This happened immediately after Sylvia left the club in Chapter 93. We’re slowly undoing the web. Slide for next.👉 Xoxo
Chapter 111⟿❂⟾Sylvia⟿❂⟾Few Weeks Ago⟿❂⟾It felt like my brain was imploding. Like watching myself from a large screen. I was reading a novel in the upstairs bedroom of a house I didn't recognize. The man who owned it had been kind to us, giving us shelter when we had nowhere else to go. We were to stay hidden when he wasn't there.“I have to go on an emergency business trip," he'd said, though I could never remember why we needed protection. Or what his name was. “Stay hidden and never leave the house.”Downstairs, I could hear the television. The boy—Oliver—was watching cartoons, completely absorbed in whatever was playing.The peace was shattered when the sound of car engines cut through the afternoon stillness.Multiple cars. Heavy engines. Definitely not our host. I dropped the book and ran downstairs.“We have to hide," I called out as I burst into the living room. "Now!"Oliver was exactly where I'd expected, lying on his stomach with his chin propped in his hands, eyes
Chapter 110 ⟿❂⟾Sylvia ⟿❂⟾Few Weeks Ago⟿❂⟾I tried to shake off the lingering effects of the alcohol and focus on the driver. He was older, maybe fifties, with graying hair and kind eyes in the rearview mirror. But there was something about the way he'd said my name..."What friends?" I asked, my voice hoarse from being sick earlier."The couple who put you in the car," he replied smoothly. "They seemed worried about you."But that didn't make sense. Camille and Jason had been disappointed, maybe even annoyed when I'd refused their... invitation. They hadn't seemed worried at all.I fumbled for something on my lap, but my hand felt strangely heavy. My movements were sluggish, like I was moving underwater."Are you feeling alright, miss?" the driver asked, his voice seemed to come from very far away."I'm..." I blinked hard in an attempt to clear my vision. The streetlights outside were starting to blur together. "I think I had too much to drink.""That happens sometimes," he said
Chapter 109⟿❂⟾Nikolai⟿❂⟾The house felt like a mausoleum when I walked through the door at three in the morning. Empty rooms, marble floors that echoed every footstep, and silence. Silence loud enough to make you want to put a gun to your head just to hear something other than your own breathing.I'd left Sicily with Russel's words ringing in my ears and Allesia's disappointed expression burned into my memory. The flight back had given me eight hours to think, which was about seven hours and fifty-nine minutes too many."Mr. Gianni?" I turned to find the housekeeper, standing in the doorway wearing a robe and slippers. She was sixty-something, gray-haired, and had been taking care of this place longer than I could remember."Sorry to wake you," I said, dropping my bag by the door. "Go back to bed.""The child is asleep," she said quietly. "She had nightmares again last night. Wouldn't eat much dinner either.""Thank you for staying with her."The woman nodded and turned to leave,
Chapter 108⟿❂⟾Nikolai⟿❂⟾Two weeks.Two weeks since I'd buried nine good men. Two weeks since I'd watched her walk away with the man who'd orchestrated their deaths. Two weeks of Kegan hovering over me like a goddamn nursemaid, and I was ready to throw him off the nearest cliff."You're brooding again," he said from the passenger seat of the jet, not looking up from his tablet. "Your face is doing that thing where you look like you're planning seventeen different murders.""Only seventeen?" I muttered, staring out at the clouds as we flew toward Sicily. "I must be losing my touch.""Well, eighteen if you count me, which I'm pretty sure you do at this point." Kegan finally looked up, grinning. "Come on, admit it. You're tired of having me around.""The thought had crossed my mind.""Good. Because after today, you won’t be seeing me in a long time. You can go back to being a miserable bastard in peace."If only it were that simple. The facility was being rebuilt, my men were in the g
Chapter 107⟿❂⟾Sylvia⟿❂⟾I couldn't stop shakingI hadn’t stopped shaking since we left Nikolai’s facility. Even in the back of Kaine's SUV, with the heat blasting and his jacket draped over my shoulders, I couldn't stop the tremors that had started the moment I saw Nikolai's face change. The moment he understood what I'd done to him."You did good, sweetheart," Kaine said from the seat beside me, his hand resting possessively on my thigh. "I know that was hard."Hard. Watching a man who had taught me what it meant to be alive and normal realize I'd been his destruction all along was just ‘hard.’ Seeing him break apart piece by piece in front of me was something I'd simply endured rather than something that had torn my soul in half.I pressed my face against the cold window and watched the city blur past. Somewhere behind us, Nikolai was alone in that concrete tomb, surrounded by the bodies of his men and the smoking ruins of what was a normal day minutes ago. Because of me. All b
Nikolai ⟿❂⟾7 Years Ago ⟿❂⟾The words hung in the air for a moment, and I stared at her, trying to decide if I'd misheard her or if the weed was laced with something. "What?""You heard me." Her voice was quiet but steady. "I want you to touch me."I laughed. I couldn't help it. "Absolutely fucking not. I'm not doing that. You look like you're 16."Her jaw dropped. "I'm almost 19!" "Exactly," I shot back, pointing at her. "You're a child. I don't find you attractive, plus you look like a boy who just entered puberty. Your chest is too flat and you're not curvy." All that was a lie, but she didn't have to know. Her face turned red—not from embarrassment, but anger. "You're just 22! The age gap isn't even that big!"I leaned against the wall and crossed my arms. "I'm a man. I've done things. Seen things. Lived a life you couldn't even imagine."She crossed her arms, mimicking me. "Oh, I know. You've killed people, smoked weed, and done all kinds of illegal shit. My mom warned me ab