Each book in this series continues on from the previous. While there won’t be major cliffhangers in each book, there will be parts of the story that won’t be resolved, so please be aware of this. All loose ends will be tied up by the end of the series.

It is recommended that each book be read in order.

WARNING:

For Mature Audience 18+

Contains Adult Sexual Situations & Language

Published by Nina Levine

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form, including electronic or mechanical, without written permission from the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental. Nina Levine is in no way affiliated with any brands, songs, musicians or artists mentioned in this book. This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This book may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you are reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should return it to the seller and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the author’s work.

Nina Levine

USA Today
& International Bestselling Author

Also by Nina Levine

Storm MC Series

In Order:

Storm (Storm MC #1)

Fierce (Storm MC #2)

Blaze (Storm MC #2.5)

Revive (Storm MC #3)

Slay (Storm MC #4)

Illusive (Storm MC #5) – COMING 2015

Command (Storm MC #6) – COMING 2015

Havoc Series

Destined Havoc (Havoc #1)

Inevitable Havoc (Havoc #2) – COMING 2015

Crave Series

All Your Reasons (Crave #1)

Keep up to date with my books at my
website

http://ninalevinebooks.blogspot.com.au

Dedication

To everyone who struggles to accept themselves for who they truly are...

It’s okay to embrace our flaws and own them...

To accept every part of ourselves

And love ourselves

And to let others love us, too.

“Sometimes you have to shatter to find strength. And sometimes you have to let someone in to help you put the pieces back together.”

~ Layla

Prologue

Blade - 12 years old

My father was the meanest person I knew. No one even came close. I’d always thought he hated my mother and me, but the things he was saying and doing today just proved it. As I huddled in the corner of the kitchen, I chanted a prayer over and over in my mind, madly hoping God would listen.

There was a God, right
?

My mother had always told me there was, but I’d never seen any proof. The only things I’d ever seen were a bare pantry, clothes that either didn’t fit me anymore or had holes in them, a mother who was hardly home because she was working two jobs to keep a roof over our heads, and a mostly absent father. Further proof God probably didn’t exist was when my father
did
visit, he often left us with bruises to remember him by. I wasn’t sure, but I figured if there was a God, he wouldn’t have let all that happen.

I didn’t often call him Dad. He was Marcus to me. I knew he wasn’t like a real father; he never did anything for us I saw other fathers do. And while he always had a temper, today he was really angry. Fear painted my mother’s face, and dread filled my gut.

“Why the fuck is that asshole from the grocery store asking you out on a date?” he roared at my mother.

She cowered under his harsh words and furious glare. “I don’t know, Marcus. I never encouraged him.” Her eyes were pleading with him to believe her. I knew from experience he wouldn’t.

He lashed out and slapped her face. “Don’t fucking lie to me, Stella.”

Her hand flew to her face. “I’m not.” She tried to defend herself but he wasn’t buying any of it.

The crack of his fist landing on her cheek almost made me vomit. He’d never been this violent towards her before. When he arrived at the house half an hour ago, I knew straight away he wasn’t right. He was angrier than usual. And when he started going on about something he’d heard about the man at the grocery store, I knew nothing good would come of today.

He continued to rant at her and hit her. I covered my ears and started chanting prayers in my head again.

Please, God . . . if you’re there, please make him leave us alone. I’ll do anything, just make him stop.

I wanted to help my mother; I wanted to step up and rescue her from his violent fists. But I wasn’t stupid. I was too young, too little to take my father on. Watching him now, though, watching him do the things he did to my mother, I decided there would come a day when I would challenge him. Until that day, I would be patient. I would make my plan, and I would make sure there was no way I wouldn’t win when I finally gave him what he deserved for everything he’d ever done to us.

Chapter One

Blade

Eight Years Ago

Aged Twenty-Five

The steady drip of a leaking tap somewhere in the warehouse was the only sound I heard as I watched the scene unfold in front of me. That and the roar of blood rushing to my head as anger took hold.

“You really wanna go there, Blade?” Leroy snarled, his lethal gaze focused solely on me.

I thought about what he’d asked even though I’d done nothing but think about that very question for the past few weeks. This was the man who’d taken me under his wing when I was a naive fifteen-year-old out dealing drugs for little more than pocket change; the man who’d taught me everything I knew today about how to survive in the dangerous underbelly we existed in. I’d lied, stolen and killed for this man. Fuck, the first time I’d taken my blade to someone had been to save Leroy’s life. Ten years in his gang and I’d risen to the top, but I’d lost my humanity along the way. I didn’t even question the shit I did for Leroy anymore. The darkness within had totally consumed me.

Until I met Ashley
.

I took a step closer to Leroy, the adrenaline pumping through me. With a nod of my head, he’d easily be taken care of by my boys, but I wanted to be the one to do it. I needed that vengeance for what he’d tried to force upon Ashley, and for what he’d already forced upon countless other women. “Yeah, motherfucker, it seems I do.”

Leroy had his loyal gang members backing him up, but I had far more of our members behind me. Once we’d discovered how Leroy was filling his brothels, we’d decided we could no longer support a filthy pig like him; a pig that refused to treat women with the respect they deserved.

His eyes were wild, his body taut; he was just as ready for this showdown as I was. “You do remember who took your sorry ass off the street and showed you what you were capable of, don’t you?” He pushed his face towards mine. We were so close now that when he spat his next words out, I could smell his foul breath. “I fucking
own
you, Blade. You don’t get to fucking challenge what I do.”

The calmness that always took over whenever I was about to kill descended upon me. My breathing remained steady, sure. “That’s where you’re wrong, Leroy. You don’t own me, and I sure as hell don’t owe you a damn thing. Not anymore. That debt has been paid. But you and I have a huge fucking problem if you think it’s okay to force women into selling their bodies so you can make money off them”

“They fucking owed me for the drugs they’d been buying off me!” he thundered, as if that made it all right. His thinking was so fucking screwed up he didn’t know right from wrong anymore. Hell, in his world, there
was
no wrong. Only what he wanted, and that was always right.

“There’s going to be some changes around here,” I stated with the calmness I felt in my bones. This was the right thing to do.

“You’re fucking dreaming if you think you can take me out and keep this organisation running, at the level of profit I’ve achieved, without the women.”

“And you’re fucking deluded if you think I’m going to let you live, so I guess I really only have one option here: kill you and find a way to make it all work, because I sure as fuck have no intention of running drugs or women anymore.”

In the blink of an eye, Leroy gave his men the nod, and a second later I had five guns trained on me. In return, Leroy had twelve on him. I waited for his next play. After all, patience was my strong suit.

“If you think you can kill me with no repercussions, my boy, you might want to think again,” he threatened with the confidence of a man who never made promises he couldn’t keep. Leroy most certainly had shit planned for this exact outcome, but he underestimated me.

I pulled my blade out and took another step closer to him. In a low voice, I said, “It’s a good thing you taught me to always keep one eye behind me, then, isn’t it?”

His eyes widened slightly, and I took in the sheen of sweat on his forehead. He knew his breaths were limited. My pulse quickened as I savoured his fear and anticipated sinking my knife in his gut.

Merrick, my right-hand man, moved to speak into my ear. “Let’s get this shit over with, Blade. I don’t want to risk anything fucking this up, not when you've got him right where you need him.”

Merrick was right, as usual, and without giving Leroy any warning, I sunk my knife into his stomach. He roared with pain and staggered back. I pulled the knife back, yanking it from his body, only to plunge it back into his stomach. My blade connected with his flesh over and over as I sought retribution for the crimes he’d committed against the women in his organisation. I heard gunshots as our boys fought it out, but all I was concentrating on was Leroy’s blood. I needed more of it on my hands.

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