by A. J. Macey
Liam: The Auckland Kings Crime Family Trilogy Book One
Social Rejects Syndicate
A.J. Macey
Contents
Author Note
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Epilogue
Rival
Chapter 1
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Acknowledgments
About the Author
Blurb
When forced to make an impossible choice, which do you choose: your life or your freedom?
Harper Davis was faced with that exact challenge on the fateful day when she stumbled into the wrong place at the wrong time.
Her only hope at escaping the monsters now hunting her?
Liam King, one of Auckland’s most notorious criminals.
Cold. Ruthless. Deadly.
The one thing she hadn’t anticipated when being shoved into the back of Liam’s car was the irresistible pull to the man who could just as easily kill her as kiss her.
Can Harper keep her heart safe while under Liam’s protection, or will she lose more than just her freedom?
Book 1 of The Auckland Kings Crime Family
Warning
The Auckland Kings Crime Family series is a mafia romance M/F trilogy with each book following a different couple. Each book ends in a HEA and can be read separately, but please note these books contain mature content and may include references to violence, attempted assault, abuse, and other themes that some readers may find triggering.
Copyright 2021 by A.J. Macey
All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof
may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the author except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Cover: Sweet 15 Designs
Content/Developmental Editing: Cassie Hurst at Inked Imagination Author Services
Editing: M. Stewart
Formatting: A.J. Macey at Inked Imagination Author Services
Dedicated to:
My daughter, Evelyn Rose.
Be you. For you.
Author Note
Please note, while this book is set in Auckland, New Zealand with at least one major character based from NZ - it is written in American English and will lack phrasing and slang typical of the region.
1
Harper
Holy shit, I can't believe I did it! Excitement sizzled through me, and I tried hard not to squeal as I left the building. I finished my interview, the last and final step for the job that I had applied for six months ago. It had been a long, grueling process, but my student visa was slowly coming to an end and I wanted to stay here in New Zealand. That meant I needed something more permanent than just the year I was studying abroad here at University of Auckland. But now I was finally there.
All I had to do now was wait.
As I pushed out into the summer weather, I took a deep breath while appreciating the wind whip around me. I could smell the salty breeze from the ocean, with the contrast of hearing the cars and the people around town bustling a few blocks over. It was calming and I loved it. Instead of standing in front of my potential employer’s building like an idiot, I shook my head and strode down the sidewalk at a leisurely pace.
I didn't have much to do for the rest of the day, but I did need to go back to my rental and drop off my bag and other items so I could go out and enjoy the weather for the rest of the day. Hmm, maybe I'll go get Hokey Pokey ice cream, I thought as I turned the corner a ways down the road.
Only, when I reached halfway down the thin alleyway, I heard a garbled scream. Stumbling to a stop, my heart pounded as adrenaline flooded my system. What the fuck was that? Glancing around frantically, I tried to figure out where the sound came from, wondering if my mind was just playing tricks on me, or if I was just hearing things because I didn’t see anything. Finally getting myself to move, I hustled as I continued between the two buildings. It was nothing, Harper, you’re just hearing things, I chanted, but as I reached the end of the alleyway and glanced to the left, I realized that wasn’t the case.
In a small alcove between a cluster of stores that were closed for renovations stood several men. Each of them was dressed in dark clothing, their sneering smiles staring down at the ground to a fifth man curled in the fetal position at their feet. Bile rose in my throat at the scene unfolding before me. I couldn't breathe… I couldn't move. I couldn't even think as I watched with horror; all the excitement and happiness from the day left me in a wave of icy cold fear as it slithered through my veins.
All the men standing were kicking the guy on the ground, except the man looming in the middle. He held something in his hand, his body rigid as he watched. Before I could get my body to react, to do something—anything—the loud crack of a gun shot rang through the air. It was only then that I was jolted into action. A high-pitched girly scream filled my ears, my eyes widening with horror when I registered that it was coming from me. The four of them looked over, our gazes meeting in another bout of stomach-turning adrenaline.
I didn't hesitate this time, turning and running as fast as I could. I needed to get somewhere safe, to get away from them, but I wasn't close enough to the shops and the market to easily lose them. Thinking fast, I held tight to my bag and scanned the space ahead of me for an exit. No, focus! I mentally screamed as my vision started to tunnel. I whipped around a corner and ran smack dab into a solid chest, the jolt making the impending darkness recede.
“What the fuck? Watch where you’re going!” a man shouted angrily.
“Sorry, sorry,” I exclaimed, darting around him, unable to stop. My eyes inadvertently looked back as I curled around him, seeing only two of the men following me. Oh God. I started to panic, realizing I didn't know where the other two were. I wasn't a native, so for all I knew these men knew these streets better than I did.
Think, Harper. Come on, think of something. Scanning for an opening to take, I found a small cafe and darted inside, running through the dining area, back toward the kitchen, with plans to go out the back, hoping I could lose them by going through an employee only door. I didn't register the screams and shouts coming from the kitchen staff. Survival was the only thing fueling me onward.
I realized my mistake as soon as I barreled through the kitchen entrance.
The other two men were waiting on one end of the alley and their heads jerked in my direction when they heard the door slam open, another crack of a gun sounded moments later. It missed me but only just, as I’d scrambled behind the corner of the building. Everything was trembling as I struggled to catch my breath. I felt cold, but I knew I needed to keep going. Before I could take another step, an iron grip wrapped around my upper arm.
“This way,” a deep, gravelly voice commanded. I shrieked as he forcefully shoved me along. “Be quiet or they'll hear you,” he hissed, yanking me sharply once more before chucking me into the backseat of his car.
My brain was too slow to figure out what was going on and by the time he had slipped behind the wheel and peeled out, it was too late to do anything. The growl of the car filled the silent space, the
lull in the chase giving me time to process what the hell happened. I just witnessed a murder and had been chased by the men who did it, only to get kidnapped by a different person.
Could today go any fucking worse? I groaned with a shuddering breath.
“For your sake? I hope it doesn't,” the man grumbled, making me blanch. I had accidentally said my internal musing out loud.
Of course I did, I grumbled, this time silently. To avoid his keen gaze in the rearview mirror, I turned and peeked out the window. We had driven too far and turned too many times for me to be able to see the men who had chased me. I’m safe from them for now, I chanted, attempting to relax and take a deep breath, but my mind wouldn't let me, too worried about the man who now held me captive in his vehicle.
“Who are you?” I finally asked when my body started to grasp the amount of shit that I was in. He didn't answer, focusing on driving. A new thread of ice wound through me at his silence. I wanted to push, to demand to know more about the man who had rescued me, but as he had pulled off to the side and yanked open the glove compartment, that urge vanished. A glimmer off the side of a knife and barrel of a gun caught my attention, silencing me.
Was he my rescuer or would he be my end?
Liam
“Yes, I fucking got it,” I ground out under my breath, rubbing my eyes with my free hand. My other held my cell to my ear, as I listened to my brother Theo who was once again going on a rant on the other end. And as much as I wanted to tune it out, I knew there would be some sort of useful information in his vent, so I stood there and listened, waiting for him to finally finish his tantrum.
“I can't believe they believed I could fucking fuck us over like that,” he continued after a deep breath. “But you know what? I can deal with it. We can handle it…” He trailed off, a crash sounding in the background.
“Did you just punch something? Again?” I questioned, wondering if I was going to be coming back to the garage and find yet another hole in the wall.
“No, fucking threw the computer off the desk,” he admitted.
“Of course you did. So what is the plan going to be then?” I asked with a harsh frown curling my lips. “We have to have some kind of plan to deal with them.”
“Yeah, well, I'm working on it. I don't even know where the fuck you are or why you're not here at the compound helping,” he snapped, directing his temper at me.
“Because I had to get out and get parts. Or did you forget you gave me those instructions this morning?” I ground out, the last of my patience wearing thin. Theo may have been the oldest of the three of us and the next in line for the Auckland Kings, but there were some days that I wanted to do nothing but punch him in the face. I held back though knowing that tensions were at an all-time high with our rivals, the Phantoms.
So, instead of knocking him down a few pegs, I stood at the car shop waiting for the parts the employee was grabbing from the back. The car had almost been completed and ready for sale, but the Phantoms had decided to break into the garage the night before and damage some of our projects. It was small, but enough of an inconvenience to us, since moving stolen cars was one of our main income streams. The other lines of work we did though, they’d thankfully stayed away from so far.
Now to hope it stays that way.
“Yes. Yes. God forbid you fucking have to remind me for everything,” Theo grumbled. “Just hurry it up, would you? We have shit we got to do and plans to make.”
“Yes, brother. I will hurry as fast as I can,” I drew out mockingly. I didn't wait for him to respond before I hung up. What a fucking prick, I thought as I shoved my cell in my back pocket.
“Mr. King?” the employee called out, a big box rattling around in his hand. “I've got all the parts that you need, I do believe, if you would like to check it over.”
I nodded, stepping over to the counter and digging around. It looked like everything was there, so I quickly paid and left the shop. Now, just to get back to the garage and fix the damage to the car that we had been working on.
“It was almost done, too,” I muttered in annoyance, setting the box in the boot. “At least until the Phantoms decided to fuck it up.”
“What the fuck! Watch where you're going!” a man shouted, the angry noise catching my attention. I stood and scanned around me, finding a curvaceous woman no taller than five-foot three skirting around the shop goer.
As she sprinted away, she looked behind her in terror; the expression etched into her face set me on edge. I tried to pinpoint what exactly would terrify someone so much, and it only took a moment to realize the answer.
“You've got to be fucking kidding me.” I felt my nails dig into the palm of my hand with how tight my fists clenched.
Two men I knew from the Phantoms were chasing the woman.
These fucking men are going to fucking get us killed one of these days, or caught, I thought, slamming the boot shut and running over.
“Hey!” I called, pulling their focus from the woman long enough to get a hit in. The stinging ache splintering through my hand was somehow soothing, the pain grounding me as I kicked out at the second man. My boot smashed into his knee, the sickening crunch making me grin.
“You fucking bastard,” the man still standing hissed. “I hate you Auckland King bastards.”
“Oh, you know who I am then? Good,” I bit out, blocking a couple of his sloppy movements. A girly scream echoed through the street as I kneed him in the groin. The sound was cut short as I kicked up, hitting him in the nose with the same knee.
Before the other guy—who was curled on the ground clutching his leg—could do anything else, I sprinted back to my car and jumped in. I ignored the ache of my hands as I jammed the key into the ignition, knowing I could tend to the cracked knuckles later. Peeling out from my spot, I whipped around the corner closest to me, my mind trying to calculate the best location of where she would have run. This area was filled with tightly compacted shops, small alleyways, and restaurants, meaning there were a lot of employee only doors and random places she could come and go from, and if she were smart, she would have taken one of them.
Just as I pulled up, I saw the woman standing in the middle of an alley, having just come out of an employee only door to the cafe. Unfortunately she wasn’t alone like I had hoped, two other men from the Phantoms stood at the other end of the narrow pathway. Thankfully, she didn't pause like I expected her to, turning and running as quickly as possible in my direction. I threw the car in park and jumped out, snatching her arm before she could run past.
“This way,” I commanded. She started to scream, thrashing against my hold. Grinding my teeth, I gripped tighter. “Be quiet or they’ll hear you,” I hissed, tugging her the last foot to my car. Yanking the back door open, I unceremoniously tossed her in. Shouting followed me as I hopped behind the wheel, the angry yelling fading as I raced down the street. I had no clue if it was because she was smart or too stunned to move, but thankfully, she didn’t try to jump out the back door.
I glanced in the rearview mirror once we had gotten a small distance away and finally took in my new forced companion. Long blonde hair was slowly falling out of a ponytail, a curvy body clothed in a pair of slacks and blouse, and she clutched tightly to her bag. Freckles sprinkled over her nose and cheeks caught my eye, her pouty lips and wide doe eyes made her look vulnerable and scared. She was beautiful, and whatever plans the Phantoms had in mind for her, it wouldn't have been good.
“Could today go any fucking worse?” she muttered under her breath. By how soft it was, I wasn't sure she knew she said it out loud, but I replied anyway.
“For your sake, I hope it doesn't.” Her deep green eyes darted to mine in the rearview mirror, widening slightly when she saw me watching her. We lapsed into another bout of silence, my attention shifting back to the roads as I looped us around the city. She started shifting, the movement immediately putting me on high alert. Is she about to jump out of the back of this fucking car? But when she jus
t peeked over the backseat, scanning the area behind the car, I realized that she wasn't.
At least not yet.
She sagged against the leather seats, finally looking back to me. “Who are you?”
Her words were suspicious and low and her narrowed eyes leading me to believe that she realized she was still in some shit even if she wasn't being chased by the men before. I didn't respond for a long moment, trying to come up with some explanation for who I was and why I’d helped her.
Why did I help her? It was a stupid risk and yet I couldn’t have stopped myself. Shaking the thought away, I pulled off to the side of the road. We’d been driving for quite some time and left that portion of the city, nearing the suburbs. She and I were about to have a long conversation and I didn't want to risk running into any more men who had been chasing her. Once the car was parked, I yanked open the glove compartment, grabbing the gun that I rarely carried with me as a precaution, and shoved it into my waistband under my coat before climbing out of the car.
Now time to find out what the hell those men wanted with this pretty little thing.
2
Harper
