Bitter Pills

which meant I’d take my sweet ass time. I liked to push the boundaries where I could, but we all knew I was nothing but a mosquito on their windshield. This was so much bigger than me. So much bigger than the Bullets. These people ran the fucking world.
Flipping through computer screens, I switched my attention to my guilty pleasure—Grace Moretti. I didn’t allow myself to watch her often. It hurt too fucking much. The moment we met, it was like the universe imploded. I was trapped in her orbit with no way out. If I stared too long, I knew I’d say fuck it to my sense of self-preservation and run to her.
Grace and I had a complicated past. When Santobello took her, she was this wounded bird I wanted to nurse back to health. I fell for her. I fell fucking hard. She made pain sound like a haunting symphony. She wore her scars like they were a Cartier love bracelet—priceless and locked around her wrist.
She was twirling her red hair around her finger and biting her lip.
Fucking hell, she was gorgeous. I saw how the light hit her face, a halo on my little angel of darkness, illuminating my heart and making me curse my situation once more.
Her eyes lit up, and those plump lips I’d imagined daily curved into a smile as someone approached her. My chest squeezed as a tall, lean man with chestnut hair settled across from her.
Alessandro Gray.
The first man I ever loved.
I quickly turned off my screen and shot out of my chair. I couldn’t stand seeing them together. I couldn’t stand knowing that he’d get to hear her voice and smell her honey scent. I couldn’t stand knowing they were together and I was here.
In some ways, I was thankful that Alessandro and Grace were friends. I wasn’t sure if he cared for her out of obligation to me or something else, but it was a relief to know that she was in capable hands. Hands that once held me. Hands that once stroked my cock and squeezed around my neck.
Fuck.
Alessandro and I had a twisted past. One that neither of us could quite escape. We did bad things together. We fucked and fought and fucked some more. He fell for me, but I was just a stupid boy with stupid flighty tendencies and no desire to be tied down. I wasn’t a boy anymore. I was a man. A lonely, fucked up man with too many regrets to list.
Another text came through, and I sighed before checking it.
Ringleader Ghost2704: Get it done. Now.
I opened the dark web and efficiently did their bidding. One click of a button. One simple line of code.
One life completely ruined.
These people weren’t just hackers. They controlled the world.
Nix: Done.
Ringleader Ghost2704: Good. Time to leave. You’ve been compromised.
I gaped at the screen, reading it over and over again in confusion. I quickly tapped back into Grace’s phone and watched, taking in her surroundings. She was on a plane. A plane?
I knew where she was going instantly. It was a gut feeling. She was headed to me.
Raw excitement bloomed within my chest. I could have choked on the elation.
But no. I couldn’t entertain the idea of seeing her again.
Guess it was time to leave.
I knew it was just a matter of time. Half of me wanted to cement my restless feet to the ground and wait for Grace to waltz through the door. But the other half knew better. These people were far deadlier than a simple crime boss. Their empires spanned the world. Their control was something even the darkest villains could only dream of.
And I was caught in their web, like a fly for spiders to feast on.
I never stayed in one place for too long, but they frequently sent me to Mexico. I wouldn't miss the apartment I wasn't allowed to leave. No, I'd miss the feeling of accessibility. I'd miss knowing I was somewhere that someone other than my enemies knew where I was.
I packed up my belongings swiftly and efficiently. Every tick of the clock just pissed me off. I could pretend not to know that they were only a couple of hours away. I could pretend like we could figure this all out and my life would miraculously go back to normal.
But it couldn't. I wouldn't.
I was tired of running away, but the alternative was death. The alternative was risking my best friend, the woman I loved, and the man I once adored.
So I packed. I gathered my belongings. I tossed my clothes in a trash bag and combed the small space I'd pretended was home for the last three months. After packing up my computer equipment and monitors, I stood in the living room, feeling lonelier than I'd felt in ages.
It would be better if I left without a trace and became the ghost my employers wanted me so desperately to be. But instead, I pulled out a sheet of paper and a pen to write a note. It was the goodbye I was denied all those years ago.
I'm sorry. Please stop looking for me.
I love you.
I didn't include the last part. Love was just a tease. I knew it would make them look harder.
I love you. I love you. I love you.

Chapter Four
Grace
I turned my phone off for the flight, not wanting to give my brother any access to me. My brother and I weren’t close. Like Alessandro, he kept me around out of guilt. He didn’t want a sister, he just wanted to right the wrongs of our neglectful father. He was a Moretti, and I was the bastard daughter of a stripper. I didn’t mind my past, it made me stronger.
When we landed, I kept my cell phone off just to prolong the inevitable. Unfortunately, Alessandro had my brother on the line the moment the plane landed on the tarmac.
“He wants to speak to you,” the cocky bastard said while holding out his smartphone. I stared