LOGINLACY I've been awake for hours, staring at the chandelier. And then I'd toss to each side of the bed. Then I'd wonder where he was and why he wasn't coming to check on me. Or interrogate me. But then I realized maybe he was still cussing himself out for helping me. Maybe he didn't wanna see me. Maybe he'll send me away today, when it's eventually morning. Those thoughts stayed in my mind, keeping me anxious and fully awake.If he does send me away, where am I gonna go? I don't have any friends here. And I can't go back home. Mad Dog already forbade me from coming home until all this was over. As much as I feel very guilty about dragging Cristian into my mess, I still won't survive it if he throws me out. So yeah, these thoughts wouldn't leave my mind. They kept me awake until the sun came up and was infiltrating the curtains. There was finally a knock on the door, and it made me quickly sit up. My anxiety grew. I've never been so terrified of speaking to him. The door opened, an
Aaliyah I made my way out of the kitchen and was about to take the stairs when I heard footsteps.I rushed down to check who it was; hopefully it was my Daddy. “Hey, baby,” the two men approaching me smiled. It was my Daddy's friends, Michael and Chuck. Uncle Joe wasn't with them. Still, seeing them made me feel a hundred times better. I didn't even bother to wonder why they were here in the middle of the night. They actually come here anytime. So I don't feel weird about it anymore. “Hey! Thank God you guys came.” I rushed to them. I jumped into Chuck's outspread arms. He twirled me around a bit and then dropped me. Michael kissed my cheek. “How you doing, angel?” He asked. “I'm worried. Have you two seen my Daddy?”“What? He's not here?” Chuck asked. “We thought he was here. That's why we came. We have something very urgent to discuss with him.”“Does it have to do with what happened to Mr. Gerald?”“What happened to the biggest shark?” Michael asked. I think that's their nic
AALIYAH I let out an exhausted sigh for the thousandth time and shut the book in my hands. It was a fantasy novel and my little escape from boredom.Except my eyes have stayed on a single line in the last thirty minutes. It was becoming frustrating. So I might as well just drop it. For the first time, my fantasy novels weren't helping. Maybe because it wasn't boredom I was feeling. It was something more intense. Something more aching. Deeper.I grabbed my phone, sighing exasperatedly. There wasn't anything fun to do with it. So I ended up clicking on Lacy's number and going through all the unreplied messages I've sent to her since the holidays. Scrolling through them, I felt a fresh wave of sadness. She hasn't replied to any. I left her a ton of messages on Instagram too. Still no replies.Every day I see these unread messages, I always worry about her. I wonder if she's okay. I get the desire to go look for her if I can. I'm tempted to ask my Daddy to maybe search for her or so
CRISTIANI watched Joe drive in and shut off his engine. I watched him get out of his car, took a glance around, and finally headed to the front door. He barely knocked before I opened it. He came inside, and we did a bro-hug. “What the hell happened?” He asked, immediately I shut the door. “How could you disappear like that?”“Let’s talk in my study,” I said calmly, leading the way. “What are you doing alone in this house? Why didn't you go home?”Home, he meant, was my house with Aaliyah and my late wife. My home. Here was the house I usually brought Lacy to. My other home. I didn't answer him. I just kept walking until I got to my study. He walked inside and whistled. “Nah, this place is tight. I've never been here, right?”“No.” I poured him a drink. He needed it to stay chill for what I was about to say. He accepted the glass and gulped down the drink. I sat at the table, legs crossed and hands in my pockets. Looking as composed as hell while my heart and mind were in shamb
LACY Everything was wrong from the start, right from when Rambo and the men dropped me off at Gerald's hotel. “Take this,” Rambo said, giving me a substance. “Get close enough to put this in his drink. Too much of it, and he'll be dead. Too little, and he won't be unconscious for long. So you figure just the right amount.”The security at the entrance was fucking tight. I tried convincing Rambo if there was another way for me to get in because that entrance was scaring the hell out of me. He insisted I go through the main entrance. I finally got the courage and did. But got stopped and checked. My heart was racing in fear all through that moment. I don't even know how they let me go. But one thing was for sure: they got a very detailed look at my face. I laid my hands on the waitress's outfit and got close enough to Gerald while he was preparing for a meeting. The substance was in the food. I didn't seduce him. He went unconscious after three spoonfuls. I kept calling Rambo, and h
CRISTIAN I was waiting for the illusion in front of me to disappear. But it didn't. She was still standing right there, staring right back at me. I could see my eyes through hers, and boy, was I looking like I just got hit by a tornado. She didn't look shocked to see me. Maybe a bit. But she seemed more panicked about the incoming security. My mind was on a mental treadmill. I took another glance at Gerald Dickson on the floor. And then at her panic-stricken blue eyes. My heart clenched so hard, it hurt. Physically. This was the quickest time I've ever had to decode a situation. And it came with an intense physical pain in my chest.Gerald Dickson's men were almost on us. Gerald Dickson was unconscious. And she, this little Jezebel, was looking at me with the most guilty, enchanting, and devious eyes I've ever seen. I couldn't resist. So I stretched out my hand to her. She quickly ran to me and grabbed it. I pulled her behind me, covering her with my frame just as the men made the
CRISTIAN “There's your bitch.” Chuck whistled in a direction. We all looked and yeah, Aaliyah just came down the stairs with Lacy. They whispered something to each other and giggled. Lacy headed to the main kitchen while Aaliyah headed to the coffee counter. It's actually at the other end of the
LACY “Oh, my baby. You look so big now!” The older lady hugging Aaliyah wouldn't stop gushing. We just arrived at her Father's house and my God, I was still in shock. This place was like a villa or something. A lot of gigantic buildings and servants. The trees gave off country vibes, but the foun
CRISTIAN The knock on the door snapped me out of my funk. I glanced back as the door opened. It was my secretary. “Sorry to disturb you, Sir, but Mr. Joe just arrived.”“Send him in.”She bowed and left. Seconds later, Joe, my best friend stepped inside.“Hey man,” I greeted with all my gloomines
Lacy“Why don't you come with me? It'll be fun.” Aaliyah said from the bathroom where she was brushing her teeth and getting ready for her little vacation. I shrugged with a smile, helping her fold her clothes into her suitcase. She's going home for the holidays. She didn't get to go last year bec







