“It’s late, baby. You ready for bed?” I turn to watch Caitlin swipe her tongue across her swollen lips. I have to admit that after the deep shit she told me, I thought she would start begging me for more information that brought her out here in the first place. She never said a word. Instead, my naughty Hollywood poked her head out, and she wanted to play. And play we did.

Caitlin also let some secrets spill herself, but they’re the only kind that made me smile wide and form a new plan. It appears Brick and her went on a little adventure while I was gone. He took her on a tour to see all of my cars.

She loved them all, but for some reason, my 1968 Camaro, the same one Curtis drove when he went to see her mom at the hospital, is her favorite. This motherfucker is staying parked right here for the rest of my life. No way in hell is anyone getting behind this wheel again. Unless it’s me.

“You might want to tuck your cock back into your pants first. You never know if someone is up.”

I fucking doubt it. Brick could sleep through anything, and her mom sleeps heavily, since she’s still healing. Although, Caitlin may have a point, since this is the first night her mother will be sleeping alone.

It fucking pains me to tuck my dick back into my jeans after that blowjob. The woman can suck a cock unlike any other. I’ve never wanted to blow my load and dirty up someone’s mouth as fast as I do when she wraps those lips around me. It’s a dangerous type of poison. Christ.

“Let’s go.” I kiss her one last time. Hard and fast. Her greedy little mouth doesn’t need a bit of coaxing when it opens up wide for my tongue to jut out and suck hers into my mouth.

“I’m going to check on Mom first; then I’ll meet you in your bed.” She steps back and winks.

I shut off the lights, lock the door, and spin on her, grab her by the belt loop of her jeans and yank her to me.

“What the fuck did I tell you about the word ‘ours’?” I growl. “Warned you once, Hollywood. All of this is ours; there’s no fucking mine. Your ass is permanently living here. When shit blows, you can do whatever the fuck you want. Set up an office in town or live off of me. You get me?”

It’s dark as fuck out here, but I can see her eyes flaming bright and sense a smile spreading across her beautiful face.

“Whatever you say, Katch.” She reaches down, palming my cock. “No mistaking, though, buddy, this dick is all mine.”

“I should bend you over and fuck that little whatever right out of your vocabulary.” I’m only half joking, thinking it would be the perfect plan.

“Admit it. This dick is mine.”

I answer her with a punishing kiss that leaves her breathless and without a doubt who my dick belongs to.

“Please tell me you turned the security on when you came out here,” I ask her when I lift my head toward the dark house. “You know, I should beat your ass for traipsing out here to my shop without any protection. Good thing your tits distracted me.”

She cringes and then tries smooth-talking her way out of it. “Shit, I can’t remember that stupid-ass long code for nothing. I mean, seriously, who has a fucking ten-digit code of nonsense?”

“Someone who wants to be fucking safe.” I slap her ass. “Gotta keep that shit straight, Hollywood. No excuses.”

“I need a set of numbers that make sense to me.”

I let it go this time, knowing Brick is on guard in the house, but the topic isn’t anywhere close to being finished. I had a security system designed specifically for this house. It’s precision at its best with highly integrated state-of-the-art technology. When it’s armed, it sends a signal to my phone at the slightest hint of an intruder.

It’s always armed, or at least it was when it was just me. In my line of work, there’s no room for error. The consequence is death.

“You’ll fucking remember the numbers. No excuse.” I open the door to the house and am only gently reassured by the fact Brick is one of the meanest motherfuckers I know even if he’s sleeping.

I step inside before her, flick on the light, and before my eyes can adjust, I am brought down to my knees. My ears ring. Another blunt force strikes the back of my head. The pain is fucking real but nothing new to me. I force myself to gain some sort of bearing but find it difficult when a punch lands right in the middle of my back.

“Get the fuck off me.” I finally find my voice, but it’s too late, because I’m struck again and lose my breath. That one fucking hurt real good. I find my voice and roar at Caitlin.

“Caitlin, run! Goddamn it. Go!” There’s only one reason why someone would break in here: they came for her and her mother.

I try and lift this heavy fucker off me by jerking one arm free from his hold, but my foggy brain isn’t letting me. It’s crossed between saving her and fighting this big son of a bitch off with all I have, but it’s not enough; the cunt has the upper hand. I feel the cold steel hit my wrist, hear the click of a cuff, and the rage begins to boil inside me with the awareness that she’ll be killed if he binds me down. I need to clear my head and focus.

“You are going to die, motherfucker!” I yell so loudly that I barely hear the whimpering coming from all angles. Her mom is sitting at the table with her hands and legs tied in chains. Her watery eyes enlarged.

I can’t move my legs. My free arm is clawing to reach this twisted fuck. I make contact and hear a grunt, and yet with my limited mobility, he still has my body at an odd angle as he tries to pin me to the floor. I’m able to sink a finger knuckle deep in his eye socket. The fucker stumbles off me, crying like a bitch and holding his face. It gives me just enough time to sit up on my knees. I’m going to kill him.

Lifting my leg, I nail the bastard square in his balls. He drops to the floor, and I watch as Caitlin steps up behind and nails him in the head with the baseball bat I keep behind the door. Blood splatters in all directions. A pussified scream leaves his throat before he crashes to the floor.

“Good girl,” I whisper. “Now, move, call Curtis now.”

My voice is harsh and desperate. Being a prisoner in my own house is something I’m not fucking okay with at all. She has her burner phone flipped open and dialing Curtis, while I try and push up from the floor at the same time trying to free myself from the restraints around my ankles. No wonder I couldn’t move. Fucker is quick, but he’s an amateur. I sure in the fuck hope Caitlin didn’t finish him off. It would be a shame, because I have some plans ready for the cunt.

A clattering noise gets my attention, and I look up to see Louisa with panicked eyes throwing her head to the right. A gunshot rings throughout the house. Confusion clouds my mind when I see no blood on her. Someone else is in the house. Brick. Goddamn it, no.

“You are a hard lady to find, princess.” It’s Vince.

He raises the gun, pulls the trigger, and with no hesitation at all, shoots me. My stomach is on fire.

Caitlin screams. I glance up to her to see the phone still clutched in her hands.

“Run,” I fight to whisper through the blood gurgling in the back of my throat. I fall forward onto my stomach. The warm blood is coating my fingers; my eyes blur as the pain rips through my entire body and awareness that I’ve been shot hits my brain. I have just enough energy left to snake my hand between the wound and the floor to stop some of the bleeding, but there’s too much and little time. He shot me in the stomach.

I can barely keep my eyes open, but I refuse to fucking let my story end this way. “Baby, you have to get the hell out of here,” I try to say. Hell, I’m losing the blood that flows to my brain to even notice if I’m talking to myself or being heard. Focus, Sterling, find her and make her understand she has to save herself.

Shiny metal flashes before my eyes. Vince is swinging his gun toward Caitlin.

“Caitlin Winslow. Prettiest bitch I’ve ever seen.” I lie there in a pool of my own blood and watch him walk up to her. She’s numb. “You know, your daddy’s biggest regret was never tasting that pretty pussy.” Jesus Christ. She can’t learn her mother’s secret this way. She’ll go dark, and then he’ll win. Clarence will defeat her from his grave.

“You sick fuck,” Caitlin screams. “Katch. Oh, my God. Help is on the way, honey. Please hang on. Get the fuck out, Vince, now. Brick!” she screams. It’s either me, or she’s right on the edge of losing it. My mind is scattered as I fight to stay alert, to keep my eyes on the woman who made me want to be a better man. It’s a losing battle on my part. I’m losing too much blood. It’s in the back of my throat, hot liquid burning and refusing to let me tell her the one thing she deserves to hear. “I love you.”

“See, pretty girl”—he’s now inches from her face, and I’m fighting to remain conscious—“your daddy was a horrible man. He told me he’d never molest his own child, but the day he found out you weren’t his, he had to fucking fight hard not to fill your pussy. God, he wanted you. We all did. I still do.” No. Jesus, don’t touch her.

“I don’t know what kind of game you’re playing here, but I’m not interested,” Caitlin spits in his face. I notice the phone is still open, and I only fucking pray Curtis is listening and his ass is on his way here.

“No game. Ask your little mother over there. She’ll tell you.” He notches his head in Louisa’s direction. I can’t tell if she looks at her mother or not. All I know for sure is, my woman is on her own here. There isn’t a damn thing I can do to help her.

“You’re a liar. You killed him, and I should thank you for wiping that scum off this earth.” I’m proud of her for standing tall, but damn it, he’s crazy with his threats. He’s going to torture her.

I blink back the urge to close my eyes as I lie here and watch him react fast by grabbing her throat and lifting her off the floor. I see red with a surge of adrenaline beginning to course through me even though my body is fighting to die. I fight with the hand not pressed to my wound and reach to the back of my jeans until my hand grips ahold of my gun, but it takes me several long moments to clutch it and move it forward.

When I look back to Vince, he’s dragging Caitlin by the throat toward me.

“Loverboy here is trying to save the day. Not going to happen.” Vince kicks the pistol out of my hand in one swift motion. “He’s going to watch me fuck every single hole of yours, then you’re all getting bullets in your heads.”

Caitlin’s flailing legs start to lose steam as he continues to spew his venom. “Keep your eyes on me,” I mutter. Shit, all the blood is draining from her face. The phone falls from her hand. She’s fighting for air, clawing at his hands, but he doesn’t budge. I won’t have the desire to try and survive if anything happens to her.

“I had Clarence convinced to let his old lady live. We were thriving. On top of the fucking world, raking in the greens until you fucks came in and killed him.”

He releases Caitlin’s neck, grabs a chunk of her hair, ripping her face to the side. “Didn’t know you had it in you to kill him. You’ve been his fucking pawn in this cat-and-mouse game. Always listening to everything he said. Stayed away from his troubles when all along you were waiting to take him out. Well played, bitch.”

“I didn’t kill him,” she gasps out.

“Bullshit. Nobody else hated him like you did.” He leans in, dragging his tongue up her jawline. “I’m not that fucking dumb, sweetie. You ruined every fucking thing. We were the kingpins selling drugs to everyone from doctors, CEOs, to fucking hookers on the corner. When Clarence died, our main seller didn’t trust anyone. He knew shit would run uphill and not down as it should have. You fucks ruined it all. Did you have your badass biker here kill your daddy, Caitlin? Wait, he really isn’t your father, is he? Maybe you knew it. Maybe that’s why you waited so long to kill him. He taught you how to be greedy, how to lie. Am I right, princess?”

Vince’s boot lands on my right cheek, followed by his evil laugh.

“The only way to get redemption is to punish your lot of people for ruining what I had. You took Clarence’s life, so now this is my fucking reward.”

“I didn’t kill him,” Caitlin pleads one more time. She is so distraught that what he’s saying about Clarence not being her father isn’t registering.

“This isn’t a courtroom, sweetheart. You don’t have to lie to me to try and save your ass. You’re already guilty. It’s time to be sentenced.” He backhands her so hard she loses her balance; her head hits the side of the counter. I’m dying here, and it’s not from the bullet; it’s from watching her try and claw her way up to stand.

“The biker on the couch is down. Your fuck toy is down. Your momma is all tied up and getting wet for me now, but, pretty Caitlin, I’m starting with you first.”

Vince trails his hand down her chest and rips her shirt wide open. I’m a dead man.

He looks down at me, his eyes glazed over with the desire to kill. “Don’t die on me, fucker. The fun is just beginning.”