Declan + Coraline by J.J. McAvoy

each other accidentally. It was as though they were being drawn together like magnets. When the car came to a stop, I didn’t want her to get out.
    She opened the door without glancing at me, but before she got out, she stopped. Turning back to me, her lips crashed onto mine. I wasn’t sure if was a dream or not, but I wasn’t letting her go. I pulled her closer to me and her lips parted for me to taste her. Her hands pulled on my hair, as mine cupped her breasts through her dress.
    When I reached for her zipper, she stopped and pulled away from me.
    No!
    “Goodbye, Declan. You are now my client and I won’t fuck my clients. So stop tempting me,” she whispered, her lips inches from me. She moved to kiss me again, but stopped herself and broke free from my grasp.
    “God fucking damn it!” I hissed in frustration when the door closed. I was so hard that it hurt.
    “Where to—?”
    “Where do you think? Home!” I replied as I leaned back and closed my eyes. I wanted to take a cold shower….no, I wanted to get myself off while I thought about her before I took a cold shower.
    Feeling my phone, I grabbed it without checking who was.
    “What?” I snapped.
    “Declan.”
    I sat up as I recognized my uncle’s voice.
    “Sedric. Sorry—”
    “What’s the matter with you lately?”
    “I took the woman he was lusting over and now he’s bitching like a little girl,” Liam lied and I realized that this was a conference as Neal snickered in response.
    “Get over it,” Sedric said seriously.
    “I already have. You know how Liam likes to brag.”
    “Hey—”
    “The club owner,” Sedric cut him off, his voice stern and low. I could hear him flipping through something. This was business.
    “Yeah. He was in a coma. I guess we were a little too rough.” Liam snickered. Though Liam had been the one to take care of it all.
    “He’s awake and I want you to burn down his club,” Sedric said before Liam could say anything else. “I heard he had a business partner. Make sure he can’t stand on his legs either.”
    “Understood. Is Otis talking?” I asked.
    “All of you need to be on the lookout. A new gang is in the city. They call themselves the Seven Bloods. We’ve lost a lot of cocaine about the same time they started selling theirs. It’s a perfect match to ours.”
    “A gang did this?” Neal finally chimed in.
    “We were all gangs once. They aren’t any different. Not only do they not respect us, they are far more organized than they let on. The Ram is one of their houses.”
    “Are you sure we shouldn’t just kill them?” Liam questioned.
    There was a pause for a moment. “Declan, go the hospital tonight and see if you can get more out of Otis. If not, then do what you need to do. Neal and Liam, I want you to head to the club tonight. I already have cars for you to switch with before you go.”
    He hung up.
    “Have either of you heard of the Seven Bloods?” Neal asked.
    “No,” Liam answered before hanging up on Neal.
    “I’m sick of my father making me go on these brotherly assignments with him.”
    “Well, if either of you fuck up, it will be your last assignment, that’s for sure.”
    If there was one thing Sedric Callahan didn’t tolerate, it was a mistake.
    I hung up before Neal could bitch at me.

FOUR
    “You don't find love, it finds you. It's got a little bit to do with destiny, fate, and what's written in the stars.
    ―Anais Nin

CORALINE
    On the car ride home I tried not to think of him, but I turned on my phone anyway hoping that he had called or texted even though I had once again pushed him away. However, instead of seeing anything from him, I had forty missed calls from Imani. Shit . I had turned off my phone because none of them ever called, especially if they still had money in their accounts. In the four years I was away I don’t think I had ever gotten a call from them for any other reason.
    She’s okay, right? Uncle Adam was just in my office this morning; he would