Hazel POV
“Come here, darlin’”, I hear a man call out to me. I shake my head slightly, but I walk to him. I know better than to cause a scene in this kind of environment. I know better than to disobey the man in these meetings, they are all dangerous, and although I like to live dangerously, I still like actually to live.
I walk to him slowly, and he places both his hands on my hips, making me gag. I close my eyes, trying to avoid a scene of me puking all over him. His hands feel wrong touching me. The cute guy, all of a sudden, stands up with a gun in hand, and I try my best not to gasp in horror. It’s not that I have never seen a gun before, because I have, but no one has ever pointed at someone to defend me. “Our present has arrived, gentleman”, the guy says, and I swallow my tears and the bile that has risen from my stomach into my mouth.
“Leave”, he says with the most dangerous tone I have ever heard in my life. His entire body is positioned in the way of power. I nod my head, and when I start turning to leave, the guy behind me pulls me to sit on his lap. I feel the tears threatening again as memories from my past start to come back. I want to avoid them because this is not the place to remember the most traumatic event of my life.
“Someone should fucking teach you some manners on how to treat a woman”, The guy says, and I mouth a small thank you, but his eyes are not on me. They are on the guy behind me, placing his hands on my legs. My eyes are wide, and I feel like I could pass out any second with the horror of being touched without my consent. I might be tough, and I might be mouthy, but I am scared too.
“Are you going to be the one to teach me a lesson, boy?” he asks, and the guy takes one step closer, his eyes moving to me as he points the gun at his face.
“Might be. I said to leave”, he says, looking at me with such intensity that it wakes up all over my body, making my hairs stand. The guy lifts his hands up from my body, and I walk out. I walk without looking back, biting my lower lip to try and avoid crying. What did he mean I was the present? Did Pavlov send me to be raped and used by all those men?
I get back into the car and sit quietly in the back. I put my seat belt on and look out the window. I am biting my tongue to stop myself from crying. I knew that there was more to this trip than Pavlov let on. He was going to make me fuck those guys there. I was their present. Theirs to share. I feel anger bubbling up inside of me. I feel like I am about to explode. That fucking asshole.
“You’re very quiet”, Gorilla B says and I just nod my head as he looks at me. I can see he is looking back at me. He then looks at his friend and shrugs his shoulder. When we reach the hotel again, I walk inside without looking back. Inside the elevator, Gorilla, A looks at me. “Cat got your tongue?” he asks, and I don’t know where all my anger came from.
I smash my fists into his chest. He watches me as I scream and slam my hands against him, trying to get my frustration and my anger out of my system. Gorilla B pressed the stop button, and I rested my back against the wall as I felt the tears streaming down my face.
“Are you okay?” Gorilla B asks, and I nod my head as I take deep breaths trying to steady myself. He puts a finger under my chin, forcing me to look at him.
“What happened in there?” he asks, and I shake my head, cleaning the tears from my face with the back of my hand.
“Nothing, I want to go home”, I say. They both look at me weirdly as they drive me to the hotel. I go straight to the room as we arrive, followed by them. As I am about to close the door, A stops with his hand. I take one step back. I don’t need this. I close my eyes, waiting for the impact, waiting for him to grab me and have his way with me.
“Hey, what happened in there?” he asks as he puts one hand under my chin. I look him in the eye, and I can see kindness. I can see he is not going to hurt me. B walks into the room, closing the door behind him as he crosses his arms in front of his chest.
“They… Your boss, he….” I can’t find the words, and as if realisation hit them in the face, they both take one step closer to me and wrap me between their arms. They feel warm and comfortable. They feel at home, and I allow, for the first time in years, to cry about my past and about my present. I allow myself to feel complete. I sob between their massive bodies as they both stroke my back. When I stop and pull away, A pulls a face.
“You look ugly, and you better get that sorted”, he says, pointing at my face. I giggle a little, clearing the mascara that has melted down my face with the back of my hand. “I’m Angel, and he’s Derick”, A says, and I nod my head.
“I kind of prefer the names I gave to you in my head”, I let out, taking my shoes off. They both look at me, frowning as if asking what I had baptised them in my head.
“Gorilla A and B”, I say, pointing at them. They both look at each other and then look at me in shock. They shake their heads.
“Get comfortable for dinner. We have a table booked in the restaurant in two hours”, A, I mean Angel, says. I nod my head before both guys leave the room. I stand in the middle of the room with my hands on my waist, looking around. I look in the mirror with horror at my image. I decide a shower is a way to go. When I am done, I get dressed in Denim jeans and a white top. I look out of the window, and it’s dark and raining. A proper winter day.
I go downstairs to the restaurant, and when I arrive, the guys are already there, still in their black suits but without their ties. “Dressing casual, I see”, I say as I sit in front of them and they both smile, shrugging. The waitress brings the menu, and we order some drinks when Angel starts talking. I have to say I got them both wrong. They both look tough and evil, but they are really nice guys. I could get used to them.
“So, how did you get involved in all of this?” Derick asks, and I shrug as I shove a green olive onto my mouth before taking a sip of my martini.
“My mom is sick, and I needed the money”, I say, trying to dismiss it, and they both nod their heads. “What about you?” I ask, and they both look at each other.
“Pavlov is my brother”, Angel says, and I open my eyes widely. What the actual hell?
“Really? You two look nothing alike”, I say, and to be fair, they behave nothing alike.
“What can I say? I got the good DNA”, he says as he chuckles. I nod my head as we keep chatting, and they actually make me laugh.
I am caught by surprise when I look up and see those beautiful green eyes watching me. Without hesitation, Angel and Derick stand up, and I follow them, resting one hand on each of their arms. They both look at me, keeping their hands inside their jackets while the man stands in front of us with his hands in his pants pockets.
“Are you okay?” he asks, looking between the three of us, and all I manage to do is nod my head. “Thank you”, I say, and he nods his head as he keeps his eyes trained on Angel. It is like they are both ready to pounce on each other and fight to the death.
“Would you like to join us?” I ask stupidly, and Angel shakes his head, looking at the man. He shakes his head and takes one step back. “I don’t want any trouble. I just wanted to make sure that the bastard didn’t hurt you”, he says, and Angel looks at me frowning and then back at the guy.
“Thanks to you, he didn’t”, I say, and he nods his head.
“Okay then, I’ll leave you to it”, he says as he turns around to leave.
“What’s your name?” I ask awkwardly, and he turns to face me as if in shock. He looks at the boys and then back at me.
“They know”, he says, and they both keep their eyes on him.
“I’m Hazel”, I let out, and he nods his head.
“Stay out of trouble, Hazel. I might not always be around”, he says as he walks away, and I am left speechless watching him walk away. His ass is perfection, and I swear I could smack my hand and break it. I lick my lips sitting back down, and Angel grabs my hand forcing me to look at him.
“Stay away from the Irish. My brother won’t like to know you have something with one of them”, he says, and I nod my head. I am losing the courage to ask the stranger’s name.
“What is his name?” I ask, looking between them, and they keep their mouths shut and go back to the quiet and inquisitive guys they were before. Freaking great.
Elliot POV“What’s your name?”, She asks as I watch her. She is comfortable around them. I close my hands into fists inside my pockets as I try to control myself and not pull her away from them and take her to my room. I watch as they behave protectively over her, they are definitely her bodyguard. I just would like to know who she is in their hierarchy. Who she belongs to. I know I am playing a fucking dangerous game.“They know”, I tell her as I notice both men watching her again. As if they are scared she will say or do something incriminating. “I’m Hazel”, she says with the sweetest voice I have ever heard. She looks at me with very ints eyes, and I swear she wants me to stay with them, I know she asked me to join them, but I wouldn’t be able to. I can’t fraternise with the fucking enemy, even though both my mates are married to women from different factions. “Stay out of trouble Hazel, I might not always be around”, I say, I walk away before she even has time to reply. I decide
Hazel POV“Hey, mom”, I say as I kiss the top of her head. She opens her eyes slowly and offers me a small smile.“Hello, love”, she says as she tries to sit up on the bed. I help her up, pressing the button to raise the head of the bed, and she smiles, pulling the blanket higher.“How are you feeling?”, I ask as I pull out the carton of orange juice from the plastic bag and some cupcakes. Mom smiles, watching me. I pour some juice into the plastic cup for her, and she grabs it with shaky hands.“I am tired”, she says, leaning back on the bed and resting her head against the pillow. I sit at the end of the bed and watch as she forces herself to keep her eyes open. “Mom, you should rest”, I say, and she shakes her head, watching me. She offers me her hand, and I take it. Her skin is pale and cold. I stand up, grab another blanket from the end of the bed and cover her. She smiles, thanking me. “How was work?” she asks, and I smile. It’s not every day that I have a good day at the dine
Elliot POV“If she is worth it, we will make it happen” keeps playing in my head. I decide I need to find out of she is worth it. I walk into my office, and I sit behind my desk as I start typing away on my desktop. I look between the three shared screens in front of me at the information I start retrieving. I can’t find Hazel anywhere. I put the information from the hospital on the search, her connection to the Russians. I have been searching for hours, and frustration takes over as I move my hand throwing all the contents from my desk on the floor, leaving only my desktop there.I stand up, passing my hands through my hair as I walk to the window of my penthouse. I cross my arms in front of my chest as I watch people crossing the road to head to central park. I close my eyes momentarily as I take a deep breath. I walk to the bar area I have in my house and pour myself a tumbler of whiskey, and go back
Hazel POVI smack my hand on the alarm clock which is loud with music waking me up. “I hate you”, I let out as I stand up and look at the time, it’s only five in the morning and I am already hating life. But to be fair I hate life before coffee anyway.I put my slippers and robe on and walk to the kitchen. It’s very old inside my house because the air con is broken and I don’t have the money to fix it. I make my coffee and rest with my hip against the kitchen sink as I sip on it slowly. My hands were around the mug trying to warm them up. Has been snowing lately and that makes my life harder. Usually, the snow only comes closer to Christmas but this year has come earlier.After getting myself ready I walk carefully through the streets. “Hey Hazel, a little early to be walking around alone”, One of my neighbours say and I nod
Elliot POV "This is really delicious, and I guess I'll have to come in every day for this", I say after eating some of the food in front of me. Hazel laughs slightly and I smile watching her. Her laugh is melodic, pure and innocent. She looks beautiful when she smiles, casual and unconcerned. She looks like an angel. "And then you will lose your perfect figure and end up a fatty like Joe here", She says and I look at her understanding perfectly well what she said, she was checking me out just like I have been checking her out. I feel my cock twitching at the thought of her watching me undress. I push away those thoughts as I adjust myself without letting on. "Don't worry, I tend to exercise a lot more if I come to have breakfast here every day. Maybe you could help me out", I say before shoving some pancakes into my mouth to shut me up before I tell her I want to
Hazel POV“What time do you finish work?”, He asks, and I look him in the eyes.“Three”, I say, and he nods his head, looking at his watch.“I’ll see you at three”, he says, leaving fifty dollars next to his coffee and walking out as he puts his jacket back on. I think my brain just stopped working as he did that, and when I look at the money, I frown. He left more than sixty per cent tip. I raise an eyebrow and put the money in my pocket, making a mental note to give him some money back if he ever shows up at three.“Hey Hazel, can you work an extra hour?”, Caroline asks. I shake my head, telling her I can’t. “I am sorry, I am meeting someone when I finish”, I let out, and she frowns, looking at me. This was the first time I had ever told her no to an extra shift.
Elliot POV I drive as fast as I can without getting attention over my driving. The last thing I need is to be stopped by the police right now. I was late to pick up Hazel, and when I got there, she was fucking gone. Obviously, this is all my fault. I should’ve driven and gone straight to pick her up, but no. I stop my car a few meters away from where I see the police and the ambulance. They have found the body already. Great. I can see Hazel talking to a tall Hispanic guy. I frown as I watch him cry. He is the husband. I know that. “I didn’t call her”, I hear Hazel say, her voice trembling, and so are her hands as she grabs her phone to show to the police. I recognise him. He is one of the ones that are on our payslip. He does some dirty work for us when we don’t have time to do it ourselves. He is our rat inside the NYPD. “Miss, can you show us your phone?”, he asks. I wrap my arms around her body from behind, and when his eyes meet mine, he understands she is off limits. She lo
Hazel POV The house Elliot takes me to is luxurious, and he holds my hand and leads me to the back of the house, where there’s a massive swimming pool. I have never had the chance to swim in a place like this. The pool house is so warm it feels almost tropical. Elliot turns to me and starts undoing my coat. “It's very warm in here, even the water,” he murmurs as he presses a kiss to my lips and slips my coat off. Elliot pulls his T-shirt over his head, revealing an incredible dragon tattooed on his chest. I can’t help but trace a finger along it, and I trail the loops of the beast’s tail along his hard-muscled skin. The dragon’s tail goes around his side and over his back. This man is magnificent. I can see how broad his shoulders are, and his chest tapers down to a narrow waist and hips. I can’t take my eyes off him, and my tongue edges out to lick my lips as he unbuttons his jeans and they slip to the floor. Elliot looks up at me, his brow raised and a quir