<v Speaker 1>Welcome back, you horny little rats.

<v Speaker 2>It's time to smut up and listen.

<v Speaker 1>Just a reminder for today's episode and all future episodes,

<v Speaker 1>our opinions are subjective. We don't advocate for kink shaming

<v Speaker 1>or author shaming. This is all in good smutty fun.

<v Speaker 1>Enjoy and don't forget. To check out patreon dot com

<v Speaker 1>slash smut up and listen to listen to the r

<v Speaker 1>slash smut podcast, where Riley and I will be doing

<v Speaker 1>blind reactions every Tuesday to Reddit eratica.

<v Speaker 3>Today's episode trigger warnings are violence, mentioned of abductions, and

<v Speaker 3>explicit sexual content.

<v Speaker 4>And I have an Apple review and this one comes

<v Speaker 4>from Spicy bungholeh and it says obsessed. I told everyone

<v Speaker 4>but my mom, you girls are the best. I'm so

<v Speaker 4>glad I started sneaking this into my work playlist.

<v Speaker 2>Thank you, no, thank you you Spicy bung Hole.

<v Speaker 4>Yeah, I also have a Spicy bunk hole.

<v Speaker 2>I get it.

<v Speaker 1>And this week we're telling Riley all about The Predator

<v Speaker 1>by Runix and how many stars did you guys give

<v Speaker 1>it on good Reads?

<v Speaker 5>I have a confession.

<v Speaker 6>This is my first podcast, DNF, what oh is that allowed?

<v Speaker 5>I don't know.

<v Speaker 3>I like it.

<v Speaker 6>I got like halfway through and I said, I can't

<v Speaker 6>do this anymore.

<v Speaker 5>I don't know what it was.

<v Speaker 6>I can't specifically name one thing about it. I just

<v Speaker 6>wasn't about it. So Riley, you and I will find

<v Speaker 6>out what happens together.

<v Speaker 3>Oh yay.

<v Speaker 1>It's too short to read a book you don't like

<v Speaker 1>unless you have to take notes on the last.

<v Speaker 5>Chunk of the book.

<v Speaker 1>Then you have to finish it.

<v Speaker 5>And I was the first part of it.

<v Speaker 1>So Shelby said, God bless, I support you shall be.

<v Speaker 3>But that's criminal only because I loved it checks out.

<v Speaker 3>I give it a four point five. I loved it.

<v Speaker 3>This was like a true legit Enemies to lovers, and

<v Speaker 3>I loved it.

<v Speaker 1>I gave it a three. If we were being more specific,

<v Speaker 1>I'd probably give it like a two point seventy five.

<v Speaker 1>There were certain things in this book, and honestly, I'm

<v Speaker 1>telling you, I skimmed the shit out of this book

<v Speaker 1>because I did not enjoy it. There were some things

<v Speaker 1>that I was just so bothered by, like grammatical errors,

<v Speaker 1>like I don't know if she didn't have an editor,

<v Speaker 1>and that takes me out of it. Don't take me

<v Speaker 1>out of my fucking reading.

<v Speaker 3>I listened to the audiobook, so that's probably why.

<v Speaker 6>It's nineteen eighty five and two men from the Tenebras

<v Speaker 6>Outfit are meeting two men from the Shadow Port, which

<v Speaker 6>is a rival mafia gang. The meeting is to end

<v Speaker 6>their rivalry. Alcohol and guns were going to be the

<v Speaker 6>face of this new operation, but behind the scenes there

<v Speaker 6>would be something that would make them way more money.

<v Speaker 6>The alliance begins when one of the outfit leaders opens

<v Speaker 6>his car trunk to reveal two unconscious girls, so we

<v Speaker 6>get the sense that it's going to be like a

<v Speaker 6>sex trade. It's present day and Marana is at a

<v Speaker 6>party she should not be at with the plan that

<v Speaker 6>needs to go one hundred percent smooth. It requires her

<v Speaker 6>to be in a full disguise and have knives strapped

<v Speaker 6>to her thighs. She sees her target, Tristan Kane, talking

<v Speaker 6>to his boss Lorenzo Bloodhound Marino, and his son Dante.

<v Speaker 6>Tristan isn't blood related to the Maronis at all, but

<v Speaker 6>he is the heir to the outfit instead of Dante.

<v Speaker 6>He's obviously very attractive.

<v Speaker 4>Tristan the Predator Kane. They called him the Predator his

<v Speaker 4>reputation preceded him. He rarely went on the hunt, but

<v Speaker 4>when he did, it was over. When he did, he

<v Speaker 4>went straight for the jugular, no distractions, no playing around.

<v Speaker 2>For all his.

<v Speaker 4>Unruffled attitude, the man was more lethal than the knife

<v Speaker 4>cutting into her thigh. He was also the reason she

<v Speaker 4>had come to the party. She was going to kill

<v Speaker 4>Tristan Kane. Get him, kill him.

<v Speaker 1>Kill him, and then the book can be done.

<v Speaker 2>Yeah.

<v Speaker 6>We learn that she is the daughter of the Shadow

<v Speaker 6>Portly and he's stolen something from her, so she's there

<v Speaker 6>to get it back and kill him. We also learned

<v Speaker 6>that she wouldn't be here if she didn't design these

<v Speaker 6>developer codes that could deface anyone digitally as well as

<v Speaker 6>exposed the entire government.

<v Speaker 5>In all mobs around the world.

<v Speaker 6>So she's like another super computer genius and she created

<v Speaker 6>codes that will take everyone down, and they got stolen.

<v Speaker 2>Get them back girl.

<v Speaker 6>Her ex stole them and disappeared three weeks ago. She

<v Speaker 6>learns that her ex was used by the enemy outfit

<v Speaker 6>to get close to her and have her create the codes,

<v Speaker 6>and then he gave them Tristan. She stalks him through

<v Speaker 6>the party towards the house When she's stopped by a guard,

<v Speaker 6>she knocks him out and then continues on until she

<v Speaker 6>comes to a semi dark guest room. She goes into

<v Speaker 6>the guest room to hide and Tristan comes out, and

<v Speaker 6>then she pounces and holds one of her knives to

<v Speaker 6>his back. She demands that he give her the drive

<v Speaker 6>that he got from Jackson Miller. He tells her that

<v Speaker 6>it's in his jacket pocket and it's enough to distract

<v Speaker 6>her for a moment while he gets upper hand, spinning

<v Speaker 6>her and slamming her against the wall. He demands to

<v Speaker 6>know who's sent her and what drives she's even talking about,

<v Speaker 6>and that's when he recognizes her and tells her that

<v Speaker 6>she needs to leave the house now or she's going

<v Speaker 6>to start a war. She doesn't put up a huge fight,

<v Speaker 6>knowing that she can't win against him, and defeated, she

<v Speaker 6>goes to leave, but he tells her that she now

<v Speaker 6>owes him and he will one day collect because he

<v Speaker 6>didn't kill her like he should have. It's a week

<v Speaker 6>later and she gets a message from Jackson saying that

<v Speaker 6>he's in trouble regarding the codes and it's life or death.

<v Speaker 6>She needs to meet him at a specific abandoned building

<v Speaker 6>at six pm.

<v Speaker 5>Why why would you go there?

<v Speaker 2>Meet me at a starbugs.

<v Speaker 6>She goes to the meeting spot, knowing there's a fifty

<v Speaker 6>to fifty chance that it's actually a trap, but she

<v Speaker 6>brought her gun. He calls her to tell her to

<v Speaker 6>come into the building, but she stands in the doorway,

<v Speaker 6>not going until he explains himself, and that's when she

<v Speaker 6>hears him talk to someone else. She crouches behind it

<v Speaker 6>some debris and grabs her gun, getting ready, but Jackson

<v Speaker 6>tells her to just help them and no one's going

<v Speaker 6>to get hurt. Then someone's behind her holding a gun,

<v Speaker 6>and it's Tristan. They get into a standoff and Dante appears,

<v Speaker 6>introducing himself, saying that he wishes they were meeting differently,

<v Speaker 6>but she tries to act super tough and says she's

<v Speaker 6>not impressed and demands answers. He tells her Jackson is

<v Speaker 6>dead and they needed to lure her here to talk

<v Speaker 6>about the codes and how detrimental it would be to

<v Speaker 6>both families if they got out. Tristan never worked with

<v Speaker 6>Jackson to get the codes, even if she traced them

<v Speaker 6>back to him, and it must have been a setup,

<v Speaker 6>so they want to team up with her to figure

<v Speaker 6>out who did it. She says not for a million

<v Speaker 6>fucking dollars, and she leaves dreaming about the day she'll

<v Speaker 6>kill Tristan. It's been another week and she knows that

<v Speaker 6>she needs to tell her dad everything that happened. As

<v Speaker 6>she heads home, she can't help but wonder if her

<v Speaker 6>life would be different if her mother was still around.

<v Speaker 6>She then wonders if Tristan really does have the codes

<v Speaker 6>and he's lying for whatever reason, because something does seem

<v Speaker 6>off about him. Just as she makes the last steps

<v Speaker 6>to her father's study, she hears them talking about her.

<v Speaker 6>His right hand man and her dad discuss how dangerous

<v Speaker 6>she is and how she doesn't know it, but they

<v Speaker 6>better keep it that way. Her dad's right hand man, Thomas,

<v Speaker 6>walks out and she's about to knock on the door,

<v Speaker 6>but he tells her to enter. They can talk after

<v Speaker 6>they have dinner. It's at seven point thirty and she

<v Speaker 6>can't be late, and then he dismisses her.

<v Speaker 3>Happy at dinner, she also knew that the second that

<v Speaker 3>she told her dad about the codes, he would point

<v Speaker 3>blank murder her, so she's like a battie. She was like,

<v Speaker 3>I am about to die and it's worth it by

<v Speaker 3>her own dad. Yeah, yeah, because he's a mafia man.

<v Speaker 3>You do this to me and my family.

<v Speaker 6>At the restaurant, while her father and his men talk business,

<v Speaker 6>she notices Dante is there with Tristan and two other men.

<v Speaker 6>Her and Tristan lock eyes and the her dad catches

<v Speaker 6>her focus, saying that he will meet her at home

<v Speaker 6>and they can finally talk. He leaves and she sneaks

<v Speaker 6>out at the back door when Tristan comes into view

<v Speaker 6>approaching her. Her guard is easily taken down by Tristan

<v Speaker 6>and she goes to walk to her car, but realizes

<v Speaker 6>all exits are blocked. When Dante and the two other

<v Speaker 6>men show up. She calls Tristan's bluff and tries to

<v Speaker 6>be a badass, but he's not buying it. She tries

<v Speaker 6>to call his bluff on hurting her since it's yet

<v Speaker 6>to happen.

<v Speaker 5>She's like, do it. You haven't done it once yet,

<v Speaker 5>What are you fucking for? But what if you say that?

<v Speaker 6>And then he's like, okay, Wow, she's prepared to die.

<v Speaker 2>Yeah that's true, that's true.

<v Speaker 5>He tells her.

<v Speaker 6>One day he will claim his debt from her and

<v Speaker 6>she will enjoy repaying it. And then all the men

<v Speaker 6>leave and I put in parentheses. What was the fucking

<v Speaker 6>point of that scene? The geno information was given nothing.

<v Speaker 3>The tension j is like it works, It works.

<v Speaker 6>She's confused to what just happened, Me too, girl, because

<v Speaker 6>it had nothing to do with the codes. It's been

<v Speaker 6>two days since the restaurant, and she never ended up

<v Speaker 6>talking to her dad about everything, So she spends two

<v Speaker 6>more days trying to track and reverse the codes with

<v Speaker 6>new codes, but doesn't have any luck. Her phone rings

<v Speaker 6>and she answers it. It's Tristan. He's at her house

<v Speaker 6>to do business with her, and he hangs up.

<v Speaker 5>She watches him.

<v Speaker 6>Scale the outside wall to her balcony, and once inside

<v Speaker 6>her room, he tells her that he truly doesn't have

<v Speaker 6>the codes and he needs her to work with Dante

<v Speaker 6>to figure out who does.

<v Speaker 4>Okay, he just scales to the side of your house

<v Speaker 4>to get in.

<v Speaker 2>Hey, I'm here at your house. I'm just gonna spider

<v Speaker 2>monkey my way in. See you in a minute.

<v Speaker 3>He's the enemy and if he's seen on her grounds,

<v Speaker 3>he will die because she has security everywhere Okay, she

<v Speaker 3>has security everywhere, but her security is objectively bad. Yeah.

<v Speaker 4>Yeah, they can't see a full grown man climbing the building.

<v Speaker 6>Yeah, she says, okay, but on one condition. She only

<v Speaker 6>works with Dante, not him. He says done, and then

<v Speaker 6>he climbs back down.

<v Speaker 2>That is so not sexy.

<v Speaker 1>Imagine like a full grown man just being like, all right, cool,

<v Speaker 1>and then he gets hearts climbing down the wall.

<v Speaker 3>Instant ick.

<v Speaker 6>Yeah, she's having your first meeting with Dante at a

<v Speaker 6>nightclub and it's her first time at a nightclub because

<v Speaker 6>her dad doesn't let her go to those. It's called Cyanide,

<v Speaker 6>and I, oh, absolutely fucking not. I am not going

<v Speaker 6>to a nightclub called Cyanide.

<v Speaker 2>Get a drink there. Yeah, we're gonna kill you. We're

<v Speaker 2>gonna poison you.

<v Speaker 6>We finally get our first real description of Marina.

<v Speaker 4>She had a pretty face, nothing that anybody would write

<v Speaker 4>sonnets about, but pleasing to look at. Her frame was

<v Speaker 4>short on the smaller side, with decent breasts, a good ass,

<v Speaker 4>and a stubborn little love handle around her tummy she

<v Speaker 4>couldn't get rid of.

<v Speaker 1>Okay, it's not a flattering description.

<v Speaker 4>No, he's like she's all right, she's pleasant, so she's average,

<v Speaker 4>a little love handle around her tummy she couldn't get

<v Speaker 4>rid of.

<v Speaker 3>Fuck you, fuck you.

<v Speaker 6>Dante ushers her to the VIP section, and of course,

<v Speaker 6>Tristan is on one of the couches. Dante quickly explains

<v Speaker 6>to her that he wasn't planning on Tristan being there

<v Speaker 6>because of the deal that they made, but it just

<v Speaker 6>happened to be a coincidence he showed up.

<v Speaker 2>Oh.

<v Speaker 6>They get down to business, discussing the codes and how

<v Speaker 6>he doesn't think it was an outside job who hired Jackson.

<v Speaker 6>He asks her to trace some of the anomalies on

<v Speaker 6>Jackson's account and then hands her a flash drive with

<v Speaker 6>everything he found. She tells him that she'll report back,

<v Speaker 6>and then she goes to the bar for a drink.

<v Speaker 6>She gets an orange juice because the bartender seems sleazy

<v Speaker 6>and she doesn't want any alcohol from him, and I put, bitch,

<v Speaker 6>a drink is a drink. Uh huh, alcohol doesn't matter.

<v Speaker 6>The woman Tristan was with comes up to talk to her,

<v Speaker 6>but thinks better of it and walks away, which also

<v Speaker 6>fucking weird. Then she feels dizzy and it's hard to

<v Speaker 6>stand she's been roofed and I put duh bitch.

<v Speaker 2>Here in plays called Cyani.

<v Speaker 3>She's like, oh no, how did this happen? I didn't

<v Speaker 3>drink any alcohol.

<v Speaker 6>Before she can follow, Tristan is there catching her. He

<v Speaker 6>lets Dante know that someone spiked her drink and the

<v Speaker 6>woman that he's with, Amara can babysit her until she's fine.

<v Speaker 6>She passes out on the couch as he walks away.

<v Speaker 6>When she wakes up, she's in a car being driven.

<v Speaker 5>Home by Amara.

<v Speaker 6>She learns Tristan took care of the bartender and is

<v Speaker 6>now following them back to her house. She makes Samara

<v Speaker 6>stop the car so she can drive the rest of

<v Speaker 6>the way home because the enemies can't go into her territory.

<v Speaker 6>Amara gets in the car with Tristan and they drive away,

<v Speaker 6>so she's left with the question of why he did

<v Speaker 6>that when he claims that he hates her and wants

<v Speaker 6>to kill her.

<v Speaker 5>Wonder why.

<v Speaker 6>As she goes to drive home, a scary blacked out

<v Speaker 6>suv starts following her until a person on the bike

<v Speaker 6>gets between them and shoots at the suv. Like a

<v Speaker 6>John Wick.

<v Speaker 2>Movie, Oh Wow, Papa.

<v Speaker 6>The suv leaves on a completely flat tire and the

<v Speaker 6>biker takes his helmet off. Of course it's Tristan and

<v Speaker 6>he taps his ear before a bluetooth call comes into

<v Speaker 6>her car. She asks him who the SUV was and

<v Speaker 6>he says that he'll find out when he gets back,

<v Speaker 6>but he has to escort her home now because of

<v Speaker 6>the sensitive information on the flash drive that she got

<v Speaker 6>from Dante. As he follows her back to her house,

<v Speaker 6>he tells her he did also save her because he

<v Speaker 6>wants the last face she sees before she dies to

<v Speaker 6>be his.

<v Speaker 1>He wants to do the job m as if he

<v Speaker 1>hasn't had like seventeen opportunities this entire book.

<v Speaker 6>Once she's home, she's immediately called into her father's study.

<v Speaker 6>He tells her that he knows she was at Cyanide

<v Speaker 6>somehow since it's in by only, and he wants to

<v Speaker 6>know who she's pimping her body out to dad as

<v Speaker 6>he literally tries to pimper out to his friends. Yeah,

<v Speaker 6>he tells her that he will be the one to

<v Speaker 6>choose her husband, and then she's dismissed. The next day,

<v Speaker 6>she works on the thumb drive and she finds some

<v Speaker 6>tech thing that she calls Dante about and they plan

<v Speaker 6>to meet up soon so he can have the drive back.

<v Speaker 6>She gets ready and leaves to meet him, but can't

<v Speaker 6>shake the guard that's on her tail, because usually she

<v Speaker 6>can evade her dad's guards, but this one she can't.

<v Speaker 6>She tries to call Dante to tell him, but he

<v Speaker 6>doesn't answer, so she calls Tristan. He gets on his bike,

<v Speaker 6>finds her location, and then helps her lose her guard.

<v Speaker 6>They get to a location and Dante calls, telling her

<v Speaker 6>to give the drive to Tristan. He's a little tied

<v Speaker 6>up right now. But then they are attacked by three men.

<v Speaker 6>She shoots one and Tristan kills one. He tells her

<v Speaker 6>to leave while he handles the last man, and when

<v Speaker 6>she gets to her car, all four tires are slashed,

<v Speaker 6>so she has no other option than to stay with Tristan.

<v Speaker 5>Oh call an uber.

<v Speaker 4>When they say like they don't have options, I'm like

<v Speaker 4>you do.

<v Speaker 3>You have a lot, literally filthy rich.

<v Speaker 5>You can call a cab, You can call an uber.

<v Speaker 2>Several things you could do.

<v Speaker 4>You can run, yeah, even speedwalk yeah yeah, a nice

<v Speaker 4>power walk.

<v Speaker 3>Yeah. Marana is shook that she's about to have a

<v Speaker 3>sleepover in her enemy's house. They get to the mirrored

<v Speaker 3>elevator heading up to the penthouse, and he tells her

<v Speaker 3>he doesn't know who those men were, but he's pretty

<v Speaker 3>sure that someone wants her very dead. She tells him

<v Speaker 3>she's learned not to be afraid of death since it

<v Speaker 3>sleeps under her roof every single night, because her father

<v Speaker 3>is literally like one set battle line, I'll fucking shoot you.

<v Speaker 3>They get to his penthouse and of course it's literally

<v Speaker 3>floor to roof, glass walls and completely stunning. Tristan tells

<v Speaker 3>her where the guests bedroom is and he turns to

<v Speaker 3>leave her to it. She does what any logical person

<v Speaker 3>would do. She snoops around. The living room is very modern, clean,

<v Speaker 3>monotoned colors, and his bedroom is the complete opposite. It's

<v Speaker 3>all rich earth tones and feels extremely comforting and inviting,

<v Speaker 3>which is literally like the exact opposite of what she

<v Speaker 3>has in mind for Tristan. So she's like, who the

<v Speaker 3>hell is this man?

<v Speaker 1>Oh my god, couldn't be the work of an interior designer,

<v Speaker 1>you know.

<v Speaker 3>Just as she was about to leave, the bathroom door

<v Speaker 3>opens in his bedroom and Tristan walks out with a

<v Speaker 3>low towel on his hips, looking like a damn snack

<v Speaker 3>ah man. He's got scars all over his body from

<v Speaker 3>bullets and knives. And he could feel her staring and

<v Speaker 3>his gaze locks on hers, and he takes a step forward,

<v Speaker 3>then another, then another.

<v Speaker 4>She tilted her neck back, her back arching as her

<v Speaker 4>feet moved of their own accord backward, completely forgetting that

<v Speaker 4>she stood at the top of the stairs. She felt

<v Speaker 4>her balance tip a second before gravity hit her, her

<v Speaker 4>hands reaching out to hold on to something and finding

<v Speaker 4>purchase against the warm, solid muscles of his arms. Even

<v Speaker 4>as she steadied herself, Marana felt his hand slipped to

<v Speaker 4>the back of her neck, cupping her nape as he

<v Speaker 4>pulled her back from the edge and upright with nothing

<v Speaker 4>but his hold on her neck, heart setting her hands

<v Speaker 4>full of muscles she'd never fell against her palms. Marana

<v Speaker 4>looked up at him while he looked down, his hold

<v Speaker 4>on her neck firm but not threatening, a sort of

<v Speaker 4>almost edge to the grip she couldn't place. So she

<v Speaker 4>was just about to fall down the stairs. I would

<v Speaker 4>have been much less graceful than that. I would have

<v Speaker 4>been like he said, don't worry, Pooky, I'll save you.

<v Speaker 3>Their almost moment was ruined by her phone ringing, and

<v Speaker 3>it was none other than her father, whose pissed she

<v Speaker 3>slipped her detail. After their call, Tristan tells her it

<v Speaker 3>was one of the bartenders who drugged her at Cyanide,

<v Speaker 3>and she asked why. Tristan looked like he's barely keeping

<v Speaker 3>himself in check when he finally goes to answer. Dante

<v Speaker 3>comes home and he doesn't answer. He tells her that

<v Speaker 3>Tristan already arranged for her car to be repaired in

<v Speaker 3>the morning, and if she doesn't want to spend another

<v Speaker 3>night with Tristan, then he can spend the night at

<v Speaker 3>his house because Dante lives like two floors down.

<v Speaker 4>She saw Tristan Kane stop on the stairs before she

<v Speaker 4>could speak, his entire body tensing as he turned to

<v Speaker 4>face Dante his eye. It's cool she stays here, he growled, growled,

<v Speaker 4>she's chaysy.

<v Speaker 3>Tristan vowed that she won't come to any harm tonight.

<v Speaker 2>If you want to kill her or just kill her, yeah,

<v Speaker 2>I do it.

<v Speaker 3>Later, she's at Tristan's house still and she's having a

<v Speaker 3>main character moment in front of his Florida ceiling glass wall.

<v Speaker 3>She's watching the rain dramatically fall down. This reminds me

<v Speaker 3>of like a Hillary Duff when you're in the car

<v Speaker 3>listening to rain fall down down. Yeah. So she's watching

<v Speaker 3>the rain fall down on the glass pane. She has

<v Speaker 3>her hand up to the glass. It's like a whole

<v Speaker 3>main character moment, and she has an overwhelming feeling of

<v Speaker 3>loneliness and is having like an existential crisis in her

<v Speaker 3>enemy's house. She's silently cursing the wind when she feels him.

<v Speaker 3>Instead of taking advantage of her vulnerable moment, he takes

<v Speaker 3>a seat next to her and watches the rain with

<v Speaker 3>her in solitude.

<v Speaker 2>Oh my god, the drama night.

<v Speaker 3>After sitting for a while, he speaks and he tells

<v Speaker 3>her that his sister loved the rain. She tells him

<v Speaker 3>she didn't know he had a sister, and he says,

<v Speaker 3>I don't anymore. She's dead. She's taken back because he

<v Speaker 3>shares something so intimate in private with her, and it

<v Speaker 3>causes her to open up and tell him that her

<v Speaker 3>mother loved the rain as well, and he's like, I

<v Speaker 3>thought you had a mom and she says, not anymore.

<v Speaker 6>Oh my god.

<v Speaker 3>They sat in comfortable silence for the rest of the night.

<v Speaker 3>Together and unspoken truce, as she knows that when the

<v Speaker 3>sun comes up, it would be all over. Marana is

<v Speaker 3>having a gut feeling that something not good is about

<v Speaker 3>to happen because her father has not called once since

<v Speaker 3>they last spoke, and that is not a good time.

<v Speaker 3>Usually he's upper ass. Amara comes in and Marana wants

<v Speaker 3>to make friends with her halla bad, but she can't

<v Speaker 3>because she's worried about dragging her down into her family

<v Speaker 3>mess and potentially threatening her life. Fair Dante and Tristan

<v Speaker 3>come in the house and they catch her up on

<v Speaker 3>the findings of the warehouse. She asked her most important

<v Speaker 3>question of what would happen to Tristan if the codes

<v Speaker 3>were used since he was framed, and the answer is simple,

<v Speaker 3>it would mean his death. Marana quickly ruled out Tristan

<v Speaker 3>as a suspect. Amara gave her her car keys back,

<v Speaker 3>and Marana knew that she had to head home. The

<v Speaker 3>second she got home, it felt off. The only thing

<v Speaker 3>her father said to her was that they were to

<v Speaker 3>dine at Crimson tonight and she was to ride with him,

<v Speaker 3>which is not part of their unspoken deal. She always

<v Speaker 3>drives her car and doesn't say a word at dinner

<v Speaker 3>in favor of her showing up to dinner with her father,

<v Speaker 3>So the fact that she's riding with him, she feels

<v Speaker 3>really uneasy about it. It's scary. At dinner, some man

<v Speaker 3>was sitting next to her and he was literally trying

<v Speaker 3>to get his hands under her dress all dinner long.

<v Speaker 2>Ew, disgusting.

<v Speaker 3>She had it and grabbed his hand and bent his

<v Speaker 3>fingers backwards and told him if he touches her again,

<v Speaker 3>she will break his fingers. As she's looking around the room,

<v Speaker 3>she feels him. His eyes are on the back of

<v Speaker 3>her neck, and she obviously didn't turn to verify it

<v Speaker 3>was him, but she innately knew that Tristan Kane sat

<v Speaker 3>at the table behind her. She texted him and said,

<v Speaker 3>stop staring at me, and he texted her back one word.

<v Speaker 4>No.

<v Speaker 3>Tristan was baiting her through text message, and the stupid

<v Speaker 3>handsy man groped her thigh again, and she's had it.

<v Speaker 3>She snapped his wrists backwards and he screamed to her, saying,

<v Speaker 3>you bitch. His men pulled guns on her, Her father's

<v Speaker 3>men pulled guns on them, and she's like, what, I

<v Speaker 3>warned you not to do it again.

<v Speaker 4>Yeah, don't fucking touch me.

<v Speaker 3>Her father told her to go cool down, so she

<v Speaker 3>went to the bathroom and a minute later, someone walked

<v Speaker 3>in the bathroom after her, and it's mister sexy blue

<v Speaker 3>eyed Tristan Kane.

<v Speaker 4>We've been honest so far, miss Vitalio, he murmured, I'll

<v Speaker 4>be honest now. I despise you, but I want you,

<v Speaker 4>fuck it, I do, and I want you out of

<v Speaker 4>my system okay. As he described her as completely average looking,

<v Speaker 4>she's literally only had sex once with Jackson and it

<v Speaker 4>was mediocre at best. But she's lusting after Tristan, so

<v Speaker 4>she decides to get him out of her system too,

<v Speaker 4>and locks the door.

<v Speaker 3>They're about to do the dang thing. But first things first,

<v Speaker 3>no kissing. This is purely physical.

<v Speaker 2>Kissing is physical. I don't understand that.

<v Speaker 3>She's like, I don't want you your face anywhere near me,

<v Speaker 3>get away from me, Like I just want your.

<v Speaker 2>Dick, okay, okay.

<v Speaker 3>When he can tell she's inexperience and brings it up.

<v Speaker 3>That pisses her off even more and she turns to

<v Speaker 3>leave and the next thing she knows, he picks her

<v Speaker 3>up and plays her on top of the granite countertop

<v Speaker 3>in front of the mirror.

<v Speaker 4>Before she could blink, he closed the gap between them,

<v Speaker 4>his hands going straight to her thighs, parting them wide

<v Speaker 4>as he stepped between her legs, his face inches from hers,

<v Speaker 4>his eyes still holding that mix of sheer lust and

<v Speaker 4>utter hate. More than hate for just her, was it

<v Speaker 4>for himself for wanting her? Because lord knew she hated

<v Speaker 4>herself for wanting this, wanting him, Just do it.

<v Speaker 3>He's grinding himself on her, and she's like, wait, you

<v Speaker 3>have a condom? Right, And he's like, hella annoyed at

<v Speaker 3>her for asking that. He like stopped and like glured

<v Speaker 3>at her and doesn't answer.

<v Speaker 2>It's a valid question.

<v Speaker 3>Yeah, She's like, don't even think you're going anywhere near

<v Speaker 3>me if you do not have a condom. They're fooling

<v Speaker 3>around until it's time to get down the business. And

<v Speaker 3>finally he puts the condom on.

<v Speaker 4>She needed him to run against her and make her explode,

<v Speaker 4>not like a bomb, but like a woman, so so badly,

<v Speaker 4>what the love?

<v Speaker 2>Not like a bomb but like a woman?

<v Speaker 1>Yeah?

<v Speaker 2>Okay, God.

<v Speaker 4>She needed to scream her lungs out as he fucked her,

<v Speaker 4>like his eyes promised every single time he'd looked at

<v Speaker 4>her like they had promised and they'd met. She needed

<v Speaker 4>to feel wanton, sexed up, and she hated it, hated

<v Speaker 4>that need, hated him for making her need like a

<v Speaker 4>desperate maniac. A rapid heart beat passed, and suddenly he

<v Speaker 4>thrust inside, bearing himself to the hill in one stroke.

<v Speaker 3>Hall Yah humboy made no time for her to get

<v Speaker 3>used to him. He said, you go and take this dilk,

<v Speaker 3>And this part made me laugh a little. She purposely

<v Speaker 3>closed her eyes because she didn't want to see his face,

<v Speaker 3>because she hates him so much, like they're like having

<v Speaker 3>sex and she has her eyes screwed shut. Oh my god,

<v Speaker 3>she did not want to see him.

<v Speaker 4>The sounds of their rapid breaths and barely contained sounds

<v Speaker 4>filled the room. Her blood pounded loudly in her ears,

<v Speaker 4>her palms ached from being pressed so hard into the granite,

<v Speaker 4>her back arches, her spine curved, legs, hitting higher on

<v Speaker 4>his hips to get a better angle. As he got

<v Speaker 4>into the rhythm of the movements, quick fast, hard, his

<v Speaker 4>hand hard on the back of her neck, the only

<v Speaker 4>other place he touched her, and then another sound penetrated

<v Speaker 4>her less induced days A knock fuck.

<v Speaker 2>Who is that Zottie there?

<v Speaker 3>Midfuck? And it's her father's detail telling her her father

<v Speaker 3>wants her to come out now. Tristan looked at her

<v Speaker 3>with like the look of well, you're gonna answer her what?

<v Speaker 3>And just as she opened her mouth to say something,

<v Speaker 3>he pulled out and slammed super hard into her.

<v Speaker 4>Her mouth opened instinctively to cry out at the suddenness

<v Speaker 4>of the movement, and his other hand clapped over her mouth,

<v Speaker 4>muffling the sound. How is she gonna answer?

<v Speaker 3>He changed his angle and started to fuck her with

<v Speaker 3>what I can only describe as rabbits mating. Just the

<v Speaker 3>detail knocked again, and he changed his angle once more,

<v Speaker 3>hitting her g spot and she had an earth shattering orgasm.

<v Speaker 4>But he kept going, He kept moving, She kept exploding,

<v Speaker 4>and she bit down on his hand before she realized it,

<v Speaker 4>trying to find some purchase of the intense currents of pleasures,

<v Speaker 4>zapping all her senses, making her wail and whine and

<v Speaker 4>whimper in her throat. As she bit and bit and

<v Speaker 4>bit on his hand, drawing blood, the knot came again.

<v Speaker 4>The taste of copper and rust filled her mouth. He

<v Speaker 4>didn't remove his hand. She didn't remove her teeth, and

<v Speaker 4>he thrust in one last time before stilling, expanding inside her,

<v Speaker 4>before flexing his hips and reflex exploding into his own orgasm,

<v Speaker 4>her walls quivering around him in stunned aftershocks. His own small,

<v Speaker 4>shallow thrust spurred more from them, milking her. She milked

<v Speaker 4>him for all he was worth. His hand tight on

<v Speaker 4>her neck, a low rumbling sound the only sound from him.

<v Speaker 4>His breaths were rapid, quick and shallow like his thrust,

<v Speaker 4>her own matching his.

<v Speaker 3>She was done, so done. Can you imagine fucking someone

<v Speaker 3>and they're just like literally gnawing on your hand?

<v Speaker 2>I feel like that would take me out of the moment.

<v Speaker 3>The next thing she heard was her father's voice, the

<v Speaker 3>meaning she comes out of the bathroom and to stop

<v Speaker 3>sulking like a child. She pulls herself together and is

<v Speaker 3>surprised that there's not one hair out of place. She's

<v Speaker 3>about to apologize for biting his already injured hand when

<v Speaker 3>the detail once more interrupts and she's just annoyed as

<v Speaker 3>fuck at this point. After her interest and share mutual

<v Speaker 3>self loathing for fucking one another, she turns to leave

<v Speaker 3>the restroom just as she passed Tristan, he catches her

<v Speaker 3>arm and tells her to break his arm next time.

<v Speaker 5>Okay.

<v Speaker 3>When she's walking back to her table, her eyes meet Dante,

<v Speaker 3>and immediately she knows that he knows. He knew exactly

<v Speaker 3>where she was, who she was with, and what they

<v Speaker 3>were doing, and he's not looking at her with any

<v Speaker 3>judgment in his eyes. The rest of dinner, she could

<v Speaker 3>feel him watching her, and this is Tristan. And as

<v Speaker 3>they're leaving, her phone vibrates. It's a text message from

<v Speaker 3>Tristan and he texted her apparently you're not out of

<v Speaker 3>my system, miss Batalio. Of course, her father walks up

<v Speaker 3>to her I was reading the message and demands to

<v Speaker 3>know what she was doing with Tristan Kane.

<v Speaker 2>Well, yeah, you.

<v Speaker 1>Guys both disappeared for twenty minutes in the bathroom.

<v Speaker 2>Obviously you know what they're doing.

<v Speaker 3>She plays them and she's like, what, who's Tristan Tristan

<v Speaker 3>Kane who Because technically they were never introduced to each other,

<v Speaker 3>so like she should not really know him, But her

<v Speaker 3>dad's not fucking dumb. They're walking towards a lot where

<v Speaker 3>the cars are parked, and Tristan walks out and he

<v Speaker 3>goes to talk to Dante, and Tristan looks at her

<v Speaker 3>father dead in the eyes and he just stares him

<v Speaker 3>down and he's like, not helping the situation at all.

<v Speaker 4>Yeah.

<v Speaker 6>No.

<v Speaker 3>They get inside the house now that they're home, and

<v Speaker 3>again he demands to know what she was doing with him,

<v Speaker 3>and she shut up tells him that she was having

<v Speaker 3>sex with him. He gets angry and he's like, tell

<v Speaker 3>me the truth. She's like, no, really, like I was

<v Speaker 3>having wild sex with him in the bathroom and you

<v Speaker 3>were right outside. He tells her that she was not

<v Speaker 3>doing that because he raised her better, and she's like, actually,

<v Speaker 3>you literally didn't raise me at all. Then he asks

<v Speaker 3>her what about the man on the bike and she

<v Speaker 3>tells him, yeah, I fucked him too, which technically she

<v Speaker 3>did because it was Tristan.

<v Speaker 2>Uh, I'm a whole dad.

<v Speaker 3>They have a heated discussion that if he tries to

<v Speaker 3>imprison her, because he's like, that's it, you'll never know

<v Speaker 3>freedom again, and she's like, God, try it. I will

<v Speaker 3>literally go to the FBI and that'll be the end

<v Speaker 3>of you, which is really ballsy of her, because like,

<v Speaker 3>why would you threaten the FBI to a mob man.

<v Speaker 2>Yeah, he's gonna kill you.

<v Speaker 3>She's at the very top of the staircase, right, so

<v Speaker 3>she's about to walk away, and her father yells at

<v Speaker 3>her that he has not done their conversation and forcefully

<v Speaker 3>grabs her arm. She's wearing high heels, and the motion

<v Speaker 3>makes her twist her ankle over the landing. And as

<v Speaker 3>her father has a hold on her arm, he's literally

<v Speaker 3>keeping her up right over the stairs. So she's like

<v Speaker 3>dangling over it now, and he looks her straight in

<v Speaker 3>the eyes and just lets go, and she falls down

<v Speaker 3>the entire flight of stairs.

<v Speaker 1>Oh, very scar and moufassa.

<v Speaker 6>I'm gonna say very the staircase where that husband allegedly

<v Speaker 6>pushes his wife down the staircase and she died. No,

<v Speaker 6>she got attacked by an owl? Who lets them in

<v Speaker 6>the house? Who lets the owls in the house.

<v Speaker 1>No, she was outside drinking wine. She got attacked by

<v Speaker 1>an owl. She went inside, and then she fell down

<v Speaker 1>the stairs.

<v Speaker 2>You believe the No.

<v Speaker 3>I think he pushed it in.

<v Speaker 4>Yees.

<v Speaker 3>Marana laid there, struggling to even breathe, but somehow she

<v Speaker 3>gathered her strength to get up, grubb her clutch that

<v Speaker 3>held her phone on her keys and walked to her car.

<v Speaker 3>She drove while sobbing, letting herself realize what the fuck

<v Speaker 3>actually just happened. That her father could have and would

<v Speaker 3>have just killed her if she she like snapped her

<v Speaker 3>neck while falling down the stairs, and she drove subconsciously

<v Speaker 3>to Tristan's penthouse. She had no friends. She couldn't go

<v Speaker 3>to a hospital because that would flog the authorities. She

<v Speaker 3>couldn't go to a hotel because her clothes are bloody

<v Speaker 3>and probably torn. So she went to the one place

<v Speaker 3>that didn't make sense but made her feel safe. That's

<v Speaker 3>her man. As she parked her car, she's in so

<v Speaker 3>much pain, emotional and physical, and she couldn't move. She

<v Speaker 3>breaks down and she hears the elevator ding and it's Dante.

<v Speaker 3>He walks by and sees her car and calls after her,

<v Speaker 3>and she gets out and he freezes. He looks at

<v Speaker 3>her in anger and asks three words, who did this?

<v Speaker 3>She tells him she fell down the stairs, and he

<v Speaker 3>tells her to go upstairs and to rest. She feels

<v Speaker 3>very vulnerable and she's not used to letting anyone care

<v Speaker 3>for her, so she tries telling him no, that she'll

<v Speaker 3>just go to a friend's house, even though they both

<v Speaker 3>know that she has no one else. Eventually, he's able

<v Speaker 3>to convince her and she gets in the elevator. Once

<v Speaker 3>she's in, she sees through her reflection and the site

<v Speaker 3>is terrifying. She's black and blue and bloody and battered

<v Speaker 3>from her fall. She tells herself once the doors try

<v Speaker 3>to open, that she's just gonna hit the ground floor

<v Speaker 3>again to get back to her car and just find

<v Speaker 3>somewhere else to go because she cannot let Tristan see

<v Speaker 3>her like this. When the elevator opens, he's already there waiting.

<v Speaker 3>She hits the down button quickly before he can see her,

<v Speaker 3>but at the last minute, his eyes look up, catching hers,

<v Speaker 3>and he shoots his hand out stop the lift.

<v Speaker 2>Oh.

<v Speaker 3>He takes her in hole, not saying anything at all,

<v Speaker 3>just looking her head to toe, and then steps to

<v Speaker 3>the side to let her in the house. He charged

<v Speaker 3>into the spare bedroom, and like he starts like slamming

<v Speaker 3>stuff and like muttering under his breath. And by the

<v Speaker 3>time she got into the spare bedroom, the bathroom was

<v Speaker 3>open and there was a steaming bath waiting for her.

<v Speaker 3>She took painkillers and woke up eight hours later to

<v Speaker 3>Bruckus in the house. Tristan barged in and demanded her

<v Speaker 3>keys and told her that her father put a tracker

<v Speaker 3>on her car and it led him straight to their house.

<v Speaker 3>She sees Amara the next morning and asks to borrow

<v Speaker 3>her car because she needs to get the hell out

<v Speaker 3>of Dodge. She feels like everything's very overwhelming for her

<v Speaker 3>at the moment. Yeah, When Amara says no, she asked

<v Speaker 3>if she knows why Tristan hates her and if she

<v Speaker 3>could tell her why. She says that she can't say

<v Speaker 3>anything besides look up when the alliance ended. So there's

<v Speaker 3>a little family debate to break it down. Dante thinks

<v Speaker 3>that Marana can't stay with them because it's obviously fucking messy,

<v Speaker 3>but Tristan is not hearing any of it, like he

<v Speaker 3>will not let Marana stay without him. Marana and Tristan

<v Speaker 3>are having a heavy stare down when she needed to

<v Speaker 3>break the tension, so she decided to ask him when

<v Speaker 3>the alliance ended, and he told her it ended twenty

<v Speaker 3>years ago. It's late in the night and Marana knew

<v Speaker 3>that she could not stay with Tristan any longer, so

<v Speaker 3>she packed up what little things she had and was

<v Speaker 3>set to leave, but before she left, she sent Tristan

<v Speaker 3>a text message saying thank you and she wishes him well,

<v Speaker 3>and then she went down to her car, and of

<v Speaker 3>course she sent the message before she actually left, so

<v Speaker 3>by the time she got to her car, she took

<v Speaker 3>two steps and he burst through the stairwell and was like, hey,

<v Speaker 3>where are you going? Come back girl? Send attack was

<v Speaker 3>a jafter he left, dummy, Yeah, And she's like three

<v Speaker 3>cars away from her own and he catches her and

<v Speaker 3>he tells her not to run away from predators because

<v Speaker 3>they love the hunt, and he basically made her come

<v Speaker 3>to realization that she wanted him. He wouldn't let her

<v Speaker 3>go and there's no sense in fighting this. Oh. She

<v Speaker 3>stepped back into the elevator and went back to the house, and.

<v Speaker 5>That's where I stopped the book.

<v Speaker 3>It's two days later, and she's feeling more headstrong and

<v Speaker 3>decided to write a new set of codes to undo

<v Speaker 3>the effects of the original codes. She made it fail safe,

<v Speaker 3>only she needs her software, which is at her house

<v Speaker 3>and her study to get this done. She woke in

<v Speaker 3>the night and she instantly knew she wasn't alone. Tristan

<v Speaker 3>was there watching her sleep. Tristan she like seductively stretches

<v Speaker 3>and she's like, ugh, makes it a little known. And

<v Speaker 3>then she gets a text message from him saying meet

<v Speaker 3>me in the parking lot in five minutes. She does,

<v Speaker 3>and he's already on his bike with an extra helmet.

<v Speaker 3>She's like, Okay, this is not what I thought, but

<v Speaker 3>I'm down. They go on a nice little ride, which

<v Speaker 3>was like honestly the best time ever for her until

<v Speaker 3>they pull up to a very familiar gravel road and

<v Speaker 3>she knows that she's by her house and she's like,

<v Speaker 3>what the fuck? Apparently he chose now, of all times

<v Speaker 3>to get her shit back. So it turns out that

<v Speaker 3>Tristan has an inside man working for Marana's father. That's

<v Speaker 3>how he was able to get in the first time.

<v Speaker 3>Why his security is so shitty, Like he was able

<v Speaker 3>to climb the wall because they like purposely turned to

<v Speaker 3>blind eye. They were able to get into the house

<v Speaker 3>successfully grab her things, and on their way back they

<v Speaker 3>almost run into a group of guards patrolling. Tristan pulls

<v Speaker 3>her into an alcove, pins her to the wall, and

<v Speaker 3>finger blasts her under her father's roof.

<v Speaker 2>At a moment like this. He's just like em.

<v Speaker 6>Yeah.

<v Speaker 3>It was a very sexy, steamy and rebellious little time

<v Speaker 3>for Marana. She was like, damn, this is so hot.

<v Speaker 3>They get out of the house successfully and she has

<v Speaker 3>a text message from an unknown number that has a

<v Speaker 3>picture of an old newspaper article that says count of

<v Speaker 3>missing girls up to twenty five, all between the ages

<v Speaker 3>of four and ten, and she notices that the article

<v Speaker 3>has a handwritten note that says check the article from

<v Speaker 3>July fifth, nineteen ninety eight, which is an article dated

<v Speaker 3>twenty years ago.

<v Speaker 1>The next day, she gets to work on her code

<v Speaker 1>stuff and researching more about what the tech said. She

<v Speaker 1>finds some stuff about forty five young girls going missing

<v Speaker 1>over a period of ten years and none of them

<v Speaker 1>were ever found. She tries asking Amara about it, but

<v Speaker 1>Amara is super tight lipped and won't say anything to her,

<v Speaker 1>even though Marana can tell she knows something. She decides

<v Speaker 1>she wants answers from Tristan and decides the best way

<v Speaker 1>to do that is to get dirt on him and

<v Speaker 1>then blackmail him.

<v Speaker 2>Which okay, just ask him.

<v Speaker 3>Yeah.

<v Speaker 1>So now she's in the car tailing him as he

<v Speaker 1>takes his SUV on a little errand she follows him

<v Speaker 1>down a dirt road to an old barn. She sneaks

<v Speaker 1>behind him when he heads inside and eavesdrops. And Tristan

<v Speaker 1>is asking about someone named Doug to four sketchy looking dudes,

<v Speaker 1>but one of them starts accusing Tristan of having something

<v Speaker 1>to do with the missing girls. A fight breaks out

<v Speaker 1>and Tristan takes down everyone before grilling the last guy

<v Speaker 1>on where Doug is. And he's told he hangs around

<v Speaker 1>the Saturn back room every Saturday, that's all he knows,

<v Speaker 1>and today is Saturday, so Marana knows exactly where she's

<v Speaker 1>following him to. Next, she stops to change really quick

<v Speaker 1>and heads to the well known mobster casino. And it's

<v Speaker 1>like a neutral ground so both sides can go there

<v Speaker 1>and nothing bad really happens. Ok, she's caught by a

<v Speaker 1>guard trying to sneak into the back room, so he

<v Speaker 1>holds a gun to her and drags her by her

<v Speaker 1>arm to the very room Tristan is sitting in along

<v Speaker 1>with six older men. His face gives nothing away, and

<v Speaker 1>the bouncer asks the men if anybody knows her because

<v Speaker 1>she was skulking around the door outside. She gives a

<v Speaker 1>fake name, Stacy Summers, and nobody claims her. But she's

<v Speaker 1>told in this room, they don't play for money, they

<v Speaker 1>play for information, and you either leave a winner or

<v Speaker 1>you leave dead. So the choice is up to her,

<v Speaker 1>and she says she'll play.

<v Speaker 3>Wow, She's like, okay, cool, I'm in.

<v Speaker 6>She's just like entering a high stakes poker game for

<v Speaker 6>fucking maybe information.

<v Speaker 1>Yeah, yeah, yeah.

<v Speaker 4>The rules are simple, Miss Summers, the man informed her.

<v Speaker 4>You pick up the gun, ask a question, the man

<v Speaker 4>does not answer. You pull the trigger, empty shot. You

<v Speaker 4>ask another question, man don't answer. Shoot again, but he

<v Speaker 4>can ask back, and you don't answer.

<v Speaker 2>You eat the bullet. What I'd be like, never mind,

<v Speaker 2>I don't want to play.

<v Speaker 1>The game starts, and soon after one man is already dead.

<v Speaker 1>Then it's Marana's turn. She holds the gun to Tristan

<v Speaker 1>and asks him to tell her about the Alliance, and

<v Speaker 1>he tells her it's been dead for twenty two years,

<v Speaker 1>which is like a non answer because she already knew that.

<v Speaker 1>He grabs the gun and holds it to her, asking

<v Speaker 1>what she's doing here, and she says she's here for information.

<v Speaker 1>Now it's her turn. She asks why it ended, and

<v Speaker 1>he tells her mutual interests weren't so mutual anymore, and

<v Speaker 1>now it's his turn, and he says.

<v Speaker 2>How do you like to be fucked?

<v Speaker 1>Miss Summers?

<v Speaker 4>She let her body remember the time his fingers had

<v Speaker 4>been inside her, his breath hot on her neck, his

<v Speaker 4>cock pressing into her back. She gave him a heated

<v Speaker 4>look from under her lashes and murmured in a low, sexy,

<v Speaker 4>just fucked bedroom voice, like I'm gonna feel it every

<v Speaker 4>time I walk. Something flared sharply in his eyes for

<v Speaker 4>a second before it was gone. She'd had missed it

<v Speaker 4>if she had blinked. One of the older men with

<v Speaker 4>a wicked mustache whistled loudly before speaking, come home with

<v Speaker 4>me tonight, baby. You'll feel it For the next month.

<v Speaker 4>Everyone chuckled, fucking bastard. She was fucking another asshole at

<v Speaker 4>the moment, so her schedule was full.

<v Speaker 1>Here, I'm busy.

<v Speaker 2>I get that, Tristan.

<v Speaker 1>She asks what happened to break the alliance, and he

<v Speaker 1>says two parties disagreed on matters but didn't want a war.

<v Speaker 1>He asks what she knows about his history and the alliance.

<v Speaker 1>She knows his sister was one of the missing girls.

<v Speaker 1>But she doesn't want to divulge that secret in front

<v Speaker 1>of these shitty men, so she stays silent because remember

<v Speaker 1>his sister's dead, and she put all the pieces together

<v Speaker 1>and was like, your sister got taken by this kid kidnapper.

<v Speaker 3>Yeah, but also she's staying silent.

<v Speaker 2>Does that mean he has to shoot her?

<v Speaker 3>Yeah, but she would rather hold his little secret than

<v Speaker 3>let those shitty people no.

<v Speaker 2>Mmmm.

<v Speaker 1>He pulls the trigger but purposefully misses, just grazing the

<v Speaker 1>outside of her arm. Something about this makes her realize

<v Speaker 1>that she'd been willing to keep his secret, just as

<v Speaker 1>he'd been willing to spare her life, and now she

<v Speaker 1>knows things will be different between the two of them

<v Speaker 1>from now on.

<v Speaker 3>What loyalty?

<v Speaker 1>He tells her to leave, and she books it out

<v Speaker 1>of the room and speeds back to the penthouse. He's

<v Speaker 1>there shortly after, and his eyes are blazing as he

<v Speaker 1>stares at her standing in his living room. He pins

<v Speaker 1>her against the counter with both of his arms at

<v Speaker 1>either of her sides and tells her he doesn't know

<v Speaker 1>whether he wants to snap her neck or fuck the

<v Speaker 1>life out of her, and she asks if he wants

<v Speaker 1>to touch her. He tells her not to ever try

<v Speaker 1>to control him again, and she smirks and grinds her

<v Speaker 1>front into him, and she's a hell is op.

<v Speaker 2>She wants to fuck him.

<v Speaker 1>He releases her and walks across the room, even though

<v Speaker 1>she can clearly see he's got a big old boner

<v Speaker 1>in his pants.

<v Speaker 2>Get back over here.

<v Speaker 1>She figures she lost this game and goes to the

<v Speaker 1>guest room to hop in the shower, but as she's

<v Speaker 1>rinsing off, she can feel eyes on her, his eyes.

<v Speaker 1>The next thing she knows, he's in the shower stall

<v Speaker 1>with her. She strips his shirt off of him, and

<v Speaker 1>he pins her against the wall and whispers into her ear.

<v Speaker 4>I'm a territorial man, and this has been mine since

<v Speaker 4>the moment you locked that bathroom door. That was one time,

<v Speaker 4>she informed him, even as she knew there was no

<v Speaker 4>stopping them. Now, then let's make it a second, shall we?

<v Speaker 3>Yeah? Why not?

<v Speaker 1>She hears his pants on zip and I just put

<v Speaker 1>in parentheses. Yeah, he's in the shower with pants onh.

<v Speaker 2>Oh a jean's gross ew wet jeans.

<v Speaker 1>He didn't even undress. She already took his shirt off

<v Speaker 1>in the shower, so he just fully closed. Was like, hey,

<v Speaker 1>he's been so weird.

<v Speaker 2>I'd be like, what the fuck are you doing?

<v Speaker 3>Take your clothes off.

<v Speaker 1>He slides a condom on, and then he slides into

<v Speaker 1>her and begins to fuck her and tells her next

<v Speaker 1>time she tries some shit like that, he's gonna shoot

<v Speaker 1>her in the heart, because he decides when she dies,

<v Speaker 1>and she calls him crazy and he says, no, I'm

<v Speaker 1>fucking crazy.

<v Speaker 3>Okay, what do you mean? That's what she just said.

<v Speaker 2>Yeah, you're crazy.

<v Speaker 5>Add another level to it.

<v Speaker 1>Yeah, Yeah, I'm fucking crazy. She comes, and then he

<v Speaker 1>goes still while still inside of her, She asks why,

<v Speaker 1>as in, why he didn't kill her, why are they

<v Speaker 1>doing this, Why is all of this happening?

<v Speaker 5>Etc.

<v Speaker 1>But he doesn't answer and just punches the wall above

<v Speaker 1>her head, and he just keeps on punching the wall

<v Speaker 1>as he screams and curses at nothing above her head

<v Speaker 1>while she's naked in the shower.

<v Speaker 5>And he's still inside of her.

<v Speaker 3>Yeah, I think so, But either way, she's just and

<v Speaker 3>she's just standing there and she's just like, Okay, we'll

<v Speaker 3>get it out. I guess the fuck.

<v Speaker 2>Kyle had too much monster?

<v Speaker 3>Yeah, yeah.

<v Speaker 1>So then he leaves, she calms down and goes to bed,

<v Speaker 1>and as she's lying down, she gets another text from

<v Speaker 1>the weird number with a link with the name Luna

<v Speaker 1>Evelyn Kane. She clicks the link and it takes her

<v Speaker 1>to a photo of a toddler version of her Marana

<v Speaker 1>sitting with two other small girls as tears run down

<v Speaker 1>her little cheeks. So now she knows that she was

<v Speaker 1>one of the missing girls.

<v Speaker 5>Well, thank goodness she's not his sister.

<v Speaker 6>I know.

<v Speaker 1>She's sitting in the living room crying about what she's

<v Speaker 1>just discovered when Tristan walks in, asking if he'd hurt

<v Speaker 1>her by like punching above the wall.

<v Speaker 6>Thanks for asking twenty minutes later, Yeah yeah.

<v Speaker 1>She says no, but that she knows about his sister,

<v Speaker 1>that she was taken and never came back, and also

<v Speaker 1>that she was taken too. Marana asks if that's why

<v Speaker 1>he hates her, because she came back and his sister didn't.

<v Speaker 1>He says no, but he doesn't have to tell her

<v Speaker 1>why he hates her, because only he needs to know

<v Speaker 1>the reasons why he does what he does. And then

<v Speaker 1>he goes back to bed.

<v Speaker 2>I'd be like, no, tell me.

<v Speaker 1>Yeah, He's like, none of your business. It's none of

<v Speaker 1>your business.

<v Speaker 3>Way he choose it would drive me crazy. Yeah.

<v Speaker 1>The next day, Tristan tells her the funny business is over.

<v Speaker 1>The guards are not letting her out of the penthouse

<v Speaker 1>after her little stunt yesterday. She pushes past him and

<v Speaker 1>gets into the elevator anyway, driving her car to a

<v Speaker 1>cemetery where she can lay in the grass. As she

<v Speaker 1>sits with her thoughts, her phone rings. It's her dad,

<v Speaker 1>and when she answers it, he tells her he had

<v Speaker 1>such plans for her, but she decided to horror around

<v Speaker 1>with the enemy instead. He knows she's out of the

<v Speaker 1>house alone and she's been branded a trader.

<v Speaker 2>Oh shit.

<v Speaker 1>She tells him that she knows she was kidnapped as

<v Speaker 1>a child, and he's like, yeah, and you should have died.

<v Speaker 1>Oh yeah, daddy, Fuck her dad. He hangs up on her,

<v Speaker 1>and she knows she fucked up coming out here alone.

<v Speaker 1>She runs back to her car, but sees a little

<v Speaker 1>black box under the wheel well with a blinking red light.

<v Speaker 1>She books it and then her car explodes behind her.

<v Speaker 5>Jesus Christ, very.

<v Speaker 2>Mob, she's gonna blow her ass up.

<v Speaker 1>Yeah, she spots two of her father's men nearby in

<v Speaker 1>an suv and shoots the gas tank, exploding them. Hell yah.

<v Speaker 1>She calls Amara to come pick her up, and then

<v Speaker 1>Tristan texts her saying that she really signed his death

<v Speaker 1>warrant with her father, and she's like, yeah, he's real mad.

<v Speaker 2>Also, I blew up.

<v Speaker 1>A car and killed two men, and I don't think

<v Speaker 1>she's killed anybody at this point.

<v Speaker 5>I don't think so either, damn.

<v Speaker 1>So she's like, dang, that's crazy. I just killed two people.

<v Speaker 5>Yeah, I wonder how that would feel.

<v Speaker 1>Probably not great.

<v Speaker 5>But also they try to kill her, so it was warranted.

<v Speaker 3>It's a Donnie Dog world.

<v Speaker 1>Amara shows up and Marana tells her what just happened

<v Speaker 1>and how she knows about the missing girls and how

<v Speaker 1>she was one of them, and she thanks Amara for

<v Speaker 1>showing up for her. Amara says that she likes Marana

<v Speaker 1>and wants nothing more than to form a friendship with her,

<v Speaker 1>but her being with Tristan is dangerous because he will

<v Speaker 1>inevitably hurt her due to the hatred he harbors in

<v Speaker 1>his heart, but it's not her story to tell. Then

<v Speaker 1>she says she's willing to tell Marana if it'll help

<v Speaker 1>her understand Tristan and save him from himself. So she's like,

<v Speaker 1>I can't tell.

<v Speaker 2>You, but good.

<v Speaker 1>So when Tristan was eight years old and his baby

<v Speaker 1>sister had just gone missing, he'd overheard the grown ups

<v Speaker 1>talking about a little girl who'd just been found. He

<v Speaker 1>was eavesdropping in on ten scary mobster dudes, including Marana's father,

<v Speaker 1>along with her mother and a newly found baby Marana.

<v Speaker 1>He could tell immediately that Marana's father was a bad man.

<v Speaker 1>They started talking about how she was found. She was

<v Speaker 1>just dropped back off at the gates four days after

<v Speaker 1>she was taken, so they didn't even find her, she

<v Speaker 1>was just given back.

<v Speaker 2>Bad baby, baby, This baby's sucks.

<v Speaker 1>Marana's mother is sent out of the room and Tristan's

<v Speaker 1>father starts to grow Marana's father about why she was returned,

<v Speaker 1>accusing him of knowing exactly who's behind all of these disappearances.

<v Speaker 1>So he's like, you know who did this, That's why

<v Speaker 1>they brought your daughter back while my daughter is still missing.

<v Speaker 2>What the fuck?

<v Speaker 1>Yeah, it gets heated between the two fathers, with Tristan's

<v Speaker 1>dad demanding to know where Luna is. Guns are drawn

<v Speaker 1>and Tristan's dad points the gun right at Marana's head, saying,

<v Speaker 1>if he doesn't spill the beans, his baby dies. Damn

<v Speaker 1>is just like sitting in the middle of this table, just.

<v Speaker 2>Like chillin' being a little baby, just a bit a baby.

<v Speaker 1>Tristan saw a gun lying next to him, and he

<v Speaker 1>snags it, just as Marana's father is like, I can't

<v Speaker 1>tell you anything. Do what you need to do.

<v Speaker 3>Oh not you gonna say this baby.

<v Speaker 1>He's like, shoot the fucking baby.

<v Speaker 5>I feel like it's not his baby. That's why he

<v Speaker 5>doesn't give a fuck.

<v Speaker 1>No, I think it's his baby.

<v Speaker 3>He's just a cold hearted, fucking monster.

<v Speaker 1>Yeah, he's like, shoot the fucking baby. I'll make another one.

<v Speaker 1>I don't care.

<v Speaker 2>Jesus, he watched us.

<v Speaker 1>His dad unlocked the gun and started to pull the trigger,

<v Speaker 1>and he panicked because he knew this was beyond wrong.

<v Speaker 1>So he sees his dad about to shoot a baby.

<v Speaker 1>He has a gun in his hand, so he points

<v Speaker 1>his own gun at his dad, pulls the trigger, and

<v Speaker 1>shoots his own father dead.

<v Speaker 3>Holy fuck.

<v Speaker 2>Yeah, that'll ruin a life right there.

<v Speaker 1>He runs up to Marana and comforts her as she

<v Speaker 1>was crying from terror, and then he noticed his father's

<v Speaker 1>lifeless body. His mother walked back in and took in

<v Speaker 1>the scene, telling Tristan he's a monster and is absolutely

<v Speaker 1>dead to her. So his mom is like going through

<v Speaker 1>it because her daughter just went missing. Yeah, her son

<v Speaker 1>just shot her husband. So she's like, fuck you kid,

<v Speaker 1>that's insane. He just lost his entire family. He looks

<v Speaker 1>down at the baby he was holding and feels nothing

<v Speaker 1>but hatred. He lost his baby, sister, his father, and

<v Speaker 1>his mother all because of her, and one day she

<v Speaker 1>would pay. That's why he hates her.

<v Speaker 4>Oh okay, I hate you, baby.

<v Speaker 2>It's all your fat little baby.

<v Speaker 1>Also, all the mob guys think Tristan is the hardest

<v Speaker 1>dude ever for shooting his own dad, so it's totally

<v Speaker 1>cool with them. They're like, oh fuck yeh.

<v Speaker 2>They're like, hey, you want to join, you want to join.

<v Speaker 1>He was later taken in by Dante's father and trained

<v Speaker 1>to be the killer he is today. As Marana and

<v Speaker 1>Amara sit and talk about how she's going to process

<v Speaker 1>all of this, two more of her father's men show up,

<v Speaker 1>but they're followed by Tristan, who quickly takes out their kneecaps,

<v Speaker 1>demanding to know where Marana is. They say they don't know,

<v Speaker 1>so he tells them to scram while they still can.

<v Speaker 1>When they're gone, Marana stands up and walks to him,

<v Speaker 1>so he knows she's still a and tells him she

<v Speaker 1>knows everything now. She thanks him for saving her, and

<v Speaker 1>she's so so sorry for everything, even though she was

<v Speaker 1>just an innocent baby.

<v Speaker 5>I'm sorry I ruined your life when I was a baby.

<v Speaker 3>Yeah.

<v Speaker 1>Well, she's like, I'm sorry. Also, I know it's not

<v Speaker 1>my fault, but like, I'm sorry that happened to you.

<v Speaker 5>Yeah, I'm sorry.

<v Speaker 4>A bunch of full grown adults around me made choices

<v Speaker 4>and I was a baby and I was around that

<v Speaker 4>as well.

<v Speaker 5>My apologies.

<v Speaker 1>She's sorry for what it did to his life, and

<v Speaker 1>if he wants to, now is his chance to kill her.

<v Speaker 1>But after today, she will never allow him the opportunity

<v Speaker 1>to take her life. So take it or leave it.

<v Speaker 1>He points his gun at her and she accepts that

<v Speaker 1>this is the end, but then his lips come crashing

<v Speaker 1>down on her. It's raining, it's passionate, it's romantic, and

<v Speaker 1>also he's rubbing the gun on her face.

<v Speaker 3>Yeah, a little reminder that was like one of the

<v Speaker 3>things they like. They couldn't kiss because it was too intimate,

<v Speaker 3>So he's like, end up, Yeah, yeah.

<v Speaker 5>With my gun, but also bitch.

<v Speaker 1>Finally he steps back and puts his gun arm down,

<v Speaker 1>and she knows she's gonna live. He walks away and

<v Speaker 1>she follows him into the dark end. Good grief wear

<v Speaker 1>are the codes? I don't know?

<v Speaker 2>Yeah, what an ending good thing?

<v Speaker 3>We have to fail safe good thing. Did she ever

<v Speaker 3>finish it? No one knows.

<v Speaker 1>Did she ever implement them? No one knows. So, Riley,

<v Speaker 1>how many Red Pepper mudgies do you give this one?

<v Speaker 2>I'll give it three?

<v Speaker 3>Okay, it's okay, it was fine.

<v Speaker 5>Yeah, it was cheesy.

<v Speaker 2>Yeah, I don't think I would read it.

<v Speaker 1>Do you think that Tristan Kane is sexy?

<v Speaker 2>Yeah, a little?

<v Speaker 5>I guess.

<v Speaker 4>Yeah.

<v Speaker 1>He's literally got beef with a baby.

<v Speaker 4>But he was a child, you know, I guess it's hard.

<v Speaker 1>Would you trade places with Marana? No?

<v Speaker 2>That sounds terrible.

<v Speaker 1>So next week we're telling Riley all about Little Stranger

<v Speaker 1>by Lee Rivers, and we're gonna have her look at

<v Speaker 1>the cover and give us her best guess on what

<v Speaker 1>it might be about. And I will give you a

<v Speaker 1>hint and say, this is potentially the most taboo book

<v Speaker 1>we've ever covered.

<v Speaker 5>More taboo than create Its Yeah, I think so.

<v Speaker 6>Yeah, No, no, because this kind of has the same

<v Speaker 6>premise as what was the one, Oh, it's gonna bug

<v Speaker 6>me step brother dearest or whatever that one, And there

<v Speaker 6>was one more that was like brother vibes.

<v Speaker 4>Okay, you're saying taboo. Now you're saying brother vibes. You know.

<v Speaker 1>I don't want to give it away, but there is

<v Speaker 1>a scene that I think takes this to the next level.

<v Speaker 5>I think I know what you're talking about.

<v Speaker 2>So it says a little stranger.

<v Speaker 4>It's got a spider on the cover, and like webs

<v Speaker 4>And now that you guys are saying taboo, you're mentioning brother.

<v Speaker 4>I think it's gonna be maybe a little family romance.

<v Speaker 4>I don't know in which way, because this does look dark.

<v Speaker 4>Does look like a dark book.

<v Speaker 1>Hmmm.

<v Speaker 5>I think it's gonna.

<v Speaker 4>Be either a battered and bruised sister or brother, but

<v Speaker 4>they're not blood related in any way.

<v Speaker 2>Maybe one of them was brought.

<v Speaker 4>In as like a family friend they lost their parents

<v Speaker 4>or in another sad way like that, okay, and then

<v Speaker 4>they develop feelings for each other overtime over time, but

<v Speaker 4>it's like not good, it's toxic. But then they just

<v Speaker 4>like do the damn thing even though it's weird, but

<v Speaker 4>they do it weird to Hill. Yeah, and then they

<v Speaker 4>also have to kill people.

<v Speaker 2>I don't know why, but they do.

<v Speaker 4>I'm saying that because this book looks dark.

<v Speaker 1>How do I do not bad?

<v Speaker 5>Little sprinkles come, Well, we'll.

<v Speaker 1>Find out next.

<v Speaker 2>Week, Yes we will, all right.

<v Speaker 1>Well, if you liked this episode, make sure you rate, review,

<v Speaker 1>and subscribe.

<v Speaker 3>Follow us on Instagram at smut up and listen podcasts,

<v Speaker 3>and on TikTok at smut up and listen.

<v Speaker 4>Tell your friends, but not your mom, and we'll see

<v Speaker 4>you later. You warn you, little raps by