ECSTASY | CRIME PRINCE SERIES | BOOK 0.5 FIRST EDITION

|𝟏𝟒.| 𝗣𝗿𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝗢𝗿 𝗣𝗿𝗲𝗷𝘂𝗱𝗶𝗰𝗲 ♤

Ash

I hate everyone and everything. I hate people, I hate things, I hate houses, money, greed, emotion, injuries. I hate my fucking job and I hate the paperwork, you'd think there be more killing and less working. I hate me most of all, Except her, never her.

My Aria. Shit, I miss her so much. She's so stubborn, why is she so stubborn? In the month that passed, I felt like I'd seen her five times. Ever since Davinski's antics, investors are losing trust in Aria and she is not handling it well. She is at the office from seven am earliest and back home by midnight.

It's fucking creepy that I know when she's back home but she had a tendency of leaving her heels in the hallway. I just throw them in the corner of my room every time I trip over one of them. I'm pretty sure they could make a whole closet. I relive my thoughts and focus back on my work.

One month has passed and things are not getting any better. It feels like every decision we take and make is all part of someone's big game. As if everything we're doing is working towards his victory. I demolish the thought, probably overreacting to the situation, and get back to my work.

Romano has paid me various visits this month in hopes of finding out where his shipments are disappearing to. He wanted me to send out my informants and assassins to shoot down whoever was behind it with no mercy. Of course, I agreed to lessen suspicion but the audacity he had to come to me for help after stealing from right under my nose is unbelievable.

I know he couldn't do it alone, Roman's too weak for that. He'd need someone's connections, intelligence, and a hell of a lot of men to pull through so many heists without me noticing. And still, it fucking amazes me how he is making me question my abilities. Still lost in thoughts, I hear giggles outside my room and I'm more than certain it's Marae and River. I swear those two are fucking teenagers.

It reminds me of Aria and me, sometimes. I roll my eyes and shut my laptop. I stack the paperwork on one side and leave it for later. I'm too fucking tired for this shit. I stretch and decide to see what the fuss is about. I walk out and over to the balcony, from where I'm standing, they both sitting on the couch watching a movie. Marae and River are watching Moana. Like I said, teenagers.

It's good to know Marae can keep River in check, I don't think I could do it any longer. He usually disappears and reappears whenever he feels like it. Not to mention, the fucker is like a ticking time bomb. He may seem carefree and all too funny but there's some dark shit he hides about himself. There's dark shit I hid about myself too, dark shit I made Aria go through.

"Hey dipshit, thanks for finishing the shipment" I shout from the balcony. River looks up at me and starts singing.

"What can I say except you're welcome!" he sings. Marae facepalms herself and snuggles under her blankets.

I hear a sound coming from Aria's room and I head over to open her door. A part of it is already opened and I step in to find a mess. Her bed is full of papers scattered in different directions, a pile of clothes sits on her lounge chair, leftover food on her nightstand and she's sitting in the pile of papers, frustratedly trying to find something.

She doesn't even notice me in her room when she digs through the pile of papers, I have to admit it's very cute to see her all worked up about something. Did I just say cute? I brush it off and watch Aria as she reaches for her shoulders and groans as she throws her head back. I smile but it's more of a little chuckle and she hears me.