Rick Riley Books Novels & Stories

*** Riley left Paraiso in frustration. However, she saw a car driving into the company building as she was exiting the building. The car stopped and a man and a woman got out. Riley was instantly stunned when she saw the man. “Adrian?” Riley called out. She knew that Adrian was back but she had yet to cross paths with him. Riley was Adrian’s cousin and they had been quite close when they were younger. Riley sympathized with Adrian for the radical changes he faced in his life but Adrian’s family loathed her because of Leonard.

My fingers rake through my hair, tightly, restlessly. “What am I going to do if he finds out the truth?” I ask, quieter now. Not weakly. Never weakly. But my voice is edged with something dangerously close to panic. Riley meets my gaze calmly. He’s always calm. Even the day he found me. “I want revenge for my family,” he had said. Months after I survived. “How did you find me?” I had asked, suspicion already rising. “I’ve got dark ravens. Creatures of the underworld. They track what no one else can.” His tone had been lazy, almost bored. “Once I heard what happened between you and your brother, I followed the trail.”

I remained where I was, staring into the distance. Leonardo going to the warehouse had been exactly what I expected. But Riley leaving the blackwood mansion wasn't. Something was happening. And whatever it was, she had gone to great lengths to keep it hidden A faint smile returned to my lips. If Riley was involved in one of Leonardo's games, I would find out what they were planning and when I did, I would make sure it cost Leonardo dearly.

POV: Ray Riley arrived at the library at eight-twelve. I watched her come through the door from the north window table where Naomi had her laptop open and three browser tabs running simultaneously and the particular focused stillness of someone who had found something significant and was being patient about how she delivered it. Riley sat down, dropped her bag, looked at both of us. "Talk," she said. "You first," I said. "The athletics director."

"Mr. Duval, it’s nice to finally meet you. Please be nice to me." Riley winked at Rickard. If it was not for the gun in Riley's hand that was equipped with a silencer, others might actually suspect that there was a fling between the two of them.

“Taylor likes her pillow talk, you know.” Something felt off, but I couldn’t put my finger on what it was. “Does she?” “Yea, after I’ve pounded her into the mattress she likes to talk. She’s been spilling your secrets. And your boss's secrets.” “I don’t have a boss.” He rolled his eyes. “I just wanted you to know that I have enough information now about you to take you down for a long long time and Taylor will be my star witness.” “Well.” I puffed my chest out. The preening peacock. “I wouldn't know anything about Pillow talk, when I finished with her she was too busy shaking and catching her breath to want idle chit chat.” I grinned. Ever the asshole that was me.

But they definitely hid a musculature most people didn't get to experience up close. Riley liked to think she was fit. Enough. Her favourite food groups were ice cream, bacon and orange juice. At least one of those was a fruit! Sort of. She hated working out with a passion and liked to tell people she would save them in case of zombie apocalypse by being the fastest speed walker in the group. Riley also had a bad tendency to forget to eat. She got that from her dad. A beautiful car wanders into the shop and bam! She's in love, half-starved after two days of working on the babe and turning a tidy profit. The only thing that probably saved her from modern day scurvy was that shopping for Cilia

~ (Raziel) Anthony brought me a whole stack of books, everything that he could find, every piece of literature known to the Underworld about dreamwalking. I had spent hours pouring over every book, committing everything I read to memory. I didn't want to miss a single thing. There had to be a way I could help Rayne. I was already so exhausted after the day I had endured. That, and all of this reading on top of it, had me fighting to stay awake. I swear I only closed my eyes one time and the next thing I know I'm dreamwalking.

“He’s gone.” “Look at you. Glowing.” Riley smacked my arm. “Glowing and doing heroic shit for your cougar.” I rolled my eyes and gave her a playful shove. “Stop calling her that.” “Oh, come on.” Alex nudged me with his elbow. “You saved her career. You hacked a system, exposed a predator, and got the girl. That’s like… hot boy vigilante behavior.” “Is this what being loved looks like?” Riley said with mock sincerity. “Because it’s making me emotional.”

His ways are too crooked that eventually, you’ll want to be dead instead of being alive with the memories of what he did to your body. Alpha Riley chuckles. “ Why not?” he teased. My head quickly snaps in his direction, but just like what I said before, he was faster than I am. Just before I can grab his neck and twist it, he was already on the other corner of my office. He was having time pissing me off. Alpha Riley waves the book enough to piss the shit out of me. I grab my pistol and didn’t hesitate to pull the trigger only for him to avoid the bullet that will surely explode his head.