KIAN
It’s supposed to be four boring years of wasting my time taking courses that I already know more of than the professors teaching them but both our dads insist that Laurent and I need to provide a university certificate to take over the conglomerate. Yet, as soon as I enter the double doors, my eyes locate her on instinct, sitting amidst people who don’t hold a light to her glow. Fake. I find myself spitting the word in my mind before I can process what I mean but I know just fine. I don’t need to be a psychologist to know the confident look she wears is just a façade, one she pulls off effortlessly well. I’ve never seen brown skin glow the way hers did. Her locs make her stand out with all the accessories in them and they are calling on me to tug on them harshly as I watch her small pouty lips open in a silent moan, begging me to take control of her body. Her eyes meet mine and her mouth falls open. I have to look away because of the surge of pleasure that courses through me at the helpless, innocent look on her face. Nobody else matters at the moment, just her. I want her even though she is fake. I want to taint that innocence behind her doe eye. This is a first for me. “Man, I hate being here already,” Mason says with a sadistic grin that contradicts his words, his eyes scanning the crowd like a predator searching for prey. “Cut it out. You better behave yourself, Mase, I’m not cleaning your mess again” Laurent warns cooly from beside me in his usual bored tone, already seeing the wheels turning in Mason’s head. “I never make trouble” he winks and I roll my eyes. “What’s your boy doing over there?” I ask Laurent when I see the person he supposedly owns sitting with the girl who has my interest. “He’s free to do whatever as long as he doesn’t misbehave” He picks up his phone to send a message to his ‘princess’ “Hmmm. Tell him to tell you, her name. The one with the locs” “What do I get in return?” The thing about us Bastons is nothing is ever done for free even between brothers or cousins. That’s the way it has always been and it won’t change. “I’ll give you the paper company in Switzerland. The one you’ve always wanted” I bargain immediately without missing a beat. She’s worth it. I know it. “Alora Jones,” he says after a few seconds. “You should leave her alone. That one is already damaged” I glare at him for his choice of words but it doesn’t surprise me that he sees her façade as well. We were trained to see beneath the surface of the people around us. It’s etched into our blood. “She isn’t damaged. Don’t use that word again” I warn lightly and Laurent knows better than to push the subject “She interests me” My eyes would not stray away from her, not that I give a fuck. She is a stunning sight to behold. “Do these old men have to be so extra? I can count at least ten guards disguised as students” Mason motions to the class. “Deal with it. It’s not like it’s new” Laurent dismisses him but I don’t pay attention to them, I lean forward in my seat as Brielle approaches her and begins to make trouble for my butterfly. My eyes find her hands clenched but trembling. The sight makes me smile if you can call the little twitch at the corner of my lips that. She looks calm and unbothered but inside, there is a raging storm. I want to ruin her. The class passes by in a blur and we walk outside the building to get away from the bees buzzing around us. We find ourselves under a tree, far from the chatter of the students and a view of the cafeteria. My little butterfly walks in and I pretend not to see her as she settles down with her friends. She finds me almost immediately and I can feel her eyes on me as she watches me but I don’t turn because I want to see what she will do. “I hate this school” Mason whines and I take a drag of the weed in my hands, letting the familiar burn drag through my body. “You are getting annoying with these complaints, Richards” Laurent warns slowly, using Mason’s last name. “We are being called” Laurent waves his phone to my face, ignoring Laurent and I see a message from his old man asking us to come to the HQ, emergency in bold fucking letters. Subconsciously, I let my eyes find hers again and she jumped back in shock. A smirk appears on my lips and she flinches back from shock. I watch her, amused as she grabs her bags and runs out of the place as if she senses danger. “Let's go, Kian. Leave your obsession for later” Laurent hangs his bags out and a guard appears from thin air to grab it from him. I leave mine on the floor along with Mason’s, certain someone will get it. We head for our cars, separately. We never ride together or even fly together. “Heirs can't be together in one plane or car. Anything could go wrong and one has to survive” I still remember Emerson, my old man drilling it into my brain. My phone dings with a new notification from our group chat consisting of just the three of us Mason: What do you think they want? Laurent: Someone probably caused trouble. Kian: I would hate to get my hands bloody today Laurent: You never get your hands bloody Mason: I'm rock-hard already at the thought of bashing some skulls open Kian: Keep your sick tendencies to yourself Mason: that's all Laurent. You legit own a human being Laurent: keep his name out of your mouth. Kian: Mason, do you want broken bones again? Mason: Man, don't go there. I only tried to touch him once. Laurent's a psycho. He's too possessive over the damn boy Laurent: That’s it. Your house in the Hamptons is on fire. You'll receive a call soon. Mason: Shit, Laurent. Not that one. It's my favorite Laurent: I know. Mason: Kian, you can't keep quiet now bro. Oh shit, my phone’s ringing. Fuck you, Laurent. Laurent: You wish. You're welcome by the way “Sir, we've arrived” The driver announces from the front seat. I chuckle before shutting my phone off and stepping out of the car. “A fucking explosive, really Laurent?” Mason grits out as he paces in front of Laurent. He should have known better than to get involved in Laurent and Harvey’s shit. It's a no-crossing boundary even for me. “You don't talk about my boy and I don't do shit to you” Laurent waves him off and makes his way into the building. “Get it fixed before your old man hears” I pat Mason’s back as I pass him. “Oh man.” he whips out his phone and makes a few calls. “It'll be done in two days” he mutters We fall quiet as we ride the elevator to the top floor. We pass a security check before we are let into the room. Relatives or not, there is no room for trusting anyone. I trust Laurent and Mason with my life but I’ll never say it out. Emerson and Isaiah Baston are sitting side by side on a couch in the large office, a frown mirroring both faces. First glance at them, you’ll think they are twins but with a closer inspection, you can see the differences. Emerson has grey eyes which I inherited and Isaiah has blue eyes like Laurent. Isaiah is taller but my dad is more muscular. Both men, however, were men of little words and cunning as hell. Jacob Richards steps into the room shortly. He has an intimidating build even for someone like me who never gets intimidated. For Jacob, men in our line of work must look deadly after all, he makes arms for the military. Mason is exactly like his father, hot-headed and with a love for violence. While Laurent and I don’t like to get our hands dirty, Mason has no problem dismembering a body with his bare hands and a pocket knife. Don’t ask me how he does it. I may be exaggerating. Richard places a file on the table and takes a seat opposite my dad and uncle. “Take it” Isaiah commands and Mason collects the file and reads through it. “We are going hunting” he announces with glee in his golden eyes. I always thought they made him look like a venomous snake when he smiled like that. “Who?” I ask, leaning against the wall as we are yet to sit since we were not offered any. “Kevin Adams. Stole a truckload of cocaine and money” He answers still smiling as he flips through the file again. “Seems he's tired of living” Laurent comments and I nod in agreement. I thought people knew better than to steal from us. “Maybe, but it's not a job for you three. There are already rumours flying around that we are entangled with the mafia. We don't need to prove those rumours to be true” Emerson says with a hard glare in our direction “Then why are you telling us this information if we aren't going after the man?” Laurent scoffs “Watch it, young man. You are not above a little discipline” My dad warns. “Laurent’s right though. If we are not getting involved, why pull us from school?” I press further with a neutral tone. “You three will be taking over soon so we've decided to let you in on every single thing that happens” Jacob speaks up. “Let's do it. We’ll be discreet. I'm fucking bored anyways” Mason whines. Everyone knows Mason doesn't do discreet. “He’s right. Let's handle this” Laurent supports. “We'll make it quiet like you want. No witnesses” I propose, knowing I have no choice now than to back them up. “I trust Kian. He's more level-headed than these two” Isaac says to my father and Jacob “If he is with them, we can expect them to handle it well” “Tonight. No side stories” My father pins me with a hard glare and I give him a curt nod in response before the three of us step out of the office. The three of us enter the elevator we just exited and I let it close before I talk. “Mason, alert the guys. We need to take care of him somewhere hidden but open. Maybe an alley?” I instruct. “Why an alley? That's a very tacky location” Laurent interrupts. “Don’t you like the idea of him thinking he can call out for help to the people passing by as we rip him to shreds? I'm in the mood to play with my food” “And they say you're the levelheaded one” Mason snorts.ALORA I stumble with ragged breaths into my apartment after spending an absurd amount of time trying to get the keys into the lock as my hands are unstable and my palms, sweaty. Everything is so disoriented that I can barely focus on the space in front of me. It’s a miracle that I could drive home without getting into an accident as my anxiety was through the roof and I drove like a drunk teenager. I throw my things on the bed, including my phone not giving a fuck after it bounces on the bed and hits the floor with a loud thud. I can always buy a new phone but never a new mind if it breaks now. I race towards the drawer beside my bed and use the key to open the locked compartment. I pick up the syringe and the bottle but freeze when I remember that I took a dosage yesterday before bed and couldn’t take another. It’ll be too risky. I dump the items back into the drawer and shut it with the key. My legs are shaky because I am in a dire situation. I don’t know what else to do an
ALORAI pick myself off the floor minutes later. I still feel disoriented so I decide to take the regular anxiety pills I have. I walk back to my bedroom on shaky legs. I eye the locked compartment and my hands itch to take that instead.I keep my body pressed against the wall to fight the urge before I enter my walk-in closet instead to pick the drugs. I haven’t had the need to take the ever since I tossed them there when I was arranging my things a few days back.I can still remember the first day Mom had gotten me the drugs after I had been cross examined by way too many people than I cared to remember who instructed me that I would only take the drugs until I got better enough to take the regular ones.When I was little, I hated the pills I was given because I felt they were too big and would never be able to go down my throat but here I was barely ten years later, hanging onto a thread as if I wouldn’t survive if I didn’t take one.I want to try and resist but my urge consumes me
ALORAI jolt back in shock and press myself against the wall before any of them can me. I don’t know if he heard the loud gasp that escaped my lips.There is nothing worse than being a witness at a crime scene. I’ve seen enough in movies to know that was a big NO. I already have enough on my plate and I don’t want to be chased and killed because I saw something I shouldn’t have. “Why would Kian be in such a place like this?” my hand flies to my chest to calm my heart which is pounding hard.I know I should turn around, walk back to my car, drive home and pretend that I didn’t see anything like a smart person would have done but no, I decide to take another peak.I swear, my curiosity at times like this is my biggest weakness.I slowly peek around the corner again, making sure my body is not in sight. Kian is now standing in front of the man who is whimpering like a baby.Even under the poor lighting, he still looks so good. The way his eyes twinkle with glee, possibly at the thought
ALORAI walk down the hallways, scanning the area for a sign that someone was watching me. I woke up the morning paranoid much to my dismay.For some unknown reason, my mind is convinced that Kian saw me last night and now he has someone watching me so they can snatch me when no one is watching.Watch better Alora. Who knows? Maybe they'll kill you and dump your useless body somewhere mommy and daddy can find you.It'll be a field day for meThe voices in my head are having a field day with my new weakness and they are taking the utmost advantage of my new discovery but it is a shame I am too distracted to care about them at the moment.Last night confirms Dilora’s warning about Kian’s family being dangerous and now I understand her fears. The mafia were the people who you wanted to avoid with your entire bein
ALORAMy hands become clammy, my heart skips a beat and my breathing grows shallow as my unwilling legs drag across the marble floor towards Kian.It doesn't matter how much I see him in a day, he always seems to be able to draw out these feelings of fear and excitement from me which I am growing to hate every passing second.I have reasons why he scares me but I can't come up with any reason why he excites me. It shouldn't be normal for heat to course through my veins and tingles to creep up my spine when I see someone who is dangerous but I don’t feel this way about anyone, just him.I'm suddenly aware of my nipples grazing my shirt, now regretting why I didn't put on a bra today. The shirt is big and no one would notice but now my nipples are erect and with the way his eyes fall on my chest, he notices them too.He watches me as I approach him with hesitant steps b
ALORAMy body jerks away from him and I turn to face him with a horrified expression but he has a fucking smile on his face like I am the most amusing thing on the face of the planet.“You are so expressive, it’s fucking sexy, dimples” He mocks from where he stands and I’m left speechless. What do I even say to him?“Stop saying things like that” I mutter weakly and his eyes glint with mockery.“What things? That I want to fuck you against that window or you are expressive?”“Both” I choke out “Don’t say stuff like that to me. You don’t even know me so why are you suddenly doing this?”“It’s so euphoric to get under your skin, dimples besides, I don’t question myself. I want you to be mine” My eyes widen and I stumble a few steps back from him.“Why are you moving backwards, you can’t escape me” He mocks and takes two steps towards me but I hold out my left hand to stop him.“Don’t come near me” I stutter and keep moving backwards until my back hits the wall and his grin widens.I quic
ALORA By the time I painstakingly drag myself through the meal, the wet spot on my top has disappeared but Kian won't hear it. He insists on having me change but deep down, I know he just wants to see me in his shirt, call it intuition. I was standing in the middle of his oversized bedroom which had a massive king’s bed in the middle. The lush sheets are so inviting and I am tempted to dive into them. Kian is currently in the walk-in closet, large enough to pass as a clothing boutique with clothes colour-coded to perfection. The door is wide open and I watch him go through his shirts, looking for one that will fit me. He removes a white shirt gently from the hanger and walks over to me before handing it over. “This should do,” he says “I don't need to change anymore. The spot is gone” “Why do you like making me angry, dimples? Do you want me to change the shirt for you? I have no problem doing it for you” I pull the shirt from his hold and dash into the other closed door in the
ALORA’S DILEMMA I crash through the doors of my apartment like a mad woman. The rain had started by the time I left his place, but I couldn’t afford to wait till it stopped. I don’t know how I got a cab that brought me home but all I knew was that I didn’t want to stay anywhere close to Kian anymore. By the time I arrive home, my clothes are soaked and stuck to me like a second skin, my shoes feel heavy on my feet and my bones are stiff from the cold. The locs on my hair are heavy as well, adding to the headache I feel from the whole messed up situation. I stand in the middle of the room, trying to make a feeble attempt to catch my breath while my heart ached painfully in my chest. I always had some chest pains whenever I entered the rain. Now that I am alone, I let loose. I allow the tears to rack my body, soaking my already wet cheeks as the shame of what happened earlier consumed me. It’s been barely an hour since I saw Kian and he touched me in a place no one has ever
ALORA’S DILEMMA I crash through the doors of my apartment like a mad woman. The rain had started by the time I left his place, but I couldn’t afford to wait till it stopped. I don’t know how I got a cab that brought me home but all I knew was that I didn’t want to stay anywhere close to Kian anymore. By the time I arrive home, my clothes are soaked and stuck to me like a second skin, my shoes feel heavy on my feet and my bones are stiff from the cold. The locs on my hair are heavy as well, adding to the headache I feel from the whole messed up situation. I stand in the middle of the room, trying to make a feeble attempt to catch my breath while my heart ached painfully in my chest. I always had some chest pains whenever I entered the rain. Now that I am alone, I let loose. I allow the tears to rack my body, soaking my already wet cheeks as the shame of what happened earlier consumed me. It’s been barely an hour since I saw Kian and he touched me in a place no one has ever
ALORA By the time I painstakingly drag myself through the meal, the wet spot on my top has disappeared but Kian won't hear it. He insists on having me change but deep down, I know he just wants to see me in his shirt, call it intuition. I was standing in the middle of his oversized bedroom which had a massive king’s bed in the middle. The lush sheets are so inviting and I am tempted to dive into them. Kian is currently in the walk-in closet, large enough to pass as a clothing boutique with clothes colour-coded to perfection. The door is wide open and I watch him go through his shirts, looking for one that will fit me. He removes a white shirt gently from the hanger and walks over to me before handing it over. “This should do,” he says “I don't need to change anymore. The spot is gone” “Why do you like making me angry, dimples? Do you want me to change the shirt for you? I have no problem doing it for you” I pull the shirt from his hold and dash into the other closed door in the
ALORAMy body jerks away from him and I turn to face him with a horrified expression but he has a fucking smile on his face like I am the most amusing thing on the face of the planet.“You are so expressive, it’s fucking sexy, dimples” He mocks from where he stands and I’m left speechless. What do I even say to him?“Stop saying things like that” I mutter weakly and his eyes glint with mockery.“What things? That I want to fuck you against that window or you are expressive?”“Both” I choke out “Don’t say stuff like that to me. You don’t even know me so why are you suddenly doing this?”“It’s so euphoric to get under your skin, dimples besides, I don’t question myself. I want you to be mine” My eyes widen and I stumble a few steps back from him.“Why are you moving backwards, you can’t escape me” He mocks and takes two steps towards me but I hold out my left hand to stop him.“Don’t come near me” I stutter and keep moving backwards until my back hits the wall and his grin widens.I quic
ALORAMy hands become clammy, my heart skips a beat and my breathing grows shallow as my unwilling legs drag across the marble floor towards Kian.It doesn't matter how much I see him in a day, he always seems to be able to draw out these feelings of fear and excitement from me which I am growing to hate every passing second.I have reasons why he scares me but I can't come up with any reason why he excites me. It shouldn't be normal for heat to course through my veins and tingles to creep up my spine when I see someone who is dangerous but I don’t feel this way about anyone, just him.I'm suddenly aware of my nipples grazing my shirt, now regretting why I didn't put on a bra today. The shirt is big and no one would notice but now my nipples are erect and with the way his eyes fall on my chest, he notices them too.He watches me as I approach him with hesitant steps b
ALORAI walk down the hallways, scanning the area for a sign that someone was watching me. I woke up the morning paranoid much to my dismay.For some unknown reason, my mind is convinced that Kian saw me last night and now he has someone watching me so they can snatch me when no one is watching.Watch better Alora. Who knows? Maybe they'll kill you and dump your useless body somewhere mommy and daddy can find you.It'll be a field day for meThe voices in my head are having a field day with my new weakness and they are taking the utmost advantage of my new discovery but it is a shame I am too distracted to care about them at the moment.Last night confirms Dilora’s warning about Kian’s family being dangerous and now I understand her fears. The mafia were the people who you wanted to avoid with your entire bein
ALORAI jolt back in shock and press myself against the wall before any of them can me. I don’t know if he heard the loud gasp that escaped my lips.There is nothing worse than being a witness at a crime scene. I’ve seen enough in movies to know that was a big NO. I already have enough on my plate and I don’t want to be chased and killed because I saw something I shouldn’t have. “Why would Kian be in such a place like this?” my hand flies to my chest to calm my heart which is pounding hard.I know I should turn around, walk back to my car, drive home and pretend that I didn’t see anything like a smart person would have done but no, I decide to take another peak.I swear, my curiosity at times like this is my biggest weakness.I slowly peek around the corner again, making sure my body is not in sight. Kian is now standing in front of the man who is whimpering like a baby.Even under the poor lighting, he still looks so good. The way his eyes twinkle with glee, possibly at the thought
ALORAI pick myself off the floor minutes later. I still feel disoriented so I decide to take the regular anxiety pills I have. I walk back to my bedroom on shaky legs. I eye the locked compartment and my hands itch to take that instead.I keep my body pressed against the wall to fight the urge before I enter my walk-in closet instead to pick the drugs. I haven’t had the need to take the ever since I tossed them there when I was arranging my things a few days back.I can still remember the first day Mom had gotten me the drugs after I had been cross examined by way too many people than I cared to remember who instructed me that I would only take the drugs until I got better enough to take the regular ones.When I was little, I hated the pills I was given because I felt they were too big and would never be able to go down my throat but here I was barely ten years later, hanging onto a thread as if I wouldn’t survive if I didn’t take one.I want to try and resist but my urge consumes me
ALORA I stumble with ragged breaths into my apartment after spending an absurd amount of time trying to get the keys into the lock as my hands are unstable and my palms, sweaty. Everything is so disoriented that I can barely focus on the space in front of me. It’s a miracle that I could drive home without getting into an accident as my anxiety was through the roof and I drove like a drunk teenager. I throw my things on the bed, including my phone not giving a fuck after it bounces on the bed and hits the floor with a loud thud. I can always buy a new phone but never a new mind if it breaks now. I race towards the drawer beside my bed and use the key to open the locked compartment. I pick up the syringe and the bottle but freeze when I remember that I took a dosage yesterday before bed and couldn’t take another. It’ll be too risky. I dump the items back into the drawer and shut it with the key. My legs are shaky because I am in a dire situation. I don’t know what else to do an
KIAN It’s supposed to be four boring years of wasting my time taking courses that I already know more of than the professors teaching them but both our dads insist that Laurent and I need to provide a university certificate to take over the conglomerate. Yet, as soon as I enter the double doors, my eyes locate her on instinct, sitting amidst people who don’t hold a light to her glow. Fake. I find myself spitting the word in my mind before I can process what I mean but I know just fine. I don’t need to be a psychologist to know the confident look she wears is just a façade, one she pulls off effortlessly well. I’ve never seen brown skin glow the way hers did. Her locs make her stand out with all the accessories in them and they are calling on me to tug on them harshly as I watch her small pouty lips open in a silent moan, begging me to take control of her body. Her eyes meet mine and her mouth falls open. I have to look away because of the surge of pleasure that courses th