جميع فصول : الفصل -الفصل 50

TheoAs at the previous day, I had no arrangements to travel out of the states but I couldn't bear her sneaking out of the house and walking on eggshells.Sitting there, in the middle of my study flipping through a book I couldn't make sense of, her words kept replaying in my head like a broken record. I was just like him.Like the same fucking Keith who caused her hurt. And the crazy thing is, I still didn't know exactly what he did, but the tremble in her body and the cold sweats was enough indication that Keith was a douchebag.I slammed the book shut, just then Sergei sauntered in holding up two steaming mugs.“I brought hot chocolate.” He said and set the mugs on the desk.I tsked, then glanced outside the window, taking in the blanket of white that covered the world below, “is it Christmas already?”“Ha Ha. Funny.” Sergei deadpannedI cracked a smile and took a seat.He turned the mug handle towards me. “It's freezing here in Siberia.”I slurped some of the thick hot liquid. It

MirabellaThe fluorescent lights in the precinct buzzed above me. I wasn't sure what over stimulated me, the bad lighting or the incessant buzzing of telephones.If fish jump out of water, this is what it would look like.I sat on the hard plastic chair, arms wrapped around myself, watching Officer Reyes type my statement with two fingers like the keyboard owed him money. His plaque and badge had his name oddly bolder than the rest of the officers.He was still typing and every letter felt like an hour. I'd been here an hour already and I couldn't stop tapping my feet. I needed to go back. Back to my studio where I could breathe, even though it was unsafe currently. The incessant beeping sound was pulling me further from the one thing I actually wanted, which was to go back to my studio and see for myself that Antoinette was really gone, that I hadn't imagined the empty space. I kept thinking about Zoya. And the Minister's death."And you're certain nothing else was taken," Reyes sai

Harper My penthouse had never felt this small and it was all because she was standing in it. Mirabella stood by the floor-to-ceiling windows, arms still wrapped around herself out of habit more than cold now, watching the city glitter beneath us. She was staring ahead, into the nothingness. I poured two glasses of wine I doubted either of us would finish and told myself, for the hundredth time in three years, that I wasn't doing anything wrong. I wasn't. If my brother had exposed her the way he did and still couldn't protect her, I would protect her. She was my brother's wife. She was also, and had always been, the only woman who'd ever made me feel like the version of myself I actually wanted to be, instead of the version my family spent thirty years constructing out of expectation and money. I handed her a glass and went hard to light the fireplace. "You don't

Mirabella The Hartley family house smelled like cedar and old money, it had that same smell the very first time I stepped into their home and it lingered on your skin even after you're gone, almost like the scent seeped into the wood and velvet foam of the chairs. I sat at the long dining table, wrapped in a wool shawl that smelled faintly of lavender. I kept my hands busy, tracing the seam of it with my thumb over and over to keep myself from unraveling. Gracie had draped it over my shoulders earlier when I first arrived and made me a cup of tea. I felt warm and it wasn't because of the tea but because of how tenderly she looked at me and just knew exactly what I needed without a single question attached, and it was the gentlest anyone had been to me in days.She'd say with me for a while, holding my hands and whispering that it will be okay and she made me believe it will.I always wondered why Theo and Gracie never got along despite

MirabellaCass took my hands in hers. “Keith…” she stalled her words. “Don't you think you should tell Theo.” She paused again. “Bella, he can protect you.”I was already shaking my head but she tugged me slightly. “Bella, not telling him is protecting Keith from getting what he deserves.”I pulled away from her. “Cassie, I don't want Theo involved in my life more than he already is.” It was true. All of this was fake, all of this will end after a year and I would be left with the residuals so it was best to keep my life to myself and his to himself.I couldn't tell her I was almost frightened of Theo too just as I was with Keith even though Theo was different.She took my hand again and heaved a loud okay. “It's alright.” A mischievous glint lit up her eyes. And I could guess what was coming."So you kissed him?" she squealed, searching for something in my face.I turned from her befor