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165|Keeper Of My Heart
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Beautiful Disaster 166|His Light
Austin was up at the crack of dawn. Not that he'd slept. How could he when he couldn't get his mind to shut down and stop reliving the horrific day he'd had?At some point between coming to bed and Marybeth falling asleep in his arms, a plan had slowly begun to form itself. And it was that plan, more than his strained relationship with his father, that had kept him awake. It wasn't anything solid. But it was still a plan, and vague as it was, he had to get cracking on it. So as soon as the birds began to chirp outside sometime after 4:00 AM, he jumped out of bed, took a leisurely shower, and headed to his study to make a few calls. Seth was first on his to-do list, and he didn't sound too excited to hear from him when he eventually picked up after Austin's fourth attempt. "Mr Hawthorne, do you know what time it is?" Seth grumbled. "Someone had better be missing, or your money was stolen. Those are the only acceptable excuses for calling me like this at the crack of dawn!""But it's 4
Beautiful Disaster 167|Music To His Ears
Austin's rage hit him like a ton of bricks when he stepped into the living room, and his eyes fell on all the numerous photographs of Iris covering every corner and crevice. He didn't mind when Orlando brought them back last week, figuring she missed her mom. But now…knowing everything he knew, he couldn't stand seeing Iris' face, and he was so terrified that if he continued to stand there like his feet were stuck in a block of concrete, he'd trash his living room. So he forced himself to move along and get Orlando's pancakes ready. Austin knew how to cook, but it wasn't something he enjoyed. Today, though, he was grateful for the distraction. It kept his mind from wandering into dangerous territory. The first batch of pancakes was done forty-five minutes later when Orlando bounded into the room, dressed in her school uniform and her hair tied in lopsided pigtails."Where's Marybeth?" she asked as she jumped onto the barstool and watched him pour a thin stream of batter into the non
Beautiful Disaster 168|Close To His Chest
After dropping Marybeth and Orlando off, Austin went for his morning jog and ran twice as long, pushing himself until he thought he couldn't possibly go any further.When he returned to the penthouse, he was surprised to find his capos waiting for him. "When did you get here?" he asked, taking off his sweaty hoodie and t-shirt. "Two hours ago," said Angelo. "Tough day at the office?" Tim asked. "You never run more than ten kilometres." Austin ignored his banter and grabbed a bottle of still water from the fridge. He gulped it down in one go, crushing the plastic bottle in his hand when he was done. "Can you not do that, please? That sound is damn annoying!" Angelo snapped, glaring at the bottle in Austin's hands. Austin turned to Tim, silently asking him what was wrong with Angelo. His cousin shrugged and rolled his eyes, mouthing something about trouble in paradise. Austin backed out of the room, choosing not to engage. He had enough problems. Meddling in Angelo's was low p
Beautiful Disaster 169|At The Heart Of It All
As soon as Austin saw his capos off, he returned to his study to check his emails, irritated as fuck when he didn't see anything from Laura Stone and Sienna. They'd clearly not taken the bait. Maybe he should have tried harder to sell them the dream. But now wasn't the time for regrets. Lionel would be arriving in exactly half an hour if he was as punctual as his daughter. So Austin got his ass in gear and rounded up his and Orlando's toothbrushes, hairbrushes, and combs. He bagged and sealed each item in its ziplock bag, labelled everything clearly, and shoved them in a black envelope. At 11:59 AM, the front doorbell rang, and Austin was damn relieved to find Lionel alone when he went to get the door. He'd worried he'd bring Danica along. "Son-in-law," Lionel effused, and Austin ignored his outstretched arms and shook his hand instead. "I must admit I was quite surprised to hear from you," Lionel said as Austin shut the door. "This is swanky," Lionel continued as he moved deeper i
Beautiful Disaster 170|Do No Harm
When Austin was done on the call with Sienna Roberts, he rounded up his stuff and set off for his meeting, colliding with Piper at the front door. "What are you doing here?" he asked, going from calm to furious when flashbacks of being pinned to the floor of his father's study like an animal surged to life again in his mind. "You weren't responding to my texts," she said, playing with the handbag strap on her shoulder. "Or taking my calls.""Do you blame me?" Austin sighed as he checked the time on his Cartier. He had exactly five minutes to spare if he didn't want to be late for the board meeting, and he told his doctor—well, former doctor—as much. "About yesterday," she began, but Austin gave her one quick glare, warning her softly, "don't… don't even think about going there, Piper." "I'm sorry," she went there anyway, pleading her case. "I didn't want to do it. But your father—"Before Austin knew what he'd done, Piper's back was pressed against the wall, her feet dangling in th
Beautiful Disaster 171|Hang Him Out To Dry
They managed to breeze through the moderate lunch-hour traffic, with Arno and Benji making mindless conversation. Neither man brought up the incident in Clarence Estate the previous afternoon. They were happy to pretend all that ugliness never happened, and Austin was more than grateful. Thinking about the fallout with his father hurt more than he cared to admit, and he wasn't ready to talk about it, not with his handlers, at least."Your father is here," said Benji as they drove into the parking lot of Hawthorne Towers almost forty minutes later and passed his father's luxury sedan parked in its usual spot."Blake's here too," noted Arno as he slid into the empty spot beside Blake's bright green Lamborghini. Since Iris' death, they were all supposed to use the Group's armoured cars, but once in a while, Blake liked showing off his luxury cars. Today was clearly one of those days, Austin thought sourly as he left his place in the backseat and headed to the entrance, where Elizabeth was
Beautiful Disaster 172|To The Wolves
"I will not vacate my post!" Lukas shouted when calls for him to step down rippled through the room. "I don't need to remind you that I'm the majority shareholder! Nobody can get rid of me! Nobody!" And the back and forth continued for another heated fifteen minutes before Grayson circled back to the culprit, the person behind the crisis they were all about to find themselves in if news of the embezzlement was somehow leaked."Who did this? Who had the balls to dare and steal from the Group?""It's the same man who bankrupted the Foundation," Austin announced, pointing straight at Blake. For a crushing moment, as he watched the light die in his brother's eyes, Austin could see the beginning of their end so clearly. He'd crossed a line by throwing Blake to the wolves, and there was no coming back from it now. They would have to go all the way, even if it meant destroying themselves and each other in the process."What is wrong with you, Hawthornes?" Rumbled Maxwell. "You're running th
Beautiful Disaster 173|Down A Perilous Path—Part 1
Halfway through the second half of the meeting, Stuart Gardner, one of the longest-serving board members and Lukas's biggest supporter, suggested they should follow the crisis management plan."Which is?" Austin asked pointedly. "We keep our mouths shut, of course!" replied Gardner, rolling his eyes all the way to the back of his head as if Austin was the slowest person on earth for asking something that was clearly obvious to him."Are you out of your mind?" Grayson and McIntyre were on their feet at once, pointing accusatory fingers at Gardner. Unlike everyone in Lukas' camp, they clearly hadn't forgotten whose interest they were supposed to protect, insisting the only way they could all paddle out of shit creek was through complete transparency with the shareholders.The debate continued for another fifteen minutes, with Gardner and Lukas crying sabotage. "That's your best plan?" yelled Gardner, stomping his feet like a preschooler. "Rat us out to the shareholders?"His confidence
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