Holden Cross Novels & Stories

I assumed the farce had finally ended, but as I stood in the luxury boutique listening to the manager's report on last quarter's new arrivals, those same familiar leather soles echoed behind me once more. I turned, and there stood Thomas at the entrance, arm crossed with a scowl. "It's you again! Bumpkins and freaks have no business in high-end stores." He sauntered inside, sizing me up like discarded trash. "We don't sell cheap grocery bags here, old man." His gaze swept the displays before locking on the limited-edition crocodile-skin shoes in the clerk's hands. He said simply, "I'll take those." The clerk hesitated, glancing at me. "Sir..."

He explained and drew an astonishment expression on my face, I looked at Mother Aurelia but I didn’t expect her to look at me with a surprised face as well. “What Hold did you get son?” Mother Aurelia asked Brother Kali in surprise, Brother Kali suddenly looked at me and imitated what I did before – he smiled mischievously and raised his eyebrows. “Death Extinction Hold, mother.” He answered that made a serious expression on Mother Aurelia’s face, then speak… “Another Supreme-like Hold.” …

He crossed to the nurses’ station, spoke in low tones to the doctor, and stood off to the side with his arms crossed. He was here for Ethan. Not for me. The distance was deliberate, and it carved through me deeper than any words. --- Finally, after what felt like hours but must have been minutes, a doctor approached. Everyone rose at once. “Ethan Cole is stable,” she said, her tone brisk but gentle. “He suffered a severe flare-up from an old injury. He pushed far beyond safe limits tonight, and his body gave out under the strain.” Stable. The word should have been enough. But the rest of it — old injury, unsafe, gave out — lodged like shards in my chest.

Not that I was yucking it, but he wasn't my type. He was on the skinnier side, not too skinny but not as bulky as the others. The only thing he had on them was his height. His blond hair whipped around in the wind as I waited on Skye and Haley to come out of the store. Holden had a good jawline and looked good in the suit that Maddox made him wear. But there was just something about a tall, muscular man, and Knox was that man for me. Haley and Skye came out of the store, and Holden opened the door to let them in the SUV. He closed the door behind Skye, heading to the passenger side of the vehicle. He got in, and my driver pulled away from the curb.

She felt it in her bones. Naomi had urged her to leave it alone, to wait for Adrian to come forward. But Amara’s heart ached with a truth she could no longer deny. if she waited for Adrian, she would be waiting forever. He would protect her with silence until there was nothing left between them but walls. And Amara Collins was done living in shadows. Adrian’s phone buzzed on his desk, jolting him from his spiraling thoughts. A message from his head of security lit the screen: Cross spotted leaving a private club in Mayfair. Accompanied by two unknowns. Photos to follow.

"Sir, give me a lottery ticket!" Patrick York darted past me into the convenience store like an arrow. When I heard him breathlessly rattle off that exact string of numbers I knew by heart, I instantly understood: he had been reborn, too. Clutching the ticket, Patrick turned toward me with a smug grin. "Oliver Hutchinson. Sorry, this one's mine." I shrugged, completely unfazed. "I wasn't planning on buying it anyway." He clearly did not believe me. With a sharp scoff, he shoved the ticket into his bag.

“You have a good point there, Keion. I second the nomination.” Ceanna moaned miserably at the same time Nancy gasped indignantly. “We need new blood,” Zach shrugged apologetically. “You lead other things already, anyway, Houghton.” She didn’t look offended, just a little taken aback. As Keion continued with his enthusiastic pitch, Ceanna extended her prayer to request that the Moon Goddess or any other higher power open the ground beneath her at this very moment.

It would be best for everything to develop naturally. Holden went to Sean's house early in the morning the following day. He was working the afternoon shift that day, and he did not have any operations scheduled as well. After he had breakfast early in the morning, he left the house in his car. It took him an hour and a half to drive from the upscale neighborhood downtown where he was staying to the Ford family's luxurious mansion in the suburbs. He had to go through several places along the way, and one of them was the largest train station in South City.

"Miss Rosie, you don't look too well. Should I ask my driver to give you a ride?" asked Corinne. She was not worried about Rosie since she used to hurt her. She just did not want the Holdens to get into trouble should anything happen to Rosie on her way to Anya's house. Holden Group's share price needed some time to recover to its previous height, and it was best not to let another scandal happen to throw a wrench into the whole thing again.