Katie.
Before my mind could fully register if who I thought was there was or if it was just my drunken stage that was making me hallucinate, the man pinning me down was suddenly lifted. A loud crashing sound came from somewhere across the room, followed by the shout of several men. I felt myself being lifted up and snorted when I heard the familiar scent of Evan Blackman, the man who I was not expecting to find me so soon. “You have a whole lots of explanation to do!” He yelled at me before dumping me on the nearest chair he could find. Fuck! That was exactly why I was trying my best to avoid the man. Evan Blackman was a man - in fact, he’s the only man - I could call my father’s best friend. Though he was only thirty years, but he was the only man my father was close enough to and listened to. At first, I thought it was because they were business partners, but I soon found out that my father respected the man a lot and just valued him enough to get close to him. But for me? Each time I came in close contact with the man, I wanted to strip him naked and ride him until every juice that came out of his prick ran down my cunt. Heaven knows I would have carried out the must if it was not the fact that the man did his best to always avoid me. All I needed was just me and him locked in the house for only two hours. I would make sure I have him begging for me to go on my knees and give him the best blowjob of his life. “You looking for trouble, man!” A voice yelled, drawing me out of my wild thoughts. I looked up to find that Evan was surrounded by about six men. The man chuckled darkly as he loosened the button of the sleeve of his shirt and rolled it up. His hand sleeked to the first two buttons on the bodice of the shirt and he loosened them as well. Once he got that out of the way, he turned his neck left and right to crack the bone lose. “Unless you don’t mind treating a broken bone or two, step back.” He commanded the men surrounding him. Rather than backing down at this threat, one of the men lounged forward, his fist tightened and out to punch Evan. Before the fist could connect to Evan’s jaw as the man intended, Evan was able to step side the threat. His hand quickly grabbed the threatening fist and twisted it in the opposite direction. The bone cracked at the same time the man let out a hollowed sound that showed he was in pain. “Aaarrrggghhh…” he cried out. The moment his adversary released him, he rushed to the ground and quickly crawled away from the fighting scene. “Next?” Evan asked calmly as he maintained eye contact with each person in the circle. I watched with sickening satisfaction as two of the men rushed at Evan in hope of pinning him down. He threw out his leg to hit one of the men. The other one got grabbed by the neck with his hand and he carried the man up until his feet were no longer on the ground. The man began to choke and slammed his hands on Evan’s arm to loosen the grip. Evan let out a chuckle as he tightened his hold on the man. The man began to gag and gasp just to catch some air. Still holding his opponent in the position, Evan turned to look at the other three men who now looked unsure of themselves. The moment they locked gaze with the man, they squabble out of the bar to save their lives. Once the others were gone and the coast was clear, Evan focused on the man he was still holding his neck tightly above the ground. “When a woman tells you no, respect that!” He yelled, his anger very visible. I watched in adoration as his bicep and muscles tightened up, showing the obvious sign that the man gym regularly. “Sir, if you don’t drop him, he will actually die.” The voice of the bartender came. It was no longer the same as it radiated with fear. “Then he should hurry up and die!” Evan yelled. That took me out of my drunken state. I quickly got up from where I sat and went over to where he stood. I grabbed his arm and tugged it gently. I realized that the man he was bent on killing was the one who pinned me down and refused to free me. “Leave him,” I pleaded. Just like that, the hold he had on the man was gone. I watched as the wretched man slumped to the floor, unconscious. The bartender came over and placed two fingers over the man’s nostril to see if he was still alive. He must have gotten an ‘all-clear’ because he sighed in relief. Evan ignored that and brought out his wallet, grabbed some notes and dropped it on the table. “I think that should be enough to pay for the lady’s drink and the damages to property.” He told the bartender. Then he grabbed my hand and began to walk out with me. We were almost at the door when he paused as if he forgot something. “Just in case it is not enough, reach out to me…” he put his left hand in his chest pocket and brought out a card. Again, he left it on the nearest table to him. “… here.” He finished his words. That said and done, we were out of the bar and in his car. “Katie Malory, you have a lot of explaining to do.” He hissed at me. I couldn’t tell if he was angry or not. I ignored his voice and inched closer to him. Without a care in the world over what I was about to do, I rested my head on his shoulder. He would take care of me.KATIEThe moment I stepped into the apartment, the sharp creak of the door gave me away. It was late already since I had to try my luck at some other places after excusing myself from Volkov. Before I could even shut the door behind me, Maria was already flying out of the kitchen. She looked worried and frustrated.“Katie!” she exclaimed, her hands flying to her hips. “Where have you been all day? I’ve been calling and texting you like a madwoman! You didn’t even say where you were going!”I sighed, dropping my bag on the mini table at the center of the sitting room . “My battery died. I didn’t mean to worry you.”“That’s not good enough,” she snapped. “You disappeared. You didn’t leave a note, a message...nothing. What if something had happened to you, huh? What was I supposed to tell the cops? That my best friend who just walked out of a complicated marriage and defied one of the richest men in the country just vanished? I'll be the very first suspect.”I blinked, taken aback by the
KATIEI had barely blinked away the sting of rejection when a sleek black car, a Bentley, if I wasn’t mistaken, pulled up in front of me. The kind that didn’t just purr when it moved, it whispered power. For a second, I thought maybe Evan had found me, and my stomach twisted at the thought.But the man who stepped out wasn’t Evan.He was talk and broad shouldered, in a perfectly tailored suit that screamed luxury instead. He walked toward me like he owned every breath of air around him. His sunglasses caught the glint of the setting sun as he paused in front of where I sat, legs crossed, confidence dripping like expensive cologne.“What’s a beauty like you doing sulking on a city bench?” he asked. His voice was rich and annoyingly charming.I raised a brow, not bothering to hide the irritation in me. “Excuse me?”He chuckled softly, then tilted his head. “Don’t tell me you don’t recognize me?”I studied his face a moment longer—strong jawline, devil-may-care smirk, dark eyes that prob
KATIEStirring from sleep, I blinked my eyes rapidly, disoriented for a second before everything rushed back in—Mark, Evan, my so-called father, the revelation, the walkout on Evan, everything. Reality hit me like a cold slap. I wasn’t in my room anymore. I was in Maria’s tiny but cozy apartment.I sat up and looked around. The apartment was quiet. Too quiet.That’s when I noticed the note stuck on the small white fridge in the corner. I padded across the room barefoot, my eyes scanning Maria’s careful handwriting: "Had to rush off to work. Make yourself at home. Eat whatever you like. We’ll talk more when I get back. —Maria."A soft smile tugged at my lips. Maria had always been that one constant thread holding me together. I opened the fridge and pulled out a few slices of bread, popping them into the toaster. While the bread browned, I leaned against the counter, letting my thoughts consume me.What now?That question had been haunting me since I stepped out of Evan’s penthouse and
KATIE I waited there, unmoving, with my arms wrapped around my knees like they were the only solid thing I had left. The sky above me had turned a dull gray by now. My thoughts ran wild, clashing into each other like waves crashing against a crumbling shore.Mark’s face came to mind first. That smug, arrogant look as he tossed the divorce papers at me like I was some expired contract he couldn’t wait to get rid of. From there, the events of the past few days and hours replayed severally in my mind.Minutes later, a beat-up black car pulled up in front of me, tires crunching softly over gravel. I looked up just in time to see Maria throw the door open and rush out like the world was on fire.“Katie!” she called, kneeling in front of me with panic written all over her mildly freckled face. “What happened to you? You look like hell.”I let out a humorless chuckle. “That’s because hell and I might be on a first-name basis now.”She blinked, her brown eyes full of concern. “Talk to me. Wh
KATIEI sat on the edge of the sofa, my fingers tangled in my hair as I stared at the floor like it held all the answers. My heart thudded against my chest, and no matter how many deep breaths I took, the weight in my stomach wouldn’t lift. Two years with Evan Blackman. Two years under the same roof as the man who had just called me his wife—even if it was drunken, accidental, and completely out of line with reality.But the other option?The cold streets. Rejection. A future I couldn’t even begin to picture.I let out a shaky breath, wiping the corner of my eyes even though I told myself I wasn’t going to cry again. My life wasn’t supposed to turn out this way. One minute I was a Malory, the next… I was nobody. And now, somehow, I was Evan Blackman’s wife?How the hell did this become my life?Evan stood there, tall and unreadable, already scrolling through his phone like he had somewhere better to be. Like my answer didn’t really matter because he already knew what it would be. Typi
Katie. The moment I came to, tears ran down my face. I sniffled, trying to keep the tears from falling. I swiped angrily at my cheek when the tears kept streaming down. My body shook, still reeling from shock. I wrapped my arms around myself, trying to keep from shaking too much. A hand silently wrapped around the side of my body. Before I could shake it off, the Kroger one wrapped around my other half of my body. I wanted to resist. I wanted to protest that I was perfectly fine. But the tears streaming down my cheeks, the mascara smudged all over my eyes, and my quivering lips said otherwise. With no more resistance in me, I relaxed my body against the man holding me and completely broke down , the last of my control gone. “Shhh…” Evan comforted me. His hand rested on my head, stroking it gently. “He’s lying, right?” I asked once I was able to calm down a bit. “Cupcake, I don’t think he was,” Evan said, finishing his words with a deep sigh. “While you were…” he cleared his thro