MasukLAW.I'd stared down men who begged for their lives without blinking. I'd given orders that kept grown men awake at night. And somehow, standing in my own kitchen staring at my reflection in the dark window, I felt more personally insulted than I had in years.It was Pale yellow with short sleeves, straining across my shoulders like they'd been sewn for a smaller man out of spite. Black shorts with squeaky white clogs. A turquoise apron with a cartoon chicken grinning up at me, and a name tag pinned crooked over my heart.KAREN.I considered, briefly, whether this counted as grounds to walk back on the deal.Then I remembered I'd agreed to let her choose the punishment. I was a man of my word. Unfortunately.Billie walked in, took one look at me, and lost it completely.She tried to cover her mouth. It didn't help.I gave her a flat stare and let her circle me like she was inspecting new stock."You look employable," she said, wiping her eyes. "For the first time in your life.""Are y
Billie.I watched Leon’s gaze settle on me first. Then it moved to Law, still leaning against the wall with that faint smirk that never quite reached his eyes. Finally it landed on Silas, who hadn’t moved an inch since I walked in.“Fine. For a month, you get to do whatever you want with the three of us. No objections.”Leon’s voice cut through the quiet.My eyes slightly widened. They were actually taking it seriously. I had thrown the demand out half expecting them to laugh, twist it, or remind me exactly whose house I was standing in. Instead Leon had just… agreed. Like it was a business term he’d already decided to accept.“Is there anything else?” he asked.I shook my head once. “Not at the moment.”“Ella. Follow me.”Baron’s voice came from the doorway.Ella’s eyes flicked to mine, they were wide. I stepped forward before anyone else could move and pulled her into a quick, tight hug.“It’s okay,” I whispered against her hair. “He won’t hurt you.”She nodded against my shoulder,
LEON.She walked in on her own two feet.That was the part I kept circling back to as I watched her cross the room—no one dragging her, no one's hand around her arm, just Billie, spine straight, chin up. Duchess trailed a step behind, twisting her hands together like she was rehearsing an apology she hadn't been asked for yet. Ella stayed close enough to Billie's shoulder that the two of them might as well have been one silhouette in the doorway.Billie was afraid. I could see it in the tight line of her jaw, the way her fingers curled slightly at her sides like she was fighting the urge to fold her arms across her chest and armor up. But she wasn't on her knees the way half the people who walked into this room eventually ended up.That, more than anything, told me exactly who I was dealing with now."Don't touch them," she said, before anyone had said a single word to her. "Duchess and Ella. Whatever you're planning, it's not theirs to answer for."Law leaned back against the wall,
Billie. The gunfire stopped, but none of us moved.We stayed pressed into the corner of the basement long after the silence had gone on too long to trust. Duchess had her hand flat against the door like she could feel through it whether it was safe. Ella's grip on my arm hadn't loosened once."We can't stay down here forever," I finally whispered."We're not going up until I know," Duchess said, unsure how long that would take.It was another twenty minutes before she eased the door open.The house upstairs looked like something out of a nightmare. Glass everywhere,the kitchen window gone entirely, curtains shredded and hanging in strips. The smell of gunpowder still hung thick in the air and sharp enough to make my eyes water.There were bodies, near the back door. Three of them filled with holes and from the way they were stacked on top of each other. I knew immediately this wasn't the work of whoever had been shooting at us."Duchess."I said in a shaky voice. She stepped past
Billie.“Are they brothers?”Duchess glanced at me over the rim of her glass. “Who?”“The three of them.”She gave a short laugh. “No. Not by blood.”I frowned. “Then how are they so…”“Attached?” She finished for me.I nodded.Duchess leaned back in her chair. “They grew up together in the same orphanage. They were three boys with no families and nowhere to go.”“All three?”“They were practically a package deal.”I couldn’t help a small smile. “And someone adopted all three?”She nodded. “A married couple. They couldn’t have children of their own, so they took the boys in.”She took a sip of the wine. “Were they good parents?” I asked.Duchess snorted. “Their mother was… unconventional.”I raised an eyebrow.“Let’s just say she had very few boundaries and an impressive collection of things children should never have known existed.”I stared at her.“Their father wasn’t much better,” she continued. “Mob business. He wasn’t interested in raising innocent boys. He raised three succ
Law.Two days.Two fucking days and we still couldn’t find her. She hadn’t taken a single bag, not even a change of clothes. That was what kept circling in my head. How the fuck did she walk out of this house with nothing?Silas had the surveillance footage running on the main screen. Leon stood off to the side, phone pressed to his ear. “Stop,” I said.Silas froze the frame. In the far corner of the exterior camera, almost lost in the shadows, a blurry figure slipped into a dark car. The headlights never came on. The vehicle simply rolled forward and disappeared.“Replay it.”He did. I wrote down the plate number the second it became clear enough. Running it took less than a minute. The car was registered to a private company out of Toronto.Strange.Silas slammed his fist against the keyboard hard enough to make the desk rattle. “She’s gone. Just fucking gone.”He scrubbed the timeline backward until the kitchen feed filled the screen. Billie stood at the counter eating pizza, hum
Billie. "So how was work, babe?" Brian asked as we sat down for dinner."It went well. It's at a swanky estate that's really secure and super clean," I replied, taking a sip of the orange juice. My phone buzzed just then. A notification popped up from my bank: $3050 deposited. He even added a $50
Law.“We ship on the designated route. Everything’s been handled, so don’t screw this up,” I snapped into the phone. I gave clear instructions, yet half my crew acted like they had a collective lobotomy.I hung up and walked through the hallway, as I scrolled through shipment logs. Leon said the n
Leon.“What do you mean you couldn't kill her! Silas, she saw you and Law kill Felix. Do you know what that means?!” I barked, cutting the smoke from my cigar with one sharp motion. “If she talks, everything goes sideways. No way I’m risking a PR nightmare. You had just one job.”Law smirked, pushi
Billie.“Order for fries, diet Coke, and crispy fried heart attack, last one!” Milly chirped. “That customer’s a no-show. The place is empty.”I replied. “Shit,” she winced. “Dan left early for some family emergency. Please deliver it? I swear, I’ll pay your Uber. If Malcolm gets a customer compla







