by Smith, T. L
Copyright.
No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any form, or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the author, except by reviewer, who may quote brief passages in a review.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously and are coincidental. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales, is entirely coincidental.
Copyright T.L Smith 2014
Warning: This book contains very disturbing situations, graphic violence, strong language and sexual content.
For readers over 18
Take Over Series Book 1
Editor: http://www.hottreeedits.com/
Formatting: Angel’s Indie Formatting.
Cover: http://soxsationalcoverart.blogspot.com.au
Table of Contents
Copyright Page
Krinos
Meaning
κρίνος
Krínos
"lily" in Greek
My life was simple. Follow instructions, learn the family business and
be prepared to take over when the time has come. My name is Eliza,
although people in the business know me as Krinos. One thing you
should know about me is that my father is a drug lord, the boss in
these parts.
I am prepared to do whatever it takes to step up to the challenge and
run the family business, to make my father proud, a business filled
with drugs, sex and death. What I’m not prepared for, though, is him,
the Greek God who walks into my life and threatens to rock my world.
Now, my life has just got complicated. But don’t misunderstand,
complicated is not a weakness. My father was not a man to cross, so
expect nothing less from me. I am my father’s daughter, and I will be
the boss.
My life, as I knew it, had changed. I was now second-in-command of a large drug-dealing organization, which is run by my father.
I had gone from Sydney-Australian girl to feared, well-known Los Angeles woman. I had no idea what my father did when I decided to move to Los Angeles with him. I lived with my mother in Australia in a city called Blacktown. It may have been a shady place, but you learned fast how to handle yourself. I handled myself by boxing; I trained five days a week.
When my father finally told me what he did, and that his financial company was a cover, I was floored. I knew he earned plenty of money, I just didn’t think it came from something so illegal, or that my loving father would least of all be running it.
He told me how it was run by his father before him, and he needed me to learn the ropes if I wanted a part of this. I agreed, as I was the only child and would do anything my father had asked me to do, even if it was illegal.
I idolized my father on so many levels; he has always been great toward me and helped me achieve anything I wanted. Today, I was going to meet an associate of his on the East Coast. He was my father’s other right-hand man. If there were drama in my part of the city to handle, I would deal with them; on the East Coast, it was Stefanos’ job. I still have yet to meet him, though I have heard quite a lot about him from my father and his workmen.
I have a bodyguard with me all the time and his name is Matt, though I prefer to call him The Rock. He is built like him and had so many similarities, apart from the fact he hates to talk; he grunts or head nods. I’ve still yet to hear two full sentences out of that man’s mouth.
I have been working and learning the ropes for two years now, basically as soon as I stepped off the plane. I now have so much money; I don’t know what to do with it. I still currently live with my father in his mansion, because I don’t see the point of leaving; that house can hold four full families, and it’s only him and me living there.
Before I leave for the airport, I throw on the most casual clothing I own so as not to bring attention to myself and dress like an early-twenties girl would dress. I picked a pair of short-shorts that currently show off my tiger tattoo on my outer thigh and a ripped shirt that displays my lily tattoos on my ribs. I check my hair, put it in a tight ponytail on top of my head and am ready to go. I don’t bother with make-up, as I have my mother’s flawless skin and my father’s long, dark hair and brown eyes.
“Krínos, play nice,” my father warns me as I am about to leave; I blow him a kiss and follow Rock to the car.
We arrive on time in New York and find the car waiting for us; Rock drives us to my father’s company.
We pull up at Contos Finance and head to the top floor. Once we reached it, we find it very empty, apart from a single attractive lady sitting behind the desk.
“Hi, we’re here to see Stefanos,” I tell her. She asks our names and calls to tell him who’s here. I hear his voice on the speaker and hope to God he doesn’t look as good as he sounds.
We make our way to his office, and just as we get there, the door comes flying open. I take a step back, and out struts the most gorgeous man I have ever seen.
He walks over to me, and I take him in. He is in a clean-cut, black suit with the most panty-dropping features any man has ever had. He has a masculine-looking face with high cheekbones; stunning, big brown eyes with long eyelashes; and his flawless olive skin only helps his perfect face. His body looks like that of a boxer with wide chest and arms.
He walks over to me, very professionally, and just as he gets to me, his rough, calloused fingers lift up my now-gaping mouth. I look him in the eyes and see the smile in them.
“I know it’s hard, sweetheart, but try to keep your mouth shut,” he whispers near my ear; now, that pisses me off.
I fling his hand away, stand up tall in front of him and place a hand on my hip. “Try to take that cock out of your ass next time, mate, before you open your mouth to a lady.”
I see the look of shock register on his face, and he is about to retort before I push past him and enter the office.
“I’m not here to make nice, so let’s get down to business,” I tell him in Greek.
Stefanos looks up at me and smiles, grabs hold of my hand and kisses it softly with his warm lips. While he is kissing, my mind wonders to what other things those lips could be doing. Stefanos sees my smile and smirks at me like he knows exactly what I am thinking.
“Nice ink, by the way,” he says before retreating to his side of the desk.
I try to cover my blush creeping along my face, but it doesn’t work as he catches it and smirks at me.
We are halfway through sorting out distributors when a blonde bombshell comes walking through the door without knocking. I look over to Stefanos with raised eyebrows, and he just pulls a panty-dropping smile.
“Bree, what do I owe the pleasure?” Stefanos says to her. She takes me in, looks the other way in a disapproving manner, and plants herself on Stefanos’ lap.
“I wanted to come and spend lunch with you, baby,” she says, and I cough out loud so I don’t witness this shit. Stefanos looks up at me and gives a questionable look.
“Look, if you want to play hanky-panky, do it on your own time,” I say then get up to leave with Rock following close behind me.
I feel his presence before I see him. “It’s not safe for you to leave without more than one guard,” he tells me, grabbing my arm with rough hands.
“Don’t get your knickers in a knot, mate; I’m only going to the hotel.” I can feel his stare penetrating the side of my head, and I will myself not to look at him; I’m unsuccessful and turn around to him smiling.
“What?” I ask him to
explain the look of triumph on his face.
“Princess, I don’t wear knickers, so there can only be one thing down there getting in a knot. Feel free to untangle it anytime,” he says, leaning casually close to my face.
“Sorry, never going to happen, so you best be getting your bimbo to do that shit for you,” I tell him and walk off.
I’m not at the hotel long before there is knocking on my door. I have showered and am now in nothing but a robe with my long hair down. I answer the door, thinking it’s room service, but to my surprise, it’s the Greek God himself. I look at him, still in his black suit with neat hair; he has a strange look on his face, and he pushes his way past me and heads for the mini bar in my room.
I’m in disbelief as to why he is here and follow him; he grabs a bottle of bourbon and chugs it back.
“What are you doing here, Stefanos?” I ask him, still watching him drinking from my mini bar.
“Your father wants us to sort out the problem we’re having, and he thinks you can help with that, though I disagree” he scoffs at me.
“Excuse you.”
“You heard me, Princess. I don’t see what help a little girl like you could offer.” He starts laughing at me, and my anger is to a boiling point now. I turn half my body away from him, swing around and clobber him straight in the jaw; he falls straight on his ass.
I hear Rock enter, probably due to the commotion. He walks in with a singlet on, looks down on the floor, shrugs his shoulders when he sees who I hit this time and walks out. I tend to use my fist when I’m angry. I don’t think; I act, and yes, that can be a downfall.
“Fuck,” I hear him swear, standing up and rubbing his jaw. I shoot him a look not to piss me off again and head to the room to change.
“Dress in something elegant; we are going to a ball!” Stefanos yells after me.
I go to my room to see what I have packed and find a floor-length, black dress that covers all my tattoos. I slip on my black garters so I can secure a knife into them and tie it off with black lingerie. I’m at a loss about what to do for my hair, so I decide to tie it up and put it high on my head with a tight bun. I put basic mascara and red lipstick on with some black heels and walk back out to Stefanos.
“Well, don’t you clean up nicely? Thought you liked the look of a street girl,” he says, eyeing me up and down. There isn’t much to see as my breasts are only a B-cup due to my workouts, and I have no fat on my body, apart from my ass. His comment makes me want to clobber him again, but I choose to close my eyes and take deep breaths.
“Shut your fucking face, pretty boy, before you get hit again,” I tell him and walk past him to grab my bag. Just as I pass him, he pinches me on the ass. I swing around and go for gold again, though this time, he is prepared for my hit and swings me around so my arms are wrapped around my chest, and my back is to his front.
“You got one in, Princess; don’t expect another one,” he whispers in my ear, sending shivers all over me.
We walk out to see Rock standing there dressed in a suit, and I wolf-whistle at him; he chooses to ignore my antics, as per usual.
“How do you put up with her?” he asks Rock, who looks down at me then back at Stefanos and grunts. That alone has me cracking up laughing, all the way to the car.
On the ride to the ball, Rock takes a separate car and drives ahead of us. I got stuck riding with Stefanos to keep up appearances. Just as I’m about to ask him how long we have to go, our car gets rear-ended.
“What was that for?” I ask, sitting up straight and looking around. Stefanos ignores me, pulls a gun out of his trousers and puts the window down. It all happens so fast, I’m shocked; I don’t know what to say or do.
Someone is tailing us from behind and smashing their front end into our back end, which is causing Stefanos to swing into other lanes. I see the gun in his hand, wondering if he always has that on him.
We now have two cars trying to drive us off the road; one is on my side and the other is still rear-ending us. Stefanos puts my window down, knocks me back into the seat and fires off a shot at the car next to us. My ears start ringing, and I can’t hear a thing he is saying to me. I can see Stefanos trying to talk to me, but I just can’t hear anything. He grabs my seat belt, pulls it so it locks in place and slams on the brakes, I can feel the impact the moment the other car hits us, and I thank God he grabbed that seatbelt.
Both cars are now stopped on the highway, and it has caused a huge pile-up. I watch as Stefanos gets out of the car, not even glancing at me as he does, and puts the gun to his side, walking over to the first car. I can’t see exactly what happens, but I see him raise the gun to the drivers head before he walks to the second car and does the same.
As he walks back to me, I’m watching him with pride. He looks up at me before he reaches the car, and I see him slip the gun back into the top of his pants.
“That, my princess, is why I said it’s not safe,” he says, looking at me with a straight face. Then he goes back to start the car, and we’re off like nothing happened.
I am proud of him and how he handled the situation so fast with no remorse. I would do a lot of things for my father and his work, but killing someone in cold blood is something I haven’t done yet. And I hope it’s not in the near future, though I also understand what business I am in.
We arrive at the ball, and Stefanos offers me his arm for support. I reluctantly take it, to keep up appearances, I repeat to myself.
We walk in, and I am floored by the extravagance of this party; there are women swinging from the roof with ribbons, someone blowing fire from his mouth, and it’s all quite a lot. Stefanos makes eye contact with a man who would be in his early thirties and walks over to him. I take in this man while he looks me up and down like a piece of meat; he isn’t bad looking. His hair is long, tied back in a knot, and he has a well-defined body for what I can see from his suit and hard eyes.
“Eliza, this is Alex. Alex, this is Eliza,” Stefanos introduces us. Alex reaches down, kisses my hand and tells me what a beauty I am.
“I tried telling her how beautiful she was tonight, and I got punched in the jaw,” Stefanos says, rubbing his jaw to prove a point. Alex looks at me and laughs like what he is saying is false, and I laugh right along with them, though not for the same reason they are.
“Look, Alex, we need to talk business; the boss isn’t happy with you giving out our supplies to certain people.” Alex looks to me then back to Stefanos.
“Should we be discussing business in front of the lady?” Alex asks, referring to me.
“If you want to keep the boss happy, then yes, you best be discussing it in front of her,” Stefanos tells Alex. He looks a bit shocked at first but nods his head for us to follow.
As we are walking to a back room, I notice three men following us; I haven’t seen Rock, though I’m guessing he is being silent and doing his job correctly.
As we enter, Alex takes a seat and lights up a cigar. Stefanos follows suit and takes the seat opposite of him, so I sit next to him.
“You know, Stefanos, you shouldn’t come to my place and discuss business,” Alex says in a stern tone. Abruptly, Stefanos is pulled back tight to his chair by one guy with a gun to his head and another holding his arms behind the chair.
“Are you looking for war, Alex? Whatever happens tonight, remember you brought it on yourself.” Alex shakes his head is disagreement, and I notice the third man is standing near me, obviously thinking I’m no threat to anyone in the room.
“Silly, silly Stefanos. Boss knows not to make an appearance but an appointment with me; do you think he can send his goons to scare me? Boss must have some loose screws.” He laughs out loud and holds onto his chest like it’s his own personal joke.
“Just remember, Alex, you started it,” Stefanos says then head butts the guy standing near him with the gun to his head. He gives a hard pull on his arms, making the guy holding his arms loosen up. The third guy goes in, and Stefanos has managed to stand and s
ecure the gun, which he has pointed at the third guy’s head.
“Move and you will drop,” Stefanos tells him firmly. I see Alex reach for something under the table, and I pull my knife out, standing behind him with it to his neck.
“Talk business, now!” I growl in his ear.
“Stefanos, is there a reason your woman is holding a knife to my throat?” Alex asks, still with my knife pressed to his neck.
“Well, I’m pretty sure you dissed her father, Alex,” Stefanos says to him, lining the three guys up against the wall.
“Krinos,” he says, barely a whisper as I dig the knife in.
“Yes, darling, nice to meet you,” I whisper in his ear with a drawl.
“I had no idea it was you; please excuse my rudeness,” he says apologetically. I remove the knife, stand next to him and hoist my dress up to tuck it in my garter. Once I look up, I see all five men’s eyes are on me.
We take a seat, and the three men are asked to leave the room.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Krinos,” Alex says, looking directly at me.
“And I’m sure I would have enjoyed meeting you, Alex, under different circumstances, but today, it’s not a pleasure.” I look him directly in the eyes when I talk to him.
I don’t take kindly to people disrespecting my father or me. I had a deal on the West Coast with my father when I was two months into learning the ropes. We met with a bunch of egotistical pricks who thought women didn’t have a say in the world, and they were nothing but a piece of meat. They might not have respect for me or even be afraid of me, but when a man thinks it’s okay to touch my goods without my permission, they will get what is coming to them. And when one of the men laid a hand on my breast and thought it was funny, I stabbed him in the leg. He knew then not to touch what is not up for offer. When I pulled the knife out and kissed him on the cheek for good measure, I turned to see my father smiling proudly at me in that moment. I might be known as the boss’s daughter, Krinos, but I am a lot more than that.
