by Cora Kenborn
Copyright © 2020 by Cora Kenborn
Cover design by Cover Me Darling, LLC
Editing by Mitzi Pummer Carroll
Proofreading by KC Fernandez
All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever. The following story contains mature themes, strong language, and sexual situations. It is intended for adult readers.
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No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
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Contents
BLURRED RED LINES
Playlist
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-Three
Chapter Thirty-Four
Chapter Thirty-Five
Chapter Thirty-Six
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Epilogue
FADED GRAY LINES
Playlist
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chaper Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-Three
Chapter Thirty-Four
Chapter Thirty-Five
Chapter Thirty-Six
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Chapter Forty
Chapter Forty-One
Chapter Forty-Two
Chapter Forty-Three
Chapter Forty-Four
Chapter Forty-Five
Chapter Forty-Six
Epilogue One
Epilogue Two
DRAWN BLUE LINES
Playlist
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-Three
Chapter Thirty-Four
Chapter Thirty-Five
Chapter Thirty-Six
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Chapter Forty
Chapter Forty-One
Chapter Forty-Two
Chapter Forty-Three
Chapter Forty-Four
Epilogue
STAINED WHITE LINES
Introduction
Playlist
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Epilogue
Bad Blood
Darkest Deeds
Prologue
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Author Library
Author Links
Carrera Cartel Collection
Blurred Red Lines
Carrera.
A word whispered in fear and respect.
A name to avoid at all costs. Until I see something I shouldn't and come face-to-face with it.
Abducted. Held against my will. A prisoner of a war I know nothing about.
But my kidnapping is more than a case of mistaken identity, and my captor is more than a stranger.
He's the heir to the devil.
Faded Gray Lines
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I never meant to start a war.
Then I fell for the boy my mother warned me about. A soulless killer for the Carrera Cartel.
We were the virgin and the villain.
The debutante and the devil.
He swore we'd end in ruin.
I swore love would conquer all.
I was wrong.
Drawn Blue Lines
Brody Harcourt exposed me as a fraud, turning me from a queen into a pariah.
Now there will be hell to pay.
But I'm back for more than revenge.
More than blood.
My eye is on the prize.
The Carrera throne.
Stained White Lines
(Bonus Novella)
Every great rivalry has a beginning.
Ours was my sister’s wedding.
An event that masked the joining of empires.
Betrayal changed everything.
Carrera. Santiago.
One bullet started a war.
Two stained our history red.
BLURRED RED LINES
Carrera.
A word whispered in fear and respect. A name to avoid at all costs. Until I see something I shouldn't and come face-to-face with it.
Abducted. Held against my will.
A prisoner of a war I know nothing about. But my kidnapping is more than a case of mistaken identity, and my captor is more than a stranger.
He's the heir to the devil.
A ruthless cartel prince who takes everything and promises nothing.
I should hate him, but the deeper Valentin Carrera drags me into his corrupt world, the harder it becomes to resist either one.
He's determined to take more than my freedom.
He wants to own my soul. I'm at his mercy. A plea that means nothing to a man whose hands are stained with blood.
Until that stain? That blood?
It becomes mine.
And I'm no longer a prisoner of war.
I am the war.
For those who have ever wondered how completely different your life would’ve turned out if only you’d closed your eyes and leaped. . .
This is for you.
Playlist
Till I Collapse - Eminem, Nate Dogg
Bring Me To Life - Evanescence
End of Me - Apocalyptica, Gavin Rossdale
Gun In My Hand - Dorothy
Dark Nights - Dorothy
Mad Hatter - Melanie Martinez
Pony - Ginuwine
Criminal - Fiona Apple
I Put A Spell On You - Marilyn Manson
Closer - Nine Inch Nails
Creep - Radiohead
Stay - Shakespears Sister
Pretty Baby - Vanessa Carlton
Hands To Myself - Selena Gomez
Without You - Lana Del Ray
Bad Blood - Taylor Swift, Kendrick Lamar
Love On The Brain - Rhianna
Issues - Julia Michaels
Listen to the Blurred Red Lines playlist!
Prologue
There’s a fine line between love and hate.
I’d heard that cliché all my life thrown around by half-interested adults who gave few fucks about either one. The idiom du jour served to placate me enough to remove my adolescent angst from blocking Monday night football and return to my room, where I belonged.
It wasn’t until my heart blackened to a charred void that I understood the true meaning of the phrase. I found it amazing how much that fine line thickened while sweat dripped from the brow of someone I loved as I aimed a gun at his heart.
“Eden, you don’t know what you’re doing.”
His image blurred although my hand held steady. “Yours is the betrayal I never saw coming…congratulations.” In my head the words sounded cold, despite the wetness that trailed from the corners of my eyes. Crawling to my feet, I paced the small space in front of him before I realized I’d uprooted from my spot. Keeping my breathing shallow, I focused on inhaling only when necessary. The run-down house reeked of dank mildew and death.
The number of deaths that would be added to the stench remained to be seen.
“I never wanted to hurt you,” he implored, begging me to recall what we’d meant to each other. When I vacantly stared at him, he licked his lips and attempted to reach me on another level. “After all we’ve been through, it ends like this?”
“You’ve left me no choice.”
“There’s always a choice.”
Hatred burned my eyes, incinerating the man reflected in them. “Fuck you.”
His sigh turned into a cough, rattling his chest. A knowing smile curved his lips. “There’s my feisty girl.”
I waved the gun in the air—a stupid move on all accounts, but his play on my emotions ripped at my soul. “I’m not anything of yours. You sold me out. You made me believe we were on the same side.” Tears rolled harder, ignoring my commands to stop and pissed me off further. “The whole time you had an end game, you son of a bitch!”
One step. Two steps. Three steps.
If I pulled the trigger now, it’d be point-blank range. I couldn’t claim self-defense. True, it hadn’t been his hand that’d pushed me off the step and sent me careening down a flight of stairs. But, in the end, it was his actions that brought me here.
And I wasn’t the one looking down the barrel of a Colt 1911 .38 Super.
All this time I’d believed him. All this time I’d trusted him. In the end, I’d been a fool because all this time I’d been used.
“Eden,” he pleaded, searching for a shred of the affection we’d shared. “I love you.”
There’s a fine line between love and hate.
Watching him grovel for his life, I suddenly understood the meaning behind the phrase. When I loved a person, I saw them through rose-colored glasses. Everything was perfect…until it wasn’t. I walked the line until I got knocked off and opened my eyes to the person I’d been blind to. My heart became torn…desperate to recapture the first untainted moments where the line was straight and steady. Before I knew it, hate filled the space where the love vacated, and my heart battled with my head.
Like an addict who promised one more hit would be the last, I knew it was a lie but told it anyway. I knew I couldn’t stop. The cycle always repeated and I hurt myself until there was nothing left but hate for both of us.
Unless the cycle ends.
I thought the past eighteen days had hardened me to violence, so it surprised me when my chin quivered. Vengeance took my salvation, but apparently, a conscience still resided somewhere in the deep recesses of my mind. Maybe that was one thing he hadn’t killed. Maybe that was the last shred of humanity I could hold onto as I burned in hell for the path I'd walked.
I would’ve done anything for him. He’d held me in his arms and promised to protect me.
I didn’t bother to stop the lone tear as it rolled across my nose and fell onto my bottom lip, pausing briefly before tumbling down my chin. “I love you too,” I whispered as I unloaded the gun, my mask slipping as he stumbled.
It’s funny how sometimes the people you’d give your life for are the ones who take it.
Chapter One
Valentin
The chair creaked as I leaned forward for the small glass, while seated at my desk. It pissed me off, and I made a mental note to have Mateo replace it tomorrow. To most people, a creaking chair was a minor annoyance. At the very least, it wasn’t worth the destruction of an eight-hundred-dollar piece of furniture. However, in my line of work, the creak of a chair could mean the difference between life and death. The slightest sound determined whether my head rested on my pillow at the end of the night or splattered in pieces against the wall.
