Street Rat

STREET RAT FAIRYTALES WITH A TWIST JAYE PRATT & MELINDA TERRANOVA Copyright © 2023 by Jaye Pratt & Melinda Terranova All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, without written permission from the publisher. It is illegal to copy this book, post it on a website, or distribute it by any other means without permission. This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters, and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities, is entirely coincidental. Jaye & Melinda asserts the moral right to be identified as the authors of this work. Designations used by companies to distinguish their products are often claimed as trademarks. All brand names and product names used in this book and on its cover are trade names, service marks, trademarks and registered trademarks of their respective owners. The publishers and the book are not associated with any product or vendor mentioned in this book. None of the companies referenced within the book have endorsed the book. First Edition. Cover art by Emcat Designs Formatting by Formatting and Design by Jaye. Editing by Jenni Gauntt To all the Disney fans, we hope you love our version of Aladdin. This book does come with a content warning. While it’s not overly dark, it does fall into dark romance and contains violent themes. Blurb Street Rat, that's what they call me. My reputation precedes me. There isn't anything I can't steal, acquire or covet. I own the streets of Kingston Village, and everyone knows who I am. Except for the mystery girl Boo and I spend one lustrous night with. I need to find her, but she isn't from around here. She may have been trying to fit in, but she didn't fool me. When some rich prick tries to tempt me to find the underground club, The Lamp, I dismiss him until his phone rings, and her face flashes on the screen. He wants to throw cash at me to find something for him, except he forgets one thing Never trust a thief. Finding The Lamp, lands me in a world I never wanted to be part of. I become the prized fighter for the mafia Don. The upside, his daughter is the girl we spent the night with. Genie gives us an opportunity to be part of her world. Problem is she is engaged, and my best friend also has his eyes on her, and her bodyguard throws himself into the mix. Lucky for me, sharing has never been an issue. Street Rat is a why choose mafia standalone romance. CONTENTS Chapter One Chapter Two Chapter Three Chapter Four Chapter Five Chapter Six Chapter Seven Chapter Eight Chapter Nine Chapter Ten Chapter Eleven Chapter Twelve Chapter Thirteen Chapter Fourteen Chapter Fifteen Chapter Sixteen Chapter Seventeen Chapter Eighteen Chapter Nineteen Chapter Twenty Chapter Twenty-One Chapter Twenty-Two Chapter Twenty-Three Chapter Twenty-Four Chapter Twenty-Five Jaye Stalker Links Melinda Stalker Links Other Books by Jaye Other Books by Melinda Jaye Acknowledgements About the Authors The downtown streets of Kingston Village; it’s where the bottom of the barrel, the discarded, the people everyone have given up on live. Drug dealers, prostitutes, thieves, we're all there. Street Rat, that's what they call me in these parts. I'm the best damn thief you will come across on this side of town, and everyone knows of me. If you need something, I can acquire it for you. Petty thief is the term the cops like to throw around. I prefer entrepreneur. Tomato, tomatoe if you ask me. The main street is bustling with people this morning, every Saturday and Sunday, markets line the curbs, those from neighboring towns come to buy things for cheap, turning a blind eye to how the vendors acquired the goods. Middle class working families, I don't mind them per say, even if they do think they're better than us. No, it's the rich, they're the ones I hate. My best friend, Boo, elbows me, and I notice the lady stepping out of the old run-down apartment complex in her designer suit and expensive handbag. She has little Jonas flanking her side with a sullen look on his face; this is the third time this year the poor kid has been taken into care. He glances up and notices us looking, and he smirks, wiggling his brows. He knows exactly who I am and the thought that crossed my mind. I didn’t have plans for this today. Boo and I have our annual Halloween party to set up for, we had to come downtown to get our faces painted by Lady Trey, a drag queen that trades in goods and services. After the markets are packed up tonight, the streets will transform into the scene of someone's nightmare. Boo is going as a zombie, and me, my face looks like it’s been ripped in half, Lady Trey is amazing at special effects make up. Crossing the street, Boo beelines straight for the woman, and I come up behind her as she laughs at Boo—it's hard not to, he has a way with people. He could talk her out of her panties within minutes. She hands him a business card, leaving herself wide open. She should have known better, bringing a purse worth five grand around here. Today she should have left it at home. Flashing your money here gets you robbed, or worse if it's after dark. She doesn't see me coming, and I snatch the thing right from her shoulder, but it’s no matter, her shrill scream will fall on deaf ears. No one around here gives a shit, what goes around comes around. If you didn't see anything, neither did I. "Hey, you!" a man shouts. Shit, market day might not have been the best day to take the damn purse, but