strong that an epting person can swap and turn to an ambitious person and back again. He said

    that was how time worked, that was the circle of life. It was an on going tyrant of choices, swapping,

    changing, turning.

    Michael said that the only inspiration I needed was when I looked in the mirror in the morning. The rest

    was just a waste of time, life, and oxygen.

    I remember his emerald dark gaze as it stared me down, there was that spell-binding need to listen to

    him, to understand what he was saying.

    I wanted to make him proud then, and as my mind rallies on what he just said on the phone a minute

    ago, I want to make him proud now too. So though my brain is reeling from those three words, ¡®Jace is

    missing. Jace is missing,¡¯ I don''t freak out like I want to.

    Instead, I take a deep lungful of air, ignoring the knots twisting my stomach, making me nauseous and

    the ache prating through my beating heart, and the clogging burn in my throat. I ignore all of it

    because I have to.

    ¡°What was that?¡± The toneless voice behind me does nothing to me at this moment besides serves as

    a reminder of a big fact - my baby brother is missing and there is nothing more important than my

    family. I don''t stare into nothingness, I don¡¯t perform and scream.

    I flip into overdrive. I am Kylie Bray and my brother is missing. My family needs me and in twenty

    minutes I am going to be getting on that jet.

    I don''t spare Vincent a nce as I turn around and start toward Diamond. My fixation and hang-ups

    toward Vincent are too overshadowed by my loyalty and love for my family.

    I thought it then, but I had no idea of how the two would one day hold my life in a war of wills.

 Chapter 15 (Kylie)

    Chapter 15 (Kylie)

    ¡°Kylie I asked a question.¡±

    Vincent asking a question sounds more like a growl which isn''t easy to ignore, but my family needs me.

    And what did I say before? Yes, I am done with Vincent Stone, so done, it isn''t even worth thinking

    about. I know I will think about it, I know I will tumble from my decision but not now.

    ¡°It¡¯s family business,¡± I mutter without slowing down.

    My long legs eat up the distance to my friend, not really thinking if he heard me. I need to get Diamond

    and get the hell out of here.

    Diamond chooses that moment to look at me, and with one signal of my head she is leaving all of this

    behind her anding to me.

    I never could understand our closeness. I never sought to understand our loyalty to each other either.

    Since that first day when I met the little girl with a snotty nose crying for a name while I secretly wished

    for her shoes, I have never questioned why we became so inseparable.

    Even now as she leaves the burial of her first love, Diamond doesn''t slow her pace. There is no torn

    feelings, she is walking to me and I am watching her. And she doesn''t stop until her arm is around my

    waist and her head on my shoulder,

    ¡°What happened now? If it is David let''s make him hang, anyone else I''m in.¡±

    In another time I would easilyugh at her straightforward approach to anything but this is not one of

    those times.

    ¡°We need to leave, it''s Jace, I¡¯ll exinter.¡± Her eyes widen a fraction before she answers with a

    clipped nod.

    Barely missing a beat, our walk toward the car is quick.

    I don''t think of the man I leave standing behind, watching us leave this ce filled of death and sin. No,

    I don''t think of him at all.

    Jumping in my silver two door Mercedes, the same time Diamond hops in next to me. I turn my key into

    the ignition, and I am gone.

    I don''t look back at Vincent Stone watching me drive away. I focus on the road ahead, taking my curves

    with a silent ease I always possess when I am controlling a set of wheels, and an engine. It takes us

    twelve minutes before we''re turning into the University of Washington.

    I see the jet in the distance touching down to the center of the football field.

    The jet is a privately owned, designed model made by Michael himself.

    I was a bit skeptical when I first saw the Chrome jet, as he calls it. Michael is my brother but genius or

    not it''s hard to ept that your brother designed a jet that is going to have your life in its body.

    I look in my rear-view mirror and see Vincent''s ck jaguar approaching from behind me. My insides

    heat, and twist. Is he here to have thest say, did Michael call him. I hope not, because this wouldn''t

    end well.

    We¡¯ve never included Vincent in anything, for a reason. He isn''t really a Stone beside his blood and

    surname. Sometimes blood just isn''t enough, sometimes loyaltyes first.

    After parking in one of the teacher''s reserved spaces, I jump out of my car.

    ¡°I need to do a few things on myptop before we leave,¡± Diamond says, as she jumps out of the car,

    breaking our twelve-minute silence.T¨ºxt belongs to N?velDrama.Org.

    ¡°I''ll be there now,¡± I tell her.

    Her vision focuses on Vincent before back to me,

    ¡°Make it quick, I need to know what the hell is going on.¡±

 Chapter 16 (Kylie)

    Chapter 16 (Kylie)

    I watch her tall lithe form walking toward the jet.

    I stand in wait, patiently watching Vincent get out of his car.

    His jacket is now gone, his disheveled hair giving the impression he ran his hands numerous times

    through the mass, on the drive here. A slight breeze, elicits shivers down my spine, as goosebumps

    prickle on my tanned flesh. I run my hands down my naked arms. My face changing into a frown the

    closer he gets to me.

    ¡°What are you doing here?¡± I ask straight away.

    ¡°There is obviously a problem, I want to help.¡± I raise my eyebrows at his blunt answer because him

    helping us in any way is foreign.

    ¡°We don''t need your help, I SUGGEST you run along to your people and leave us to our own devices.¡±

    I am not sure where my confidence ising from, it has never shown itself in the face of Vincent

    before.

    Maybe the reason being is that my brother is missing.

    Or that I know he doesn''t really want to help, he just wants an in with his brothers, my brothers, and

    that thought, that knowledge pisses me off. My brother is missing. I don''t have time for games now.

    ¡°Don''t get smart Kylie,¡± He warns me, pulling his shirt sleeves up his hairy arms that I have spent nights

    imagining wrapped around my body.

    ¡°Smart? You think I am smart, OH now I get apliment, wow.¡± My sarcastic reply has those

    hardened eyes of his that I have spent months hoping would look at me with interest just once, widen in

    shock, as his jaw, the jaw I spent hours wishing I could touch just once, tightens in anger.

    Good I want to anger him.

    I want him to be pissed off, I want him to take me on.

    ¡°Have you forgotten that I am more a Stone than you? They are my family by blood, DNA. I don''t need

    your permission. I wasn''t asking for it.¡±

    I step closer to him, so close our nose could touch. His dark scent washing over me, a torturous

    reminder that I will never have him. I will never touch him. He will never look at me and want me.

    Vincent will always be a made-man and I will always be a thorn in his side.

    I stare into his dark brown angry gaze. I mentally snap mind pictures as I see it, for the first time really

    hitting me. Vincent Stone will never feel a thing for me. I have to let him go. It angers me to the point

    that the words pour out of my mouth, but they areing from somewhere deeper inside of me.

    ¡°No, the Famiglia is your family, you made that choice the day you left, you chose the Rosetti family

    over the Stones, so don''te here and expect a pity fucking wee, because you are NOT getting

    one, I have taken all your little fucked up shit you had to offer, hoping that there is some good in you,

    now I am DONE. And when ites to MY family, be them by blood or not you need my permission,

    now get in the car and leave, you are not wee on that fucking Jet.¡± It breaks me as these words

    leave my mouth, I am hurting, I am in pain.

    I lost a good friend. My brother is gone, maybe hurt somewhere, waiting for somebody to save him. My

    best friend has a target on her back.

    Michael hates me, to a point we don''t even talk.

    And I am addicted to a man that will never love me. Vincent Stone isn''t just my addiction but a

    sickness, and as I stare into his face onest time, I tell myself I am done with him.

    It is now, as I march away from the man that for some unknown reason I love that I make a promise to

    myself- I will not let my unrequited love for Vincent Stone cripple me.

    I will distance myself from this man and kill any feelings I have for my stepbrother.

    I know I said it then, but when I look back on that day when theyid Reno''s soulless body to rest, I

    think of how empty those promises were.

    I think of how stupid and naive I was to just believe that I could starve myself from that craving of such

    a poisonous drug-like Vincent.

    I tried don''t get me wrong, but trying and achieving arepletely different words.

    I can¡¯t say whether it was just me that made the decisions that turned my life because on one side it''s

    said that we are our decisions, we make them, we live by them, and I have, but looking back on those

    times I always wondered whether those decisions really were my own.

    Papa once told me that sometimes our choices were intertwined with other people''s actions, we just

    couldn''t help but go with the flow hoping to be breathing in the end.

    Like a natural path of life. I don''t know what to say to that.

    Do I regret it now, no, I would have done it all again-the hurt, pain, loss, anger, I would''ve done every

    fucking thing again.

    T¨ºxt belongs to N?velDrama.Org.

    It was my heart that chose Vincent Stone how could I not.

 Chapter 17 (Kylie)

    Chapter 17 (Kylie)

    My feet pain, just as my heart squeezes in agony with every step I take closer to the jet. I don''t see but

    hear Vincent leave and for the first time I am not going to worry about that, I know I have to let him go.

    He was never mine to begin with. And though I bleed in my reality that our story was never a story, just

    a figment of my imagination, I know forgetting him is what I have to do.

    My steps slow down as I spot the guy standing next to Michael''s Chrome Jet, near the air-stairs

    wearing A Satan Sniper''s Motorcycle Club jacket, which they call a cut. He is looking like a model from

    those tattoo biker books Diamond keeps begging me to buy every damn month.

    What a fine piece of meat with those ripped dark Jeans. And maybe if I wasn''t so close to the brink of

    breaking down I would have told him just that. He doesn''t see me looking at him, as his attention is on

    his phone.

    So I stare at him a second or two longer before I continue moving closer to the Aircraft. Diamond is

    probably already inside the jet ready to leave. I scan the ce for Kevin as I walk on closer to the

    Chrome machine. I almost miss Kevin, as his profilees into view from the opening of the Jet

    beckoning me to hurry.

    He says something to the biker and the guy moves up the ramp two steps at a time.

    I don''t look at the guy again as I get to the ramp and ascend the twelve steps up at a leisured pace.

    T¨ºxt belongs to N?velDrama.Org.

    Preparing myself for what I have to do, and that is to be focused on finding my brother. I can mend my

    heart another day.

    Kevin engulfs me into a hug, for my benefit. I hold him tight, inhaling his familiar smell, enjoying the

    ¡°Michael sure doesn''t give me a time to freshen up does he.¡±

    I roll my eyes, making light of the situation.

    ¡°Hello to you too baby girl, saw Vincent, everything good.¡±

    Kevin''s blue gaze locks on to mine, so aware, and sharp with focus that I drop my own, not willing him

    to see that I am breaking inside.

    I shrug in response, I don''t have an answer and with Kevin I never need one.

    Feeling the heat of my brother''s dead nk look, I still don''t meet his gaze.

    He pinches my cheek, something he has done these past few years, ¡°Come, let''s get you inside.¡±

    I bend my head and walk into the Aircraft.

    The cream and beige leather sofa seats, silver edgings, ck marbled tables, and gold cushions I

    bought in Egyptst year feel just like home. Michael didn''t design this jet for extravagance, he

    designed it for speed and business and that is what it has. A ssiness without too much of luxury that

    borders on Luxury private Jets.

    We have a ne for luxury, is what he said to the reporters when they got the inside view.

    The six rows of seats are empty besides the two upied on either end. Diamond at the back already

    with herptop open and recliner up. And the biker seatedfortably in the front, one seat up from

    the first row.

    Deciding it is best to give Diamond her space, I walk to the front. The biker''s back is facing me so he

    can''t see me approaching. I move to the empty seat across from him finally getting a good view of this

    guy.

    ¡°Names, Storm.¡±

    He removes his sunsses and what I see in his small familiar brown eyes, and frown etched onto his

    stubble-filled face tells me exactly why he has the name.

    ¡°Kylie Bray,¡± I say in greeting.

    ¡°Yeah, I''ve seen you a few times at the clubhouse, chatting Zero''s ear off.¡±

    His attentive gaze tracks to my mouth as he says this.

    I grin at that, surprised at his strong Southern ent.

    ¡°I might have seen you a time or two as well, mostly behind the clubhouse with your pants down.¡±

    I am not exaggerating by saying this. I have seen this guy a few times, mostly in the heat of passion

    with one of the members of his club.

    He grins sheepishly and scratches his neck. If I weren''t so muddled up in my brain to see straight I

    would be certain the biker is blushing. For some reason it makes me jealous that he gets that, he has

    someone to go back to.

    Kevines to sit right next to Storm and interrupts our little conversation just in time. As I don''t think I

    could have kept it up any longer, I am relieved by this.

    ¡°So Jace was supposed to be home today, went for a training camp this week, his coach said the team

    went to a pub two nights back, so thought nothing about it, until Jace, Caden, and Mickey Malone

    never showed the next day,¡± Kevin shares, going full-on business mode.

    I sit up in my seat, my attention on my brother,

    ¡°That isn''t like him, he would''ve at least told me, did they call Aiden?¡± I question Kevin.

    Aiden and Jace have been best friends since Aiden moved to Liston Hills about ten or so years ago.

    They are the male versions of Diamond and myself.

    ¡°Yeah, Aiden said they were supposed to go fishing today at Lucan''s parent''s dam, said thest time

    he heard from Jace was early hours of yesterday morning.¡±

    I don''t say anything to that, because something isn''t right. Either Aiden is keeping secrets or my brother

    is in some shit. Mischief, they always get up to together.

    ¡°We going to take a detour, check out the pub, there''s a training ground not too far from the ce.

    Jamie cannd there, Killer and I can take a ride down and check if any of the locals saw anything.¡±

    Killer is my brother''s road name. I despise the name.

    When women hear his road name they think it is because of his killer looks. I don''t me them, he

    looks like our mother, blonde hair and the bluest eyes that stare at you like a tornado is brewing. Add in

    his sharp chiseled jaw like his father, Kevin certainly got killer genes. I wish that was what his road

    name actually meant.

    ¡°It''s Colorado, they not gonna snitch,¡± I say to Storm''s suggestion.

    I spent summers in the mountains with my dad and Mason, the people there were as loyal as a fault to

    the locals.

    ¡°My dad has a friend in Colorado, good with the locals, I sent him a text, can we get off the ground

    now.¡± Diamond yells from the other end.

    ¡°Didn''t even know she was listening,¡± Storm smiles twisting his head to get a quick view of my bestie.

    ¡°She''s Diamond, she always pays attention,¡± Killer says deadpan.

    ¡°Especially at that three-point two-second burp Kevin,¡± She screams again.

    ¡°If you want a recounte sit here, big mouth.¡±

    I roll my eyes at Kevin''s dry sense of humor when ites to Diamond, I always notice when he

    makes an effort with her. I love him more for it.

    It''s another ten minutes before Jamie announces that we''re taking off. The flight to the open field in

    Colorado goes quick with Kevin and Storm talking about possible ces to look for Jace. I merely nod

    my head and give an answer here and there.

    Diamond goes quiet again saying nothing, losing herself in whatever she''s doing on that red Laptop of

    hers.

    The limited-edition device was a gift from Michael a few months back. Diamond loves getting presents

    from Michael. He considers himself her godfather. It doesn''t make me jealous, I am d that she is

    considered part of our family, not just the Stones, but the Brays too. My father has custody of Diamond

    until she turns eighteen. So she is basically a sister to me. And even without the paper, to me she is

    family.

    Vincent will never understand that bond we share, the bonding force that makes us family because he

    isn''t part of that. I was not lying when I said he made his choice. I was not lying when I said it wouldn''t

    end well.

    A made man is only loyal to the name of that ring on his index finger, and even then you still can''t trust

    them.

 Chapter 18 (Michael Stone)

    Chapter 18 (Michael Stone)

    The speed of light travels approximately six hundred and seventy one million miles per hour. It takes

    the average Toyota sedan fifty miles per hour without alerting cops AND an average brain thirteen

    milliseconds to see an image. In that time I have memorized the entire room with every detail in it.

    My brother, Jace has been gone for thirty three hours. My siblings and father are still thinking small

    thoughts.

    I already know what happened, he was kidnapped. By who, for what or why are things I don''t need to

    know just yet. Right now I just need to find him.

    After, I will worry about thetter and destroy whoever it is. Nobody harms my family and still walks

    away.

    I have always been different from my family, but I am not Kevin. I feel emotion, more than other people

    do. Understanding the concept of it and where feelingse from is something I knew as early as five.

    But I can also choose to not let my emotions overcloud my judgment, over shadow my focus.

    I am worried sick about my brother, he is young and I know someone took him. And once that thought

    T¨ºxt belongs to N?velDrama.Org.

    made logical sense, I have been searching.

    ¡°I narrowed the possible locations to thirty one ces, that is including if they had time to get to an

    aircraft. Now I''m canceling out the negatives and keeping everything with a forty eight point two percent

    probability.¡± I say this as my fingers dance across my keyboards. The one on myp is an extra I keep

    in my Jet in case one of the other two fail.

    My eyes remain concentrated to the seventy two inch projector screen, also something I keep in case I

    need to work.

    The lounge area I am currently sitting in at my dad¡¯s house is not my ideal conditions, but with time

    running out and my brother missing this was made adequate for getting the taskpleted.

    ¡°Any word from Kevin?¡±

    I look up at my stepmother for a second out of respect as I ask the question.

    Her physical form is breathtakingly beautiful and though she has hardened with years she is a kind

    woman. Not an insensitive bitch like my mother.

    My older brother David has always begrudged Hunter for something that happened years before she

    married my father.

    ¡°Yes, they are on their way to the pub, then heading straight here.¡± She says from the wall she is

    currently holding up with her tall form. She is still in her work clothes she put on this morning- a loose

    chino pants and white blouse, barefoot and no make up. Which tells me that my stepmother isn''t

    handling this well.

    Which surprises me as she disappeared years ago, left all her kids for three years, with no goodbye, no

    hello. It messed Kylie up the worst as she won''t even greet a person or say goodbye.

    Only my dad knew where she went and why. Well he thought he was the only one. I knew she was in

    Prague, why, I haven''t had a chance to figure that out as yet. I have been busy building my empire and

    finding a way to slow down the effects of global warming on a more permanent andrger scale.

    ¡°Call Kevin tell him I am sending location points around the area, he should check those out while he''s

    there.¡±

    ¡°Kevin just called, They in Colorado.¡± My brother David barges into the lounge, his slight graying hair

    and wide shouldered, posture just like our grandfather- broad, including his ego too.

    I don''t look at him as he enters. There is nothing wrong with my hearing.

    ¡°Diamond''s father¡¯s people are meeting them at the pub, something about the locals not snitching.¡±

    ¡°Let''s pretend for a second that you CAN take a message properly and try that again,¡± I suggest as my

    eyes and fingers remain upied.

    He ignores my suggestion, instead of crowding my space,

    ¡°While they waiting, give me a few of the locations to check out.¡±

    ¡°I''ming with you, we will take the Rover,¡± I insist, while my eyes and fingers remain on myptops.

    ¡°Then let''s move, I DON''T like this Michael, the pentagon has been having shitty threats recently. The

    device Diamond''s building seems to be turning heads, I don''t like this one bit.¡±

    I should reply to that statement, but I don''t. Diamond is one of us, she is family, I see her as an adopted

    daughter of sorts, maybe I will adopt her one day.

 Chapter 19 (Michael Stone)

    Chapter 19 (Michael Stone)

    David has always had hang ups with the girl. Recently with age they are bing civil toward each

    other, more now with Diamond spending time with me but their antics can be highly annoying.

    When she first started building nuclear weapons and monitoring other projects for the government I

    made it my responsibility to see that she remain safe and protected.

    It never crossed my mind that our family would be a target. I am not canceling the possibility that

    my youngest brother has just be a target against the government.

    ¡°I''m done, let''s go.¡±

    Moving toward the door, I KISS Hunter on her cheek, grab my suit jacket off the coat hanger and leave

    with David following closely behind.

    Once we get the keys to the Rover we are on our way.

    Kylie crosses my mind, as she always does, no matter how distant I have been with hertely. She

    thinks I hate her, she is certain that I me her for my break up with Willow. If only she knew the real

    reason I remain distant.

    If only she saw the thoughts in my head. Why I even dated Willow in the first ce. Kylie would run far

    away from me.

    Kylie and I have always shared a connection, an in-exinable bond of physical necessity. It is the

    most natural form of closeness a person will ever experience and I have that with her.

    If the world was ending and I could save one person on the earth it wouldn''t be her, because I would

    need her to die with me.

    I''ve never been normal. From a young age my brain has worked faster than others. What amused most

    kids had only held my attention for a second.

    My father knew I was meant for a greater purpose. I was born a leader, and he held me in high regard

    since I was kid.

    I never fitted in with the others simr to me. I have always been excessively broader, taller, smarter,

    better though Diamond would argue on the smarter part.

    Growing up, I enjoyed sports which most of the other great minds in my sses couldn''t understand.

    I can sit andugh while watching a movie which many think is a waste of time. I use small words when

    I don''t have to, because I like to. I am able to live and lead a normal life, which many can''t.

    But my struggles are not non, as an adult I spend three hours a day in my home gym just to calm my

    mind. My need for perfection has been slowly taking over. I don''t sleep as I should. I am riddled with

    nightmares of failure. I fuck too many women, mastering their bodies as I y dangerous games with

    their minds, only to walk away in the end. My need for control is my down fall and slowly I know I am

    losing my mind.

    ¡°Where are we looking first?¡± David asks as he takes the long road out of Liston Hills.

    ¡°The Russians have a warehouse ten miles out, I will let you know when to turn, the ce is a dirt road

    with a lot of potholes, the good thing is there aren''t any traps, the ce is supposedly a storage

    warehouse for foil, but a few years ago I stumbled upon thend when I was thinking of a ce to hide

    the nitrogen bomb Diamond built. Made a couple of calls, found the owner was deceased, that certainly

    got my attention, did some digging and kepting up BLANK.¡±

    ¡°So you called the Pentagon, and had them do your dirty work,¡± David concludes.

    ¡°Yes, since then we''ve been monitoring this ce, recently there has been an influx of activity. Jace

    might not be there but it is worth a try.¡±

    I look out the window, agitation starting to take over as my brother drives the Rover, taking that control

    Property ? 2024 N0(v)elDrama.Org.

    out of my hands.

    My phone rings and I don''t think about it when I put it on speaker.

    ¡°We know where he is, the Bratva has him in a hidden location near Houston, they want a trade,

    Diamonds co-operation for Jace''s life.¡± Kevin''s words boom through the car.

    ¡°Diamond''s co-operation for what?¡± David asks Kevin as he makes a shitty U-turn in the middle of the

    road, heading back to Liston Hills.

    ¡°They want her to make them a fuel injected drug, simr to the one the Navy used four years ago

    when they experimented on those soldiers that went missing, didn''t end well. And I was the one ending

    it. They want Diamond to build them a fucking army, I say we agree for now, get Jace out of there, I

    don''t trust those fuckers.¡±

    Kevin''s instincts are always on target, it isn''t like we have a choice.

    ¡°You don''t trust anybody,¡± David states, his eyes focused on the darkening road.

    ¡°I agree, make the deal, get him back, then we can worry about the rest after, what did Diamond say?¡± I

    ask Kevin

    ¡°She said anything to get Jace home,¡± he responds, but there is pause.

    ¡°What aren''t you telling me?¡± I know Kevin, I know there is more to this. Nothing in life is so simple.

    ¡°If Diamond agrees to this they want to chip her.¡±

    ¡°Chip her like a fucking dog you mean, these men sound like Hitler''s people, are you sure they¡¯re not

    German since when did the Russian mob even know about Dakota? Thought we had this shit under

    lock and key, how many more of these fucking assholes do we have to deal with while keeping her

    crazy ass safe?.¡± David rants.

    ¡°As many as we need to, she''s family, don''t pretend as if you don''t give a fuck about her because that

    is a lie,¡± I tell my insensitive older brother.

    ¡°Going to sort shit out then we headed straight to you,¡± Kevin announces before cutting the call.

    I focus my attention on the empty road, but really my mind is on Diamond and what will be of her.

    I made a promise to myself and Kylie that I will keep her safe. Unlike me Diamond isn''t a functional

    genius, she can get lost in her mind. She is a weapon, a very dangerous weapon. I don''t know how I

    am going to get her out of this but I will find a way.

 Chapter 20 (Kylie)

    Chapter 20 (Kylie)

    Six monthster

    ¡°How many did we invite, our house looks like it¡¯s a free for all. Are you sure it¡¯s safe, I still think you

    Property ? 2024 N0(v)elDrama.Org.

    should¡¯ve told Kevin, Ky.¡± Diamond raves,ining for the umpteenth time?

    She¡¯s standing by the door, hair open and messy, undoubtedly full of knots. An old boyfriend jeans

    hugging her new curves, while her handful breasts remain covered by only a vest.

    Which I got to admit is sexy in an understated way. Too sexy.

    ¡°Go change that top and put a damn bra on,¡± I say, ring at her breast, knowing it is the only way I¡¯m

    going to get my point across.

    Her body has filled out a lot thesest six months. Surrounded by older guys all the time, she has my

    older sister instincts kicking on overdrive, especially since she doesn¡¯t care.

    Yet, when a guy makes a move she¡¯s forever ready to kick his nuts or do something that I¡¯m going to be

    eventually covering up, or paying for.

    Diamonds are hard work, but the best person I could ask for, to share my life with.

    Recently I have found myself thinking more and more about us growing up the closer it gets to her

    birthday.

    Many people in Liston Hills never could understand how an heiress became best friends with a biker

    princess. I say royalty is royalty.

    The thought makes me smile and shake my head.

    Diamond looks at me like I¡¯m crazy, storming inside my room like she has done a million times.

    She goes to the white and gold double doors and opens it entering my dressing room. Which she also

    does a million times.

    Why? I haven¡¯t the slightest clue since she has the exact same dressing room and just as many

    clothes, if not more.

    Surprisingly Diamond wasn¡¯t haunted by Reno''s death as I thought she would be. She handled it pretty

    well.

    I knew this when two days after the funeral she was back to arguing with Michael about some science

    shit, bantering with Jace about his short abduction and riling David about, well just riling him up really.

    She basically just waited for him to open his mouth then she''d instigate. It was a typical Sunday brunch

    in Liston Hills.

    Her father was given three years which was the best David could do, considering all the evidence

    against the man.

    All in all my best friend handled her boyfriend¡¯s death well. But all wasn''t good. I felt her slipping away

    more these days.

    Six months ago she put Reno''s body to rest but she also sold her soul to the Bratva to save Jace.

    She¡¯ll be leaving next week. Moving in with Michael and practically one floor up from David.

    Which was shit luck for him, but it is the only way she''ll be safe until Michael figured out a way to get

    her out of this deal.

    She didn''t want to leave me, but there is no other choice. So I remained silent and let her rant for a few

    hours until eventually, she conceded.

    Not that she had other options.

    Michael and I have started talking, guess I judged him wrong as he did forgive me. It took some time

    but we talk every day now. Michael is still Michael, broody, moody, and full of shit, just the way I love

    him.

    Vincent, well him, true to my word I haven¡¯t spoken to the guy in six months. He called a few times but

    he made no contact when I ignored it.

    It is difficult to stay away from him, to let him go, but sometimes the one you love so many needs to be

    let go of. Your emotions toward them are sometimes not good for you. It suffocates you until you lose

    those small things until you forget to live your own life.

 Chapter 21 (Kylie)

    Chapter 21 (Kylie)

    It is six months since I have seen Vincent and I admit I still check his status updates.

    Spying the news channels hoping I will get to see him in the background somewhere.

    It doesn''t get easier with time, it doesn''t make you feel better. Everyday is a struggle, but I am slowly

    healing. I have no choice but to get through it. I see the error of things, I understand that my feelings for

    him is one sided and it must have been what made him so horrible to me.

    I imagine if I was him, then I stop imagining.

    Recently, when I am not getting over Vincent, or spending time with Diamond, I use my time getting to

    know another guy, hoping I could eventually move on, even if my heart isn''t in it.

    My cheeks flush thinking about him, he is a sexy man and great kisser.

    Two months ago I went to The Satan Sniper¡¯s clubhouse to visit my friend, Zero and brother, Kevin

    when I was basically left melting on the floor by a very hot and familiar biker, Storm.

    He flirted with me relentlessly. And in those moments I admit I didn''t think much about Vincent, and I

    was d for that time. We ended the evening exchanging numbers.

    Since then I¡¯ve been in a tidal wave of hot flushes and red cheek blushes.

    But old wounds die hard, they never really heal. Vincent hurt me so much WITH his words, and

    thoughtless vices that sometimes Storm''s nice ways and charm overloads me.

    It is hard once you be used of getting treated a certain way, that anything else is unwee. And

    it takes me a few minutes at times to scream at myself, so I can get it together, because I didn''t have a

    rtionship with Vincent.

    I am just a fucked up neen year old in love with my stepbrother who doesn''t care if I am hurt by his

    words. Who just wanted me gone and I have given him that.

    I am gone from his life.

    With Storm I am in unknown territory. His kisses at moments be too much that I run.

    When I mean run, I mean I keep him on the peg , hanging.

    I¡¯m no virgin, I lost that at sixteen to a Russians diplomats son. Good times.

    Guess I¡¯m just cautious.

    Do I still love Vincent? Yes, I will always love Vincent.

    But as I said, sometimes the ones you love need to stay in your heart , and far from your life.

    I understand that more than anyone.

    There are moments when I am with Storm that I feel so free, so alive. I hold on to the hope that he can

    be a longsting distraction for me while I learn to find a permanent cure to my sickness of loving

    Vincent Stone.

    Stretching my neck, I get up off my bed. My long tight ck denims are still unbuttoned around my

    waist, showing a sliver of my red silk panties. Whilst my zebra styleces hang loosely on the sides of

    my ck Jordan¡¯s.

    My phone chimes, and my head drops staring at my pocket in two minds to answer it.

    The music downstairs is pumping with some R&B crap that I would soon be changing to good ole

    country.

    Reality wins over my wants as my phone chimes louder. One of the downsides to having stacks of cash

    and rted to the Stones, (even if it is through marriage) means if I don¡¯t answer my phone and it is

    one of them, one of my many brothers will be arriving at my front door.

    Curse of having helicopters, nes, and Jets at your disposal.

    I slip the device out, and my stomach does a little flip at the caller ID.

    ¡°Biker boy,¡± I say in answer, silently d it isn¡¯t one of my brothers, David especially.

    ¡°Open up sweet thang.¡±

    His voice is innuendo and his words take a little longer to register and when they do, I¡¯m surprised and

    sound so, when I blurt,

    ¡°What.¡±

    Content bel0ngs to N?vel(D)r/a/ma.Org.

    ¡°Since when are you deaf Kylie, I said open up.¡±

    I throw the phone on the bed, not even putting it off.

    ¡°Dakota Larken I¡¯m going to kick your ass,¡± I scream, my fingers fasten my denims, zipping up.

    In a rush I bend down tying myces into bows and covering it with the tongue of my Jordan¡¯s.

    My hair falls like a curtain blocking my face.

    Since Reno¡¯s death I never really got a chance to chop it off until recently. Eventually, when I had the

    time which was a few days ago, after finals, I decided to screw it and grow the mass out.

    After much-needed time at the salon, my hair is manageable even when I wake up. The joys of a ck

    card and a great hairdresser.

    ¡°What did I do now?¡± Diamond says, standing in a new distressed jeans and a deep blue bra which I¡¯m

    certain is mine.

    Holding a T-shirt in one hand and pair of nude pumps in the other.

    ¡°You called Kevin,¡± I use.

    She rolls her eyes, at my insinuating tone.

    ¡°You paranoid, you always paranoid, Kevin has this ce rigged, I told youst year that he only

    bought us this house so he could nt cameras everywhere, why don¡¯t you listen sometimes is beyond

    me, genius here, hello.¡±

    I rolls my eyes , we both know I would never admit it even though I know she¡¯s right.

    I¡¯ve been suspecting the cameras for a year now, but they¡¯re well hidden, wherever they are.

    Diamond struts toward me just as I finish tie myces. She nts her ass on the bed.

    Slipping the gray cashmere shirt on she smiles a white teeth shing Diamond smile.

    ¡°Lemme take a wild guess, The Satan Snipers are here.¡±

    I smack her head yfully and dodge her when she goes for my butt,ughing.

 Chapter 22 (Kylie)

    Chapter 22 (Kylie)

    It¡¯s a habit I got from Kevin, he always did it to me growing up, I¡¯m just passing on tradition. Or maybe I

    did it to him first? Who cares. Tradition is tradition.

    My snug covered feet take me down the stairs to open the door. When I reach thest set of steps I

    see Storm and another Satan Sniper already downstairs¡¯ inside the house surrounded by a mass of

    College girls.

    Kind of hard to ignore when they¡¯re wearing their cuts and bandanas around their necks looking like

    dirty raunchy sex.

    That doesn¡¯t faze me, I''ve surrounded myself with bikers since I was eight when Diamond invited me to

    her birthday party at their clubhouse. And over the past year I basically see these guys every weekend.

    Not surprised either to find the jocks staying clear of the two bikers. The bikers are the most lethal men

    in my house.

    Taking slow steps down, I watch inplete amusement at the view I have been gleefully gifted with.

    The preppy college boys are giving Storm and the other biker, who I can see is Knight a clear berth.

    Puffing out their golfer covered chests, taking bigger gulps of their ss filled beer or whatever they¡¯re

    drinking because I would not have red paper cups or even stic tumblers in my house.

    Some of them are looking at the bikers as medieval gods, wondering how many tattoos do these guys

    have.

    And how cool it looks to be bad ass, or have one of them for the night. I know Diago would love thest

    one.

    Content bel0ngs to N?vel(D)r/a/ma.Org.

    Others are probably thinking they¡¯re better than these leather covered bikers because their daddies are

    loaded, whilst others, judging by the few scrunched up faces are considering how many disease¡¯s and

    dirt these biker men have, let alone criminal records.

    That brings my smile to an all time high, because I¡¯m sure most of these people¡¯s parents aren¡¯t just

    ¡®selling insurance''.

    Most of the girls are already trying to cop a feel of the bad ass guys that stopped by ¡®Kylie Bray''s¡¯

    house.

    A few others are too scared because they either have boyfriends with them or they¡¯re virgins and know

    when they don¡¯t stand a chance.

    The two girls with their asses in the air. Those two, the ones in the corner, looking out the window,

    kneeling on my gray Vian couches I had imported justst month from Italy, is Josephine

    Applegate and Aliyana Capello.

    The only two women downstairs who would stand a chance with either biker and the only two not

    interested.

    Josephine the red head is a friend of mine, and also prefers boobs over dick.

    The pale skin, ash blonde, Aliyana, aka Liya is a member of the Famiglia, and half Russian. She¡¯s an

    old soul with a spice for danger and a good friend of mine.

    Aliyana never looks for attention, she is dead set on marrying Leonardo Catelli when she is older.

    How is she going to aplish that? I have no idea as he doesn¡¯t even know she exists but when ever

    he is in a room my poor friend gets brain freeze and wet panties.

    I would put my Maserati on the table that if Leonardo walked up to her and started talking, she will

    stand there and just smile like one of those Texan pageant girls my mama always likes watching.

    And I will be like attack girl.

    Diamond would probably y the match maker while pissing the guy off.

    Iugh silently at the vision forming in my mind at such a scenario, shaking my head.

    ¡°Why are you standing here looking like a nut job gone wrong when Storm needs saving.¡±

    Diamond¡¯s words cut through the music as she voices this loud enough that Storm looks up to see us

    standing on the staircase.

    His face transforms instantly from mild amusement getting ogled by thedies to mighty interested.

    Way to boost my ego. It¡¯s nice to have a man that wants me as much as he does. Thoughts of Vincent

    start to creep in but I shake it off like I''ve been practicing, training myself to do.

    Diamond stands next to me on the long ivory stairs, and I instinctively wrap my arm around her waist,

    bend my head toward her ear and whisper,

    ¡°I was enjoying the view, did you know Liya was joining us.¡±

    ¡°Yup, she texted me an hour ago, I also called Sam and Fat Matt for extra men just to be safe, Andrew

    is also keeping tabs so we good,¡± Diamond says this in my ear, looking at the crowd, while Beyonc¨¦

    sings her heart out about falling in love with her radio.

    We move down the steps attached to the hip, my arm around Diamonds waist and her hand holding my

    fingers on her stomach.

    The eyes that follow us do nothing, I was born in a world where people watched me, Diamond was

    raised in that world since she became my friend.

    It came with the title and she never minded it then and certainly doesn¡¯t mind it now.

    I should go to Storm, and talk to him, but he wasn¡¯t invited.

    Acting like a belle Queen and going to meet the bikers is something a jubnt Kylie would do, today I

    am a chilled, ''don''t fuck with me,¡¯ Kylie.

    Diamond has the same thoughts as I do. We both steer our long limbs toward the asses that are

    tagged hogging my window.

    We stop in front of the two women , looking at each other, we both grin like the two brats we are as our

    hands smack the girls denim covered butts. Mine going to Josephine¡¯s and Diamond¡¯s handnding

    masterfully on Liyas. I like these moments, even if my smiles are smaller these days.

    Josephine or Josey as we call her, merely turns her head.

    Liya spins around so fast Diamond holds her arm to steady the frightened mouse from falling off the

    sofa.

    I gesture with a tilt of my head to the two of them to follow us to the back of the house and soon

    enough the four of us are heading to my cave.

    Keying in a code for the only ck door in the house, we step in through the door. Can¡¯t say I¡¯m

    surprised when Storm and Knight walk in after Diamond.

    The room is a female version of a man cave, well scratch that it¡¯s my man cave.

    Deep oak shelvesyered with intricacies I have collected over the years with the numerous times I

    have traveled the world, take up most of this small space.

    Unlike most rich people that prefer to keep their alcohol hidden I show mine off in a ss fitted cab

    on the left under a blue luminous light.

    Inside the cab is stacks of sses which Diamond is currently opening now and pulling one of the

    said sses out.

    ¡°Did you miss me sweet thang.¡± Storm¡¯s question has me turning to face him. His brown shaggy hair

    shortened from thest time I saw him.

    Deep dark brown eyes still promising me things I don¡¯t want him promising because god knows I can''t

    give him those promises back. Asking my heart to function at the same pace as my brain and that

    beating organ in between my legs was , wouldn¡¯t , well more like couldn¡¯t happen.

    I smile a tiny bit, my eyebrow arching,

    ¡°So what brings the mighty Storm to my humble abode.¡±

    My hands make air quotes when I say thetter.

    He makes his own hand gesture of open space andughs,

    ¡°Humble, sweet thang? You don¡¯t know the meaning of humble.¡±

    I shrug because he is correct, I don¡¯t.

    ¡°Liya, want a drink sugar?¡± I say this with my eyes still on Storm before I look at Liya.

    ¡°Yes, Hennessy.¡± She answers from the sofa where she now sits self-consciously next to the Italian

    biker, Knight.

 Chapter 23 (Kylie)

    Chapter 23 (Kylie)

    His dark eyes staring intently at my poor friend. Chin length hair hanging loosely around his face,

    making him look harsh in an unkempt way.

    I should want tough as I look at the two of them, all I manage is a simple smile.

    ¡°Knight, stop staring at my friend you making her ufortable.¡± Diamond orders, going toward the

    two of them with two coronas in her hand.

    She hands one to Knight, and takes a sip of the other, blocking my view of the guy.

    Josey also walks past me, stops and openly looks at Storm from his boots to the top of his head and

    back to his face,

    ¡°So you the party crasher I take it, my names Josey. Don¡¯t tell me yours I don¡¯t care, just don¡¯t ruin my

    fun because I will kick your ass so fast you would think new years came early caprende?¡±

    She doesn¡¯t wait for an answer, just brushes past Storm and I follow not looking at the guy who has

    unknowingly been helping me to move on from my obsession with Vincent.

    Josey and I have a seat on the brown leather sofa next to the door. The ce looks quite small now but

    it isn¡¯t. I haven¡¯t opened the other side.

    This part is just a front , behind my disy on the oak shelves is a full on hang out space for me and

    my closest friends.

    These two bikers don¡¯t fit in that category.

    With a pool in the center and three four meter wide steps going from the ck onyx pool to a white

    leather t couch that expands four and a half meters long. And custom made ss armrests. ck

    marble ceilings with corner lights that change from blue to orange or white brighten the room.

    On the other side is an area with a custom made vintage styled pool table, a dart board because I am a

    country girl and an electric bull that doesn¡¯t fit in ce with the chic but modern elegance as the room,

    but fits perfectly with my personality.

    I am going to wait patiently until I am done with Storm and Knight before the girls and I go really rx.

    ¡°Jokes aside, what really brings you here?¡±

    Directing my question to the Italian biker, Knight, Ipletely ignore Storms presence still lurking in the

    center of the room.

    ¡°We looking for YOUR brother, Vincent.¡±

    The name serves as a whish to my heart as it leaves Storm''s mouth. Diamond is the only person

    that knows my struggle , that knows how weak I am when ites to Vincent.

    ¡°What do you want with Vincent.¡± Liya questions them, getting up and moving to stand not too far from

    Storm.

    Liya resembles a younger girl, with her tiny body covered in a tight jeans and loose blouse and those

    peach pumps she loves so much.

    ¡°I don¡¯t discuss club business.¡±

    He faces her short form crossing his arms over his covered chest.

    ¡°He isn¡¯t part of your club, he is a member of the Famiglia. When his name left your mouth it became

    my business,¡± Liya points out.

    Her gaze dead set on Storms, his on hers, in a stand off of wills.

    Knowing I have to do something or things could go really bad fast, I get up and take the few steps

    directly between Storm and Liya, my back facing Storm.

    ¡°Why don¡¯t you go on and pour yourself a ss of that heat you wanted sugar.¡±

    My smile is genuine as I watch her ring at Storm¡¯s form behind me. Just when I think that she won¡¯t

    move she leaves this small space to do just as I asked.

    I face Storm,

    ¡°As much as I like the idea of you in my house, I am going to ask you to leave, this is a celebration, not

    an interrogation, and right now youing here into my house , questioning me on the whereabouts of

    a man I have no inclination to see, is crossing a line you don¡¯t want to be crossing. You want to know

    where Vincent is, go find him yourself.¡±

    I may be weak when ites to Vincent, but Storm is just a man I fancy.

    He is a small antidote to a drug I crave. So it isn¡¯t hard when I say my piece. It isn¡¯t difficult when I

    watch his face harden like I just struck a baseball bat across it.

    And my heart certainly doesn¡¯t shred an ounce when he turns toward the door we came in from,

    nudging his head for Knight to follow and leaves.

    No it isn''t hard at all.

    But it doesn''t stop the dread that follows the two bikers out the door. Nor does it quieten the screams of

    Vincent''s name in my head, or the sick part of me that is secretly happy that the men came looking for

    my obsession right on my doorstep. Because the truth is, he is still my obsession. I have just merely

    avoided it. Sooner orter I would have to face him.

    I learned early in life that no matter how hard you are knocked down, no matter how bleak life seems at

    the time, time is not going to stand still, nothing is going to prevent the inevitable.

    Papa always says that it is a pointless worry, thinking about the things you can not change because it is

    what it is.

    If it is meant to happen not even the angels can save us.

    I look at Diamond who is now standing staring at the door as if she has this telekic power and is

    about to use it.

    ¡°They will be back,¡± She says before turning and walking to the oak shelves.

    ¡°Yes, but not tonight, I haven''t seen Vincent in six months, why the fuck would they be looking for him

    here, and Kevin has this ce rigged with cameras, obviously we missing something, and whatever it

    is can wait ¡®till tomorrow. Tonight we getting wasted and enjoying the taste of freedom.¡±

    Jocelyn sighs,

    ¡°I ain''t getting such luck, my mother is shipping me off to some snooty camp down in Denver, heard

    Molly Briggs will be joining.¡±

    Diamond makes a gagging noise at the sound of Molly''s name. If there is one person in the world that

    Diamond would love to see dead it will be infamous Molly Briggs.

    I personally never had a problem with the belle but for Diamond¡¯s sake she isn''t invited to my events,

    house or allowed in any of our social circles.

    I don''t even talk to her.

    When Diamond was eight I had to go to a family function with my papa in Turkey leaving my best friend

    behind, I was not a happy girl that week.

    Don''t get me wrong, papa would have loved to take Diamond with. Her dad refused, and sent her to a

    church camp for a week in Kentucky instead, which was harsh.

    When she got there Molly Briggs who Iter found out was actually Diamonds neighbor before Molly''s

    mama yed saddle catcher with Johnathan Briggs and scored herself a hot shot insurance broker

    and moved on to Seattle, from rags to gs, was there too.

    The girl wasted no time telling those holy arth thou campers that my friend''s mama was a crack whore.

    It was the word she used, among a few others. When I got back to Liston and heard about Diamonds

    week away in hell camp, I made my papa promise me that he will never take me anywhere without

    taking Diamond too.

    Her father wasn''t impressed either, and just as we carried on living and forgot about Diamond¡¯s hell

    camp experience, we saw Diamond¡¯s nemesis Molly Briggs on the day we applied to Washington

    University in Seattle.

    Diamond wanted a research facility and a ss to share her knowledge with. I wanted a University

    where they offered a good Master of Architecture program. Which in this University''s case was run by

    David Skilinsky, one of the best Architectures of our current times. But also not very sane as he turned

    my papa down when papa offered him a senior position in thepany to lecture a bunch of teenagers

    for an eighth of what my papa would have paid him.

    I guess a fat pay check isn''t on everybody¡¯s to want list. Some people with passion for their work

    choices still existed.

    Diamond is one of those people because she could have easily made Molly''s life hell when she found

    out that Molly was a student in one of her physics sses.

    Lord knows I would have, and I am sure I would have enjoyed it too.

    ¡°Why is it that every conversation we are having reforms around ruining someone''s mood?¡± Josey

    points out just as the shelves open up revealing the one ce in my house I actually paid for.

    Diamond hangs back just as Josey and Liya walk through to the secret ce. My brow arches when I

    see she is giving me those serious eyes.

    ¡°Are we going to have to stand here for another ten minutes? I am sure you can tell me whatever it is

    ¡°Michael told me that Vincent will be staying with us for a few days once I arrived in New York,¡±

    She confesses.

    ¡°Yeah, and?¡± I say.

    Diamond knows me, and though I say it like it isn''t a big deal, she knows my words for what they truly

    Property ? 2024 N0(v)elDrama.Org.

    mean. I am actually saying, ''fuck that hurts''.

    But what is the point, Vincent is my weakness, and instead of nurturing it, he used it as the worst form

    of torture.

    Six months ago I said I was done with him, I walked away from him with a broken heart and a soul that

    wanted out.

    I am still healing, trying to find a permanent cure, something that will heal mepletely, that will make

    me never even want to look at Vincent, see him, touch him, want him so bad.

    Storm is a temporary fix, now I chased him away. I know he will be back, he always is, but he will never

    have that ce he craves in my life. Storm will never truly have me. I leave her cowered in a small

    corner where nobody can see that weak girl because I am embarrassed by her, I am embarrassed by

    me.

 Chapter 24 (Kylie)

    Chapter 24 (Kylie)

    Christmas in Liston Hills is the time of remembering who we are, appreciating the life we get to live

    every day. In my home, it is the only time of the year that the Bray and Stones are all in one ce.

    Papa however is not. He doesn''t do family stuff or any social scene unless it pertains to work. He used

    to but not anymore.

    My family and friends of the family are all over the ce- the Stones, Brays, Orniels, and even the

    Delroy''s. The house is now decked with FESTIVE decorations. There is no mistaking what holiday we

    are celebrating.

    Mistletoe''s hanging on white and gold chains suspended from the ceilings.

    Two Christmas treespeting to almost three meters in height taking up the big guest hall that''s

    catered for the asion. Tables surrounding the walls filled with ginger biscuits, tarts, Christmas cakes,

    puddings, biscotti¡¯s, cookies, you think it and I''m sure it is there.

    Distant cousins, nieces and nephews, ying hide ''n seek, running in between the older one''s legs,

    trying to get the perfect hiding spot.

    My aunts running around like they did when I was younger, screaming for some silence. What they

    don''t realize is that they make more noise than the kids.

    The older crowd, mostly the men, stand around the television area, discussing stocks, bets, yoffs,

    and business. Their Cuban cigars filling the air, while they puff andugh in those ridiculous jerseys,

    except the few that are still wearing suits.

    All in all, A typical Christmas eve at The Estate.

    I walk down the hall, toward the main kitchen in the back of the first floor, with the empty blue stic

    T¨ºxt belongs to N?velDrama.Org.

    bowl mama asked me to get from the pantry outside, ignoring David and Diamond''s bickering

    happening in one of the art rooms I pass.

    The SMELL of roast turkey, beef, and the assortment of food that mama shoved in the oven twenty-odd

    minutes ago wafts through the air, getting my taste buds wet, reminding me that I haven''t even eaten

    breakfast yet.

    We spent the morning from four preparing for Christmas lunch and dinner. It is the only time in the year

    mama cooks. My smaller sister Victoria or Rae as we love to call her and I were tasked with the job of

    sds and cutting the veggies.

    Last year mama''s sisters came to help, making all this work a lot less.

    This year there were only the three of us prepping the meals.

    The Estate is currently upying at least sixty guests.

    Cooking a meal to feed two hundred shoulde with catering, but mama insists. She started

    prepping two weeks in advance and it is still a workload of a dozen people.

    Family started arriving from ninest night and were still arriving this morning, Texas time. We''re lucky

    that we have three industrial ovens to do the meals or else we would be royally screwed. I personally

    hate cooking. If it was up to me, the only cooking I would be doing is with my fingers on my phone

    burning through takeaway menus.

    By the deep frown set on Victoria''s forehead, I am certain she is thinking the same thing.

    Victoria is the youngest of the Stone siblings, mama''s baby, and my youngest sister. Mama wanted to

    have another girl, but couldn''t have any more kids the normal way, so somehow they got themselves a

    surrogate to carry Rae.

    ¡°So which one of my girls is bringing someone special this year?¡± Mama asks, wiping her hands on her

    floral apron.

    I am mixing the sd dressing for the Greek sd while my sister chops the peaches for the cobbler

    Uncle Hector loves so much.

    ¡°It ain''t gonna be me, mama, daddy made sure of that when he showed up in schoolst fall handing

    out STD pamphlets and funding extra LO sses, and David and Michael made sure of it when they

    beat up my boyfriend,¡± Rae says this as she goes to war with the peaches she is cutting.

    I wasn''t sure of the entire story but Aiden Hallow, Jace''s best friend, and my sister had a thing a few

    months back, to say David handled it was an understatement

    ¡°And you Kylie? ¡±

    I drop my head when my mama asks me that.

    ¡°No mama¡±

    ¡°Why not? I thought you dating that biker guy Kevin alwayses on home with what''s his name

    again, corn, form, Storm, yeah, Stormy man.¡± My loud mouth sister muses, and I feel like the floor

    should just open up right now and throw me in.

    My sister is very aware that I am not dating Storm, and also the dislike mama has for Storm as well.

    ¡°I am not dating him,¡± I say through grit teeth, ¡°there''s a difference between seeing someone and

    having a boyfriend, when your older I will exin it to you.¡±

    I send my sister my retribution look, raised eyebrows and a tight jaw as I watch her freckled cheeks

    widen in a big ass grin.

    ¡°I am pretty darn old Kylie and I don''t understand either, so please do tell your mama the difference

    between seeing someone and dating them?¡±

    Mama has now stopped what she''s doing and is looking at me.

    I stare at her for three seconds before lifting my head toward the ceiling.

    Why can''t the white chandelier just fall on me and save me from this conversation? It isn¡¯t going to end

    well.

    This is my mama, if she didn''t like something, then she didn¡¯t like it, period. There is no changing her

    mind.

    I groan, turning back to my task, adding balsamic vinegar to the sd dressing I''m making, ¡°It means

    I''m keeping my options open mama.¡±

    ¡°Kylie Bray, you are turning out as bad as your older brothers. It will be nice if one of my children would

    just settle down. David doesn''t know the meaning of settle, he can''t even choose who he wants to date

    on a Monday.

    Michael is too busy perfecting the term perfect and with his new like for those busty blondes I don''t

    want him to settle right now. I want grandchildren not a brothel.

 Chapter 25 (Kylie)

    Chapter 25 (Kylie)

    Kevin is well, Kevin, we all know my boy is never going to give me grand-kids unless it is from one of

    those bimbos living in the clubhouse and Jace and Victoria still got years in high school. The only one I

    can think of settling down and giving me something to look forward to is you Kylie.¡±

    ¡°I''m neen mama,¡± I say it like my age is the holy grail.

    Which in my case I am sure it is, because I wouldn''t put it pass Hunter Orniel to try and set me up.

    Lord knows the Texan born women never can help themselves. It''s like a born birthright or something

    knocked into them from a young age. My mama has a good brain, but my papa and Hector always say

    that you can take the boots off a country girl but her upbringing ain¡¯t never getting cured. True to word.

    ¡°Yes, but at neen turning twenty soon, you can still have a boyfriend Kylie not some bad biker who

    wears a frown on his face twenty four seven, or that Kent boy, oh gosh Kylie I''m sure there is some

    nice good Christian boy that you know, anyone of interest? If you need help I know at least a dozen

    and one, single bachelors who will be more than willing to date my daughter...¡±

    Content bel0ngs to N?vel(D)r/a/ma.Org.

    ¡°Mama, YOU are acting as if I am a forty-year-old virgin, I assure you I''m neither.¡±

    I switch on the electric mixer earning me a minute of silence while I beat the dressing that has been

    done ten minutes ago but I just can¡¯t give my mama my full attention and remain sane, especially when

    we are talking about my nonexistent love life.

    It isn¡¯t the first time it crosses my mind of what she would say if I told her about my obsession with

    Vincent. It isn''t getting easier. I need to let go, I am not sure why I keep holding on so tight.

    She will probably lecture me on sanity and some other jumbo if she knew how crazy my thoughts ran

    when it came to him. Then rub that damn forehead of hers with the back of her hand saying how

    stressful her life is.

    I roll my eyes as I switch off the beater. Thank god Vincent isn''ting tonight as I did invite myself a

    hot date forpany, no point in being alone Christmas night.

    Only it wasn''t any Christian boy, biker guy. Nah, my date is certainly a show stopper. And Vincent was

    not, is not ruining it for me.

    ¡°I''m done with the sd dressing,¡± I mumble.

    ¡°Okay, okay don¡¯t go all soft on me Kylie, all I''m saying honey, it isn''t so bad to just settle on down with

    one guy at a time rather than keeping your options open.¡±

    ¡°Mama, enough,¡± Rae says as I groan at the same time.

    ¡°Can''t me me for trying,¡± She says to both of us in a loud exasperated tone, that has me feeling like

    shit.

    ¡°And you can''t me me for not being interested.¡±

    I walk up to my mama and kiss her on her cheek. Inhaling the lily scent of hers that I will always find

    ¡°Need to check on Diamond and David before they destroy the entire house,¡± I say in an attempt of

    parting from this kitchen, more like running away from mama

    ¡°How is she liking New York?¡± Mama asks, genuinely caring for my friend.

    ¡°Seems to be going good, David still has his manhood, apart from a few extra grays he seems to be

    sane. But then I can''t promise that will still be the casee next year. Michael hasn''tined, in

    fact justst week he said that she helped him save seven minutes..¡±

    ¡°It was eight minutes and seven seconds.¡± Diamonds corrects me as she walks into the kitchen,

    startling mama with a big kiss on her cheek.

    And earning a giggle from Rae who is still chopping away at the peaches.

    I thought of telling her to blend the darn things but it is more fun watching my little belle queen sister get

    dirty in the brown wrap vintage dress she is wearing. And standing on those four thousand dor white

    and gold buckled three-inch heel shoes mama bought for her to match. Those always pinch at the

    back. Pricey doesn''t always meanfort.

    I opted for a tfortable ck pump, and navy blue shift dress with a Chinese cor that is

    understated yet still screams Christmas dinner at the Stones.

    Diamond looks stunning in the peach crisscross top and re skirt mama purchased for herst month

    at a runway show in TOKYO.

    I got her a white pump to match my ck one. Her hair is open and flowing down her back in a gown of

    golden waves.

    Her eyes sparkling with knowledge and vibrancy I have recently taken notice of since the relocation to

    New York.

    But mama, my mama looks breathtaking in her Vera Wang bottle Green ited dress that res into a

    knee-length skirt showing off her four-inch Christmas shoes she bought also from the Tokyo

    show.

 Chapter 26 (Kylie)

    Chapter 26 (Kylie)

    She isn''t donning any jewelry at the moment but my mama is without a doubt going to make a show

    stopper with one of her pieces that Uncle Hector so lovingly paid forst week,ter on today.

    A typical Christmas with this lot.

    After another thirty minutes of endless chit chat with my mother and Diamond while watching in gleeful

    delight as my sister chopped on those peaches, I am finally done with my daughterly tasks and

    enjoying my third ss of champagne.

    Ever heard the saying look now. When I was younger I used to stand in the same room full of the same

    people- my family , my friends, friends of the family, wondering if they liked me.

    I have never been the pretty pageant beauty like my mother and sisters, soaking up the oohs and aah''s

    and tenths of gossip.

    I could never stand the chit chatter like my cousins and their parents did when they all got together this

    time of year, even if it was just small talk.

    And I certainly AM not a genius like Michael so I can''t really get away with excusing myself every five

    minutes to disappear for a few hours.

    In all honesty, harsh as the reality may seem I¡¯ve never fitted in. I am and will always be like my dad, so

    today for the first time, with eptance in my mind and heart of me being an outcast I stand here with

    a flute of champagne in my hand asking myself if I like them all.

    Truth is I actually don''t and it is for the first time since I turned four, I leave the great hall and make my

    way outside. It is time to get my hot date and flee this ce. Mama would do great on her own, she had

    Rae and Hector if she didn¡¯t.

    The sun has since dusted its way to almost nothing but a promise for tomorrow when I reach the

    almost three meter long doors hand carved with intricate tribal patterns.

    ¡°Leaving so soon.¡±

    Three words said, three simple words thating from anybody else would have meant nothing, but

    My ss dropping on the floor, crashing into the tiles that have been shone for today''s extravagance

    kind of shock.

    Unable to really believe my ears, I spin around,ing face to face with the man I have hoped to never

    see again, Vincent Fucking Stone.

    I am not going to lie and say that seeing him standing here, in his father¡¯s house after so long doesn''t

    Content rights belong to N?velDrama.Org.

    cause my insides to melt, doesn''t elicit waves of heat to rush up my neck.

    I am going to be honest and say that I am flooded with a tirade of emotions, and those are just a few of

    them. The others are the hurt, rejection, pain, anger that alsoes with the memories of Vincent.

    Those emotions bring me an insane sense offort. It is falsefort. Because I know that I could

    never truly get over him. How can I when all I will ever get is a small whiff of a promise?

    It is on this day, the 24th December as I look at Vincent Stone standing in his tux that I realize

    something direly important and utterly terrifying, I, Kylie Bray will always be weakened by Vincent, even

    if I felt stronger. Seeing him will be my kryptonite.

    All these months, my heart pinching with his memory, attempts to forget him, now down the drain.

    I''m facing him, he is here and I am not fine. I am his, will always be his and he will never be mine.

    So believe it, when I tell you it is so hard when I give him a small smile I give to the ones I don¡¯t really

    know, admiring him from afar but not to the extent that I am left to a drooling mess. Even though I am,

    even though right now my heart is shredding, screaming for penance and the unfair order it has been

    given.

    Vincent Stone is not a handsome man. He will never, be a blue-eyed blonde prim and proper school

    jock.

    He is a sexy man, dangerous with eyes that lull you to do his bidding.

    Six months ago when he looked at me he stripped me bare, left me naked with just that look in his

    eyes.

    When he smiled he lulled ME, Kylie, into doing his bidding and I did because I am addicted to him.

    There is no other way of saying it.

    Today as I look at Vincent Stone, I feel attraction and addiction. I am crippled by this man and I hate

    him for it. I despise him for having this wield over me.

    He must not see it in my eyes or my false smile because for the first time he offers me a genuine one of

    his own.

    ¡°Thought I would BE spending the night running away from you.¡±

    ¡°Too bad, you thought wrong. Merry Christmas Vincent.¡±

    I tilt my head, staring him dead in the eyes for two beats of a second. Then I turn and walk out the door

    as my heart bleeds in familiar ces. The ces where I have buckets of blood dripping it''s so full of

    the open wounds this man has left in me.

    ¡°Kylie, I wanted to talk to you, apologize for the way I spoke to you at Reno''s funeral, and at the

    University.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s bygones,¡± I yell from halfway down the outside steps, not wanting him to see, I am breaking apart.

    ¡°Where are you rushing to?¡±

    I jog down the steps ignoring his question and jump in my gold Mercedes.

    Putting my air conditioner on a cool sixteen, I crank up my ride and I''m off.

    ¡°Oh baby do I love you,¡± I say to my car, as my heart pumps double in speed.

    Enjoying the freeing feeling my ride gives me, I could purr in my seat it''s so good.

    Vincent showing up is not, luckily for me, I am not where he is.

    I turn the bend and see his unmistakable ck Jaguar speeding behind me and my body aches to

    stop. It screams to hear what he has to say. To make it easy for him to rip me to shreds.

    Never mind it is Christmas, never mind I too am allowed to enjoy this day.

 Chapter 27 (Kylie)

    Chapter 27 (Kylie)

    My body and my heart know one thing, and that is the promise of Vincent Stone. That is the curse of

    addiction.

    He is my unobtainable obsession.

    ¡°YOU had your chance to chase me made man, now it just isn''t possible,¡± I say it to myself with

    anguish and heartache pledged deep within my soul as I drop my seat and pick up the speed to my

    new hot date.

    Yes, my hot extra plus one is my car.

    But this Mercedes I''m driving is years ahead of its time. I am the only person in the world that owns this

    Cabriolet Night Edition.

    A year ago while I was drooling over Vincent I was also getting my rocks off with a very hot son of one

    T¨ºxt belongs to N?velDrama.Org.

    of the Lead engineers of Mercedes.

    The dummy car which stood on his side table while I fucked his brains out caught my eye.

    After muchter with him returning the favor twice, he happily informed me of his father''s secret future

    project.

    Which in my mind, interpreted as highly valuable, and something I just had to have. With a neat eight-

    figure price tag paid in Euro''s, I did HAVE it. And just to sweeten the deal, I also purchased the rights to

    the project for the next five years. Just to be sure.

    It is empowering, and exhrating to drive and own a car so good knowing that not even my brothers

    had one like it. I wouldn''t call it luck, I would say it is just the favor of having really rich parents and very

    generous two older brothers.

    I know one day soon I will have to make my own empire and possibly take over my papas and I am

    ready for it.

    Swerving, gliding, I take the roads with ease. Add in the fact that I left my family Christmas party, I think

    I am feeling pretty goodpared to a few moments ago.

    Just twenty minutes ago I faced my stepbrother, who I have practically tied to my existence over

    eighteen months ago with a full-on pledge of the crippling effect I am attuned to whenever he stepped

    into a room and for once I hid it. I consider it as a step in the direction I need to step in to.

    Now I am being chased by that said brother. I don''t feel great, but I feel alive and ready for a good night

    of wild partying and greatpany. When I take the next off-ramp and join the interstate heading out of

    Liston Hills I know exactly where I and my hot date is heading.

    It crosses my mind to give Vincent a heads up, but why should I? When has the jackass ever been

    good to me? Never.

    I crank up my Brett Young CD and let the road lead me to temptation because tonight I will be

    delivering a shit load of evile Saturday Morning.

    The jaguar and its driver, Vincent, tag me the entire way.

    A small minuscule part of me wonders what he wants. But mostly I wish he would give up on this and

    leave me be.

    Why is he so adamant to talk to me now.

    Sorry isn¡¯t going to take away the pain, it isn¡¯t going to make me feel better.

    I take the long way to Ka and it¡¯s closing on eleven at night when I get to the Farmhouse, known as

    The Satan Sniper¡¯s clubhouse.

    The huge bonfire can be seen from the small dirt road and the long driveway that is packed with bikes.

    I turn my car, and drive into the open gate, finding a parking. Rolling my eyes as my tail (Vincent) also

    finds parking.

    I jump out of my ride, not paying Vincent any mind as I walk to the back of my car, and open my boot

    with my fingerprint.

    Bending over I pull out the small kit bag that I keep around in case I decide to spend a night

    somewhere. Inside my ck backpack contains basic stuff- a toothbrush, toiletries, jeans, vest, and

    boots. It is all I ever need.

    I m my car boot closed, as Vincent¡¯s shiny shoese into view.

    The nip in the air andte-night breeze elicits a chill down my back as I stare into a pair of angry eyes.

    ¡°So you leave your family toe here? To a bunch of bikers, making me drive fucking hours?.¡±

    I take a small step back, my mouth agape,

    ¡°Firstly I didn¡¯t make you do anything, secondly where I go and what I do isn¡¯t your fuckin¡¯ business and

    be one of those bikers,¡± I say it as a warning and it isn¡¯t an idle threat.

    Kevin once hit David nearly into aa when he heard David calling mama a bitch.

    My brothercks emotion, which doesn¡¯t mean he will let anyone disrespect a woman. Especially his

    own blood. And Vincent knows that, I know he sees the error of his ways when his face rxes and he

    takes a step back.

    ¡°I''m sorry, but I really need to talk to you.¡± Hebs his fingers through his hair, which is now longer

    than all those months ago.

    ¡°About what?¡± I ask him, slipping my backpack over my shoulder.

    ¡°Dakota, when we were looking for Reno¡¯s killer, I kept hearing stories about your friend, whispers.¡±

    My face heats, as a rush of difort, assault me at the mention of Diamond''s real name, at the

    mention of her nameing from Vincent of all people.

    I knew eventually the Catelli family would find out but not now, especially because Diamond is working

    for their sworn enemies.

    ¡°So what did you hear?¡± I ask the question, in a calm voice, which is the opposite of how I really feel.

    ¡°Enough to know that she is the reason my cousin was killed, Reno was protecting her.¡±

    I don¡¯t acknowledge his words, I don¡¯t pay any heed to what he is saying.

    To admit it or deny it would be a lie. The truth is much more than that. To understand the entire thing

    would be for me to betray my friend, to betray my other brothers and that is something I would never

    do. I would die, kill and lie to protect them.

    ¡°Sweet thang, I thought it was you.¡± Storm''s voice has me spinning so fast I almost tumble and fall.

    Instead of falling and tumbling to the hard ground and damaging my new dress and perfect skin,

    Vincent grabs my arm, pulling me into his chest.

    ¡°This conversation is far from over Kylie, you and I are not done.¡± His whispered words heard so clearly

    in my ear before he gives me a gentle push.

    Just as I right myself, Storm''s arm is wrapped around my waist.

    ¡°Miss me, Sweet girl.¡±

    His words aren¡¯t just a question to me but a statement and warning to Vincent.

    Storm is territorial, he is iming me like the biker he is. I think it is sweet, cute but really unnecessary.

    It is Christmas and I don''t want to ruin anyone''s mood so I let it slide and walk with Storm to the bonfire

    ignoring the man with the face that owns my soul staring daggers into my head.

    ¡°Thought you haven''t seen the guy in a while.¡± Storm points out as his fingers flex around my waist.

    ¡°I didn''t, guess he decided to show up for Christmas this year, past him as I was leaving.¡±

    He chuckles,

    ¡°When I sent the invite didn''t think you would show.¡±

    ¡°Gotta keep a man on his feet if he wants you in his bed.¡± I drawl, knowing he likes it when I do that.

    He shakes his head with a big grin to his face.

    ¡°Does that said man get a kiss?¡±

    I stop walking, we are on the corner of the farmhouse. The bonfire just on the hill with at least forty

    bikers. I hear their lively shouts and curses and howlingughs.

    I look at Storm, slip my backpack off my shoulder and shove it into his chest.

    Stormughs and I admit the guy has a really goodugh, who knew a biker could be so darn cute with

    dimples.

    More so today. I can see he is d I made it, and I admit I am d I came too.

    Though my reasons are very different. It is refreshing that tonight I, Kylie Bray have a man who is

    happy to see me. Even if it isn''t the one I want.

    I move to carry on with our trek, he stops me by grabbing my arm in a gentle yet firm caress, his eyes

    serious as he looks at me under the outside lights.

    Storm drops my bag, pulls me by my arm until I am stered to his body, capturing my chin between

    his roughened fingers.

    I tilt my head, staring at him. I don''t think a thought and neither does he as our mouths meet in a

    we are more than just us.

    Storm takes my mouth like I am his, and I don''t stop him. I don''t even allow myself an opportunity to

    I kiss Storm like we could have something, I kiss him with a false sense of hope.

    That night was the night I would say Storm moved into my life. It was on that day on the corner of the

    Satan Sniper''s clubhouse, under bright lights and watching eyes of a man that I didn''t know was

    watching did the Satan Sniper''s vice president and I start our story. I''m not going to say that it didn''t

    end well, I am not going to say that It wasn''t my fault he turned out the way he did.

    Truth is, we are all pro-choice, but sometimes our choices be duty, sometimes those duties have

    consequences that alter so many people''s paths. Change so many lives. Sometimes our choices are

    not our own, they are the oue of people''s actions.

 Chapter 28 (Kylie)

    Chapter 28 (Kylie)

    After that Christmas evening with Storm, things are better in my head. I find myself really looking

    forward to seeing the biker. And while I still think of Vincent, I tend to think of Storm too.

    I know I am settling, what I feel for Storm isn''t enough and I should let him go. But that has always

    been my problem. I am selfish because even knowing I would never feel for him the way I feel for

    Vincent or even close, I won''t end it with Storm.

    It gives me a sick thrill to know that such a dangerous guy is in my bed. But it also allows me to face

    Vincent.

    Recently Vincent is spending more and more time at B-Street, an upper-ss club that I myself

    Property ? 2024 N0(v)elDrama.Org.

    frequent twice or three times a week. He greets me now, which I find odd as he has always hated me,

    despised me, pretending I didn''t exist.

    I am not going to deny that I don''t still have that thread of hope at the back of my mind that he and I

    might get that chance I have wanted since I fell in love with him because that would be a lie. I do. I just

    know that it can never happen.

    Addiction is serious, it takes a piece of you, feed it and it can control your whole life. I know that now.

    As I get older my life bes bleak, I make choices that aren''t always in my best interest but

    necessary to protect Diamond.

    Vincent Stone isn''t a choice, he is a sickness, it is hard to just let him go, even though I have done it for

    so long. Only now it is getting difficult again.

    I see him too often, he is insistent on talking to me.

    Not just a thorn in his side any longer, I don''t know what he wants with me. But I know he wants

    something.

    Since that night at The Satan Sniper''s Clubhouse, I don''t have a choice but to be wary when I am

    around him. There is no alternative but to keep my heart and my brain separate.

    I am cautious now.

    I have my reasons, but one stands out. Since I found out about the Bratva, those who took my brother

    all those months ago, I RECENTLY found out about the Outfit and the Famiglia.

    The Famiglia brands their property, they take women and turn them into prostitutes. There are stories

    that they are into trafficking, drugs and. illegal gambling.

    I am not so sure how true these stories are like my friend Aliyana who is also part of the Famiglia

    doesn''t know herself.

    But in order to protect my friend, Diamond who is now working for the Bratva, finding these things out is

    my only source of power over the situation.

    So now I do what I have to do, go where I need to go. I spend more and more time wrapping myself in

    the underworld.

    Storm tells me to stay away. He warns me that it won''t end well. But I am stubborn like my father.

    "Kylie Bray, howdy there, can I get you a drink sugar, on the house." Mike the bartender asks.

    He is B-Streets best and finest, he can mix the best fucking Martinis and I ain''t shitting you.

    Green small eyes and a cut on his lip screams dirty sex. And believe it when I say that a night with

    Mike O''Dell in a shower dominating you is going to take you on a spin most women will never

    experience.

    But hey, when did I say I was mostly women. Including one to say no to a free drink.

    "Something spicy caveman,¡± I yell over the music. Keeping eye contact.

    "Spicy hot or a spicy burn babe." Now he is flirting and while I am all for it normally, the man in my bed

    or not, tonight I am here for business.

    "How about spicy with a bit of fire, and bring my bill,¡± I dismiss him.

    Which I admit is rude but I can''t sabotage the reason why I am here.

    I need to be alert.

    And I do as I sass out the scene in the club, watching the neers at the door and also the people

    dancing on the floor. Thanking my lucky cards that they haven''t put the disco lights on as yet. If they do

    then I won''t be able to see shit.

    Feeling a familiar tug on my arm, I ignore it. Again it happens, and I turn ready to tell whoever it is to

    fuck off. But the words die in my mouth because tugging my arm is no other than Vincent.

    I just saw him before I stepped into the club. We greeted as we have recently and that was that.

    He tilts his head when I arch my brow to say what do you want.

    The club is packed and busy. Mike ces my drink in front of me.

    He remains standing, watching, waiting as I have a stare-off with the guy I love. I know because I can

    see Mike from the corner of my eye.

    The old me would''ve used the opportunity to make Vincent jealous, the new me turns to my drink and

    takes a sip of fire.

    What the hell did this fucker put in my drink? I look at Mike as my throat burns and my chest heats and

    he shoots me a wink before sauntering off to the long line of people standing on the opposite end. I

    smirk at his yful charm shaking my head.

    Taking another sip, dismissing Vincent.

    cing the drink down on the white bar, a familiar hand takes the ss with my fire drink. I twist my

    neck watching him drink the liquid as he keeps his sight on me. His cold, agitated eyes.

    A little disappointed he swiped my drink but mostly annoyed he is standing here in my space when I am

    busy, I pinch my lips together.

    He ms the ss on the marble counter and grips my arm. Suspecting him to pull me off my chair,

    earning him a very thorough kick to his manhood if he does, again I am surprised when he leans in

    close to my face and looks me dead in the eyes.

    "You want to meet Luke I suggest you follow me," Vincent says in my face.

 Chapter 29 (Kylie)

    Chapter 29 (Kylie)

    The name I have been waiting to hear since I arrived, the reason why I was even here tonight when I

    had an important paper due in two weeks'' time, for a project I was working on for my father.

    Last week Michael informed me of a hacker named The Air, a master in software and stealing cents out

    of millions of people''s bank ounts and transferring the money into various poorer peoples'' bank

    ounts. One of those people he stole from was my brother.

    Michael''s birthday ising up and my n is to hand this guy to him on a fouryered triple

    chocte mouse cake. A thank you for helping Diamond.

    This guy would be the juiciest cherry Michael has eaten and I am going to see to it that he gets exactly

    that.

    I get my ass off the barstool, no bag to take because I don''t really need one. My light blue silk strap

    dress falls wlessly around my curves, entuating my bra-less chest.

    My six-inch silver heels make me a good inch taller than Vincent. He turns and walks to the back part

    of the club and I follow taking in his light cream suit as his ck shoes make up the distance in a hurry.

    I don''t rush after him, I take my time following him, enjoying the attention I receive from the men and

    envious res of the women.

    All in a night''s work. These people look at me, they see me as a celebrity, someone untouchable. When

    I look at them they would never know that sometimes I wish to walk in their shoes for one day.

    Never been one to hate my life, sometimes I wish to only escape it. I don''t mean jumping on a ne to

    another country. Staying here in my own city, and country while being me without people judging,

    without the designerbels and ck card.

    But when I think of how life could be, I reconsider, because let''s face it, money makes things happen

    that wouldn''t normally happen. It opens an entirely new world, that only the privileged have ess to.

    The music changes to David Guetta and I feel the sudden urge to dance and I will after I''m done with

    my little impetuous meeting, but at another club, away from Vincent.

    I open the steel door that Vincent goes through.

    "Howdy there men. Fancy seeing you all. If I knew it was a party I would have at least carried a

    camera. " I smirk at the four men sitting on different ends of the office space.

    The one guy looks vaguely familiar, someone I have seen around campus a time or two. He is sitting by

    the brown oak cab.

    The room is very clich¨¦- brown oak, cherry desk, and lots of ss with a ck carpet to finish the look.

    Well scratch that, the three Italians excluding my dark blonde stepbrother finish the look.

    The guy I am here to see, the one I wish to procure for my genius brother stands up. A shaggy-looking

    New York-er- pale skin, with the long baggy skulls T-shirt, that probably glows in the dark, hunch

    shoulders and spiky hair, definitely my hacker from the photos I have.

    Question is, why the hell is he here in a room with three members of the Famiglia.

    I focus my attention on Roberto, behind the desk, he has an undeniable smirk as his attention remains

    focused on my erect nipples. Suppressing the urge to roll my eyes at his ogling sphemy, I fail.

    His ck sadistic vision finally looks up at me, and I take my opportunity,

    "Now that I got your attention..." I begin.

    "You had my attention since you walked in the door." Roberto interrupts.

    The guy isn''t bad-looking, certainly a man with charisma and very extensive use of the English

    dictionary. I met him twice before, the first time he almost charmed me into his bed. Too bad David

    Content rights belong to N?velDrama.Org.

    interrupted.

    The second was a few months back at a club called Sleekers, we shared a brief dance and when he

    leaned to kiss me I informed him that though he was a very sexy man I was not interested.

    Didn''t stop him from trying though and today will be no different. Too bad for him I have a biker in my

    life.

    Storm isn''t the type of man you want to fuck with and maybe he is sort of still involved with another

    woman. But when he told mest week that I am the only woman in his bed I damn well believed him.

    That is the type of man Storm is, straight up and honest. If he doesn''t want strings he has a club full of

    women, he doesn''t need me.

    He and I are the same, I want him, he wants me, and when the want changes we will separate. Until

    then I am exclusive to him.

    "Let''s cut to the chase shall we, YOU," I say, my eyes now on the scrawny hacker Luke.

    "Are Coming with me."

 Chapter 30 (Vincent)

    Chapter 30 (Vincent)

    Why does she make me so fucking crazy? I can''t believe she would go to such lengths to appease

    Michael. What is it about their connection that is so confusing, so mind-boggling?

    She fucked up his rtionship for fucks sake.

    I spent a week with Michael in New York and not once did he mention his ex. Yet Kylie, Kylie''s name is

    like a switch in my brother''s head.

    When he hears it, his mind triggers. I see it in his eyes, every fucking time. But I say nothing. It isn''t my

    ce.

    Michael''s rtionship with Kylie is between them, and though I convince myself it is just a closeness

    they have because they are step-siblings, I know it is more.

    Which is the reason why I never understood what she wanted with me.

    Why me? She looked at me like I was her fucking hero or something.

    From a young age, I learned that I am no hero, I''m the viin. The man that takes life not saves it.

    The path I have lived, the path I will live is not for the weak. And I always thought Kylie weak, needy,

    but as she stands here today in that fucking silky dress that should be worn to bed I wonder if I have

    been wrong.

    I have wanted her since I saw her at that fucking G almost two years ago, still do, but I know, knew

    then all those months ago that I can''t, couldn¡¯t have what I wanted.

    Yet, recently there is this part of me that is drawn to her.

    These emotions are dangerous and can get a lot of people killed. With the Bratva closing in on our

    territory I have no time for a woman beside a good fuck.

    My gaze sweeps over her as I think these thoughts. Her hair is longer than what I remember, yet still

    the same ck raven color I know too well.

    Her cheeks are hollow, and the curve of her jawline prominent yet dainty. The column of her neck long

    and bare, perfect for me to wrap my fingers around as I fuck her hard, marking her milky flesh with my

    fingerprints.

    I''ve had dreams about Kylie in the past, her eyes so full of life deepening to an almost drunken state as

    T¨ºxt belongs to N?velDrama.Org.

    her body writhes under my own.

    I want to hurt her, I want to make her bleed by my knife until she is mine, marked and taken. Never in

    my mind did I think after Reno''s death she will up and walk away from me.

    That day at the university I felt like utter shit, I didn''t want to be a dick, but it is who I am. My temper is

    dangerous, it scares me at times. I can''t control it. And what she said was the truth, it stung like a

    mother fucker.

    My loyalties aren''t with my blood brothers, my loyalty belongs to the Famiglia.

    I am part of the Mafia, it is in my blood. She doesn''t understand that I never really had a choice. It is my

    bloodline, my right.

    Now she is that fucking bikers. His name is Storm and he isn''t a fucking cunt like me, he won''t let her

    go so easily. Except is she really his. Will, she ever be his, could she even be mine.

    "We want to make a deal," I say walking closer to Kylie.

    She is the girl who riles me up with just a fucking look. Who makes me feel like a pathetic prick. She

    can never know these thoughts.

    "Deal? He eitheres with me now, or he goes down. Don''t underestimate me being here alone for

    anything sugar. In twenty minutes I will have his name stered on every city''s most wanted list.¡±

    She snaps, looking at Roberto. Why the fuck is she so focused on him.

    "Hear what we have to offer before jumping," I say calmly to her.

    My vision never wavering below her bored one. She always looks sexy when she does that but it is the

    first time that look is focused on me.

    There are ease and confidence to her that is new to me. Storm must be good for her. Or maybe it is

    who she is growing into.

    A few weeks back I watched him fuck her mouth on the side of the Clubhouse and though I hid it well, I

    was fucking angry.

    Two men died by my hands that night, and I admit I imagined it was that fucking biker. It was some of

    my best work and after that, I got lost in three women with the same shade of hair like my little

    stepsister.

 Chapter 31 (Vincent)

    Chapter 31 (Vincent)

    "I''m listening." She answers, giving Luke a bright fucking smile.

    "Luke technically belongs to the Famiglia, since we were not aware of his extra murals, we will offer his

    services to an extent, call it an apology of sorts,¡± I say this as I slip my hands into my pants pockets.

    "You going to let him negotiate on your behalf! I am disappointed Lukey boy." She shakes her head at

    Luke.

    Her sarcasm doesn''t go unnoticed. Nor do her eyes that go to the scarred flesh on his neck branding

    him as our property.

    "So we got a deal or what?" Roberto asks her.

    "How about this, I take him, make my brother happy then we have ourselves a great deal?"

    "He belongs to Famiglia, you can''t take what is ours, we are offering you more than what we will

    normally offer because of your rtion to Vincent. So I ask again do we have a deal? "

    Kylie walks closer to Roberto, her eyes almost cold, and I get this fucking gut-clenching feeling in my

    stomach.

    She bends, hands on the desk, and looks him dead in the eyes,

    "Maybe you didn''t get the message, this is not a negotiation. I leave with him, or he goes to jail for a

    long time. That is the way this is going."

    Fuck, she got some balls.

    "Kylie can I talk with you in private,¡± I say walking toward her.

    Just as my fingers graze her porcin skin, her neck turns toward me, and she kills me with a re

    and in it a glimpse inside her soul.

    What the fuck is happening to her? Is Storm not the man I think he is.

    "No, I am talking to your boss, once I get what I want I will consider talking to you in private."

    ¡°My boss? You think Roberto is my boss?¡± I don''t wait for to reply,

    Content bel0ngs to N?vel(D)r/a/ma.Org.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go talk outside Kylie.¡±

    My voice has a hint of a warning to her, this is non negotiable.

    I expect her to decline, but she is smart and gets up from that fucking bent-over position and joins me

    as I leave the office and make my way back to the club''s entry doors.

    We are barely under the sky when she spins around,

    ¡°I want Luke, now I know you men have a price so name it.¡±

    I smile at her determined gaze, ¡°No price, we need the guy, Marco will never sell.¡±

    She waves her hands in the air, ¡°Vincent everybody has a price, just ask him.¡±

    ¡°What''s in it for me,¡± I question her, not knowing or understanding why I am even asking, as my eyes

    track to her pointed nipples.

    There is no way Marco would let Luke go. Not only is the guy good for business, but Marco will be

    considered weak.

    ¡°A lot of money.¡± Her voice is final like money is going to make me jump.

    For a lot of people sure, for me no.

    ¡°I already have a lot of money.¡± I don''t hold back the note of innuendo I add.

    ¡°What do you want?¡± She takes a step back which is almost like she is preparing to run, which is odd.

    ¡°Your car.¡± I love her fucking ride, I tried getting my hands on one but my little stepsister got the fucking

    rights.

    ¡°Even Luke isn''t as valuable as my ride,¡± She drawls in that Southern twang that can make a

    dangerous man like me do crazy things.

    ¡°How about Michael, is he as valuable?¡±

    Not sure why I ask this and I can tell by Kylie''s now guarded expression she doesn''t like it one bit.

    ¡°We''re done here, I will find another way to get what I want without you, least of all not from a man that

    traffics women.¡±

    Her face ispletely closed off as she says this and her words take a minute to register in my brain

    and when it does I am at a standstill.

    ¡°We don''t traffic women Kylie,¡± I growl out, holding in the sudden spike of anger at her tant

    usation.

    ¡°You¡¯re lying, you always lie.¡±

    She shakes her head in disgust and it grates me. She always knows what to say to rile me up, to make

    me lose control.

    Gripping her by the neck, I push her hard against the wall. My eyes lock on Kylie''s big whiskey gaze,

    my cock getting so fucking hard watching her color drain out of her face, like her eyes, those big

    fucking eyes stare at me in fear.

    Her nails rake on my hand holding her neck, choking her,

    ¡°Don''t ever call me a liar, if I say we don''t traffic fucking women, we don''t traffic fucking women, we will

    never enve women, never traffic them, get that thought out of your fucking head.¡±

    I loosen my grip, trying hard to get control of my guilty pleasure, witnessing her eyes weaken from my

    hands, just for me.

    I let her neck go, my fingers wrapping around her silky hair.

    ¡°What is it that draws me to you, why can''t I say no, what is this?¡± Her question takes me off guard,

    confusing the fuck out of me.

    I look into her eyes I don''t see pain, or fear, I see desperation.

 Chapter 32 (Kylie)

    Chapter 32 (Kylie)

    At this second, with Vincent''s hands around my neck, his throbbing cock against my stomach, I see the

    foolish waste of thoughts. I learn the meaningless words of promises.

    In the front of B-Street downtown Seattle, I, Kylie Bray watch the man that I am destined to love

    Property ? 2024 N0(v)elDrama.Org.

    forever,e alive with the idea of killing me.

    And even though I am with Storm, time can''t heal wounds.

    My voice, finally given back to me as he releases his fingers from around my neck, twisting it through

    my hair.

    For once, the words I need to say, the questions in my mind,e out, as I ask, ¡°What is it that draws

    me to you, why can''t I say no, what is this?¡±

    His grip on my hair tightens as he ys me with just one word, ¡°Obsession.¡±

    Breathing bes difficult as his eyes stare so deeply into my own. I have dreamed of this night for so

    long. I have imagined how his hands would feel touching me. I have wanted Vincent to look at me the

    way he is looking at me now, with proprietorial lust.

    My vision blurs with ecstasy, but still, I question,

    ¡°What happens when one obtains its obsession.¡±

    I already know I am obsessed with him, and hearing him murmur those words undoes me. It makes

    everything true.

    His deep intoxicated voice utters my undoing, ¡°Addiction.¡±

    But what he does next shatters me. His skillful mouth crashes against mine.

    Our tongues dance innguid yet purposeful moves. As my body burns with unadulterated lust of finally

    tasting what it has been wanting since Vincent came back into my life all those months ago.

    He dominates my mouth, using my hair as leverage to lock me in. I sumb to my desire that is him.

    Relishing in the feel of his painful hold in my hair, while he lures me in with his masculine scent. This is

    the moment I have wanted, now that it''s here I never want it to end.

    I feed my addiction, maintaining my obsession, not knowing that he will also be my ultimate

    DESTRUCTION.

    That night, in front of prying eyes outside B-Street Vincent Stone, kissed me for the first time. When I

    think of that night, I think of the softness of his lips, the caress of his tongue. I think of his body and my

    body touching as my nipples hardened and my sex clenched with a blissful desire to have him

    there in the first ce. That night Vincent Stone became more than just an if, more than just a one-

    sided story. Was it everything I imagined? No, it was so much better.

    It was a while after that when I saw him again.

    The clubhouse is not a ce I want to be picking David''s son up from. But it''s the only time little Aron

    gets to see Kevin, my older brother aka Killer, aargh.

    I''m not judging, I''m seriously not, okay, maybe just a little. There''s a lot of names in the dictionary to

    use that mean killer, why use the actual thing. Come on.

    I shake my head at my wayward thoughts and check my recently green sparkled nail polish, Ivy crush.

    It''s wicked.

    The kitchen door opens with a bang and a scarred grim reaper walks out with a limp female in his

    arms, bride style. Her hair is like a ck curtain of strands, a lot like mine except, well it''s not. That''s

    dead hair. Something I''m so fixing.

    ¡°What shiny new toy does the big bad beast have there?¡± I drawl my wordszily.

    I used to do it to piss my mama off. Over the years she made it her personal mission in ¡®assisting¡¯ me

    to ditch the glitch or famously known as the ¡®Kylie twang.¡¯ She was of course sessful but every now

    and then ites out to y.

    What can I say, I''m a Bray.

 Chapter 33 (Kylie)

    Chapter 33 (Kylie)

    Scanning critically over the biker''s ck leather pants, it''s old and terrible, but his ck t-shirt is

    perfect. I bought that for him. I''m about to say as much when I''m startled at the soft gaze he gives the

    sleeping form that is undoubtedly unconscious by the angle of her neck.

    I''ve known the Enforcer of The Satan Snipers for five years and he''s never looked at a woman like that,

    not even when he was with tiny Falon. Never liked that bitch.

    ¡°She''s our new prospect. A hello to you too Kylie. I¡¯m great and how are you doing as well Kylie.¡± He

    lifts his head to me.

    The scar under his eye makes the one eye seem smallerpared to the other. It used to have me

    cringing and flinching at the biker, but over the years he has be one of the very few friends I have.

    ¡°You know how I feel about pleasantries Zero. I¡¯ll follow you up.¡±

    He shakes his head with a smile and moves toward the stairs.

    Already knowing I''m a lost cause. I hate greeting people, I hate meeting people, I hate saying goodbye

    to people.

    Yes, there''s a lot of things I hate, I can afford to. If you don''t like me, well scratch that of course you

    gonna like me, I''m Kylie Bray.

    My mama said hate is a strong word to use. So I asked her why if it''s how I feel. She said true hate is

    something that has to run deep, it has to be unforgiving. I told her it was exactly how I felt about her

    leaving me for three years, without a note, message and goodbye. She didn''t even say hello when she

    returned. Well that just had her leaving the room, end of conversation.

    I tail behind the big biker, my boots heavy on the dark gray carpeted stair case.

    ¡°You saw my Kevin?¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s gone out, why what''s up? You need something?¡±

    I fling my hair to the side as my denim covered legs climb higher up. I almost groan as the masculine

    products fill my nose as we pass the bathroom. Finally I''m away from the disinfectant clogging my

    brains downstairs.

    We stop at the eighth door.

    I open the white princess cut door for him to go in first with his damsel.

    ¡°Nope, Came to see if Aron wanted to join Diamond and me for the horse trails and check on Storm but

    they both gone riding, wanted to see Kevin before I head out but he ain''t here.¡±

    ¡°Ain''t gonna see him now Ky.¡±

    I sigh at what a waste of my time this has been, and tilt my head to the side as a thought saddles up in

    my mind.

    Watching himy her down on the bed reminds me of the conversation I had with Kevin yesterday.

    ¡°The reason why my brother doesn''t want me over. She''s Beggar right?¡± I drawl in a thick Texan

    ent.

    I stare at the beautiful girl. The one my heartless brother spoke about to David. I was in David''s office

    when he got the call. He had the phone on speaker while he worked. When Kevin said he met a girl

    Content rights belong to N?velDrama.Org.

    and she was homeless who insisted on the name Beggar, curiosity gued me and I jumped in my ride

    with a nagging Diamond and drove six hours from Liston Hills to Ka a day before schedule.

    It was a well worth trip. My brother has never mentioned a woman in his life.

    And I can see why this one is different. Nice pale skin, dark hair that is as long as mine and pitches

    ck just like mine but whereas hers is months away from dying, mine is fully straight and shiny. It''s

    also the color of Natasha¡¯s hair, Natasha''s skin. My father''s sixteen-year-old daughter, my half-sister.

    Kevin ain''t foolin¡¯ nobody but himself.

    ¡°Yup, she''s knocked out, probably going to be for a couple of hours. But I don''t wanna leave her alone,

    wanna watch TV.¡±

    ¡°No thanks, gotta get back to Diamond, she needs to eat, can''t leave her too long,¡± I shrug.

    He doesn''t need me to borate, he knows that Diamond will go days without eating or bathing while

    she gets stuck in the web of her mind unless someone forces her to do it.

    Unlike my brother Michael who has control of his ¡®genius¡¯ and uses it rather than lets his mind use and

    control him.

    Diamond is the ugly and dark side of a living genius.

    She''s the one the television shows won''t tell you about.

    She''s the genius that the governments capture and keep in deserted ces to carry out their sick work.

    Diamond is a weapon.

    She is what you won''t seeing, she acts normal for all intents but I know she is anything but. When

    the urgees it could be months of her stuck in thebyrinth that''s her mind. But it''s better than her

    getting angry.

    A cold shiver licks my spine at the thought. My feet take me to the white blinds past the bed and I open

    it as my mind clouds on memories of Diamond. How to keep her safe, how to keep her sane.

    Diamond is slipping away, I feel it every time she gets that call and I don''t know how to stop them, they

    are using her and they will continue to do so until she''s nothing.

    The motorbikes lined in a neat row take up my attention as my mind runs track.

    I''m not sure how long I''m standing here but a noise in the room captures my attention.

    It starts as a deep gurgle like choking.

    You know the sound a person makes when they can''t breathe, yeah, this one is worse.

    My head naturally spins to the direction of the noise, the bed.

    The vision in front of me has me at a standstill. I''ve always believed myself strong and resilient, a fixer.

    But this, this is something I can''t fix, this is something that I can''t be strong and watch. This is a

    breaking point to witness. This is torture.

    What I see before me will be the reason I make a choice in the next few months that will take me

    on my path of ruin. A path so dark I will never see the end.

    I will be the monster your parents warned you about because it was at this moment that I opened

    my eyes. At this moment my world became unlocked to that which I was too na?ve to believe.

    It was at this ce, a clubhouse in Ka on a sunny Friday that I ced my first foot in the fire.

    This is when I began my journey. This is when I became Frost.

 Chapter 34 (Kylie)

    Chapter 34 (Kylie)

    Beggarys writhing, her back bending into a deep arch as her legs syed open.

    Her hands wrap around her long neck choking herself, until her face is blue, as she screams, and

    screams her tortured soul out with one word, Padrone, owner.

    Zero is not here, he left sometime while I was in my mind.

    Her top rides up as she writhes but still choking herself. And I stand here until I see the redness on her

    torso. A step or two I take until I''m right there, my knees touching the shaking bed.

    I snap out of whatever it is, and the first thing I see clearly is that her skin is changing color, she''s going

    to choke herself into unconsciousness. I spin into action jumping on the bed and go to grab her arms

    pulling them off her neck. Her high pitch scream wrings in my ears as she fights me. Pulling it back, as I

    pull her hands to me.

    ¡°Zero,¡±

    I scream,

    ¡°Zero.¡±

    The door bolts open secondster, but it''s those seconds I take my eyes off her and those seconds that

    spin my world on its axis.

    Beggar opens her mouth like something is getting shoved inside and it doesn''t take a college graduate

    to guess what she''s picturing, what she must be reliving.

    Zero pulls her hands easily into one of his, her wild movement lifts her top up and the branded burn I

    see almost makes my knees buckle.

    I can''t believe what I''m seeing but after I see it again my eyes widen, there''s no doubt what it is.

    Zero lifts her up and crushes her to his chest. ¡°Sssshhh, Beauty, I got you, it''s me Zero, you need to

    wake up now, okay, wake up Beauty. Sssshhh.¡±

    He is so strong, his words soothing, his voice firm, but I see the horror on his paled skin, I see it as I

    feel mine.

    I rush out of the room and barely make it to the bathroom before I spill my guts out in the toilet.

    My mind boggles. He said they didn''t do it, he said his people never took women.

    They would never traffic, never enve.

    He lied, I know this, I know this as I know that the mark burned into that girl''s stomach is the mark of

    his kind, the mark of possession, the mark of a ve. The mark of the Famiglia.

    I don''t waste time looking at the couple, I don''t waste time doing anything. I don''t even rinse out my

    bile-tasting mouth.

    I take the steps three at a time and rush to my gold Mercedes. My keys in my hand clicking buttons

    before I slide in, turn the ignition and get the hell out of there.

    My foot hits the gas and I speed to the hotel. I get my phone from thepartment in the center of the

    car and dial my baby brother.

    It rings three times,

    ¡°Don''t tell me you miss my ass,¡± His way of greeting.

    ¡°You alone,¡± I ask through the car speakers.

    He¡¯s quiet for a minute,

    ¡°Yeah, hit me.¡±

    My eyes on the road, I push the cruise control, and sit back,

    ¡°I heard Kevin talking about a girl yesterday, came to Ka with Diamond a day early to see her for

    myself, her name Beggar by the way.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, heard D asking Michael to do some digging. Some homeless girl they picked up in Washington.¡±

    ¡°Yup, but when I get there she''s unconscious in Zero''s arms. A few minutes after he put her on the bed

    she starts having some sort of seizure or nightmare I''m not sure what the hell was that. I''ve never seen

    that fucked up shit Jace.¡±

    My hand hits the hooter in frustration, this is my brother I don¡¯t hide from my family,

    ¡°Fuck, I can''t even talk to Diamond about this because she¡¯s having her benders again.¡±

    He¡¯s silent and I sigh, shit, me and my big mouth,

    ¡°Sorry, I wanted to tell you but I don''t want you worrying when you got enough shit going on.¡±

    ¡°Hey, it''s okay, I get it,¡± Jace says.

    ¡°You need to drop that smackdown Jace, it''s not your fault, if you didn''t tell them they would''ve figured it

    out.¡±

    His silence just pisses me off, I make another turn and head down toward the supermarket.

    ¡°You were kidnapped, it''s not your fault okay, Diamond is doing this for you, don''t be ungrateful and

    squander your life away. You dropping out of a private school to go to public is one thing. Riding

    yourself with guilt is somethingpletely different.¡±

    I take a right at the four-way and carry on straight.

    ¡°Can we just drop it? What do you need from me.¡±

    I sigh, ¡°Beggar has a mark on her stomach and brand, guess from who.¡±

    ¡°Biker or Ouw.¡±

    ¡°Worse, it''s from good ole Vincent''s n.¡±

    ¡°What. The. fuck.¡±

    ¡°My thoughts exactly, it''s their mark, the one they brand on the soldiers and their possessions.¡±

    I don''t tell him that where they put the mark makes a difference.

    ¡°whatcha need Ky.¡±

    ¡°I need to find out who the fuck is Beggar but without drawing attention, so no P. I''s, can you pull it off.¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡±

    ¡°Okay, how?¡±

    ¡°One word, golf.¡±

    ¡°Golf?¡± I park the car in front of the only hotel in this small dead town.

    ¡°Yup, Sabastian has recently be a fully pledged member, got his inheritance and full rights to the

    ¡°Okaaay.¡± I drag out the word.

    ¡°Remember the Kent¡¯s.¡±

    I groan, ¡°How can I forget.¡±

    He chuckles through the speaker, so not funny.

    ¡°Yeah well, Dexter¡¯s dad diedst year, so he¡¯s taken over all of Kent¡¯s holdings including¡­¡±

    Content bel0ngs to N?vel(D)r/a/ma.Org.

    ¡°Being Delroy''s bitch.¡± I finish for him with a smirk on my face.

    ¡°Yup, if anyone can get it done, it¡¯ll be him. I¡¯ll talk to Sabs and get back to you by tomorrow.¡±

    ¡°I knew I loved you for a reason.¡± I end the call and hop out of the car.

    I get into the four-star dump of a hotel to go feed my friend while she creates another mass destruction

    weapon for the USA government while losing a part of herself in the process with one thought in my

    mind.

    How the fuck am I going to get close to Vincent Stone.

    Since our kiss a couple of months ago I haven''t seen him. Sometimes the kiss we shared feels like

    something I conjured up in my crazy mind.

    That day after he kissed me he didn''t walk away, we stayed outside for a while in deep silence. He told

    me that he would never harm a woman, that he would never traffic anyone, and like a foolish neen-

    year old I believed him, because of my love for him.

    But now I see the error of my ways. It is crystal clear, I saw it with my own eyes on the body of that girl

    in Zero''s bed, the body of a girl named Beggar.

 Chapter 35 (Kylie)

    Chapter 35 (Kylie)

    I can''t believe I''m actually doing this. My boot covered feet stomp up the porch steps of the cabin. This

    morning I was across the state six hours away from Liston Hills picking up Aron- my eldest stepbrother,

    David¡¯s five year old son so I can get him back to his crazy mother before she died of fit mania.

    My destination was a one way ride to New York and then another to Seattle the next morning.

    Diamond was in the crappiest mood since I had to inform my genius and half crazy friend that we were

    staying with David for the night as Michael didn''t want us messing up his night of sexscapades.

    Plus, let''s not forget that I had a paper due on Monday and a block design that was still half way

    through. Whoever says architecture is easy let me know so I can kick their ass, after I bribe them to

    finish my assignments.

    I was in the helicopter with an antsy Aron, because he hates sitting still, and chatty best friend when

    Michael chose to call and inform me that I had to get my butt to The Estate. I wasn''t sure why I didn''t

    refuse because for all the crap I had to do, I should have.

    Then to top it all off, while I''m at The Estate waiting to hear what the hell was so darn important, my

    mother''s brother, Haden Ornieles trotting downstairs of the mansion and informs me that Cary

    Stanley aka his ex wife, is actually a Gina Lorne and she''s dead.

    And just when my day couldn''t get any worse my brothers arrive, all of them, including Vincent.

    After a gruesome few hours of why I was summoned, Diamond and Michael left to set up something at

    Sabastian''s new house.

    Which I was surprised to have learned is across from Dainy''s ce, even more so that Jace will be

    moving in with him. I spoke to Jace this morning and yesterday, he didn''t mention shit to me. Jace is

    supposed to be my baby half-brother, and I am extremely close to him. So close that when he told me

    about his involvement in this Gina Lorne story I was dropping Victoria''s and Natasha''s pleas for a girls

    night out and already walking the thirty minute trek to the cabin.

    Doesn''t mean I''m not going to kick his ass, I can''t believe he''s getting involved in this.

    I barge in the door, ¡°What did I miss?¡±

    Tiny cracker Dainy Hallow is the first one I spot. The girl has always been short but she got curves, with

    a pair of great tits and sultry brown eyes, and long golden hair thatpetes closely with Diamonds in

    beauty.

    I don''t me the two men in her life for wanting her so badly.

    I lift my chin, and stare at the three idiots on the couch. The almost naked one catches my eye and I

    know this is messed up. Thest time I saw Dexter was at his daddy''s funeral though I never shared

    with Jace I was there, I was.

    I only found out yesterday that he was already working for the Delroy''s and boy did he look fine doing

    it. Never mind his beaten up face.

    I''m on my second ss of brandy and I''ve barely been here for twenty minutes listening to these guys.

    My denim covered ass is on the lone seat my brother was sitting on when I walked in.

    Dainy is on the floor next to me and the three boys that couldn''t be more different are sitting on the long

    stretch couch. Dexter''s naked torso on full disy, sporting a swollen eye that looks more painful than it

    really is.

    Sabastian forever the gentleman in his four thousand dor suit sits in the middle, staring holes into

    poor Dainy.

    And Jace, what the hell is he even wearing? His blonde hair is messy and blue eyes that are identical

    to my mama''s is screaming at me to not flip my switch.

    All these thoughts go through my mind as I look at them. Sighing, with my ss dangling from my

    hand, I rest my back against the sofa.

    ¡°Remind me again why we can''t bring Michael or David into this? With Michael''s skills and David''s

    connections I''m sure we could do this quicker.¡±

    When no one answers I tilt my head to the side and study the three young men.

    They have the coolest expressions but I have two years on them and I''m nobody''s fool, these young

    men are hiding something.

    Dainy picks up on it too, and practically shouts, ¡°I knew it, I knew it, there''s more to this, isn''t there?¡±

    She knocks it out.

    I say nothing at first, holding their stares,

    ¡°If you want my help boys, you''ll

    gonna have to spill those babies.¡±

    Dexter looks to Sabastian first, no doubt seeking permission to spill, then his mouth is moving,

    ¡°When I was tracking her whereabouts, I keptin'' up empty, because I was looking for Cary not

    Gina. So I deepened my search and hacked into Haden''s personal files to see if he still kept stuff on his

    ex. He did, an entire case file with pics of her six months ago with the name Gina Lorne attached to it,

    so I searched the name and did some digging kepting up empty until another name kept popping

    up.¡±

    I arch my brows and lean forward swirling the branding in the ss, knowing I''m not going to like this at

    all,

    ¡°I''m waiting sugar.¡±

    I ignore Jace''s snort and keep my eyes trained on Dexter.

    ¡°Diana Trent¡±

    ¡°Wait, that''s the new girl''s mother, isn''t she dating your dad?¡± Dainy''s question is interesting.

    And judging by Sabastian''s grim face is an answer in itself and enough to drop it at that and focus on

    the issue at hand.

    Content rights belong to N?velDrama.Org.

    ¡°Now you boys got my attention, what''s my daddy''s ountant have to do with Reagan''s mama?¡±

    ¡°Well, that''s what we haven''t figured out yet.¡±

 Chapter 36 (Kylie)

    Chapter 36 (Kylie)

    Done nning with the lot on how we are going to sort this little mess out and find out who really killed

    Gina which I already have a clue as to who it was.

    Dainy and I am stationed in the kitchen tossing up a sd and prepping stuff for our spare of the

    moment party at ten O''clock at night.

    This is Liston Hills and I know soon most of the town''s teenagers and young adults will be here. Both

    my sisters, currently sitting on the small dock are too darnzy to help us, were tasked with texting a

    noticeable portion of our little town.

    The reason for this party is to simply cover our tracks for our little meeting. One can never be too

    certain these days.

    Natasha''s green eyes catch me watching the two of them giggling and I smile. Her newly dyed red hair

    is short, she looks great in a funky chic way. Rae is also growing up so fast and I hope when their time

    As I think this my neck pulses with the memory of Vincent''s fingers around my neck, my lips tingle at

    the remembered touch of his lips against my own. Today was hard when I saw him, he was watching

    me with a look I couldn''t decipher.

    I wanted to go to him, I wanted to talk to him but I couldn''t. A part of me is hurt. He kissed me that night

    outside B-Street with so much passion. Awakening all those feelings I was trying so hard to forget, he

    brought it all back including an idea of us.

    I fantasized for days thinking of what I would say when he called, not if. I made sure to look extra good

    in case he stopped by, but nothing.

    No phone call, it was like he kissed me and forgot that I existed. It stung, it still stings, and seeing him

    today looking at me the way he did make me feel cheap like I wasn''t worth any further effort.

    So instead of talking to him earlier today, the moment Michael and Kevin were done talking to me about

    Beggar and her connection to the Famiglia I got the fuck out of there as fast as I could. I heard him call

    my name.

    I didn''t end up getting Luke for Michael and I wasn''t going to. After that night at B-Street, I never went

    back there. I did, true to my word tip the cops and The Air hacker was now facing criminal charges of

    fifteen years.

    I break some feta over the sd, focusing on my task at hand and not my thoughts.

    ¡°How are things with you and my cousin?¡± I ask Dainy.

    She has recently started dating Reagan Orniel, my first cousin and the one who took over the reins of

    our ivy league school when Jace left.

    He is the school jock and aplete dick at times butst week when I spoke to him I could hear he

    really cares for Dainy and while normally that would be great news. I worry about my cousin getting his

    heart crushed.

    ¡°Great.¡± Is the one-word reply she gives me.

    ¡°Great? Is that why you are here coddled up in a cabin with your ex and he is somewhere probably

    finding out his mother is dead...¡±

    I leave that question to hang in the air and the silence will be stifling if it weren''t for the music Jace put

    on while he and Dexter man the grill outside.

    I see Natasha and Rae get up,ing inside, so I don''t say anything else on the matter as we finish up

    with the sds.

    ¡°Kylie,¡± I hear Sabastian call my name and by the tone, it isn''t good.

    ¡°Well fuck my luck,¡± I mumble marching out to see what the fuss is about.

    ¡°Reagan is gone, his phone is off.¡± Natasha says swinging her phone in the air.

    ¡°Shit,¡± I mutter, ¡°Well what the fuck are we waiting for let¡¯s go find him so I can kick his ass.¡±

    I walk past them just as Jace and Dextere inside.

    ¡°What''s going on?¡± Jace looks to all of us standing by the steps of the cabin, ¡°Well?¡± he says again.

    ¡°Reagan''s missing, let''s go,¡± I tell them marching to the door.

    ¡°Dexter you and I will head into the city, the rest of you get into teams and split up, if we don''t find him

    soon I''ll call Kevin,¡± I order.

    It is another ten minutes until Dexter and I are heading into the city.

    The drive is tense as he doesn''t say a word to me which I find odd but also slightly amusing

    Content rights belong to N?velDrama.Org.

    considering our history.

    ¡°Are you still holding that stick up your ass?¡± I bring the elephant out of the room.

    A few years back Dexter and I had a night of mayhem which ended up in his bed. I left my phone at his

    ce as I was rushing to get to school on time and went back to pick it up.

    The housekeeper let me in and I walked into his room while he was fucking one of the school

    cheerleaders with my phone next to his bed.

    It stung like a bitch and when he followed me I might have knocked him with my car. Well ording to

    the hospital reports I did and the ten million my dad gave him as a get well soon present.

    But that was a long time ago.

    The guy obviously is still holding a grudge.

    ¡°You fuckin'' hit me with your car, Kylie, forget about our dating history, or the fact that it was just fun.¡±

    He yells angrily, and I am taken aback at the tone.

    Boy does he sound pissed.

    ¡°Can we focus on the task at hand and forget about this conversation, the ten million my dad gave you

    should have erased your memory in the hospital.¡±

 Chapter 37 (Kylie)

    Chapter 37 (Kylie)

    I retort looking out the window for any sign of my cousin, thinking- why the fuck did I think Dexter and I

    in a car was a good Idea.

    ¡°Money isn''t going to heal my fucking ankle Kylie, you ruined my career.¡±

    I roll my eyes at that one, but inside his statement has guilt weighing heavily on my conscience.

    My temper tantrum left permanent damage to his ankle.

    Content rights belong to N?velDrama.Org.

    Even if we both know he was never going to have that football career with his dad passing on. But I

    don''t say it, we both know it.

    After another ten minutes with his broody face, I have had it.

    ¡°Okay, I am sorry I ran you over with my car.¡± I apologize loudly, exasperated that I have to even say it.

    ¡°Sorry isn''t going to do shit,¡± He snaps back.

    ¡°Well excuse me for trying to be nice, what the fuck is the problem because we both know it ain''t me

    hittin'' you with my car, so spill the beans or shut up because now you just pissing me off,¡± I bellow.

    ¡°The mighty Kylie is pissed, boohoo wee to the fuckin'' real world, it sucks doesn''t it.¡±

    He glower''s and if his look could kill me right now, lord knows I''ll be in hell already getting kicked out.

    ¡°You don''t know the meaning of the term life sucks, spend a day in my life thene say it to my

    asshole, stop the car, WE ARE DONE HERE.¡±

    The tires squeal to a standstill somewhere in the middle of town and after a call to Dainy I am swapping

    cars. With Rae now stuck with the moody Dexter Kent and me, myself and I speeding off with Dainy.

    ¡°Do I want to know,¡± Dainy muses

    ¡°Besides the fact he is an impetuous self-hating jackass, no you don''t, let''s go find your man crazy

    Dainy.¡±

    We''ve both quieten on our drive. Dainy lost in her own mind. While mine just riddles me with the never-

    ending guilt I feel about hurting the people I care about to the brink that they hate me.

    I do care about Dexter and deep down I feel like shit for doing what I did.

    And though I would never admit it, I deserve his harsh remarks, I deserve his hatred toward me.

    I hurt people in my life more than others do, because deep down I am hurt.

    GRIEVING for a mother that left me for three years. CRYING for that little girl that only ever wanted

    was to be loved without conditions.

    ACHING for the teenager forced to watch her best friend lose herself to a mind that she can''t control as

    the government treats her as a machine instead of a human.

    DYING slowly for the woman I am bing who is still stuck on a man who she could never have a

    future with.

    SCREAMING at the bleak path my life is taking me as I get older.

    Michael forgave me eventually for the mess I caused in his life and my other brothers did too, even my

    sister Natasha found it in herself to forgive me for ruining her chances with a guy she liked.

    My fear is that one day I will hurt them all, so badly that they will never forgive me. I fear one day I will

    do something so bad and they will all turn their backs on me.

    I fear that one day I will be alone, with nobody there to save me.

    ¡°We almost there, if you want to vent sugar now would be a perfect time.¡±

    My smooth voice startles her out of whatever she''s thinking.

    ¡°I''m fine.¡± Again with the small answers.

    ¡°I know fine crazy Dainy and you ain''t fine sugar.¡±

    ¡°Why did Sabastian have toe back. It''s like he brought it all back with him. For twelve months I

    was different Kylie.¡±

    Different, I wanted to be different a time or two. It is nice still going to high school, worrying about boys

    and gossip. Or how much power I had over the school.

    Now when one says different I think of Diamond and the Bratva, I think of Beggar and the Famiglia, I

    think of Storm and how I use him, lie to him under false pretenses.

    I don''t tell Dainy this, she doesn''t need my crap in her life. Nobody does.

    ¡°Different isn''t always good Dainy, sometimes it''s the pretense behind different that makes it all seem

    good.¡±

    ¡°I never thought about it that way.¡±

    I chuckle, just as I park the car on the corner of the road,

    ¡°Because you''re young, and right now life just isn''t making sense. You got two guys Dainy, one loves

    you, the other one is starting, so before you get out of this car you need to know who you getting out

    this car for because Reagan is hurting now and he is family, I don''t wanna see my cousin hurting any

    more than he needs to right now. I ain''t saying you need to choose now, but I''m saying you need to put

    someone''s needs before your own.¡±

 Chapter 38 (Kylie)

    Chapter 38 (Kylie)

    It is a hard truth, many might not agree with me but sometimes life just isn''t about you.

    Sometimes life is about the people around you and since I''ve met Beggar I''ve realized that.

    Today I found out her real name, I listened while Kevin and Vincent shared some of her secrets that I

    am sure she wouldn''t want some strange people knowing.

    I thought about her life, living on the streets and I couldn''t picture how such a young girl with no mother

    or father could survive the way she did.

    For as long as she has, unscathed.

    Even though her memories haunt her, even though she is riddled with nightmares and a past that she

    will never be able to escape, Beggar is the toughest woman I have ever met in my life.

    Today I saw her before I came to Liston Hills, I was waiting for Aron to finish up his yStation game.

    She was manning the bar at the clubhouse and I gave her my number and address. Even though I

    know what I know about her I hope she uses it. Lord knows she could use a friend or few.

    Looking out the car window I see if I can spot Dainy and Reagan. I came here on a hunch, but I didn''t

    really think he woulde here of all ces. This is where his mother was found dead.

    Never mind she sold him to his father all those years ago or the fact that she didn''t even give a shit to

    pick up the phone and see if Reagan was good. She was still his mother.

    No, maybe by blood, yes, but Gina Lorne was a scam artist. Her greediness for money awarded her

    with a free and early ticket to death.

    I feel no remorse for what happened to her, the woman was a bitch and I am d she is dead, just sad

    that Reagan has to deal with this shit.

    I''m not sure how long I sit waiting in the car before I see Reagan carrying a sleeping Dainy to the car.

    The two of them sit at the back making me feel like a fucking taxi service but I''m too tired to say shit, so

    I leave it be.

    I hear mumble words, then Dainy''s voice,

    ¡°How long was I out.¡±

    ¡°Thirty-odd minutes,¡± I answer loudly.

    ¡°d to see I''m tiring you out.¡± Reagan gushes, his ego is just like his father''s.

    ¡°The only thing tiring her out is boredom, I can''t believe you went there, Jesus fuck do you have any

    idea how many damn people I phoned, not to mention how many hours of my life I wasted.¡± I snap loud

    and clear so he doesn''t miss a word of my whish I am giving him.

    Reagan and I have never had a close rtionship, but he is my family, I care for him deeply. And as

    Texan, as I am it is my duty to give him shit. Mama calls it tough love, I call it getting crapped on.

    ¡°And the almost jail time when you called me and Victoria to meet you and Dexter so you can swap

    rides.¡± Dainy points out.

    ¡°Yeah and that too, what the hell is up that guy''s ass. You''d think he''d be nicer to me after all these

    years.¡±

    I don''t say that I deserve his shitty attitude because I am me. I am the ''tough'' Kylie Bray. If only people

    knew how much of that ''toughness'' is just pretending, they''dugh at how good I am at it and how

    stupid they are to believe I am a tough cookie.

    ¡°Didn''t you hit Dexter with your car?¡± Reagan says it like a question when we all know I did.

    ¡°He was far away, I didn''t know how the hell he got in front of the car.¡± I retort with sarcasm.

    ¡°He was in hospital, with two fractured ribs, and a sprained ankle Kylie, clearly he wasn''t that far away.¡±

    ¡°Bygones and all that jazz sugar, I can''t be held ountable for something in the past when I''m living in

    Content rights belong to N?velDrama.Org.

    the present,¡± I drawl in my famous Kylie twang, as I turn into the cabin''s driveway.

    After my extremely busy day and night, I''m ready for a stiff drink and a hot bath. The party is in full

    swing and though the morning owls have started their calls of the devil''s hour I know I am going to get

    the drink, not the bath just yet.

    The night is utterly still and once I have my three fingers of brandy in my hand and my pleasantries out

    of the way, I am walking toward the trees away from the bustle of the party.

    ¡°Is it me or are you avoiding me.¡± Vincent''s throaty voicees from behind me.

    My nerves spike as the memory of his fingers wrapping around my neck. The glee in his eyes doing it

    and that fucking kiss that shattered everything I thought I knew about my stepbrother and his feelings

    toward me, with it that sick feeling I get from him just being in the room.

    Knowing that he hase here just to talk to me has my insides tingling. Not enough to forgive his

    transgressions, not enough to forget that he kissed me and hasn''t contacted me in months. Or the

    simple fact that Beggar was branded like a dog after he swore they didn''t traffic and enve women.

    Definitely not enough.

    I wasted so many fucking days of my life thinking about him when he couldn''t even pick up the phone.

    This is all a game to Vincent, and it is here, now at the Cabin on the Estate under the oak tree that I

    think I don''t want to y Vincent''s game. I want to be done with him.

 Chapter 39 (Kylie)

    Chapter 39 (Kylie)

    I can''t allow myself to continue with this sickened feeling in my stomach he leaves whenever I talk to

    him.

    ¡°I am avoiding you, as well as everybody else, so if you don''t mind.¡± I confirm, without turning to face

    him.

    Taking a much needed sip of my drink, liquid courage is always a good thing.

    ¡°I expected a visit from Kevin, or a silent death by his hands, but I got nothing,¡± He airs out.

    Still I keep my back faced to him.

    ¡°Is there something in particr that you want Vincent or are you just here to cramp my style.¡±

    ¡°Actually I wanted to see if you were free for lunch next week. And then maybe we can fuck.¡±

    I spin around when I hear this because it is almost like I woke up in a different world.

    Content rights belong to N?velDrama.Org.

    I finish my drink, and I am not sure why or how, but I grab him and kick him solidly in his balls.

    He bows down in utter agony and I bend down slowly with him until my lips are at his ear, Yelling loud

    enough to cause difort, ¡°Go get fucked over by your little girls and leave us real woman for the

    men who know how to treat a woman with respect. Don''t ever talk to me again.¡±

    I leave him to his blue balls and as I walk away old feelings of hurt and pain resurface, and the

    knowledge that this isn''t just a one-sided ordeal any longer.

    Vincent wants something from me and he is taking my feelings that he isn''t certain I still harbor for him

    and using it. It is the lowest one could go.

    And I know as I swallow, the heaviness in my throat that it is going toe out behind closed doors.

    Where only God himself would bear witness to my weakness, to my struggles, to my pain as I curdle in

    a ball on the cold tiled floor and burst into a fit of uncensored hurt.

    I just have to get through the next few hours. Then I can let go, then I can release the weak me to a

    puddle and feed my self-pity.

    Reagan and Dainy are cuddled up next to me, on a pic nket, sitting and talking shit, when I see

    Michael storm out of the house, heading straight to David.

    I get up following closely behind, wondering what the hell could go more wrong now.

    ¡°What the fuck is going on?¡± Michael asks just as we get to David and Diamond. Jace, Sabastian, and

    Dexter following closely behind.

    ¡°Government wants Diamond to leave in the next four hours, they''re sending a few of their men to

    escort her to a secret location.¡± I hear David, but I don''t hear him.

    I am too busy staring at my friend, her hair a curtain around her face as she keeps her eyes on the

    ground refusing to look at me.

    I''ve always known this day woulde, we all knew it. I could say I had years to prepare myself for the

    inevitability of Diamond one day leaving me. But never so soon.

    We take for granted the time in our lives, we waste it on minuscule problems, letting the bigger ones

    remain, spending our hours pleasing people that wouldn''t even remember us in a year or two while

    neglecting the ones that will until they are dead, or in my case leaving.

    I once said that it was a phone call that did what all others couldn''t and this was it. This was the phone

    call that separated us. I think this was the day my life went on the path it did. It was on this day that our

    choices were taken away by our government. It was on this day while the night''s air stood so still and

    people danced around us not knowing the small group saying goodbye to their friend, not knowing that

    Kylie Bray, the one most of them looked up to, was losing the only thing that kept me sane.

    There is no point screaming, performing, or crying, it isn''t going to change anything.

    I tell myself this even as my eyes burn with UNSHED tears. I tell myself this even as my legs give out

    and Diamond''s soft hands wrap around me.

    Convincing myself that this isn''t happening is what I can''t do because the truth is my life is changing,

    our lives are changing.

    Diamond is leaving me, not just living in New York any longer, she is going away, so far away that I

    can''t reach her any longer.

    We take for granted the most important people in our lives, we forget who those people are. I have

    spent almost two years loving a man that would never love me back, wrapping myself in a cocoon of

    imaginary fantasies. Forgetting that Diamond would leave.

    Forgetting that she was, is my life.

    We hardly spent any time together recently, we hardly spoke because I, Kylie Bray have been too

    wrapped up in a man, too consumed with foolish thoughts.

    Now it is toote.

    Nothing will make them change their minds. And with the Bratva tracking her I don''t want to change the

    governments mind. I want them to take my friend away so that she can be safe, even if she will never

    truly be safe, at least where ever they take her will be much better than what we can do for her.

    What I have failed miserably to do for her.

    We drive silently, David and Michael in the front. Jace, Diamond and I at the back. I don''t release the

    grip on her hand and she doesn''t say a thing to me.

    This is not goodbye, I will see her again, she will see me again. We are both in denial.

    Me, for losing my friend.

    Her, for not knowing where she is going, what will be of her.

    When we get there the military''s men, are already waiting at the location half way to The Satan Sniper''s

    clubhouse.

    This will be the time to say something, tell her I love her and I want to but the words are stuck in my

    throat refusing toe out.

    We get out of the car, David and Michael shaking the four men''s hands while Diamond and I just stand

    in front of them.

    Not knowing what to say or how to say it. I don''t do goodbyes for this reason.

    How do you say farewell to the other part of you? How do you wish them well and smile when you

    know there is no farewell, there is no happy ce they are going to.

    So I don''t, I don''t say goodbye. I engulf Diamond into a hug and she hugs me just as tight and when I

    hear her moan of agony and feel her body shake I let her go.

    I turn my back to my best friend, my sister, my other half as my tears flow. I am a coward for not letting

    her see me break down. I am a coward for not allowing her the same, but for one time in my life I want

    to do the right thing, and letting Diamond go, is the right thing to do.

    Even if my heart rips, even if I know that I might not see her again. Sometimes the people in your life

    aren''t always meant to stay in your life. Sometimes you have to let the ones you love go hoping that

    one day they would be back on their own. I let Diamond go, with the hope that she woulde back.

    It was the best decision I ever made.

 Chapter 40 (Kylie)

    Chapter 40 (Kylie)

    Months have gone by since I''ve watched Diamond leave. What I suspect is the norm, I haven''t heard a

    word from her. Kevin has managed to get a few words from people in the army and even a picture of

    herughing with a group of soldiers in their secret location.

    It is my sole picture next to my bed. My incentive to get up in the morning and keep moving.

    My brothers are all preupied at the moment juggling their work, personal life, and finding Beggar

    along with The Satan Snipers. I focus my time on my studies. Keeping my grades up.

    Storm has spiraled to the brink of self-destruction, spending his affections on a bottle. I broke it off with

    him shortly after Diamond was ordered away. There was no point in acting any longer.

    It''s been a while since I¡¯ve visited the clubhouse. Things are not good there. Kevin says they are

    divided, everybody fighting with each other, all of them angry that they can''t find Beggar.

    Kevin says they want to hurt her, so he and the new President River are working on their own, trying to

    get Beggar back safely. They don''t know if she is alive they are just hoping.

    Aliyana pops in now and again to see how I''m doing. I say I''m fine, just busy and though she doesn''t

    buy the lie she doesn''t judge.

    Vincent however is another story. After I got back to Seattle, he showed up at my door. To say I wasn''t

    very weing was mildly putting it. He apologized profusely for his ways and I forgave him.

    He calls a lot asking me how I am if I need anything. I always say I''m fine.

    He wants to give us a shot, and while I will always love him, I just can''t now. With Diamond gone and

    the regret that lives in me, I feel it is best to move forward from Vincent. But he won''t let me.This belongs to N?velDrama.Org - ?.

    It is funny how our roles have changed, now he is the one chasing me, and I am the one who doesn''t

    want to be chased.

    I just want to be left alone.

    Michael has been scouring the country looking for Beggar, he sends me messages when he can but

    like all the people in my life, he is also busy hunting Beggar.

    And I understand that, Michael needs to find her before the Bratva, The Satan Snipers, and the

    Famiglia.

    I know he is doing it for Kevin, and I am proud of my brother for taking time off his work just to help

    Kevin.

    But then I don''t expect anything less.

    The Famiglia is under new management, well I should say they have a new boss-man, Marco Catelli,

    Beggar''s cousin.

    I''ve never met the guy in my life, but I have seen him on the news a time or two.

    He doesn''t have that angry death stare as Vincent so I am hoping he has Beggar''s best interest at

    heart and mind. But I won''t hold my breath.

    It is the middle of winter and a couple of months after my twentieth birthday. I didn''t celebrate like I

    normally would. Instead, I spent it with a bottle of Hennessy and my phone off. My brothers were

    pissed but not as much as my mother.

    Funny thing is I just don''t seem to care any longer.

    It''s two days gone since I heard a word from Michael and while I''m worried I hold on to the old saying,

    no news is good news.

    I''m downstairs in my newly refurbished kitchen, which is nowpletely white with red essories, it

    was my birthday gift to myself. I love the feel of it when I am cooking, which I am currently doing.

    A new habit since Diamond left.

    My hair is tied in a high bun, the t-shirt I stole from Michael''s closet a few years back is smeared in

    cake flour and spices and my poker dot shorts not doing any better.

    I am making battered prawns, with smoked Salmon, mashed avocado served with Parmesan bread

    and Cottage cheese.

    Tim Mcgraw ys through my kitchen speakers as I move around my space.

    The song barely ends when I hear the loud chime of my inte. Checking my counter where I am

    working, it is filled with prawn shells, avocado, bread crumbs, and arge amount of flour, with dirty

    knives, teaspoons that I used for spices and mixing bowls.

    The ce is a mess. I''m not expecting anyone. The inte goes off again and I roll my eyes because

    I know it''s Aliyana. She is the only one crazy enough toe uninvited at this hour.

    Making my way to the wall in the kitchen with the voice activator that Michael mounted on the wallst

    month for me. I don''t look to see who it is on the camera because I am certain it is Aliyana. I press the

    touch screen pad, opening the main gates.

 Chapter 41 (Kylie)

    Chapter 41 (Kylie)

    My guard Andrew is off tonight so I have the beams on in case some clever person tries to break in.

    I move through the kitchen door and down my long wide passage and into the entrance hall. I key in my

    rm code, putting off the beams, and switch on the outside lights.

    Opening my door, I wait patiently in my dirty clothes for my friend. A minute or two passes and I don''t

    see her red car, or lightsing up my driveway which is weird.

    After a few more minutes, I frown and close the door, going back into my kitchen.

    Picking up my te of food, I sit on the other side of my centered counter, my feet dangling off the

    edge.

    The inte ring just as I shove a prawn in my mouth, huffing in annoyance I jump down the counter

    and go to the inte, I press the answer button this time,

    ¡°Who is there?¡±

    I wait to hear something, total silence on the other end greets me.

    ¡°Whoever the fuck you are don''t waste my time.¡± I snap because it must be some bored person ying

    a prank, well attempting to.

    There is a crackle, and two distinctive words, from a very familiar voice,es through,

    ¡°Help me.¡±

    My eyes widen in shock.

    I don''t think about it, I fucking run through my house out the door, and sprint to my gate. When I get to

    my driveway, I see her.

    Her hands are gripping the metal bars like a lifeline.

    I rush to her, only now I realize that I don''t have keys to open.

    ¡°Hang in there, I''ming,¡± I tell her.

    I rush toward one of my cars, parked outside, open the door and grab the remote.

    My fingers press the button. Leaving the car door open, I rush back to the woman that has been

    missing for so long.

    She falls to the floor, crawling as the gates open. I get to her and bend down helping her up, she''s so

    light, so frail.

    Her legs threatened to give out.

    I touch her ribs, causing her to groan in pain.

    Long hair falling in knotted pieces blocks her face as her head hangs from weakness.

    It takes me ten minutes to get to the house, half dragging her, half carrying her.

    I push the door open with my leg and we both almost fall to the floor.

    Holding the door to keep us up, I right myself, holding her tight.

    Taking her to the kitchen takes a lifetime.

    Once I¡¯m here, with my free hand I swipe everything off the counter, sses falling to the floor, along

    with all the mess.

    With a strength of will, I lift her onto the counter. Finally staring at the woman who is but a mystery. The

    one who disappeared months ago.

    I stare into the beaten and battered face of Beggar. Her eyes are swollen, her face messed with dirt

    Content rights belong to N?velDrama.Org.

    and dried blood.

    I push her hair back as her ck pools open and close.

    ¡°Help me,¡± Her dry voice says again.

    I see it, before she shows it, the shock cor around her neck, the wet blood stains on her stomach.

    My hands start to shake. I look around me in a frenzy and spot the knife not too far from my foot. I pick

    it up and take the gray t-shirt in my hand cutting through the tattered material with the knife.

    Beggar moans. Her teeth jitters.

    Her stomach is riddled with cuts, bruises, blood, so much blood. There are two clean shots, one

    bleeding heavily close to her ribs, the other below her hip bone.

    I take the dirty t-shirt applying pressure on the wound.

    ¡°We need to get you to the hospital,¡± I tell her but ites out as a shout.

    She shakes her head,

    ¡°Deno.¡±

    Her body racks up in a small fit and I hold her down by the shoulders trying to prevent her from falling.

    When she finally stops, blood is pooling from her mouth.

    Running to the nearest phone which is near my sink, I dial the one person I can right now.

    ¡°Hello, so you finally called,¡± Vincent says.

    ¡°Get Deno, tell him I have Beggar, she''s shot, she''s bleeding, there''s blooding out of her mouth, I

    don''t know what to do.¡±

    My words areing fast and rushed. I am starting to freak out.

    ¡°Fuck,¡± he screams, ¡°We on our way, keep pressure on the wound, and her head to the side.¡±

    I drop the phone to the floor rushing back to Beggar. I tilt her head to the side and apply pressure.

    Not sure how much time passes, or how I am actually doing this and remaining sane when I got an

    almost dead woman on my kitchen counter bleeding to death.

    The inte buzzes and I run to press the button, then rush back to Beggar. She is sweating, her

    body shaking, turning blue.

    It isn''t long when Vincent and Deno run into my kitchen. Vincent grabs me from the back wrapping me

    in his arms as Deno takes over with Beggar.

    Another man rushes in with a silver briefcase who I presume and hope is a doctor.

    ¡°Vincent, get her out of here.¡± Deno orders.

    And it is only then I realize I am actually screaming. Vincent lifts me up in a bridal position, my arms

    wrapping tightly around his neck, I feel a sting in my arm before everything just goes nk.

 Chapter 42 (Kylie)

    Chapter 42 (Kylie)

    Week One

    Seven days are gone since the night Beggar came into my life looking for help. Once I got over my

    anger that Vincent sedated me, I called the University the next morning and said I needed time off due

    to family problems. I ignored Vincent''s protests and arguments, telling me I had to continue to act

    normal. I am tired of acting, done pretending. Nothing is normal.

    Vincent and Deno is practically living in my house. The doctor who I learned is Marceles every

    evening at ten to check on her and change her dressings.

    The three of us take turns watching Beggar.

    She has seizures four or five times a day. Locked in her mind, her nightmares make her hurt herself.

    Yesterday they tied her hands to the bed using a few of my scarves.

    It doesn''t help, her wrist is bruised with the futile attempts of breaking free of the restraints.

    The doctor is giving her pain medication through an IV line, but no morphine, nothing too strong. It is

    always a long day, but the nights are the worst.

    Week Two

    ¡°Want to watch a movie?¡± Vincent asks me as I get into the house.

    Today was my first day back at university, and more than two weeks since Beggar arrived.

    Vincent has practically moved into my home even after Deno left. Bringing clothes and hisptop. I

    haven''t said anything about it. And neither has he.

    ¡°No, how¡¯s the patient doing?¡± I query as I drop my bag on the leather couch opposite where he is

    sitting.

    ¡°Better, she had a shower today, spoke a bit, then just got quiet when I started asking questions.¡±

    He sits up from his slouching position, runs his hand through his unkempt hair.

    I have never seen Vincent like this, it is all new to me, him wearing shorts and t-shirts.

    I don''t look at him as an imposing figure any longer.

    I see him as a man.

    ¡°Has she eaten?¡± My question is the one I¡¯m most curious about. She is so thin, her body looks as if

    she could die of starvation.

    ¡°No, she says her throat pains, I spoke to Marcel he said it should heal up in a couple of days then we

    can start feeding her soup. Any news from Kevin?¡±

    I sit down on the edge of the lone sofa where I just threw my bag, ¡°Yup, he doesn''t want to draw

    attention to himself and leave Ka just yet. He should be here in a week or two.¡±

    ¡°Makes sense, you sure you don''t want to watch a movie?¡± He smiles at me and it is a gentle one,

    something close to affection.

    Right now I don''t want to think about that.

    Not when I have Beggar upstairs in my house and a mark branded on her by this very man''s people.

    So as much as I want to forget that this is happening, that Beggar is now in my life, here in my house

    because she trusts me, a stranger, I can''t, I won''t forget.

    Getting up I give him a small smile of my own,

    ¡°Yes, I''m sure,¡± And I walk out of the room, up the stairs, and head straight to Beggar.

    Week Three

    Old feelings die hard, they have a way of resurfacing, luring you into that familiar space.

    Vincent is still here, in my home. We talk a lot, mostly he does, I just listen.

    I find that every day I refuse him, and every day little by little my love for my stepbrother slowly

    surfaces, a bit every day, an inch more with every smile he gives me.

    My love for him, my addiction. I guess it has always been there, waiting to show itself.

    But I am older now, wiser, so I don''t give into him, even though I want to.

    There are times when I forget why he is here until she walks in than I remember. Beggar is my strength

    against Vincent and even though he is in my house, he isn''t in my life.

    Beggar and I are sitting in the kitchen, eating the Taco¡¯s I ordered from this new ce that opened not

    too far from B-Street. She let me do her hair today and while it isn''t perfect it looks much better,

    ¡°So, what would you like to do today?¡±

    We have developed a don''t ask, don''t tell policy when ites to what happened to her, and I am okay

    with that.

    She talks to me, about life and all the crazy things she''s seen growing up on the streets, it makes me

    Other times she makes me cry, but I don''t let her see it.

    I ignore most of my calls now, my siblings and friends calling to check up on me. I don''t want to lie but I

    can''t really tell them the truth. It is not me thates first now, it is Beggar, and she has voiced in

    detail that she doesn''t want anyone knowing where she is.

    ¡°What do you think we should do.¡± her dry, damaged voice answers with a question of her own.

    I shove a taco in my mouth, looking at her.

    Her skin was more pale than I remember.

    She has lost weight that she couldn''t afford to make her look anorexic. Her bruised face is still healing.

    But it isn''t as bad as the rest of her body.

    A few days ago I walked in on her while she was showering, her entire body covered in whishes,

    stab wounds, old and new bruising, her neck is damaged to the point of almost looking burned from the

    shock cor. It was that day I cried the worst.

    ¡°Ever yed archery?¡± I question with a devilish smirk, remembering my brother Kevin¡¯s amusing story

    of how Beggar took down their entire Clubhouse with darts.

    Her eyes widen and she smiles for the first time since she''s been in my space and it is beautiful, and a

    glowing one at that.

    Content rights belong to N?velDrama.Org.

    Beggar is hardened by life and I am not sure how long she will remain here or where she might end up,

    but I hope she stays a part of my life.

    Week four

    ¡°You should give my cousin a break, go out with him.¡±

    We''re sitting by the outside pool, Beggar in one of my full-length costumes. I''m in my white bikini. We

    are both sipping margaritas, while Vincent stares at us from across the pool, talking on his phone.

    ¡°I don''t know. We have a bad history. I wanted him at one time but now I''m not so sure if that is a good

    idea, we are just too different,¡± I say this honestly, looking right back at him through my sunsses.

    ¡°But you love him, I can see it in your eyes. I used to think you loved Storm. The first time I met him he

    couldn''t shut up about Kylie Bray.¡±

    I chuckle at her words.

    ¡°Storm loves the bottle now, I broke it off months ago, didn''t see us working out.¡±

    She bes quiet and I think of what I said, and maybe I offended her.

    ¡°Did I say something?¡± I slip my sses on my head and look at her syedfortably on the

    sunbed,

    ¡°No, just thinking how''s Zero.¡±

    ¡°He is good.¡±

    The lie doesn''te easy, but sometimes lies are necessary even if the person you¡¯re telling it to

    knows the lie for what it is. I guess hearing it helps them even if it is just a false reassurance.

 Chapter 43 (Kylie)

    Chapter 43 (Kylie)

    Week five

    ¡°Can we talk ?¡±

    I''m sitting on the floor in my bedroom, Beggar is sleeping on my bed, which has be our thing-

    sleeping together.

    We get closer as the days go by, and more and more she opens up, except when Vincent steps into the

    room.

    It is not that she isn''t familiar with him. They are rted, she knows he cares for her. The two of them

    talk about stuff and evenugh but she, like me keeps her guard up.

    ¡°What do you need to talk about Vincent,¡± I ask him, as my eyes remain focused on my project I''m

    drafting for finals.

    Hees into my room, sitting directly next to me.

    My carpeted floor where I am stationed at the bottom of my bed is decorated with open books, my

    His strong scent that at one stage made me melt into a puddle is something I am now gone used to.

    He ces his hand on my thigh and I tilt my neck to look at him,

    ¡°And now,¡±

    My eyes go to that said hand on my leg, emphasizing my words.

    Content rights belong to N?velDrama.Org.

    ¡°I know I have been a dick. I know I hurt you a lot Kylie. I wanted to keep you at arms length. I didn''t

    want you to get close to me because I feel the same way about you, as you did about me. But my life,

    the mafia it is no ce for you, people die, it is like an early death sentence.¡±

    ¡°You have a weird way of keeping someone you ''like'' at arms length Vincent, you were a dick to me.¡±

    He is saying things that I have never heard. Shocked it one way to describe how I am feeling. He is

    telling me words I have waited to hear, but life is so different now.

    It no longer matters as much as it used to.

    My feelings for Vincent aren''t as bad as my regret for losing my best friend.

    Diamond is gone.

    ¡°Kylie, these weeks with you here, I see your strength, your loyalty. I know you don''t trust me, but to

    allow my cousin in your house, give her ce says a lot. I know I should leave but I can''t stay away

    from you, I don''t want to. I want us to start over. Please,¡± his eyes are earnest.

    I can hear this is hard for him, showing me this side of him and I think back to Beggar on my bed, and

    what she said, give him a chance.

    I love Vincent but I am also in a crossfire of wills- right and wrong. I should say no, I know I should but

    my heart won''t let me.

    So I do it, I bend my head closer to him and kiss him. It is on this day I start my rtionship with

    Vincent Stone. It is on this day Iy my final card down for my ultimate downfall.

    Week six

    ''hey, miss me yet? Still have some stuff to do should be back in an hour. What you getting up to.''

    Vincent

    I look at the screen of my phone, blushing from another text of Vincent''s.

    Beggar and I decided to leave the house today. We''re on our way to a frat party at my University.

    Vincent and I haven''t been on an official date, but Deno has agreed to keep Beggarpany tomorrow

    night while I apany Vincent to a family dinner.

    I am nervous and giddy at the same time.

    He sends me text and kisses me until I am again melting in a puddle, but now he isn''t staring daggers

    at me when I do.

    Now I get chuckles and sweet words. We haven''t had sex, not sure why I am still holding back but I am.

    I guess when we finally get what we want things are different. I find that I am changing and I can''t stop

    it from happening.

    ''on our way to a frat party. Wont be home b4 one.'' Kylie

    ''Be careful,e straight back when you done, I will be waiting...'' Vincent

    Beggar is so quiet in the car, it is concerning. Stopping at the stop street, I drop the volume of the

    music,

    ¡°What''s up, don''t you want to go?¡±

    She rubs the scar on her neck, ¡°Can we stop somewhere else for a bit.¡±

    Frowning at her sudden request, unease curls in my belly, but I shrug it off,

    ¡°Sure, where do you have in mind?¡±

    ¡°I have the address it isn''t too far from here,¡± her hoarse voiceces with uncertainty.

    ¡°What''s going on Beggar?¡±

    The light changes and I drive to the side of the road switching the car off.

    Turning to face my new friend. She''s looking great tonight. I used a lot of make-up to cover the

    permanent scar on her neck.

    Her jeans are a pair of Diamonds, fit snug on her thin body, with a loose cashmere lc top.

    I''m wearing a jeans and blue t-shirt with ck boots, my normal OUTFIT when I go partying on

    Campus.

    ¡°When you were in the bathroom I heard the buzzer so I answered the door and found this.¡±

    I look down at the tape recorder she hands to me. I didn''t even know she had this.

    Taking it from her outstretched hand with shaky fingers, I press y, and a man''s voicees through

    the small speakers,

    ¡°Tut, tut, tut, liar, liar, liar, always running, always hiding, you filthy dirty Beggar. Guess who I found.¡±

    I hear a scream of a child- a little girl and I drop the recorder on the cars floor.

    ¡°Who is that?¡± I ask her, my eyes the size of saucers.

    ¡°My monster.¡±

    ¡°No Beggar who is the girl screaming?¡±

    She drops her head not answering.

    ¡°Beggar, who the fuck is she sugar.¡±

    ¡°My daughter.¡±

    I am shocked and stunned by this revtion, I thought her daughter was dead. From all sides of the

    stories

    I have heard about Beggar, her daughter is dead.

    Life has a odd way of turning out, secrets alwaysing to light in the worst of times.

    ¡°He had this address attached to it.¡±

    She hands me the crinkled note. I remain quiet as I put the light of the car on to READ it, underneath

    the address which is an industrial area is a message,

    e alone, or she dies, tick-tock, you have ''til midnight.

    ¡°We need to call Vincent or Kevin.¡±

    It is the logical thing to do.

    I can''t just let this kid die, Beggar''s child. I can''t believe she has a daughter.

    ¡°NO,¡± She screams holding her throat, ¡°drop me there and leave.¡±

    I start the car, ¡°You can''t go alone, I''m going with you.¡±

    I send off an SOS to Kevin and drop my phone in the side door of my car so Beggar can''t see it in case

    it rings.

    ¡°You will die, are you ready to die.¡± Her words scare me, but I don''t answer that question because I

    honestly don''t know the answer to it.

    Sometimes we have to make choices out of obligation and this now is one off those times.

    I won''t be able to live with myself if I don''t go and that little girl dies. So I don''t really have a choice in

    the matter.

    I won''t leave Beggar on her own.

    This is not a case of revenge for herself, but a rescue of her daughter.

    We drive the hour to this ce, a docking space full of containers stacked up.

    My stomach is in knots and it has since darkened.

    Parking on the outer parts of the docking area, we both jump out at the same time,

    ¡°Let''s go that way,¡± she says moving to the stacks of containers.

    I can''t say how I never see it, I can''t tell you how I don''t hear them.

    One second we are walking to the containers and the next we are surrounded by at least twenty men.

    One of the men steps forward, as the lights in the dock blind me.

    Squinting to try to get a good lock on him, I put my hand at the top of my head.

    He is in a charcoal three-piece suit. ck hair that has been greased t. His nose is prominent.

    Coming closer to Beggar and me.

    Close up, I finally get a good look at him.

    And I know I have seen him somewhere, I just can''t recall where that somewhere is.

    ¡°Where is she La,¡± Beggar asks the man walking closer to us and I am praying that Kevin got my

    SOS message.

    Heughs, and it is so evil, wicked like he is crazy,

    ¡°You are such a fool, do you really think If I had our daughter I would even contact you again.¡±

    He walks right up to us and backhands Beggar across her face with such force, and so much menace

    that she falls to the ground.

    I push him away and bend down on the floor to help my friend.

    Hard fingers grip my hair by the scalp pulling me away from Beggar.

    I scream, ¡°No, leave me alone, you fucking bastard.¡±

    He punches me in my stomach, gripping my hair tighter as the wind is knocked out of me for the

    second time.

    Gasping for air, I heave.

    Beggar sweeps his feet from under him. As he goes down he pulls my hair, ripping arge chunk of it

    out.

    ¡°This got nothing to do with her, let her go,¡± Beggar yells in a gruff voice.

    ¡°Now why would I do that, I am going to let my men rape her as they did to you, then I am going to

    send her back in pieces. Finger, by finger,¡± heughs.

    Beggar kicks him hard in the face, ¡°Run Kylie, run,¡± she screams as loud as she can.

    And I do, I run but not too far. I am tackled down hard to the rough ground, my face throbbing with the

    direct impact it takes. My tooth in the front cracks, my nose breaks.

    I scream, it is so fucking sore.

    The butt of the gun against my scalp is a weing pain, as it knocks me out.

 Chapter 44 (Kylie)

    Chapter 44 (Kylie)

    Ever been bashed , beaten? Or fallen off your bicycle and had yourself a good ole fashion fall?

    Try all those things in one, and multiply it by thirty , that is how I¡¯m feeling.

    My skin on my left calf is burned, with the same mark on Beggars stomach, because they think it''s fun

    marking us as the Famiglia ves.

    My scalp pains from the chunks of hair I had pulled out recently.

    Blood clots are a normal for me now. So is the pain between my legs, as they rape me every hour. The

    throbbing in my ass as they fuck it until I bleed, taking turns,ughing as I scream.

    There are thirty three men, thirty three bastards that rape me, that hurt me.

    Once they found out my name, the men treated me like a dog. I sleep on the cold floor in this

    abandoned ce.

    I am not sure where I am, or how long I have been here. I know that I am going to die.

    I pray they kill me soon.

    The current man in the room, is a sadistic fucker. I am huddled in the corner.

    My stomach caving in from the hunger I now face. But it is dim to the pain that burns inside my womb,

    the constant ache between my legs.

    He is standing by the door, pulling his chain that he keeps suspended from a hook in the wall.

    ¡°Ready for me little heiress.¡± Everyday his words are the same.

    Everyday my reply is the same, nothing, as I have been doing since they threw me in here with a

    weing party of sixteen.

    I remember the numbers, their faces. It is the only thing keeping me sane.

    I don''t stare at him, no obedience is going to stop what is about to happen.

    I tried it the first few times. How long have I been in here is a mystery.

    It could be weeks but it feels longer. My old life seems like a dream, this is my normal.

    This is my torment.

    I think of Vincent, and whether he searches for me. Our story had just began and then another disaster

    struck.

    Only this one will be my ending. I miss my family, but even that too is pointless.

    The night we got to the dock Beggar told me, I was going to die, she asked me if I was ready.

    I wish she was here, they took me away the next day. Since then I haven''t seen her, but I wish I could

    see her to answer that question, to beg her to take my life.

    Lord knows I am ready to die.

    Hees for me and I have no strength left in me to fight.

    There is no hope, no end until death.

    Lifting me up, I shiver in inexplicable fear, but I am so weak that I can''t do anything but let it happen.

    Tears don''te any longer, my body is too dehydrated.

    My mouth is so dry, I suck on my tongue. It has a hole in it, that I''m sure is infected.

    I hope it kills me. I pray the beating will be worse today, once this guy has his fill.

    And the other man who wille after that one, I pray he will kick me harder so my insides can rapture

    and I can die.

    He drops me down hard on the cemented dirty floor, the chains dangling from either side of me.

    My knees at first protested the drop, but now it has happened so many times the pain is weed, it is

    what I know, what I am ustomed to.

    My lifeless arms are lifted and the chains are wrapped around my chaffed wrist.

    I wait on the floor, naked as I have been since they threw me in here.

    Listening to his thirteen steps. That is how long it takes to get to the other side of the room.

    I hear the familiar click of the floodlights before ites on, he loves to use it. Because he is filming

    this.

    Thirteen back, he lifts the chains until I am forced to get up on my weak feet, that are riddled with

    blisters from the shock stick I was beaten with not too long ago.

    I don''t know time, I don''t count days. I know numbers, I know sequence.

    I know that once I am righted to my feet he is going to hook my wrists with chains into the top of the

    doors hook.

    He does that. My feet dangle like I am crucified.

    My head hangs as his stinking breath touches my cheek.

    He slips a condom on, takes my legs and wraps them around his hips and he rapes me.

    Taking my dry, bruised and probably diseased cunt like he has.

    The man has a big dick and it pains, oh fuck it pains.

    I wish I can cry, I want to scream for my papa it''s so sore.

    He bites my neck, pinching a nerve and that too is so fucking agonizingly painful because he just bit the

    same ce thest time he was in here.

    It wasn''t long ago.

    My legs shake because they are so weak and my back screams in agony as my spine keeps getting

    bashed against the hard bump in the door. Oh gosh, please stop.

    Content rights belong to N?velDrama.Org.

    I want to yell, but who is going to hear me, who is listening to me.

    I pass out at some stage and wake up on the floor chocking as another man is holding my jaw and

    shoving his cock in my mouth.

    After I bit him the first time he beat me, it was so bad, then he raped my ass.

    Now he holds my jaw until his dick is inside my mouth, then he takes his filthy sticky sour fingers and

    grips my teeth open while he shoves his cock down my throat.

    My infected, throbbing throat.

    This is my life, this is me.

    I am nothing but a hole to stick a dick in, flesh and bone to fuck up. I am nothing.

    Kick, kick, punch, punch.

    This is the guy, this bald skinny man that is currently beating me up, he could kill me, yes, please.

    ¡°You fucking bitch.¡±

    Pound, I fall on the floor, my forehead gets it hard.

    Yes, kill me, hit me harder.

    My head is dizzying, maybe I am going to die, I want to die now.

    Please, hit me, boot kick in my face.

    My head spins, the back of my scalp beating fast and swelling.

    I can feel it.

    Maybe he caused a hemorrhage on my brain.

    Hit my head again. Hit me. Why isn''t he hitting me?

    I hear a noise somewhere, it''s so loud. My ears can''t handle it, what is that sound.

    My mind is going nk, my eyes are fading away. I am going to die, is this what it feels like. Death, yes

    Beggar, yes, I am ready to die.

 Chapter 45 (Vincent)

    Chapter 45 (Vincent)

    Three fucking weeks searching, twenty two days of mass killing. I have spilled more blood on my hands

    these past weeks since someone took what is mine again, than I have since my first kill at fourteen.

    My men and I get to the dock an hour after the Satan Snipers found Beggar at an abandoned

    warehouse. Thank fuck Beggar was coherent enough, she gave the bikers the address minutes after

    they got to her.

    When Kevin texted me, I was in an IMPORTANT sit down with Marco. Deno, Marco and eight of my

    men are here with me.

    Kylie is mine, the Outfit took what belongs to me and they are going to pay.

    Infamita is not something the Famiglia takes. Today we are going to send a few messages.

    We rush into this abandoned factory behind the containers,

    Content rights belong to N?velDrama.Org.

    ¡°Hey,¡± a man screams pulling out his glock.

    I lift my own with the silencer already attached to it and shoot him straight in the head.

    My men rush off in different directions, as well as Marco and Deno.

    I hear a few gunshotsing from the upstairs and I rush to it.

    There are doors everywhere, the gunshots go silent and I start kicking the doors down, with my piece in

    my hand.

    Not sure how many I kick in, but the one is with a man beating a woman on the floor, I shoot him twice

    in the back of the head and that is when I see her.

    I don''t recognize her.

    I drop my heat to the floor and drop my body to my knees.

    She is naked, fucking bruised, and her eyes are droopy.

    Her forehead is extremelyrge, her face disfigured, and her nose is broken.

    This, looking at Kylie it enrages the beast in me. It awakens something dark in my soul.

    I never wanted this for her, this is why I wanted her to stay out of this life.

    ¡°Kylie, baby, I''m going to get you out of here,¡± I slip my ck jacket off and cover her with it, before

    lifting her up.

    Her body is fragile and light, she looks so fucking delicate and it breaks me.

    ¡°There were only three TURKS, all dead.¡± Marco walks casually, calmly in to the room, his presence

    unmistakable.

    He barely looks at Kylie and I respect him more for that.

    ¡°I''ll bring the car, get some screws to clean this shit up, Marcel will meet us at the hotel,¡± he says in

    departing.

    Four hours.

    She''s been unconscious for four hours. I have been waiting for the medical report from Marcel.

    We had to get an x-ray machine as well as a shit ton of supplies and he hasn''te out as yet.

    I walk up the long stretch of free space between the seating area and the bedroom doors of my suite,

    up and down, I cant stop.

    Raking my fingers through my hair.

    The door finally fucking opens, ¡°How is she?¡±

    Deno walks into the room at the same time I ask the question.

    My men are stationed around the hotel. We don''t want any surprises. The Outfit and the Famiglia are

    now at war.

    Marcel takes out his blue gloves and gives me a fucking pity look.

    ¡°I need to run bloods, should be back in a few hours.¡±

    I grip his shirt, ¡°I fucking asked you a question, Cafone.¡±

    Deno instantly pulls me away, ¡°Hey, calm down, we don''t do beef with the doc.¡±

    My blood is hot for Outfit blood, ¡°Just tell me. Give it to me straight!¡±

    He huffs, and drops his shoulders, ¡°She''s bad, five fractured ribs, dislocated nose, cracked jaw,

    cracked cheekbone, four infections, one in the throat, ear, and two in the private areas. Her rectum

    has....¡±

    ¡°Enough,¡± Deno barks.

    I walk away from them, to the stand of alcohol and I pour and drink, pour and drink, pour and fucking

    drink.

    ¡°Vince, what the fuck, you don''t want to be that man again, put the ss down.¡±

    I ignore Deno, pour and drink, pour and drink.

    I haven''t drunk alcohol in over a year, because of who it made me. I was a fucking alcoholic and the

    grim reaper.

    The little bit I had the night I saw Kylie was just a taste.

    Deno''s fingers touch my ss, and I push him, throwing the fucking ss on the wall.

    Then I take the table with alcohol, tossing it over.

    The two men in the room say fuck all after that.

    Because what are they going to say.

    The one-woman I chose to be with after I lost Catrina all those years ago to the same fucking La, is

    now damaged.

    He will pay, they will all pay for what they did to Kylie, for what they did to my wife.

    La wants a war, I will give him one he will never survive.

 Chapter 46 (Kylie)

    Chapter 46 (Kylie)

    ¡°Do you remember their faces?¡± Vincent asks me.

    A week has gone since I was rescued from my hell. Seven days toote.

    I begged Vincent not to tell the Stones or anyone what happened to me in there.

    The condition is that I tell him everything.

    Deno has the videos, I don''t need to, they can watch, get a glimpse inside Kylie Bray''s assassination.

    She is dead, gone. I am not Kylie Bray any longer, I am Frost, I told him that.

    I feel nothing, no pain, no remorse, no wrong or right.

    Well, that isn''t quite urate, I still feel for him. I hate him. He keeps me alive when I want to die.

    That thought makes me want tough, and I do. Iugh andugh until he gets up and leaves.

    Then I scream into my pillow. This fucking bed is driving me crazy, it''s so soft.

    I want to be on the floor but every time I am on the floor he gets me up.

    ¡°I hate you,¡± I scream, knowing he is listening.

    Vincent is always fucking listening.

    He walks back into the room with that fucking ss of his, drinking his brandy.

    ¡°Get the fuck out,¡± I scream at him.

    ¡°Careful Kylie, my patience is getting thin.¡±

    ¡°My patience is getting thin Kylie.¡± I mimic his words, taunting him on.

    He finishes his drink, walking slowly next to the bed, putting it down.

    Unbuttoning his suit jacket, he sits on the edge of the bed.

    I''m ying with fire, he is thinking it.

    I know I am, because I want to get burned.

    I want him to kill me.

    ¡°Kill me. I want to die,¡± I snap at him, bringing my face close to his.

    He takes my hand that is closest to his and picks it up, revealing my wrist. I watch the action, is he

    going to slit it and make it look like a suicide.

    Vincent has never not surprised me, never not done the opposite of what I think he will.

    He kisses my pulse, right where I think he would cut. And instead of cutting my wrist, he cuts me with

    his intense stare as it looks on to my eager, hopeful one.

    ¡°I can never kill you, Kylie.¡±

    I try to take my hand back, but he tightens his hold on my fragile skin forcing my attention to not deter

    from his deep eyes.

    ¡°Why,¡± the word rips out of me, ¡°why won''t you just end it, please.¡±

    He shakes his head, his hold on my wrist getting tighter,

    ¡°Because Kylie.¡±

    ¡°Tell me dammit, tell me.¡±

    ¡°You are my muse.¡±

    He lets my wrist go, picks up his ss, gets off the bed, buttons his jacket, and walks out. Leaving me

    with those four words.

    Content rights belong to N?velDrama.Org.

    ¡°You are my muse,¡± I repeat, ¡°His muse.¡±

    ¡°Tell me for fucks sake. You got a mouth use it.¡±

    I am sure his men stationed outside this hotel suite that I have been cooped up in for the past month

    can hear him.

    We''ve been sitting on these chairs for hours, all these men''s pictures scattered across the ss table.

    He wants to know, he wants faces, names.

    I look into his drunk face, because that is what he is, he is always drinking his fucking brandy,

    ¡°All of them, okay, thirty three men raped me, lucky number thirty three,¡± Iugh, howling like the crazy

    person I am.

    He never minds or stops it, even if he did, he can go fuck himself for all I care.

    ¡°So I was thinking, do I add them to my fuck list or not.¡±

    The thought just makes meugh harder.

    His eyes widen, lifting his brandy now with trembling fingers. I don¡¯t stopughing watching him

    swallow the double shot left in the ss and set it down.

    ¡°Change your clothes we leaving.¡±

    ¡°Where to?¡±

    ¡°To see a man about a dog.¡±

    I roll my eyes, at his poor attempt of a joke,

    ¡°Does this man have a name?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

 Chapter 47 (Kylie)

    Chapter 47 (Kylie)

    He slides his chair back, ending our conversation before it really began and maybe before I would have

    cared, or felt something but I don''t care about feelings now.

    I do however want to leave this ce, I want to smell the air outside, not from forty floors up.

    I slip on a ck pencil skirt and white blouse.

    My feet are still damaged, healing at a slow pace, so I put on a pair offortable pumps leaving my

    heels behind.

    These clothes are all-new, bought by Vincent. He didn''t want to go to my ce and fetch my things in

    case Kevin found us.

    Right now I have been hiding out in this side of Washington with Vincent and his men. My face is

    slightly disfigured, noticeable to many.

    Vincent told me to get it fixed, but I won''t.

    It matches me, I am broken, disfigured.

    At first, I wanted to die, I wanted him to kill me.

    Then I went back to numb, now I am in a limbo of something waiting to be awakened.

    Content rights belong to N?velDrama.Org.

    ¡°Ready to go?¡± Vincent stands against my room door, without a ss, shocker.

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°You look lovely,¡± he says to me.

    ¡°I don''t feel lovely,¡± I reply, my eyes dropping to my ck closed shoes.

    He walks into my bedroom, his finger under my chin, pushing my head up,

    ¡°Look at me, Kylie.¡±

    And I do, I stare into his cold gaze I have be so familiar with.

    ¡°You once loved me, I believe somewhere in that numbness of yours you still feel the same way. I''m

    here, waiting for you.¡±

    He turns and walks out, I watch his imposing form leave as his words ring into my ears.

    I try to feel something, but I get nothing. No feeling of that love, it''s gone.

    I take a deep breath, and follow him out the door.

    We driving into a parking lot when Vincent breaks the silence,

    ¡°There is a dinner tomorrow at Mosari''s, his daughter is getting engaged, we''ve been invited, should I

    get you a dress or call someone?¡±

    ¡°I don''t wanna go,¡± I tell him as he parks the Jaguar. The two ck Mercedes filled with his men on

    either side of us.

    ¡°You going wasn''t a choice, the dress however is.¡±

    ¡°Why would you want to take me anywhere, have you not figured it out yet.¡±

    Frustration looms over me as I stare out the window watching his men jump out.

    Why is he doing this now? I am broken, I don''t want to socialize, I don''t need to meet people.

    ¡°That you¡¯re mine, I have.¡±

    ¡°I am not yours Vincent, I don''t even belong to me.¡±

    My feet are already jumping out of the car before he says anything else, or looks at me with those

    imprable eyes of his.

    I walk a head of him behind two of his men, my hair brushing my lower back in a long wave of curls.

    Following the men to the elevator, the six of us including Vincent fill the one. We stop on the twelfth

    floor.

    Elevator doors open, I take a deep breath in, not knowing what I am going to expect.

    I stand still, right here, and I stare as I am greeted by a huge crowd of people.

    My people, my family, my friends. All of them are here.

    Eyes widening, my panic seizes as I take a small step back into the elevator.

    A hand on my back halt my attempt to flee.

    ¡°They don''t know, all they know is, you were kidnapped for ransom that''s it.¡±

    His words don''t do what they¡¯re supposed to. It doesn¡¯t ease my tremulous mind, because Vincent

    doesn''t know my family.

    Not given a chance for a smarteback or anything, he takes my hand locking his fingers between

    mine and walks toward the crowd.

    Michael is the first one toe toward me, and I see his green all knowing eyes look at our joined

    hands, and for some odd reason I pull mine out of Vincent''s.

    I don''t hug Michael and when hees to hug me I stiffen, my eyes widening.

    Taking a step back I look at all of them, seeing my father, his unmistakable keen gaze staring at me

    from the back of the room, he knows, I know he knows.

    I shake my head,

    ¡°I can''t, I''m sorry.¡±

    My feet stumble a few steps and Jacees into help me but I push him away.

    Running toward the exit, several voices calling me by the name that I hate,

    ¡°Kylie.¡±

    Who the fuck is Kylie?!

    I am not her.

    My feet rush down the emergency stairs, down and down. Hearing footsteps behind me only pushes

    me to go faster as my feet protest the pressure.

    My spine aching in that familiar spot, my scalp throbbing as the sweat bases my skin.

    A heavy strong arm wraps around me from the back and I scream,

    ¡°let me go, let me go.¡±

    ¡°Enough, stop it.¡± Kevin''s voice booms through the air like a hot whip.

    His domineering natureing out.

    He lets me go and I spin around.

    All my brothers are on the stairs.

    Michael right on the top, David next to him, Vincent behind Jace, Kevin right in front of my face.

    And I lose it.

 Chapter 48 (Kylie)

    Chapter 48 (Kylie)

    ¡°So what now, you all here to judge me,¡± I yell at them, my head shaking, hands iling the air.

    ¡°Huh, you want to give Kylie an old fashion tough love speech, well FUCK you all,¡± Iugh, but it is

    dead.

    Where were they when I needed them?

    Where the fuck were they?!

    I point my finger first at Michael, ¡°FUCK YOU.¡± Then David, ¡°FUCK YOU.¡± Then Jace, ¡°FUCK YOU.¡±

    Then Vincent, ¡°FUCK YOU.¡± Then to Kevin, ¡°AND A BIGGEST FUCK YOU.¡±

    They all stare at me, none of them saying anything.

    It gives me pause. Minutes tick by, they all just stand, and I hate it.

    ¡°Are you done bitching? I wanna eat!¡± Kevin stares long and hard at me. No judgment, no bullshit.

    I look at all my brothers and it is the same with them, no judgment.

    Kylie Bray would have felt like shit right now, but she''s dead.

    Taking a moment to sort my head out, I shrug, because who gives a fuck.

    I smack Kevin on the head, ¡°Yeah we can eat.¡±

    He normally smacks me back and it takes me a few seconds until it registers. I give my brother onest

    look and his blue eyes tell me all I need to know.

    He knows everything. You can''t hide things from the ghost. But it also shows me something else,

    retribution.

    I turn to walk up the stairs when Jace puts his arm around my shoulder turning me back to the stairs I

    was about to go down,

    ¡°That way, Ky,¡± pointingzily with one of his fingers

    ¡°You never really thought we were going to go back in there now did you,¡± David says from behind me.

    ¡°Fuck no, I need a proper steak not fucking chew pieces,¡± Kevin states going down the stairs, as Jace

    and I follow.

    ¡°Can you take your hand off my shoulder,¡± I say to Jace because it makes me feel ufortable?

    I don''t want people touching me, I had enough of that.

    We find a restaurant not far from the ce we left. And though everything sounds normal, it is not.

    I don''t feel like talking, I don''t have any smartebacks for David, or stories for Jace.

    I don''t have any close connection with Michael and he senses that because like me he is quiet.

    Watching me, waiting for something.

    Vincent gets up several times to answer phone calls and by the end of the night, my brothers are all

    leaving except Vincent. The two of us stay behind and wait for his men, or soldiers as he calls them to

    bring his car.

    We are driving somewhere, it isn''t back to the hotel and I don''t feel like questioning Vincent on our

    whereabouts.

    In fact, since my brothers all left we¡¯ve barely said two words to each other.

    We stop off at what looks like an abandoned shed, and I don''t think anything of it when I step out of the

    car and follow Vincent inside.

    I should, I should have stopped, I should have asked.

    My eyes widen at the naked man sitting in the chair. A face of many that I would never forget.

    I remember him, small dick, big hands, skull tattoo on his neck.

    Since I left the dock, since I am back I haven''t had any dreams like Beggar. I am not haunted by it. I am

    just dead, numb.

    Narrowing my eyes in curiosity, I watch Vincent step forward into view.

    ¡°What is this?¡± I ask him.

    This belongs to N?velDrama.Org - ?.

    He smiles and it isn''t a nice smile, but one of evil intent.

    ¡°A message,¡± he says as his back blocks my view of the man.

    There is two small lights in this ce, the one is hanging directly over the naked rapists head. Because

    that is what he is.

    Vincent removes his jacket and turns to face me,

    ¡°So where would you like me to start.¡±

    I am standing not too far from the door we have just entered. One of my rapists are naked with ck

    tape over his mouth, while Vincent the man I am supposed to love but can''t feel anything for, stands in

    front of him and Vincent is asking me where would I like him to start and I feel nothing.

    ¡°With his dick.¡±

    I shrug my shoulders, my eyes cold as I look at the pitiful excuse of a man who took from me, what

    wasn''t his to take.

    Vincent removes his jacket putting it on a chair not too far from where he is stationed, takes his

    cufflinks off, rolling up his sleeves and I stay just here, close to the door.

    Watching, waiting. What he is going to do?

    He pulls out a silver butterfly knife from his pants pocket and his navy blue handkerchief from his shirt.

    Vincent then proceeds to hold the man''s small dick with the handkerchief and cuts it off.

    The guy bucks, his eyes wide as terror and pain rush tenfold.

    He makes mumbling noise and tears run down but with his mouth taped up not much else is seen.

    And I think, I didn''t have tears left.

    He is getting off easy.

    I expect Vincent to shoot him now so we can leave. Instead, he wraps the man''s dick in the

    handkerchief, cing it in a gift box that I only see now, that is on a small table behind the bucking

    man.

    Vincent walks to the other end of this factory space or whatever it is called and puts on some music.

    David Guetta and then it begins.

    I came in here, feeling numb, I came in here feeling nothing.

    Hours pass and time goes by as I watch Vincent torture the man.

    And I feel something, I feel it but I just can''t say what it is.

    It almost like it is wrong, but how can it be when this man hurt me.

    Was it not wrong when he raped me when he shoved a coke bottle up my ass.

    Vincent doesn''t look at me once as he works, he doesn''t acknowledge anything.

    Like his mind is lost in his torture session. But I catch glimpses of him, I see the small smile, the

    eagerness in his gaze as he takes a scalpel to the man''s forehead.

    I should stop this I realize.

    And I go to do just that.

    I put the music off, and walk up to the man in the chair.

    He is already dead.

 Chapter 49 (Kylie)

    Chapter 49 (Kylie)

    I stand here and look at Vincent, his entire body covered in blood stters.

    I don''t cry, or frown or say anything about what I am seeing. I press my lips together, look at him from

    his head to shoes and up again.

    ¡°Are you done, I want to go home.¡± I say to him.

    His eyes still stuck on the man, before finally nting itself on me.

    With his blood sttered face and cold hard gaze, I see the killer, I see it in his eyes.

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    Content rights belong to N?velDrama.Org.

    He walks past me leaving me to look at the now dead rapist. I don''t even recognize his face any longer.

    Some small part of me, very small understands that I am now an aplice to this man''s death. I just

    don''t care.

    Shaking my head I walk out of this ce.

    It is another thirty minutes before Vincent joins me in the car and we finally get to leave.

    He is wearing a new shirt, his hands now washed, face clean. I wonder how much blood is soaked in

    those hands of his.

    ¡°Have you decided about the dress,¡± the question confuses me.

    There he just tortured a man to death and he is asking me about a dress.

    ¡°No, I haven''t. I did decide that it''s time I went home,¡± I tell him.

    Actually I haven''t thought about it, but I do have my own ce and I should go home.

    I need to get back to University, finish my degree.

    ¡°Not yet. I want toe with you, I still have some business to attend to this side first.¡±

    ¡°I wasn''t asking for permission, I am not your prisoner.¡±

    ¡°And it isn''t up for discussion. When I say we ready to leave, we leave.¡±

    His words are meant to keep me quiet. I hear him talking to his soldiers that way, but it doesn''t do a

    thing to me.

    He can''t hurt me more than I¡¯ve already been hurt.

    ¡°I hate you,¡± I say softly, but loud enough that he hears it.

    ¡°So you keep saying.¡± We''re quiet for a few minutes when I think of what he did for me today.

    ¡°Thank you,¡± I say to him.

    ¡°For what?¡± He asks, not taking his attention off the road.

    ¡°For taking me to see the family.¡±

    His free hand goes to my thigh, and he squeezes it in affection. I want to shove it off but I hold myself

    back.

    ¡°Don''t thank me, Kylie, my intentions were not noble, I can''t have your body if I don''t have your mind

    first.¡± His words cause a small spark of something to ignite in me.

    And I watch his profile, his indent on his neck, the sharp curve of his jaw, the stubble that has already

    started to grow.

    His prominent nose and brown eyes framed between long curled eyshes.

    And I won''t lie and say I feel nothing, I feel something, small, warming inside of me.

    ¡°Have you ever loved somebody Vincent?¡±

    I''m not sure where my curiosity stems from but I am curious.

    ¡°Yes, once, years ago,¡± his jaw tightens and I watch the kick of his throat as he says those words.

    ¡°I never knew that.¡±

    ¡°She died. Not many do.¡±

    He doesn''t offer any further information, and I don''t ask. I feel as if I already asked too much.

    Once we are back in the suite I leave Vincent and go run myself a hot bath.

    I step out of the clothes I am wearing, purposely not looking down at my body, and jump into the

    running bath.

    The oval shape cream four-sitter bath fills as I sink into the tub.

    The door for the bathroom opens and I sit up, turning to see who it is.

    And for a split second, I think it is someone else. Someone bad. It is someone bad.

    ¡°Why are you barging in.¡±

    Vincent stops in front of me, his shirt partially open halfway down.

    I stare at him, thinking of the time when I was in love with this man and again I try to feel those feelings

    but I can''t.

    ¡°I thought I could join you.¡± Switching off the tap, he doesn''t wait for my reply or answer and I don''t give

    it to him.

    I just watch him as he removes his clothes.

 Chapter 50 (Kylie)

    Chapter 50 (Kylie)

    I have never seen his body, so it is something new to me. His stomach and chest is hard, ripped, with

    lot''s of ginger hair on his chest, there is no meat under his skin, just muscle.

    I have seen better, but yet I can''t deter my attention from his hard sculpture.

    Slipping his pants off I watch him, waiting for him to pull down his ck jockeys, to reveal his sinner.

    Vincent doesn''t remove hisst piece of clothing. With one foot at a time he steps into the tub with me,

    and lowers himself on the opposite end, all the while I watch him.

    Putting his head back, he closes his eyes, and still, I watch him.

    ¡°Why are you staring Kylie.¡±

    ¡°I hate that name, call me Frost.¡±

    His eyes remain closed, head bent back, chuckling at what I just said,

    ¡°It is your name no?, a few months ago you loved it, I''m sure you will again.¡±

    ¡°You mean like I loved you.¡± The silence is sound once I say it.

    He sits up, tilting his head to the side, capturing me with his killer eyes. A minute ticks on before he

    says, ¡°Yes.¡±

    I am not sure why that word has me breathing heavy, but it does.

    Content bel0ngs to N?vel(D)r/a/ma.Org.

    His eyes drop to my naked chest.

    I haven''t looked at myself in the mirror since the incident and I don''t want to, but the way he is

    concentrating on my breast maybe I should.

    ¡°Did you enjoy killing that man, was it everything you hoped for.¡± I mimic his head giving him my

    attention.

    ¡°The day you left that dock your soul died, it is only fair they die too.¡± His answer is interesting and I ask

    myself is my soul really dead.

    This thought confuses me because I feel dead, but at times there are glimpses of something surfacing.

    I get up out of the water, not caring that I haven''t washed my body. Grabbing a towel I leave him in

    there alone.

    My gown is slipped on my wet naked body and I go to the small kitchen.

    Pouring a ss of vintage red wine, I let out a small breath of air.

    My feet move me to the lounge area and without a thought I turn and go out the sliding doors, standing

    on the balcony.

    I inhale the night¡¯s air as I take a sip of the red wine.

    Music begins to y, it''s soft, haunting, and magical at the same time. It reminds me of Prague''s

    cityscape at dusk.

    So Gothic yet enchanting.

    Closing my eyes I try to feel the music, deep within me.

    Hands wrap around my torso, giving me a fright. Jumping, my ss leaves my hand.

    Vincent catches the almost empty crystal before it hits the floor, putting it on the small outside table

    right next to where I stand.

    With his other arm still wrapped around my stomach, it finally makes sense of what this music really is,

    A melody to my fall.

    His body begins to sway from behind mine, and I feel him breathe me in,

    ¡°Dance with me,¡± he says those three words, a caress against my cheek.

    He doesn''t wait for my reply but spins me around, holding me tight.

    One hand on the top of my back, the other lower.

    His fingers sy, as his body moves wlessly across the small area of the balcony.

    The night sky painted in stars, as haunted shadows shade my heart. I close my eyes and begin to

    dance.

    There are no thoughts but his hands on my body, his body against mine, bounded together in this

    obsidian night. Sparks of life, tease on the brink of awakening, with it a small hopeful breath breathes

    into me.

    We dance to different tunes throughout the night. We have no words to say, no confessions we are

    willing to make, it is just the two of us, our feet in sync, moving to unfortunate melodies.

    For the first time since he took me from that dock, I feel alive.

 Chapter 51 (Kylie)

    Chapter 51 (Kylie)

    I''m in so deep, I don''t know how I''m going to find my way out. I keep searching, hoping that something

    would present itself. That there is some cushioning because I don''t see any light , it''s all darkness.

    I watch the people around me, Vincent standing next to me, his hand possessively on my back and the

    brandy back in the other.

    Last night until dawn broke way, we danced, and I felt something, then he left and the feeling was

    gone.

    He made me feel and I want that back, I want it back now.

    Spotting Roberto standing on the end of the room, watching me, I turn to face the other way.

    This ce resembles a checker house, everything is ck and white with ice sculptures. It is boring

    and proves that ss is something you have to be born with.

    My mother would never be seen at a ce asmon as this. The old me would say so, but now I just

    don''t care.

    ¡°Can you at least pretend to smile,¡± Vincent whispers in my ear.

    ¡°No, I told you, I didn''t want toe. I need some fresh air before I suffocate from boredom.¡±

    I don''t wait for an answer as I go to the big balcony doors.

    The navy silk dress I''m wearing makes me feel icky and I hate it.

    ¡°I haven''t seen you in a while.¡± The voice startles me and I spin around to face Roberto.

    Thest time I saw him was the night Vincent first kissed me, outside of B-Street.

    ¡°Busy life,¡± I say as I turn back to face the bustle of cars.

    ¡°Yes, well, I heard about your little misfortune. A word of advice, leave, stay out of this. Vincent hasn''t

    gotten this far without a few enemies, non of us have. This war that you think is done in your name is

    only going to make more enemies. Forget about Vincent, forget about this life, go home Kylie.¡±

    ¡°Are you done? Or are you going to lecture me on table manners next.¡±

    He chuckles at myme words, shaking his head,

    ¡°You rich kids are too fucking spoiled, that''s the problem, take my advice.¡±

    I watch him walk away from me, and though it seems like I don''t understand the warning in his words I

    do.

    Time goes once the food arrives. They give speeches of fake love and devotion.

    Vincent gets drunker by the night and when the first set people finally start to leave I am d we follow

    next.

    I don''t inform my drunk driver of Roberto''s warning, but it ys on my mind.

    ¡°Tonight I have a special surprise,¡± Vincent deres this with a big grin, as the car flies passing all the

    others.

    ¡°Wow, can''t wait,¡± I say dryly, not matching his excitement.

    We stop at townhouses in Kent, a suburb in Seattle''s metro, the sixthrgest municipality in

    Washington.

    The house we go to is almost as morous as my papa''s ce.

    Diamondes to mind when I look at the Mansion, she always loved papa''s house.

    Content bel0ngs to N?vel(D)r/a/ma.Org.

    I haven''t heard from her or thought about her much, part of me has blocked her from my mind.

    Will she look at me the same after she notices I am disfigured, broken into shards that will never be the

    same.

    Will she judge me for not surviving my torture, when she has lived her whole life in a continuous one.

    Shutting my eyes, ignoring what Vincent is saying to the guy at the end of the speaker.

    I picture Diamond in my mind, her long golden hair, those eyes that sometimes look so light brown and

    at others almost the color of an old tree, like her soul. Seeing her smiling, her dimples showing. Her

    <pugh when she remembered to be a teenager.

 Chapter 52 (Kylie)

    Chapter 52 (Kylie)

    Thest time I saw her I turned my back on her, I wanted her to go, to leave me, with the memory of

    me doing it. I didn''t want her to think too much about me.

    As far as horrible best friends go I was much worse in thest years of our time together, fawning over

    Vincent.

    It didn''t get me anywhere.

    Look at me now.

    The ck and blue gates make way, and something akin to caution fills me.

    Squinting my eyes as they flutter open to a bright lighting from the roof of the house. My head

    turns to Vincent, his small smile still stered on his face.

    It brings up memories of our night together. My body is telling me I need to feel something and my mind

    is saying he is the only one who can give me what I want.

    We step out of the car as the Mansion doors open, revealing a teenage boy. His shaggy hair looks like

    he was lying in bed. Dressed in a pair of beach shorts and a polo vest, barefoot, he stands in waiting.

    So innocent. I think to myself, he is lucky.

    I m my door as Vincent walks up the stairs. Lifting my head to look at the young boy again, and

    Vincent.

    Still not having a clue as to what is this big surprise. My feet walk around the car, toward the first step

    just as Vincent reaches the boy. He grabs the boy into a hug.

    Maybe this is his family home.

    Growing up I have never seen Vincent''s family house, I heard it was big. Like my own parents, his

    mother and father came from old money. I won''t be surprised if this young boy is his cousin.

    My eyes track the top of the stairs where they are still standing, wrapped in a tight hug. The boy''s eyes

    widen and it is only then I hear the distinct shots.

    Pop, pop.

    I run up the stairs, taking it two at a time.

    My gaze widens in horror as the boy drops to the floor,

    ¡°Vincent, what have you done!¡± Yelling at him, at the man who I supposedly loved not too long ago, as

    my knees hit the hard surface, barely stinging.

    A double sword reminder and repercussions of my time in hell.

    The boy''s light green eyes open, blood dribbling from the corner of his mouth.

    He gurgles as I apply pressure on the wound. It''s toote. I already know he isn''t going to make it.

    People say everythinges in stages, including healing, for me as I watch this boy dying, I feel a

    tinge of pain.

    A bit more of the wrongness in this ordeal.

    And it isn''t the first time my mind screams that I should stop this, but how.

    Not sure how long I sit with this dead boy that didn''t deserve an early death.

    My knees protest as I get up and walk into the mansion. The entrance is filled with sculptures from

    different parts of the world, big to small.

    One catches my eye- naked woman with a baby in her belly and a bucket on her head.

    It is standing on a clear ss stand on the right, just before the wide spiral of stairs.

    The beauty of the ornament enchants me and I consider taking it.

    Pop, pop, pop

    I hear more of those than I care to admit.

    A silent gun, a silent killer.

    Giving the dead boy behind me onest look lying on the ground just outside the front door, I move

    toward the gunshots.

    ¡°VINCENT,¡± I scream, loud enough that if he''s upstairs he''d hear my voice.

    Speeding up my steps.

    My feet aching in these three-inch heels that I shouldn''t be wearing with the permanent damage under

    the soles of my feet.

    ¡°Vincent,¡± I call his name again. He needs to stop this.

    ¡°In here, I''m waiting for you Kylie,¡± his eager voice has me frowning.

    I follow his unrepentant voice to the dining area. Sweeping the room with a quick look I count six dead

    bodies. One head shot.

    Looking at the mass of dead bodies, deep down in my soul I know that this is wrong.

    I have always been a Christian, mama always made sure when we were younger we went to church.

    The pastor once preached about death, living, life, he said that God''s people are his people. Living and

    dying belong to god, it is not our right to take that away.

    It isn''t our decision to make. Right now, Vincent is ying god, he is doing it for me.

    He said I am his muse but as I stand in the aftermath of his creation I wonder.

    ¡°You need to stop this Vincent, it ain''t right, if you don''t want to stop then take me home,¡± I snap.

    This belongs to N?velDrama.Org - ?.

    Telling myself that these dead people are nothing to me, is harder than I thought, that I don''t feel

    remorse for them, is not true.

    I was raped, tortured, they got a quick death, they''re lucky. And that young boy by the door, did he rape

    you, Kylie.

 Chapter 53 (Kylie)

    Chapter 53 (Kylie)

    My mind is fighting the reality of this, it is belittling what I see. I need Vincent, I need him to make me

    feel.

    Is this part of it, is this me feeling.

    His feet march toward me, before I would have coward, now, now I just re at him.

    Thick fingers grip my jaw, his hands sticky in blood. I know because I smell the iron, feel the liquid gum

    on my cheeks.

    ¡°I just got started, Kylie, you have to watch, see my masterpiece, you are my muse, have you forgotten

    sweet girl.¡±

    He gives me a proud smile at that, and before I have a chance to think he tilts his head to the side,

    closer to mine and kisses me.

    And then I feel it, that spark, that warm feeling that I have been craving since he left me alone on that

    balcony.

    His tongue dips carelessly into my mouth, hungry yet skillful.

    For a drunk man, he doesn''t kiss me like one. He consumes my mouth taking me to heights of pure

    unaltered ecstasy.

    I forget what I''m supposed to be doing. My brain shuts down as my body enters the blissful state that I

    have craved sincest night.

    His fingers holding my jaw goes around my neck, and for the first time since I was raped by thirty-three

    men for twenty-one two days, my pussy clenches in need.

    Losing my standstill, I be a participant in this taking.

    My own fingers tugging the back of his hair. My lips sucking on his bottom one. I am not sure how it

    happens after that, I can''t really think about logistics as Vincent lifts me up against the wall, my legs

    wrapping around his back, our mouths and tongues locked in a dual of lust.

    I don''t stop and think about the dead in the room or the blood of these people on my skin. Relishing in

    this feeling, this deep need for this man to spark life back into me.

    Legs locked tightly around his back, fingers stuck in his hair as his mouth fucks my own in a promise as

    my now drug induced state makes me feel so much.

    He turns us around, carrying me to the dinner table where the dead people sit in wait watching this man

    take my body to heights of explicit bliss.

    Laying me down gently on the big light wood, I grab at his tie as his smoldering eyes lock on to mine

    with his dark intent.

    Climbing up the table on top of me he grips my neck in a hard choke. I am too high on him, this man

    who is my own personal drug to care if he kills me.

    Death is not something I fear. My cunt too wet with the promise of his kisses to think of the already

    dead people witnessing our acts.

    The only thing I care about as his fingers suck my oxygen out of me is my need to feel him inside me,

    maybe then I will be fixed.

    ¡°I am going to fuck you Kylie right here, and you''re going to let me aren''t you.¡± It isn''t a question, it isn''t

    an answer but a destination.

    He pulls down his zip and without warning, without any sort of extra forey, he squeezes my neck

    until I am choking, until my eyes feel like they''re popping out of my head.

    As he drains my life out of me, he pulls my panties aside and secondster I feel it, the head of his

    dick, teasing my entrance, making sure I am wet enough.

    He lines his body a bit to the left and then shoves his dick deep in my cunt.

    My breathing slows, as I feel the pinch of pain, the reminder that not so long ago I was a victim by men

    who hurt me, the same men Vincent, this man who is on top of me now hunts down, with one ending in

    mind, a TORTUROUS death.

    That thought powers up the need in me for this man. It erases all the wrongness, the guilt, it erases

    everything besides the freeing feeling of power as he thrust into me.

    Vincent glides his dick hitting the walls of my cunt, some of that sanity I have lost since my kidnapping

    rises in me. With every glide, every pump of his hips a spark of lifees into me. And I have never

    felt better than at this moment.

    I watch him as my eyes roll backward, so close to passing out from theck of oxygen he has taken

    away.

    His own gaze is locked on me, with a malicious smile as he pounds inside me, marking my body.

    Obsessing me yet again but in a much different way. Just when I feel like I am going to pass out he

    releases my neck, allowing my chest to expand as I suck in deep pulls of oxygen, he is relentless,

    pounding me harder.

    Then ites. They say addiction is one''s downfall. You only need one hit. One good solid hit to feel

    that high, and I get it, as my body contracts, crying out as an orgasm I have never felt before rushes

    through me, from out of nowhere.

    He moans as my cunt convulses around his dick, pulsating in this new high I''ve just experienced.

    Thrusting three more times in me, hees with a groan. I feel it and watch his mouth part and it is in

    this moment, something akin to addiction for him locks tightly within my soul.

    This belongs to N?velDrama.Org - ?.

    And that part of me whispers, God help me, forgive me for I have sinned.

    It was the first time Vincent Stone took my body and it wouldn''t be thest. I was once again obsessed

    with him, only this time I was on fire. My obsession wasn''t stemmed from love, it was my desire to feel

    something. His touch became my drug, as he became my owner. I was stuck in a maze and I didn''t

    want to think too much about the consequences. Sometimes a robotic version of yourself is the only

    way to survive and that is what I became. But even then, one goes through stages of healing, I was in

    the denial stage, soon will be my destruction.

 Chapter 54 (Kylie)

    Chapter 54 (Kylie)

    Vincent is killing more and more. I say nothing because I know once he''s done he will take my body,

    lighting that spark I havee to crave.

    He only fucks me when we''re at these ces, and there are dead people everywhere.

    At home he is another person, he is caring, he touches me tenderly.

    He makes love to me every night, but he never sleeps next to me.

    Once he takes my body at home, we eat, and dance and just as morninges he leaves me alone in

    his suite.

    He doesn''t call and I go crazy. I send him messages that he ignores then hees back.

    He talks while he drinks. I ask him where has he been but he never answers.

    Same story, different day.

    He is all I think about, all I want, my craving.

    My mind and my heart is no longer numb. I have this inner war inside of me, overcrowding me- sanity,

    love, and pain.

    Each day it ising, I don''t know what it is, but it is like a storm brewing, my mind is telling me I need

    it. But at other times I feel like I am breaking apart.

    It''s two months, two months of bloodshed, two months of watching people getting tortured. Sixty-one

    days since I walked away from that young dead boy.

    I am not haunted by the men that hurt me. They killed Kylie, and they gave me strength.

    I know that now.

    I can watch Vincent torture them, without an ounce of remorse, even knowing it is wrong,

    understanding I should stop him.

    Whenever that thoughtes to my mind I shut it down. It is like a switch, a trigger.

    I can''t control it.

    But that boy, his green eyes theye for me at night, telling me things that I know, things I am just not

    ready to ept.

    The same things I shy away from because Vincent Stone is my addiction but he is also my disease.

    I can''t feed my addiction without epting the repercussions. It is just a fucked up cycle of love, need,

    hate and pain. Sooner orter it all blows, poof.

    ¡°I¡¯ve always wondered what death feels like.¡±

    Vincent is sitting on the white leather couch.

    I am on the floor, directly opposite him. My phone in my hand with fifty three missed calls.

    I stare up at his smirking face as he voices this.

    Over the past two months my feelings for Vincent have grown. It doesn''t change the wrongness of his

    actions but my heart isn''t taking that into ount.

    My mind is.

    I get better every day.

    I feel more alive but still not Kylie. Kylie is gone, she isn''ting back. He keeps calling me by that

    name and I say nothing about it.

    ¡°Wanna know what death feels like, fall in love.¡±

    Heughs at my answer and I use the opportunity to get up and walk toward the room. I need to go

    Content rights belong to N?velDrama.Org.

    somewhere today.

    It is time I faced the one person I need to.

    ¡°Where are you going?¡± His voice follows my retreating form as I go to the cupboards of my room.

    I take out a pair of Jordan''s and a bag that Vincent gave me a couple of weeks ago with my house keys

    and some other stuff I left in my car the night I entered my hell.

    Going to the front door, I stop and look at him,

    ¡°My father would like to see me.¡±

    His eyes skit over my body, my dark wash jeans, tee and shoes, and finally my bag.

    ¡°Are you going to stay there?¡±

    ¡°If you give me a reason to,¡± I snap at him.

    ¡°When did you decide you were leaving, I wasn''t given any heads up.¡±

    His brooding eyes never leave mine as he moves closer toward me.

    ¡°I wasn''t aware that I had to ask permission to see my father.¡±

    ¡°Well, when two people are in a rtionship Kylie, letting the one know that you are going away is the

    least you can do.¡±

    I frown, ¡°I wasn''t aware we were in a rtionship.¡±

    His eyes harden, jaw tightens as he stops a hairs breath away from me,

    ¡°You are living in my house Kylie, you on my arm, in my fucking bed...¡±

    ¡°I''m not in your bed Vincent, you never here, you fuck me after you go on your murdering rampages,

    that is all I see. So don''te and tell me this is something that it''s not because that will be a lie and

    go wash your fucking mouth it stinks.¡±

    I left Vincent that day. My love for him was growing, but still not there. I knew he was a bad person I

    just didn''t know how bad he was. I was already addicted to him, and I was scared because I knew that

    once my love came back so would everything else. Including acknowledging the worst fact of ALL. And

    as usual, my mind, body, and heart didn''t want to admit it. I didn''t know that going to my father would

    do it all. Nor was I aware of the anger it would unleash once it did.

 Chapter 55 (Kylie)

    Chapter 55 (Kylie)

    When my father left me the message with his address I knew it was time.

    It has been a long time since I have sat in the same room as my father.

    Today as I take the car up to the fiftieth floor, his penthouse suite in Washington DC, I know I am done

    hiding and he is done waiting.

    Doors open, with a familiar painting greeting me as I enter the passageway.

    The red and blue sshes, twirled around a half-naked form remind me of the man I left a few hours

    ago.

    Charcoal walls run through the house as I walk down the passageway and turn right into my father''s

    office space.

    I knock on the closed white door.

    ¡°Come in Kylie,¡± His voice takes me off-kilter, it has been so long.

    I have always had a close rtionship with my father until I had something to hide.

    That was almost three years ago.

    ¡°Papa, you wanted to see me.¡±

    My father sits behind his ck desk. The room isn''t that big.

    Content bel0ngs to N?vel(D)r/a/ma.Org.

    Filled with pictures of us his children, is a long ck ss set of shelves on the left, as high as the roof,

    down to the carpeted floor.

    Everything else is hidden behind a closed cupboard that is stationed next to a door that leads to the

    bathroom.

    His dark eyes and sharp features so much like my own stare at me as I look around the familiar room.

    The old leather sitter still taking residence by the wall facing out the window. We used to sit on that

    couch watching the lights of Washington DC, it is one of the best views of the white house.

    My father and I would sit on that couch, making up stories, guessing what they were doing inside of the

    white house,ughing when I started talking about the president actually been an alien, but that was so

    long ago.

    The thought tugs at my heartstrings reminding me of my fall, of my new life.

    How could life tumble in turfs that are unraveling to the human mind?

    How could I sumb to thistitude of proportions that take me to this darkness?

    It''s breaking me.

    I keep believing that the world is whole, that my mind isn''t.

    It''s like my soul is pushing me to this ce I can''t see, but my heart is taking me somewhere else, to a

    ce where I can''t fathom.

    How do I see it happening when my very existence is slipping from my fingers.

    Yesterday, when I looked in the mirror, I barely recognized myself.

    I am just empty, dying. I feel there are days again where I want to end it, end this treachery of these

    unknown parts, I am scared.

    Oh god, help me.

    This weight is beating me down, taking me in.

    I breathe every second, telling myself I am human. I should feel something, but I can''t because every

    time I think, every time I even consider it he goes and takes more lives.

    He says I am his muse, yet all I see in the mirror, all I feel is a monster, a killer.

    He kills them in my name, he takes their lives because they took me.

    He makes me watch, he forces me to ept it

    I know it''s wrong. I know I should stop him, but when he touches me something awakens in me that I

    can''t feel unless I am with him.

    They say to be strong is to face your weakness, but how do I face him when he is also my strength.

    I was raped, left to die, and there he was, the man I have given my heart to for so long, there he stood.

    The only person to see that I was dead the day I left that dock, I was no more.

    I was just a frosted robotic version of myself.

    I wasn''t the person who was captured all those months ago, I was now Frost.

    A woman capable of much worse than him.

    ¡°Kylie.¡± My father says my name, the name he gave me, the name I havee to hate.

    Yet, as he utters it, there is so much in that name. All his love, all his understanding.

    At this moment, in front of the man that is half me, the man that has raised me when my own mother

    abandoned me, in front of this man, my father, I feel it. I feel it all.

 Chapter 56 (Kylie)

    Chapter 56 (Kylie)

    My legs give out, falling t on my ass, at the same impact I fell into my hell.

    It alles back. Rushing over me, suffocating me.

    My father''s tall imposing formes into view and without a word, he lifts me up as he had when I was

    twelve and hurt my knee, as he did when I was thirteen and my mother came back, as he did when I

    had no one left, as he had time and time again in my life.

    When I needed a lift this man has always been there. My Papa.

    Holding me in his powerful arms, as he has so many times before.

    And it is now that I am without doubt that I am safe to let go.

    I am safe to show him who I am.

    Who I have be, and I do.

    ¡°Papa, please.¡± My plea is my torment, my plea is the truth, my plea is for him.

    My father sits with me on the couch by the window. Cocooning me as a baby in his arms.

    ¡°It is time you tell me everything, Kylie.¡±

    I nod my head, still silent as my emotionse flooding. Silent as Iy safely, as a child once again in

    my father''s arms- protected, loved, nurtured.

    I don''t cry, as I should, I just feel.

    And I tell my father everything.

    Starting from the day I really put my foot on the wrong path.

    I tell my father about the first day Vincent Stone walked into that restaurant, the day Vincent Stone put

    Content bel0ngs to N?vel(D)r/a/ma.Org.

    himself into view.

    I tell papa about my love for Vincent, my addiction to him. I tell him about my kidnapping, my rape, the

    endless torture sessions, the twenty-two videos.

    I tell my father everything, but most of all I tell him about the killings.

    I tell him how I am forced to watch.

    I tell him how Vincent takes my body in front of all those dead victims, andstly, I tell him about the

    war between the Famiglia and the Outfit.

    I don''t stop and my father just holds me tighter, never interrupting.

    It is hours gone as we sit here, on our chair, where we sharedughs and happiness, sadness and joy.

    In this small office, I tell my papa how bleak my life has be, how far I have fallen into a never-

    ending fire.

    And as I talk I feel, I feel it so much. Anger, hatred, love, pain it all rips into me.

    He is quiet when I am done, my throat painful, my heart in shreds, my entire world ripped open to so

    much.

    I still don''t cry, I can''t, something is holding me back and I am not sure what it is.

    Hours pass as we sit quietly.

    Papa never lets me go.

    He holds me just like when I was younger before I became Frost.

    ¡°Kylie, it is going to all workout.¡± My father''s voice is one of the softest I have ever heard him speak,

    that I can''t help buty my head on his shoulder and listen.

    ¡°Sometimes loving someone can make you do crazy things, you allow them so much control over you

    that you turn to blindness when they wrong you. What happened to you wasn''t your fault Kylie, you

    went to that ce to save a little girl, your intention was one of nobility. I can''t say sorry for what

    happened to you honey because it isn''t going to make anything better. Vincent won''t stop killing Kylie,

    you have to ask yourself whether you can live with those people''s lives on your hands, because right

    now, every time he takes a life and you allow it, it is on your hands. And I know you are in pain, and you

    want him to love you, but he won''t. I am fucking bleeding in pain for you but what happened was a

    tragedy what is happening now is cold-blooded murder. Sometimes we got to make choices, they not

    easy ones, and now baby, you need to make those difficult choices, you know what you have to do, I

    raised you right, I have faith in you, honey.¡±

    My father says his piece and I listen attentively, just like he taught me when I was younger.

    ''Ears open, eyes on me Kylie, and keep that chin up.'' I remember him saying that since I was barely

    six. I could still hear those words clearly in my mind.

    He ces me gently on the empty space next to him and gets up. I stare out of the window, watching

    the white house, my mind a nk mess.

    Papaes to stand next to me, cing his hand on my head, bending down he kisses me on my

    cheek.

    His lips lingering as the roughened texture of his beard pokes my flesh.

    ¡°I love you, Kylie.¡±

    ¡°I love you too papa.¡±

    Papa sits down next to me, his familiar scent a warm wee, that I am home, where I need to be.

    We watch the white house and other buildings through the window.

    Only now we are both shadowed with demons, we are both clouded with dooming decisions.

    I have never denied I am my papa''s daughter. Marcus Bray, the toughest man I know, and heaven

    above knows how much of his daughter I really am.

    Mama always said I am just like my father. I knew it all along, which is why I am sitting on this couch,

    next to him, with all my secrets now his. Which is why I am able to tell them without feeling an ounce of

    guilt for my sins.

    He is half of me, and I am half of him. You can''t judge half of you.

    When the timees I hope I am just as strong and resilient as he is too.

    My story isn''t over yet. Papa has faith me, and I am going to see it through because I am a Bray.

    I will never feel like Kylie, but I will always be Marcus Bray''s daughter, and he didn''t raise any

    weakling.

 Chapter 57 (Marcus & Kylie)

    Chapter 57 (Marcus & Kylie)

    No father wants to hear the things I''ve heard tonight, or see those videos that arrived in my office four

    nights ago.

    I never raised my kids to be weak, I have never promised my kids childish things.

    Kylie will always be my eldest, but still somehow managed to stay my baby. I never loved Hunter but

    the day I saw my Kylie in her arms I knew that I would do anything for that little girl.

    She''s always been something special, riding life as ites, knocking it down, wall for wall.

    She reminds me of myself- driven, ambitious, tough.

    Now I see my baby in my arms after three years because deep down she knew loving him was wrong.

    She never could face me when she had secrets.

    Parenting doesn''te with a handbook full of all the answers, especially if you have kids like mine.

    It isn''t an easy job, and that just tells you how important a job it is.

    Content rights belong to N?velDrama.Org.

    When my kids need me I know when to step in, and when they don''t I hide in the shadows, keeping my

    eyes on them, watching them fall, so they can get back up stronger.

    It never gets easy.

    But now, tragedy has struck my baby, she was raped, beaten, tortured, and all that time we searched

    for her.

    When I finally got the information about Beggar''s whereabouts I phoned Kevin, always the savior.

    It wasn''t long when they found my girl.

    Only I know she isn''t my baby any longer. I can see it in her eyes, and it is going to kill me when I let

    her go.

    But I have to.

    Kylie has always been the strongest of my kids, the one who will survive, and I need her to make these

    choices on her own.

    Deep down she knows what she has to do. And when she''s ready I will be waiting.

    Kylie

    It''s been a month since I have seen papa. I spent a week with him, just remembering the good ole days

    living a good ole fashion life.

    Until he came for me. It was exactly seven days, one week gone that Vincent came to my father''s

    penthouse.

    I''ve never seen him so disheveled as he was that afternoon.

    I still remember it as though it was yesterday.

    I was sitting in my bedroom when I heard amotion. My long jersey barely enough to cover the tops

    of my thighs.

    Running toward the shouting voice I stopped, my mind aghast with the vision before me.

    It was Vincent, he had stubble on his jaw, his eyes bloodshot, his hair unkempt and I just stood there in

    my father''s foyer.

    I wouldn''t have left the safety of papa''s penthouse if not for Vincent''s words and the little stick he held

    in his hand.

    ¡°You''re pregnant,¡± those two words would''ve been true, except I wasn''t.

    It didn''t belong to me. It belonged to the one person who visited in my stay at Vincent''s suite. Where

    secrets are kept it was one I was taking to my grave.

    So I didn''t dispute his findings. But one look at papa he knew my reasons why I lied, he also knew I

    couldn''t be pregnant.

    And he didn''t stop me when I left with Vincent, papa wished me farewell.

    That was a month ago. I am not sure what I expected to change with my little lie, my false promise to

    yet another man, but nothing did. Vincent still tortures more people, he still kills more men.

    Except now, I am no longer numb, I am once again in love with this man, who will not love me back.

    Only difference is, he feeds my addiction, he has be a disease to my mind, a sickness that I won''t

    get rid of.

    I hate myself, more and more for it, everyday that goes by.

    When he takes lives and fucks me in front of them, I am alive, I am not in that induced state after our

    cold heartless sick fucking.

    I feel the filth of the act, I feel the pain of a sinner.

    I get home and scrub my body. I scrub until I am red until I am bleeding.

    But I won''t stop him. I should, I need to, but I won''t.

    Vincent''s beauty isn''t spellbinding or shattering, when Vincent touches my body it is crippling.

    I need him, but I know I shouldn''t. My mind and heart fight a constant battle every day.

    No one can understand my feelings for Vincent, because I don''t understand them anymore myself.

    I just know that I have to have him, even if it is killing me inside.

    When is the right time to say enough? When is the right time to stop the one you have loved for so long

    and even in your darkest hours turn to?

 Chapter 58 (Kylie)

    Chapter 58 (Kylie)

    There is never a perfect time.

    Never.

    But at least now, I have someone else in my life too, I have Michael.

    When Vincent leaves to his secret ces every night, leaving me alone, I spend my hours talking to the

    one person who will always love me. The one person besides my papa who understands me, even if I

    don''t tell him a thing.

    ¡°Haven''t you spilled enough blood,¡± I ask Vincent as I stare down at another poor victim, another young

    person, a girl barely twenty who just wanted to save her father?

    ¡°Enough will be when I have La''s head on my table, this is war, Kylie.¡±

    Vincent steps over a fat man dropped dead on the floor of yet another house, another location, another

    Massacre.

    ¡°Don''t think of me all the time, you will get a headache,¡± he says as I stand here surrounded by yet

    another mountain of dead people.

    Since this started I have lost count of the men and women fallen to their deaths by Vincent and his

    men.

    I am not saying the Outfit are innocent, they attacked Aliyana''s home two weeks ago, but not to this

    extent, not like this.

    The police are ruling these murders as a gang war, not knowing that most of theme from a man

    who can barely stand most of the time.

    I am going to y my hand and hope in the end this turns out well.

    For the past month, with the help of Michael, I have collected information about La, knowing that

    Vincent wants him dead.

    I now know where La is, and tonight I am going to dump myself into the same hell I was carried out

    of. Hoping, in the end, I could save the man that I love, and we can finally get our happy after.

    My love for Vincent is not one of roses. Maybe it was at one time, a childish obsession, now it is

    stemmed from fear, hatred, pain, addiction.

    I need him because without him I don''t feel I am strong enough to walk my path. I don''t want to.

    We are both jaded, made to live in the shadows and I am okay with that, and if confronting La and

    stopping this once and for all is what I got to do then so be it.

    I can''t allow Vincent to take any more lives in my name. My father asked me if I could live with the

    blood on my hands and that is no, but nor can I live without Vincent.

    I won''t stop him, but I can stop this.

    It is past eleven at night, I wait patiently for Vincent to get dressed.

    ¡°Have you been to the doctor yet?¡± he asks.

    Since he found out about the pregnancy we haven''t spoken about it. He touches my stomach a time or

    few but either than that, this is the first time he is addressing it head-on.

    ¡°Ah no, maybe if you cooled off on the torture sessions I might be able to set up an appointment.¡±

    My sarcasm isn''t warranted in his mind, I know this because he speeds up his dressing and grabs his

    ss of cognac, swallowing the half-full ss.

    He res at me, ¡°What are your ns for the evening, another four and a half-hour conversation with

    my fucking brother.¡±

    This is the one problem that really grates on my nerves when ites to Vincent, it is his jealousy

    toward Michael.

    I don''t get it, as I have always been close to my brothers especially Michael.

    After my abduction I hadn''t spoken to Michael, as a healing mechanism, I wasn''t ready. But when I

    lived the few days with papa, Michael stopped by and I found myself confiding in him as I usually did,

    BUT well, not everything, I am different now. So I gave him the jest of the story.

    Not nearly as half as papa knew but enough to let him know I still cared.

    Michael was the one who came up with the n to find La and help Vincent. To help both of us, so

    we can move on.

    Obviously, I can''t tell any of that to Vincent, he expects my silence and since I know this suite is rigged

    with listening devices I am careful and only contact Michael with the phone he gave to me. It is

    untraceable and can''t be hacked.

    Content rights belong to N?velDrama.Org.

    ¡°Don''t you have somewhere to be?¡± I ask him, tracking his steps from the bed where I am lying down

    on.

    ¡°Can''t you see I am getting ready, since when do you want to get rid of me so quickly, you make a man

    feel like a g? I bet my cum is still dripping out of that wet cunt of yours.¡± He grins at his own joke.

    And even I can''t help the tug on my own lips. I happen to like his sense of humor, even if he is an

    alcoholic. It is something I can fix.

    Over the months I have been with Vincent it is the small moments when he lets me see the side to him

    others don''t that I love.

    It is the moments we shared when he stayed with Beggar and I in my home.

    The promise of who he can be, who is hidden.

    Yet I know I should love his bad side too, I should love all of him, and I am trying to I really am.

    Even knowing it is wrong.

    I am weak when ites to him.

    ¡°There is that sexy smile of yours, set up the appointment for tomorrow, let''s go see what our baby

    looks like, then I will decide on the size of the diamond.¡±

    My eyes widen at what he just said, the careless way he said it.

    And I don''t hold the frown marring my face. Or the deep attentive look I bestow upon him.

    He stares at me, with the same intensity I am staring at him, but for different reasons I am sure.

    ¡°You are mine Kylie, that baby in your belly is mine, might as well make it official.¡±

    He walks out, and it is not the first time my heart bleeds painfully in my chest for this man, and I am

    sure it won''t be thest.

    Yes, he is going to marry me, but not out of love, because he thinks I am carrying his child. And the

    funny thing about it, is I will go through with it.

    I will walk in the dark paths, dangerous grounds for this man who won''t love me back.

    They say denial and excuses is a woman''s fatal w. Instead of admitting the truth that night, I

    convinced myself that Vincent would love me eventually. That he just had a hard life, that even though I

    wasn''t the same girl from all those months ago when he asked for a chance, I could love for the both of

    us. Excuses, excuses, excuses. They pile up, until one day you run out of them. When is enough?

    Looking back on that Thursday evening, I could honestly say that I was past the stage of excuses, I

    already knew the truth, I was just too stupid to see it.

 Chapter 59 (Kylie)

    Chapter 59 (Kylie)

    ¡°Did you get it,¡± I ask Michael just as he answers.

    A few weeks ago when Michael agreed to help me, I asked him for something else. He didn''t like my

    request but agreed to get the papers I needed.

    It was the only way to really find out about Vincent and how far deep was his hatred toward the Outfit.

    Call it a hunch that just refused to be dismissed.

    ¡°Yes, I will bring it over, gave it a read myself, you sure you want to read this.¡± Michael''s doubt is

    evident in his voice and I can''t help the smile thates hearing it.

    ¡°Of course yes, now are we all set to go,¡± I say this as I zip up my boots.

    I am all dressed ready to go back to the dock and finally finish what Vincent started.

    ¡°Yes, don''t forget, the minute you see the green dot appear you press speed dial number one. Don''t go

    in, wait until you hear the sirens. Everything else is set up, they should be arriving there in two hours,

    Be careful Ky.¡±

    ¡°I love you Michael, thanks.¡± That is the closest to goodbye I have ever said to anyone since my mother

    left.

    ¡°I love you more Ky. I''ll see you in a few.¡±

    After my quick call to my brother I grab the bag with the heat sensor, gun and bullet proof vest.

    Sneaking this under Vincent''s nose wasn''t easy.

    After my failed attempt to bribe his guard didn''t work, I waited until we were at a restaurant and had

    Kevin tag us the entire way.

    Nobody catches the ghost.

    Kevin luckily didn''t want to know why I needed these things and I was d. That was a week ago.

    Now I just have to get past the guards.

    To do that I had to be smart and extremely conniving.

    The phone in my hand belonging to the man that I love and was doing this for is proof of how far I am

    willing to go to see this through.

    ''need you downstairs now, call the others, Kylie is sleeping she will be safe.'' Vincent

    Taking a deep breath, I press send and rush to the front door. I put my ear to the door listening

    attentively.

    Knowing the sound of the guy Joey''s voice- one of Vincent''s soldiers, I wait until his voice quietens

    from the distance.

    I swing the door open and run, taking the elevator to the seventieth floor, where Vincent keeps his cars.

    Swiping the card for the keys that are stored behind a ss vault, I grab for the first one.

    I miss my bike now, I learned to ride a few years back when I turned fifteen. Kevin said it was a pass in

    life if I was the sister of a biker.

    I don''t ride often but I used to when I spent time with The Satan Snipers.

    Rushing to the white BMW, I double-click the button, switching the car off.

    I throw myself in, put the keys into the ignition, and reverse out of the parking space.

    It isn''t long until I am finally out of the hotel speeding onto the next interstate.

    My nerves are wrecked. I keep my hands firmly on the wheel, going over the n.

    I glide through the cars in myne, my eyes focused, my mind nted on my destination. I don''t think

    about anything besides now, and here.

    This is it for me, this is it for Vincent. If I die tonight I would die saving the man I love from himself. I will

    die doing this one good deed.

    I check the time as I take the long roads, seventy miles per hour.

    I want to push eighty but there are still too many cars on the road.

    Now if I was on my bike, I would be going a cool one hundred and twenty miles per hour.

    It is passing one am when I arrive. The meet is at one-thirty.

    I park the car out of the dock as Michael insisted and pull out the sheet to cover it.

    ¡°This is it.¡± I say to myself.

    This belongs to N?velDrama.Org - ?.

    Rushing from the vehicle once I¡¯ve covered it, I grab my bag I threw on the floor and run down toward

    the dock.

    This ce haunts me, but this energy inside of me that wants to meet the end pulls me through.

    I get to the dock with four minutes to spare, I rush toward the containers, pulling the scanner out of my

    bag and switch it on.

    Scanning the containers one by one, but still no green dot.

 Chapter 60 (Kylie)

    Chapter 60 (Kylie)

    The enginesing from the top of the dock get louder and though I am tired and my heart is skittering

    in fear of getting caught I run faster, trying to find what I am searching for.

    The cars get closer.

    My time is running out.

    Ducking down, I see them jumping out of the cars. My knees make a cracking sound, as I bend into a

    crouching position as to not be seen.

    Four men arrive in four different cars. No bodyguards, which shocks the hell out of me.

    Peeping out from the red tin container I am currently leaning on, I check to see if I can make out one of

    them.

    Hearing some scratching noises from behind me, I spin on my heels and crawl over to the next

    container.

    That is when the beep and green dot goes off.

    ¡°Hey you,¡± the yellinging from the men jot me in to a frenzy and I run.

    My legs are already screaming from the amount of exercise it was given earlier today.

    Content rights belong to N?velDrama.Org.

    I grab my phone just as a shot rings out and press speed dial one as Michael said.

    The pain in my leg burns as another one assaults me further. I fall to the ground.

    My legs are screaming in pain, as my shoulder gushes with blood.

    ¡°If it isn''t Vincent''s little fuck toy, pity you have to find out about your fate this way, I''m sure Vincent still

    had a month or two before he eventually sold you off, you should ask Catrina, poor girl.¡±

    I stare up into Roberto''s eyes not understanding why he would betray his family.

    Until his words click into ce.

    It is a cold day in hell to find out, you have been betrayed, and though I hear the words, I want to tell

    myself that Vincent wouldn''t do that, not my Vincent.

    I try to slide back and Roberto rewards my effort with two solid kicks to my stomach.

    Time passes as I hear shouts as he orders them to get me out of here.

    Whoever these people are, don''t want to.

    My legs are numb, I can''t feel the fresh blood seeping through my jeans.

    I try to push myself up, but it''s no use, my legs were both fucked.

    One bullet lodged into my right thigh, the other my left calf.

    I should scream, I should curse.

    I should''ve done lots of things differently.

    ¡°I warned you to stay away, I told you what would happen.¡± He snarls, spitting on the ground, ¡°You rich

    kids are too fucking spoilt, thinking you can have it all.¡±

    I groan.

    My body aching.

    I can feel the blood, hot and pulsing through my thigh.

    I don''t swear him, I don''t curse.

    I''m not stupid, I know he''ll finish me, I know my limit.

    My only hope is that the cops would find me.

    They knew where I was, I had barely managed to call them before the first bullet echoed through the

    air.

    Hitting me.

    My hair matted to my forehead from the sweat drenching my skin.

    But I don''t move my hand, I don''t dare move it from my shoulder.

    I have to keep the pressure on the wound or I am going to die.

    The sound of a helicopter approaches, lights flickering over head.

    It''s so bright, that if I didn''t believe in God already I am going to now.

    It isn''t long after I hear my assaulter¡¯s shoes rushing off that I hear the cars speed by.

    Relief floods me as I allow the pain to rush through me tenfold and finally break screaming.

    Life was unfair, it was fucked up. I curse as the pain takes over me, I wee it.

    Our parents never told us that the monsters were real, they never warned us that there is no happy

    ending.

    Only death and heartache. I thought love could conquer all. I thought I could ovee any hurdle to be

    with the one man that I love. The man that stole my body and possessed my heart. But life had a

    different n for me. It is evident as I''m lying down on the ground of an empty dock with three bullets

    stuck in me bleeding to death.

    There is no familiar person here to console me, no savior to protect me. It is just ME.

    I thought I had all the answers. I thought I was strong enough to walk unscathed on the path of

    darkness.

    The only person I was, the only one I ended up being, was a foolish twenty-year-old who thought she

    could y with the big boys and got fucked up her ass in the process.

    He told me to walk away, he warned me that it wouldn''t end well.

    I knew Vincent Stone was a bad person.

    I just didn''t know how bad he really was until I was already too deep, lost to the maze of OBSESSION.

    Now,

    I can''t find my way out, no matter how hard, or fast I try because now I have sealed my fate.

    Now he has imed me, tainted me, marked me as his knowledge that he would never be mine.

    He was a made man, I was his muse and I hated him for it.

 Chapter 61 (Kylie)

    Chapter 61 (Kylie)

    I hate that noise, I hate the aches and pains in my joints, I hate this bed.

    ¡°Has the doctor said when I can be discharged?¡± I ask Michael for the umpteenth time this week.

    Nothing frustrates me more than hospitals. I despise this ce.

    When I was nine I fractured my femur climbing the old oak tree at my Papa''s house. He rushed me to

    the hospital and I was stuck there on all the same unnecessary stuff I am today.

    Besides now I did almost die, and I am currently stuck in a cast for the next four and a half weeks

    remaining.

    Vincent and Michael have been at war with each other on who gets to stay with me and I am likely

    going to have a heart attack before this week is finished.

    My mother has been in and out with Uncle Hector and Rae.

    My dad hasn''t showed up yet, but Mason is currently waiting outside for Michael to leave.

    Vincent barges in and sees me, his eyes are even colder than I remember, that if I wasn''t already Frost

    I would freeze.

    ¡°Stone, can you give Vincent and me a minute please?¡± I ask Michael who is currently on hisptop

    doing who knows what.

    ¡°Make it quick, Mason is still outside.¡± Michael gets up and I watch his retreating form, he is so much

    bigger than I recall, almost as big as a wrestler, how did I miss that.

    ¡°You lied to me Kylie,¡± Vincent deres, and I take my attention off the closing door to stare at him.

    ¡°I was protecting you,¡± I say softly.

    ¡°Protecting me from what?¡± Hees to stand next to me and I want to tell him.

    I want to say I was protecting him from himself but I don''t.

    Silence is sometimes the only answer you need. Words are just at times far too few.

    ¡°I was doing this for you, and you went behind my back, I almost lost you, they won''t tell me about the

    baby,¡± the usatory is there.

    He runs his hands in his hair and I wonder how much has he drank today.

    ¡°Were you? Or were you doing this for Catrina, the woman you love? I saw Roberto, he had a shit load

    to say about the little trafficking ring you guys have going on. What was it he said, oh yes, I was next, in

    a month or two.¡±

    His eyes widen, and he tumbles until his back hits the wall, sliding down.

    Content rights belong to N?velDrama.Org.

    I try to get up knowing what I see in his eyes is not a man wanting to traffic a woman, no this is a made

    man falling to the ground,

    ¡°Roberto was at that dock?¡± He says it as a question, but we both know it is not.

    I stare at this man that is so hard to love but still, I love him, even if I don''t know why anymore.

    He shakes his head, and I watch his face crumble,

    ¡°Roberto wouldn''t betray us, no, he wouldn''t.¡±

    ¡°Vincent, who do you think shot me.¡±

    His eyes shoot up and in it I see the monster, I see death.

    Looking back on the time in the hospital I always wonder if I had told Vincent the truth about the

    pregnancy would it have made a difference. But choices and circumstances are never changing and as

    he got up and kissed my lips I chose to remain silent.

    I chose to hide the truth.

    I stayed in that hospital bed for two weeks after that. My father didn''t visit. Uncle Hector did and the rest

    of my family.

    Vincent returned every night once they left, and he never left my side when he did and for those hours

    a hope bloomed in me yet again. I was foolish, I thought he was done killing.

    Now we were going to get that ending.

    If only life was so simple.

 Chapter 62 (Kylie)

    Chapter 62 (Kylie)

    Two Months Later

    ¡°Stop this Vincent please.¡±

    I stand in the blood of the dead, begging the man that I love to not avenge me.

    He is silent as he stares at me and for a second, just a second I think that he is going to stop.

    I am a fool to think that.

    He strolls up to me, never , not once dropping his eyes from mine.

    He stops just a breath a way.

    I swallow hard, a deep frown marring my skin.

    He lifts his hand to my long hair twirling his finger around a few strands.

    I don¡¯t have to look to know that is what he is doing because he has done it so many times these past

    few months.

    A few years ago just that mere touch would¡¯ve had me melting but as I stand here today in the blood of

    my enemy by the hands of my first love, I admit that I am ashamed.

    I am ashamed and embarrassed to love this man, who insists he kills these people in my name, who

    finds death and blood shed an art.

    I, Marcus Bray''s daughter am ashamed.

    ¡°Where''s the fun in that?¡± his voices it so soft , ¡°told you sweet girl you are my muse.¡±

    His words once served as a caress to my skin when he whispered them into my ear.

    I was blinded by the idea that he could love me. I held out hope that I would free his soul.

    But Vincent doesn¡¯t need freeing, his plight for Vengeance in my name is too great , too live in his mind

    to let anyone save him.

    I know that now. But knowing and doing the right thing about it is a whole new ball game.

    ¡°Why won¡¯t you stop, please, I can¡¯t.¡±

    He grips the few strands, he was seconds ago twirling and tugs it hard, getting up in my face until our

    noses are touching.

    ¡°This is what I do Kylie, this is who I am, I am a fucking killer.¡±

    He pushes me back slightly and I barely catch myself as I watch him looking up to the ceiling.

    He seems to have a clear thought in all his madness,

    ¡°Let''s go, before the copse.¡±

    There is so much I want to say, so many things I want to know.

    The most important one though is how much blood will Vincent bathe in before he spills La''s.

    Instead, I just say the one thing that I can, the one emotion I want to feel more even if it''s a lie,

    ¡°I hate you.¡±

    He looks at me when I say those three words and the evil I see in his eyes will forever paint my dreams

    in his gaze,

    ¡°Yes, but you love me more.¡±

    He spins around and walks to the door not once stopping to see the mass of bodies he hadid waste

    to the floor.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go sweet girl.¡±

    I swallow the lump that¡¯s bubbling in my throat to scream at him and straighten my back following my

    devil.

    I once said that he was a made man and I was his muse. As I walk out of this dusty old bar I can

    honestly say that Vincent Stone is the devil and I am his possession.

    Once we are in the car he speeds off, we''re both silents.

    He is probably plotting his next attack, while I¡¯m thinking of how the fuck do I get out of this.

    I have already been warned away. When Marco found out about Roberto at the dock and the human

    trafficking, he told me to run, but even if want to leave I know Vincent wille after me.

    I am his, even if he won¡¯t love me.

    He stops outside my two-story Victorian house.

    Since my release from the hospital, we have now settled back into my home, which suited me fine.

    The car is silent when he switches it off and jumps out.

    I take in a deep breath, turning my head to look at his dark charcoal suit pants.

    Putting my hand on the handle I jump out.

    I walk around the silver Porsche and my house door opens from the inside.

    I instinctively let out a small scream and duck down. Old habits never die, especially the ones born by

    fear.

    ¡°Kylie.¡± Relief instantly floods me and even a sense of happiness shares apartment in my turmoil

    hearing my name from that familiar voice.

    I tumble as I go running to my door and into the arms of my hero, of the one person who is always

    there when I need him.

    ¡°Papa,¡± I say it as a plea, I say it as an answer, a question and he understands me.

    Papa wraps me in his big arms and engulfs me, closing me from the world, protecting me from even

    myself, healing me with just his touch and love.

    It always suffocates me but it keeps me breathing more.

    Papa doesn''t let me go, and I crawl upon him and he lets me, picking me up, carrying me like one

    Content rights belong to N?velDrama.Org.

    would a lost child, and that is what I am now.

    I am lost.

    But papa doesn''t need to know that, when his kiss on my head says it all, without words, he got me.

    ¡°I am taking my daughter home, she has had enough, if you want to see her, you know where I stay.¡± I

    heard papa tell Vincent.

    ¡°When are you bringing her back, she belongs to me now.¡± Vincent''s menacing voice states.

    ¡°I won''t be bringing her back, my daughter wille back on her own.¡± My father says it as a warning

    and I am confused, but too heart sore to do anything but hold on tight to papa.

    Everybody hits rock bottom, everyone falls a time or two. For me, on that day I had reached my

    breaking point and like always my papa was there. Because that day I was too weak to stand on my

    own, that day I was too weighed down. And somehow the other half of me sensed that, so I needed to

    regroup. So I could crawl out of yet another hell.

 Chapter 63 (Kylie)

    Chapter 63 (Kylie)

    Papa took the long drive back to Washington. We stopped for takeout and ate in silence.

    We both knew it, both of us knew that I had reached my point.

    This was it.

    I said nothing to papa as he held my hand and we took the long ride up to his Penthouse suite. There

    was nothing left to be said.

    I kissed my papa''s cheek and I went into my white and lc room.

    Taking off my shoes, jeans and bra. I then sat on my bed and I finally let that truth in.

    My fingers interlocked around my toes of my right foot. I ced my chin to my knee while my other leg

    dangled off the bed and I cried.

    I cried for all those nights I sat lonely. I cried for all those days I wished he would love me.

    I cried because I was raped and tortured and the man that imed to own me was using me as an

    excuse to kill innocent people.

    And I cried for us because no matter how hard I tried, no matter how long I wished and hoped, I would

    never truly have Vincent Stone because the fact was Vincent Stone wasn''t mine. He was in love with

    someone else and I was just a pawn on his board. A reason he needed to take more lives, kill more

    innocent people.

    Vincent Stone was a killer and I was just the excuse.

    I sat in my father''s penthouse in Washington DC and for the first time I let it all out.

    My body shook with the extent of my heartache.

    My eyes burned with my love as the tears fell continuously down my cheeks, and my brain, my brain

    became resigned.

    It realized that Vincent Stone and me, Marcus Bray''s daughter would never be more.

    I wasn''t sure how much time past, or how long I sat there.

    But when my tears dried up and the hole in my heart froze, I got up and slipped on my jeans.

    I walked to the bathroom bra less, and washed my face, and spent twenty minutes covering my puffy

    eyes.

    Familiarizing myself with the woman with the cold brown gaze staring at me from the mirror.

    Then I left.

    I didn''t take my father''s car.

    I took my bike and I drove.

    I didn''t stop unless I had to, and I arrived at the hotel.

    My hardships are my own, I can''t put my weight on the ones I love any longer even if I know they would

    hold me up.

    I take the elevator to the hotel suite where I onceid victim in a bed.

    Nobody has to tell me that Vincent is here.

    I know he is because he would never stay in my home without me.

    The guards don''t bat an eyesh as I walk the corridor to the suite.

    I pull out my key and walk-in.

    ¡°Vincent,¡± I call his name.

    Hees out of the bedroom and I stay exactly where I am.

    He is sober for once, his suit and tie perfect as always. His blonde hair neatlybed, jaw shaven.

    ¡°I thought you were staying with your father.¡±

    He frowns and I see it- the wariness marring his eyebrows.

    I pull the gun from behind my back and point it directly at him.

    His eyes widen,

    ¡°Kylie, what are you doing?¡±

    My tears blur my vision, but I keep my hands firm on the gun.

    When I turned seventeen Kevin told me another pass of way. If I was the sister of a sniper I had to

    learn to shoot a gun.

    I never thought I would be pointing it at this man. The one who owns my heart.

    ¡°You need to stop this Vincent, I am tired of the killings, you need to stop this bloodshed,¡± I yell at him,

    hoping he would.

    He smiles at me shaking his head, ¡°I can''t stop Kylie, not until La pays.¡±

    My tears fall freely, my heartbreaking.

    ¡°You killed so many people, innocent people Vincent, that boy, he was seventeen, he didn''t deserve to

    die, that girl she just wanted to protect her father, she didn''t deserve that,¡± I scream, trying to get

    through to him.

    He runs his hand through his hair,

    ¡°I can''t stop Kylie, just like I can never love you. I am a killer it is who I am. Please just put the gun

    down.¡±

    I look at him, with my tears falling aimlessly down my disfigured cheeks.

    When is enough, when is the time to stop the one you love from being a monster, yet a savior at the

    same time?

    All these moments, all these urrences has brought me to now.

    I can''t change the past, I can''t predict the future but I can do something now.

    I click the safety off,

    ¡°I love you, Vincent, I will always love you.¡±

    Content rights belong to N?velDrama.Org.

    ¡°NO,¡± he screams running toward me.

    The gunshots ring out twice, both to the heart.

    My body jerks with the impact as I watch the man I love fall to the ground not far from my feet.

    His shocked, unbelieving wide brown eyes will forever haunt me as I watch him fall.

    He is waiting for his men, but they won''t being to his aid tonight.

    I drop the gun down on the ground and my knees to the tiled floor.

    Lifting his head onto my thighs, my vision bes almost non.

    I wipe away my tears, knowing it isn''t going to stop.

    ¡°When did you first know you loved me,¡± he asks me as I push back his hair, my tears soaking his, as

    our unrequited love affaires to an end.

    ¡°The day in the restaurant, you met Kevin, hugged him, and walked out,¡± I snort as more wetness

    soaks my face, dropping on to his, sealing us at least in another way.

    He coughs up blood, it spills from the corners of his mouth.

    Smilinges hard as I wipe it away with my blood-soaked hands.

    ¡°How Kylie, how do you love a man like me?¡±

    ¡°I don''t know Vincent, the heart chooses for itself, there is no logic.¡± I cry louder as he coughs up more

    blood.

    ying with his hair, his face, his neck, anything,

    ¡°I am so sorry Vincent, I am so sorry I had to do this.¡±

    His fingers lift nimbly to my cheek, and I look into his dying eyes,

    ¡°No you not, Don''t be, I''m not.¡±

    Vincent smiles at me, his arm dropping hard onto his chest as his head tilts lifelessly to the side.

    And just like that my first love dies.

    Papa once told me that sometimes our choices were intertwined with other people''s actions, we just

    couldn''t help but go with the flow hoping to be breathing in the end.

    What happened to me was a tragedy. I never asked for the hand I was dealt.

    I never asked for Beggar toe into my life the way she did.

    My actions, her actions led us to that dock.

    Vincent''s actions led him and I here.

    I pulled the trigger because I knew he wouldn''t stop.

    Sometimes we have to make choices, today I made the hardest choice of my life.

    I took Vincent Stones life. I took a brother, a friend, a lover, a future father from this world, it was the

    choice I made.

    The cuffs lock around my wrist. I don''t hear the bustle around me as my body shakes with the after

    effect of what I had just done.

    When I get downstairs, with my hands behind my back and police escorting me out, the reporters and

    paramedics are already here.

    I see the paramedics take Vincent''s dead body on the stretcher, hidden by the silver body bag.

    I have no thought as I watch them lift the stretcher into their van.

    No thought at all as I am put into the back seat of a cop car.

    There is no greater loss than losing the ones you love, there is no greater loss than you taking their

    lives.

    It was eight months and seven days that I was locked up. I managed a plea deal thanks to The Satan

    Snipers.

    Roberto was killed three weeks after Vincent, guess Marco kept his end clean.

    La is still missing, out there somewhere, nobody knows where he is, but we will find him.

    My freedom didn''te without a price. The day they put Vincent Stones''s body in the coffin, I was in a

    cell. And Kylie Bray was finally put to rest too, but I guess she had been for a long time.

    Once the world found out what I did, so did my family. I was no longer a Bray as I didn''t want my family

    to suffer for my actions.

    As predicted, I was also no longer a rtive to the Stones, well most. There was still one

    left.

 Chapter 64 (Frost)

    Chapter 64 (Frost)

    I take my position as soldier on the left of Zero. Revving my engine.

    My blood brother sashays his bike next to me as the others get into riding position.

    It is my first BIG ride as a free bird, well as free as I could be.

    ¡°Does he know?¡± Killer asks me as he slips his helmet on.

    I watch Beggar moving down the house closer to us, knowing she will be riding with Killer today and

    give her a chin lift.

    ¡°No. And you are not going to tell him,¡± I say to him, the warning evident in my cold voice.

    It took me a few weeks to get used to the name Killer, but even I can say it''s grown on me.

    If he can ept me as Frost the least I could do is return the favor.

    ¡°Five years is a long time to live a lie.¡±

    Iugh at that one, as he starts his bike just as Beggar swings her long legs over and holds his waist.

    ¡°Isn''t the best memories based on one,¡± I state, as my eyes track all the others getting on their bikes.

    ¡°Storm''s changed,¡± He informs me.

    ¡°So have I, he needs me here, he might not see it but I do.¡± I put my feet in position and rev my bike

    louder just as I spot Mercy jumping on hers.

    ¡°And when he stops needing you, then what? Once a Satan Sniper always a Satan Sniper.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, yeah, so you keep saying, when Diamond gets back she can be a Satan Sniper too.¡±

    He chuckles with a shake of his head, moving away from me and taking his position at the front next to

    River, our president.

    Our people are all in position. I turn my head giving Zero a clear signal,

    then we ride.

    There was a time in my life where I never craved the speed of the bike. I never needed the power of

    the throttle.

    It was a long time ago.

    People look at me now, and they see a killer, they look at me and see the monster, but no one knows

    that I am much worse.

    I killed my first love because he needed to be stopped, that was the path chosen for me by

    circumstance.

    Content rights belong to N?velDrama.Org.

    Vincent once said when I left the dock my soul died.

    It felt like it did at the time, but it was my heart just trying to survive the reminiscent of my fall.

    Truth is the day I shot my first love, my soul didn''t die with his but froze.

    We all have our growing points, defining moments that shape us into who we be.

    Some take a ride on the wild side just doing whatever the hell they like.

    Maybe it''s car racing, hiking, sky diving, drugs, anything to feel that pulse losing rhythm.

    The oue can go two ways, addiction or death, but hey, we''re born to die anyway, might as well

    speed it up.

    Others go through loss, that major kind, like their parents, dying, sisters getting raped or brothers

    getting murdered just because they tried to be men and walked through that forbidden dark corner, that

    list goes on.

    Those people take you to emotional levels others wouldn''t even have nightmares about.

    If you are lucky enough and you love them, there is no passion greater than what they¡¯ll give back to

    you.

    No matter how dark that road you walk on.

    Then there are people like ME, who never searched for the freedom of choice, who was never burned

    with the taste of death until one time in their life it all came crashing down and turned them into that

    soulless, jaded, ice-cold being.

    Until they were unrecognizable but for the sins, they scorched on this earth.

    And this is who I am now and I am okay with that.

    Today I leave my life behind me, today I am only Frost, a member of The Satan Sniper''s Motorcycle

    club.

    I don''t know what my future has in store for me, I don''t know how much of my past will still hold in my

    life or even if I would live another day.

    But as I ride with my sisters and our men I know that I am without judgment, without destiny.

    When we ride it is as one.

    Life throws you curveballs, you''re going to get hit, and sometimes it''s going to sting like a bitch.

    Never forget that like there is life and death there is always an end. So keep moving, it ain''t gonna get

    better but it will definitely make you stronger.

    The End

    The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and

    continue reading tomorrow, everyone!