"She was not Gracey, our families aren't so close anymore. But we're still business associates. That is exactly what I've been trying to explain to you. I and my husband, we didn't invite them. My in-laws did and I felt it was only right to inform you now then keep it away from you. Please understand me, Gracey." June pleaded."Excuse me please." Gracey said, and walked out on June who stood rooted on the spot wondering if she did the right thing telling her. After a few minutes of standing, she finally headed back inside to her siblings."How did that go?" Anna asked once June stepped inside."It was a disaster." She replied"What is a disaster?" Simon asked clueless."I told Gracey that my father in-law invited the Tedsons to my wedding." June replied."Disaster should be an understatement then." Simon told her."Honestly, it actually is." June replied with head bowed."What really happened to her child? I remember there was no baby when I paid her a visit to see you at Baltimore" Si
"I told you." Anna replied. "They can be that way. You should be grateful you noticed this on time. You can still resolve it now, can't you?"Simon's phone rang cutting off June's attempted reply and he looked at his sisters. "That's my cue." He said pointing to his cellphone. I'll see the both of you soon." He said standing up. "Come here." He called to June with open arms. "Do not let the wedding bother you too much." He said giving her a hug. "If you need my help with anything, promise me you'll let me know immediately." He asked."I will." June murmured with a baby voice."I'll see you off." Anna offered."No, I'm fine." He replied. Just stay with her. Bruce is already waiting for me outside. I'll see the both of you by weekend." He told them before stepping out.Once Simon was out of view, June turned to her sister. "He doesn't look too well, what's wrong with him?" She asked."He said he had difficulty sleeping last night." Anna replied. She knew Simon already said that and she
This made Paige flinch. She moved away from his embrace. "You don't have to talk about a fellow human in such a condescending manner." She told him, concerned. "Felix is your brother which is enough reason to show him some respect." She reminded him."Believe me princess." Frankie started, touching her chin with his index finger. "I'm not talking down on Felix. I'm only stating a fact. Felix is kind of useless when it comes to corporate business." He said in a louder tone.But he failed to notice Felix walk up to them in the garden and Paige on seeing Felix, struggled to give Frankie a signal to keep shut. But he kept going on and on about how their father trusts only him to run the family business saying that in his own opinion, Felix could be regarded as handicapped. Poor Felix stood rooted to the floor as his brother who had his back to him kept talking about him in a condescending manner. He felt like the ground should open up so that he could step in. The embarrassment was eviden
"Ahaa!" I knew you were thinking of something. What's on your mind?" He asked with a smile. Paige returned his smile "It's really nothing." She told him. "You have my full attention, tell me more about this friend of yours. Why exactly does he like bringing women down?""Well, he feels a certain kind of fulfillment in breaking women and making them so vulnerable and dependent on him before pushing them away. It's a kind of fetish for him. He works hard to win these ladies and they eventually fall in love with him. He actually goes through a lot to achieve this. You know the calls, messages, gifts, attention, sweet words, compliments, tolerance, money and lots more. He puts in a whole lot of work and when they finally start falling in love with him, he strikes." He said.This spiked Paige's interest the more she directed her whole attention to him. "What exactly does he do to them at this point?""He starts ghosting them, pretending to be extremely busy at work, reducing the number of
Back in the car, Paige kept fuming as they drove the short distance to the main gate of the Kentleys mansion. The tiny road they passed through was laced with bougainvillea on both sides, creating a faux fence, and a driveway wide enough to accommodate two cars going to different directions with adequate space in-between. The driveway glowed with tiny drops of sunlight from the creeping flowers, making a cool design on Paige's laps. "What's with the whole security protocol Nicon?" She asked in dire need of an explanation."I really can't say Miss Paige." Nicon started with his usual line of reply. I was.... ""Nicon please, you don't have to give me the clueless answers again. Not when I'm sure you know what I'm talking about." Paige almost pleaded.She was seriously hoping to hear something tangible, not the answers that always end with, I have no idea. "I really do not know Miss. Paige." Nicon replied, dampening her mood in the process. She sighed. Simon's men have proven to her
"I don't think I want it anymore. I just, I don't want this Frankie. let's just remain friends please."Frankie let out a craze of laughter. "You don't want this? You don't mean that princess. What do you want then, or who do you want rather? Simon Kentley? Did you even want me from the beginning? Or you were just carrying out an experiment on the two wealthy bachelors that have a crush on you?" "Frankie! Paige called. "Don't talk to me like that. I'm not having this discussion with you. Have a good night's rest." She said and hung up immediately.Her phone started blowing up immediately with calls from Frankie, but she chose to ignore him. She quickly made her way to the bathroom while cursing him under her breath, and wondering how she failed to notice this side of him all along.Frankie on the other end sat still, after calling her continuously and getting snubbed. The rage he felt before was replaced with lots of surging emotions that he couldn't put a name to. Ranging from fear,
Simon made his way to the bathroom. If there is anything he needed so badly, it was a cold shower and maybe sleep if he could be lucky to get one. He stepped into the bathtub and the cold surface of the marble tub grazed his skin. This gave him a cold feeling and goosebumps. He switched on the tap, relaxed his head on the head rest and shut his eyes tightly enjoying the cold touch of water from the tap.He thought about Paige, wondered if she was back and what she might be up to. It's been three days away from her and it already feels like a whole year. He imagined how much trouble she must have given Franklin Tedson by now. He recalled how sharp and deadly her tongue was and how cute she was when she pretended to be angry. He missed her terribly. Her inquisitiveness and incessant questions. Her soft hands when she touches him, her face, the feel of her breath on his bare skin. He formed an oval curve with his palms and scooped some water from the bathtub splashing it on his face. T
Faith ran through the whole building in search of Timothy and when she couldn't find him, she checked outside the main building. At this time, everywhere was well tidied up and the villagers that came to help earlier were already leaving for their various homes. She asked a few people around about Timothy and none of them seemed to know where he was. So, she went in search of him at his quarters behind the main building.She met him on call in hushed voices. Once Timothy sighted her, he signaled that she should keep quiet while he continued the call."Everything is good, he doesn't suspect a thing." Timothy whispered into the phone. "We can still go ahead with the plan, I will handle my end." He said, smiling at Faith. Although the smile didn't affect the tone of his voice. "Okay, Let's talk later then."He said, after listening to the caller. He hung up the call and turned to Faith. "Hey baby." Timothy called, with a warm smile."Are we still doing this?" She asked, making an unplea
A gorgeous hostess led them upstairs to a quieter VIP bar that overlooked the stage and dance floor below. They were shown to a small seating area by the balcony and settled at a table hugged by two half-moon velvet sofas. The hostess propped a beverage menu in the center and said, "Your drinks are on the house. Enjoy your evening.""Wow!" Ugo whistled. "We scored.""I think that hawker recognized you from one of your court cases. Because how the hell are we getting such VIP treatment when we're yet to spend a dime." Daisy said out loud."Wouldn't that rock." Ugo grinned. "Or it could be the chef guy.... That dude is full of surprises. I've gotten too many gifts than I can't count since I met him. Yet, he's not interested in hitting this ass." "He could be pretending." Daisy fixed in. "Or taking it slow. The good old ways. He might be hoping to win you over thoroughly before making a move. In order words, he wants you to....""Loose my damn guard. Mmmm, not happening, not gonna happ
"Look what I brought you." Daisy said instead of arguing. She pulled the champagne bottle and the chocolates and crackers out of the paper bag. "I'm not quite sure how cold the champagne is anymore, but we still have to drink it. And I heroically saved all of them, including the chocolates and crackers from the guy I was stuck in the elevator with, so we’d better enjoy them.""Well, of course we still have to drink that champagne. Give me that." Ugo grabbed the hotel water glasses as Daisy pulled the foil off the champagne bottle. "I can’t believe you were stuck in the elevator all that time. And why weren’t you texting me back. Was your battery out?" "Okay, there’s a story there, but let’s toast to you first before I get into all of that." Daisy twisted the metal lid open and pulled out the cork with a gentle pop. After she poured a healthy amount into each of their glasses, she held hers up. "To Ugo Chike, the first black female partner at Jade and Judy, in over ten years. To a br
"I've been doing fine for years now. Please just go back to wherever you're coming from and let me be."Brett moved over to her and crotched down opposite her. "Go on a date with me, over the weekend."Daisy burst into laughter. "Is this guy a joke or something." She asked rhetorically, loud enough to Brett's hearing. "No.""Come on.....""I'm not going on any godforsaken date with you Mr Lexington. Not in your wildest dream.""Okay." he said pushing two open hands forward to calm her down. "Go to a fundraiser with me then. Technically, I wanted you to be my plus-one at the fundraiser organized by the Mayor over the weekend and maybe we could go on a date afterwards. But since you said no date, let's go to the fundraiser together." He offered."No.""Daiz. I promise you, if after the fundraiser, you decide that you don't want to be see me ever again. I won't bother you. Just this once, please?"Daisy became calm for a moment. She looked up at his angelic face and watched him flash a s
CHAPTER 1"What time do you even plan on getting here. Are you sure you're still coming?" Daisy listened to Ugo whine over the phone."I'm all dressed up already. You'll see me soon, I promise. I just had a really stressful day at work and I had to make a quick stop at home to get into a more comfortable footwear." she tried explaining. Pushing the door of her walk-in closet close, she pulled a black leather jacket across her black singlet, sat on the bed and bent low to buckle her sandals when she heard Ugo's next words."You're changing footwear? Don't tell me you plan on wearing any of those boring flat sandals of yours.""Something wrong my flats?" "Really, you're going to ask me that." Ugo boiled."We're going out to celebrate for crying out loud. You have to look the part. Put on a pair of those gorgeous Louboutins you got there. Why do you splash so much money on exotic footwear when you don't wear them.""Hello, are you forgetting something? You're forgetting that you make me
Dear Reader,Thank you so much for doing this journey with us.Simon, Paige and myself are grateful for your love, votes, comments, referrals and kind wishesSadly, we've come to the end of this beautiful love story. You all would agree with me that Paige is one hell of a lucky lady a d Simon is so blessed to have her.If you enjoyed their love story, then you would love my second book, "YOU ARE MINE FOR KEEPS." The next few pages are free chapters from the new book. You can check them out❤️~A Hopeless RomanticChristabelradiance xoxo
Paige was more shaken than she cared to admit. Somehow she did not expect Stefan to openly confess his infidelity. She had thought perhaps he would attempt to deny it."Why, Stefan?"He reached for her hands, but she pulled them out of his reach. "Why, Paige? Because you were always so unapproachable. There were times when you turned me on, made me so hot that I thought I was going to explode... and ......... and then you would just put up that damned 'don't touch me' shield. And when you did that I had to have someone else. Any woman.""You're a liar, Stefan. Why didn't you tell me that you wanted me?"He managed a winning smile. "I guess way back in my head I wanted to save you for marriage."Paige's smile was cynical and sinister. "It's too bad you didn't save Aurora, because I'm history, Stefan Riley."She stood up, holding her glass. Stefan never had time to react when she walked to his side and emptied the glass in his lap.She replaced the glass on the table, smiling. "That shou
The next morning, Paige woke up to an empty bed. Simon didn't come in throughout the night and she was just too stubborn to go to him. She sighed, had a quick shower and left to grab a quick coffee in the kitchen. Veronica was prepping their breakfast when she showed up and she took two biscuits from the freshly baked ones and cup of coffee."Have a nice day Mrs. Veronica." She called."You too ma. But won't you eat something better than just biscuits? I'm baking banana bread." She called after Paige."Yummy, keep some for me. I'll be back in a couple of hours." She replied from the living room. She scanned the house and saw no trace of Simon. Gulping down her coffee and biscuits she rushed to the kitchen to wash the cup but it was taken by Veronica. "I'll do that ma'am." She offered. "Thank you so much." She grabbed her phone and sent Simon a quick text telling him where she was headed before opening the door. Nicon appeared almost immediately, neatly dressed and ready to go wher
They floated together, each motion smooth and fluid as if the music had been choreographed just for them and them alone. Unspoken whispers and desires raced back and forth, telegraphing a savage hunger, a desperate need. Their bodies were in perfect harmony. Paige needed and Simon fed her.The desire to share her body with Simon Kentley surpassed all reason and common sense. But at that moment common sense was what Paige lacked most. She wanted to experience the waves of ecstasy he had given her earlier; she wanted the peace Simon offered, and in turn she would give him the love he sought from a woman.The musical selection ended and Simon led Paige through the throng. The next number was a rocking, upbeat tempo which got everyone to their feet, moving in time to the pounding, driving rhythm.Simon caught Tenor's arm. "We'll be on our way now.""You're leaving?" Tenor asked. Simon nodded, and Paige was as surprised as Tenor. "Give them whatever they want," he informed Tenor."You're
Fiona boldly walked up to them and flashed a smile."Who the hell let this pest in for god's sake." Simon swore under his breath making Paige giggle. "Hi Mr. Kentley." Fiona started with her annoying voice. "Miss Ruben, how are you?" Simon called coldly but Fiona did not seem to notice the coldness in his voice. "I'm managing to survive." She replied. Leaning forward, she peered at Paige. "Hi there, it's you again." She smiled "Won't you introduce us officially Mr. Kentley. I mean we're all here because of her." She said, draping her arm on Simon's hand.He gently removed her arm. "Miss Ruben, this is Paige Patterson, my girlfriend."A frown marred Fiona's beautiful face. "Your girlfriend." She murmured in annoyance."Fiona's father is a business pal of my dad's," Simon stated, deliberately ignoring Fiona. "This woman is no fucking girlfriend of yours!" Fiona shouted.Paige reacted as if she had been shot. Fiona's voice was strident, hysterical. Heads turned in their direction.Sim