Chapter One
Theo
I am a man with information and knowledge about everyone and everything. I have built myself up from nothing to the man who wants for nothing. Yet, I have spent many years wanting the one person I can never have. No, not fucking want—crave. Maybe? No, that’s not even the right word. I fucking lust for her, and like everything else you lust after, it’s the one person I can’t have. The one person that if anyone knew I even thought of coveting her, my life would be at stake.
Everything I’ve built for myself would be gone. I’ve built my empire as the best IT and security guy on the East Coast. I started by working with my best friend Mason’s family when, in sheer boredom, I hacked his father’s firewall at seventeen and found information that I never should’ve had. My home life was shit, but Mason and his family never made me feel as if I was less than them. They had money to where they never worried where their next meal came from.
From that fateful day on, I was brought into the fold and became one of the O’Malley Family, and I never looked back. I’ve built my business with no mercy, and now I am top dog ruling beside Mason. Coming in and helping the 7 Deadly Sins nightclub with their IT and security was a no-brainer, not because I was bored but because the one person I lust after loves this place.
I sit at my desk, watching the monitors, making sure employees are doing what they are supposed to and patrons aren’t getting too crazy. The lights are flashing, the music is pounding, making it look like the people on the dance floor are moving in slow motion. I turn to my screen with my code running, monitoring everything in the building, ensuring everything runs like the well-oiled machine this nightclub has become. There was a time when I would have been down in the thick of things, enjoying the party and letting the drinks flow. Enjoying the show the women wanting into the VIP section put on because that’s where the money is. But ever since the poisoning of the O’Malley patriarch, we are all on edge and watch everything we do.
“You know, Theo, you sure were a lot more fun about six months ago,” Mason says, coming through my office door.
“You know, jackass, if you don’t start knocking before coming into my office unannounced, you might just end up dead,” I say back, ignoring his comment.
“Is that so? If I didn’t know any fucking better, I might actually think you don’t like me very much with the way you’re always threatening to kill me,” Mason says, handing me a glass of my favorite whisky.
“It’s not a threat. It’s a promise,” I tell him, knowing that the reins I have on my patience are about to snap.
“So you say. But you need me just as much as I need you, and you fucking know it, douche bag,” Mason says, looking at the monitors. His visits to me have become increasingly more frequent, and I’ve yet to figure out why when we both know that he needs to be home helping his father.
“How’s the old man holding up?” I ask, draining the last of my whisky like it was bottom shelf shit and not the top-shelf gold that it is.
“He’s getting better every day and increasingly more pissed off with not knowing how it fucking happened,” he says. I notice a slight stiffening of his shoulders and bulging in his jaw, a sure tell he’s not happy.
I look at the monitor and know my molars are all but ground to dust by how hard I’m grinding them. Standing at the bar is the woman causing my well-honed control to unravel. The dress caresses every curve of her body like a lover. I follow the line of her neck exposed by a long, slick ponytail I want to wrap around my fist as I bend her over the bar and show her who she belongs to…
I’m brought out of my thoughts by the slamming of glass against the wall. “She looks like she’s wearing fucking scraps. I swear to all that is fucking holy when I get my hands on that woman, I’m going to turn her ass pink,” Mason growls as he leaves my office.
I look back at the monitors, trying to figure out who in the hell he is talking about, and find my woman. I’ve known this man since I was six and first snuck into his backyard to swim in his pool. No woman has ever caused him to react this way. I finally find the object of my lust, and when I do, I all but flip my desk with how fast I get out of my chair.
The reason I couldn’t find my woman is that some little snot-nosed boy is leaning over her. I know if that asshole lays one finger on her, I’ll end him. I lose every iota of common sense and clear thought as I watch him run a finger down the side of her long slender neck. She belongs to me. The reins on my lust have officially snapped. I know when my head clears, and I’m not seeing in shades of red, that the consequences of my actions will sink in, but with every step closer to my woman, I don’t give a fuck.
I’m done lusting after my woman. It’s time to make her mine.
Chapter Two
Malia
When I feel the cold, slimy finger of the asshole next to me slide down the side of my neck, I want to throw up. I turn my back to him, trying to talk to my best friend and spirit sister, Lawson, attempting to ignore him. I order us a drink and feel his hand on my ass. I’ve had e-fucking-nough of this little boy and his wandering hands. As I turn to give him a piece of my mind, my brother pops up out of nowhere, along with security. I drop my head back, looking at the ceiling, praying for patience.
“Big brother, the only reason I started coming to the club is because it’s not yours. You know that, right?”
“I’m very aware of that. You mind telling me why you’re out not only without your men but dressed in scraps? And dragging your little friend into your mess as well?” he asks, throwing an even colder glare over my shoulder at Lawson.
From our many drunken nights, I know that look will cut her deep, so I do what I do best and redirect his glare to me. “Mind not starting a scene in the middle of the hottest nightclub in the city?”
“Let’s go,” he says, reaching for my arm.
I step back, shaking my head. “No, we came for a few drinks and to dance. So, thank you for helping with this matter, but I had it under control. If you’ll excuse me, we’ll be doing just that. You ready, Law?” I ask my best friend, dismissing my big brother.
He and Theo think that I’m clueless about what they are involved in, but Mother knew I would have to be strong to make it in this world with us living on both sides of the law. To be the daughter of a man who is both the king of the underworld and a prominent businessman. To be a part of our family, you can’t be blind to it. That is the fastest way to end up kidnapped or dead. My brother and his best friend must not know that my mother has been teaching me everything she can, and I intend to keep the knowledge to myself until needed.
I make it about halfway across the club when I feel eyes on me. I can tell you it’s the same eyes that I’ve felt since I came home after my freshman year of college. I know it’s him because I feel warm and safe. I’ve lusted after that feeling every time I go back to school and revel in it every time I’m home. I’ve yet to figure which one of my dad’s or brother’s men it is. I stop walking, and Lawson runs into my back at my sudden stop.
“What are you doing, woman?” Lawson asks, holding on to my hips to steady us both.
“Just looking around,” I say, still searching.
