“What the…” Tyler let out a string of expletives that would make a sailor blush. Whirling around to face Matt who was lounging in his chair, Tyler pointed towards the monitor. “Do you have any more information on the Kincaid family?”“Why should I?” Matt shrugged, placing his boot on the desk. He leaned forward to catch a glimpse of the name, squinting. “Nah, I don't think I know them. Why?”“I know them.” Tyler gritted out. Mark's face flashed towards his mind, the man's slimy attitude now making sense. He fisted his hand on the desk, deep in thought. What if Mark knew who he was the minute he stepped into the environment?That would explain why he stormed into the house, guns blazing.While he was deep in thought, unknowing to him Matt was plotting an escape plan.His friendliness was just a facade, and he wanted to take Tyler down wondering who he could be to storm in here and take over like he was in charge.Watching Tyler carefully as he lounged without a care in the world, Matt
Tyler leaves on the water, the hose in his hand until it drenches Matt entirely the cold seeping into his bones. He sputtered, now awake jerking his head sideways.Tyler turned off the hose, placing it close to him. “Good. You're awake.”Matt's eyes were unfocused, showing signs of disorientation as he struggled to remember the events that happened earlier. “What…where am I?”“Don't fret, we're still in your house. The basement to be specific.” Tyler says casually, patting him on the shoulder.As expected, the moment he heard the basement Matt started to push against his restraints.They didn't give way, years of being in battle had taught Tyler how to tie the perfect knot, difficult for a victim to pull off.Taking a sip of his water, Tyler eyed Matt. “The only reason why you're still alive is because I need something from you.”“How do I know you won't kill me once you've gotten what you want?”A sharp, sinister grin appeared on his face. “You don't but then again, your chances of
The Petra Group.That name kept ringing in Tyler's head incessantly on his drive back to the office, so much so that it was a bit impossible to get the name out of his head.Impatient and tired, he activated the system in his car. It was an AI system just like Siri but it was embedded into a car's system to help facilitate its user better.“Alexa, please call Skylar for me.” He said, changing gears while he expertly handled the wheel cruising down the road.It was on speaker so he could hear it ringing, and then Skylar picked up on the third ring.“Sir!” He sounded breathless as though he had run a mile.“Any headway yet?” Tyler asked, smoothly sliding into another lane.He was only five minutes away from the office.“Not yet, sir. I haven't found much when I'm running multiple searches at the same time.”“Luckily for us, I made a breakthrough with the Colby guy. I'll be on my way to you soon with a drive that I need you to hack into, once I make a quick stop at the office first.”“Ok
Katerina kept calling his phone on his way, nearly driving him wild. He kept declining but she kept calling. Out of annoyance, he had to switch off his phone but only after sending her a text message that he was on his way home.Pulling into the driveway, he saw Katerina standing on the steps of the house, her face creased with worry. Tyler had barely stepped out of his car when he was with an ear-piercing shriek then she rushed inside.Tossing his car keys to the security guard, Tyler rushed in after her his heart skipping a beat.“Katerina, Katerina!!” He called out after her but she didn't show down. Pushing through the front doors, he caught a whiff of her skirt going up the stairs.Tyler went up the stairs, checking each room but it turned up empty. Ending up in a bathroom, he made sure to wash his hands and tidy up before heading back downstairs.There she was, with her head bowed a hair a curtain of silk shielding her face.She was so absorbed in her emotions that she didn't
Straightening her shoulders, Katerina walked down to her office. It was empty, as to be expected but for some reason, she was tensed up.News from the company at this hour wasn't bound to be pleasant so she braced up before she picked up the phone.“Anna, what is so urgent that you called by this hour?” She forced the words out. Anna was her personal assistant, the one who overlooked her affairs when she wasn't there. Over the years, they had built up that truth until it was as solid as it is now.“When I got the information, I knew I had to reach out to you immediately before you heard it from someone else!” Anna rushed out.“What information? What are you talking about?” The anticipation was enough to give her a heart attack.“There's news. Apparently, the other lead company is willing to work with us but on one condition.” Anna paused, making Katerina wait with bated breath to hear what she had to say. After a minute passed, it was obvious that Anna would need a little prompting.“
“Do you honestly think so little of Tyler and me?” Katerina was livid, staring at her family members like they were strangers. Which may be true, since they acted like people she didn't know anymore. “That we schemed and plotted until I was to be the head of the company?”Her parent's silence, as well as Noona’s pointed stare only confirmed her allegations.“Their stipulations do seem rather… focused on you, don’t you think?” Mom said tentatively, not certain she wanted to step on anyone's toes.Katerina's hands turned to fists on the table as she tried to rein in her anger. Unsuccessfully, she might add. “Of course, I had to scheme to get that position, huh? None of you can either conceive or stomach the fact that maybe they saw how good I was at my job and they want to take me on!!”At the end of her tirade, she was practically screaming at them. Feeling Tyler's arms circles around her waist, she leaned into his touch allowing the anger to drain out of her when he placed his lips t
Katerina slammed Tyler against the wall much harder than she intended to and instead of him getting angry, Tyler's eyes darkened in hunger running his tongue over his lips, wetting them in his saliva. “Hmmm, seems like someone's a little feisty tonight.”He wrapped his arms around her waist, drawing her up to his body. Katerina shook her head, placing her palms flat on his chest. “Get your mind out of the gutter, Mr Redwood. I brought you here to talk to you.”“Well, well, Mrs Redwood has got some spunk in her.” He teased, leaning in to nibble on her neck nearly driving her to distraction. “Go on then…talk.”Katerina rolled to the back of her head, getting caught up in Tyler's movements. It wasn't until he wedged a thigh between her legs that she snapped to her senses.“Tyler, stop! We're in my grandmother's house. I would die of embarrassment if someone found us here doing… this.” She hissed, pulling away but not before clenching her thighs to stave off the sensations rolling through
It turns out that it wasn't only Mark Kincaid who had unsettled feelings towards Tyler.Elizabeth Petrova equally did.While they had that meeting a couple of weeks ago, Katerina wasn’t the only one watching him.Elizabeth was too.She has known Kate for all for life and Kate didn't have one malicious bone in her body. Her facial expression when Elizabeth talked about the situation was enough to convince her.Sure, Elizabeth did have a lot of enemies but Tyler was part of them. He was the only person who could stand a lot to gain from this action, so she had her eyes on him.Which was why she wanted to throw a party, setting her plan into motion.Since Katerina didn't want to listen to reason, maybe she might listen to facts.Katerina seemed to love this guy so much that it seemed nothing he'd do was wrong in her eyes but if there was one thing humans can't overlook or overcome was jealousy.Over a human or object…if Elizabeth could get Tyler to embarrass himself, that would only send
EPILOGUE Katerina's plan worked perfectly.Bianca fell into the trap and spun for her by pulling out the gun.Luckily for Katerina, her SOS signal went out in time and the cops showed up in time. Katerina was able to wrestle the gun away from Bianca, throwing in a punch.The police raided the house and as expected, they found some of the things they planted. Of course, Bianca firmly refused to accept that they were there, stating that Katerina planted it.Of course, the idea was disputed since the cameras had her stationed with Bianca the entire time.Mark took the fall as unsurprisingly his parents threw him under the bus to save their skin.Thanks to Katerina, Tyler's family massacre case was reopened and they were able to place the crimes on Mark and his family. Mark served time for abduction, kidnapping, and intent to murder, along with his fraudulent crimes.Giorgio got to bow out from the whole crime rivalry gang since the crimes committed by Mark and his family were now out in
“So I'm going to go inside and distract them, making sure their fingerprints touch some of the gadgets stuff while you guys go around and plant these things in their houses, okay?” Katerina went over the plan one more time to be sure that everyone understood.She picked Heinze and another guy called Jake to spearhead the mission, making sure plants were in places that the cops could easily access but weren't too obvious either.Once they all understood their parts of the plan she grabbed a gun, tucking it at the back of her Jean, firmly clipping it on the waistband of her pants.There's no way she's heading in there without protecting herself. “Once I give the signal, I want you to call the cops, okay?” She instructed one of the men that were staying behind, about to walk away.“Katerina, can I talk to you?” Giorgio called out just as she was about to leave. She paused. “We don't have enough time for that.”“Just a minute.” He insists and she walks over to him. “I'm really proud of
Mason and Katerina sat down in the doctor's office, anxiously waiting for a news report on Tyler.Mason himself was a nervous wreck, his left foot tapping incessantly against the floor. He kept glancing at the door waiting for the doctor to show up.The surgery they performed on him took over 10 hours, so much so that Mason had to give up on waiting around and head home.A day later, they were back here awaiting reports from the doctor. Katerina couldn't help for but feel anxious but it wasn't only because of Tyler's issue. After Giorgio agreed to her insane plan, they started working towards it. Since they only had a small window before Mark's case was taken to court, they had to work twice as hard as they needed to.Now that she was in on the plan, Giorgio revealed how he systematically arranged for Tyler's parents to get killed and anytime she thought about it, it made her want to puke.This small reveal only showed her how sick and demented she would get to lead a crime mob lik
Giorgio's eyes widened the moment those words escaped her lips. “Wait, what?”“Let me do it. The other time in the restaurant, you asked me to take over from you….” She squared her shoulders. “So I'll do it. If taking over from you is the only way to stop this nightmare from reoccurring, fine, I'm in.”“Katerina, no I can't ask you to do that.” He sighed.“I don't understand what's changed, less than 2 weeks ago clamping from me to take over from you.”“Well, I was too desperate to find someone to fill in my shoes so I could take a break but now I'm realizing that you may not be the best person to be to do that. You're not equipped enough.” He explained.“Okay then, why don't you teach me?” She wasn't willing to take no for an answer.“You're still not getting it!” Giorgio grunted. “This isn't something that can be taught, you have to spend years on the job before taking over. You have to be cold and calculated to do what is wrong without flinching and you're not there yet, Katerina.”
Katerina barged into the mansion that Giorgio and his men were hiding in, pulling the bulk of his men's attention towards her.Alarmed by the sight of a stranger, they raised their weapons aiming it at her.However, Katerina was too pissed off to let it go. “Get me your boss, he and I have some business to talk about.” She ordered, daring to speak despite over a dozen guns being focused on her chest. “Well?” She arched a brow after a couple of minutes passed and nobody moved.Fearless, she took a step further. “If you guys want to bury a bullet in me, then I suggest you start or else…I'll need you to bring me to Giorgio.”She was about to do something crazy to get their attention when the person to whom she spoke stepped out. “Katerina…” he rumbled.For some reason, he wasn't so surprised to see her here. Her face was set in a grim stance. “Can we talk?”With one look in their direction, Giorgio casually ordered them to pull down their rifle and then he tilted his head to the side, i
“Holy shit, what happened!” Katarina exclaimed, scrambling up to her feet.Esther was crouched over Dylan whose eyes were closed as if he was asleep, a large bullet wound on his chest.She gasped, standing frozen in the middle of the yard.Which reminded her…Katerina spun around in a slow circle, taking in the destruction that those guys had caused.All around them was chaos. The moving truck which contained her clothes and some furniture had toppled over to the side and the back door was riddled with bullet holes.Some of the movers were hit during the shootout and their colleagues were trying to help them stem the flow of blood pouring out from the affected areas.“Katerina, I need your help!” Mom yelled, trying but failing to make a pitiful attempt at CPR.Her mind snapped back to reality reminding her that she needed to help Dad.“Come on, we need to get him inside?” She urged.Mom's head rose up, her gaze slightly disoriented. “What do you mean?”“In case those guys come back, w
“I think you need to move it in this direction. No, stop! That cannot go in there…what are you doing?”The cacophony of voices bounced around in Katerina's head pulling her out of her slumber.With a groan, she placed the back of her palms against her forehead, trying to shut out the noise but apparently, her window had been left open.Slightly grumpy for being abruptly woken up, Katerina flung back the covers, angrily marching towards the window to shut it when a movement from the corner of her eyes caught her attention.It seemed like there was a loading truck pushing in items and… Was that her luggage?She squinted to make out the design of the bag and to her shock, it was the bag she'd gotten on vacation with Tyler last year.How did…A thought flashed into her mind and she quickly scrambled towards her walk-in closet.Her room back at the house was like a mini-mansion. Two huge rooms split into her bedroom and her walk-in closet connected by an adjoining door which made it easy
“First of all no one is shipping me anywhere and what the hell are you guys even talking about?” Katerina walked into the room, watching their faces light up like they knew they'd done some wrong. “Is anyone going to answer me?”Dylan stepped forward, his hands stretched in front of him in an effort to placate her. “Honey, listen I don't want you to take this in some way but your mother and I have been talking-”“You mean to say ‘discussing’ we haven't finalized on it yet.” Esther interrupted, sliding a side eye to Dylan.“Whatever.” He waved it off. “what I meant to say is that we've been thinking about you and your general well-being and uh… some things that have given us concerns.”“Concerns like what?” Katerina asked, folding her hands over her chest.Esther and Dylan exchanged a glance, something meaningful passing through them. Dylan spoke up first. “I think with everything that is going on… you've been going through a lot of things for the past couple of months and for everyone
In a coma…Those words kept ringing in Katerina's ears as she stared up at the ceiling, mentally counting the tiles on each row.After that, she'd move to the next row and repeat the process all over again until she was tired.Anything to keep my head off suicidal thoughts or worse…. reliving both of Tyler's traumatic accidents.Mason had yet to discover fully from the shock, having staggered out of the room. When Katerina stopped him to ask, he simply mumbled that he was heading out in search of fresh air but she knew it was a lie.Just like her, he couldn't spend another moment stuck in a never-ending nightmare.Unable to stop torturing herself, Katerina replayed the doctor's words again in her head, picturing the exact moment when it sank in.“I'm sorry, we tried our possible best but sadly, it wasn't enough. He went into cardiac arrest and then anaphylactic shock, leaving us with only one option… we had to induce him into a coma.” The doctor's voice was devoid of emotion but I gu