Julianne gathered her bags very early in the morning. Outside her window, wind, rain, thunder and lightning were having a showdown. It was pitch dark outside, like it was only midnight.
Her phone’s signal slowly dwindled due to the thunderstorm. If only she had woken up earlier, she could have made it home. But it was already late, and the storm had hit town. If she sends for the car, her driver might get stuck somewhere.
She had planned to leave early—before the sun was up. But as a result, she fell asleep and did not wake up until after noontime.
This is all Jin Starck’s fault!
He had the nerve to kiss me! Knowing now that she was who she was… Gian Sanders’s twin sister, Justin Adams’s cousin… Adrienne’s cousin-in-law. He dared ravage her lips…
Julianne sighed in frustration.
How dare I kiss him back?
Shit!
While Jas Mathieu was every
“What the fuck are you doing here?” Julianne asked him angrily.“You were difficult to find, Julie Anne. I had my people check every room in this hotel. This was the last one we checked and I knew you’d be here,” he said. “I was hoping we can have lunch together.”“Who told you I would have lunch with you?”“You’ve always been rude to me, even before. I’ve been quite tolerant,” Patrick said, but it was obvious that he’s not going to be tolerant of her anytime soon.“Please, Mister McAllister,” she said firmly. “This is my hotel room. You are not supposed to be here.”Patrick looked around her huge luxurious room and smirked.“Wow. Your room is a lot bigger than mine. And I told the hotel staff I will pay for the best,” Patrick remarked. “Are you sleeping with Jin Starck? Maybe that’s why you got the only suite i
True to his word, the hotel reception called Julianne to tell her that it was clear to open the door. Room service was outside with a cart containing her food.“Mister Starck would like you to know that Mister McAllister had already left the property,” the room service staff informed her.She breathed in relief. It’s good to know she doesn’t need to be a prisoner in this room for the rest of her stay.Only when she saw the sumptuous food on the cart did she realize that she was famished.“This is a lot? Who arranged for this much?” she asked when she saw that they had given her a piece of almost everything on the menu. There was fish, chicken, beef, vegetables, and a lot of dessert. There were at least three choices for beverage, plus wine.“Mister Starck wanted to ensure you were given the best choices in the house.”“Okay, thank you.”She watched the news while she ate. The
“A-are you s-serious?” she stammered.“No. Because I like to joke about these things,” he said sarcastically. He fished his phone from his pocket. “Fuck!”“What?”“I think the whole city’s power is out. I can’t get a signal. Check your phone,” he told her.She shook her head. “I left mine in the room.”“Great!” he muttered. He reached for her hand again and gently pulled her towards one corner of the room. There was a telephone there. He checked if he could get a dial tone. But it seemed that the phone lines were also out.She stared back at him. Clueless of what they would do next. He was eyeing her from head to feet.“What?”“Are you warm enough?” he asked.“Yeah. Why?”“Because it seems we’re gonna be stuck here for a while.”“Are you freaking kidding
Julianne slowly turned around to face Jin. He was standing too close. She could feel his warm breath against her face.“I named this place The Arabella when I was building it,” he continued. “And that’s also why I have to tear it down.”She bit her lip as tears rolled down her cheeks. She felt his hands on both sides of her cheeks. His face descended towards hers as he took her lips in one chaste kiss.“Jin…” she started saying.“Arabella…” he whispered against her lips. His voice was low, but thick with emotions. “Just this once. Please… choose me.”He sounded sincere… and desperate. And it broke Julianne’s heart even more. She remembered the time that she would have given everything to stay with this man. If she had the freedom then… if she hadn’t been scared of what her father or McAllister would do to him… she w
Julianne opened her eyes slowly. She could hear the drops of the rain against the glass roof. There was still no light inside the glass house. It was illuminated only by the light coming from the hotel and the lamp posts outside.In spite of the weather, she was warm and comfortable. Her head was nested against the crook of Jin’s firm shoulder. His arm was draped over her waist. Their naked bodies were drawn together so they would fit in the sofa.When she looked up at him, she found that he was watching her lazily.“What time is it?” she asked.“Four in the morning,” he replied.She propped up on her elbow so she could look around. Outside, it was calm. No movement except for the trees swaying with the wind.“Do you have a signal already? Can’t we call for help?”He didn’t reply. She stared back at him. He was gazing at her with a serious expression on his face.“Not
That morning, the signals had been restored when they woke up. After dressing up, Jin called the security to rescue them from the glass house. He escorted her back to her room. They were both quiet, each one lost in their own thoughts.Before she went to her room, she thanked him and he just nodded at her. The look on his face was serious, somewhat dark and humorless, and she had no idea what was going on in his mind. He looked different from the man she slept with last night. He looked cold and reserved now when he had been so unguarded last night.As soon as she got inside her room, she checked her phone for messages or missed calls. There was none. She decided to call Adrienne.“Is Jared okay?”“Yeah. How about you? Everything okay? Is the weather better there?”“Yeah. I’m coming home,” she replied.“Okay, no worries. Everything is under control here. We’re doing fine. Jared is doing f
Julianne’s heart raced and she could feel her pulse hammering in her veins.What’s going on? What’s my father doing here?“Is my brother here?” she asked Viktor.Viktor shook his head. “I haven’t a clue, Miss Sanders.”“Thank you,”She went up the steps and walked towards the tea room, where Viktor said her father was.Since she’d arrived in this house, her father had never set foot in here again. He never attended any of their family affairs since she came back to the States.Why is he here now?Does this mean, he had a change of heart?Is he finally open to meeting his grandson?Is he ready to forgive me and we can start anew?The door to the tea room had been left ajar. She went closer, hoping to catch a bit of their conversation. She wouldn’t really eavesdrop. She just wanted to know the
Julianne had fallen asleep in Jin’s arms. When she opened her eyes, she realized that it was already five in the morning. It was dark in her room. Her head was still resting comfortably against Jin’s broad shoulder. He was sleeping quietly beside her.She propped up on her elbow. As soon as she moved, she felt Jin’s arms tighten around her and he woke up instantly.She blinked back at him.“Sorry,” he whispered as he loosened his grip on her. “Are you okay?”She nodded. “Jin, you need to go,” she said. “Soon, the whole household will be up. They can’t see you coming out from my room.”He nodded in agreement. “Are you going to be okay?”“I will be fine,” she said. “I’m used to this.”“Used to what?”She raised a brow at him. “You said you weren’t gonna ask questions.”He took a de