Illicit Hearts: Forbidden Hearts Series BWWM Book 1

Chapter 2: Coco & Rashon

 My heart sank as I heard him unlock the door to our house. Another night of miserable agony, another night of being a punching bag for my husband's anger. When he entered the house, it was with a thunderous voice full of fury. He had apparently been failed by one of his subordinates and was now taking out his anger on his second-in-command.

Rashon's voice thundered throughout the room, filled with rage and betrayal. "What the hell happened? Tyrell is gone! Adonis Petrakis and his brothers have caused us to lose half our crew!"

"Boss, they came in blazing. They're mad that we took their shipment of liquor, plus some of our guys have been dealing drugs on their turf in Long Island," Slim stammered, pointing out the obvious.

"Damn it! The Greeks and Italians are flexing muscle, trying to claim more land. The Petrakis family owns one half of Long Island and the Italian Don Salvatore owns the other half."

"What can we do? We can't just take over their territory." Slim suggested with a hint of fear in his voice.

"I know Slim.. dammit!" Rashon gave him a deadly glare before turning away, guzzling whisky from his crystal glass. "Let me talk to my wife; I want a report on how many men we've lost. Have Cirus bring around the SUV in an hour—we're going to my club." He spat out his instructions before stalking off, knowing he had men all over his property — he was the Boss of the Bronze Brotherhood after all.

"Will do, boss," Slim agreed, turning on his heel and quickly heading out of the front door.

This felt like a new war against Adonis and his brothers — they would pay for destroying Rashon's warehouse.

As I stepped out of the shower, a sinking feeling filled my stomach. I knew that tonight would be just like every other night since marrying Rashon — disconnecting me from my family and emotionally draining me. It felt like a prison sentence. Coco was towel-drying herself when she heard Rashon calling her name again. I heard Rashon's roar of my name echoing through the walls, like an animalistic howl.

"COCO, GET DOWN THESE STEPS NOW!" His voice boomed, shaking the floor beneath me. I quickly pulled on some sweatpants and a tank top as fear burned a hole in my stomach. At 26 years old, I was too young to be going through this sort of thing, but if I left, he would find me and then things would really get ugly. My heart pounded as I made my way down the stairs. I saw Rashon sitting in the dimly lit living room with a bottle of whiskey in hand. His eyes were glazed over, and his fists clenched with anger as he noticed me standing there.

"What took you so long, Coco?" he slurred, taking another swig from the bottle.

It was 10 pm, and he had already imbibed several alcoholic beverages. It was out of character for him to drink so much, but tonight he seemed to be intent on doing so. I knew better than to respond. Instead, I made my way towards him, trying to stay calm and collected. As I got closer, I could smell the stench of alcohol emanating from his breath. He grabbed me by the arm roughly, causing me to wince in pain.

"You know what I hate most about you?" Rashon growled."It's the fact that you're worthless, Coco. You can't do anything right." His grip on my arm tightened as he pulled me closer.

"You think you're better than me? You think you can just waltz in here and try to tell me what to do?"

I tried to pull away, but his grip was too strong. "Rashon, please let go," I begged, tears forming in my eyes.

He just laughed cruelly. "You're pathetic, Coco. You always have been." And with that, he slammed his bottle of whiskey against the wall beside us in a fit of rage. I flinched, bracing myself for what was to come. Rashon's eyes widened with a crazed look as he reached for me, I slipped away and ran towards the door.