Total pages in book: 116
Estimated words: 110550 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 553(@200wpm)___ 442(@250wpm)___ 369(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 110550 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 553(@200wpm)___ 442(@250wpm)___ 369(@300wpm)
“It’s chess, Kenzie.” Sunny’s words floated to my ears. “You’re not playing the game. You’re playing the person. For some, a few threats will do. For others, a couple stacks of cash. Couple of the hard cores won’t be put down for less than a beating so savage they want to crawl back into their mother’s womb. But for the rest...” Sunny trailed off. The light dimmed behind his eyes. “Enemies like Snyder, Adams, and the leader of the Brotherhood, they’ll never stop coming unless they’re put down for good.”
My grip tightened on the armrest. “Kill them.”
“Depends on who you’re dealing with, but charting their moves from the beginning is everything. To kill a man you could’ve easily persuaded with a bribe or threat just makes you a monster. But threatening a man who should’ve gotten a bullet in his head is how Luca Adams abducts and hurts my girls.”
I laced my fingers through his. “Everyone’s been saying this to me for days, but it’s you who needs to hear it. This wasn’t your fault, Sunny. I didn’t see what Luca was until it was too late. Every time I thought I hit the bottom of his depravity, he proved to be even more vile and barbaric than decent people can comprehend.”
I inclined my head. “But what you’re saying makes a lot of sense. To have both fear and respect isn’t about violence. I’ve met the people in your crew. They know not to cross you, but they also love you.”
“Do they? The bastards forgot my birthday last year.”
Chuckling, I elbowed, then kissed him for lightening the mood. “I’ll need both to survive from here on. Fear and respect.”
“You don’t need those to survive this fight with the Brotherhood, Kenzie,” he said angrily. “Because you’ve always had me.”
Leaning lower, I nuzzle his cheek, peeking the five-story modern brick masterpiece rising on the horizon.
Caddell House.
“That’s not the fight I’m talking about, baby.”
SUNNY OPENED MY DOOR, offering his hand for mine. Lifting my chin, I stepped out wearing the crown jewel of the Kenzie Creations. A diamond-studded knee-length dress. The halter top wrapped around my neck, hiding my collarbone and leaving the scandal for the bare, exposed back. See-through diamond pumps graced my feet, click-clacking on the white-painted steps leading to the double doors.
I remember the days I was forcibly escorted through these doors. It was only shouting that I was pregnant that stopped the overzealous guards from throwing me down the steps. What it didn’t stop them from doing was leaving twin bruises on my arms that didn’t disappear for days.
“The only person you have to worry about inside that building is the rat sewing trackers in our clothes,” Sunny said out of the corner of his mouth. “Everyone else is noise.”
I knew exactly who he was calling noise. Lyla and her crew.
“They’re more than just noise, Sunny. That woman went on a crusade to ruin my life and it worked. It’ll be ten times as hard to find this guy while watching for the knife she’ll plunge in my back.”
“So kill her.”
“Sunny!”
“Beat her up?”
“Sole!”
He shrugged. “Destroy her reputation, get her fired, and cost her everything?”
My glare ratcheted up a thousand.
“Running out of ideas here, baby. That woman needs both a taste of revenge and to stay out of your way this time around. Fear and respect, Kenzie. If you’ve got ideas for dealing with her, kick them in.”
I sighed. Sunny could be extra, but he was always right. I swore I wouldn’t sit back and take it while people fucked up my life. Lyla was going to test that resolve in a big way, so what did I plan to do about it?
“I’ll think of something.” I gestured to the oversized doorknobs. “Let’s do this.”
Stepping inside Caddell House was like entering a high fashion theme park. For a designer, this was the happiest place on earth.
Gorgeous models demurred at us from larger-than-life posters, rocking the most fabulous outfits talent designed. Gold-flecked marble spread out from under the welcome mat, leading to a grand reception desk with three stunning women and a man directing people where to go. Grand staircases the likes of which belonged in a palace led the way up the many floors, making me tilt my head back to the crystal chandeliers—those were new. They caught the light from huge floor-to-ceiling windows—those weren’t new.
The lobby was all sunlight, beauty, and color. The design floors were no less fancy, but the only light pumping through those windowless rooms was artificial. So fierce was the competition between fashion houses in Cinco, Caddell did an entire remodel when a spy was caught on the opposite building, snapping photos of our creations.
Those days and my past in CH flooded my head as Sunny and I bypassed the calling receptionists, heading up the stairs for the creative director’s office. The very room my daughter’s father hid behind his fiancée, tight-lipped like the shameful coward he was while she effectively dumped me for him.