When Julianne arrived in Chicago, she received word that things were already under control. She knew that since River made up the disaster, he took it upon himself to fix everything before she arrived. So, she really didn’t have to do anything.
“I know you wouldn’t ask me this if it weren’t really that important. You’ve had a long flight. Go have a rest,” he told her on the phone. “I’ll call you the day after tomorrow and we can have dinner. You’re gonna have to tell me all about it.”
She was reluctant to tell River the whole story, but she owed him the truth. And she knew he would take nothing less from her. Besides, it would feel good to take this all out of her chest.
True to his word, two days later, she received a text message from him telling her he would take her out for dinner. It had been a long time since she went out on a date. She almost forgot how to dress properly.
Finally, when Riv
Julianne stood frozen on her feet as she watched the tall, lithe, figure approach her slowly. Her heart stopped beating, and she forgot to breathe for the longest moment of her life. She took a step back until her back hit the door. He continued to walk towards her until he was only a few feet away and she could almost feel the heat emanating from him. She couldn’t look at him. She felt more scared of him now than when she was about to tell her father that she was pregnant. Jin put his hands on either side of her face, trapping her. She could almost hear him breathing as he stared down at her. “Hello again… Arabella.” Julianne closed her eyes for a moment as she heard him call her by the fake name she gave him. Finally, she gathered the courage to look up at his face. “You… you’re not who you said you were either!” she tried her best to keep her voice steady as she looked at him evenly. “Who said I wasn’t who I
Jin Starck sat on the floor, leaning against Julianne’s door. He could hear her crying on the other side. He heard every whimper, every sob… and each one felt like a knife cutting through his heart… a heart he forgot he had.He could barely breathe as he fought every urge to open the door again and crush her into his arms and comfort her… tell her that everything was going to be okay. They were going to be okay.How could he do that? For years, he harbored this cold anger against her… the woman who broke his heart, crushed it into a million pieces and made it incapable of being fixed by anyone.He remembered those days in Paris. How helpless she had looked, arguing with that saleslady, desperately trying to purchase the antique glass bottle that was not even supposed to be for sale. Then how he stepped in to help her.The moment she looked up at him, and he saw her crystal blue eyes framed with
Jin Starck stood on the balcony of the mezzanine floor of the elegant ballroom of White Rock Mansion, one of the estates owned by Starck Corp. in Illinois. He was dressed in a black tuxedo and a black leather mask over his eyes. His dark copper brown hair was combed back neatly, without a strand of out of place. Like everything he does… nothing must be out of place.The Morgan-Murphies, a prominent political family in Chicago, held an exclusive masquerade party in honor of its matriarch’s sixtieth birthday and the privacy of their hotel property was most suitable for the event. It was outside the city, large enough to house its two hundred guests privately, but not too big to have to share it with other people.Some of the guests who could not travel back to the city opted to stay in one of the hotel rooms.The family hosting the event was too important, with their patriarch aiming for the presidency, Jin could not leave anything to chance. He had t
Jin Starck placed a heavy arm on the guy’s shoulder, which startled the latter. The guy looked up at him. He was a few inches shorter than him. But Jin immediately recognized him.She was engaged to Patrick McAllister? Well, I can’t say that wasn’t a good match.Patrick McAllister was one of the most eligible bachelors in the country. He belonged to a powerful, political clan. His family had been in politics for decades and he was eyeing a seat in the senate himself. He was rich. He was powerful. He was a good-looking guy.And yet she still chose to cheat on him with a small-time painter in Paris, struggling to sell his arts for a living? What was she thinking?“Excuse me?” Patrick McAllister raised an irritated brow at him.“I think you’ve already had too much to drink, Mister McAllister,” Jin said. “And it’s my turn to ask the lady to dance.”Patrick McAlli
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