Empire of Lies - Whitney G. Page 0,103
handled by someone else.”
“That’s it? No violence?”
“None at all,” I say. “D-27s don’t typically escalate that far. They’re not bad people, they’re just greedy as hell, and they usually steal from the poor.”
“So, they’re pay-day loan executives and banker type of guys?”
“Yes, exactly.”
“Hmmm.” She taps her lip. “How much does someone pay you for something as simple as that?”
“It varies.” I tap my phone and open the text message from Trevor. “This one is two million dollars. It’s a lot less than usual.”
Her eyes widen, so I start to text Trevor that I’m not interested.
“I want to go with you on this job.” She grabs my hand before I can hit send. “I want to help you do it.”
“Excuse me?”
“You heard me,” she says, looking dead-ass serious. “I don’t want to live a boring, bland life in the suburbs and I don’t want a typical happily ever after. And I know you don’t either… I want to live in your world.”
I blink, completely stunned again by the way her mind works.
I shouldn’t entertain this idea at all, but from the look in her eyes—that familiar, longing and intrigue when she first found out what I did for a living, I know that she’s not bluffing. She wants this.
She wants me as I am.
“My world isn’t a pretty place,” I say. “It gets darker the deeper you go, and once you step in and work with my type of people, you’ll never be the same. You’ll start reading people like you read books—looking in between the lines for their lies and their secrets, and you’ll start to realize that they’re never who they say they are. It might ruin you.”
“On the first night we met, I told you I was already ruined…” She pauses. “I meant that.”
I smile, but I don’t say anything else.
“I don’t think you could leave your world if you tried anyway.” She starts talking again. “I definitely can’t see you trading it in for Wall Street or a nine to five.”
“You’re wrong,” I say, cupping her face in my hands, feeling the beta-male shit seconds away from slipping from my lips. “I’d do it if it was the only way to keep you.”
“Do you really mean that?”
“I promise that.” I run my fingers through her hair. “I would give it all up for you. If that’s what you want.”
“I don’t,” she says. “I want you to share it with me. I want to keep building our legacy.”
“Our legacy?” I smile, pressing my lips against hers. “I wasn’t aware that’s what we were doing.”
“Well, now you know.”
“You are aware that this means you’ll be pursuing a life of illegal crime, right?”
“Yes,” she says, nodding. “I also know that if we ever get caught, you’ll do all the prison time and leave me out of it.”
“I will…” I laugh and move down to the floor, pulling her on top of me. “After we fuck, let’s get to work…”
End of Episode #3
Epilogue
Michael
Now that you’ve reached the end of this story, you can see that I wasn’t lying about the lack of a warm and fuzzy “happily ever after.” There were no grand displays of love, long monologues for no reason, or any soft and soothing chats about the hero wanting to become a better person.
Sure, I ended up in love with the “beautiful, feisty heroine,” but that’s a known spoiler for any fucking romance story. Even a twisted one.
And maybe—just maybe, I can admit that the minute she served me the first loss of my life, when she beat me at my own damn game, that I started to question who I really was. But the moment when I refused to grovel like the other weak book heroes, was exactly when I remembered.
Deal with it.
No, I’m not completely healed or fixed. I’m far from it.
My past still shows up in flashes from time to time, waking me up from my sleep on nights when I least expect it, but it’s nowhere near as often. And it’s nowhere near as lonely since the woman I fell for is always by my side.
She’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me, the only woman who knows me inside and out, and she never judged me when she found out who I really was.
She’s the true hero of this story.
Not me…
Nonetheless, since I don’t feel like waxing poetic about why that is, or giving you an additional page of fluff, you can close the book now.
You’re done here.
Move on to the damaged, groveling heroes and the sweet “happily ever afters” that you’re used to.
As for me, I’ll move on to what I’ve always wanted, what I’ve secretly longed for, for over twenty years now. Three things I never thought I’d get the chance to experience.
Happiness.
True love.
A peaceful night’s sleep.
THE END
If you enjoyed this serial trilogy and want to read something in similar vein, stay tuned for the Sinful Saints Trilogy. It’s a little dark, a ton of sexy, and one of my favorite stories to date!Also, be sure to check out my other erotic romances, which are full-length novels: Mister Weston (Meredith’s best friend Gillian is the heroine in this story ) and Reasonable Doubt (Probably one of the sexiest alphas I’ve ever created is in this one, and his name is Andrew Hamilton.)
Author’s Note
Thank you to every reader who is currently reading this note. I wrote this series for myself and it’s a true passion project, but I wanted to share it with you.
Between you and me, I spend the majority of my reading hours on thrillers and suspense, so I wanted to bring in the new year (and new decade) by writing something in that vein while still keeping the romance.
Originally, I had no plans to publish this serial. It was going to be printed and tucked away in my desk drawer where I keep a box of manuscripts labeled, “Just for Me,” but I dared myself to hit publish for this one. Perhaps doing so will give me the courage to publish the others someday. Maybe.
Anyway, if you read it and loved it, please leave a review to let others know. (If you hated it…Well, keep that shit to yourself. LOL Just kidding! Please leave a review for that as well.) If you want to personally tell me your thoughts, you can find me here: Instagram or Facebook.
Also, please sign up for my mailing list so I can keep you in the loop about my upcoming work. Or, if you’re not into that, check in with me every so often at whitneygbooks.com where I spill the “tea” on whatever I’m working on next.
Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU.
F.L.Y.
(Effin love you)
Whitney G.
Also By Whitney G.
THE FIRM
Filthy Lawyer
(April 2020)
Sinful Witness
Dirty Judge
Empire of Lies Series
King of Lies
Queen of Lies
Legacy of Lies
Empire of Lies: Full Series
Steamy Coffee Reads Collection (Volume 1)
Naughty Boss
Dirty Doctor
Cocky Client
Steamy Coffee Reads Collection (Volume 2)
Selfish Suit
Wolfish Player
Devilish Stranger
Reasonable Doubt Series
Reasonable Doubt #1
Reasonable Doubt #2
Reasonable Doubt #3
Falling for Mr. Statham Series
Resisting the Boss
Loving the Boss
The One Week Series
On a Tuesday
On a Wednesday
On a Thursday
On a Friday
On a Saturday
On a Sunday
On a Monday
Sincerely, Carter
Forget You, Ethan
Turbulence
Over Us, Over You
Two Weeks’ Notice
The Fine Print
The Layover