Few hours later, trying to forget Prince Hakeem and everything he stood for in their lives, Lucianda stood beside her proper looking son to officially welcome the Annettes into their home. Smartly dressed in an impeccable suit which he had personally selected for himself, Julian Castos was everything Royal and Regal with a back and shoulder that’s so ramrod straight, you would think he was preparing to meet the military’s commandant. ‘Well, for my son, this is as important as a nation’s call.’ Lucianda thought in defense of him even though it was with some amusements as she fervently prayed for a calm facade. Her son was not helping things though; he was so serious about making the mother and son feel welcome, it’s almost sad to watch him as he stood at attention beside the door. Soon, they heard the horn of a car, which meant, their driver had arrived with the special guests. ‘Thank God!’ Lucianda sighed exaggeratedly with a roll of the eyes. She was sure any minute from then, sh
On the other side of Laura’s room, there was also a drama similar to their own as Sammie kept glancing at his room in awe and confusion. There is only one thought in his head. ‘How? How did mum and I get to deserve this? Does this mean that there is no more suffering and hunger for us?’ He kept thinking but unsure of himself, he could not bring himself to voice out his question to the ever attentive boy watching him from the other side of the room. At last, he realised he had been staring for so long, so he gave a wide cough before sending his new friend a shy glance. “Hmm, the toys? Who owns? I mean hmm, what are they for?” He found himself asking and in the next moment, he wanted to faint from embarrassment. ‘Oh jeez, is that all I can say?’ He berated himself. But Julian, bless his soul, did not see anything wrong with the question. He responded in his usual serious manner. “Well, they are yours. You need stuff to keep you company whenever I’m too busy to play, don’t you? I a
Waiting for Lucianda and Julian to also fill their plates, each picked their forks to dive in and for a long minute, the dining table was quiet as each of them savored the taste of the deliciously prepared meal.“Wow! That was good. The best I have ever tasted.” Julian praised after a while of eating in silence and when they all glanced at their plates, each of them was surprised to see they had nothing left on it.“Wow, I can’t believe I finished that gourmet meal.” Laura said with some embarrassment but Lucianda’s comment soon put her at ease.“Me too. Me too, my dear, and the embarrassing thing about this is that I still have space in my tummy for more.” She confessed drily.“I’m not surprised, Mum, you are a glutton for good food.” Her son chipped in and everyone laughed softly.“Well, I would not mind another round myself.” Emboldened by Lucianda, Sammie decided to go for the truth also.“Sammieeeee…” His mother called with some surprise.“Oh Laura, free the innocent boy. There i
If Lucianda had known what was waiting for her, she would not have been glad to be so early awake the next day.Getting up from bed with the memory of how yesterday was a success with their guests, there was a pleased smile on Lucianda’s lips as she walked to the closets in her bedroom stockings.With one pearly tooth biting down softly on her soft rosy lips, Luci seriously contemplated going for one of her casual wears since she had nothing planned for the day other than to take Julian and their guests to the gallery. It’s one of those things she had been promising Julian but never got to do.But now, thanks to their guests, Luci suddenly realised there is no better time than now. And when after dinner yesterday night, she had casually told Julian and their guests they would be visiting the gallery in the morning, Julian had screamed so exuberantly in joy, Lucianda had felt proud of herself. Nevertheless, it had taken great persuasion to lure Julian to go to bed & at a point, Luci w
Deciding to test the waters, Luci wiped her face of all worries as she pasted a soft motherly smile on her face before taking the last of the steps. “Good morning, son. I can see you are ready for the day, hmm?” Bending so she could place a soft motherly kiss on his lips, she accepted his warm hug. “Sure, Mum, Sammie and I had been talking about it all morning and I would have come to call you for breakfast but aunt Laura said you might need the extra sleep so I left you alone. We had breakfast already.” All this was said in less than two minutes as Julian did not want to even waste time in conversation. He wanted them to go immediately. Sending a mental thank you to Laura, Luci gave her son another peck to be sure of his mood. “Hmm, impressive. That’s good of you guys.” She praised in a distracted tone while checking the hall table for her brown purse. “So, Mum, do you want to have breakfast before we go? It’s past ten already and galleries should be visited in the day not night,
Leaving the building that housed the gallery behind, Luci quickly moved to the curb to hail down the taxi coming from the other side. Without much ado, she got in and smoothly gave the driver the address. Sitting back with a loud sigh, she relapsed into a total silence with her eyes closed.After a few minutes, the driver coughed silently and Lucianda opened her eyes to blink at the driver who was staring at her in a funny way.“Hmm excuse me, Ma’am, but we are at the address you gave me.” He murmured wearily. As if wondering if she was mentally balanced.Knowing that she had indeed been behaving strangely since entering the cab, Luci raised her head to the window and it was then she saw that indeed they were in front of the lawyer’s building. Fitting!Unwilling to give the man more stories to tell his family at dinner, Luci abruptly gave her card for a debit and when the driver returned it back to her, she put it back in the purse before opening the door to get down. Taking a deep br
“I will advise you to state your purpose for visiting without any more smart ass words from you else you…” Prince Hakeem started but to his greatest surprise, he was not allowed to finish.“Else what? Else you destroy us? Else you take over my properties and that of my son? In case you have forgotten, you beast, you did all that and more already. What else can you do?” Luci asked carelessly, knowing full well he had done his worst.“I can take over your house and make you homeless. That is what else I can do, my dear Mrs Castos.” Maliciously, Hakeem stated calmly, watching for her expression. Lucianda did not disappoint, she stared at him aghast.“You will not dare.” Luci cried with angry justification.“Want to put it to a test? Right here and right now? I promise you, all it will take is a call, my dear. The work has been done already, long before your husband died.” From the wicked smile flirting across his lips to Luci, it’s obvious he had been waiting for an opportunity to gloat
Prince Hakeem was not really surprised when he was told that he had a visitor, he had been expecting her from the moment he sent that pointedly written message. Smiling at the erotic image in his head, he picked the file on his table to pretend deep absorption, while a major part of him tensely waited for the woman who was at the moment walking towards his office. He knew he had won already, that she’s now coming to crawl and beg for his mercy and he could feel himself growing hard below, because yea, the poor lovely widow was about to become his meat. But surprisingly enough, a part of him was also nervous about what was coming. Knowing it’s best not to show any emotion where this woman was concerned, he wiped his face of all expressions just as she threw the door open to walk into his office. Having thought she was there to beg and humbly accept her fate, the chilling coldness in her eyes was the last thing Hakeem was expecting and when she opened her mouth, the words that came