“It was a fucking trap!” Vector snarled, his hands slamming down on the table as he shot an intense glare at Marcus, who sat opposite him. Two large men stood behind Marcus, both suited up and sporting icy expressions. “And we fell right into it.”“Yeah, we sure as shit did,” Marcus replied calmly, but the deep creases on his forehead gave away his tension. Everyone in the room was on edge. None of the guys they sent in for the assault came back, and neither did the gang they were targeting. It was clear that while they were focused on wiping out the local gangs, they totally underestimated the fact that a third player had joined the fucking game, and that seriously pissed off Marcus.“I don’t need a damn confirmation, Marcus. I need to know what the fuck is going on?” Vector backed away and stood tall, pacing behind his desk. “This attack was your goddamn responsibility, and I was told that everything was fucking sorted.”“It was,” Marcus sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Unt

[VECTOR]After the disaster of a day I had, I was exhausted and pissed off. So, when I walked through the door and saw Lizzy all cozy on the couch, I couldn’t help but want to grab her and whisk her off to my bedroom.But fuck, that also meant I wasn’t up for any more goddamn rejection. I craved her like a fucking addict. She was the only one who could bring me a moment of sanity in the midst of all this mess. Her touch and the sound of her gorgeous voice had this uncanny ability to make me forget all the bullshit.But that was a good half an hour ago.Now, I can’t be gladder to have her on my bed. Naked and willing.I watch her bare body crawl backwards, and I swear there is nothing more sexier than that. The dim room throws a shimmer on her blue eyes while I tune out the background hum of the conditioner. The sheets beneath her knees make a soft rustling sound as she shuffles back, her warm thighs straddling me as she positions herself on my lap.I don’t think I have the patience to

[LIZZY]Sometimes I wish I could have done things differently. That if I had another take on life, I would have made fewer screw-ups and more rational choices.These days, I can’t even recall the last time I got something right.Seriously, it’s all a blur.I wish I hadn’t been so stupidly naive back then, which eventually led me to put my trust in all kinds of wrong people. I mean, what the hell? Take Vector, for example.That man is all sin and nothing holy. Everyone knows that.But getting involved with him was only the tip of the iceberg. I willingly shot myself in the foot when I not only tried to run away from him but also kept a secret—a secret that would ultimately push him to reach for the gun in his nightstand drawer and finish me off.But I’m not thinking about that when he is occupied looking at me with those intense, dark eyes of his, like he knows something I don’t. It’s both thrilling and terrifying, because if there’s even a teeny chance he can read my thoughts, I’m in

[LIZZY]“Can we go to the zoo, Lizzy? Can you please take me? Please? Pretty please!”I take a deep breath, fighting the urge to massage my temples and relieve the tension building up around my head, feeling like an earthquake in my skull.Joey has been relentless since the crack of dawn. I have no idea where he heard about the Tropicarium Park in Jesolo, but ever since his curious eyes caught sight of me, he’s been like a broken record, playing the zoo visit tune on repeat.Now, it’s like wherever I go, he’s right behind me, trailing like a lost puppy, whining and pouting, begging me to take him to the park for a visit.We are currently in my room. I have bathed and changed after the unplanned run I went on this morning. I don’t know what came over me, but I found myself wide awake at four in the morning, unable to doze off again. Curiosity got the best of me, so I thought I’d see if Vector had returned. To no surprise, his room remained just as vacant and dark as it had been for the

[CRISTIANA] It shouldn’t come as a huge surprise that I don’t have much say in the family matters. They all think I’m either too young and too naive to know or understand anything. I’ve been raised my whole life as if I were some delicate princess who would be corrupted by the darkness of the outside world. They thought I was too pure for this harsh reality, too easily fooled to avoid attracting trouble. In a sense, that pretty much sums up my entire life. I’ve grown up with not only overprotective parents but also a deranged brother who considers chopping off the fingers of any man who dares to look in my direction as his favorite pastime. And if that weren’t enough, throw in an irrational and hot-tempered older cousin who happens to lead a notorious crime syndicate. It’s a recipe for an impending catastrophe. The only relief I have in my not so run of the mill life is my sister-in-law who happens to be the only sane person I can freely talk to or reason with—Zarina is the only