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One hundred and thirty four

Author: Ese Gwede
last update Huling Na-update: 2025-05-07 17:27:44

~Reid~

The knock on my office door wasn’t urgent. It was casual. Entitled.

Too familiar.

My assistant had the afternoon off—her sister’s graduation—and the office was quieter than usual. No one should’ve been able to walk in without checking in first. Which meant whoever had just let themselves in had done it on purpose. They wanted to be noticed.

I didn’t look up.

Instead, I kept reading the contract in front of me, slowly turning the page, pen in hand. Let them wait. Let them sit in the silence and feel the weight of being ignored.

Then the voice came.

“Well, well. Still as dramatic as ever.”

I looked up.

And there he was.

Alex Pierce.

He stepped into my office like he owned the building. Which he didn’t. Not anymore. That bridge had burned a long time ago—and I was the one who’d lit the match.

Same look. Same posture. Still wearing suits like armor, still smiling like he knew a secret he was dying to use against you.

“Pierce,” I said. Flat. Cold. “You’re trespassing.”

“Please.” He
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  • Fallon’s Reid: An Arranged Contract   One hundred and forty

    ~Fallon~It was just dinner.That’s what I kept telling myself.But it wasn’t. Not really.Because everything had changed since that night in the garage. Since that first time—messy and hungry and drenched in tension we’d been holding back for years.Tonight was different.The dinner had been simple, private—just the two of us, a bottle of wine, the dining room too quiet, the air too charged. We’d barely touched the food. Not because it wasn’t good, but because we were both distracted.By what we weren’t saying.By what we were both thinking.He had looked at me like I was the only thing in the room. Like he was already imagining what he’d do to me the second the plates were cleared. And I had let him. I’d soaked in every second of it.I’d wanted it, too.But more than that—I wanted him.Which was new.And terrifying.Now, hours later, the soft rustle of fabric hit the floor as I stepped out of my dress. I was standing near the closet, reaching for a silk robe, pretending my hands wer

  • Fallon’s Reid: An Arranged Contract   One hundred and thirty nine

    ~Fallon~I woke slowly, as if my body wanted to stay in that dreamlike in-between. The kind where reality hadn’t fully returned yet. Where everything still felt soft and suspended.The first thing I registered was the warmth.Not from the sunlight filtering through the windows, although that was there too—golden and gentle, casting a glow across the sheets like we were in some curated moment from a romance ad.No, the warmth I noticed first came from Reid. Solid and real beside me.His chest pressed against my back. His arm slung over my waist, heavy and grounding. His breath steady, stirring the hair near my neck. And I lay there, completely still, like if I moved too fast, I might shatter whatever spell we were under.Last night hadn’t felt like a mistake.It had felt like gravity.Like we’d been circling each other for so long, it was inevitable we’d fall. And when we finally did, it wasn’t rushed or reckless—it was intense. Intentional. Slow and seismic.And it had changed everyth

  • Fallon’s Reid: An Arranged Contract   One hundred and thirty eight

    ~Fallon~The drive home was quiet—but not cold.The silence between us was thick, pulsing with tension that had been brewing for months. It wasn’t awkward. It wasn’t empty. It was dense with everything we hadn’t said, everything we hadn’t let ourselves feel.Reid’s hand rested on my thigh the entire time. Not possessive. Not demanding. Just there—warm, steady, grounding. His thumb moved slowly in small, lazy circles, brushing higher with each pass, testing the edge of propriety like he already knew it didn’t exist anymore. Every stroke sent heat curling through my stomach. Every glance he shot me from the driver’s seat made it harder to breathe.By the time we turned onto the private drive, I wasn’t thinking clearly anymore. I was too far gone with want to think clearly. When we reached the house, he cut the engine, but neither of us moved. For a second, we just sat there, the soft tick of the cooling car the only sound.Then he looked over at me. His gaze was searing. “You’re sure?

  • Fallon’s Reid: An Arranged Contract   One hundred and thirty seven

    ~Fallon~He went offlineI stared at the screen like it might light back up with some rational follow-up, but no—Reid was already gone. The tone in his text had shifted right before he logged off the app and I could feel it . Not sharp. Not cold.Final.I knew that version of him. The one who didn’t need noise to move. Who didn’t yell when he was about to burn something down. That version went quiet, calculated—and dangerous.I didn’t change. Didn’t stop to grab flats or pull my hair out of its perfect twist. I was in the car with one hand on the wheel and the other on my phone, calling the Burns Industries front desk as I sped through the city.“Mrs. Prescott-Callahan,” the receptionist said quickly. “Yes, we saw your husband heading out just a minute ago. Security said—”I didn’t wait to hear the rest.I parked in the loading zone. Ignored the voice telling me I was being stupid, emotional, exposed.Because this wasn’t about optics.This was about stopping Reid from doing something

  • Fallon’s Reid: An Arranged Contract   One hundred and thirty six

    ~Reid~I wasn’t in the mood for distractions.I’d been on the phone all day—strategists, lawyers, international investors circling like sharks. The Valen acquisition was slipping into dangerous territory, and I was doing everything short of bloodletting to keep it on track.Then Mia texted. We finally got to exchange numbers when Fallon pulled me along to one of their hangouts and since then, she texted me every once in a while.Thought you’d want to see this. Fallon’s looking lethal tonight.I opened the image—and everything stopped.Fallon. Alone at the gala. Black velvet. That slit. A quiet storm in heels and diamonds, standing in a room full of cowards who wouldn’t know what to do with a woman like her if she let them try.And I wasn’t there.I stared at the photo too long. Long enough for the guilt to settle in my chest like concrete.She wasn’t supposed to be a real wife. This wasn’t supposed to matter. It was a deal. A name. A signature. An arrangement born out of necessity, po

  • Fallon’s Reid: An Arranged Contract   One hundred and thirty five

    ~Fallon~The gala was in full swing by the time I arrived.Flashes from the media wall pulsed against the tall glass windows. Waiters glided between clusters of socialites and donors, balancing trays of champagne and absurdly tiny hors d’oeuvres. The kind of event where everyone acted like they were changing the world—while really taking mental inventory of whose watch cost more and who left with whom.Reid was supposed to be here.We were supposed to walk in together, hands linked, a perfectly tailored couple. That was the unspoken deal. He showed up. I smiled on cue. And in exchange, the world kept believing in our polished mythology.But a last-minute board emergency had pulled him away. “Just for an hour,” he’d promised on the phone. “Maybe two.”That was three hours ago.So here I was—smiling, posing, and nodding at people who only half-listened when they spoke to me.I didn’t mind being alone in rooms like this. Not anymore. I’d learned how to carry silence like armor. I knew ho

  • Fallon’s Reid: An Arranged Contract   One hundred and thirty four

    ~Reid~The knock on my office door wasn’t urgent. It was casual. Entitled.Too familiar.My assistant had the afternoon off—her sister’s graduation—and the office was quieter than usual. No one should’ve been able to walk in without checking in first. Which meant whoever had just let themselves in had done it on purpose. They wanted to be noticed.I didn’t look up.Instead, I kept reading the contract in front of me, slowly turning the page, pen in hand. Let them wait. Let them sit in the silence and feel the weight of being ignored.Then the voice came.“Well, well. Still as dramatic as ever.”I looked up.And there he was.Alex Pierce.He stepped into my office like he owned the building. Which he didn’t. Not anymore. That bridge had burned a long time ago—and I was the one who’d lit the match.Same look. Same posture. Still wearing suits like armor, still smiling like he knew a secret he was dying to use against you.“Pierce,” I said. Flat. Cold. “You’re trespassing.”“Please.” He

  • Fallon’s Reid: An Arranged Contract   One hundred and thirty three

    ~Reid~The restaurant was all sharp corners and soft light—muted gold accents, low leather booths, and some Miles Davis track whispering through overhead speakers. The kind of place designed to feel exclusive without trying too hard. I hadn’t been here in years. Lila would’ve known that. She picked it for a reason.She always picked things for a reason.She was already seated when I arrived. Of course. Perfect posture, legs crossed just so, in a deep red dress that managed to be both classic and deliberate. She smiled as she saw me, but it didn’t touch her eyes. It never did.“Reid Sterling,” she said, rising to her feet. “Still incapable of being on time.”“Still incapable of ordering a drink I’d actually choose,” I said, nodding toward the bottle of wine she’d already opened.She laughed lightly, kissing the air on either side of my face like we were old friends at some gallery opening instead of two people who’d once burned through each other and left the ashes behind.“You haven’t

  • Fallon’s Reid: An Arranged Contract   One hundred and thirty two

    ~Fallon~It was an accident.At least, that’s what I told myself.I hadn’t meant to look at Reid’s phone. I didn’t go around snooping through his things. But when it buzzed on the kitchen island—lit up with that familiar soft glow—my eyes flicked to it before I could stop myself.Lila: Looking forward to dinner. Same place?My fingers curled a little tighter around the glass in my hand. Cold water, barely sipped, now warm from my grip.Dinner.Of course.I looked away just as quickly as I’d looked. Pretended I hadn’t seen it. Tried to smooth over the sudden tightness crawling up my spine.It didn’t mean anything.Reid could have dinner with whoever he wanted. We weren’t… that kind of married.Still, I stayed rooted in place for a moment, staring blankly at the marble countertop, willing myself to breathe. To stay calm.It was fine.But something had shifted in the air. Not around me—within me.I didn’t like it.I didn’t like that it had made my stomach twist, that I could still see th

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