Deception and Chaos
Page 27
Banging my head against the wall, I rake my hands through my hair and tug on the roots until all I feel is pain. Soul crushing, all-consuming pain.
“You were never going to let any of them live, were you?” I whisper brokenly, staring up at the devil himself through my tears. Creed was always so sure he was pure evil, but he wasn’t even close. This—this man before me was evil personified.
Finlay crosses the room, drops down onto his haunches and leans forward into my personal space. He clasps his hand over my knee in a vise grip, squeezing until I wince.
“Make no mistake, Sophia. No one will be coming to save you this time around. I made sure of that. You. Are. Mine.”
Snatching my leg out of his grasp, I raise my hand to strike him, but he catches it midair with a lethal look on his face. “I’m going to let that slide this time. Next time, I won’t be so forgiving.”
With tears coursing down my face, I stare at Finlay and numbly shake my head at him in shock.
“Who are you?” I whisper, my voice tinged with horror. “What happened to you to make you such a…monster? I-I thought I knew you, Finlay. I thought you were my friend.”
He barks out a sharp laugh that rains nails down my back. “Your friend? Jesus fucking Christ, you really are dense, aren’t you? I never asked to be your friend, Sophia,” he grinds out, his face pinched in anger. “You want to know what happened to me?” he whispers harshly, leaning into my personal space. I jerk back and my heart rate spikes violently in fear. The anger on Finlay’s face softens and he slowly lifts his hand toward my face. I flinch away from his touch, but it doesn’t deter him, he takes a strand of my hair and rubs it through his fingers.
“You remind me so much of her?”
My stomach twists.
“W-who?”
“My sister. You’re both so innocent, naïve, beautiful…” he trails off with longing in his voice.
All the air is extracted from my lungs.
“I was sent away for a long time. All because of her. And you know what I did when I was stuck in that room with nothing but four sterile bloody walls? I planned. And I plotted.”
My brows pull down and I shake my head in confusion.
What the hell was he talking about?
“When I got free, there was only one thing I wanted. The one thing I never had. Power. So, I built my empire from the ground up. Started small, taking jobs for different gangs, smuggling drugs back and forth. Until I finally got my big break.” he grins at the memory. “I sold and bought until everyone knew my name—until I finally had power. But then…” he pauses, cocking his head to the side as he stares at me. “Then I found you.”
Chills spread along my body and goosebumps pebble over my skin.
“Your father’s team had just busted an entire operation I was running in Southern California. Bastard put me out five hundred thousand dollars.” he whistles between his teeth, shaking his head. “I didn’t take kindly to him or any of his men serving justice at the hands of my business. My money. So, I found every member of his team, and took them out one by one. I was saving your daddy for last.”
My chest rattles with a sob and every time I lick my dry, cracked lips, they taste of the salt from my tears. I fist my hands on my thighs, clenching and unclenching them as I try to reign in my anger.
“You’re a monster,” I seethe through the tears leaking out of the corner of my eyes.
“Oh, sweet little Sophia. I haven’t even finished my story yet,” Finlay taunts with a saccharine grin on his face. “The first night I ever laid eyes on you was your twelfth birthday. You were so young, so innocent, and beautiful. Every time I looked at you, all I saw was my sister. She was in your smile; the hopeful looks on your face. She was even in your laugh. And because I couldn’t have Cycil in my life anymore, I decided I wanted you. Instead of killing your daddy like I originally planned, I followed you. You guys went out to dinner and after, your dad took you to the bakery to buy you a cake. The smile that lit your face was like a punch to the chest—in that moment I realized, you were my Cycil, and I’d do anything to keep you, so I did. Getting rid of your parents was easy, just loosened a few screws, and tattered with pieces of the engines. The poor pilot didn’t even know what hit him when the plane went down,” he laughs.
My heart splinters as I think about the fear they must’ve felt when they realized the plane was going down. The fear of not living, of what would happen to me and Garrett. It all makes my chest cave with so much pain, I suck in sharp breaths through my nose, trying to expand my lungs and allow air through, but everything feels so tight.
“I bided my time. I waited and watched as you grew from a girl, into a woman. And for the first time in a long time, I wanted something other than power. I wanted you—to own you. Mind, body and soul.”
I trap my bottom lip between my teeth and bite down to hold back the sobs threatening to escape.
“When I could no longer wait, I knew the time was right. I knew the moment for us was finally coming to fruition. I made some calls, set up a few meetings with Abdul to help prepare you. I wanted you eating out of the palm of my hand, Sophia. He was supposed to kidnap you and then his men would break you. When I finally found you at the mansion, I was going to be your savior, and you would’ve looked at me the way you looked at him,” he growls, referring to Creed. I clench my eyes shut and try to block out his words.
No, no, no!
“Stop it,” I whisper.
“But you fell in love with him, you let him take what was supposed to be mine!” he growls, his face going from serene to rabid within seconds. Spittle flies from his mouth, splattering across my face. “You made me kill them, Sophia. They’re all dead because of you. It should’ve been me! You should’ve picked me!”
The sob I was trying so desperately to hold in rips from my chest, wracking my body. A wave of nausea slams into me at the same time I let out another sob. The effect it has on my body makes me feel like everything is shutting down and I have no control. My head swims and my stomach rolls. My chest heaves for breath as the sobs falls freely from my lips.
“I hate y-you,” I choke out.
Finlay narrows his eyes for a beat before a grin spreads across his face. “In time that will change sweetheart, I assure you. Now, get cleaned up, you have a doctor to see.” His words put a halt to my sobs and everything comes to a sudden standstill.
“A doctor?”
He smiles maniacally, and my hands immediately cover my stomach.
“You didn’t think I was going to let you carry another man’s baby, did you?” He chuckles with mirth.
I frantically shake my head back and forth, worry for my unborn child has my body trembling in fear. “You can’t. I won’t let you.”
Within seconds his hand is at the base of my neck in an unforgiving grip, and my face is yanked so close to his, I can feel his hot breaths ghost across my face. “You don’t have a choice. It’s either I cut that damn thing out of you, or you let a professional do it. Either way, that,” he says jabbing a finger in my stomach painfully, “is gone.”
With those harsh words, he crudely turns on his heel, dropping a plate onto the floor with a piece of toast lying on top.
To be continued…
Keep your eyes peeled for Blood and Chaos, COMING 2019. Information is subject to change and spoilers are NOT to be shared with anyone. Please and thank you.
For more discussions/information on the Chaos Series, join my reader group
To start off, I want to acknowledge all the people who have been victims of sex trade. The horrors that we often read about in books are actually someone else’s real life nightmare, and I want to take a moment to support each and every one of those individuals.
Writing this story wasn’t easy, by any means. I tend to read a lot of darker works in the romance genre and I guess a part of me has always been drawn to the subject, and while reading dark is entertaining, writing a dark story is a lot tougher than I bargained f
or. There were many sleepless nights, countless hours of research and an irritating amount of tears shed while I wrote Deception and Chaos.
Creed and Sophia’s story came about while I was watching the show Power, believe it or not. One night, I was tossing and turning, my brain firing off ideas like it was the freaking fourth of July—so I opened a word doc on my phone and the words kept flowing. By the next day, I was neck deep in Sophia and Creed’s story. There was no turning back by that point. I know some of you (Who am I kidding? All of you.) are probably reading this and fuming over that ending but hang on just a little tighter for book two, and I promise, I’ll make it worth your while!
Deception and Chaos wouldn’t be what it is without any of these amazing people who helped me during the writing process.
To my brother Javy – Thank you for dealing with my countless questions—at times even idiotic. I know reading snippets from a romance novel wasn’t the most exciting thing, but the fact that you took time out of your day to help means the world to me.
To my family – Thank you all for being so supportive of me while I write. Sophia and Creed’s story probably would not have been possible without you guys keeping an eye on my wild child. (He’s throwing a tantrum as I type this. Literally.)
My beta’s – You ladies are absolutely incredible. Your feedback on Deception and Chaos pushed me to jump into Blood and Chaos that much quicker. I can’t thank you all enough for your help. It truly means the world to me.
Annette Brignac and Michelle Clay, my #madones. I love you ladies so freaking much and I am so, so, thankful and fortunate to have met you both. Everything you ladies do for me does not go unnoticed. <3 #hotweirdtribe #madones
To the bloggers and readers – Thank you for every post, share, like, and Bookstagram picture. I LIVE for sharing my work with you guys and seeing it on your pages and blogs makes me so incredibly happy. This is an absolute dream come true and I have you all to thank for that.
And finally, to the readers, I love each and every one of you. I’m not even kidding. If I could awkward hug every single one of you, you bet your sweet ass I would! Your support is incredible, and the fact that you all look forward to my projects is mind boggling to me. Seriously. I love you all so, so, much, and as always, keep in touch. (I love book stalkers.)
Xoxo
Selena (S.M.)
S.M. Soto was born and raised in Northern California where she currently resides with her son. Her love for reading began when she was a young girl and has only continued to grow into adulthood. S.M. lives for reading books in the romance genre and writing novels with relatable characters. She refers to herself as a bit of a romance junkie. S.M. loves to connect with readers and eat copious of donuts that will surely lead to her demise (carbs are life).
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ACHE
Coming early 2019
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