Masuk~~PEYTON~~ONE YEAR LATERI am currently commando-crawling across the rug like a protagonist in a low-budget action movie. My target? The crib. The tiny, high-stakes biological weapon currently snoring like he didn't spend three hours last night screaming at a shadow on the wall.I reach the edge of the bed, popping my head up. "Guess whose birthday it is?"Still snoring, still sleeping.How do I wake him? I need a way to get back at him for depriving me of sleep.The birthday boy is named Leoâshort for Leonardo, because Axel wanted 'classic' and Raphael wanted 'expensive.'He jolts a little because I poked him with my finger.He tries to go back to sleep, but I don't let him.I poke him again.âWakey wakey!âFinally.He lunges for my hair with the grip of a professional wrestler."Ow! Mother ofâ"The sound of a ceramic plate meeting its maker echoes from the kitchen downstairs. I roll my eyes so hard Iâm pretty sure I see my own brain."And that, Leo, is the sound of your fathers fai
~~PEYTON~~Whoever created childbirth to be this painful? Fuck you. I mean it. I donât care if you strike me with thunder right nowâactually, go ahead, it would probably be a distraction from whatâs happening to my lower half!It hurts. It doesn't just hurt; it feels like my body is being turned inside out by a pair of dull pliers."Shit," I hiss, gripping the hospital bed railing until my knuckles turn white. "I should have done a C-section. Why didn't I just opt for the CS? Is it too late to just cut this thing out of me?""Peyton, breathe," Axel says, leaning over me. He looks like heâs aged ten years in the last three hours. Heâs trying to be the 'calm' one, but I can see his hand shaking."Don't tell me to breathe," I snap, my voice sounding like a demon's. "I'm breathing! My lungs are fine! Itâs the rest of me thatâs exploding!"Raphael is behind him, looking more pale than Iâve ever seen him. The man who used to run a casino and deal with high-stakes thugs is currently looking
~~PEYTON~~Esme hasn't contacted me once since she woke up. Typical. According to Axel, she basically vanished into thin air the second she got her discharge papers. Heâs been hovering, suggesting we should track her down or hire someone to make sure sheâs not sleeping in a designer cardboard box, but I declined. Fast.She was shitty to me. Period. Iâm not playing the concerned daughter for a woman who only remembered I existed when she was flying through a windshield. Iâll only help if she actually asks for itâwhich she won't. Sheâs got too much dignity for that. Or pride. Usually, theyâre the same thing when youâre as delusional as she is.Iâm hoping that pride is enough to help her survive. Sheâs still pretty, despite the bruises. Give or take a few weeks, sheâll probably find another "Mr. Gold" to leech off of. Thatâs her only real skill, after all.I look at my reflection in the mirror and sigh. I had my own problems to deal with, and none of them involved hunting down a woman wh
~~PEYTON~~ "Is this Peyton?" A womanâs voice. Professional, clipped, comes through the speaker. The buzzing of my phone on the coffee table had jolted me out of my peaceful silence. "Depends on whoâs asking," I say, keeping my voice flat. "This is St. Judeâs Hospital. Weâre calling regarding an Esme? She was involved in a pedestrian-motor vehicle accident about forty minutes ago. Your number was the most recent in her outgoing logs." âWhat?" âI was sayingââ "Is she dead?" I ask. Straight to the point. "Sheâs in critical condition, currently in surgery. We need a next of kin or someone to come down andâ Is she family?" Of course she had to ask. I don't sound like I care right now. And funny, I'm the last person she tried to call, like I'm the center of her universe or some sort of figure of significance in her life. Jesus, Peyton, stop. You sound like a sociopath. I stare at the ceiling, watching a tiny shadow dance near the light fixture. Typical Esme. Even wh
~~ESME~~The sun is doing its best to be productive, but Iâm just here for the tan, occupied with my favorite hobby: lounging by the pool and pretending the rest of the world doesn't exist. My sunglasses are big enough to hide my lack of interest in anything and everything, and the water is a perfect, shimmering blue.The peace is nothing like I've ever seen.Natalie is gone. At least she's moved out, but it's clear as day that she will be visiting soon for the marathon that usually lasts the whole night. They're like sex maniacs.Arlo, to be precise.He's a maniac to her but pretended to be gentle with me on our one-night stand. It's funny when you think of it. He was drunk that night, but his sex wasn't satisfyingâthe opposite of what he feeds Natalie.Then, a shadow falls over my lounge chair. I don't need to look up to know who it is. The air usually gets a lot more boring when Arlo walks into a roomâor a backyard."Can I sit?" he asks.I don't move. I don't even lift my shades.
~~AXEL~~I didnât even get to see the look on Peytonâs face. One second Iâm finally, finally getting her to see a future where she isn't hiding under a blanket, and the next, Raphael is dragging me by the arm like a debt collector.He hauls me toward the fireplace, his grip tighter than it needs to be. Heâs breathing like he just ran a marathon, and his eyes are wide, darting around like heâs looking for something to punch."What the hell was that?" he snaps, shoving my shoulder as he lets go.I stumble back, straightening my cufflinks. How aggressive can he get?"Use your words, Raphael. Some of us actually graduated from kindergarten.""What you said out there!" Heâs pacing now, his boots heavy on the hardwood. "What are you feeding her? Wedding dresses? Walking down the aisle? Are you insane?"I scoff, leaning back against the mantel. "God forbid a man has a wish. It was just an innocent wish, okay? Itâs nothing. We all know itâs gonna happen eventuallyâunless youâre planning on sa
~~PEYTON~~ I clear my throat as I press the phone against my ear. Odin picks up at the first ring. "What is it?" His voice is clipped, impatient, as if Iâm interrupting something far more important than his wife's call. My stomach churns. This is going to be impossible. I snivel as if Iâve bee
~~PEYTON~~ I remember him snatching it from my thigh like it was a trophy. And a drunken me didn't even bother. I was too engrossed in the sensationsâthe way his fingers traced my thighâto care. "I can't believe I'm thinking about that right now," I mutter. My body feels like a sack of cement; e
PEYTON I jolt awake, feeling something wet splash on my face, my bodyâeverywhere. My eyes fly open, but everything is blurry, the ceiling swirling above me. And then I see a faceâscrunch up like a thundercloud about to burst. "Odin, what the hell?" I snap, trying to push myself up, but my limb
~~PEYTON~~ I'm in trouble, but that doesn't mean I'll shiver in fear all because of one mysterious stranger and his chilling laugh. Nah. "Come on," I say a bit defensively. "I'm offering you payment since sorry doesn't soothe you." He stops laughing, yanks out the phone pouch, takes out the S







