Dearest gentle reader, I know a lot of you don’t normally leave comments, but I really need feedback here. This chapter is meant to be a backdoor episode into a spinoff I was thinking of writing about Rosa’s forbidden romance with her stepson, Cody. Please let me know if the little glimpse you’ve gotten here is enough to make you want to read a story like that. Otherwise, I won’t bother writing it. I would really appreciate the feedback. Thanks. Also, if you want to leave comments on how you’re enjoying the story so far, that would help me a lot. I look forward to hearing from each and every one of you.
Getting to the summit was easy enough. Getting back down, however, was an entirely different story. By the time Ethan and I got back down to the cabin, we were both exhausted and sweating profusely. Walking down at an incline was so much harder than walking up. And my ankles were screaming by then. "Poor baby," Ethan said, lifting me up in his arms and carrying me across the threshold of the cabin. "You seem so tired.""Thank you," I replied, wrapping my arms around his neck. "You're the sweetest boyfriend ever.""I'll need you to put that down in writing," he said. "So I can hold it against you any time you want to yell at me for something."I rolled my eyes as he took me all the way to the main bedroom, where he set me down in front of the bathroom. "As much as I would love to get in with you," he said, "it's getting kind of late. So I should probably use the second bathroom so I can go get some food before sundown. What do you think?"That made me a little bit sad, since I want
ETHANIt took a while before Liv finally calmed down and fell asleep in the living room. I sat beside her the entire time, stroking her hair and telling her the most random stories until her breathing changed and she calmed down enough to sleep off. That was when I went back outside to the truck and grabbed my phone. I called Richard Jones while sitting in the car, tapping my fingers on the steering wheel and trying to keep my rage in check. It was all I could do to not start banging my fist against the steering, and when he answered the call, it took a monumental effort to not scream at him. “Hello, Ethan,” he said. “How’s the trip going? I thought you weren’t going to be on your phone the entire time?”“Cut the bullshit, Richard,” I snapped. “Where the fuck is Marcus?”“Seriously?” he asked after a brief moment of silence. “May I ask why you want to know where he is?”“That’s none of your concern,” I said through gritted teeth. I just need to know where he is.”“Well, according t
MARCUSOne thing I'd come to accept was that every time Richard Jones called, it was never about something good. The last thing I needed was for him to disturb me on a random Saturday evening while I was trying to enjoy a Laker's game. I'd just finished having sex with Emily, and afterwards I'd taken a shower and eaten my dinner. This was not the time for him to be calling me."What the fuck do you want?" I asked as soon as I answered the call. "Is that really how you want to answer a call from an old friend?" he asked calmly. "I thought the animosity was behind us already."“Just tell me what the fuck you want, Richard,” I snapped. “I don’t have time for this shit. I’m watching a game.”“Really?” he asked. “Mind if I join you?”As soon as he said that, the intercom buzzed. I knew it was him, but I half hoped that it would just be someone else. At that point, I wouldn’t have minded if it was Ethan showing up. “I’m sure you don’t mind, right?” he said over the phone. “I just want to
Sunlight slowly crept into the room, and I slowly opened my eyes to find Ethan still sleeping beside me, his chest rising and falling slowly. I turned to my side, taking in the peaceful sight of him sleeping and wondering how he could look so handsome even while asleep. It was almost as if his features were softer while he slept, and his sharp jawline was more relaxed while his eyelids fluttered slightly.I briefly wondered what he was dreaming of, and the thought of him dreaming about me brought a smile to my face. I couldn't help but smile as I stared at him. He was so perfect, even in his sleep. I loved the way his hair looked slightly scruffy and disheveled, and the way his lips curled up ever so slightly, as if he was dreaming about something funny. I wanted to rub our heads together so I could get a peek into his head, where I would find the perfect man I’d been looking for my entire life.As I stared at him, my heart swelled with an indescribable emotion. I loved this man so f
By the time we finished having breakfast, the sun had already broken through the trees, and it was starting to feel like early spring. I stood in the kitchen doorway with my arms crossed and eyes squinting into the light as I stared outside at the lake. It was a beautiful day, my stomach was full, I’d had the most amazing quickie just this morning, and life couldn’t have been more perfect. "We should do something today," I said.Ethan looked up halfway through drying the dishes, and he gave me a questioning look. "Like what?"“I don’t know,” I replied. “Something fun. We can go fishing. Or spend the day painting.”“Painting?” he asked with a raised eyebrow. "Yeah,” I replied. “It would be such a shame if we allowed this day to go to waste. I brought some canvases and some art supplies. I thought it might be fun.""Babe, I can barely draw a stick figure without it looking like a crime scene,” he said. “Trust me, if you look at anything I tried to paint, you’ll instantly decide to brea
"Please tell me you're joking," I said, staring at his canvas in disbelief. "If you tilt your head slightly to the side, it's not so bad," he replied. "Seriously, I think it's even flattering.""Ethan, is this really how you see me?" I asked. "All you've done is draw a slim brunette with huge tits and a large ass.""If you think about it, isn't it flattering?" he smirked. "I mean you look hot.""Unbelievable!" I groaned, wanting to smack him across the face for his. "You're impossible sometimes."I thrust my own canvas in front of him, glaring daggers at him. "That's what you were supposed to do," I said. "I know it's not an accurate depiction of you, but I did the best I could. Notice how I didn't draw you naked, standing over a crowd of people with your dick swinging about."He stared at the painting for a while, and something in me shifted as I stared at him. Maybe it was the mist which came over his eyes, or the way he gently touched the painting with his mouth slightly open "I
I'd never felt more fear in my entire life than I did staring down the barrel of a gun, with Chris standing on the other end. To say that I was terrified would have been the understatement of the century. I froze completely, like a deer caught in headlights. And it was as if my brain had switched off completely. I hadn't seen him in months. I hadn't even considered that I might see him again, because it was obvious that things wouldn't work out between us since I chose Ethan over him. And yet there he was, standing in front of me so calmly and tilting his head to the side like he found my fear amusing. He looked different than the last time I'd seen him, with a scruffier beard which made him look homeless and disheveled, like he hadn't taken a shower in weeks. He was thinner than I remembered as well, and his eyes had sunken in so much that his head looked like a skull with paper thin skin wrapped over it. If it wasn't for his eyes, I probably wouldn't even have recognized him. "Yo
I saw the moment the gun went off, with the brief flash at the end of the barrel, while I threw myself entirely onto Chris' arm in an attempt to shove him out of the way. But the bullet had been shot, and I turned in horror to find Ethan falling to the ground. And in the moment, I felt like the world had gone dark. It couldn't be possible. Surely not. It was a blank. Or the bullet had missed him. Something must have happened, because I just refused to accept that he'd been shot. I didn't even want to look, and I focused instead on snatching the gun out of Chris' hands. "Look what you made me do," he yelled, trying to wrestle the gun away from me. "Look what you fucking made me do. You made me shoot him. You made me do it."I tried to twist his fingers and pull the gun away from him, but he ended up squeezing the trigger and causing the gun to explode in my hands as the bullet smashed through the window and broke the glass. The sound made me jump, and in that brief moment where I was
For a moment, I stared at Richard like he'd grown a second head. We sat there in silence, staring at each other as I tried to wrap my head around what he'd just said. Surely it had to be a lie. Because how on earth could he be serious right now?"You're quiet," he said. "I just... I don't know what to say," I whispered, shaking my head. "This is unbelievable.""I know how it sounds," he said quietly. "And I wish it wasn't true, but it is."No matter how hard I tried to wrap my head around what I'd just heard, it just didn't make any sense. How could he be their father? And after all these years? It just didn't seem possible. "So you're telling me you're Ethan and Marcus's father?" I asked.""Biologically, yes," he said. "But in every official sense, Michael Reynard was their father.""How is that even possible?" I asked. Richard sighed as he leaned forward, and he seemed so old and tired as he raked his fingers through hos hair, in much the same way that Ethan used to. "It started
For a long time after I left the office, I still couldn’t believe what happened. Even as I sat down at our new dining table and silently poked at my steak, it did nothing to stop the wave of nausea that was raging in my stomach. Ethan was talking beside me, but I was barely paying him any attention. He was saying something about knocking down the wall between the pantry and the laundry room, but all I could do was smile and nod when he looked up. All I could think about was Nate’s hand and his voice. I kept thinking about the way he looked at me like I was a piece of meat he owned, and that made me want to cry when I remembered it. I had replayed the scene over and over again on the drive home, trying to decide what was the right thing to do. Should I tell Ethan about it, knowing that he was going to lose his mind over it? Or should I talk to Joanna and tell her I couldn’t work with Nate again? A million other thoughts floated around in my head, but I just couldn’t figure out what
I still couldn’t believe that Ethan had bought the mansion just like that. He made it seem like it was a pair of shoes or a painting he liked. It all happened so fast, and I just couldn’t believe it. The first week was entirely chaotic. We spent our evenings shopping for furniture, arguing about the best fabric for the couch and whether a vintage record player was essential or rubbish (I won that round of arguing). I spent most days over at the house, telling the delivery men where to put things, and helping out where I could. Ethan suggested hiring an interior designer to handle everything, but there was something so cozy and comforting about doing it myself that I just wasn’t ready to give up. Besides, it wasn’t difficult at all. But the hardest part came the night Rachel flew back from her trip, and I had to tell her that I was moving out.From the moment she walked into our apartment and dropped her bags at the door, her face fell when she saw the boxes in the living room.There
MARCUSI didn't want to do it initially. He didn't deserve a quick death, after all. But sometimes, when someone pisses you off too much, you just have to take care of things. And when you find out that the bastard who tried to harm the woman you love was only going to a mental institution instead of the jail he deserved, you just have to take care of things yourself. I stood on the balcony and stared down at the city sparkling beneath me while a cold breeze swept past. The sun had already set, but Manhattan was still as loud as ever, with horns blaring down below, people yelling constantly , and the wailing of a siren in the distance. No one would notice me up here, staring down at them and savoring my latest victory. I took a slow sip of my whiskey, letting the warmth roll down the back of my throat as I leaned on the cold steel railing. The evening was perfect, and I couldn’t have been happier after getting the call. Chris was dead, just like I intended. The report said he’d be
From the moment we pulled up in front of the mansion, my mouth fell open and it stayed like that permanently. The house looked like something out of a movie. It was so huge, and my eyes nearly rolled back into my skull as we walked in. There was a grand staircase which swept upward like it belonged in a castle, and sunlight streamed in through the large windows which made everything look so bright and golden."You've got to be kidding me," I whispered, taking in the beauty of the house. "This is actually insane.""Wait til you see the kitchen," Ethan said as he walked up behind me and took my hand in his. "You could set up a football game in it"When we walked into the kitchen, I knew he wasn't exaggerating. There were two kitchen islands which were so far apart that you probably couldn't even smell what someone was cooking from across the kitchen. There were so many shelves and drawers that it looked more like a convenience store than a home kitchen. Every room we walked into fel
Ethan was discharged the very next day, and I took him back to my apartment. Rachel had traveled down to Miami for a conference, so it was just the two of us in the house. After he’d taken a shower and eaten the lunch I prepared, he immediately sat down to call a real estate agent. “Is that really necessary?” I asked as I packed up the plates from the dining table. “Shouldn’t you be getting some rest?”“I’ll rest once we have our new home,” he said. “Buying a house usually takes a very long time to process, and I don’t have the time nor the patience to wait too long. The sooner we get started, the quicker we can be done with this.”I left him to his phone call, while I washed up in the kitchen. I could hear him talking in a sharp tone, using his CEO voice where he made it obvious that things were going to go his way, no matter what. I could have sat down and stared at him for hours when he talked like that, but I had other things to do. Like calling Richard Jones and telling him wha
I'd thought about seeing Marcus face to face again for a very long time now. I'd imagined standing across from him, looking dead into his eyes and showing him that I wasn't afraid of him anymore. I'd thought about how I was going to stand my ground, and not let him see the fear he'd once inflicted upon me. But standing right there in front of him, looking into those malicious eyes that had tormented me for years, I just couldn't do it. My knees began to shake, and I almost buckled to the ground in terror as the world fell away and it was just the two of us.And then he started to walk towards me. It took every bit of strength in me to not turn around and flee. I visibly shrank the closer he got, and a wave of panic washed over me as I realized that I had nowhere to go. If I turned and ran now, then I would be running for the rest of my life. And that was the last thing I wanted. So I stood my ground, stuck out my chin defiantly, and looked him dead in the eye. I took a deep breath
For a while, I just sat there and stared at Nate. I couldn't process the fact that he was here, and as my brain slowly booted up again, I felt Ethan tense beside me. "Nate, what are you doing here?" I asked. "Offering my condolences," he said. "I heard about the accident, and I just knew I had to come here as soon as I returned."He was more tanned than the last time I'd seen him, and his hair was a little bit longer. He looked like he'd come straight from the beach, in his plain white shirt and khaki pants. It was so different from the man in the tailored suit who strutted about like he owned the building. And yet, even now, there was an air of confidence about him as he stood in the middle of the room and stared at us. “Why the long faces?” he asked. “Did someone die?”“What the fuck are you doing here?” Ethan asked, attempting to stand up before I held him down. “I heard you were sick,” Nate said. “Oh, I mean shot. It’s all over the news. I just got back from Paris, so I though
Ethan ended up taking longer than we expected to get discharged, and he ended up staying in the hospital for two weeks. During that time, he had to get a lot of therapy so he could move his left arm again, because some nerves had been damaged and they needed to heal properly. I stayed with him the entire time, only leaving to shower and get a new batch of clean clothes when I had to. But otherwise, we just sat together and talked. He wasn't in too much pain, so mostly we had enough time to just sit and talk about life. It was on the thirteenth day that we spoke about what he told me in the cabin. He didn't want to talk about it when I brought it up, but I managed to convince him that it was necessary. This was the only way to clear his conscience, so he could finally be free of the guilt that he had carried after all these years. "But what if we find out that I was the one who killed him?" he asked quietly, staring out the window. "What if it's confirmed that I'm a murderer?""I kn