The following morning, Gemma was about to eat the French toast that Livian had brought for her breakfast when Cora delivered an awful piece of news. The detective had asked for her to call him back. Again. She almost groaned in frustration. The last time he had her return his call, he had called her over and asked a series of questions she didn't know had anything to do with the case. Despite her displeasure, she knew that he would make a living hell out of her life so she had no choice but to give him a call.
Just as she guessed, he called her over to the police station to assist with investigation as he termed it, but she knew he must have just found more excuses to try and pin the crime on her. They sat opposite each other at the table. He stared at her as though he was trying to make sense of something but didn't look like he was about to say anything. "Did you call me over just so you could look at me? You do know that there are photographs forA knock on the door interrupted him just as he had gotten the first syllable out."Gemma, are you busy?" Cora's voice came. Gemma called her in.She was shocked when she saw him there, so she stood stunned for a while."You don't need to pretend around Livian. He will keep his mouth shut." She chortled. It was a subtle threat. Not that he was planning to talk about anything he shouldn't."I'll let you two talk first." Cora offered and turned to leave."Is it personal or business-related?" Gemma asked. When Cora said that it was related to what they had discussed earlier—which Livian knew had to do with him as Darrel's boss, Gemma told her to stay and asked him to return in about ten minutes.He took a deep breath once he was in his room. Why did it seem like things were happening to interrupt him every time he was ready to open up? Was this a sign that it was not the right time to tell her about it?Of course, he wanted
Although she had decided not to investigate the mysterious shareholder since he so badly wanted to remain a mystery, it still bugged her. What if he really was after her life or something and he was baiting her? But then again, if it was a bait, he would want to deliver it in person so she knew who she was dealing with, right?She couldn't seem to come up with a reasonable explanation even after several hours so she sighed in exhaustion. The reason was not certain but she knew for a fact that there was no such thing as free lunch.___"How did it go?" Livian asked Darrell when they met up at the company. It had been two days since he had him send the share transfer document to Gemma. Ever since then, she constantly had reasons why she could speak to him and he knew they were not excuses. When he took a look at her this morning as she spoke to Cora, he noticed the dark shadows under her eyes even though it was just a glimpse from a safe distance. 
Ten years ago."I'm home!" Livian announced when he returned from work. The house was quiet with no sign of her, so he went to look for her in the garden. "Gem?"She peeked out from a hedge and ran over, bowing before him even though he had told her countless times that she didn't need to. "Sir!""You deserve to be punished." He growled jokingly.She looked up at him in shock and fear. "I'm sorry, sir. But I don't understand what I did wrong.""What did you just call me?" He pretended to be annoyed, and she realized that he wasn't really angry.Her face was flushed as she stuttered. "R-rock."He threw his head back and laughed. Her taste was quite unique. She had refused to call him Livian because it reminded her of his family and Maverick wasn't an option either because it was supposedly too long. When he suggested that she call him Rick, she settled for Rock. She was so cute.Observing her beautiful face,
Why under the sun would Noah turn himself in? The news was an unexpected shock. She paced her room as Cora watched her from her bed."Why is it a shock?" Cora asked. "If he did it, then it's only right that he turns himself in. Besides, doesn't this relieve you of the pressure of that stinky detective hovering around you and trying to uncover nonexistent evidence of you committing a crime you have nothing to do with?""Cora, he…" She stopped what she was going to say, frustration clear on her face."What is wrong with you? Shouldn't you be happy?" Cora couldn't make sense of this kind of reaction. While it was shocking, Gemma would be on the benefitting side no matter how one thought about it."This is Noah we are talking about Cora. Why would he do that without a reason? There has to be something that forced him to do so, something less tragic than him having to rot in prison for murder."Her worries were unfounded. Cora
She shuffled to her bed and grabbed her phone which she had thrown on the pillow and found the last text message that the devil sent her.[Why are you doing this?] She typed. Right before she tapped the send icon, she thought twice about it. What would she benefit from it? He might just deny it. Worst case scenario, he would reveal that he had something to do with it and his reason was to make her owe him—or something more sinister.She stared at her screen and slumped against the pillow, looking up at the ceiling. A while later, she sat up as a mixture of emotions flashed through her eyes. Her text was vague after all. If she simply sent it without explaining, the man might accidentally reveal whether or not he was behind the matter.Before she could convince herself against it, she hit the send key. She placed her phone facing down on the pillow but would check it every few seconds. The minute it took for the message to be delivered felt like
It all sounded like a joke until Gemma was informed that Noah would appear before the court the next day. It had already been a week since he turned himself in and none of the days had been easy on her. Her attempts at stalking Livian Dumont had failed miserably because she couldn't get any information of him for the last five years. She didn't even know where he was, much less how to track down what he had been doing. She wanted to get something on him so he couldn't blackmail her but the end result was him threatening her to stop prying into his personal life.Easy for him to say, when he was the one who had been prying into her life.So, she had stopped prying and hoped he would not try to cause her any trouble. At least not until she was ready to face it.The following day, she prepared herself and decided to go to court to watch the arraignment. She would only be at ease after seeing him being taken to jail."Gemma, are you going to c
Gemma's eyes flared. What did that punk just say? She heard gasps reverberate throughout the courtroom and knew that she was not the only one who was shocked by the ridiculous revelation. How could Noah be in love with her?To the other spectators, it was probably something they heard every other day despite it being shocking every time. Brothers falling in love with the same woman? What was new about that? It was more common than best friends finding out that they were being played by the same manipulative seductress. Especially when the three lived in the same house like Ethan, Noah and Gemma did.But to Gemma, it was just not possible. She knew Noah. He was a jerk and a manwhore despite not having any of the things she thought women looked for in men that they wanted to have a fling with. But he hated women who were above him in any way, especially status. She was his boss for a while which meant she was definitely not one of the people he would want to befr
Her hands wove into his hair and grabbed a fistful of it as his hand snuck into her dress. His fingers felt warm against the skin of her back as he gently caressed her. She gasped into the kiss as he traced down the small of her back. His touch sent shivers down her spine to her toes which curled from the waves of want. The muscles between her legs spasmed as she felt his erection that threatened to burst out through his pants. He tugged a strap of her bra and her hand flew to his chest, gently pushing him."Livian…" What was supposed to be a complaint came off as a moan. It took a while before he finally comprehended why she was pushing him. He let go of her and sat up, brushing a hand through his hair in a mixture of frustration, lust and confusion. He heaved for a while before reality registered itself."I'm sorry." He whispered."You shouldn't be." She glanced into his eyes and had to look away. He looked delicious when he gazed at h