⚠️ Warning - This chapter contains graphic descriptions of domestic abuse and mentions of rape and depression. Please read with caution. ⚠️

First chapter...here we go, I hope you all enjoy it ✨

First time reader or re-reader? Let me know! ❤️

~ Daniela's POV ~

7:02pm.

It was just two minutes past 7pm, and yet it was those two minutes that I knew would push him over the edge.

Just two.

I let out a nervous breath as I pushed open the front door to his overly luxurious apartment, stepping inside before I closed it quietly behind myself. I held my keys tight in my hand to stop them from jingling as I carefully dropped them into my purse.

I guess I don't know why I was trying to be quiet, he knew I was home, he always knew.

I made my way through the apartment and towards the stairs leading to the second floor. I went as quickly as I could up the stairs while trying my best to not let the excessive amount of chains and metal pieces on my Louis Vuitton purse jingle.

Having a couple of dangly key chains on a purse is all well and good when you're trying to make the purse look pretty, but as soon as you're trying to be quiet it's pretty much game over for you.

The second I stopped outside our bedroom door, I took a deep breath before I opened it, thankful that he was so rich that his doors didn't creak at all.

He probably used some fancy ass oil to grease the hinges.

Maybe you would expect someone like him to be relaxing downstairs in the living room with a beer, or maybe out with his brother or his friends since it was Friday night - possibly even with another girl.

But he wasn't like that, he saved all that shit for later.

Instead he was sitting at the edge of the bed, watching me as I opened the door. I didn't even have to look at him for long to know what was going through his head. The moment my brown eyes met his blue ones, I knew today wasn't going to be a good one for me.

Actually I knew that since this morning when I accidentally woke him up while I was getting ready for work. He was too tired then but I knew he would bring it up tonight.

The fact I was late home just made it even worse.

"Daniela."

My name left his mouth in a cold tone dripping with anger as he rose to his feet.

"Ayden."

I gripped the leather handles of my purse in my hand, watching his tall form as he closed the gap between us slightly.

"You're late."

A simple sentence of two words, yet when said so ominously, they could scare the hell out of anyone.

Although he was clearly raging, he was also keeping himself calm. I always found it the scariest when someone is eerily calm while you know that they're fuming inside.

If they haven't let their anger consume them yet enough to openly show it, you're only at the first stage.

Stage one was when the anger was building inside them.

"I know, I'm so sorry. It was dark in the parking lot downstairs and I dropped my keys under the front car seat and-"

"You know I don't like excuses Daniela."

His words cut mine off and I just clamped my mouth shut, nodding my head. He continued to step towards me, his eyes now raking over my body as he did.

He took in the designer black knee-length dress I was wearing along with the Louboutin heels, both of which he bought for me.

Actually, he bought all my clothes for me, all of them being designer. One thing he never stopped doing was splashing his cash on me, we both knew it wasn't because he felt guilty, it was because he wanted me to meet his standards in terms of my appearance.

As well as meeting his dress standards I'd also just started my new job at an accountancy firm here in New York City after I graduated this summer. I had to dress the part for this job since it was in Manhattan, hence why I wore this particular dress to work today.

"Where's your jacket?"

"Ayden it's the middle of summer in New York, it's too hot for a jacket."

"I don't care if we're in the freaking desert, you're showing too much skin." My dress had thick straps on the shoulders and a square neckline - it definitely wasn't too much skin.

But I wasn't going to tell him that.

"I'm sorry."

"Take it off, I don't like it." He kept his eyes on me, waiting expectantly for me to take it off.

"But you chose this dress for me at the store." When I spoke in a confused tone he just gave me a glare, clearly not appreciating my reminder. "O-okay, I'll just go and change then."

When I took a step in the direction of the closet, he spoke again, still giving me a hard glare.

"Here Daniela, now."

I held his stare for a moment but the look he was giving me was enough to tell me he wasn't going to budge. This was his favourite part after all, he loved to try and humiliate me as much as he could.

I carefully set my purse down on the floor knowing that if I mistreated it in front of him he would only increase my punishment. Having such a nice purse wasn't worth it if he was going to watch my every move with it. But he insisted on treating me to it and I knew better than to reject his gift.

When I bent down to remove my heels, he lifted his hand up to stop me, giving me a sick smirk.

"Leave them on."

I slowly straightened up again, reaching behind myself to undo the zipper as much as I could before I dropped the straps of the dress over my shoulders. After a couple of shimmies the dress finally dropped down my figure and to the floor, pooling around my shoes.

While I stepped out of it, I kept my eyes on him as he came towards me. He stopped right in front of me, his eyes travelling over my body as I just stood their like a piece of meat.

Then I saw his hand swing out, connecting with my cheek.

The force of his slap caused me to stumble back in my heels but before I could fall, he reached out to grab me. His grip on my upper arm was tight and painful as he glared at me.

Now we're at stage two. His anger has finally reached the surface.

"First you wake me up and then you're late home. Didn't you learn from the last time you were late?"

His free hand gripped my chin tightly forcing me to look into his blue eyes as flashbacks from my last punishment came to my mind. I could hardly walk the next day thanks to his assault on my body.

That was just for being late. That day I didn't accidentally wake him up and I didn't wear a dress that angered him either.

When he could tell I was thinking about that particular day, his smirk came back on to his face.

"You were late by four minutes that day. I guess today was only two minutes, but, that's not all you've done today, is it?"

His grip on my arm tightened as he pulled me up against his chest, I could feel his breath on my skin as he brought his face closer to mine.

"You woke me up and you showed other men what belongs to me."

With that he roughly shoved me onto the floor before he bent down to grab my ankle. I let out a shriek when he dragged me across the marble floor of our bedroom by my ankle, into the middle of the room.

Before I could even lift my head up to look up at him, I felt his foot come into contact with my ribs causing me to let out a scream. He kicked me a few more times until I was absolutely sure my ribs were broken although he never actually went that far.

He completely ignored my cries as he leaned down towards me. "It's a shame to have to damage such a perfect little body."

I turned my head to look at him as he licked his lips, staring my body.

"Hey Ayden?" When I spoke in a hoarse voice his eyes snapped to mine. "Screw you."

He let out a chuckle at my words although his eyes gave away how angry I had made him. Yes he had total financial control over me and he was physically dominant too but that didn't mean I let him just do it to me.

He nodded his head as he came over to me bending down to grab my hair.

"You always got to use that smart little mouth of yours, huh?"

The moment those words left his mouth he slammed my head down onto the marble floor causing my vision to blur for a few moments. My sobs continued to leave my mouth as he grabbed me by my hair again and lifted me up from my lying position, throwing me onto the bed.

It was like he was addicted to hurting me. The more he did it, the more intoxicated he became by it.

And then he finally came and we reached stage three of his anger - it finally started to come down.

Once he'd finished using my body for his pleasure, he took a few moments to catch his breath before he finished up my punishment. Throwing me back to the cold floor, after a couple more kicks to my stomach and slaps to my face, he was finally done with me for that day.

I watched as he used his strength to tear my dress up ignoring the fact he paid for it in the first place.

That's rich people for you - money means nothing to them. He tossed the torn fabric at me before leaving the bedroom to go into the bathroom.

When I heard the shower turn on, I slowly lifted my bruised body up into a sitting position, taking off my heels before pulling my knees to my chest as a sob escaped my lips.

This was my life at 21 years old.

Both my parents died in a car accident when I was 16 years old. My sister looked after me until I turned 18 when I finally got accepted into Columbia University.

I moved from Ohio to New York where I quickly met Ayden and within a year I foolishly moved in with him. As you would expect, at that point he was the most amazing person I'd ever met.

He treated me like his princess, he showed me the love that I'd missed since my parents died and he made me feel safe. Even after I moved in with him he continued to do this. He spoiled me, he loved me and he made me happy for the first time in years. The episodes of depression that I went through after the death of my parents reduced and kept reducing the longer I was with him. He made me almost whole again.

But all the while he was just waiting for me to lose even more contact with my sister - the only person who was left who maybe could have cared about me.

As soon as she moved to France to marry some French guy that's when he changed. I no longer had anyone who would care what was happening to me, and he, well he had all the control he needed over me.

It started off slow, but he very quickly turned into the monster that he is today and I was the foolish young girl completely and totally dependant on him.

It started with a few light slaps and then it turned into this - brutal punishments for being two minutes late home and for wearing a dress that he bought for me.

Unfortunately, this wasn't even the worst he'd ever done to me. In the two years since he'd become so violent, if I had to think of the worst thing it would have been my 21st birthday which was two months ago in May. That night he took me out with his brother Atticus and his closest friend Miles to a club.

One thing to note about me is that I don't drink. My parents were killed because my father was driving drunk and as a consequence of that I've never drank alcohol before. Somehow, I did that night.

So, I got drunk that night, although I have no clue how. All I remembered was drinking a few sodas and then waking up the next morning in our bed with a headache. Ayden gave me a long lecture, telling me that I got drunk and that I allowed some guy to grind on me in the club. This is what Atticus told him anyway, of course I couldn't remember what happened and Ayden always believed his older brother.

After that lecture he beat me up until I could hardly move and then he let Atticus and his friend have a go with my body.

Sorry to be so blunt, but that was what he was like, he was a monster - pure and simple.

The worst part of all was that this whole thing was my own fault. I should never have moved in with him, I should have never let myself become so financially dependent on him. At the time when I was 18 years old, I was young, foolish and depressed.

Not the best combination if you ask me.

Coming back to the present, I know I'd just started my new job but it would be months until I could ever afford to leave him, that's if he let me go. I have no clue why he let me get a job, maybe he already knew he would never let me leave.

"What are you doing just sitting there? Go and clean yourself up and then make dinner."

I looked over at him as he came out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around his waist before going into the walk in closet. By the time I'd gotten myself up, struggling through the pain in my ribs, he came back this time just wearing boxers and a T-shirt.

The way he moved carelessly around the room as if I wasn't crying, naked and bruised was disgusting to me. He used to tell me he would never let anyone hurt me, he told me he loved me, and now he was like the monster that I believed was under my bed for most of my childhood - a despicable creature who would never let me go.

Of course I wanted to leave him. That had been my only wish in my life since the moment it dawned on me and I realised what I'd gotten myself into with him.

The thought of trying to escape had crossed my mind so many times but something told me it would backfire. This man knew the exact minute of the day that I walked through the front door every day, he would know if I tried to leave.

That incident on my 21st birthday would be a walk in the park if I tried that.

I was terrified of him, I had no money and no family. So, even though I had the respect for myself that I wanted to leave, I didn't have the means. So I was stuck with him.

I walked past him feeling his eyes on my naked body as I went into the bathroom, heading straight for the shower hoping that the hot water would soothe the aches in my body.

By the time I was finished in the shower the pain had calmed enough for me to move a tiny bit more freely. Wiping the steam away from the mirror, I analysed the purple bruises along my ribs from his kicks and on my stomach from his punches.

At least he was usually careful with my face - he had to keep up appearances after all.

I gently combed my hair to get the knots out from all the hair pulling before I eventually wrapped a towel around my body, leaving the bathroom. Thankfully he was gone when I got back so I had the time to change in peace.

Ayden McKnight, he was the worst thing that ever happened to me. The words rich, dangerous and psychopath summed him up perfectly.

I didn't know what his job was. When we met he told me he worked in the tech industry but I now knew that was a lie. I had no clue where he disappeared to everyday or for days and weeks on end though. I had no clue what he did.

The only people in his life that I knew of were his older brother Atticus and his friend Miles who raped me the day after my 21st birthday.

That was my life.

No friends, no family, just him.

My own personal hell.

~ Carson's POV ~

"Damn."

Fox let out a laugh when his fist connected with my jaw causing me to stumble backwards in the boxing ring.

"You like that you little baby?"

I narrowed my eyes at him ignoring her pain in my jaw as he bounced on the balls of his feet excitedly, waiting for me to get back into the fighting stance so we could go again.

"Fox don't wind him up, he'll just beat the crap out of you again and I'll be the idiot giving you ice packs." I glanced over at Grey who was watching us with a bored expression from outside the ring.

Of my three closest friends he was the most serious and in this case the most wise. Fox on the other hand was the complete opposite.

"Carson couldn't hurt a fly. Anyway, that last time I was hung over, this time I'm ready to go." Fox continued to smirk confidently causing a surge of annoyance to rush through my veins.

Without a word I shook off the pain in my jaw and stood back to my full height of 6ft beating him ever so slightly. He didn't even seem intimidated as he smirked when I lifted my hands again.

We circled each other for a little while longer before I eventually stepped towards him, having had enough of dragging this out.

I started with a few punches, a few of which he easily dodged but with the others I managed to land a couple of good hits. The punches didn't seem to deter him and he continued to throw his own punches, narrowly missing me.

When he landed one strong punch to my jaw again, his guard dropped for that split second as he laughed triumphantly, allowing me to swing my fist out hitting him in the cheek.

The force of the punch caught him off guard and I used the opportunity to land a couple more hits, finishing with an upper cut and then a kick to the stomach when he hunched over.

Fox let out a pained groan as he dropped to the floor his hands quickly cupping his junk.

Oh.

Maybe the kick was a little lower than I originally thought.

He looked up at me from his position on his knees on the floor while Grey let out a chuckle, walking towards the stairs that led to the ring.

"That's cheating Carson."

I shrugged my shoulders as I pulled off my gloves and then I undid the tape around my hands.

"We never made any rules." I tossed the items to the floor, picking up a bottle of water as Grey came into the ring.

"Actually, there's kind of an unwritten rule against kicking someone in the balls." He gave me a smirk as he patted Fox's head, clearly having some level of sympathy for him.

I guess I should too since I was all too familiar with the pain of being kicked in the balls.

"If I don't follow the written rules, what makes you think I would follow the unwritten rules?"

I rose an eyebrow at Grey who just laughed before I reached my hand out to help Fox up off the floor. He took my hand, stumbling to his feet with a pained expression on his face.

"Tomorrow when we train, you better wear a cup because I'm not holding back."

I let out a laugh, nodding my head at his threat just as the doors to the gym opened. The three of us turned around to see the last of my closest friends make her way into the gym.

Aviana.

"Did I miss it?" She rushed over to the ring when she saw the three of us but when she took in the pained expression on Fox's face, she pouted her plump lips.

"Aw, I missed it." The way she said it with so much disappointment made Grey and I laugh while Fox just glared at her.

"You think it's fun watching me get kicked in the balls?"

"You got kicked in the balls?" Her eyes widened before she let out a whine. "Damn, it was all that bitch's fault. I was on time and then bam! A bitch comes out of nowhere."

"Which bitch?" She looked over at me as I bent under the ropes, getting out of the ring before jumping down next to her.

"Chloe. That girl is all kinds of looney."

As soon as she mentioned Chloe, I nodded my head in agreement letting out a laugh.

"That she is."

As Grey and Fox hopped out of the boxing ring in the middle of the gym, I walked with Aviana to the doors as they followed close behind.

"I don't understand how you put up with it Carson." I glanced back at Grey as I shrugged my shoulders, opening the door.

"You know why, plus people know who she is so she looks good on my arm at events."

The moment I refused to spell out the nature of my relationship with Chloe, instead of using a crude choice of words, I heard Grey let out a scoff behind me but my attention was still on Avi.

"People know who I am and I'm prettier than her." Aviana glared at me causing me to roll my eyes. We'd had this argument so many times.

Aviana always insisted on being my 'date' to galas and events that I attended, but every time I said no. She was my friend, that's all she would ever be, I wasn't going to blur any lines.

"And you're my bestfriend, not my girlfriend." She continued to glare at me and then quickly swatted my hand away when I reached out to pinch her cheek.

"I don't want to be your girlfriend idiot, I just don't like her. She tells everyone that she's your girlfriend and she acts like she can talk down to us."

"She's got a point Carson. Chloe thinks she's all that now that you've been openly screwing for a year."

Fox managed to get the sentence out as he rubbed his balls trying to soothe the pain while we walked up the stairs from the basement and then down the hallway of the ground floor. When we finally came to a stop at the bottom of the stairs, I turned to face the three of them.

Aviana was my head of security and alliances, Fox was in charge of training men for physical and weapon combat and Grey was my underboss who was in charge of everything else.

We made a good team.

"You should probably put some ice on that Fox. As for Chloe, if she ever says anything that any of you don't like you have my blessing to let her know her place. The three of you are in charge when I'm not around, no one else. You can do what you want."

Both Fox and Grey seemed satisfied with my answer but it was Aviana I was the most concerned about. She was the only person I ever wanted to please. She meant a lot to me, I didn't want her to be unhappy.

"You good with that?" I rose an eyebrow at her and eventually she nodded her head.

"Yeah." I stepped closer to her, pressing a kiss to her forehead before I left them, making my way up the two sets of stairs until I reached the third floor. Heading into my room, I stripped off before getting into the shower.

My thoughts instantly drifted to the number of meetings I had that particular day.

As the leader of the American Mafia or the mob as it was sometimes referred to in New York, it was very rare that I ever had time to myself. My organisation was originally part of the Sicilian Mafia who operated here but eventually, it became its own thing. So, although we're mostly Italian, it's sometimes just referred to as the American mafia.

It's confusing as hell I know.

Although my father was Italian hence my surname Agnello, I was born and raised in America by my mother Maya Chase. My father, the great mobster Bruno Agnello, met my mother in New York, 26 years ago.

He immediately got her pregnant with me and then twice more afterwards before he disappeared off to God knows where. I didn't hear from anyone related to him again until he died when I was 20 years old - five years ago.

That was the phone call that changed my life.

From the moment he left us, my mother had spent our entire lives working so that she could provide for the three of us. As soon as I was old enough I got a job too so that I could help her. But when I got the call to tell me that my father was dead and I was the leader of the mafia by succession, it all changed.

We went from scrambling for pennies to stop the bailiffs repossessing our home one night, to living like royalty the next.

I guess that's what makes me different to other men who have ever had a similar amount of power and money afforded to them. I didn't care about the money, I wanted the best for my family and for my friends, that's all.

I didn't get lost in the fact that I was rich now.

But, that didn't mean I didn't enjoy it though, because I did. Along with this property where most of my important members lived in Long Island, I owned a penthouse in Manhattan, a house in Miami and a beach house in Los Angeles.

At 25 years old I'd learned enough to know I couldn't trust anyone outside of my three friends, my brother and sister and my mother.

I spent 20 years living in poverty, most of the time sleeping in one bed with my little brother and sister to keep them warm at night, hardly having any food while watching my mother go hungry just to feed us. The three of us got bullied in school, picked on in the streets and discriminated against in every aspect of life for being poor.

Then I became the leader of the mafia and suddenly everyone wanted to be my friend. Once we started dressing better and the food helped to make us look healthier, life changed.

It's crazy what money can do.

That's how I knew who was real and who was fake. Aviana, Grey and Fox stuck by me throughout high school up until I got that call when I was 20 years old and all the way to now. I didn't need anymore friends now that I was rich because I had them.

As for the mafia, it taught me a lot about backstabbers, liars and cheats. Unlike many before me, I didn't have my father to teach me the ropes of running the Mafia. I had to learn it all on my own with the help of my friends.

I guess that's what makes my story unique. I wasn't a cold hearted bastard naturally, the world just made me this way.

I let out a deep breath, shaking my head to rid myself of the thoughts from the past. Turning off the water, I grabbed my towel, wrapping it around my waist as I stepped out the shower.

Wiping the steam off the mirror in my bathroom, I let out a sigh when I saw my lifeless eyes staring back at me.

I was always very good at hiding my emotions in front of people, keeping a smirk plastered onto my lips and letting people see my confident front.

But in reality I was anything but confident.

I was just lost. I felt like something was missing from my life.

I just didn't know what it was.

"What were you doing in the shower that was taking you so long?"

I rolled my eyes as I came down the last few steps where Grey was waiting for me so that we could leave while Fox kept him company I guess.

"Jerking off to an image of you getting your balls kicked."

Fox's smirk dropped from his face causing Grey to laugh, as the two of us walked towards the front door leaving Fox there alone.

The house was more like a mansion. Situated in Long Island, this was the building where my top members lived, where we conducted most of our business and where we trained.

It was pretty normal for me to stay here since this is where my friends lived too although I did have my own penthouse an hour away in Manhattan.

That particular morning, we had a few meetings with the owners of our clubs where we laundered our money. After that, we had meetings with the main guy who distributes our weapons in Spain to cartels and gangs there. After that we spent time trying to come to an agreement with Hiroto, a Japanese mobster who wanted to purchase drugs off us but didn't want to pay the asking price.

The fact we worked in so many areas of business and all over the world meant we were pretty much always busy.

Thankfully, I had men who were in charge of the day to day minor business while I focused on the important things with Grey.

Aviana was always busy monitoring the activity of other mobs and gangs in New York and neighbouring states and cities. She was also the one who maintained our connections with international organisations like the Japanese Yakuza, Mexican cartels, Russian mafia and the Irish Mob.

Fox on the other hand spent most of his time at the house training our men in the gym and also teaching and training them to use guns and things of that sort. Even our experts still practised with him almost everyday to make sure they were the best.

"McKnight is making noise again."

I glanced over at Grey as we sat on the black couches in the basement of the house later that day. We were having a drink with Fox after finally finishing our last meeting of the day.

"Noise?" He nodded his head, letting out a frustrated sigh. "Aviana just messaged me to say he's trying to get himself a deal with Hiroto."

I couldn't help but laugh at this causing Grey to frown. Those Irish fools move fast.

"We don't need Hiroto's deal, pull out of it, let McKnight have it. Hiroto is messing us about anyway, that meeting was a joke."

Grey nodded his head, taking his phone out to do as I said.

Atticus McKnight.

He was always sniffing around in places he didn't belong. The Irish Mob was getting weaker by the day, he was trying to build it up again. The only issue was that he was making the wrong enemies.

"What are we going to do about him?" I shook my head at Fox's question as I looked down at my glass of bourbon, running my finger along the rim.

"I don't know. He's trying to take all our deals but if we put a hit out on him all hell will break loose. The Irish Mob aren't weak enough yet, especially with the money coming in from the deals they're hijacking from us."

"If you kill Atticus, his brother will just take over."

"Oh yeah, he's got a little brother. Ayden, right?" I turned my head to look at Fox as he typed something into his phone, probably pulling up Atticus's information.

He was always the one who could get information for me when I needed it.

"Yeah. Ayden McKnight, he's 23 years old and lives in Manhattan. He's been working with Atticus ever since he turned 18. Oh and he has a cute girlfriend called...Daniela."

When he gave me a smirk, wiggling his eyebrows I just rolled my eyes.

"I already knew about his girlfriend, you didn't need to mention that."

"But she's hot, look." Fox held his phone out to me, showing me a photo of a couple. The man who resembled Atticus with his blonde hair and blue eyes was stood next to a girl with long dark brown hair, brown eyes, plump pink lips and sharp defined features.

I'd seen her quite a few times before from a distance. The most recent time was when she was hanging off his arm at a dinner event a couple of weeks ago where this very picture was taken.

She was wearing a black dress, hugging her figure in all the right places.

"So? I don't care. When I kill Atticus and Ayden, I'll kill her too."

"Okay you can kill them but she's too hot to die."

"You're an idiot Fox. It doesn't matter what she looks like, she's involved with them, so she dies, it's that simple. When we kill Atticus, the aim will be to wipe out the Irish Mob for good - wives and girlfriends included."

Grey just rolled his eyes at the random turn of the conversation while Fox let out a dramatic sigh.

"You should at least screw her first. Maybe do one of those entertaining scenes, you can tie Ayden up and make him watch yo-"

"Shut the hell up." As soon as I cut him off both Fox and even Grey burst out into laughter.

Only these idiots would laugh at something like that.

"What's so funny?" Hearing Aviana's voice, we turned to look at the door both Aviana and Chloe came into the room. The entire time they walked over to us, Aviana was glaring daggers at the back of Chloe's head.

Probably sensing the potential for drama when Chloe sat down on my lap, Fox smirked at Aviana although his next words were aimed at Chloe.

"Carson is going to f- sorry, screw this hot chick called Daniela-"

"No I'm not." I sent him a glare but he just smirked knowing the damage was already done.

"Daniela? What is he talking about?" I gave Fox a cold glare before I turned to look at Chloe who was frowning at me.

"Nothing Chloe but, you know, we're not actually togeth-"

"Don't worry, I trust you baby." When she cut me off, she wrapped her arms around me causing Fox and Grey to smirk in amusement.

"Chloe we need to talk, this is-"

"Good, let me go first. I want to tell you in front of your friends so that they know how serious I am." I frowned at her words as she spoke in serious tone while the guys next to me waited eagerly to hear what she had to say.

"I love you Carson."

My eyes widened at her sudden confession as she grinned happily while Grey and Fox struggled to contain their laughter.

I glanced over at them as Fox hit Grey's arm repeatedly before forcing the words out. "The bitch said I love you."

As soon as he said those words, the two of them burst out laughing while I just sat there in shock.

"Uh, Chloe..."

"Say it back Carson." She frowned at me, especially when I took her hands off my shoulder and gently pushed her away, causing her to stand up off my lap.

"Chloe we aren't together, you're not my girlfriend. This thing...it's casual, that's all."

When her eyes as expected filled with tears I stood to my feet, watching her carefully. I knew what she was like, she was a loose canon.

"I've already told you this."

"Carson what are you saying? We've been together for a year, you know that."

Before I could try to tell her that she was very, very wrong, Aviana spoke.

"No you haven't. Carson has never had a girlfriend and you're not his first Chloe."

We all turned to look at Aviana who was glaring at Chloe, showing her protective side towards me. When it came to it, Aviana was extremely protective over the three of us. We'd all known each other since we started highschool so it made sense.

"Oh shove it Aviana, you know nothing about our relationship. When was the last time you even held down a stable relationship? Before or after you let two guys take you at the same time?"

The room fell deadly silent as Aviana stood their with wide eyes looking absolutely stunned at the bomb Chloe just dropped. At first I thought she made it up but when tears rose up in Aviana's eyes I could tell it was true.

She looked at me and then at Fox and Grey who were still sitting on the couch but were no longer laughing.

"Get out, slut. This conversation doesn't concern you." Chloe spat the words at Aviana, breaking the silence as she stepped closer to me. Aviana's eyes shifted away from Chloe and then to me probably expecting me to say something but honestly I was just so shocked.

"Is it true?" When Grey was the first of us to speak she turned her attention to him.

"I was drunk, it only happened once." The tears slowly fell down her cheeks as she stood across from us.

Seeing her tears fall seemed to be the thing that brought me out of my shock and I suddenly found myself walking towards her.

She watched me through tearful eyes as I took her hand, pulling her into my arms. She took a second but soon she wrapped her arms around me.

"Why are you crying? Don't cry." When I spoke in a soft tone she let out a sniffle.

"I didn't want you guys to know, it was a mistake. I felt so disgusting after and-"

"We're not going to judge you Avi, you know that." This time it was Fox who spoke as he stood up, coming over to where we were standing. "You're our girl and you always will be."

She pulled back from me slightly, turning to look at Fox with a soft smile.

"You won't?" When he shook his head, she looked over at Grey who was still sitting on the couch. When they made eye contact, he stared at her for a moment with an intense gaze before he eventually shook his head.

"Of course not Aviana."

Her smiled widened and I tightened my grip on her again, pulling her in for another hug.

"You should have just told us, although I understand why you didn't. You can tell us anything though."

"I kissed a girl once. I liked it but her lipgloss smudged with mine and she ruined it." When she said this the three of us burst into laughter causing her to giggle in my arms.

Finally when I released her from my hug, I turned my attention back to Chloe who looked extremely nervous under my gaze.

"You made her cry." The cold tone I used caused her to speak up instantly to try and defend herself.

"Carson please-"

"You'll never be my girlfriend Chloe. I don't date, I screw and that's it. For the past year I've been with many, many other women apart from you so don't think that you're special to me."

Her eyes widened at my words but the hurt in them didn't faze me in the slightest. There were only three women I cared about - my mom, my sister and Aviana.

No one else.

I took a threatening step closer to her, dropping the volume of my voice for effect.

"If you ever speak to Aviana like that again I'll make sure that you'll be picking up trash in Central Park for the rest of your life."

She nodded her head before quickly scurrying out of the room, leaving the four of us alone. It fell silent as Aviana dabbed her eyes with a tissue Grey handed her while I was busy talking to Chloe.

"So you kissed a girl? That's kinda hot." Fox wiggled his eyebrows at Aviana causing her to scoff.

"Idiot."

I can't believe it's out omg 😳

I hope you loved this chapter and introduction to the characters. Don't forget to vote and comment to let me know your thoughts!

I'm so excited for you all to read the rest of this book, even though I wrote it when I read parts back to edit it just gets me in my feels every time 😭

I'm telling you - you're not ready for this journey 🥺

Thank you so much for reading, I love you all x