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It is said that no two snowflakes are alike. Each snowflake is beautiful and hypnotizing in its own unique silhouette. They symbolize purity. But every snowflake that’s lucky enough to settle on the ground is destined to be blemished by dirt. Snowflakes teach us the lesson that if you live long enough, you will eventually get soiled. But even your stains won’t tarnish your beauty.
My Whole Life Has Been Pledged to This Meeting with You Pushkin. I only knew one person who went gaga over the Russian poet, and, like the famous Alexander, he was currently six feet under. My friends began to paddle back to shore. I couldn’t move. It felt like my balls were ten tons heavy. I didn’t believe in love at first sight. Lust, maybe, but even that wasn’t the word I was looking for. No. This girl fucking intrigued me.
Jesse Carter was going to be mine before she even knew me. Before I even knew her. Before her life turned upside down and her fate rewrote itself with her blood. So here was the truth that even my lying ass wouldn’t admit later on in our story—I wanted her before. Before she became business. Before the truth caged her in. Before the secrets gushed out. I never did get to surf that day. My surfboard broke. Should have known it was an omen. My heart was going to be next in line. And for a small chick, she did one hell of a fucking job obliterating it.
This was how I got by until the probation, anyway, but then I figured out the whole jail gig was not really for me and had to expand my business. That was around five years ago, but I never thought I’d be sitting here, in front of the most formidable dude in Todos Santos, conducting…well, business. Legitimate business, at that.
cinnam...
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They’d given me a nickname, and I’d become it, lived it, and breathed it.
Vicious relaxed into his leather seat, his grin unwavering. He didn’t care that I’d killed Defy. I doubted if he cared much about anything. He was richer than God, married to one of the most beautiful women in our zip code, and a doting father. He won the battle, the war, and conquered every obstacle that had stood in his way. He had nothing to prove and reeked of contentment.
“Why did you invite me here if you knew you were going to say no? I’m one of the main runners for buying the lot. That’s public knowledge. You knew I wasn’t coming here to admire your pretty eyes.” Vicious tapped his chin with his laced index fingers, his lower lip poking out. “What’s wrong with my eyes?”
“Why did you invite me here if you knew you were going to say no? I’m one of the main runners for buying the lot. That’s public knowledge. You knew I wasn’t coming here to admire your pretty eyes.” Vicious tapped his chin with his laced index fingers, his lower lip poking out. “What’s wrong with my eyes?”
“According to the rumors, you don’t limit yourself to one gender. Either way, I wanted to see for myself.”
“Why are you helping me?” I asked. I liked Baron Spencer. He was my first choice of business partner when I’d decided to make a bid on those acres. I knew other rich, influential people in this town, but no one was quite as ruthless as he was. “I’m merely giving you a head start. It makes things interesting, and I like the element of surprise,” he said, twirling his wedding band on his finger. “Open this surf park, Bane. I dare you. It’d be nice to finally meet my match.”
“Why are you helping me?” I asked. I liked Baron Spencer. He was my first choice of business partner when I’d decided to make a bid on those acres. I knew other rich, influential people in this town, but no one was quite as ruthless as he was. “I’m merely giving you a head start. It makes things interesting, and I like the element of surprise,” he said, twirling his wedding band on his finger. “Open this surf park, Bane. I dare you. It’d be nice to finally meet my match.”
I porked every chick with a pulse, sometimes venturing to blowjobs from guys when I was feeling drunk and adventurous, then proceeded to engage in paid-for affairs with whomever could get me an inch closer to the total domination of Todos Santos’ recreational venues. I entertained the forty-year-old wives of men I looked up to professionally for the sole purpose of pissing them off and was the shameless arm-candy of even older women whom I knew could sponsor my brand and me. I was a manwhore in the biblical sense of the word and people viewed me about as trustworthy and loyal as an ounce of
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His eyes darted to me, glistening with hope. He loved her. I’d always been embarrassed by love. It was such an uncomfortable feeling. People did a lot of stupid stuff in the name of it.
wait what? I- does he? I’m so confused? I thought from her pov that he was terrible? Dude, I don’t even know anymore- ig I am gonna find out.
When the first words left his mouth, my fingers clutched my seat. When the first sentences dug through my skull, my throat went dry. And after ninety minutes of listening, I had only one response to spare. It was one word, actually. And it summarized what I was feeling pretty accurately. Fuck.
I sat in a coffee shop at Liberty Park and gawked through the glass wall. She parked her Range Rover in front of the building and stepped out. Her slumped shoulders looked like broken wings; her overcast eyes were where your soul went to fucking die. My first thought seeing her was that she was nowhere near Quasimodo-ugly. She was beautiful, and that was the understatement of the fucking century. The second thought was that I’d already seen her. I didn’t need her to gather those inky strands of hair up to see the Pushkin tattoo. A girl like that, you don’t forget. It was years ago, on the
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She really did remind me of the snow. Just like it, she was going to melt on my tongue.
Always part ways with people you love like you’ll never see them again.
She ignored me. “Fred, do try the oysters. They’re marvelous.” Fred didn’t respond, because he wasn’t there. For the sake of argument, the oysters weren’t there, either. Mrs. Belfort had had lunch hours ago, I’m sure. Probably in the form of a soup or casserole her cook, Ula, made for her.
“You can’t be afraid of love, my dear. It’s like being afraid of death. It is inevitable.” Love is like death. It’s inevitable.
Running to exhaust myself, physically and mentally, so I could sleep. Running so I wouldn’t have to stand still, and ponder, and think, and crumble. Running from my problems, and my reality, and the emptiness that nibbled at the edges of my gut, like acid. Burning, eating, destroying.
Bane. Clouds of playground sand dancing around his army boots. Bane. His stony jaw set in anger I could feel all the way down to my toes. Bane. Holding Henry in a headlock, the preppy boy on his knees, staring at Nolan with horror I could decipher even with only the poor lighting of the streetlamp. Wren was in the car, holding her face and screaming. That’s when I noticed he’d smashed into the back of the Camaro with his truck, and not by accident. The car had slid to the concrete sidewalk bordering the playground. A swing swayed from the impact.
You could feel the atmosphere shifting in the small things. Nolan’s body going slack. Wren bowing her head down in defeat. A terrified tear rolling down Henry’s cheek. Nolan lifted both his hands in surrender, taking a step back. “Stay where you are,” Bane ordered. He did.
I am officially in love with Bane. I shouldn’t even be surprised as Vicious himself said he was a ‘made-in-china’ version of him 😭 Vicious & Bane 🫶🏼💗🧡
“Bane Protsenko?” Nolan scratched his smooth forehead. “C’mere.” Bane curled his ringed fingers that held the blunt, beckoning. Henry was still on the ground, choking on a sob. Bane’s jaw was locked so tight I thought his teeth were going to snap out of his mouth. Nolan walked over to them, coiling into himself as his posture caught up with his pulse.
Bane’s eyes sought mine under the sad artificial light. He was no less dangerous than they were. If anything, they were hyenas, and he was a lion, quiet and deadly.
Omg like scar?! In human form? Although scar (Tristan) in Scarred is literally pale skin, ink black hair and green eyes- which is so fricken sexy- but Bane would be a different human form of scar.
“I’m sorry, but who the hell are you to tell us what to do?” Nolan spat out. Bane released Henry from the chokehold, sauntering over to Nolan. The air was drenched with menace. The world seemed painfully mundane while wrapped up in Roman Protsenko’s exceptional orbit. Like he was bigger than the place he was born in. He captured Nolan’s throat in his palm and squeezed, still reeking of bored stoicism. “If you get anywhere near her again, I will personally make sure it will be the last time you step foot in this town. Your family will be driven out of here. Your college dream will be dead. I
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I was so entranced by what happened, I hadn’t even noticed Bane was standing right in front of me. But he was. There, with his long, muscled body. Green eyes like winter mint, dark and frighteningly alive. Under the harsh light, I could see the holes where his past piercings must have been. Lower lip. Nose. Eyebrow. He was tall and smooth and youthful. Regal in his beauty. The only things staining his noble good looks were his tattoos and beard. My gaze swept down to his knuckles. They were individually inked, carefully hiding every inch of skin. My eyes halted on the dark stain between them.
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