SEX WITH STONE came at a price. It cost me my sanity because all I could think about was him. My thirst for him was never quenched. It only made it worse. I could drink him up, feast on his body, and never be satisfied.
After Stone fucked me on my bike, he carried me into his house and bent me over the arm of his couch. This power he had over me was damn delicious but so fucking dangerous at the same time. He was the Master in this current game and I the ever-willing slave.
It took us a couple of hours before we made it to his bedroom after he fucked me against every hard object he could. It was intense. Our souls calling out to each other to ease this anxiety we had been feeling for the past several months. It was the calm before the storm. As cliché as that sounded, we used each other while we could.
My phone chimed, vibrating on the nightstand beside Stone’s bed. I reached for it, my heart jumping in my chest. I already knew who it was.
Kenny: I’m in the city. I expect you to meet up with me.
Me: And if I don’t?
Kenny: Don’t test me, Creena. I’ve had a very long flight. You don’t want me coming to grab you myself.
I sighed, flopping back down on the bed.
“What’s wrong, baby girl?” Stone asked, kissing my neck, pulling me tighter against him.
Everything. “Nothing.” I pushed him onto his back and straddled his waist. “Nothing at all.”
He grinned, staring up at me with lust in his eyes and a growing hard-on between his legs.
His body became my breakfast. It was the sustenance I needed to get through the day.
When I was leaving Stone’s house an hour later, a tightness formed in my chest. I pushed a palm against it, trying to rub it away but it only became worse. I didn’t know what I was doing with him but I knew I wanted more. I wanted every inch of him. Everything he had to give me and in return, I would do the same. I had to. It was the only way. But I had no damn clue how to bring it up to him.
“Miss Chan?”
My back bristled at the deep voice coming from behind me. I turned to the sound and found two of my brother’s men standing a couple feet away. I didn’t know their names. I had only seen them before in passing but all of his men knew who I was. No matter how hard I tried to keep my identity a secret.
“We need you to come with us,” the one said, keeping his hand on the gun at his hip.
My gaze flicked to the SUV at the end of the driveway. “I have my bike.”
“Someone will drive it back to your house,” the other man told me.
“What will happen if I put up a fight?” I wouldn’t, not yet, but I still needed to know how far my brother would go to get me to meet up with him.
“Your brother advised us to use as much force as possible.” The larger of the men grinned. “We just can’t kill you.”
“Great,” I said slowly pulling my bag up higher on my shoulder. “Leave my bike here. No one rides her but me. Do you understand?”
The smaller man rolled his eyes and took a step toward my bike.
In a quick move, I had him on the ground with my knee pressed between his shoulder blades and his arm twisted around his back. “I said, no one rides her but me. Do you understand?” I repeated slowly.
“Yes,” he grunted, shifting beneath me. “Get off me, bitch.”
The larger man yawned. “Let’s get this shit over with.”
“Problem?”
The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end. Pushing myself off the fucker beneath me, I found Stone standing a few feet away. He looked directly at me, his body stiff and ready for a fight.
“No.” I looked at both of the men who worked for my brother. “There’s no problem, right?”
The smaller man rose to his feet and brushed off the dirt from his suit. “Yeah. No problem.”
“You good, Creena?” Stone asked, taking a step toward me.
I raised a hand, stopping him. “Yes. I’ll talk to you later.”
I turned and followed the men toward the truck at the end of the driveway. Thankfully, Stone didn’t follow me. I didn’t need to show these men where I was vulnerable. I wasn’t sure if my brother would use it against me but I didn’t need to take that chance. I also didn’t trust his security detail.
Stone was my weakness, and I wanted to keep him as far away from this part of me for as long as possible.
***
(Stone)
Watching Creena drop the large fucker turned me on more than it probably should have. I knew she could take care of herself but seeing her go toe to toe with the man bothered me but also set something off inside of me I didn’t like. I found I wanted to protect her. She shouldn’t have to take care of herself. The little I knew about her family, I could only assume Creena had been doing just that for most of her adult life.
I realized then I had to tell her about Sienna and what happened. I wanted more from this and I couldn’t do that by keeping secrets.
When I left my house and approached Creena, I remained calm. Cool. So damn collected for fear I would push her away. She didn’t like this side of her. This part of her life she tried to keep in the past. Little did she know that we were more alike than either of us cared to admit.
After she left with the men, I called Greyson.
“Yeah,” he grunted into the phone.
“I need some of your boys to keep an eye on someone,” I instructed, heading back into my house.
“Who?” came his deep reply.
“Creena Chan.”
“Done,” he paused. “Is there a problem?”
“She has an unfortunate family situation, and I believe her nursing is just a ruse.” I explained how her family was not your average family but that I didn’t know anything else. “Her brother is a controlling bastard.”
“Have you asked Coby’s friend, Lucas, to see if he can get any information?”
“No.” I pulled a beer from the fridge, popped the cap, and took a long swig before continuing. “This needs to stay between us right now. I know her brother is up to something. I just don’t know what yet.”
“She’s part Japanese. That could mean anything. Do you think she does something illegal on the side?”
“Why, Grey, are you getting all prim and proper on me?” I finished the beer and pulled another one from the fridge.
“Fuck off,” he growled. “I don’t give a shit what she does or who she does it to but you have to remember when it comes to her family, she could do whatever they say. How well do you know her?”
“I …” I hesitated.
“Exactly.”
“I know her,” I mumbled, not liking the fact I couldn’t wrap my hands around Grey’s neck at the moment.
“Sure, but do you know her well?”
“I do. Or at least I thought I did.” I realized then that Creena and I had a lot of shit to work through. “Fuck.”
Greyson chuckled, his laugh turning dark. “Yup. Exactly. You have no fucking idea who you’re sleeping with, do you?”
I pinched the bridge of my nose and let out a string of curses that would make my brothers blush.
***
(Creena)
My brother paced back and forth. Back. Forth. Back again. My nerves were rattled, the excessive pacing irritating the fuck out of me.
“Kenny,” I barked. “Seriously. Will you stop?”
He glared at me, stopping suddenly. “Are you in, or are you out?”
“It’s not like I have a choice in the matter, now do I?” I had been stupid to think I could just get out of the family business. The only way that would ever happen was if I was buried six feet under. And even then, I had to be careful it didn’t fall on those I loved. This shit was real and sometimes I underestimated my family and what they were capable of.
“I need you to tell me what’s going on,” I said, sitting forward in the chair.
“What do you mean?” he asked, moving to the bar. He poured two tumblers full of amber liquid.
“You know what I mean. The bastards who run this human trafficking shit are dead. This should be over. But we’re all on edge. Something is coming. Something big.”
“It will never be over, my dear sister.” He handed me a glass before leaning against the large cherry oak desk across from me. “The life we lead forces us to constantly be on edge.”
“But it should be better. Shouldn’t it?”
He shrugged. “I will never know.”
“Kenny,” I paused, running my finger over the rim of the glass before clearing my throat. Knowing the answer I would get, I asked anyway, “Are you in on this?”
My brother met my gaze, the muscle beneath his cheek twitching. “I’m a sick fuck. I’ll do anything and hurt anyone in the process as long as I can get to the top. But the fact you’re sitting there, asking me …” He shook his head, his gaze turning deadly. “You should leave.”
He was lying. He may have everyone else fooled but not me. I could read him like a damn book. But I never called him out on it. I knew when to choose my battles and this was not one I was in the mood to be in.
I crossed my leg over the other. “It’s funny because after all this time, I tried denying who I really was.”
“You still deny it,” he muttered, throwing back the rest of his drink.
“Maybe so.” But I knew I had Stone to help me figure this shit out. If only I could get the courage to ask him.
“To answer your question, no, I’m not in on this shit but it doesn’t mean that somewhere long down the line before us, that it wasn’t the case.”
“Our ancestors. Fucking great.”
“You know our family deals with anything.” He went to the bar to pour himself another drink. “I have no idea why you’re surprised.”
“I guess I thought better of our father and grandfather.” I let out a hard sigh. “What do you need with me?”
“There’s someone who needs to be taken out,” was all Kenny said before handing me a manila envelope sealed by our family crest.
“I can’t say no, can I?” I took the package from him and opened it. My eyes moved back and forth over the image and detailed notes along with it. “You have got to be fucking kidding me.”
Kenny grinned. “I don’t joke about this shit.”
“Do you know how cliché this is?” I threw the image and papers at him. “This shit has been done in so many movies. The female assassin gets hired on to kill the man she’s sleeping with.” I rolled my eyes. “Yeah. Because that’s never been done before. Come on, brother dearest, couldn’t you have come up with something more original?”
“Watch the tone, Creena.”
I rose from the chair and headed toward the door. “Fuck you, Kenny. I love you but right now you make me fucking sick.”
“I’ll just have someone else do it. It’s either you or them.”
His words stopped me. “Why?”
“The why isn’t important,” Kenny picked the papers off the floor and placed them in a neat pile on his desk. “I know you like him.”
“You don’t know shit.” We were both taught at a young age that feelings only got you hurt. They made you lose focus and were a distraction. Either way, I didn’t give a shit if Stone distracted me. I needed it. I needed him. He made me feel normal. We were both so fucked up, we took it out on each other.
“Creena,” Kenny said gently.
“No.” I spun on him. “I didn’t join our family business because I had a choice. Daddy wanted to try something different. No one would expect a female hitman. Assassin. Whatever the fuck you want to call me. You had a choice. Not me. Well, now I’m choosing to live my life.”
“You can’t get out that easily.” Kenny feigned a yawn. “You finished having a tantrum?”
“I hate you,” I said through gritted teeth.
“I know. But you’ll get over it. So, you want to choose? Fine. Like I said, it’s either you or the other person I hire. Either way. Someone will kill Stone.”
“Why?” I demanded, not that I would ever get the answer I was looking for. “Did something happen in the past you’re righting the wrongs over? That seems to be the way with you people.”
“Us people are your fucking family,” Kenny boomed, slamming his fist down on top of his desk. “Don’t fucking forget it.”
I should have been scared of him. Maybe even a little nervous. But I didn’t feel any of those emotions. I could push my brother and get away with it. It was a running joke in our family. The head honcho being brought to his knees by his sister.
“You don’t scare me,” I told Kenny only because I knew it would piss him off.
Kenny’s back stiffened, his cheeks turning red. “Like fucking—”
The window shattered suddenly, a pop pop sounding throughout the room. Without even thinking, I charged for Kenny and had him on his back. I shielded him from the flying bullets and smacked the security button under the top of the desk.
“Fuck.” Kenny tilted his head. “Go after him.”
My stomach twisted. “But—”
“Creena,” Kenny demanded. “I’m fine. Go after the bastard and bring me his body.”
I pushed off of him. Once I reached the door, I glanced back at him.
“I’m fine,” he repeated, sitting up before bringing his phone to his ear. “Go,” he told me. “Do what you do best.”
I took a breath and went in search of the unlucky fucker who just tried to kill my brother.