Awakened by a painful ache in her back, Lana blinked slowly, trying to place the contemporary crown molding on the ceiling. It surely wasn’t her bedroom, and the memories came rushing back when her eyes landed on Danny's scowl. Even in his sleep he was intimidating.After a long night of fighting, Lana found it difficult to sit up, her abdomen sore from a collision with a wall. After berating her while finishing off a bottle of brandy, Dan began shoving Lana between threats. He couldn’t believe she had actually moved on and started a new life without him, and vowed to take her to pack up her apartment first thing in the morning. He wanted Lana to pack everything up and move back to California, but the more she thought about it, the more certain she was that giving up her life as she knew now it wasn’t an option.It had taken too long and too much effort for Lana to build up to the safe space she now depended on. Her life wasn’t perfect, but she had the freedom to be herself and

Sitting in his living room, Xyrus stretched out on the sectional sofa. He’d finished the last of his third glass of whiskey, which he had decided must be his last. It was unlike him to drink that much, but his mind had been racing since he left the charity event. The night was passing slower than usual, his thoughts forcing him to replay one of the craziest nights of his life. It still didn’t feel real, learning that Lana was married. Xyrus had so many questions, but without a way to find the truth, he tried to convince himself to let it go.Helplessness wasn’t a feeling he was used to. Running a billion-dollar empire left Xyrus feeling powerful. There was rarely a time he couldn’t bring his visions to life or find a way to achieve anything he set his mind to. In some ways he appreciated being able to feel emotions that he hadn’t felt in years. Without sharing his life with a woman for so long, Xy wasn’t used to thinking of someone else or considering their safety above his

      With his nerve inknots, Xyrus watched Lana take a deep breath, preparing to tell him her story. He had wanted answers, but now that they were staring him in the face, he wasn’t sure he was ready.      Things had been so perfect, right up until they weren’t, and he wanted to know what had ruined them. But he didn’t want to ruin the good times they had shared together. It was a tricky place to be, but when Lana's eyes connected with his, he knew he was out of time.“The man that came to the event last night was Danny Asunta Buenaford. His mother is Filipina like me, and his Dad is American. Of course, he is technically speaking, he is my husband.”   Lana's admission was made with shame in her eyes and Xyrus instantly felt guilty for the anger he had felt.When Lana used the word husband, he felt defensive and territorial, ready to tear this ma

“Mr. Ashington, I think, we should at least try to refurbish last year’s designs if we’re not going to use them,” Eros pleaded. He was in charge of the inventory of pet accessories and Xyrus's latest decision to get rid of the older designs sent him in a frenzy. “Eros, I’ll give you forty-eight hours to come up with a profitable alternative, but it just seems to me that we’re carrying over a loss.” Xy doubled down on his point. It was the third meeting of the morning for Xyrus, and he could feel himself getting more uptight as the minutes passed. He couldn’t focus the way he used to, blocking out everything around him. Leaving Lana alone had left him feeling anxious, hoping nothing happened while he was away. Meanwhile, he’d also been trying to work through all Lana had told him about her past relationship with her husband, which was still a strange concept for Xyrus to accept. He just couldn’t wrap his mind around Lana running from one city to the next, trying to escape the c

"Do you see what I mean? You just need to find a way to alter the design for less than your inventory cost,” Xyrus explained, as he pointed to the statistical report in front of him.Glancing at the sheet, Eros nodded in agreement. “Yeah, but Xyrus, these aren’t the same type of costumes as the new designs.”“That’s why I suggested just scrapping them altogether. Donate them to a charity or find a better use for them, but the cost of storing them has made them too expensive to continue to carry over,” Xyrys said.Eros nodded again before telling Xy he would draw up some solutions and send them over to his office. It was another meeting that Xy insisted on scheduling. After his morning reign of terror, he wanted to correct the relationships he might have damaged, or at least altered. Eros was one of his oldest employees, joining the company when they first bought commercial space, so he didn’t want to offend or ostracize such an integral part of his organization. When his mind was f