TERROR

TWENTY ONELORCANI leaned back in the chair with a devilish smirk curving both sides of my lips. "Well, why don't we keep it moving in that direction, Edmund?""Sir?"I leaned forward."I want you to gather and send a really sizable amount of money to all of the tabloids who are already running the stories about Duke," I started. “Sir?”He sounded confused."The funds is to keep them fuelled for the stories because I want every single coverage concerning this matter with Duke to remain consistent. And I want it loud too. Every damn time Duke's team tries to close any of the stories about him, make sure each of the tabloids under retainer will have at least two more open immediately."There was silence for a beat.“Do you understand?”He cleared his throat."Yes, understood."“Good.”I leaned back again."And as for the lawsuit that we filed against that lying bastard, make sure it does not ease up on his neck," I said to him. "Not even in the slightest.”“Yes sir.”“I want you to h

NARROWLY

TWENTY TWO LORCAN “Stop the car!” Her voice was high pitched. “Stop the damn car!” she added, almost getting off her seat, the veins at the sides of her neck bulging with blood. I reached out, my left palms wrapping around her wrists to hold her back. “Did you not hear her?” I snapped at the driver with fear, a deep dose that was mixed with irritation. “Stop the damn vehicle!” I bellowed. The driver pressed down on the brake without warning, pulling up at the side of the road with expertise. I glanced at her. She was breathing fast, her other hand raised, clutching her chest. “Penelope, are you good?” I asked, moving closer to her, noticing the new tightening of her shoulders. There was also a barely perceptible shift away from the window, her eyes staring around, towards the east entrance of the underground garage. It ran just beneath the crossing, and then she looked away from it, saying nothing. “Penelope?” My hands lifted, resting gently on her shoulders and patting

OUTCOME

TWENTY THREE PENELOPE The event began soon, when more people had arrived at the decorated hall. The hall they chose was long and well lit. It had numbered paddles on every of the seats, and a projection screen at the front, displaying each lot in sequence. Lorcan waved at me. And when I went to his side, he led me by the hands, down the hall, right to the sitting area. We took our seats just as the auctioneer called the room to order. Lorcan had the catalogue open on his knee instantly and began to mark each of the three properties he wanted to acquire with a small neat line in the margin. I watched him do it, and he was relaxed while doing it, in the way that people who are very good at something tend to be when they are about

SPIKE

TWENTY FOUR PENELOPE “Old geological surveys, that is the main reason," I said with a small sniff, handing his phone back to him. "And a little bit of financial pattern mapping too.” And it was not a lie—not exactly, since I had just simply rearranged a bit of the truth into a fine shape that answered his question without still answering it. His brows raised. “If you manage pack finances as long as I have been doing, you will develop the ability to read land the way other people find it easy to read balance sheets.” Lorcan took the phone, eyes shaking, and looked at me for a moment. “I had been tracking those areas quietly for a while before last night,” I added to hard cement my half truth further. He had a lot to say—I saw it in his eyes, and in the way his lips kept opening and closing without a single word. But, he eventually chose not to push it. Though he did not look entirely settled either because there was still something behind his eyes that had gone to rest

GUN

TWENTY FIVETHALIAI had spent the entire day trying to reach Duke—physically, or online, via phone or text—all to no avail.So, I went to his work place with the hopes that he was just busy there and we could see and maybe talk. But I had not even managed to be able to see him, even once, and that was solely because his assistant had turned me away, instantly, at the lobby, when I arrived at his place of work. And his stupid phone? That damn device had gone to voicemail multiple times before I stopped calling. I had gone to the parking lot and sat in my car, outside Blackwood Tower, for more than forty minutes, waiting for him to come down once. But he had not come down.Not even once.Eventually, against my will, after more than six hours of waiting, I had to drive back home with all my fingers firmly gripping the steering wheel tightly until my knuckles became white, and my jaw also set tightly.The apartment was lit when I arrived, and that told me before I had even closed the

All Chapters of A Second Bite At The Cherry: Chapter 21 - Chapter 25

TERROR

NARROWLY

OUTCOME

SPIKE

GUN