Page 1 of Scorching Sienna

Prologue

Shadow

My world stops as soon as I lay eyes on her. It’s not dreamy and sweet.

In those few seconds, as everything else fades into the background, an obsession takes hold, rooting itself deep and exploding with a ferocity that overshadows every meaningful moment of my life.

My first kill. My first fuck. My first everything pales in comparison.

This is why I am alive. This is why I survived a failed abortion. This is why I stood up every time I got knocked down. To get to this moment in my life. To see her.

She doesn’t belong here. She sticks out like a sore thumb. Her short dress accentuates her figure but, at the same time, highlights her insecurities.

She tugs at the hem while smiling at the blonde across from her, trying to make herself fit in. Square hole, round peg. It’s intriguing to watch. I have been here many times but have never seen such a creature as her.

Red hair, green eyes, medium height. Those traits the same as athousand others. Except not.

Her naturally red hair shines so brightly it's like the sun's rays are hitting it even though it's nighttime. The waves frame a face so fucking smooth I know it will knock my Vicuna bedding from the top spot. Green eyes too kind. Too revealing.

They set her apart in this place, calling to be deceived by someone with bad intentions. Like the man just approaching her. He slings his arm over her bar stool, lightly brushing her back. Her shoulders tense at the same time my fist clenches, but so slightly that only I would see. Only one watching closely would notice.

She smiles, but it doesn’t reach her eyes. She looks at him with apprehension. She wants to fit in, but not in this way. Her eyes meet with the blonde again, a friend perhaps, whose facial expression urges her to calm down.

She turns her head, pulling slightly back, when she realizes how close she is to the man who has invaded her space. What did she expect? A lamb in the lion's den looking like she does.

She smiles broadly as she extracts herself from the lucky-to-be-alive man's false smile and heavy arm across her shoulders. She looks around nervously as she eyes the establishment, her gaze lingering on the dark spot that engulfs me before moving on. Seeking the excuse she has just raised to escape.

She pushes through the crowd, her eyes on the walls as she looks for the ladies. Her temporary salvation while she rationalizes why she is here.

A man follows behind, his expression severe as he looks at her. He glances around, not noticing me in the shadows. Why would he? I am born of the darkness. He follows a few feet away, her confused expression as she looks around confirming her vulnerability in this situation. She bumps into a few drunk people, apologizing profuselybefore she finds the ladies. The man hovers just at the entrance after she steps inside.

That is when I step in. My knife finds the spot under his arm while my hand covers his mouth, his muffled screams dying as he does. His body becomes limp and heavy as I pull him towards an exit leading to a fire escape along the side of the apartment building housing this club—a hit from an enemy clan. That is how this would play out.

A turf war was inevitable, but some actions were necessary for the greater good. And looking at the fucking scumbag lying lifelessly before me, I knew I had made the right decision.

Chapter 1

Light

Why did I do this?

The last time I went to a club was ten years ago. The first and last time. It wasn’t my scene then. And unlike some things you grow to love as you get older, like money spent on an ever-growing collection of smutty books instead of the pursuit of a ruthlessly banging hangover in the morning, this would not grow on me. No matter the frequency.

“What do you want!” The barman looks at me expectantly, his raised voice barely heard over the volume of the music. He isn’t smiling, but I don’t blame him. This bar is busy, and it is humid. He swipes at a bead of sweat following a path from his hairline down his brow, clinging to his eyebrow for dear salty life.

“Um, just a coke, please!” When he places the large plastic cup on the counter, I wonder how many sweat droplets make up the millage. Instead of asking him, I push over a note and drop the change he brings me into the tip jar on the counter. It is nearly empty, making me wonder what came first: the poor service or the empty tip jar.

The last time I drank out of a plastic cup was at a kid's party.

Geezus. Club Nero’s, more like Club Zero’s. Absolutely nothing about this place was appealing, which made me think perhaps my distaste of clubs was not all-inclusive but purely steeped in how dirty and dingy this one in particular was. I nearly lost a shoe earlier; the floor was so sticky. Compared to the other clubs I googled before I came, this one was like getting a cracker with cheese when you asked for a burger.

There was one calledSin, which didn’t have any pictures, oddly, but boasted of being the most sought-after club to get into in the area closest to where I live. When I suggested to Gloria that we go and see if we can get in there instead, she wouldn’t budge. Looking around, I don’t really know why. Perhaps because the entrance fee for this dive was nominal and the booze was cheap. Not just in price.

“Loosen up and have a proper drink!” Gloria’s words cause the Ken Barbie doll, who latched onto her as soon as we arrived, to briefly grace me with a glance, all the while continuing to grind against Gloria's thigh in tune with the music. Nothing about what he was doing was sexy. He looked like an octopus climbing a pole.

I smile and shake my head, telling her I’m okay for now, which earns me yet another eye roll—the fifth one.

Number one was attained just minutes after Gloria picked me up, the cleavage-covered dress I was wearing the cause. Apparently, my lack of pushing my ‘puppies’ up into an unbearably uncomfortable position while displaying them to the world was enough to earn me my first eye roll of the evening.

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