Velvet & Sins

VELVET & SINS A DARK MMF NOVELLA L.K. REID CONTENTS Dedication Foreword Playlist 1. Cillian 2. Evelyn 3. Evelyn 4. Evelyn 5. Cillian 6. Evelyn 7. Cillian 8. Evelyn 9. Cillian 10. Cillian 11. Evelyn 12. Cillian 13. Christian 14. Evelyn 15. Evelyn 16. Cillian 17. Evelyn 18. Evelyn 19. Cillian Epilogue Also By L.K. Reid Acknowledgments About the Author Copyright © 2023 by L.K. Reid All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other non-commercial uses permitted by copyright law. Any resemblance to places, events, or real people is entirely coincidental. In a quiet lagoon, devils dwell Russian proverb For all those that made their own families, that put their middle fingers up and ignored the whispers of society. FOREWORD Cillian Nightingale was one of those characters that was supposed to become a true villain, a character we could all hate, but somewhere along the way, he snuck his way inside my heart (and judging by the reactions of a lot of other people, he stole those hearts as well) and I couldn’t write him like that. If you have read the Sins of Ophelia Aster series, then you already know that he has issues he wasn’t really willing to talk about. And while he does mention some of those issues, including his addiction and the mental state, in this book, we are not exploring that part of his life. We are exploring what happened to him after. Now, I know that quite a lot of people were concerned that they would have to read SOOA first before reading this book, and I want to reassure you that you don’t have to do that if you don’t want to. Would it give you a better retrospective when it comes to his character? Absolutely. But will it change anything when it comes to this book? Not really. Since this is dark romance book, I want you to thread carefully. There are mentions of abuse, descriptions of child loss, substance abuse as well as mentions of rape. There’s also kidnapping, and if you haven’t noticed before, this is an MMF book, which means that swords are crossing. If any of these things could trigger or anger you, I advise you not to read Velvet & Sins. If you’re okay with all of this and you’re 18+, then please go ahead. I truly hope you will like this little book/novella/novel, I don’t even know what to call it anymore, and if you’re happy in the end, please consider leaving a review. It would mean a lot to me. Thank you for reading! Leila. PLAYLIST The full playlist can be found on Spotify. FLATLINE - Blind Channel Forever Yours - Resolve Obsession - Aviana Chasing Shadows - Imminence Terminal Velocity - Annisokay Relapse - Wage War Kill the Ache - Currents Slow Burn - Wage War How Did You Love (Piano Version) - Shinedown Bad for Me - FNKHOUSER To Tell You the Truth - Written By Wolves Animals - Architects If Tomorrow Never Comes - Bad Wolves Paranoid (Crash & Burn) - Pop Evil 1 CILLIAN The smell of cigarettes wafted through the air as the sliding door opened behind me, letting it enter with a gust of wind into the main lobby of the hotel I now owned, mixing with the sweet scent of lemon grass and something I couldn’t quite put my finger on. Guests walked from the front desk toward the three elevators set on the opposite side of the wide golden colored desk, where the agents assisted three men in suits, most probably checking them in. But my interest wasn’t piqued by the woman and two men chatting with guests, smiling and animatedly talking. No, as if they had a mind of their own, my eyes plastered onto the tall blond woman standing on the right side of the reception, carefully listening to the conversations happening around her, dressed in a sleek black suit that did nothing to hide her curves. Her blond hair was pulled in a high ponytail, feline eyes narrowed at something one of the staff members said, and I wished I could cross this lobby and go straight to her. Her bare neck strained as her mouth pinched, and I wondered if she would have the same look on her face if I told her who I was and why I'd come here. Two years and six suffocating months since my brother decided to hand over the Outfit to me. Two fucking years since I made the decision to get out of Croyford Bay, forsaking Santa Monica as well, and moved here, to Velvet City—close enough, but also far far away from my family, from Ophelia and Storm, from everything I couldn’t fucking have because I was a coward, hiding behind the vices that helped me sleep at night. Running was easy. Running kept me sane, kept me sober long enough to move the entire operation here. But I couldn’t run away from Tristan, from everything he'd done and everything I'd failed to do. He was my responsibility, my burden to carry, my target, and I couldn’t put this off any longer. I couldn’t look in the mirror and see the same despair, the same agony that appeared the moment Tristan went rogue. Ophelia warned me that I shouldn’t be the one doing this, that revenge only led to despair, to more agony, to the crippling sense of failure, but I didn't listen to her. I didn’t listen to anyone when I packed my bags and disappeared from their lives, getting as far away as possible. Even my own twin couldn’t understand why I had to be the one to do this, to find justice for what Tristan did, but he