Virginia’s POV
They say there is no rest for the wicked so why isn't Damien exhausted? Maybe he just hid it well in the arrogant smiles he gave as he wrapped his sly fingers around Aimee's thigh and she leaned into him, feeding the belief that he was a decent enough man to land someone as amazing as her. The thought made me nauseated and drove me to drink a bit more at dinner than I usually chose. That paired with an empty stomach sent me to the bathroom with a dizzying nausea as I couldn't take the way Brooks shook his head at me in disgust. I knew what he must have thought and I couldn't confirm or deny without putting Landon at risk. Especially since he was here, and I knew that Damien didn't do anything without a few extra plans under his sleeve.
I splashed water in front of my face, trying to counter the clamminess, but found it only ruined what little m
Brooks’ POV I'd lost high profile cases. Been cheated on. Embarrassed and divorced. And still nothing hurt like seeing Damien come from that hallway with a shit-eating grin with Virginia soon to follow behind. But she wasn't alone and she wasn't as fresh faced as she had been with me after I nearly made her come a few months prior. Instead, she was almost...mourning. It had to have been the guilt as she wrapped her fingers between Landon's as Aimee pulled my attention back to the beach through the living room window. I tried to think about anything but how bold Virginia could be with her best friend's boyfriend. In my house. After we shared that moment on the beach. After the interaction at the pool. After it changed, fell apart, and changed again. Maybe she was a glutton for pain. Maybe I was, because I started to see things that weren't really there. Like pain in her eyes when it was really guilt for wh
*This chapter may contain elements that are triggering for some readers. Such details include attempted assault, please read with discretion or skip this chapter altogether.* Virginia's POV How could someone who single handedly gave me the warmest moments of my life also be responsible for some of the coldest? Each of our arguments came from repressed passion, aside from the latest. That was in pure judgment. I didn't know the details about his fallout with Camille but his preconceived notions about Damien were anything but accurate. In fact, they couldn't have been more wrong. But with my inability to correct him as it could put Landon at risk, I was more angry at myself for the circumstances getting this far. For running and thinking I could get away to begin with. I was my mother's daughter after all; I was supposed to stay i
Brooks' POV It had been four hours since the final police officer finally drove off of my property and yet Virginia was not any closer to coming out of her catatonia. When the detectives asked her about her involvement with Damien prior to tonight, she just stared forward with her fingers flexing as if reaching for something. Although a risk of setting off a trigger, I laced our fingers and she clung tight. This is where I remained for the majority of the night. When she did manage to fall asleep, she would jolt awake when I attempted to pull away to get ice for my knuckles, only finding solace from her screams when I replaced my fingers from her loss. She didn't speak a word or even meet my eyes but I knew it was the only thing keeping her tethered to reality. Ten seconds later than I would have been and who knows the state she might have been in. So i
*This chapter might contain triggering situations for some readers, read with discretion.* Brooks' POV Almost as if coming full circle, I sat at my desk with my temples between my fingers in the attempt to rub this consistent ache away. I'd tried to work from home the last two weeks since we came back from New York but found the disarray of my office bleeding into midnight emails and clients dropping my name as they didn't believe I put care into my reputation anymore. I decided to come in only half-day, the same resumes of possible assistants and nannies still on my desk, pushed aside and forgotten. "Mister Callahan?" Delaney called into my office through the phone's intercom. I told her unless it was about Landon then I didn't want to be bothered as anyone notable had my contact themselves. This was why when she alerted me, my spine
Virginia's POV Words seemed to dull into paste on my tongue for the better part of two weeks and the ones that finally came to the surface were so heavy with confession that I wish I'd choked on them. I told him I loved him. It wasn't a truth I was even aware of until it left my lips and broke through to understandable English. And yet it felt right. Just not how I'd imagined telling somebody I loved them for the first time would end up. I thought I'd be kissed or at least given some form of reciprocation. Instead, Brooks let me sprint down the stairs, almost breaking my ankle, and into Aimee's apartment. We had texted since New York but this was the first time seeing each other in person and once we had, we both broke down into tears. An hour later and I was tipsy on expensive wine and cheap stories, we were falling asleep to reruns of The Vampire Diaries. Pulling one of her plush afghans over her, I moved into the bathroom to use the toothbrush she kept for
Brooks' POV I quit. I'd imagined letting her go at least a hundred times from unrelenting lust and pure spite alone. But hearing the end come from her lips took the ability to breathe completely away from me. Although it had only been approximately three months, I couldn't imagine her no longer a part of our routine. The mere idea of her no longer sitting at our breakfast table with burnt bacon and undercooked pancakes resituated my heart deep into my gut to such a depth that it weighed there with nausea. Thinking of her no longer being the first or last face Landon and I saw before the end of our day and beginning the next cinched my chest in on itself as if being pulled by invisible stri
Virginia's POV I expected an argument, not this. Not the feeling of his lips gently guiding mine apart until he could slip his tongue into a slow coaxing of my own. The first kiss had been enough to surprise me but this one was overwhelming. All because it was quietly demanding in a way his hands took stock in my hips until pushing me against the glass, his knee rose to the apex between my legs, and his mouth was a slow assurance from my mouth to my jaw, and gradual to my neck. The smirk against my skin made me moan enough to motivate him further, and before I could remember why I was mad or the fact I was leaving, he was lifting me against the glass until I was reliant on his strength. I gasped to the surprise lift and he grinned up at me. "I'll ne
Brooks' POV "You told me it wasn't over..." She pouted as I kissed away at the plump bottom lip. "I can't control myself around you-" I began, her face shifting from nervousness to a subtle confidence that blossomed her beauty into something like a goddess. "Then don't." Goddamn, this woman. I looked over her shoulder and to the four poster bed before imagining what would transpire. A quick shedding of clothes. Heavy petting. French kisses until breathless. Pulling her thighs apart and then those lower lips until I had her soaking my tongue one more time. Maybe two. When wet, I'd shove my angry cock inside of her with merc