Motown Takedown (Motown Down Book 3)

Copyright © 2015 K.S. ADKINS

Published by K.S. Adkins

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form, including electronic or mechanical, without written permission from the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This book may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you are reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should return it to the seller and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the author’s work.

Published: K.S. Adkins 2015 

Other works by K.S. Adkins:

The Detroit After Dark Series

Brutal

Brawler

Berserk

Ballistic

8 Mile & Rion

Convincing Bet

When Time Stood Still

Motown Throwdown (Motown Down #1)

Motown Showdown (Motown Down #2)

MOTOWN TAKEDOWN

I was named Cinnamon on purpose.

If you want to guarantee your kids hate you when they grow up, name them after a spice. Unlucky for me, my mother, the nurturer she wasn’t, took off when I was ten leaving me to my father. At thirteen, I was a budding poet who just started letting boys steal my attention and still believed in fairy tales. My favorite escape was inside of a book. When my hands held one, anything was possible. The world was mine for the taking. Then one morning I woke up with tits and my neglectful father decided to destroy my fairy tale.

That happened once.

Two days later when the bleeding stopped and I could walk again, I left home preferring the streets to being raped by the bastard that told me my body was his right. Bouncing from shelter to shelter for food and sleep, I spent my days in the library, learning. Everything from etiquette to seduction, home remodeling, classic love stories and my favorite…crime novels. If it had a cover, I read it, memorized it.

This lasted about four months.

Walking back to the shelter with my nose in a book, I was suddenly surrounded by men and knew I was about to be violated, yet again. In my heart I was a warrior princess, in real life I was a defenseless girl with no weapons except  my imagination and my lungs which, I used to scream my head off. Never in a million years did I think it would work, but it did. Novel forgotten, one minute my clothes were being torn from my body and the next, he was there.

His name was Savage and he would change my life that night.

He would introduce to me a world that no crime story in print could ever compare to. I didn’t care that the four men bent on hurting me were slaughtered at my feet, I was too focused on Savage and the man actually doing the killing to notice. He was the man in my books. He was a hero, a fighter, a legend. His name wasn’t Savage. I wasn’t told what it was yet. All I knew was he enjoyed killing those men for me.  I was too young to comprehend most of what was happening but not him, not why he did it. I may be a kid but I knew one thing, the man who killed for me would be mine one day and I would be his. He would kill for me if I asked, I would do the same and together we would rule the world.

Taking my small trembling hand in his, the man Savage asked me, “Where is home?”

“I don’t have one,
”
I tell him jutting my chin out, still watching the other guy, my guy. “I don’t need one either.”

Surprised by my strength he then asks me, “Are you homeless, Bean?”

“Bean?”

“Like a little sprout,
”
he smiles and I notice he’s missing a tooth on the bottom. Looking closer I realize, it’s not missing it’s…silver. How cool.  “You’re small now but when you grow you’ll be—”

“I’ll be what?
”
I ask, dying to know the answer. Even with dead men at my feet his answer meant everything to me. I had no parents, I was no longer in school, I lost my only friend Pepper too. I had assumed I’d be living on the streets the rest of my life, so if he knew what my future held, he had to tell me so I could read about it, prepare for it.

“My Achilles heel,
”
he says stroking my cheek, which felt nice since I was smacked in that same spot minutes earlier. Making a mental note to find out what that meant, I watch him open the door to his limo and started to panic at the thought of him leaving me. “Would you like to come home with me?
”
he asks bending down to pick up my book. Handing it to me I snatch it and hold it close. Go home with him? Could I trust him? So far every man in my life has either tried to fuck me, has fucked me or beat my ass. Sensing my reluctance, he leans down and whispers in my ear, “I would take care of you, teach you, protect you. I would also kill anyone who tries to harm you, Bean. I’ll build you a library filled with the classics, feed you the finest foods and I promise you, you’ll never want to leave.”

“Will he be there?
”
I ask pointing to the killer with long hair who wasn’t watching me. No, he was learning me.

“Monarch?
”
he asks frowning. “Yes Bean, he’ll be there.”

“Okay.”

He had me at library but sealed the deal with Monarch. He did omit one thing though, in time I would want to leave, only he wouldn’t let me. He would also make certain that when I needed Monarch most that I didn’t have him.  Because of this, I’d spend my adult years planning his death and my future.

Shaking my head of memories best left alone, I crossed my long toned perfect legs and watch him lick his lips in lust. He is one of Savage’s men, one of many. Loyal to him, to the chaos and to the den. The den being where Savage pretends to handle his business, a safe haven for us criminals but never safe for me. I think his name is Twat or Snatch, something ridiculous like that. Then his whole face starts blinking and I realized this was Twitch, which to me was the same thing. He wants to fuck me, own me, they all did. Some more obvious than others but it would never happen. To touch me meant death, theirs. And I enjoyed each one.

Savage believed down to his marrow that I belonged to him, that he belonged to me. Unfortunately, the lunatic believed a lot of things. However, I used this to my advantage to keep loyalty in my favor. I used his men’s lust against them and the more he cut down, the stronger I became. To win this game, I needed my men to outweigh his and I was close. So fucking close I could taste it.

I’ve been at his side since I was thirteen, but the thrill of it died out years ago and the plotting began shortly thereafter. Savage trusted me above all others for good reason. First, I was very smart. Second, I never lied to him (much). Third, he finished raising me and believed he was my entire world. He was my father first, then a mentor, he turned into a friend which morphed into a lover
I didn’t want
. I had a father who fucked me once. Let me just say finding out the man who saved you and finished raising you, planned to fuck you when you became of age, wasn’t my idea of family bonding.

He loved all things me, I loathed all things him.

Not that I could blame him, I was fucking stunning, irresistible even.
But he was obsessed, territorial, abusive and suffocating. I was his most prized possession, kept under lock and key fully for the last year. He may be crazy but he sensed the shift in power. After the stunt he pulled locking me inside, I decided not to hide my hatred, instead I flaunted it.

I explained to him years ago that he’d grown too large, too fast. He wasn’t controlling his men and our den was gaining too much exposure. Not one to handle criticism well, I repeated myself hoping he’d get the point. He didn’t because he was bat shit crazy.

Since it was clear he would never release me unless he feared he could no longer protect me, I had to take matters into my own perfect hands. Growing up I had one friend. Her name was Pepper. My life wasn’t the only one who’s went to shit at a young age. Hers did too, only two years sooner than me. Unlike me, she had parents who loved her, protected her. When her parents were killed, my girl didn’t let it beat her. Fuck no, she became a killer. She went into the business of killing and my girl was a legend in her own right.

A true assassin named Camo.

I had two hopes for escape. Calling my only friend, Camo to terminate a hit that Savage ordered on Monarch and praying he’d use that attempt to kill Savage there by rescuing me. I wasn’t big on putting my fate in another’s hands but since I’ve been imprisoned (I am not even joking), I had no choice. As Savage slips further and further into madness, his hold on me gets tighter. This is not the Titanic, he wasn’t Jack and I wasn’t Rose. This means I was not going down with the ship. Nor was I holding his hand in the water. It was my intent to let the motherfucker drown and to smile while he died screaming my name.

It’s been one month since she eliminated the threat and delivered my message. In that time, Monarch has made no play for me. It took me years to set this up and when he had his opening, he hadn’t taken it. I struggle with this because he vowed we’d be together again and I made that possible. I’ve hoped and waited for him for over five years. I was sick of waiting. What I remembered of him was that when it came to me, he was gentle. Then again, I was a romantic. A man made you a promise, I believed he’d deliver on it. Only he hasn’t. So if he didn’t come, I’d have to get creative but until I was left no other alternative, I held onto hope and a shiv.

When Savage walked in, took my hand and kissed it, I did what I always did, I ran shit. Handling Savage was second nature, automatic and exhausting. “Snatch is eye fucking me,
”
I tell him flipping my silky hair. “I don’t like it.”

“My name is Twitch,
”
he snaps like it matters. Which by the way, it doesn’t.

“Whatever,
”
I offer rolling my eyes. “Your existence offends me.”

Without another word Savage snaps his fingers which caused me to smile. Snatch, Twat, whatever his name was would no longer be my problem.  Whether he lived, died or was transferred to another location didn’t matter to me as long as I didn’t have to look at his face because, gross. Taking a seat next to me, I first noticed he was lucid, followed by how worn he was. Savage was forty-four to my twenty-two but these days he looked much older. He knew like I knew that his time was running out. That when it did, his ability to protect me would evaporate leaving me vulnerable, or so he thought. We’ve spoke of it often in private, how he worries for me, my safety. The fact was, without him, I’d never survive out there alone and did not plan to.

Because of my status I was a target, this was true. Savage always had a target on his back but his only weakness was his ‘love’ for me. Savage depended on me to live. Take me down, Savage
and
his empire crumbles. Take Savage down and my sweet ass was fair game. Although, I’d like it noted that while my ass was sweet, it’s also lethal and does what it wants. (When it isn’t locked up, that is). So I was done being leverage. I was done being an object used to gain power and win wars.

Year after year, Savage would show his cowardice by ordering the death of his closest competitor. The man that years ago was his most trusted second in command, a son of sorts. The man that I held out hope would come for me as he promised to do five years prior to leaving me in the hands of a madman. The man that became so calculated, patient and ruthless that Savage himself feared the man he’d become.

Monarch.

He was the man that cut down four men for touching me. He was the man who taught me how to shoot, manipulate and protect myself. He was by my side for five years and was my only sanity in an insane environment. He killed for me, covered for me, and wanted me but was the only man never to act on it. As Savage succumbed to power, lunacy and greed, he left us and became the competition. He left me. When Monarch broke from the den I thought Savage would have him cut down, but he didn’t. He said he loved Monarch too much to do it. Part of me was certain he didn’t do it for no other reason than to spare me pain. But as the business spiraled out of his control, which took me years to orchestrate, it was the first time, the only time, that I had ever heard Savage ask Monarch for a favor. I also couldn’t fathom why he did it but I knew it was an angle I’d exploit. Savage may hate the power Monarch had, but he loved me more. Which was why four years ago when I found out Monarch was in the den, I hid outside the door to catch a glimpse of him. It was the first and only time I’d ever heard Savage ask anyone for help.

If something happens to me, you must protect Cinn.

I chanced peeking inside the room and almost ran to him when he looked up
.
With his eyes boring into mine he gave one nod and that was the last time I saw him. I knew, fucking knew if I played my cards right he’d come for me. For that to happen, I had to destroy my keeper from the inside. Savage ran everything, including skin, which I did not agree with. Like I said, he had his greedy hands in too many pots and it was gearing up to bite him in the ass. I, of course, made sure of that.  But now we sit in the den, a small fire crackling in the corner and the man holding my hand was not the man that saved me.

He was the man who was going to give me to his sworn enemy and I would let him.