Page 27 of Into The Darkness

He didn’t warrant gratitude for taking me to dinner, for he owed me far more. Deep down, I understood that the full truth would remain hidden, a secret he had no intention of sharing. Equipped with this newfound confidence, I realized there was one thing Ash said yesterday that was true. I was far stronger than even he recognized.

Chapter nine

I wasn’t supposed to find Ember Solis pretty. Not in the ordinary sense, for her beauty was a masterpiece which defied the constraints of mere words. She was a living sonnet, a melody woven from the threads of stardust. When I first laid eyes on the person I had been tasked to ruin, I realized my job would be far harder than I had anticipated.

Her curves were unmatched. Her deep-amber eyes filled with such curiosity shone against her creamy and smooth skin. I was utterly fucked from the moment I saw her in the elevator.

It was worse when she showed up to the party and I found out that my best friend, Rain, had gotten to taste her first. I threw a few—failed—punches at him after the party because no one was supposed to lay a hand on her except for me, at least not until initiation. That’s when he told me she mounted him and pushed his hands to her tits.

When she entered the party, I was pussy deep, and watched as the darkness swirled inside of her. I loved her curiosity and the way she wanted to taste and touch. However, if she had participated, I wouldn’t have been able to stop, and I had to think about the mission because I was getting fucking distracted.

Stretching, I stared out at another typical foggy Monday in Isles before moving to the top floor of the Den. Most of the time, juniors could not be up here, but I was the president of the Den because of my father’s connections, so I was granted the presidential suite.

The room was cozy and not what you’d expect a college junior to have. When I took it over, I replaced what felt like a fuck pad with something warmer. If I was going to be president, I needed to make it feel more . . . me. I painted the walls black to match the exterior of the house, added in some cherry-oak furniture, and replaced all overhead lighting with lamps. Some days it was hard to be in the light, and I needed to just stay in bed, so I needed my room to reflect that. It was a complete one-eighty from what I had growing up with my dad.

Speaking of the devil, my father happened to be calling. We lived in the city, and although my dad visited Isles often, his concern was his biggest asset—me.

“Hey, Dad,” I answered groggily.

“Any update?” His voice was smooth yet commanding.

Cool, getting right to business, then.

“On what, Father?” I shot out of bed. This fucking conversation was the worst way to get out of bed, but now I was wide awake and annoyed as fuck.

“The Solis girl.” Oh good, maybe we would figure out how the fuck Ember got an invite to the party.

“I enrolled into Professor Connolly’s class, so I saw her on Friday. She ended up at the party—”

“Good, I sent her the invitation.”

“Dad . . .” I groaned. I told him not to get involved. This was my mission and would take me through to graduation, then I would go to the city and take over my dad’s empire, or whatever you wanted to call it.

“I disagreed with you. I am glad she came.”

“Well, she got her tattoo.” I didn’t give it to her. It wasn’t my directive, yet another fucking time my dad went behind my back.

I knew what the tattoo meant. If she was branded, her brother would see that she belonged to the Den. She then belonged to us, which would kill the Mafia. The flip side was that I could offer her protection. No one else in the cartel or the Den would dare mess with her if she had our brand on, but her own family, the Mafia, could fuck with her if she had a brand of another underground organization.

But I didn’t want her family to cross their back on her, so that’s why I told Rain to give her an O instead of the D we usually gave as a brand. I also forced him to put it behind her ear, trying to make it as little as possible. I could still protect her with an O, but she wouldn’t directly be a target to her own family.

Deep down, I knew by doing this for her, she would be protected. What was mine was always protected, and no one would mess with her. I wished someone would have done something like that for me growing up. I wished I would have been protected from my father.

“Good. Now it’s just time to wait and watch her suffer while we get the brother off Isles.”

Well, that was the plan before I started to catch feelings for Ember.Fuck.

“I know what my job is, Dad. It’s why I am the president of the Den,” I blurted, knowing my shit talking would get me in trouble.

“No, son. That is where you are very, very wrong.” His tone was laced with bitter contentment. I knew this was coming, why did I bother saying anything? “You see, the reason you are president is because of me.”

It was because of my father’s leadership that I became president my junior year. It was because of my father’s accomplishments in the cartel that I was able to take this position. I knew that. I’d been groomed for this.

“Right, of course,” I muttered, trying to get him off the phone was easier.

“Run her out of Isles, Ash.” Then he hung up.

My father was a vile human. He had always been cold and disgruntled, but that happens when you are the kingpin of the Mexican Cartel.

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