Novels by Fair_Child

CHARISSA"What would you like for dinner?" Nyssa asked, sweeping into the kitchen where I sat with a glass of warm milk, turning Greg's abandoned engagement ring over in my fingers. We'd bought matching ones when he'd flown out to Paris for a fundraiser I was working. I couldn't understand how Nyssa could be this calm about all of it. I wasn't. Gregor was my anchor. I'd been the odd one out among the agency's perfect mannequins, and if he hadn't found me, I'd still be invisible. I couldn't let this happen. Not now, not when I was this close to running the modeling world."Something light," I said. "But aren't you worried, Nyssa? Greg's assistant filled me in. He's gotten an apartment downtown and gone to pick that woman up. We can't just sit here and watch her ruin him."Nyssa set a pan down harder than she needed to and sighed, clearly hoping to avoid this conversation. It worried her too, I could tell, even if she was playing indifferent. I couldn't manage the same. I needed Greg ba

JUSTINAThe ride to his place was awkward, if that word could even begin to cover it. The feelings running through me ranged from fear (that Gregor would piece everything together) to disgust (at myself, and at the man driving us). I wanted nothing more than for this to end. I just didn't know how. I hated needing him. I hated not being able to find a single solution that didn't involve Gregor Vallis. I pressed my fingers against the necklace at my throat, one of the few things I still had of my sister, Charis. She would've known what to do if she were still here. She always did. If anyone had hated Gregor Vallis more than I did, it was her."So," Gregor finally said, eyes on the road ahead. "Is this how it's going to be between us?"My cheeks burned when I met his eyes, just a glance, since he had to keep his attention on the road unless he wanted to get us all killed, but I couldn't believe I'd humored him at all. Now I had to answer, or spend the rest of our acquaintance branded a

GREGOR"You aren't serious," Charissa scoffed. "You're really shoving me out of your life for some woman you slept with years ago?"My ears rang at that. She thought she had the moral high ground. Every second I stood there listening to her spew this fed something furious in me. I'd blamed Charissa for being rash, but God knew what I'd do if I actually lost my temper. I pushed past her and returned to the living room to find my mother already braced for me, scowling. Charissa had succeeded in pulling her over to her side. Ignoring the daggers my mother shot my way, I gave her the rest of it."Justina will be coming here, with Adonis."My mother broke into another fit of laughter, like she couldn't believe what she'd just heard. "Let me guess, Justina's the one you knocked up?"The word she used next made my fist clench. I'd expected her to be angry, but hearing her call the mother of my child something so filthy made me sick. I swallowed the irritation and blamed it on Charissa's infl

JUSTINAI hoped he understood where I was coming from. Probably not. But some part of me still believed we could reach an agreement, that I could trust a man I knew I shouldn't with my son's life, and avoid a legal fight that would end with Adonis being pulled away from me. The silence on the line made it feel like I was already losing. My mind wouldn't stop spinning out worst-case scenarios. Had he figured something out? I'd caved so easily the moment he mentioned a compromise instead of a custody fight. He was a businessman. He made calculated bets, and they rarely failed him."Mr. Vallis?" I said, flagging down a taxi outside the hospital. "Are you still there?""Of course," he said, breaking through the static that had almost started to feel familiar. "I understand your perspective. Adonis's already going through so much. It'd be cruel to uproot him now, especially mid-treatment. He needs his mother, now more than ever. So if you're willing, I'd like you and Adonis to move in with

GREGORNyssa stifled a laugh. The sound built in her throat until she was cackling like something possessed. I knew this laugh. It was her coping mechanism. She'd laughed the exact same way the morning a doctor told her that the love of her life, the man who'd danced with her on their balcony on her birthday, had died of a heart attack the next morning. This was another of those hollow laughs my mother gave when things fell apart. It faded fast. Honestly, it felt like reliving the morning I lost my father. She glanced at Charissa, who'd just reentered the room playing the part of the betrayed, dutiful fiancée to perfection, then back at me. A single tear slid from the corner of her eye, the eyes that always pretended to only see the bright and beautiful. My mother was shattered."You're not kidding. You... have a son." I'd never heard her sound so anxious. This scene had played out in her head so many times before that it had lost whatever original shape it once had."I'm sorry," I ma

GREGORI wished I knew what to tell her. Justina had probably already told her everything, but for Charissa, hearing it from my own mouth would be the only version she'd trust. The easy way out would be to lie, deny it all, but what story could I possibly weave once Justina showed up at my door with Adonis? There was a slim chance Justina might reject my offer; still, the dread on Charissa's face told me she'd already pieced something together. Lying to her would be pointless, and if I was about to break her heart, she deserved to know it had never been my intention."Adonis is my son," I confessed."I don't understand," Charissa stammered, tears streaking down her cheeks. "I was in Paris for four months. How is this even possible?""Charissa, calm down and let me explain." I tried to steady her, but she was already too far gone."Calm down? How do you explain cheating on me with some woman, Greg? Is that why you kept ignoring my calls?" she bawled. "Because someone else was on the me