Mason didn’t answer, only starting to untie the knots around her wrists. And when they fell away she was able to uncurl from the ball she'd subconsciously contorted herself into. Her arms and legs ached like crazy, even all over: but she still couldn’t believe Mason was actually there….to save her?The noisy wails of sirens blared outside the building“You called the police?”"Why did you leave?" He bluntly asked.Gianna's throat constricted as she stared back at him.“Huh?”"I asked you a question,” he met her eyes squarely and she looked away to the ropes around her feet which he was still busy with."I left because I'm not interested anymore. In any of this.""Is this about the other night?" It was the way his voice was seemingly devoid of inflection that made unease prickle her nerves.God, she was so tired.Not just physically drained, she was tired straight down to her bones and soul. Her head was still pounding dully from there where Marco had pulled her hair earlier."You know
"There she is!" Sonia exclaimed, spreading her arms wide.Gianna made her way down the staircase with a broad smile stretching past her face, and waiting at the bottom was Sonia."Girl, take it easy on those steps."Gianna ran into her friend’s arms and melted into the tight hug. It had been a little close to two weeks since she’d last seen her best friend, but it felt like several months and gone by already. Although, they communicated online often, it still wasn’t as satisfying as seeing each other’s faces."I was so worried about you," Sonia’s voice was muffled against Gianna's shoulder."That scumbag Marco..."“He’s right where he belongs now,” Gianna replied, more like she didn’t want to be bothered by that bad news of a person."I'm just happy to see your face. There's hardly ever anyone around here besides the staff. Come on,"She looped her arm through Sonia's and led them both up the staircase.“And how is your health so far?”"Better, thanks. But the doctor recommended stayi
"Mason!"Gianna flung the folder in her hands off and rushed to him. The strain of his muscles were visible on his face as a moan grated out from somewhere in his chest. Gianna quickly ducked under his arm to pull his spasming body off the desk, grunting from his weight on her shoulder as she managed to lever him against her legs.His head and shoulders were cradled on her thighs to steady him."Hey, hey…. shhhh, it's okay," she heard her own voice fighting to gain control of the situation.She ripped off the top few buttons of his shirt and slid her hand beneath it to contact his chest directly.The torrid heat of his hammering heartbeat vibrated vigorously under her hand but she kept on stroking her hand in circles up and down his pectorals."It's okay…you’re fine…you’re fine…,I'm right here..." she kept saying these words, but they weren’t doing much to soothe him eitherHis entire body kept hackhammering against her with so much force that she could no longer keep holding him. His
The room spun around for a bit, slowly settling to a stop in front of Mason’s eyes as they blinked open. His head felt like it was stuffed with cotton. This was from the effects of whatever sedative had been administered into his system. He raised his hand to probe a spot on his temple where he'd hit the floor during his seizure.The ache still swam around his skull, however minimal. Careful not to jostle himself too quickly, he shifted to his side to sit up.That was when his eyes docked on Gianna who was fast asleep next to him on the edge of the mattress. One of her arms pillowed her cheek while her head rested slightly on the headboard as she sat on the floor. He could hear the faint inhales and exhales coming out of her narrowly parted lips.As if then, he started to hear her voice in his head, from when she was tending to him earlier and he started to take in the scent of whatever she had put on him earlier, which was oddly comforting despite the fog clouding his psyche.More kn
“You just had to fall asleep there,” she scolded herself lightly when she returned to her room—back to the scattered mess she’d made while frantically searching for oils earlier on.She sighed and began to tidy things up. She spared the empty bottle of Neroli oil a few more seconds of a stare before upending it and catching the last pathetic drops of it in her palm without thinking. Then she rubbed the oil between her hands before massaging it into the back of her neck, also staring at her reflection in the mirror.For some reason, the scent of it transported her back to her time at the orphanage where she'd spent most of her childhood. Sister Margaret had always kept a small bottle of neroli oil in the infirmary, using it to soothe the different types of aches and pains the children had. Not that her childhood was a fairy kind of tale.St. Mary's Home for Children had played equal parts of a sanctuary and a prison. It had been her home, but it was never really “home”. Not when she st
Gianna blinked quickly at the flashbulbs exploding like a thousand miniature suns in her retinas as soon as she got ushered out of the car.“Mrs. Caldwell, this way,” said someone, who most likely was the one with a hand on her elbow, gently guiding her through the writhing mass of bodies and voices around her. Microphones were thrust into her face like accusing fingers and questions were flying at her from all directions.She wasn’t used to being in the spotlight, and what she would often call ‘her moment’ were merely background roles or blink-and-you'll-miss-it scenes in movies. But tonight, she was the headliner.She ran through her speech in her head for the millionth time, although she was going to be reading off a script. She was still scared she might make a mistake and mess it up.Only, she didn’t. The event she attended in Mason’s stead turned out well, and her role in it was perfect.“Look at you being all proper wife and all,” Sonia teased Gianna.“Shut up,” Gianna groaned,
“Go with your brother, Ninny.” The six year old stared innocently at her mother, then at her father who gave her an encouraging nod. “Where are mama and papa going?” The girl asked. “Somewhere,” her father answered as he crouched down to her eye level and ruffled her short bob fondly. He also did the same with her older brother, who was standing next to her. He was ten. The little boy looked like he had more questions to ask his parents as well, but he said nothing, making do with the vague answers their parents were giving to their queries. It had all happened suddenly that morning, when their parents had them pack their belongings and moved them to this strange house. To top it all, their parents were not going to be staying with them in the new house. Their suitcases were still in the car, meaning they were going somewhere else. “Be a good girl, okay my love?” Her mother caressed her soft, chubby cheek. “And you too, sweetheart,” she smiled at her the girl’s brother. He nodd
‘Finn? Finn, where are you?’ Little Ninny’s voice Gianna’s voice echoed in her head like a ghostly remnant of a long-forgotten past. She recalled that scary night she was stumbling through shadowy hallways with a torch in hand, searching for her brother and crying alone in the dark when she couldn't find him. “F-F-Finn?” she stammered into the phone. The hand with which she held the phone was starting to tremble, so she had to hold it down with her other hand. “Is it really you?” “I've missed you so much,” the voice on the other end replied, thick with emotion. “I looked everywhere…” Gianna stepped out of the way of some passersby, now standing by the side of the steps. She still couldn’t believe her ears. As much as this person on the phone claimed to be her brother, and her heart was eager for this whole thing to be true, she still couldn’t afford to throw so much caution to the wind. In a world where scams and frauds were rampant, desperate people fell victim to false promise
Golden morning light filtering through gossamer curtains showed Mason slowly surfacing from the arms of sleep. He huffed satisfactorily in the bed sheets as he cradled Gianna’s bare back closer to himself. He pressed his nose into the back of her head and then nuzzled his lips in the curve where her neck met her shoulder.Mason deeply inhaled her scent, which smelled like honey today, unlike the rosewater scent Gianna usually had.“Mhmmm….” Mason murmured with sleep, fingertips tracing lazy circles along her skin as she shifted closer with a pleased sigh. Mason smiled against her hair.“Morning sweetheart.”She twisted to face him and Mason’s grey eyes appraised her morning beauty, with no makeup, raven hair tumbling over creamy shoulders, full lips curved up beguilingly. He suddenly froze. Mason’s brain had just caught up to the waking world. Shock rocketed through his system, and he sprung upright….…because the woman gazing back at him was not Gianna.“Olivia?! What...how are yo
Both men stopped as the gleaming doors slid open to reveal Mason's chauffeur standing by the open backseat of the car outside. Mason sighed.“Fine, I’ll branch there on my way home.”“Should I come with? ““No need. Been overworking you lately already. Why don’t head back home to SoniaPink tinged Darrell's tanned cheeks even as he smiled gratefully. “Fine then. See you tomorrow.”With an encouraging pat to Darrell's back, Mason folded himself into the backseat and soon, the vehicle pulled smoothly into downtown traffic, his stern countenance giving way to contemplative fatigue. Soon, the long drive ended in Klent’s sprawling estate. Mason stepped out as soon as the car pulled over, and smartly dressed butler greeted Mason on the mosaic tile steps. "Welcome Mr. Caldwell. Please follow me.”The man turned on his heel and led the way beneath a soaring entrance arch. Their polished oxfords sank into decadent Persian rugs lining the wide corridors as they walked deeper into the house.
***I can help you.***Olivia stared at the text message glowing from her phone screen. She frowned, sitting up in her bed. Who was this from? And what did they think they could help her with?She set the phone back down on the bed and rolled over, trying to force herself to sleep. It had been such a humiliating and unproductive day, to say the least. Even when she closed her eyes all she saw was Mason and Gianna, and it caused her to fume all over again.Olivia ground her teeth.That insipid woman had somehow gotten her claws even deeper into Mason than Olivia realized. It made her blood boil to think of Gianna smirking in victory now, wrapped safely in Mason's arms in the bed that should rightfully be Olivia's. She sat upright with a frustrated growl. Olivia fledged her fingers, wishing they were wrapped around the column of Gianna's throat. It wasn't fair. None of this was fair. Mason was hers to begin with! How could he just replace her with that gold digger? Or was he only tryi
She turned her face immediately to Mason in the driver's seat, whose jaw was locked as he stared beyond the windshield.Sonia released a measured breath.“I'm not trying to make a habit of getting in the middle of your personal issues—““If you're here to lecture me, save it,” Mason cut in, much to Sonia’s amusement. “I didn't exactly drag or force you down to this cozy parking lot rendezvous, now did I? Which means you wanted to hear my lecture,” Sonia eyed him pragmatically. She then smiled faintly as she met her eyes stray again towards the park. They could both hear the raucous shrieks of the children, as well as the more muted sounds of people simply enjoying the evening.“Gianna cried her eyes out for hours at my place, you know?” Sonia informed melancholically, now observing a young father energetically push his giggling son on the swings. “She's beside herself with regret over the whole thing.”She then angled herself slightly towards Mason, openly studying his stony profile
She wouldn’t stop. The tears continued to leak down her cheeks no matter how many times she angrily swiped them away.“Tell me what’s fucking wrong!” Sonia asked for the umpteenth time, but Gianna wouldn’t give her a response, instead, she continued to cry, until it turned into coughs.“You’ve been crying since you got here,” Sonia said carefully when Gianna's sobs finally began to subside into sniffles. She looked at Gianna squarely in her puffy, reddened eyes. “You’re scaring me now. Did something happen with Mason? Did he do something to you?”The mere mention of her husband's name sent a ripple of fresh pain lancing through Gianna's heart. She shook her head vehemently and managed to squeak out a reply between hiccuping gasps.“I'm such a fool, Sonia, I'm the one who screwed everything up. I'm such an idiot!” Sonia frowned with worry as she held Gianna tighter, stroking her hair. “It’s alright, it's okay. Just take a breath and tell me what's going on.”Gianna sat up and stare
"You've still gotten Mason in the palm of your hands, right? Then I'd like to see you fight tooth and nail to prove it..."His eyes landed on the two women sizing each other up. Olivia's serpentine smirk witheredas their gazes met his and Gianna gasped mutely on seeing him.He slowly walked up where they stood, but without saying anything, walked past them and strode up the stairs, shrugging off his suit jacket with an eerie calm.Gianna shot Olivia a hard look before running up after Mason.Right outside the bedroom door, Gianna sighed and palmed her forehead as if that would help her squeeze out an excuse for why she'd entertained such idiocy in the first place. In the room, she watched him bang the nightstand drawer open and drop his cufflinks inside, still silent as a statue."Mason..."He still didn't make a sound, not even when he unbuckled that belt and pooled his pants on the floor before walking into the bathroom. Gianna quickly went to her to pick up his clothes from the flo
Packing up his things to head home after work had become one of Mason’s favorite parts of his every day. Another stressful day had come to a close. He returned the nods and greetings of others as he walked through the hallway, towards the elevators that led straight to the parking garage.When the doors opened, and he stepped in, there were already two other men in the space, talking intently. They didn’t even seem to notice him coming in because of how engrossed they were in their discussion.He stood quietly behind them as he waited for the short ride to be over.“I'm telling you, it’s been over a month ago, and she’s still pissed.” This was the younger of the two men speaking and gesticulating emphatically into the air. He looked like he was nearing his forties, by Mason's estimate. While the other one was likely pushing sixty. He shook his head disapprovingly, “Well, to be fair, your little plan was idiotic.”“It wasn’t my plan. And I’m telling you it’s not my fault, are you eve
Gianna's hands immediately began to shiver and the cardboard box trembled precariously in her grasp. She stared at those looping black words, unnerved.Ninny.There we go again. For the second time, someone else was mentioning her childhood pet name. First, it was Bernie —he was dead—, now who was it? Gianna, taking in a deep breath, proceeded to ransack the box to see if there was anything else—possibly a clue as to its sender to come tumbling out. But there was nothing besides that innocuous white lid and the stark black lettering burning itself into the forefront of her mind.She confirmed to stare hard at it, as though if she did it enough, the words would rearrange into something—anything—that didn't feel like such a punch to her gut out of the blue.Now she was aware that information about her birthday wasn’t a secret; it was all over social media; the press was constantly fixating on every single aspect of her life as the wife of business mogul Mason Caldwell.But that name, o
He was already straightening his tie when he heard the rustling behind him that made the corner of his mouth quirk upwards. Through the mirror, Mason watched Gianna shift around sleepily on the bed with a contented murmur, before her whiskey-warm eyes fluttered open. “Morning, baby girl,”Gianna responded with a drowsy smile, gradually becoming more alert as she realized he was already preparing for his day. “You're up early,” she remarked, sitting up and yawning. She tossed the covers aside and crawled across the mattress towards him on her hands and knees.Mason felt his breath hitch ever so slightly at the overtly feline movement, his eyes darkening with appreciation as it roamed the length of her body in that flimsy thing she was wearing.She let her arms encircle his waist from behind, and she molded herself against his back with a soft hum.“What time is it?” she asked, face nuzzled against him.“Just after ten.”She let out a quiet snort of amusement as she pressed her cheek