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214|Limited Time
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Beautiful Disaster 215|Live A Little
They cruised through the nearly-deserted streets for a few more minutes, taking in the sights before they left the town square and got on a lonely stretch of dirt road that took them further away from civilisation the longer they drove.Marybeth stared in wonder at the natural beauty of the mountains and valleys surrounding them, and as the road narrowed and the trees and foliage grew denser, she couldn't help but notice how isolated they were."We're here," said Austin a few quick turns later as they drove into a cosy campsite surrounded by tall pine trees, where his men were already hard at work, pitching up their tents."Daddy! Marybeth!" Orlando squealed and dropped her tools as soon as she saw them, running to their car like her life depended on it. She almost lost her mind when she saw Lionel and Danica.Marybeth couldn't stop smiling as she watched her father scoop her up in his arms and twirl her in the air, giving in to her demands when she screamed, "Do it again!"Austin remo
Beautiful Disaster 216|What If
It was unbearably hot when Marybeth opened her eyes again, with bright sunlight flooding the tent. Positive she'd slept the entire day away, she gingerly reached for her phone to check the time. She smiled with relief when she saw it was just after 9:00 AM and quickly threw on her jeans and Austin's t-shirt before stepping into the blistering hot morning."Morning Sweet Pea," her father called out to her from the campfire. "Slept well?""Unbelievably so," replied Marybeth as she swatted a mosquito buzzing too close to her face."Where's Austin?" she asked, roaming her gaze through the campsite, her eyes falling on her handlers sipping coffee near the stream. She waved, and they did the same, almost blinding her with their smiles."He took Orlando fishing," said Danica, appearing beside Marybeth with a bowl of cereal. "You missed breakfast," she added, handing the bowl to her.Marybeth took it and joined her father but couldn't bring herself to eat the All-Bran flakes. She gagged a litt
Beautiful Disaster 217|Ends Here And Now
Orlando was a busy bee, helping Anna grill fish over the open flame when Marybeth and her little group finally returned to camp."Marybeth, come see what we caught," she chirped excitedly when she saw them."What did you catch, Orly?" Marybeth asked, glancing at their loot sizzling over the fire."I don't know what it's called, but we can eat it!""Impressive, Orly!" Marybeth said. "And you caught it yourself?""Grandma De Jager helped me," Orlando announced, beaming up at Marybeth."It's Grandma, Orly," Anna reminded her. "Grandma De Jager sounds so formal.""Right," said Orlando absently, her attention on their meal."Where's your father?" Marybeth asked, but Anna responded, pointing at Austin pacing up and down near a grove of trees, his cell phone glued to his ear."He's been on the phone since we came back.""With who?"Anna shrugged. "Work, I guess.""And he promised me he wouldn't work this weekend," Orlando chimed in, her rosy lips forming a perfect pout as she rummaged through
Beautiful Disaster 218|Out In The Wilderness
The walk back to their camp felt unusually long, and Marybeth knew it had everything to do with the tension simmering between them.Austin was the first to break the silence, though, asking her about Adeline and her siblings.Marybeth filled him in, giving him just enough to answer his questions."Will they be fine?" he pressed, and Marybeth sighed and closed her eyes, suppressing her anger as she pressed her lips together. The last thing she wanted to talk about was her pupil."Smith and the social worker seem to think so," she replied, opening her eyes again."You know…we could foster Adeline—" Austin began, his words trailing off at the sounds of crunching leaves, followed by twigs snapping as if someone had stepped on the dry brush.Marybeth couldn't tell which direction the sounds were coming from because of the little hills and tall trees surrounding them. But it sounded very close.She turned to see Austin holding his index finger over his lips, silently telling her to stay quie
Beautiful Disaster 219|Icarus
Austin was still pacing near the stream, trying to calm down with a cigarette, when Benji drifted over with an update, "Anna remembered something; кума got her to talk.""What did she say?" he asked, looking away from the cloud of smoke floating above his head."Blake. He's the only other person she told about the trip."Austin was struck speechless, and when he still couldn't articulate his thoughts after a moment, or two had passed, he began walking along the riverbank."How do you want to proceed?" Benji asked, falling into step with him. "If he is behind this, we need to rein him in ASAP—""He's not!" Austin cut in sharply as they paused in front of a huge boulder. "I know my brother. He doesn't have the balls to pull this shit off.""Or maybe you're underestimating him, and that's what he's banking on," Benji suggested as he sat on the rock and stared at Austin. "Think about it. Who else has an axe to grind with you?"Off the top of his head, Austin could think of several people w
Beautiful Disaster 220|The Dead Guy
Austin was the first to emerge from the bathroom, dressed in faded jeans, a black t-shirt and sneakers."Where's кума?" asked Arno as he craned his neck and looked past Austin's shoulder. "Is she okay?"Austin shook his head, growling at him, "Would you be okay if some rando tried to kill you for no fucking reason?""She wasn't the target—""It doesn't matter if she was the target or not!" Austin snapped. "Bottom line is she was there with me, and that bastard could have easily hurt her. God, Arno, I'd never forgive myself if something happened to her or the baby—""Baby?" Arno stammered, scratching his head, and at that moment, Austin wanted to kick himself for getting emotional and letting the cat out of the bag. He'd planned to tell his handlers, but not this soon.Sighing, he dragged Arno away from the restrooms and beckoned Benji over, swearing both men to secrecy before confirming Marybeth was expecting."It's still early days, and I didn't want to say anything until after the fi
Beautiful Disaster 221:To The Moon
Piper was waiting for them at the penthouse when they arrived. Austin figured Arno and Benji had called her. He wasn't thrilled to see her and would have thrown her out if it wasn't for his concern for Marybeth and their baby.She took one look at them and slipped into doctor mode, asking them all kinds of questions while Austin disabled the security system and unlocked the door. Orlando chirped away and told her all about their 'accident' at the lake. Of course, Piper didn't believe a word she said, and the moment they were inside, and Anna took Orlando away to give them some privacy, she called bullshit on their story."This doesn't look like an accident to me," she said as she followed them to one of the guest rooms for their consultation."Sit," she told Marybeth, signalling to her to unbutton her shirt so she could check her out."She's pregnant," Austin blurted out. "We want to make sure the baby is okay. She took quite a fall earlier and fainted.""Oh?" said Piper, her eyes fl
Beautiful Disaster 222|Flesh Wound
"I didn't know," Piper said as soon as Austin sat down. "Honestly, I would never have imagined it was Leks. I just didn't see Iris having an affair with him. Maybe because we all know how insane he is—""Stop talking, Piper!" Austin warned her. But it was almost as if she'd slipped into a trance and couldn't hear him as she cleaned his wound. All she was concerned about, it seemed, was purging herself of all the lies and secrets. So she continued talking, despite the deadly look in his eyes."It all makes sense now why when I called Andrei later that day to tell him about your father taking the samples, he lost his shit," she continued. "I just thought he was angry with your old man for interfering. I realise now it may have been Iris and his brother he was upset with.""Can you just wrap this shit up, please?" Austin snapped, feeling sick to his stomach."I'm so sorry," Piper sniffled, her hands violently shaking as she applied an antibiotic ointment on his wound and dressed it with g
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