The SIXTH

  VI CARTER

  Copyright © 2020 by Vi Carter

  All rights reserved.

  No portion of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher or author, except as permitted by U.S. copyright law.

  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  PROLOGUE

  CHAPTER 1

  CHAPTER 2

  CHAPTER 3

  CHAPTER 4

  CHAPTER 5

  CHAPTER 6

  CHAPTER 7

  CHAPTER 8

  CHAPTER 9

  CHAPTER 10

  CHAPTER 11

  CHAPTER 12

  CHAPTER 13

  CHAPTER 14

  CHAPTER 15

  CHAPTER 16

  CHAPTER 17

  CHAPTER 18

  CHAPTER 19

  EPILOGUE

  SNEAK PEEK

  What Readers Are Saying

  How to Keep in Touch with Vi Carter

  WARNING

  This book is a dark romance. This book contains scenes that may be triggering to some readers and should be read by those only 18 or older.

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  chapter one

  TOMAS

  THE DOOR OPENS and Vinny steps in. The black leather jacket he’s sporting is rubbed almost bare. I’ve never seen him take it off, no matter how warm it is. His gray mustache is the only facial hair he has, and the light bounces off his bald head.

  The noise behind him has me touching my temples.

  “What is it?” I ask, opening the bottom drawer of my desk and taking out the bottle of vodka. I set it on the desk and open the second drawer, reaching for some painkillers to get rid of my pounding headache.

  “The delivery arrived.” Vinny’s words have me chucking back the tablets and rinsing them down with vodka. I grab my black jacket from the back of the chair and follow Vinny out of my office. Two girls get up off the floor as I walk past. I pause at a door. Two of the lads are talking but stop and straighten when they see me.

  “Coffee break, lads?” I quiz. Roman stops stirring his tea.

  “Get the girls out of the hall and back to work now.” I don’t need an audience every time I leave my office. The moment I step outside, the light burns my eyes. I take a pack of smokes out of my pocket and light up a fag.

  A lorry is parked out back. Vinny moves ahead of me and takes a box. Marat is standing on the bed of the lorry. The small square boxes are stacked six high. I pull one over while taking a pocket knife from my back pocket. Flicking it open, I pause and flick the ashes off my fag before holding it to my mouth. The smoke burns my eyes as I open the box. After placing the knife back in my pocket, I remove the fag from my mouth and stamp on it.

  I turn the pink teddy bear around in my hands and tear the stitching open. The white bag inside is what I’m searching for. I drop the teddy back into the box and open the bag before I dip a finger into it. I snort it, and the rush is instant as it speeds through my system. I feel better already.

  I dip my finger in again and run some along my gums before looking up at Marat as he jumps down from the lorry and closes the door. All the boxes sit neatly in the yard. He knocks on the back, and the driver starts it up and leaves the yard.

  “It’s good stuff. Pure,” I tell them.

  “You want to give us a taste?” Vinny asks.

  “Get it all inside and weigh it, and then we’ll see.” I place the bag back into the box as I speak to Vinny.

  “I’ll be out for a while.”

  I leave through the back gates and jog across the road to my car. Climbing in, the car dips, but it roars to life when I turn the key in the ignition. The purr of my baby has me rolling down the window and putting my foot to the floor.

  The freedom of driving is as nice as the clothes on my back. Being in prison for a six-month stint makes you appreciate the small things in life. I pull up alongside the curb. The normally flashing pink neon lights over the strip joint are off at this time of day, but that doesn’t mean it’s closed. The owner is a sleaze who begged me to bail him out with fifty grand and I did. Now I’m here to collect.

  I light a smoke as I close the car door. I don’t bother to lock it; no one would dare steal from me. Walking down the side alley, I reach and pull the handle on the door, only to find it locked. I inhale another three tugs of my smoke before I flick it against the wall, sparks flying as I clear three small steps and hop the fence. The door out back is open. Music assaults my ears the moment I enter.

  The bartender looks up at me while drying a glass. I see it in his eyes—he wants to warn his boss that I’m here. I shake my head, and he continues to dry the glass. Two lone girls swing around poles in the empty club. Their eyes travel across me and they both smile. The red-cushioned velvet doors open easily as I enter the VIP area, and there I find him.

  “Lenny, I’ve been ringing you.”

  He pushes the girl off his lap. A black suit jacket covers most of her, and her long, sexy legs disappear into black shoes. She doesn’t move but stays seated on the floor, her face covered by long, straight black hair.

  “Tomas. Was that you ringing?”

  I smile at his bullshit. “You got my money?”

  He starts to stutter. I glance around at the bottles of champagne and cocaine splashed across the glass-top table. “Looks to me like you got plenty of it.”

  I pick up a two-hundred-and-fifty-dollar bottle of champagne.

  “I’ll get you your money.” His stutter doesn’t push any confidence into his words.

  “I want all the juice on it right now.”

  His mouth opens and closes like a fish. “That’s like one hundred percent.”

  I always charge one hundred percent interest on my loans.

  “All the juice, now,” I repeat. The girl is watching me through her curtain of hair, and when my eyes snap to her, she quickly ducks her head again. She looks familiar. Maybe I banged her once. But I would remember legs like those.

  “I’ll get it for you, Tomas. Come on, sit down. It couldn’t have been easy inside.”

  I’ll play along with him. I have time. I pick up a glass and pour myself some champagne, then take a mouthful.

  “There’s more of us inside than out here. So I had a fucking holiday,” I tell him without humor, and he swallows around the lump in his throat.

  “Tomas.” There’s a pleading tone in his voice, and I’m starting to feel a bit trigger happy.

  “When I finish this champagne, I expect my money to be on the table.” I raise the glass and take a sip.

  “You mean the bottle?”

  “No, Lenny. The glass.”

  He’s up, his fat body awkwardly making the transition from sitting to standing. Once again, my eyes flicker to the girl who still sits on the ground. She looks smaller with how she’s pulled her legs in like she’s trying to go unnoticed.

  “Lenny!” I call. Wild eyes look back at me. “Don’t run. Don’t make me come looking for your fat ass.”

  chapter two

  KATINA

  TOMAS. THAT NAME is spinning in my head with the overhead beat.

  I know him. I’ve known him my whole life. I peek at him through my hair, and my stomach flutters to life as he sips his champagne.

  “Why don’t you come up here and keep me entertained?” There’s no humor in his voice, but he wears a savage grin that has me getting up off the floor.

  I keep my back to him as I stand and let the jacket slip off. The black-beaded panties move with my hips. I glance at him over my shoulder. His eyes move up my legs slowly, and I hide a grin as I turn around. His gaze drags up my body, and when it clashes with mine, I see the change in his body. His shoulders grow tense; the glass of champagne stalls at his lips. Dark eyes consume me. My heart beats wildly as I dance toward him. He lowers the glass but still holds it in his large hand.

  He’s grown a beard. Initially, I didn’t recognize him. But his eyes… I fawned over them most of my childhood. He’s my big brother’s best friend. He’s all the things my mother warned me about.

  I dance closer, and I’m waiting for him to stop me as I step in between his legs, but he doesn’t. His stillness has me questioning if he knows who I am. I flick my long hair behind my shoulders and showcase my best assets.

  My breasts are free, and as I move, they bobble. His eyes are drawn to them. I move closer and straddle Tomas. Tattoos peek out along the collar and sleeves his shirt. A teardrop on his face captures my attention as I move my body closer to his. His hand grips my ass, and I freeze as he holds me and leans forward, putting down his glass. I feel his erection, and my heart pounds a little faster as he leans back.

  “Does your brother know you’re here?”

  So he does know who I am.

  I hold still. It’s awkward having this conversation in nothing but panties while straddling him.

  “He wouldn’t care,” I say honestly. My gaze trails across Tomas’s face. Being this close to him has my insides quivering. He’s more than I remember. There’s an edge to him that wasn’t there before. Maybe it was his time in prison, or maybe the life he took. The teardrop on his face is a symbol of taking someone’s life.

  Tomas’s hand tightens around my wrist, and my gaze flickers to his.

  “Katina. He’d string you up.”

  I laugh at Tomas’s aggression and lean in. I’m playing with fire, but I kind of like it. “We won’t tell him,” I whisper. His cock grows under me, and I shift intentionally.

  “If I didn’t know better, I’d say your boss told you to distract me.” He tilts his head while he speaks, a smirk growing on his face.

  I’m not dancing at the club. I’m a dancer for Lenny and that’s it. His private dancer. With that reminder, I slide off Tomas and stand. I speak while picking up the suit jacket off the floor. “If he saw me straddling you, he’d kill me.”

  I turn and stop the scream that tugs at me. Tomas towers over me. “Why?” His bark reminds me of my brother.

  “I’m his.”

  “That fat fuck?” The disgust Tomas puts into his words has me internally shrinking.

  “That fat fuck pays my wages,” I say and keep my head high.

  We all make choices in life. This is mine. No one is responsible for what I do with my body, only me. Tomas trails his gaze across my face before looking up at the door.

  “Speaking of fat fucks…” He walks over to the table and drinks down the glass of champagne.

  “Lenny,” he calls as he pulls a gun from his waistband. Tomas takes one final look at me. “Be a good girl and stay in here.”

  I don’t respond as he leaves. I’m left clutching the jacket to my chest. I should stay. He had told me to stay here.

  I chew my lip as the music continues to pound overhead. A gunshot breaks through the music and I jump. My stomach tightens. Tomas wouldn’t shoot Lenny, would he?

  I push the velvet doors open and step out into the club. Two of the girls who were dancing scurry past me with their chins tucked into their chests.

  I see my boss on the ground, his hands held high. Tomas is standing over him with a gun pointed at his head. Lenny’s gaze gravitates my way, and he points at me, saying something to Tomas. I can’t hear from this distance.

  I shiver when Tomas looks at me. His jaw is set and his eyes darken further. The savage look has dread growing in my stomach as he pulls the trigger.

  chapter three

  TOMAS

  BLOOD POOLS AROUND Lenny’s head. The fat fuck didn’t have my money. I look now at what he offered me as a down payment. Katina’s chest rises and falls fast, and it’s the first sign of fear I’ve seen in her. It’s about time. She shouldn’t be here; she shouldn’t be mixed up with these people. The thought of that fat fuck’s hands on her has me emptying three more rounds into his torso. Each one makes her jump. She doesn’t move as I walk to her.

  “You’re coming with me.” I stuff the gun into the waistband of my trousers. Her eyes fill with fear. and she flinches when my fingers circle her wrist.

  “He offered you as payment,” I say as her wide blue eyes flicker from Lenny and then back to me.

  “Is that what this is? You’re taking me as payment?”

  Having her in my bed sounds pretty fucking nice. “No.” I pull her wrist and she follows. The suit jacket opens and flashes me her large breasts.

  “Cover yourself up,” I tell her and she does without a word.

  I walk out the front doors. The sunlight is harsh. I glance at Katina. She looks dazed, and I release her wrist. She doesn’t speak as she follows me to my car. I open the passenger door for her and she climbs in, showcasing her perfect legs.

  “You cost me a job.”

  I close the door and kick the engine to life before looking at her. “Are you fucking serious?”

  Fear has enlarged her eyes, but she isn’t backing down. “Yes, Tomas. I’m very serious.”

  I don’t miss the waver in her voice as I step on the gas. My name sounds too good on her lips. Lips I can see wrapped around my cock.

  I glance at her. “I’ll give you a job.”

  Her mouth opens and closes before she sits back into the seat. “Good.”

  I grin. She’s lippier than I remember. She hasn’t said anything about me shooting Lenny, and that makes me think she might have been around violence a lot more than I thought. I know her brother is deep into it. He works for a different cell, though. I don’t mix friendships with business.

  So why the fuck is Katina in my car?

  “You couldn’t get anything better than working at a strip joint?” It doesn’t matter. It’s none of my fucking business. But Katina is sexy as fuck, and she doesn’t need to swing around a pole for money.

  “Are you actually questioning my line of work?”

  I bite down on another grin at her tone with me. “Yes, I am.” I glance at her, and she looks away from me.

  She’s more affected by me than I thought.

  “It’s a choice I made. No one backed me into a corner. I’m not embarrassed.”

  The terrain changes, and I slow down as the road grows rougher as we climb the steep hill that leads up to my home. Once again, I’m questioning my decision to bring her here.

  I pull up at the garage door and knock off the engine.

  “You live here?” Katina dips her head as she looks out the window, trying to get a better view of my home. I know it’s big, bigger than I need—bigger than most people need—but I like things big.

  Katina gets out and follows me. I keep looking back and I can’t stop picturing those legs wrapped around me. Blue eyes sparkle as she looks up at me.

  “Yeah,” I finally answer as I open the door, and we step into the foyer. I haven’t gotten around to decorating, and being in prison the last six months left the place closed up.

  I jog up the stairs while Katina looks around. Taking out my phone, I ring her brother.

  “Nick, ring me back.” I leave the voice message and hang up. Grabbing a T-shirt and jogging pants, I make my way back down the stairs.

  “This is some home, Tomas.” Katina turns to me, and I can still see the fear in her eyes. She reaches out to take the clothes from my hands, but I don’t release them.

  “Why aren’t you afraid? I just shot someone,” I remind her.

  I see the fear, but it isn’t enough. What has she seen throughout her life? Nick should have protected her. If she were my sister, I would have. I scratch that idea. My thoughts aren’t appropriate for her being my sister.

  “I am.” Her answer is quick. She grips the clothes, but I don’t release them.

  “Have you seen someone die before?” Why do I fucking hate the idea of that happening to her?

  “People die all the time.” Her voice is small.

  “You know what I’m asking.”

  Her lids flutter closed, cutting me off. “No.” She looks back up at me, and I feel like a prick.

  I release the clothes. I need to send her home. I need Nick to pick her up and take her away from me. “The bathroom is upstairs. You can get changed.”

  The pulse pounds in her neck as she clutches the clothes to her chest and leaves.

  I ring the lads to make sure they’ve weighed and packed everything. “Vinny, is it all done?”

  Vinny whistles to someone. “Yeah, all done, boss. Word got back to us that you shot Lenny.”

  “Yeah, spread it further to every fuckface who owes me money.”

  Vinny laughs down the phone. “On it.”

  I hang up and call Nick again. He doesn’t answer. The little prick. I glare at the stairs, knowing she’s up there getting changed. I need to wait down here. She’s a temptation I can’t afford.

  I find myself climbing the stairs. The carpet under my feet cushions my footfall as I walk to the bathroom. The door is slightly ajar. Katina has her back to me as she pulls the jumper over her head, hiding those perfect tits.

  “You okay in there?” I ask.

  She stands tall, her eyes wide. Her gaze snaps to mine in the mirror. She grabs all her hair and pulls it out of the jumper before looking at me. The flush in her cheeks makes me want to step into the bathroom and fuck her.

  chapter four

  KATINA

  I HOLD HIS eye as he glares at me through the door. I want him to step in here and do what his eyes promise. He runs a hand across his face again. Tattoos coat his hands—hands that I want to touch me.

 

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