by Lylah James
That probably pissed him off more.
“I was going to tell you,” I answered.
Lies. I wasn’t.
Because there was nothing to tell. Nothing was what it seemed to be. Every action, every word had a meaning behind it.
Nothing in our world was the perfect image. Everything was in pieces and we had to put all of them together to find the truth. A piece in the puzzle to get the whole vision.
Everything was a lie.
Everyone was a lie.
Every fucking day was a game to play. A game we had mastered.
Believe nothing. Whatever you see or hear is a lie.
That was one of the lessons learned and a lesson to remember.
“Let me explain,” I tried to convince him. Anything but another bullet in my body.
“You know damn well that I never give anyone a chance to explain,” he snapped. Thrusting his gun toward my chest, his lips curled in disgust. “And you aren’t any different.”
“Boss,” I heard someone say. There was a warning in his tone. Maybe he was trying to save me? We were a brotherhood, after all.
Alessio smirked, just the corner of his lips turning up, and I just knew. My death had just been signed, and I had no choice over it.
The veins in my neck throbbed. Blood rushed to my ears until the only thing I could hear was the pounding of my heart.
Their voices sounded like they were underwater as my dreadful life flashed in front of my eyes. This was it.
The end.
BANG!
I closed my eyes as the gun went off, sounding so loud, so evil to my ears. The connection of the metal and my skin was quick. So quick that I could have missed it.
But when the pain came later…there was no escaping it.
Sweat dripped down my forehead as my blood dripped down my body. The cold bullet penetrated my chest, and I prayed it didn’t hit my heart.
A laughable thought that was.
Alessio had perfect aim. If he wanted me dead, shot in the heart, there was no escaping death.
He was death.
My eyes fluttered open as I regarded my boss for one final time. His hand dropped to his side, still holding the gun.
The anger in his eyes was gone, replaced with hurt and pain. His expression changed to one of regret. “I didn’t want to do this, but you gave me no choice. You fucked up. And you fucked up bad.”
I know that!
I wanted to scream, but my lips felt numb. My throat grew tighter as the pain spread across my body. It felt like I was burning from the inside as the ground turned darker with the red shade of blood.
Through blurry vision, I saw Alessio pointing the gun at me again. I closed my eyes, waiting for him to end this. Waiting for this indescribable pain to finally end.
The fired round seemed to float through fragile air, my ears barely registering the gunshot. It pierced my chest without consideration, without real meaning or relevance.
A sacrifice made from my part. A sacrifice I was willing to make. For my family. For her.
The small wounds leaked blood similar to how crying eyes leaked tears.
I sank to my knees, my body too weak to hold myself strong any longer. I gasped for breath, pleading for air.
Maybe I heard him whisper sorry. Maybe it was my mind playing tricks on me, but there was no mistaking the anguish in his voice.
I wanted to open my eyes, to give them a final look. A final goodbye. But my weakness won over.
“The only reason why I can regret this is because Ayla will be hurt. She is going to cry, and I won’t be able to do anything,” Alessio said. His voice sounded nearer but still so far away.
I was drifting. Falling deeper and deeper into the dark abyss.
Suddenly everything went completely silent. All movement around me slowed down to an excruciating pace. I could feel my pulse pounding through me as visions flashed behind my closed eyes.
The images swirled before me right until the end, leaving that last scene of her imprinted upon my mind without the oxygen to sustain it.
Her smile. Her laughter. The look of love as she gazed up at him. Never me. Always him.
I bled out, losing consciousness faster…falling faster…until I hit hard ground.
I was jostled, and pain racked through me. It felt like my unbeating heart just started again, pumping blood through my body.
I died. I knew I died…then the voices…
What’s happening?
I opened my mouth to speak, but no words found their way out. The burning sensation in my chest never ended. It hurt more and more every second.
“He’s flat lining!”
The noises grew louder over the pounding of my heart.
“Don’t let him die!”
New voices. They didn’t belong to Alessio or any of our men.
“Fuck! I need him alive, damn it!”
No. I was dead.
“He needs to live,” the voice hissed.
“You need to live. Do you hear me, son?” It sounded nearer now.
Is he talking to me?
My body was moved, pushed, pulled, and I bore down on the agony.
What the fuck is happening?
Leave me alone, I wanted to scream. I was with her…at least in my death moment, she loved me.
But now some stupid bastards were taking me away. I could see her fading…turning away from me.
I reached for her, but it was too late. She was gone, fading into the darkness. She left me alone again.
“This is what happens when you choose the wrong side.”
Huh?
“Fucking Ivanshov. They will pay for this. All of them.”
No.
“I told you to join us, but you didn’t listen. Now bear the pain of being betrayed by your brother. Over whom? Some fucked up Italian blyad.”
Don’t fucking call her a whore.
Anger swirled inside of me, before realization finally dawned.
They were speaking Russian.
Ah, fuck my life.
“Don’t worry. You will get your revenge. They all betrayed you. You will live and get your revenge.”
His words penetrated through my mind, and I held them close, wrapping myself around the words.
They all betrayed you.
Other words were mumbled, but I ignored them.
You will live and get your revenge.
I smiled internally. Oh, yes I will.
I was going to live…fuck death. It was not my time yet.
“Get him to the estate. When he wakes up, we will put our plans into action. The time has come for my heir to join me.”
The smile turned into a smirk. It was time.
Blood would be spilled, and only the strong would live. There could only be one conqueror. Everyone else was going to be ten feet under the cold, hard ground.
Deceit. Betrayal. Lies. Traitors. Hate. Revenge. Fraud.
We lived with them every day. We breathed them. We played them. And we welcomed them.
The game has begun.
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Acknowledgements
I remember in the last book, I thanked my parents first. They are the reason why I am here today, writing. They made me realize that I loved writing. If it wasn’t for their constant push, years ago, I wouldn’t have written the first word of a rough short story back when I was still in high school. I wrote my first word, and since then, writing has become my obsession. So I would like to thank my parents again for making me realize that writing is my passion. Since the release of book 1, th
ey have stayed with me, supported me, opened my eyes to many things, and they have taught me better. I am so thankful for everything they stand for and for making me the person I am today. So, thank you Ma and Pa.
To Vivvi. My girl. My boobitoo. You are everything. I can’t go a day without texting you, and I know you’re pretty much as obsessed with me as I am with you. (; Thank you for being there for me. Thank you for always pushing me up when I am falling down. Thank you for loving my characters, my babies, just as much as I do, if not more. Actually, saying thank you is not enough. You are my soul sister. And I am so glad I found you.
To Jessica and Chelsea, my girls. What would I do without you? Seriously, I would be drowning if it wasn’t for you two keeping me afloat. Thank you for being there and supporting me through all this craziness. It has been a wild ride, and you have stuck with me till now – thank you will never be enough.
The biggest thank you goes to my Publisher. Thank you for giving TMAHA a chance. I am holding my book right now, because you think it is worth it. So, thank you.
To my editor, Toni—you rock! I am so glad we worked together on this book. You truly did wonders. Thank you.
Thank you to everyone else who had a hand in making this book—my proofreader, formatter…you guys are stars.
To Deranged Doctor Design—Thank you for such a kickass cover. I couldn’t stop staring at it! I had to hold my screech in when I first saw it because I was at work.
To the bloggers and everyone who took their time to promote TMAHA, you are awesome! My big thanks to you.
And I wanted to leave this for the end, because this is the important part. A huge thank you to every single one of my readers. My lovelies. If my parents are the reason why I started writing, then you are the reason why I am still here. In this moment, holding this book. Your never-ending support and love has taken us on this path. From the first word to the last, you have been here with me. I am proud we took this journey together. Together, we dreamed about holding TMAHA one day, thumbing through the pages. We did it, lovelies. Thank you for standing with me, even through my craziness. To all the fan accounts and groups out there, thank you! All the beautiful edits and posters you have made, they are my inspiration and motivation. I am going to say it loud and clear. “You freaking rock!”
About the Author
Lylah James lives somewhere in Canada. She is usually pretty busy, but she uses all her spare time to write. If she is not studying, sleeping, writing, or working – she can be found with her nose buried in a good romance book, preferably with a hot alpha male.
Writing is her passion. The voices in her head won’t stop, and she believes they deserve to be heard and read. Lylah James writes about drool worthy and total alpha males, with strong and sweet heroines. She makes her readers cry – sob their eyes out, swoon, curse, rage, and fall in love. Mostly known as the Queen of cliffhanger and the #evilauthorwithablacksoul, she likes to break her readers’ hearts and then mend them again.
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