Smirk of Fire (The Underground #1)

Chapter 1

Olivia

I awoke gasping for breath, my heart in my throat. I fumbled around my bed for a moment before I hit the light switch beside my bed. Light flooded through my room, but I hardly noticed the warmth it offered. I buried my head in my hands and tried to collect my ragged breathing. I lurched from the bed and retched in the toilet.

There was a moment of silence before the door was shoved open, and a cold set of hands touched my heated skin. They peeled my hair from my sweat-dampened skin and ran soothing circles down my back. Keeping it out of my face while I emptied everything my stomach had to offer.

Merida's dusty blue eyes sought out mine as she comforted me. It never got easier; it wasn't the first night she had found me this way. Even after years, I was still tormented by the horror of my past. It chased me in my sleep; the only place I could never hide from it.

With a grimace, I pushed myself from the ground on stronger legs. Merida observed me cautiously, she knew the shakes didn't last long anymore. I splashed freezing water down my face and across the back of my neck. The cold water toned down the red of my face.

Once I'd freshened myself up, Merida had left to offer me some privacy. I took a long bath in the marble tub and let myself float in the jasmine-scented water. The reds of my hair blended with the milky water and looked like flames against the stark white.

I sunk beneath the top of the water and allowed my body to become numb beneath the surface. I counted a few long breaths before I surfaced with a large sigh. Sometimes the silence beneath the water helped calm my racing heart.

I stood before the long mirror and stared at myself. Over the months of countless nights where I would empty my body of everything it had left, I had lost weight. My body was once healthy, and now it was an echo of what it once was. My cheeks were hollow and dull, my cheekbones prominent. My hair was long, but it had lost the spark it once was alight with, even my grey eyes seemed dim. I mourned the loss of my health for a moment before I pushed myself from the bathroom.

It was no use feeling sorry for myself. The sun was still low in the sky, barely above the horizon, I had a good few hours before either of the girls needed me. The girls, Merida and Caliente, the only people I had left. Merida and I had met a few years back. We were both in a bad place. After a few years together, she was the closet thing I had to a sister. Then we met Caliente, she and Merida hit it off quickly.

Over the years, Merida and Caliente had sorted through their issues and had settled down together. I'd decided to go off by myself. I had no shortage of funds thanks to the large sum of money in the family trust. It only took a few months, but I wound up living with the two of them again.

I messed with some bad people, and after Cali bailed me out of one particular mess, they didn't let me leave again. Since then I'd just stayed, I pitched in my share around the house, but things quickly became tiresome. Merida and Cali had opened up a bar, The Whip, and business had boomed.

Between the bar funds and my fortune, I had too much time on my hands. That was when my past began to sneak up on me, the more time I found myself thinking, the more I allowed my walls to slip.

That's when I found myself a job, Cali offered me a waitressing job, and I took it as a distraction. It wasted my hours, and I met some interesting people. The Whip was a rowdy place, and a bar fight was often.

I taught myself to punch, spent my hours dragging myself from bed and punching a bag until my knuckles bled. It helped ease my mind and allow myself a release. I stopped counting how many times Merida would grumble at me when she forced me to clean out the cuts and wrap my hands.

"Liv!" Cali caught me off guard, and I narrowly missed throwing a punch in her direction. I'd been lost in my thoughts and nearly knocked her to the floor without thinking. I bit down on my lip and flexed my fingers. I'd been punching for hours; I was coated in sweat, and there were splits across my knuckles.

I offered her a guilty smile, "Sorry, Cali, don't tell Mer, she'll have my head." I begged, and Cali gave me a knowing smile before I darted back to my room. I hissed as the water hit my open cuts but made sure they were clean before Mer yelled at me again.

I was halfway through a mouthful of cereal when Merida breezed into the kitchen. Her blonde hair was piled atop her head, and she gave me a crooked smile, I could tell something was bugging her.

"What's up?" I asked, and she threw me a look of disgust, she hated it when I talked with food in my mouth. I mostly did it to annoy her. Joking around and pissing her off was the best way to ease her mind.

She rubbed at her face, "There's a meeting today, Cali's worked up about it." I tried not to show the flash of concern on my face. Cali was part of an elite gang, The Underground, as most people called it.

The Underground was a group of ten members or so, all owners of the most prestigious bars and clubs across the state. They were not to be messed with; between them, they were some of the deadliest people. Their connections weren't the only thing that made them dangerous, many of them had blood on their hands, but even the police couldn't touch them.

I'd met a few of them once, but Cali was pretty secretive about it, she tried to keep me away from it as much as she could. She tried to hide it from Merida, but now they both owned the bar together Mer was swept into it.

Cali wasn't so clean herself; the Whip made a lot of its money from gambling. The illegal methods Cali used to make significant funds wasn't the worst she did. It never really bothered me that much, it was her choice, and everyone knew what they were walking into when they started a game. Mer refused to tell me much more, but I always knew there was a lot more to the story.

A society of backstabbing and lies was what it was. Some of the wealthiest people in the world, they broke the law and hid behind their money. To mess with them was to wish for death.

"And isn't she always?" I asked, and Cali walked in on us, she immediately went to Mer. Her hands snaked around Mer's waist. She was a good head taller than her, her tanned skin and dark hair the opposite Mer.

Cali quickly caught onto our conversation, "They're coming here." Cali said tightly, and I nearly dropped the bowl in my hands. Not once had Cali offered to hold the meeting, she'd always left for a few days to attend every month or so. For them to be in our house, beneath our roof, it could only mean trouble. I understood why Mer looked so worried.

An infamous group of dangerous people and wealthy criminals would be arriving very soon.