LOGINARIELLA The room was still dark, the faintest hint of early morning barely touching the curtains, and for a second I was too lost in the feeling of him even to think properly. By the time he finally pulled back, I was breathing hard, completely flushed, my chest rising and falling rapidly. I tri
ARIELLA "What do you mean?" “Tonight..... My mother humiliated me in front of everyone. Creating problems for you publicly... in front of everyone.” I looked away from him. “I know how these people are. I know how they talk and you have a reputation to uphold. I am supposed to....” Asher's enti
ARIELLA My voice cracked completely after that. “She is my mother." I began, trying to hold it together. "She's the only relative I have left, the only parent I have left, and I know my dad loved her. And as much as my mom was... that to me...” I swallowed painfully. “She was there for my father.
ARIELLA Leon had been a very welcome, loving, and warm distraction from all the emotions and the pain I was fighting inside. He had occupied my mind when I helped him to bed, when I read him a story, and when he fell asleep and I just sat there on his bed, watching him sleep, seeing him taking in
ARIELLA Asher helped me into the car carefully, like I might shatter if he moved too fast. The second I sat down, he followed after me, pulling the door shut behind him before anyone else could touch it. Outside, I could still see movement near the ballroom entrance. Men collecting phones and Guar
ARIELLA Asher lifted his hand slowly toward my face. For one terrifying second, I thought he was going to wipe the spit away himself.... Instead, he took out a handkerchief from inside his jacket and placed it gently into my hand. Like he knew I would break completely if he touched my face right n
I nod, swallowing down the bitterness. “Okay… so what now? We just wait here until Leon comes? I thought you were going to get him.” “Yeah, I’m not staying here,” he replies, turning toward the door. “You’re leaving me here?” I ask, glancing around the cold, uninviting apartment. He tilts his hea
The door burst open with a violent slam that echoed through the room like a shot. I stumbled back, my heart leaping to my throat as five or six men in dark clothes stormed in like a sudden storm. Their invasion was silent, coordinated and dangerous. One of them, clearly their leader, stepped forwar
Asher hovered over me. A bulge tented his pants. He brought his fingers, coated in my juices to his mouth and licked them clean with a wicked smile. My core clenched, wanting more, completely mesmerized by the sensations slowly dimming in my body. My hand moved toward the waistband of his pants, d
When we left for Zanzibar, it was just for five days. This time, I had prepared myself. I told Maria I’d call every day. I promised to video call Leon, to check in. And Asher, he promised everything would be fine. That security would be tight. That nothing would go wrong. Just five days, he said. J







