LAUREL'S POV If triumph was a person, well that would be me actually. The moment I had walked in for breakfast that morning, I could tell the effect I had on all my audience. Actually, I had woken up a lot earlier and gotten ready but I needed to make the grand entry so I would have all eyes on me. Sincerely, I had no idea I would be having all eyes and soul on me but come on, that was part of my goals. I heard Nicolette's voice and I knew it was my cue to come inside. The way she had glared at me and how I had dressed made it obvious that I was winning but even more was the fact that Xander was flustered. The poor guy was being tortured and he could say nothing of it. I resisted the further urge to stop by and kiss him on the cheek. Time would definitely come for that soon enough. But for now, let's play the hot second fiddle. I sat down for breakfast directly opposite her and I could feel her pain. The poor darling, she certainly had spent some time working on her look that
NICOLETTE'S POV I had no idea that so much time had passed already and it was nearly lunch time. I panicked as I thought that my actions might begin to seem to Xander like I was slacking off my duties. Not like he had forced me to keep up with my duties but to think of it now, I already proclaimed that I would be making lunch. I looked into the mirror and stared back at the nightmare I had made of myself before deciding that I would freshen up a little before I go outside and accustom my new found nemesis. I took a little while brushing my hair but so as not to seem like a copycat, I had pulled it back behind me and held it in place with a ribbon. Sincerely, I was tempted to dress similar to her now that it seems like my husband prefers that sort of dressing but the reminder that ours was a marriage of convenience screamed through my mind. I had questions now for myself and for Xander which I knew I would never ask a soul. I needed to know if there was any possibility th
XANDER'S POV A lot was going on between the women right from breakfast time and I could tell there was a lot of bad blood between them both. Clearly, there was hate and strife between which I could not understand as I had made it clear to them where I stood. But then, if I was being honest with myself then I would have to admit to the fact that I had a series of conflicting thoughts in my head when I saw Laurel come out for breakfast. Clearly, Nicolette had noted my reaction which explained the reason why she had suddenly left the breakfast table. I had nothing to say but to ask her to go get some rest in good faith. I never had taken Laurel and her antics seriously when she suddenly put her feet against my groin area underneath the table. She had not noticed but my food got caught up in my chest that I had to take up my glass and drink from it. I could feel the internal male heat within me burn brightly as my erection became clear. She had noticed clearly that I was strug
NICOLETTE'S POV I turned my head to look at him and then back at her. I had no idea what I was going to say or perhaps I did but the thing is, I could not find the right way to express myself to him especially now that his mate was here without sounding like the jealous housewife. This lady certainly was driving me overboard and it was no longer fun to me. While I thought of what to say, it turned out that she had it all sorted out in her head, what she was going to say in her defense. "Oh Xander, thank goodness you are here." She started playing a victim. I was confused and lost as I looked around knowing well enough that no one here would be standing up for me. But wait, nothing actually happened right. I did not make any quarrel or drama with her that would bring about her dramatic display. I was fuming by now and I could tell well enough that I was fuming now and readjusted my face. I had to see where all this drama would be ending and even more importantly was what m
LAUREL'S POVI glared at the door and then it dawned on me that it would not have gotten this far had the pesky maid not interrupted. Now, it seemed to Xander that I was victimizing Nicolette. It did not sound fair at all, the way he had spoken to me and of course led her away by hand. The little wench, she let him take her hand readily and made a good show of my sadness by saying thank you to me. I had hoped really that when Xander had heard what was happening, he would have led me with him instead but here I was stuck in the kitchen like a little maid.My frown deepened when I turned to the maid."And who asked you to defend me?" I demanded."I'm really sorry,.my lady. I actually wanted to..." she began.I was infuriated."You wanted to what? Do you have any idea what you have done?" I demanded angrily."My lady, I only..." she was about to continue when she saw my glare.It was clear that I wanted to hear no more of her excuses. She went silent and I could feel the other ladies loo
XANDER'S POVI still could not really understand this woman and why she wanted us to keep being distant with ourselves. I had initially held her but it would come to seem like she was picking offense with that. I had to walk away because I could no longer bear the tension coming from the want for desire. It was really something. At least, I had lived up to my own end of the bargain and had protected her from Laurel. I could tell that Laurel had been playing games on her and somewhat, Nicolette had not the slightest of ideas who she was dealing with.Lunch eventually happened and we all sat down to eat together, what Laurel had prepared. Little wonder how her cooking had suddenly improved to be this good. Well, I knew Laurel and before she had left me and traveled away, she never had been one to be considered a great cook or this good. Eventually we all ate what she had prepared with no drama which was the best thing for me. I had not the strength to play judge or try to defend myself
LAUREL'S POVCertainly, you did not think I was going to let it rest now, do you?We had sat down to lunch and trust me, it was really great hearing the compliments from Xander's. I just hoped he truly meant them because I was so proud of myself. You know that exalted feeling you get when you did not stress about something and instead had someone else do your dirty job, only for all the praise to be directed to you, well that was just about it for me. I felt on top of the world as we ate. The maids sure as hell had done a really great job with it.I had decided not to freshen up and sat for lunch directly from the kitchen. I would rather it does not seem like I was making a sport or competing with Nicolette. That would certainly be too cheesy a thing to be accused of. She was in no way close to me by every standard, not even in the wicked competition I was cooking up. I was the leader and the head of it all and certainly, the sooner she gets to understand and appreciate that fact, the
ETHAN'S POVI smiled to myself when I ended the call with Laurel. Clever girl she believed she was actually. She thought she had it all figured out with her plans but then, I was way ahead of her in this game to understand what sort of a woman she was. All Laurel wanted was a name for herself and sincerely speaking, there was no way I could give her what she craved for. She was worse than a gold digger. I loved to refer to her kind of person as a leech. All these years, I had condoned her excesses and would provide all she wanted. Whenever I realized she was getting clingy towards me, I had tendencies to go away from her.I am a businessman. So you do not think I was letting myself be used because I wanted to play a game with a woman. That was totally out of option because I would never let anyone around me that had nothing much to contribute to me. I did not harbor Laurel all these years because I loved her or perhaps cared one inch about her emotions. That was totally out of it. The