Prologue
YARA
I stood just at the edge of the awning, watching the utter downpour of rain as cars and taxis swerved and screeched - all determined to pick up the arrivals into the city as swiftly as possible. I hadn’t brought an umbrella. Wasn’t even dressed for the rain. It never rained in New Eden. Never.
I wondered what else had changed.
“Yara! Yara, over here!”
A redhead with a chic bob and legs that went on for days strode my way in her five-thousand-dollar rain boots, a brilliant smile on her face. She crossed the last few feet between us with a light jog before wrapping me up in her body. She squeezed and I held her, relieved to have some real kind of human contact. Not just from anyone. But a friend.
She held me at arm’s length, noticing I was off. “Hey...” She murmured, gently. “Hey, you okay?”
“Yeah,” I said, breathlessly. A manicured smile slipped into place. “Long flight, that’s all. And...well...”
“Right, right,” Evie said, squeezing my hand. “It sucks you’re here for...well, let’s get you out of this rain, huh? I’ve got a mug of hot chocolate in the warm car for you.”
“How’s my family?”
“They’re...you know. I’m sure they’re feeling exactly what you are.” Her smile slipped and she whipped me back into a hug. “I’m sorry, Yara. I’m so sorry. Ashe...”
Ashe was the best of us. Smart, bubbly and good. So far removed from the family business. The one destined to get out of New Eden, out of the life.
And now she’d vanished. I’d spent a lifetime preparing myself for the call that one of my brothers had gotten shot by a rival gang or my father assassinated with a bullet to the head.
I could never prepare myself for the disappearance (likely kidnapping) of my innocent, younger sister.
“Hot chocolate sounds great,” I said, tugging out of Evie’s embrace.
She took her cue from me and straightened, pulling me towards her car. The driver opened the door for us and we slid in while Evie rattled off how she burned a whole pot trying to whip up the best hot chocolate for me.
As we pulled away from the airport and onto traffic-laden streets, she watched me with heady blue eyes.
“How long are you staying in town?”
“Until we find her,” I said, settling in the warm seats and blowing lightly on the steaming hot chocolate.
“Good, good,” Evie said, nodding. “But...just so you know...home’s changed a lot since the last time you were here.”
Her gaze shifted out the window as we slipped through Downtown New Eden as if I could see the changes with my own eyes. I saw nothing but memories from the past mingling with memories of now. And even though I was wholly focused on my mission, I couldn’t help but wonder...
Where was Raz this very moment?
-
RAZ
“Please...please—” The begging turned into cries of pain as the man tied to the chair yanked against his restraints, turning his throat raw from the screaming. Kaita, my main enforcer, calmly sliced the third finger off the man’s right hand — using his strength to hold the arm down nice and steady.
His screams turned to winces and whimpers as the severed finger fell with a quiet thud against the stone floors.
I cracked my neck, hands draped over my legs.
“Next words out of your mouth better be the name of the man who employed you,” I said, my voice quiet, cool, and contained. “Or we’ll start on your other hand.”
“No, no, no, please...”
My gaze drifted from the man to Kaita, cleaning up his bloodstained hands even though he was only about to get them dirtied all over again. I hadn’t gotten my hands dirty since I took over. But sitting here was always a challenge. Some dark part of me itched to get in on it. I wanted to be the blade behind the man’s cries. I wanted to scrub the blood off my own hands. I wanted to feel that thrill again, just once...just once...
I clicked my tongue. “Kaita, he’s not a piano player. Let’s see what else he cares about.”
With a knowing smirk, Kaita walked over to the table and withdrew a different blade. He returned to the whimpering man, knelt, and drew a featherlight stroke across the man’s crotch.
I watched his face twist in horror.
“No! I’ll tell you everything, every fucking thing,” he gasped, jerking forward. Spit fell from his lips as he spoke. “Arden. Arden. Henry Arden hired me. Said command came down from his dad, but he was the only one I worked with. Please, please, please.”
A jolt of rage went through me, but all anyone else could see was a slight flutter of my hands on my legs. With an easy exhale, I straightened my sleeves and rose.
“Thank you for your valuable information,” I said, sliding my hands into my pockets. “Looks like I have a visit to make.” I turned on my heel. “Oh. But I can hardly visit a fellow boss without a proper gift.” My gaze shot to Kaita, then up to the man.
Realization pooled on the poor man’s face.
“No. No. You promised! You promised! Please, I told you what I needed to know! I told you—”
I left the room. The rage was so fucking palpable, burning through my veins, that if I didn’t get out of that room immediately, that man wasn’t leaving with his life, much less his dick.
His screams silenced as the door closed behind me.
“Looks like you got an answer,” Jax said, looking me up and down. My younger brother, second-in-command. “Where we headed?”
“The fucking fairytale castle,” I whistled through my teeth, doing my best to keep the anger buried.
Surprise flickered across my brother’s face. “The Ardens? Really?”
“Haven’t seen Joe in a long time,” I said, cracking my neck. “How about we pay him a visit?”
“You sure?”
Jax was the only one who knew the whole story. That my animosity towards the Arden crime family wasn’t just because they were a rival. He knew how long I’d fixated on one particular member of that family, how I did everything in my power to make her mine, and how still, she’d left me for someone else, someone she didn’t even like much less loved. All for her darling, little family. All to prevent a gang war from breaking out in her beloved city.
I could’ve forgiven her. But her betrayal was in vain. The gang war happened anyway. And now...now every time I heard her family name, all I could think about was her husky voice, freckled face, and sparkling smile.
And how none of her would ever be mine.
