Novel-novel oleh Majestique

Travis I was undoing the lace on my skating shoes when someone let out a quiet 'holy shit'. I whirled around immediately, and noticed that most of the guys' attention was fixed on the flat screen TV hanging at the far wall of the locker room. Confused, I drifted toward the gathering crowd. "... As of this morning_" a middle aged reporter was saying. "The NHL has already released an official statement following the statement put up by the two eye witnesses at the time of the assault. The case of star player Neal Matthews attacking a fan at the beginning of the season caused large waves in the media, with him apologizing and both his team management and league removing him temporarily from the team roster until further investigation." My stomach lurched. "Investigation has been ongoing with only one witness agreeing to speak up, but that all changed last night when they finally spoke up to defend Mr. Matthews." The man continued. "According to the statement by the witnesses, Mr. Ma

TravisThe first hit came barely one minute into the game.A defenseman built like a freight train drove his shoulder into my chest the second I collected the puck. The impact rattled through my ribs, but I’d been expecting it. I absorbed the check, spun off the boards, and shoveled the puck toward Law before crashing into the glass.The crowd erupted, hungry for blood. Away games were always hostile, but this arena took things personally. Every touch of the puck earned us a chorus of boos. Every whistle brought another wave of jeers.I grinned despite myself.This was what I loved about hockey. The fast, unforgiving draw of it. “Behind you!” Sammy yelled.I pivoted just in time to intercept a pass, batting it down with my stick before launching forward. We immediately fell into position. Law took the left lane, while Sammy streaked down the middle. I waited until the defender committed before sliding the puck across.Law's stick hooked it.I watched with a smile as the puck sailed

HunterWatching hockey when I was supposed to be playing it was torture. I sat halfway up the arena stands with my elbows braced on my knees, glaring holes into the ice while our team warmed up below. The roar of the crowd rolled around me in waves, but all I could hear was the scrape of skates carving fresh lines into the rink.That should’ve been me. Instead, I was stuck wearing jeans and a team hoodie like some glorified mascot.My fingers curled into fists.This was all Travis' fault.The asshole probably enjoyed reminding me he could bench me whenever he pleased.Down on the ice, Law skated backward while chirping at Sammy. Sammy responded by spraying him with a shower of ice, earning a loud string of curses that carried all the way up into the stands.“Mind if I sit?”I glanced sideways. Zahara smiled politely, already lowering herself into the empty seat beside me.“Pretty sure it’s public seating.” I drawled, more than a little suspicious that she had chosen to sit at my side

TravisSomething was off.I felt it the second I stepped onto the team bus.The aisle was the same. Law was already arguing with another of the guys over whose playlist deserved custody of the speakers. A couple of the rookies were tossing protein bars at each other when they thought Coach Warren wasn’t looking. Sammy was sprawled across two seats like he owned the damn vehicle.Everything looked normal.Yet something was… missing.I scanned the bus without meaning to. No blond head shoved against the window. No beat-up headphones.Hunter Bailey wasn't tucked into one corner by himself pretending he didn’t notice the rest of us.The realization landed harder than it should have.Right. He was benched.Coach had announced it that morning, making some excuse about recovery protocols, even though everyone knew I’d pushed hardest for it.I’d gotten exactly what I wanted.Then why did the bus feel so damn empty?“You planning on standing there all day, Cap?” Law called. “Or are you waiting

Hunter I stood rooted to the spot long after Jack’s truck had vanished around the bend, my pulse still pounding in my ears.Thirty days.Coach O’Brien.The words echoed through my skull like a broken record.Beside me, my mother hadn’t moved. Her arms were folded tightly across her chest, her gaze fixed on the empty road as though Jack might suddenly reappear.I swallowed, then turned to her. “We need to go to the police.”She didn’t even look at me. “No.”I stared at her. “No? What do you mean no?” I repeated.Her head snapped toward me. “I said no.”“Mum_”“I heard you the first time.”My temper flared. “Jack just threatened us! Did you hear him?"“He blackmailed us.”“He threatened us with prison!”She rounded on me so fast I instinctively took a step back. “And whose fault would that be?” she hissed.The words hit harder than I expected.I clenched my jaw. “So that’s it?” I asked quietly. “We just let him extort us?”Her laugh was hollow. “You think the police are going to save u

Hunter "You are good?" I glanced over at Ivan who had been peering at me at intervals since the drive back to my home. I didn't know what he was seeing on my face, but hoped I was managing to hide the truth. Because the truth made no sense. What happened at that alley made no fucking sense. I had been debating with myself about my next course of action. Storm into Travis' room and ask him what the fuck was that was option A. Option B went more like pretending the whole thing didn't happen, and maybe moving out of the house entirely. I was long overdue to get my own place. Somewhere I didn't have to see Travis daily. Maybe I could even get traded after this season. "Hunter?" Ivan called. I blinked back to the present. "Yeah, I'm good. Peachy." "The club did not do you good." He pointed out."Nah, it was okay. It was a great idea. It helped." Did it really? "The purple haired lady came back pretty quick." He smirked at me. "You weren't up to the task? Or she was disappointed b

CASSIE "The Tight what?" I asked, looking over my shoulder in confusion. My father pushed me out of the way and stepped closer to Liam, eyes shining with delight, "Liam Copeland in the flesh?" What the hell was going on? "I've been following your career since your college days and I always knew you'd be something. Your last game against the Texas Bears was a thing of beauty and_" my father trailed off, "Wait a damn minute, what are you doing at my front door?" Liam turned his brown, unreadable eyes at me, threw his arm over my shoulder and hurled me into his side, "You're going to have to ask my lovely wife." I narrowed my eyes at him in suspicion, but before I could ask him what he was playing at, my father let out a gasp. "Cassie? Tell me this is a dream and you're not actually married to the best hockey player of the twenty first century." Dad said, looking like he was going to pass out any moment from now. Everything suddenly began to make sense. From the

CASSIE "I can't believe you're doing this," Jeanne said over the phone as I paced at the airport to keep myself warm, "I know I've dragged you into a number of crazy things, but this has to be the craziest." I let out a breath, "Tell me about it. I don't even know anything about him except from his name. What if he doesn't show up?" "Then you'll tell everyone the plane crashed and your husband was lost in the accident." I giggled, "And what will I say when they asked how I survived?" "Surprise surprise, you had a parachute in your bag!" She gasped, causing me to laugh even louder. Just then a voice announcing that the flight to Louisiana was now boarding sounded across the airport. That was supposed to be our flight and there was still no sign of Liam. I didn't have his number or anyway to reach him, I was doomed. "It seems I'm going to have to use the excuse that my husband died in a plane crash after all." I sighed. "Not even married up to five months and yo

CASSIE "What?!" I barked when I finally managed to raise my jaw from the floor, "I'm sorry, but I think I heard you wrong. Did you just say I'm your wife?" The man's brown eyes hardened, and he pulled out a document from the inside pocket of his leather jacket, "Here." I hesitated, "What's that?" "It's a marriage document signed by Cassandra Love and I. If I'm not mistaken, you're Cassandra." There was something vaguely familiar about the man, but I couldn't put my finger on it. Which was weird as hell though. How could I ever forget such a gorgeous man? I racked through my memories and came up empty. Slowly, I reached for the document and unfolded it. My bestfriend hurried forward to read through it with me. "What in the name of craziness is this?" She whispered to me. My gaze jumped down to where my signature was scrawled boldly on a dotted line and then the date. Cold washed all over me and I went statue still as memories of that night suddenly assaulted me.

CASSIE THREE MONTHS LATER "Cas, your mum's calling again," Jeanne called out to me. "Damn it," I hurried into our shared office and grabbed my phone, "Hey mum." "I've been calling you all day," my mother grumbled, "The reason you have a phone is for communication darling. If you aren't going to pick your calls, we may as well start sending you post letters." "Did you need something or is dad not around for you to nag?" I teased. "I don't nag." She snapped, "Anyway, I was calling to ask you what day we are expecting you. Gabriel and Mia have already confirmed that they'll be arriving on the eighteenth." My heart skipped a beat and I swallowed, "Uh, expecting me where?" "Home for Christmas." She emphasized slowly. I licked my lips, while my stomach clenched uncomfortably, "Actually, I'm too cramped with work to celebrate Christmas this year." "I called Jeannie yesterday and she was kind enough to inform me that you're closing for the holidays soon," she hu

ASSIE "If anyone has a reason why these two shouldn't be joined in holy matrimony, speak now or forever hold your peace," the priest said. "I do!" The large double doors of the church suddenly burst open, revealing my sister. "Mia?" I asked in confusion, wondering what was going on. My younger sister was supposed to be my chief bridesmaid, but at the last moment, she had informed me about an emergency that would keep her out of town on my wedding day. Her sudden presence at the church made no sense at all. Or maybe it was a surprise for me. My mouth began to curve into a pleased smile. "Gabe, I love you!" She declared, and my smile froze on my face. "W-what?" I stammered, but she ignored me, her blue eyed gaze locked on my groom. As she began to march down the hall, camera flashes started going off. "I love you, Gabe and I know you love me too. I'm tired of keeping this thing between us hidden like a dirty little secret," she began to walk toward the altar, "And

Nina"Where do you think the laptop is?""Nina_""I mean, If it wasn't in the car and wasn't at Miriam webster's house, then maybe she secured it somewhere else cause she knew she wasn't safe." My brain raced with thought after thought. "A storage compartment under a fake name or a bank.""Nina_""There has to be something that points us to the location of the_""Nina, enough." Paul sighed.My head snapped to the side, surprised at his exasperated tone. He shook his head with a small smile."I understand that you want to find that laptop_""I need to find it, there's a difference." I corrected. "It could be the key to everything. If it has a full evidence of all the Intel she's gathered over the years, then we can finally have the smoke syndicate and Santiago in the bag. All of this will be over?""Then what?"I blinked at him. "Excuse me."He shrugged. "Have you ever thought of what will be next? After you take Santiago down and find your sister. What next?"The truth was that I hadn

Raffaele Her taste lingered on my mouth, and it was all I could do not to walk right into that station and reacquaint myself with the taste of her. What the hell had I allowed to happen?Why had I kissed her? I had gone after her to warn her. To threaten her. To make sure she never went near The Sprawl again.Instead, I’d hunted her through the dark and kissed her like a man with nothing left to lose.The moment I had her trapped in my hold, all civility went out the door, replaced by something that was pure animal, pure instinct. Something that made me want to break her down to the bone and rebuild her where she belonged, under my hand.It was... I didn't have a word for it. I had never been the sort of person to lose control. Years of always following a clear plot and that fucking cop had come and blew everything to smithereens. What was so special about her? She wasn't my usual type, she was too abrasive, too sharp, too short. Too everything. "Mr. Santiago." I blinked back

Nina An explosion rocked through me, blowing my senses into dust. The realization that Santiago was kissing me was pushed into a distant part of my brain by the heat of his mouth. I made a sound of protest in my throat, but his fingers only tightened on my jaw, tongue teasing against the seams of my mouth till I had no choice but to open for him. Why was he doing this? Why did it feel so good? Was this some sort of punishment? Instead of trying to fight him off, my traitorous body gave in. A moan rumbled in my chest and his hand around my wrist tightened, sending pain shooting through my shoulders at the angle they were held in. But still, nothing mattered but the feel of his mouth on mine. Santiago's tongue swept into my mouth, dragging over mine and coaxing it into action. My knees had turned to jelly, and the only thing holding me upright was his hold on me. It had been over a year since I had had a man's mouth on me, but every other encounter I had ever had pal

NinaI knew I was toast the moment I ran, but the only other option was staying right there and everything inside of me protested at the thought of obeying Santiago. And so I ran. My breath came out short and fast as I pushed through overgrown grass, muscles pumping as I pushed my body as hard as I could. I didn't have any clear destination, and there was probably nothing for miles, and yet I kept on running. Panic gripped me like a vice, squeezing my chest tight as I heard grasses ruffling a distance away. He was coming for me. "Run, Nina." His dark voice drawled behind me, faint enough that I knew he wasn't close, but still, chills still raced up my spine. He can't harm you, a voice in my head pointed out. I ignored it. This wasn't about Santiago hurting me. It was about power, defiance, that dangerous thing that I'd been dancing around since the moment I ran into him at the warehouse. It was about the glint in his eyes when he looked at me, the way his fingers had curled te

Rafael"And then she fell off the fire escape." Tony concluded his report. By then, my jaw was already clenched so tight that it was a miracle my teeth hadn't cracked and shattered. Trading guns and drugs while trying to keep up the facade of the perfect, philanthropic business man was nothing compared to trying to keep that foolhardy cop out of harm's way. For the millionth time, I asked myself why I even cared. It would be far easier to sit back and watch her dig her own grave. By the look of things, she was already half way done with the digging anyway. So why had I hired someone to babysit her? Tony's skills were costing me a pretty penny and he was probably confused as to why he was being made to watch over an FBI agent. He was a top rated and sought after mercenary, not a bodyguard. "Is that all?" I asked. He shrugged, looking bored. "The police spoke to her, combed through her building and my location on the rooftop across from hers." "Good. Continue trailing her." I sai

Nina "I can't believe Paul let you go there!" My best friend hissed over the phone as I trudged home from work the night after our near death experience at The Sprawl. "Let me?" I scoffed. "I don't need Paul's permission. I'm a full grown_" "Don't you dare say adult, because no self preservating adult in their right senses would go anywhere within a ten mile radius of that place." Katy spat out the last word like calling it a place was an affront on it's own. I cursed myself silently for even letting it slip that I had gone to The Sprawl. In my defense, Katy was as persuasive as they came. She was a living lie detector. I had tried to steer the conversation in a million different directions but she had kept on pressing till the truth had come tumbling out. "Katy_""I don't even want to talk to you right now." She cut me off with a growl."I needed to get answers." I sighed. "You could have died there. And I wouldn't have had any idea where to even recover your body from." She ma