All Chapters of A Second Bite At The Cherry: Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

ELEVEN PENELOPE I got into the car right after that and drove not carefully and not slowly back to my initial destination. My feet pressed down hard on the accelerator in a bid to put distance between myself and that ill-fated corner where Gerald Howe's crumpled car still lay. Even the sound of the woman who stood beside me saying his name like it was already past tense kept ringing in my ears no matter what I did to push it right out of my head. And my hands had not even stopped shaking by the time my car pulled into my office parking lot. Same with my mind. I cut the engine and was reaching for the door handle when it hit me hard then—some kind of sharp and sudden pain going directly through the centre of my chest. It was not from the grief I admitted to feeling and most definitely was not from fear either. But I had no word for it, no words to describe the crippling pain. Petra awakened inside of me as my body collapsed back against the chair with my mouth opening. I w

THIRTEEN LORCANI was quick to notice that my office was much quieter after Penelope left while I stood at the window.For a moment, I just looked out at the city below and let the quiet in there settle deep inside of me before I slowly turned back to my desk.I had been back for eleven days.Eleven fucking days since I had opened my eyes in my old bedroom.Back in time.All the way back.And when I had sat up in bed with a gasp, I was shocked, confused, with the full weight of the life I had already lived before pressing down on my chest like the anchor of a ship.When I had checked the time and checked the date, my mouth had fallen open, gaping in surprise.It was three years ago.I was back to the time when my heart had been broken by Penelope's engagement to Duke.After that realization, I had lain there for a long time—long enough to be certain it was real, long enough to understand what I had been given and what I was expected to do with it—before I finally moved.In my first

FIFTEEN DUKE This morning, I had watched the trading screen for about twenty minutes, lying to myself that everything would stabilise. But the damn numbers were still falling when I walked into the conference room—it had not stabilised because every major investor who was connected to the Davenport merger had begun pulling back the moment the restaurant video went viral. And the withdrawals had triggered a chain reaction that my financial team was now describing with words like significant and ongoing. Penelope had taken her pack's backing and walked out on me with the market noticing the change immediately. I straightened my tie in the glass reflection of the conference room door before I went inside. The reporters for the conference were already seated there—ten of them. And they had come with cameras and recorders which were arranged along the front table, alongside microphones. I had called this conference myself because the narrative circulating online needed serious re

SEVENTEEN PENELOPE My constant pacing over the same stretch of floor between the large french windows and the foot of the king sized bed had almost worn a visible path in the bedroom rug by ten in the morning. I knew I was pacing relentlessly, but knowing that did not stop me. When I finally stopped, it was at the foot of the bed, a move made in order for me to lean down and reach my cell phone just sitting idly on the bed. I had checked the damn device about four times in the last twenty minutes, fingers refreshing the same page twice without reading what was on it. Anxiety. And my wolf? Petra? She was no help. Petra had been unsettled ever since I woke up that morning. There was this feeling that surrounded me then—not fear exactly, more like an ominous feeling of anticipation. I was anticipating something that I thought would break me down, my mind preparing itself for the pain, just bracing myself for the hard impact. Deep down, I could feel the presence that had n

NINETEEN PENELOPE Rafael was slowly getting angry as he recounted what Duke had done, hands clenching, jaw tight, lips thinning. But I wasn't surprised. Duke had always been greedy. “I will end that bastard.” He slammed his fist on the table, looking up at me. I kept my expression neutral. "That must have been costly," I added with an even tone, watching him. He nodded. "It was costly, both in money and in reputation," he said. "Both of which I intend to recover from him soon. His gaze on me was steady. "And I know that you will help me, Mrs Callahan,” he said, leaning forward on his elbow, “because the enemy of my enemy," he started to say. "...is your friend," I finished. He nodded, a satisfied smile playing gently at the corner of his lips. "I have resources that you could make good use of,” he continued. “There are several contacts that I planted a long time ago inside Duke’s empire, men that the fool thinks are loyal to him.” My head tilted. “And they can bring