Kissing Bullets: Book Two of the Kissing the Bovaghnian Rogues series

Prologue

Bye, Kaige.

I’ll see you guys on Monday. I waved at my friends, as they walked towards the mall, something I hadn’t done since high school. It had only been a few years, but it felt like an eternity. Uncle Gaston said I was no longer allowed to go out without company.

I held on tightly to the open limousine door and listened to my friends, as they chuckled and giggled, playfully walking further and further away from me. Like all the other friends I had before, I watched them until I couldn’t see them anymore.

"Let us go, Miss Dravine," one of my bodyguards said. He cleared his throat quietly and waited. I froze on the spot and watched all the other people pass me by—faces I had not seen before and faces too familiar, yet still unrecognized. I listened to the laughter and chatters, cars zooming and horns honking all around me. I couldn’t find that one sound I would like to hear. What it was, I had yet to find.

I am sorry, Kaige, but we have to go. Joseph, my main bodyguard since high school, had a stern voice. I turned to look at him, standing by the passenger’s seat of the limousine. He nodded his head slowly, sadness lurking about the features of his aging face, and slowly curved his lips for a weak smile he thought I needed.

Joseph had grown older in the past eight years. He was pushing sixty and was beginning to mention to my uncle how he would love to train another man to serve us so he could retire. Uncle Gaston wouldn’t allow it. He wouldn’t allow Joseph to go back to his hometown and to an old hut, with no one to take care of him. He had been serving Uncle’s family since he was thirty. Thirty years—almost half of his life—was enough to make him part-family.

He had been unusually stiff on me the past few days. I knew him well, and he would see any plan and any security detail through. I knew when to beg him for a break and when not to. This was one of those days I just couldn’t. I nodded and got in the car without another word.

Exhausted, I lay my head on the seat’s backrest and closed my eyes. I hadn’t been getting enough sleep lately. My loneliness took the best of my nights. I had also been feeling that some people were watching me, making me feel like something was bound to happen soon. How was I supposed to relax?

Tired again, Kaige? Joseph turned his head to me as soon as he got in. I never asked him to put up the divider.

Yes.

Just a few minutes, and we’re home. He gave me a reassuring smile before turning to the driver. "We go through Marionetta Lane today."

The driver nodded, started the engine, and maneuvered the limousine into the road.

"I cannot see why we have to have a limousine and some black cars behind us if we wish to create a low profile each time we are on the road, Joe." I snorted.

Well, you know your uncle, he replied.

Mmm-hmm. I pressed my lips together and nodded exaggeratedly. He was right. I knew my uncle and all his schemes to keep me caged.

I took my phone out of my bag and checked for messages. I had none. I guessed the girls were having fun without me, as always. I could only imagine them, their simple stories, and their outgoing minds. Texting them and receiving a reply would only worsen my depression. Shaking my head, I gripped my phone tight.

The limousine turned smoothly down the curb, and I gazed out the window. I had never walked through these lanes before, or at least I didn’t remember any time I actually did. I pressed my lips into a hard line and closed my eyes again, imagining what it must feel like if I did all those catwalks here in the streets. I wondered if people would turn their heads to actually look. I had the best dresses the country had ever seen, and yet, I didn’t wear them for myself. I didn’t wear them so I’d feel beautiful. I wore them for the world. Sometimes, I wished I would be gazed upon just because they wanted to look at me.

A bump on the road caused the car seat to shake and I dropped my phone on the floor. It went under the seat.

Damn. I bent down and tapped the car floor blindly, searching for the phone with my hands.

As I was close to grasping it, I heard beyond my favorite ringtone the loud and painful screeching of the car’s brakes, the tires exploding, and Joseph screaming for me to get down.

I froze. I gazed up outside the window, taken aback by the startled crowd. Everything happened slowly, and the car drifted sideways. I couldn’t hear anything anymore and I gasped as I looked ahead. Cars were blocking our way, and men in black suits had guns in their hands.

Joe, I called but I was not sure if he heard me.

The moment I heard gunshots was the same moment everything happened too quickly. I was off my seat, flying across the length of the limousine. I screamed as I hit my head on the edge of the open personal refrigerator door before I landed on the floor. I couldn’t feel any pain. That should be good, right? I felt warm wetness travelling down my nose and my cheeks. I could barely open my eyes and everything around me was spinning or moving about. Then it hit me; I was bleeding badly.

I reached for my forehead and felt blood rushing out of a deep cut. Just the smell of it and a distant leak of gasoline were enough to have me wondering if I was still alive. I moved my head to search for Joseph.

He was still inside the car, sitting motionless. I could see nothing but the top of his head. He could be dead, but I wasn’t taking that as a possibility.

Joe, I called him again.

My door flew open with a forceful sound, and a metal barrel pointed directly at me. I realized I was going to die.

Chapter One

Kaidence’s Horror

I remembered it well—that stormy night when Mother packed all her clothes and tried to leave. She was crying so painfully, sobbing like there was something she should do but just couldn’t bear it. She was covering her mouth, so no sound would come out and I wouldn’t hear her leave. I still did.

I was awake. I was eleven, out of bed after ten, staring at her from my bedroom door across the dim hallway of our Brizhania Mansion. I saw a lot—the clothes all over the floor, papers flying from her study table, a gun in her hand—but I understood almost nothing.

She hurried out her bedroom door with her suitcase and rushed down the stairs. I called out to her, like a thousand times, but she couldn’t hear me beyond the thunder and lightning, the pouring rain and the howling wind. I ran and held on to the railings at the top of the stairs, crying. I called her again and ran down.

Out the main door, I could see her headlights, as her car eased out the driveway backwards. She stopped for a moment when she saw me, crying, screaming, calling out to her to come back. She shook her head, cupped her mouth, and looked away as she continued to go on with her life without me. I ran after the tail of the car, as it drove further and further away from the mansion, rain pouring down my face, as if to hide my tears. I heard Uncle Gaston calling my name. He wrapped his arms around me, almost carrying me back inside. I struggled; I didn’t want to lose my mom. I was young. How was an eleven-year-old girl supposed to survive the world without her mother? How was she to fend for herself or protect herself? I was doomed.

Mommy! I called out for the last time as her car burst into flames, the explosion deafening the night. I watched as Uncle Gaston, the brother of the father I never met, cried out in panic, seeing her car and her life taken away by the fires of long concealed hatred.

No! I screamed at the top of my lungs.

* * * *

I partly opened my eyes to see the light, streaming in from the curtained window beside my bed. It was no longer night and it was quiet. I cupped my forehead and felt it ache. My head was splitting in two. I sat up, looked around, and realized I was alive and had been brought to a hospital.

I remembered vaguely why I was there. I could only remember sounds—brakes, gunshots, and screams, Joe yelling at me to take cover. They were the most terrifying sounds I had heard in my life since my mother’s accident.

When Uncle Gaston rushed in, men with guns behind him, I gasped. Uncle.

"Kaidence. Thank goodness, you’re awake." He rushed towards me and cupped my cheek, the tenderness of his voice giving me relief. I thought I’ve lost you.

I shut my eyes at the pain in my head. It was spinning and thumping as I coughed. Uncle, how long…have I been asleep?

"Twelve hours. Do not force yourself," he said as he helped me lay back down. I held my forehead again, brushing my fingers along the gauze that covered the wound above my eye.

Doctor Frosherd, Uncle’s old friend, entered with a chart in hand. He looked at my uncle and nodded. Kaidence? he called in a soft voice.

I felt like a child again. That was how they tried to talk me out of my misery almost thirteen years ago—cautious, anxious. Is that your name?

Yes. I narrowed my eyes, a thousand echoes beating inside my brain. Kaidence. I had almost forgotten that was my name.

Do you know where you are?

At a hospital. It was apparent.

Yes. Doctor Frosherd nodded, satisfied at my reply. Do you know why?

Vaguely, I said. I was in an accident. I was not in the mood to speak or see anyone. "Leave me alone."

He nodded again. Very well. Gaston, I need to run some tests on her.

I barely listened. I closed my eyes, hazily wishing I would see Mother again. It had been years since I last dreamt of her. Sometimes, I feared I had forgotten. Yet as I felt the pain of her loss, the pain of being alone, I knew I could never forget. I would always remember, and that was my curse.

When I opened my eyes again, I was alone, and it was quiet. I stared at the ceiling, listening to what went on outside and trying to remember what I could. Was I in an accident, or was someone out to kill me the way I knew would come as I grew older?

What day is it? I asked the nurse who came in moments later. She smiled at me and said it was Sunday, two days after my accident. Was it really just an accident? Like all the other accidents I had seen in my life, this one would return to me in a memory or a nightmare, if I was unlucky.

They kept me at the hospital for another two days. Uncle and a few of his men watched over me, tirelessly checking all the routine hours and shifts. I ignored most of them. I was used to the rotation of people who would be with me but wouldn’t ever get close. I was a client, a very important client, a niece of a powerful man. They were there only for that reason.

I could barely recognize the people around me when I returned home. The people added to the security were all new faces, whose names I knew I would never bother to remember, let alone ask. Uncle assisted me to my bedroom. I looked around. It was pink all over, and I decided that nothing changed but my feelings towards it. Somehow, it no longer felt home.

"I’m home," I whispered, yet I wasn’t convinced. The sun was out. Light rushed in through the glass door that led to the balcony as soon as I drew open the drapes, but there was nothing there I wanted to see. I turned around and headed out.

Quietly and slowly, I walked down the enormous circular stairs leading to the mansion’s cathedral living room, where I found my uncle speaking with four men. One of them saw me and stared, smiling weakly as he nodded his head towards my uncle.

Happiness couldn’t describe the feeling I saw in Uncle that day. It was like happiness and hope and heaven all rolled into one emotion in his eyes. I bet one reason was the company he had built from scratch. He wanted to pass it down to me since he didn’t have anyone else.

Are you okay now, dear? he asked as he rubbed my shoulders. I thought you’d be staying in your room for the day.

I’ll live, I told him, finding no humor on the fact itself, but they all smiled. I stared at the men one by one and they stared right back at me with different expressions on their faces. I had seen them on different shifts at the hospital.

Who are they? Why did you have to change my bodyguards? I asked my uncle, though somehow, I already knew the answer.

His smile faded as he nodded, leading me to stand in front of them. You all know my niece, Kaidence or Kaige Dravine. He paused. This is Chief Inspector Wilson Nadaro. He and his team of bodyguards will be staying with us until this recent case is resolved.

A man in his forties with a certain air of authority held out his hand to shake mine. How do you do, Miss Dravine?

I smiled weakly at the formal gesture.

If I knew Uncle well enough, I’d say I would be in for the tightest ride of my life—no social life other than the usual lunch at work, no real relationship, no nothing, no life.

Where’s Joe? I asked, looking around. He was never out of my sight. Then again, that was the other way around. I was never out of his sight.

Uncle drew a deep breath, as his eyes softened. He’s at the hospital, Kitty. He paused. He called me ‘Kitty’. He usually called me that when he knew I needed comfort. I braced myself for what he was about to say next. "He’s been shot a couple times, bumped his head and eventually had a stroke. He is in a coma right now."

I felt my knees weaken. I just couldn’t imagine being in the house without Joe. I want to see him.

Not today, Kitty. He shook his head slowly and looked at me with a worried expression. Besides, you will not be able to speak with him.

I want to see him, I said sternly. Joseph was family to me.

"I do not want you to strain yourself by going out," he replied. I knew that wasn’t the only reason. I needed to be kept inside the mansion. The new security details proved that. It also proved that I wasn’t in an accident.

What day is it? I asked, suddenly realizing that I must have missed one or two photo shoots.

Tuesday.

I knew it. The Diamond Lingerie shoot. That’s yesterday.

I handled it. You will have your shoot on Monday. They wouldn’t let Dravina’s top model and future owner get away with this shoot after hundreds and hundreds of phone calls, Uncle continued, lighting a cigar.

I guess not, I said, trying hard to find other excuses to get out.

A moment of silence passed, and Chief Nadaro cleared his throat. Very well, then. Allow me to introduce my team, which, I apologize, is not complete at the moment. This is Caleb Eustace, specializes in improvised explosive devices and weaponry.

A man just about my height, with round blue eyes popping out of his smiling face, nodded at me. A pleasure to meet one of the most beautiful women of the country, he said, perhaps hoping flattery would get him somewhere. All the other guys who greeted me the same way just wanted to get into my pants. He would have to do a lot more than try to flatter me with words. I heard them on a daily basis, making them more of a lie each time someone spoke them.

He looked very jolly for someone handling death in metal boxes, or cartridges, or magazines, or whatever it was he called them.

Hello, I replied, amused. I had never been introduced personally to my bodyguards before. They usually came for duty, stood beside me, and kept quiet.

David Brocks, my brain guy. He handles all things high-tech and all things forged.

Blue eyes behind a pair of thick glasses assessed me. He looked straight into my eyes and shook my hand. His hand was hard and strong. I would have expected that more from Caleb.

Assistant Inspector Lucas Drowlle, expert in hand-to-hand combat, weapons, and tactics, former SWAT.

Now this man was handsome. He must be around twenty-nine, thirty; I really didn’t care at the moment. His golden brown hair matched his hazel eyes and his fair complexion well. He was taller than the others and with more toned muscles.

He had a certain air of arrogance in him, and it accented his strong features. A pleasure. He nodded and smiled cunningly, as if he indeed found pleasure in my company but was telling me something I wouldn’t like.

I nodded at him and turned to my uncle. What is going on?

You need protection. Uncle had the tendency to state the obvious. That attack last Friday is something we shouldn’t take lightly. These people almost got to you, if not for this team.

What do they want from me? I narrowed my eyes, trying to force the information out of Uncle, which was always hard.

The way he shot me a glance before turning to Chief Nadaro was proof that this secret was the biggest one yet. It seemed I wasn’t going to find out anything.

I believe it is best if you did not know at the moment, Miss Dravine, Chief Nadaro said softly.

I want to know. I need to know. You wouldn’t want me doing things while unknowingly ruining your plans now, would you? I stared at him.

I had been in the dark for far too long already. Much as it was Uncle’s fault, it was mine, too. I never asked. I never questioned any security detail Uncle laid down before me. They were right, though. With what happened last Friday, things needed to change, and they had to start by letting me in on the secrets.

Chief Nadaro looked back at me. He was not going to give me what I wanted, not without Uncle’s permission.

Uncle, I need to know, I repeated.

Uncle thought about it. He paced around the room, back and forth, holding his bulging belly and smoking his cigar. I had never been this insistent before, but the days that had led to this had been different, and I had to act.

Finally, he said, Perhaps you’re entitled to a few details. Perhaps that would do for the moment.

Lucas cleared his throat as he handed me a folder. This note was found tucked between the wiper and the windshield of your car last week. It looks legitimate; we have already examined it.

I contacted Chief Nadaro and his team, Uncle said. "They have been keeping an eye on us since then, maintaining their distance to finally catch the men behind this note. When the ambush happened last Friday, they were able to respond quickly."

"These guys, and one more who is on his way, are my four best men," Chief Nadaro assured me. They’re young, but they’re the best in what they do—handpicked to form the best security team in Bovaghn. They will take care of you and your uncle personally. All the other men added to your surveillance bodyguards will be assisting these four in providing you with the best protection.

Nodding, I opened the folder Lucas handed me. A single white paper was placed inside it, bearing nothing but words in all caps that did not shock me. I had been expecting something like this.

We found you, little miss heiress! You’re dead!

Chapter Two

Kaige’s Plans

The second note came the day after the ambush, Nadaro continued. We already sent it for analysis. We think they want you alive, to play cat-and-mouse. That is to our advantage. As long as they don’t get to you, you’re safe.

I raised one eyebrow and inhaled deeply, trying to look bored. Deep inside, a thousand emotions swirled, but I had learned to repress and ignore them. I see.

Lucas and the others exchanged glances. They probably expected me to sit down and cry, or perhaps do something a lot more damsel-in-distress-y. I wouldn’t do that. Not when I had already prepared myself for this for too long.

I see? Uncle took my answer in the worst way. He sounded angry. That’s it? I see? I really do not think you are taking this seriously, Kaidence.

What do you want me to say, Uncle? It is what it is. You trust these men. Why do I need to worry? I tossed the folder on the coffee table.

Uncle heaved a long sigh and nodded. You will do as they ask. It was the same thing he had asked of me when Joe took over guarding me. This was getting a little tedious, always the same lame and dull story for thirteen years. I was in danger. It couldn’t get more original than that. Now that it had finally happened, I didn’t feel an ounce of fear.

Then again, it got me thinking. What if it were real this time? What if I was going to die? What if my destiny was the same as my mother’s and my father’s?

I might as well make this an adventure I had never had in my oh-so-perfect life. If I could find a way to turn this to my advantage, to make sure