DANIELI waited patiently as my penthouse's floor-to-ceiling windows let in the soft glow of the city lights. With each slight twist of my wrist, the rich red liquid swirled in the wine glass in my palm, which remained undisturbed. The world was asleep outside, oblivious to the tempest that was building inside of me. The time was 2:51 a.m. Unnoticed, she had sneaked out. My men were trained professionals, and none of them had noticed her absence. It served as a sharp reminder of her independence. She left because she didn't have to. Because she wanted to, she stayed. Since sSinceerished me. However, she conveyed a different message tonight, reminding me of her true self, her abilities, and the reasons why even my mention of her name made deadly rivals shudder. The last several hours had flown by. Bids from competitors are being withdrawn. Overnight, my stock increased. My adversaries shook as if they had seen a ghost and dispersed like leaves in the wind. Her face was not concealed. S
HAILEYThrough the curtains, the evening light created a lovely glow, but the tension in the room was anything but mild. The hours I spent entangled in Daniel's arms left my body hurting. I was left feeling exhausted and hurt by his unrelenting enthusiasm, which was a combination of possessiveness and desperation. It felt like he was reclaiming me with each touch and word he uttered as if he was afraid I would elude him. I didn't put all the blame on him. Even though I meant to protect him, I had set off his deepest insecurity. Daniel's intense affection for me was accompanied by a risky fragility. I was his greatest asset and his unwavering compass, but I was also his weakness. Klaus came in with news that sent a chill down my spine: "Your father sent someone to assist us," Klaus said, his tone carefully neutral, "His name is Robert." Daniel wouldn't let me leave his sight. He carried me when I needed to use the restroom, insisted on helping when I tried to bathe alone, changed me i
HAILEYThe plan was to spend the afternoon shopping with Klaus's wife, Catya, to unwind. As an alternative, it became a scene from a soap opera. I spent hours trying on dresses in a posh boutique, from flirtatious sundresses to exquisite evening gowns, before I eventually discovered a handful that made me feel amazing. Ready to pay, I walked up to the desk and took out my sleek black card. The cashier gave a tense smile. "Oh, Miss Rebel, payment is unnecessary. All of this has already been resolved. I blinked. "Paiď for?" Indeed. Actually. She paused, her gaze darting between her computer screen and me as though she was concerned about how I would respond. "It appears that you own the deed to this shop. I went nùmb. How can I own something and no nothing of it? Catya leaned against the counter and gave a low whistle. "You know your man can make a statement, don't you?" "A Statement? This is outright ridiculous! I fumed as I fumbled to dial Daniel on my phone. My thoughts were racing.
REBELA quick afternoon's shopping with Klaus's wife, Catya, was to be an easy solution for passing the time in the afternoon. It was instead a scene from a soap opera.After hours of slipping on dresses at a high-end store—varying from ravishing nightgowns to racy sundresses—I had finally found a number of them that made me look and feel like a million bucks. Approaching the checkout station, I got out my black glossy card, ready to pay.The cashier gave a wary smile. "Oh, Miss Rebel, there's no need for that. Everything's taken care of."I raised my eyebrows. "Taken care of?""Yup. Actually…" She hesitated, looking back and forth between me and her computer monitor as if concerned about my reaction. "The deed to this shop is actually in your name."I went still. The deed?Catya whistled softly and leaned against the counter. "Your guy certainly knows how to make an entrance, doesn't he?""Statement? This is on the brink of lunacy!" I cried, wrestling with my phone to dial Daniel. My
KLAUS The entire office is seriously tense; Daniel is barely holding on; he's like an addict whose drug was taken away from him. We've been stuck here for about a week, Rebel calls occasionally, and this is the only time he's at peace, even for a while, and because she's currently not in the country, it's a very tense atmosphere. How did he think he could think this Tempest of a being? I keep wondering if she's trouble, but she centres on him and can hold her own anywhere she finds herself. I'm brought out of my reverie when I hear Daniel snap at Mia, who is once again barely dressed and trying to shoot a shot at him, but she doesn't get it; if she had a chance to get back with him before it's gone now. He'd never leave Rebel because he's locked. "I will tell you this again, Mia: I am not interested in whatever, fantasy you're cooking, and unless I meet your boss in person unless representatives come in, we don't need to collaborate on anything. You've given me enough headache as i
DANIELBoth Catya and Klaus likely consider me crazy right now, but I don't care; I run up to my, or should I say, our room after seeing the bullet because it's hers.No one in their right senses will kill people with bullets that carry their initials; most people not Rebel, my crazy daredevil of a lover. Law enforcement agencies from different parts of the world have tried everything to recruit her, but she doesn't respond to them. She plays by no one rule but hers, but by some miracle, she loves me just as I love her, so I get away with a lot (I chuckle as I think about this).As I step into my very luxurious room, I hear the shower running and immediately remove my clothing; I had been so irritated all wèeweekouldn't get a single job done and meetings were disastrous despite Kĺaus" efforts and that's mostly because she had to travel and didn't allow me to send anyone to be with her or even let me visit because according to her it's healthy to stay away from each other for days to a
ROBERTAT HIS OFFICEI stare into space as the blond hair lady suc** my dic*, she's making so much sound enjoying herself bobbing her head up and down but I'm unmoved; she isn't the one I desire the one I desire is too far away from me, unreachable so while I get frustrated and tired of not being able to have her in the meantime to have a good time I imagine them all to be her. This is how I even get to enjoy sex now. I hold her head still, then fuc* her mouth till I cum, and she swallows.I spin her around with her back facing me while I sheath myself, raise her very tiny skirt to see her bare with her folds extremely wet while simply slamming into her. She feels good, but I know she could never feel as good as Rebel, and with this thought in my head,d, I quicken my pace and drill hard into her before cumming. I dispose of the foil, then adjust my clothing, and then her annoying voice speaks. "Why do you still use condoms with me when you're the only man I'm sleeping with?""Is that
REBELThe coffee shop is alive with its usual rhythm-steady murmurs of conversation, the hiss of steamed milk, and the comforting scent of coffee mingling with pastries. Daniel sits across from me, completely at ease, his ever-present grin crinkling the corners of his eyes. He's pitching something absurd: a vacation."You're smiling," he says, leaning forward like he's got me figured out. "So, does that mean you're picturing us lounging on some beach without a single assassin in sight?"I smirk, shaking my head. "I'm smiling because the thought of me 'relaxing' while people are actively trying to kill us is hilarious. Don't get used to it."He laughs, that low, easy chuckle that always seems to bubble up no matter the situation. "You're stealing my thing, Rebel. Laughing in the face of danger is kind of my brand.""Maybe I'll give it back when I'm done borrowing it."His laughter fades, replaced by something softer, more serious. He leans in, his voice quieter now. "You don't have to
MIA The air was thick with tension the moment Louisa walked into the safehouse. Her hood was up, face shadowed by the dim flickering bulb overhead. I didn’t flinch. I’d been expecting her. "Took you long enough," I said, lounging on the worn sofa, a glass of whiskey in hand. She didn’t respond at first. She just stood there, assessing me with those sharp eyes of hers. Drug addict or not, there was something sharp and unyielding about Louisa when she was angry. And today, she was molten fury packed into a deceptively frail frame. "I know what Robert’s been hiding," she said. I raised an eyebrow. "Do tell." "He loves her. Rebel. He’s not doing this job anymore. He’s in too deep." I sipped my drink, savoring the confirmation. "And that bothers you because...?" She stepped forward, slowly pulling down her hood. Her eyes burned with resentment. "Because he saved me. Nursed me. Told me I mattered. But he’s always been looking past me... for her." Now this was interesting.
ROBERT The silence was thicker than any gun I'd ever encountered. She'd looked at me as if I were the villain in her worst nightmare, not the man who'd saved her from hell eight years ago. Louisa—broken, bitter, hurt Louisa—was facing me like a shattered mirror, every piece reflecting the worst of me I never wanted to see. And I let her find it. I should've locked the door. I should've burned the files. I should've lied better. But I didn't. And now there was no space between us but truth. I caught the look in her eyes—red, wet, angry—inventorying mine for answers that I couldn't supply. My name hung on her lips like an oath, and I didn't take a step back when she spat it out. "Robert." One word, and I was coming apart. The name was an ick on her lips. "Why her?" Her voice shook. "Why Rebel?" I swallowed. There was no use lying. "I didn't mean to feel anything," I told her, softly. "She was a target. You were also a target." She laughed, a cold, bitter sound. "B
LOUISA I wasn't sneaking. Or at least I was constantly reminding myself as I crept barefoot down Robert's penthouse east wing. He was gone on assignment, or whatever he had called it going out the door for hours wearing a snug black jacket with a gun tucked into the back of it and silence for a pal. I'd spent the entire evening staring at my reflection, wondering if I still looked like a junkie anymore, if eight years of existence had changed me in any way. I'd wandered into the corridor he'd warned me to avoid. The curiosity bothered me, louder than sense, hungrier than conscience. The red light over the locked door at the end of the hall always, tonight, was green. Maybe he had forgotten to switch it. Maybe I was supposed to find it. Maybe I wanted to be found. I entered the code. It beeped open. What I found inside was not what I expected. A small room. Not luxurious. Concrete walls, a large desk, some locked cabinets, and one chair. A wall of files, names and faces pinned l
MIA I knew entering that office I was in for a roasting. The whole hallway felt chillier than usual, as if the AC had been cranked to maximum through my body, or maybe that was just the cold bite of my own shame. My heels clicking on the shiny marble floor were like the tick of a countdown clock. His door was already open. Never a good sign. Boss only did that if he was too angry to be polite. "Get in. Now." I went in, shutting the door quietly behind me. He did not even look at me. Just filled his glass, swallowed it, then turned, his eyes burning with fire. The kind that torched bridges and people. "You had one job, Mia." I did not flinch. "I didn't order the hit." "Don't play smart. You organized it. You authorized the team. And now Daniel knows that we're after her. Do you have any idea what you've done?" I said nothing. "She was to be an asset. A target. Get someone to seduce her, manipulate her, have the inheritance in our pockets. Instead, you put a price on
REBELMother has been trying to get me out for something close to a lifetime so here I am with my kids and her on a lunch date with so many guards dressed casually, it's ridiculous really but at least they stayed low key and blended with the crowd. Mother is after all a queen and Daniel despite my objections sent his men also but the kids need to socialise and breathe air it's been long we came out together last.The clinking of silver and soft hum of laughter filled the light dining room. The twins bracketed me, stuffing rice and grilled vegetables into their mouths, their cheeks puffed out like little squirrels. My mother sat opposite us, regal and poised, her plate still untouched a dramatic contrast to the chaos of crumbs surrounding my sons.Carly Rhodes. Crowned Queen of Cyndaria. Heiress. She wears power like a second skin, I am really my mother in this guise. And now, quite decidedly, my mother again. Since we returned, she had slipped into grandmother mode with a speed that w
REBEL As I walked home, the door shut behind me with a click, but the tension still stuck to my body like smoke. Daniel stood a couple of steps back, jaw clenched, shirt torn where a knife had nearly kissed his ribs. His eyes raked the hallway like he didn't think the quiet. I didn't either. "You okay?" he asked finally, voice low but with a hint of worry he was trying too damn hard to hide. "Are you?" I said, shedding my jacket. Blood, not my own, stained the sleeve. "You got hit." "Not deep." "Still hit." He didn't answer that. Michael and Mex sprinted past us through the foyer, their steps light but alert. Michael caught my eye and I nodded. He didn't grin, but his shoulders relaxed. Barely. The house remained still—too still. "Security system's been reset," Daniel growled, glancing at his phone. "Cameras caught a blur, but they scrambled the feed. Pros. Klaus is locking down the house." Of course they were. This wasn't a warning. This was a message. "We need
DANIEL It's been a whole week of staying hidden, communicating with the kids via chats; Rebel is still mad at me but that doesn't even matter anymore. I tried letting go but couldn't and now I have no intention of ever letting go anymore. It's time to end the silent treatment. I take off my clothes and make my way to the bathroom as I hear the water running, her back stiffens the moment I step in but I move in without the slightest hesitation all the same. I get into the tub behind her stark naked then I gather her beautiful hair curls and put them sideways before kissing her temple. "I know you're still mad, I am sorry, I will spend the rest of my life making up for everything but we must be on the same page now, there are too many lives at stake if we don't get it together". She scoffs "Doesn't mean I have to forgive you nor do I have to let you touch me at all". I laugh softly "True but we both know I'd do all those things all the same". I spin her around and make her f
KENNEDY WILLIAMS The cigar smoke still lingered in the air hours after I'd had to stub the thing out. I sat behind the desk, fingers together, waiting. The door opened. Three of them entered, none of them willing to look me in the eye. That was answer enough before a word was spoken. "So," I said, voice as slick as the leather chair I rested in, "I gave you one simple assignment. One target. One bullet. And still, Daniel is alive." The kind of silence that tested a man's endurance. I reclined, the chair creaking gently under the shift of my weight. "You had him in your sights." My tone dropped lower, softer — so much more deadly if I had shouted. "And you missed." "We missed not," one of the more aggressive of them snarled, his eyes flicking aside to avoid a glinting thread on a broken window. "He was tipped. Someone warned him." I smiled again, though no warmth accompanied the curve of my lips. Teeth only. "You've had years to master that lesson: Daniel is intelligent but
MIA Please.....please, don't kill me, I'd do better ma'am, the next shot will be accurate, there'd be no traces Shadow, give me one last chance. Fool. I take an indifferent look over the tied, shivery fool my men brought back. "Tsk....you have sentenced yourself to death the moment you called me Shadow. To the world I am just Mia, dumb, blonde Bimbo and that's how it will remain so you cannot walk out of here alive, you're a loose end." I take a knife and slash his throat ignoring his struggle as blood spills everywhere. I move to the bathroom of the ensuite we're presently at then wash my hands thoroughly. I take a phone call " It's done Don. They don't know who I am, not Robert, not Daniel, not Jacque or even Rebel that you fear so much. The man who can identify me has been killed hence you can relax, there is no threat". I cut the call They all consider me useless, incapable, just a sex toy yet I am one of the most fearful assassins alive. I took down Michael and until t