Chapter 1
Lia’s POV:
“I’m Dylan and this is my brother Jason” he introduced himself and his brother as he threw a cheeky lopsided smile my way.
I raised an eyebrow at the handsome boy who is currently interrupting my fourteenth birthday lunch with my friend, Mikayla, “and how exactly do you know who I am?” I questioned him.
“Well, we’re Matt’s cousins, of course.” He stated with a devious smirk, and I paled. So, he’s related to the guy that I dated for eight months. He is the cousin of my very first boyfriend.
I softly smiled and bit my lip as I thought about the day that Dylan and I met for the very first time, three years ago. Little did I know at that time that everything would change from there.
“Dylan, cut it out would you.” I growled in irritation at the dumbass standing next to me, who apparently found his amusement in repeatedly poking my ribs. God, I wish he never introduced himself to me a month ago.
Dylan chuckled softly, “I’ll stop if you agree to go out with me after the race” he said smirking, amusement danced in his eyes daring me to say yes.
I scoffed, “This is now the third time that you asked me, and I thought you would’ve figured out by now that my answer will remain the same.”
Dylan bit his lip failing to hide his smile and I knew a smart-ass reply was on its way. His eyes sparked with mischief as he said, “well, you know what they say, third time’s a charm.”
There it was the smart ass reply that compelled me to laugh and agree to a date.
I had to stop myself from laughing out loud at the second memory that played out in my head. I know it’s a stupid one, but that was the moment that forever changed my life. So much has changed throughout the years, if you had told my twelve-year-old self that she would meet a gang member when she’s thirteen, date him for about eight months, meet his cousin on her fourteenth birthday, start dating him two months later and then join a gang, she would’ve laughed in your face and told you to stop doing drugs in sketchy alleyways.
I felt something poke me in my ribs, but I ignored it still being lost in my thoughts with a silly smile plastered across my face. The couch that I was seated on shifted and soon I was being attacked with soft kisses all over my neck and face.
I giggled, finally breaking out of my thoughts, “Babe, what are you doing?” I asked him with a soft chuckle.
He shifted us on the couch so that he was basically laying on top of me and buried his face into my neck. I felt him smiling against my skin as he left small kisses, “I’m bringing your attention back to me, because you zoned out there for a bit” he answered, softly laughing against my skin.
I smiled at him when he pulled back a bit to look at me, “I was thinking.”
He raised an eyebrow, “Oh? Care to share, Princess?” he asked with curiosity.
“Curiosity killed the cat” I answered with a smirk.
“And satisfaction brought it back” He fired back with a cheeky wink.
I rolled my eyes, but the amusement on my face was evident, “I was thinking about the day we met and about the day that I agreed to go on a date with you” I admitted, “It was the smart-ass reply that convinced me to say yes, really” I joked.
He stared at me with so many emotions swimming in his eyes, his face turned serious, and he captured my lips with his in a lingering kiss before he pulled away and softly whispered, “I love you, partner.”
I smiled, my skin burning at his soft touch on my waist, and I whispered back, “I love you too, partner.”
He gave me a boyish grin and one last kiss before standing up and holding his hand out for me. I groaned, not wanting to leave the comfort of the couch, and asked, “where are we going?”
He laughed and shook his head, “Have you forgotten that we have a meeting in fifteen minutes?”
I whined like a little kid, “Do I have to go?” he just laughed and grabbed my hand to pull me up.
“As both the leader and the one who called this meeting, yes, yes you do have to go” he answered with amusement, and I rolled my eyes grabbing my leather jacket from the couch and quickly putting on my high heeled ankle boots.
I sometimes get so caught up in feeling normal around Dylan that I tend to forget that I am not a normal seventeen-year-old that is in a normal relationship with a normal guy. Normal shouldn’t even be in my vocabulary, because absolutely nothing about my life is normal. I am literally living two lives, like a messed-up version of Hannah Montana.
My family doesn’t know about any of the gang related stuff in my life. They don’t know that their seventeen-year-old daughter and sister is a leader of a gang, undefeated street and drag racer and girlfriend of a gang member. They don’t know that my street name brings a rush of fear to thousands of grown ass men when they hear it. I’m just a normal high school girl to them. I’m just their daughter and little sister, and honestly, I fear for the day that they find out the truth about me.
By the time I pull myself from my train of thoughts the car comes to a stop at our base where we normally have our meetings. Dylan stops me before I can open the car door and I turn to look at the Spanish boy with a raised eyebrow.
“What?” I ask with curiosity, and he stares at me intently.
“You ready for this?” he asks, a smile finally stretching across his face to break the seriousness of the moment. Dylan is the only one who knows how heavy it is on me to juggle both my private life and gang life, but just like me, he also knows there’s no turning back.
I give him my famous smirk and wink at him, “My Love, I was born ready.”
I heard him chuckle at me as I close the car door behind me and let the crisp night air embrace my body. I start walking towards the entrance of the building and take a deep breath before entering the code at the door and walking in.
I turn a few corners and walk into the boardroom of our base. My team sits around the table, patiently waiting for us to arrive, they all stand up as a sign of respect and bow their heads when they notice me. I go to stand at the head of the table and look at them, while Dylan joins the rest of them standing next to Matt.
These boys started off as mere strangers to me, but now, now I can’t imagine life without them in it, they’re my chosen family. I swore my loyalty to them and my life along with it. I wouldn’t even think twice before jumping in front of a bullet if it meant they would live.
Matt is on my right-hand side, a place specifically assigned to him. His role in the gang is as my second in command. I would never make a decision without his opinion on the matter. He’s my extra set of brains when mine isn’t enough. His cold exterior, yet warm heart, black bed-head hair, forest green eyes, and street fighter body has all the girls swooning and all the men intimidated.
Across from Matt we have Caleb. He’s my tech guy, this boy can hack into basically everything, which works out perfectly for me, because he always disarms our security system at home, allowing me to sneak in and out of the house. He’s my best friend in the gang, always up for causing mischief with Jason and myself. Caleb has mastered the whole innocent act, with his brown almost black hair, brown doe eyes and charming smile, but innocent would be the last word that I would use to describe him. He might be our tech guy, but he is the best assassin that I have.
Next to Caleb we have Jason. Oh, sweet, sweet, Jason. He’s a fucking idiot. Jason is our fighter; he has literally never lost a fight. I don’t even know how this is possible, because I swear, he’s just an overgrown toddler. I love him so much and he never fails to entertain me, but oh man, I feel sorry for the guys who are forced to live with him. He’s a spitting image of his brother with his jet-black hair, emerald eyes, cocky smirk, and tan skin, but personality wise you would never say that he’s a year older than Dylan, much less that the two of them are related.
And then last, but most definitely not least, next to Matt we have Dylan. Dylan is our eyes and ears. He knows about everything that goes on in the community, the group of racers that participates in our races and fighters that participate in our fights, and he knows every move being made by our rivals. His messy jet-black hair, icy emerald eyes, built body, and cocky smirk can have you quivering in fear when you end up on his wrong side.
I smirked at the gang, and we all sat down, “So boys, let’s get down to business, shall we?” I said and just like that I let the gang leader inside me, who’s feared by many and envied by plenty, come out to play.
