Releasing the garters from my elastic thigh holster, Val slid it down my leg and tossed it and my gun to the floor. I groaned impatiently as he chased his fingers back up the length of my leg with his lips. The minute he passed my knee, I meant to moan something enticing and dirty.
Unfortunately, that wasn’t what came out.
“About that heir thing…” He froze, with his mouth on my inner thigh. Glancing up through thick eyelashes, he waited for me to continue. Swallowing the lump growing in my throat by the minute, I took a deep breath and smiled. “Well, with Nash being gone, and neither of us having any family left, I decided to listen to you and stop putting everything in a box.”
“Oh?” He smiled.
“Except for one thing. I left this in there.”
Digging under the pillow, I handed him the rectangular box and held my breath. It rattled as he shook it and I smiled nervously. “So, how would you feel about a daughter running the empire someday?” The horrified look blanketing his face first scared me, then irritated the hell out of me. Narrowing my eyes, I peered at him through tiny slits. “Really?”
Full chested laughter overtook him as he rolled over and took me with him. “If she’s anything like you, she’ll run more than this empire. She’ll run the world.”
Holding my head between his hands he kissed me long and hard, glancing from the box to my face. “Really?”
“Really.”
“We’re going to fuck this up, Cereza.”
“Probably,” I agreed. Frowning, I ran a hand down his chest. “I don’t think I’ve ever really thanked you.”
“For what?”
“For kidnapping me. You most likely saved my life, and I repaid you by stabbing you with a fork. It’s a wonder you didn’t kill me yourself.”
“The night’s still young.”
“We’re bringing a kid into this, Danger. Are we doing the right thing here?” Panic seized me at the thought of our child enduring the life Val grew up with.
Eyeing me closely, Val brushed a piece of hair from my face. “Do you regret being here, Eden?”
I didn’t hesitate. “Not a moment.”
“Then neither will he or she. Family isn’t what’s around you. It’s what surrounds you. My mother showed me that every day of her life. I think you’d agree—so did your brother.”
“I miss him, Val.”
“And you always will, baby. Just like I’ll always miss my mother and the person my sister used to be. Maybe someday she’ll remember where she came from, maybe not. What’s important is we don’t stop living just because they did.”
Pulling his face down to mine, I dusted my lips across his. “How’d you get so smart?”
“Someone once told me I was an emotional black hole. I may’ve done some light Googling.”
In the middle of the night, I watched my husband sleep. No one would ever accuse Valentin Carrera of sleeping peacefully, but in the sanctuary of our bedroom, we let down our guards and let trust rule the night.
Wrapping the blanket around my shoulders, I realized that I barely thought of my old life anymore. Although we both lost our entire families and still mourned our slain loved ones, the ache they left would’ve eventually destroyed us. Ironically, the catastrophic events that their deaths set in motion created a love we found in each other, easing the ache and filling a void neither of us knew existed.
Some people were raised to see only two sides of a world—good or evil. You either stood on the side of righteous or damnation. I discovered life wasn’t predictable and people weren’t necessarily all pure or all malicious. Perceptions changed when cultures and survival were on the line.
Val said we fought hard and fucked harder. I supposed that was true. My emotions ran at heated fluctuations when we were near each other. He angered me and loved me like no one ever had or ever would.
My father’s favorite quote referred to the fine line between love and hate. He’d tell me not to confuse or blur it. I should recognize the difference and turn my back on the latter.
I disagree.
Val Carrera taught me that life didn’t necessarily run in clear shades of black and white. Gray areas clouded a side of people they had no idea existed—a side capable of unspeakable acts when thrust into darkness. In those gray areas, love and passion ran volatile in two people whose paths were never meant to cross.
Hearts.
Hatred.
Blood.
In this life we’d chosen to live, the blurred line between love and hate was sometimes stained red.
FADED GRAY LINES
I never meant to start a war.
Then I fell for the boy my mother warned me about.
A lowlife. A criminal.
To me, he was just Matty. To the world, he was Mateo Cortes, a soulless killer for the Carrera Cartel.
We were the virgin and the villain. The debutante and the devil. He swore we'd end in ruin. I swore love would conquer all.
I was wrong.
Running saved my life, but now a costly mistake has put it back on the line. Forced out of hiding, I'm given minutes to decide my fate: inmate or informer. The DEA plans to bring down the Carreras by infiltrating their ranks.
I'm the pawn. Mateo is the target.
Four years ago, I started a war. Now I'm back to end it, and this time I won't run from the dark.
My devil will come for me.
And God help anyone who gets in his way.
For Crystal
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I - I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.
~Robert Frost
Playlist
Church Bells - Carrie Underwood
Enter Sandman - Metallica
Wild Thoughts - Bryson Tiller, DJ Khaled, Rhianna
American Woman - Lenny Kravitz
Wolves - Marshmello & Selena Gomez
Fetish - Gucci Mane & Selena Gomez
Tell Me You Love Me - Demi Lovato
Perfect - Ed Sheeran
Dangerous Woman - Ariana Grande
Beautiful Trauma - P!nk
Mine - Bazzi
Skin - Rhianna
Million Reasons - Lady Gaga
Flesh - Simon Curtis
Look What You Made Me Do - Taylor Swift
Bailamos - Enrique Iglesias
Don’t Cry - Guns N’ Roses
Defying Gravity - Idina Menzel
Listen to the Faded Gray Lines playlist!
Prologue
Leighton
Eight words determined my fate.
“We really have to stop meeting like this.”
I tilted my head as she slid in beside me. I didn’t dare risk looking directly at her, so I settled on her shoes—hell-fire red with a skinny heel at least six inches high. Stilettos in church seemed a little over the top, but judging from her posture, she wasn’t seeking anyone’s approval.
“Shhh,” I whispered, placing a finger over my lips.
“Of course.” She gave a casual laugh as if our conversation wasn’t about to get us both struck down.
In front of me, scattered heads bowed like dominos in prayer. Dipping my chin, I watched them under the protective brim of my blue hat. Such a bold fashion statement wasn’t my usual style, but I couldn’t risk being recognized. The gossip train traveled faster than the speed of light amongst Houston’s tightly woven circles. Phones would buzz before I turned the ignition on my car.