Kill or be Killed (Mafia Kingpin Book 1)

by A. G. Khaliq

  “We're gonna raid that house behind us,” Likkle T explained.

  “We've been watching that house for weeks,” Chase went on. “We know when the pricks inside it leave and come back, and all the gear they have stashed in there. They're minted! They've got loads of Playstations, and a box full of cash. Right now, it's a Friday. That means they're out at the club, and it's our perfect opportunity to take what we want with nobody watching us.”

  I took a deep breath in, not knowing what to say. “I've never done something like this before,” I said awkwardly. “What if we get caught?” I coughed, embarrassed. “Plus my mum gets really mad if I come home too late…”

  Likkle T burst out laughing.

  “Aw, he's a mummy's boy,” Swoop mocked.

  “There's nothing to be afraid of,” Chase shrugged. “We've got it all planned. Nothing can go wrong.”

  “Do you want to be a hustler like us, or just stuck being a mummy's boy all your life?” Likkle T said angrily.

  I drew another deep breath nervously. “Of course I want to hustle,” I said sheepishly.

  “Then come with us,” Swoop shrugged.

  I knew that agreeing would be the only way to prove myself to them. I was my own man. I didn’t need them thinking I was a wimp, or a pussy-boy. I’d already lost Keelan… and I couldn’t lose my new friends when I’d only just met them.

  I guess it’s peer-pressure. You know when deep down, you know something is wrong, but you do it anyway? That’s how I was feeling right now… I was in a state of confusion, and I felt guilty for going behind Mum’s back… but Mum wouldn’t understand what it’s like to have guys casually talk about shit like this right in front of you, but you’ve never done anything like it yourself.

  ELLIE

  I sat down on my bed, sobbing uncontrollably. It felt like the world was ending… I didn’t see the point in being here anymore when I felt so fucking miserable.

  I couldn’t get over what that monster did to me. I couldn’t believe he raped me. Why did I have to be so gullible and believe he was going to give me that money? I wish I had somebody to warn me. I needed to tell somebody about what happened, but I was afraid that nobody would believe me.

  I drew a deep breath in, knowing I couldn't just stand in my room all day and cry about it. That prick needed to go to prison for what he did to me. I knew that going to the police about this would be the only way I’d get some form of closure… some form of justice. It would be the only way I would be able to move on… knowing he was rotting, knowing that he was being punished for what he did.

  I flicked my phone open miserably, ready to dial 999. Before I did, some texts started blaring on my screen… and I almost froze in shock. It felt like the walls were closing in around me. Like I was suffocating.

  I could barely breathe.

  “No, no…” I cried.

  There were several text messages from Dante, threatening me just as I was about to snitch on him…

  You dare go to the police about this, and I will ruin your life you slut.

  I have a recording of the things you did to please me.

  One tap, and I'll have it posted online and it will circulate around the school.

  We'll see how long your reputation lasts then.

  And I will personally find you and kill you myself if you cause me any trouble.

  I could feel my heartbeat raise through the roof, as I broke down into fresh tears. I felt so helpless, so fucking violated.

  What was the point in living anymore if this was how I was going to live? Forever looking over my shoulder, forever fearing for my life, forever being miserable about the shit that had happened to me, forever being blackmailed, forever being threatened...

  CHAPTER 5

  DIRTY LITTLE SECRETS

  LOUIS

  I was at school, still feeling terrible about last night. I’d robbed the house with Likkle T, Chase and Swoop, and I felt awful about it. It was like somebody had grabbed a hold of my conscience, and now, I just couldn’t stop thinking about it. I was hanging around with the wrong crowd… Being a disappointment to my mother.

  “I wonder where Ellie is these days,” I commented, as I looked around the classroom, and saw that she wasn’t here again, after weeks now.

  “That’s true, I haven’t seen her around school for ages,” Swoop agreed. “But who cares. When are we hitting our next lick?”

  Next lick… He meant next robbery.

  “You want to hit another lick?” I was taken aback. I thought this was going to be a one-off thing, and we would never do it again… but apparently they had other plans. “Wasn’t the stuff we nicked from that house enough for you? We literally got out the house seconds before they came home.”

  Swoop rolled his eyes at me. “But the point is we still got out,” he said, shrugging. “We didn't get caught. We'll ask Chase and Likkle T about when we're gonna do another drop.”

  I took a deep breath in. I was so tired of being seen as a loser… as a pussy… that I just went along with it. As wrong as it fucking was.

  KEELAN

  I looked around the classroom and noticed that Ellie wasn’t here, yet again. I felt like fucking shit. She treated me like I was nothing… yet I was probably the only person at school who’d noticed she hadn’t been in. I was the only person that genuinely cared about her.

  Where was she? I hadn’t spoken to her ever since she’d lashed out on me in the street. I don’t know why… But I had a strange feeling that she was in trouble. And I couldn’t shake this feeling; it was driving me insane.

  She had been acting shadily before she started bunking off school. Ignoring me to text somebody countlessly on her phone, and treat me harshly when she was always such a nice person to me before.

  I just hoped that she was okay… wherever she was, whatever she was doing.

  STEVE

  I walked into my warehouse office, furiously slamming down my financial statements for the month. The numbers were off, and I needed my money cleaning before the feds started investigating where all of my money was coming from.

  I sighed heavily as I went through my papers, because I knew I was fucking shit when it came to dealing with numbers.

  Why was the new bitch I hired to clean my money taking so long to arrive? She was weeks late, now. It should be her taking care of the technical shit… not me. She better have a good goddamn excuse, because God help her… I’ll put a bullet through her for disappointing me.

  As if by fate, I heard the click-clack of high-heels on the floor, as somebody approached me from behind. This must have been her.

  I turned around to see a beautiful girl with tanned, long legs. She was wearing a navy bralette with denim shorts, and her cleavage was practically pooling out of her bra. She was easy on the eyes… I’ll give her that. But why was she dressed like she was going to a strip club, rather than taking care of some goddamn paperwork?!

  I suddenly realised that I was probably making myself look like a fucking creep, since I’d been staring at her tits this whole time. I looked up to her face… and let’s just say, she didn’t disappoint. She was fucking stunning… Linda could never compare to this fine piece of ass. I know I wouldn’t mind giving backshots to this chick while playing with her tits.

  “I’m Aliyah,” she said. “Looking for me?”

  “You took your time,” I replied, rolling my eyes.

  “Sorry,” she chuckled. “I’ve been held up, taking care of some other business. But I’m the girl you hired to clean your money.”

  I gave her a satisfied smile, as I handed her the books to get to work.

  LOUIS

  Me, Chase, Likkle T and Swoop made our way to town. It was night-time and everywhere was pretty much deserted…

  Until I saw an old lady, limping her way down the pavement with her walking stick, clearly struggling to walk. She looked exhausted. I felt so fucking bad for her… I wanted to help her.

  Then I realised that this would probably
make the lads think I was a pussy-boy again, so I sighed, and averted my gaze from looking at the old lady.

  “So what are we doing, lads?” I asked, shrugging.

  “Look at that old lady in front of us,” Chase pointed out.

  “She looks like a real easy target,” Likkle T agreed. “Old people always are.”

  “Let's rob her,” said Swoop.

  “You would rob an old lady?” I denied, taken aback. I refused to do something like this… it wasn’t right. How could these guys be so fucking heartless?

  “Don't you think that's a bit too far?” I said uncomfortably.

  “Stop being such a pussy, Louis,” Swoop shot back angrily.

  “I thought you wanted to hussle,” Likkle T accused.

  I shifted about uncomfortably, feeling humiliated. Chase rolled his eyes.

  “Look, she clearly needs help,” explained Chase. “It's the perfect opportunity to pretend to help her out and then grab her wallet.”

  I drew a deep breath out that I didn’t know I was holding.

  “I think we should leave this one to Louis,” Swoop said bitterly. “He needs to prove he's one of us and not just a little wuss. Not just a mummy's boy and someone who needs Keelan to fight his battles.”

  I shook my fists angrily. I felt like fucking punching him. These guys were supposed to be my friends, yet here they were, disrespecting me. They were the ones who approached me in the first place.

  “Fine, I'll do it,” I snapped. They looked at me with a triumphant expression on their face.

  I walked towards the old lady, who was still limping in the middle of the pathway. “Excuse me ma'am, would you like any help?” I offered.

  “Yes, that's ever so kind of you dear,” she responded gratefully. “Could you just help me get to my house? I'm having trouble walking.”

  “Yes, of course,” I smiled.

  I took her arm in mine as I helped her across the road… but the whole time, I was looking down to the floor, ashamed and embarrassed of myself. I couldn’t believe I’d stooped so low. Pretending to be nice to her just to rob her…

  My heart thumped in my chest, as my whole body felt like it was drowning in nerves. Sweat was dripping down from my face to the floor in tiny droplets. I suddenly felt fucking ill… because I couldn’t believe I was about to do something so sick, and so fucking twisted.

  Yet she held onto my arm happily, with so much trust, so much gratitude.

  CHASE

  Me, Swoop and Likkle T burst out laughing as we watched Louis walk away with the old lady.

  “He's so goddamn gullible,” I commented, fucking amused.

  “He actually thinks we're his friends, it’s funny,” Likkle T exclaimed, and Swoop burst out laughing again.

  “I know right,” I replied. “We're just using him to do our dirty work for us, he's so stupid.”

  And whenever Louis did things for us… it meant our hands were clean, and we got more money. I couldn’t believe how easily fooled the poor bastard was.

  ALIYAH

  I was standing inside of Steve’s office in his warehouse, my heart thumping against my chest with nerves as I shakily held my camera, taking photographs and videos of everything Steve was involved in… murders, drug smuggling, gun trafficking. The list was endless.

  I needed to be careful so that nobody walked in while I was doing this.

  I drew a deep breath in as I looked at all the photographs. Steve was a monster… it was tough looking at how many people he’d killed, or had killed, for crossing him.

  I needed to take pictures and videos of everything to add to my case report. There was so much evidence here. My boss was going to be so pleased with me.

  By now, I’d taken hundreds of photographs. For now, it was probably enough. I dusted myself off, putting my phone away in my pocket before anybody saw it… until I heard the vibrating sound of a text message.

  I whipped my phone out again, wondering who was texting me. And as I read the name that came up on the screen, I felt overcome with sadness and guilt. I felt fucking sick.

  It was Abid.

  I felt terrible for lying to him. He couldn't know that I was a secret agent. What made it even more awful was that I actually had feelings for him, and he did me a massive favour by killing Asae. If only I hadn’t been assigned this mission by my boss… nothing would’ve been able to get in the way of me and Abid being together. His sex was fucking amazing, he made me laugh till the sun went down, and I enjoyed his company so fucking much. It was hard to stay away from him, when he was literally fucking perfection.

  We were both so different from each other. He lived a life with involvement in the Mafia… while I lived a life putting criminals like him behind bars.

  But I felt too strongly for him to do that to him. Sure, I would take down the whole operation… but I couldn’t put Abid behind bars. I couldn’t. I’d never be able to live with myself. I wanted him and I to have a happy ending… even though deep down, I knew. I knew that there was only one way that this was going to end, because I was hurting and betraying him just by going behind his back. I was betraying him by not telling him who I really was.

  Imagine if he knew the truth about me being a secret agent?

  I was going to do my best to keep his name out of this case. But he just couldn’t find out about what I'm doing. I wouldn’t let him… He couldn’t find out that I was taking the job to clean Steve's money to get inside information on his whole criminal organisation.

  I drew a deep breath in as I opened Abid’s text messages.

  Meet me at my place after you're done at work, babe, he texted.

  I'm finishing up soon. I can't wait to see you x I replied.

  You always know how to say the right things, baby ;) he said.

  I sighed, as I thought about the ways Abid pleasured me. The way I moaned while he sucked my tits, slapped my ass, fucked me so hard you could hear me scream half-way across the city.

  Was it wrong of me to want to enjoy him while this lasted? To enjoy him, before I would have to move away, because the truth came out? To live in the moment?

  Yeah, it was probably fucking wrong. But I couldn’t help myself… And I knew he couldn’t, either.

  ABID

  I was standing in the middle of my bedroom, without my shirt on. I was just in my fucking jeans. I didn’t want to waste any time. I wanted and needed Aliyah right now; I didn’t have time for the long game. I needed to feel her, to be inside her. To slide my fingers inside her while I bit and nibbled on her neck, and she begged me not to stop.

  I was getting a hard-on just thinking about her.

  And just at the perfect fucking time, she started walking into my room, her heels click-clacking on the floor, her ass shaking as she walked. My pants were so fucking tight just looking at her. She always wore the tiniest outfits, like she purposefully wanted to fucking torture me.

  “Hey baby,” she purred, pushing me backwards onto the bed and climbing on top of me, grinding her hips against my crotch.

  “Fuck,” I moaned. “I missed you so much.”

  She slammed her mouth onto mine, while sliding her hand into my boxers, and I swear I lost all the little fucking self-control I had left.

  “What are you doing to me, Aliyah?” I murmured against her mouth. “You're like my drug. I can't get enough of you.”

  “I feel the same way, baby,” she whispered, and then smothered my face with her tits, while I grabbed her ass with both of my hands, rubbing it up and down and slapping it.

  I let my tongue swirl around her nipple, and she was already moaning in my ear. Fucking hell…

  “Mmm, baby,” she moaned. “Don’t stop… Please…”

  She gasped as I took both her breasts in my hands, massaging them while I sucked on her neck.

  “Your phone’s ringing,” she moaned.

  “Let it ring,” I said, out of breath in between kisses. “You're more important.”

  LOUIS

&nbs
p; I’d taken the old lady to an old deserted park. It was dark, with nobody around. I’d purposefully taken her here, so that there were no witnesses… Nobody who was about to see what I was going to fucking do to her.

  “This doesn't look like my house, dear,” she said wearily, a confused expression on her face.

  I drew in a deep breath, and sighed heavily. “I’m sorry for what I'm about to do,” I said, swallowing.

  And before I could change my mind, I kicked her hard… so hard that she fainted onto the floor. I bent down next to her limp body as she fell into unconsciousness, and a wave of nausea hit me as I realised what a fucking vile thing I’d just done.

  I needed to get out of here.

  I grabbed her wallet, trying not to look at her face while I did. I felt dizzy, and my surroundings felt like they were blurring around me. I couldn’t believe I was so capable of doing such a twisted thing.

  My heart pounding against my chest, I got up from the floor, and sprinted as fast as fucking humanly possible, out of the park. I ran for all I was worth. By now I’d made it to the highway. Hundreds of cars were whizzing past in the busy traffic, the sounds of the roaring engines deafening my ears.

  My pulse was rising through the roof. I couldn't believe what I'd done. I couldn't comprehend it. I'd hurt an old lady just for her wallet.

  And now she was unconscious… While I was running away with a couple of hundred quid at most.

  What the fuck was wrong with me? When did I become such a disgusting bastard?

  By now, I couldn’t even figure out if the water sliding down my cheeks was my tears or my fucking sweat. I wanted to forget this shit ever happened. Erase it from my memory, erase it from my fucking mind.

  I just kept on running… That was all I could do.

  I didn't know where I was going, or what I was going to do. I knew Mum would be at work so there was no point going home.