Chapter 1 001~ A MONSTER

Aiden

Dom hit the floor after I put a bullet through his mouth.

If you ask me, it was mercy letting him off easy after he dared touch what was mine.

Then I saw Leah with a gun in her hand.

"Stay right there, Aiden," she said, voice shaking as she gripped it tighter.

I stopped.

"Leah."

She bit her bottom lip. "Did I ever tell you how much I hate the way you say my name?"

"There are many things you hate about me," I replied quietly. "That isn't one of them."

"Do you think I wouldn't shoot you? Is that why you kicked the gun to me?"

"If you wanted me dead, you would've used the knife you hid under your pillow."

Her eyes widened briefly, and then a sad smile replaced it.

I was aware of the nights she watched me sleep with a knife hovering over my throat. The nights her fingers dared curl around my neck while she cried.

I never stopped her because some part of me wanted to know if she'd do it. But my Leah never did.

She laughed bitterly, tears welling in her eyes. And it broke something in me, watching her hurting.

"I tried to forgive you," she said, voice breaking. "God, I tried. But you..." she shook her head, "...you just keep taking and taking."

"Let's talk at home."

"Home?" She chuckled. "Are you fucking with me right now? There is no 'home' between us. That place is a fucking prison!"

Even saying the word left a bitter taste. But Leah... you are my home. Everywhere you are is home to me. And even if you don't know it yet, you will.

I took a step closer.

"Stay where you are, Aiden! I swear I'll fucking shoot you!" She yelled, tears trailing down her cheeks now.

I didn't stop.

Bang.

Three months earlier...

Smoke curled from my lips as I sat in the back seat, watching two men stumble out of an abandoned building across the street, swinging at each other like amateurs.

"What time is it?"

"Half past four," the driver replied.

I exhaled slowly.

There was a meeting scheduled for nine, and ruining my suit wasn't on the agenda. If it had been any other day, I'd handle this myself.

And if they keep this up, the police will come sniffing around again, and I'm sick of having to find something to keep them quiet every damn time.

The driver sensing my irritation offered, "want me to handle it, boss?"

But I was already opening the door.

I stepped out with my gun in hand and kicked one bastard off the other. Two shots to his chest and he dropped without a fight.

The second man scrambled back. "Boss! I am one of your boys!"

I narrowed my eyes, my gun still pointed at him. He lifted his shirt, revealing the Kingston insignia tattooed on his skin.

Eyeing his stab wounds, I asked, "Do I need to keep you alive if you're going to bleed out?"

"This won't kill me, boss," he breathed with a weak smile.

Yeah, right.

I took a long drag from my cigar, then offered it to him. He looked confused but took it anyway.

"Rest in peace."

The clang of metal on metal and grunts grew louder as I entered the building. Turning a corner, my eyes fell on a chaotic mess of men swinging steel pipes, wooden planks, and hammers with the intent to kill at each other.

I fired once, silence following before everyone's attention turned towards me.

"Time to wrap this up."

"Shit. Isn't that Aiden Kingston?" Someone said.

Murmurs started spreading among the men from the rival family as they stepped back, eyes wide.

"Don't worry, as long as you all behave, you will die painlessly," I assured. "Now, who's the leader of this shit crew?"

They all stayed quiet, stealing glances at each other.

"Aiden Kingston!" I heard a man scream my name.

A huge bald man with an eyepatch and face twisted in anger stepped out from among the crowd.

"Remember me?" He gritted.

I raised an eyebrow. "I don't usually remember every insignificant person I've met."

He clenched his jaw and jabbed at his eyepatch. "You took my eye three years ago! How dare you forget me!" He yelled spit flying from his mouth as he marched towards me.

I chuckled. "You were lucky I left you breathing."

"I'll gouge your eyes out!"

I shot both his legs, and he crumpled to the ground, screaming. Then I stepped forward and pressed the barrel to his forehead.

He glared up at me. "You bastard," he croaked. "The Kingston family will fall soon. The other families-"

I pulled the trigger cutting off whatever bullshit he was about to spew.

"Round 'em up," I ordered.

Without a leader, they folded quickly. They always did. It's amazing how quickly a gun made things easier.

I stepped outside into the early morning air away from the tainted smell of gunpowder and blood.

I placed a cigar between my lips, my fingers searching my pocket for my lighter.

"Here." Storm handed me a lighter.

"You look like shit," I told him, noticing the deep cut on his arm.

"I'll live."

I laughed, my eyes flickering to the lifeless body of the man who said the same thing earlier.

"It seems the other families are planning," he said.

Not the first time. And like always they'd fail.

I exhaled smoke and smirked. "Good. I am looking forward to it."

The city had been too quiet for a long time.

8:55 a.m.

When we pulled into the parking lot of Carter Holdings, I stepped out, adjusting my cufflinks.

That's when I see her. Blonde hair caught in the wind and phone pressed to her ear as she laughed at whatever was said on the other end.

It was a soft, careless sound, completely out of olace in my world. But it wasn't just her laugh that brought the strange sensation I felt.

It was her eyes. Those damn emerald green eyes that locked with mine, stealing the air from my lungs. They were sharp, daring. Eyes that could glare while fighting back tears.

My heart skipped.

It fucking skipped.

I knew she felt it too, that shift in the air because I caught the discomfort that flickered across her face before she turned away quickly.

For a moment, I forget the blood on my hands and the violence I had stepped away from hours ago. Curiosity took over reasoning, and my legs started to move.

She wasn't dressed seductively, but she had seduced me. Every detail pulled me in; the sway of he hips, the length of her silk hair, the subtle scent of her perfume mingling in the city air.

She continued talking into her phone, unaware of the creep following behind her, until she stumbled over a crack in the pavement.

My hand caught her before she hit the ground.

"Oh my God," she gasped, her phone slipping from her hand as I pulled her back into my chest.

"Another moment," I murmured against her ear, my voice low, and rough vibrating through her, "and you will be kissing the ground, doll."

The scent of her, the soft press of her warmth against me, the tremble that ran through her when she realised how close we were, it made my heart pound with excitement.

I knew with absolute certainty. I wanted her. And it didn't matter how.