[ARMONICA]“I’m sorry—why am I stuck with you again?”Zach rolled his eyes, tapping away something on his iPad while the car drove through the evening traffic.“Because I don’t have a date and Tyler’s flight is three hours delayed.” He said, without even looking at me, and for the hundredth time perhaps, I let out a heavy sigh.Just the mention of Tyler had my gut twist.“Quit being dramatic,” Zach spared me a brief glance before dropping his focus back to the screen. “It’s only a matter of a few hours, then you’re free to go back to whatever.”I knew where he was going with that insinuation. “Are you mad at me?” I asked, frowning.It wasn’t even surprising anymore. Recently, everyone had been mad at me. Maybe I did have a role to play for Zara and Brandon to ignore me like a plague. But God knows, I didn’t mean to hurt them. Over the last few weeks, Zara had grown on me. And not only because my idiot cousin was crazy for her, but also because she was the kind of person I always aspir
[ZARA]The next morning when I saw Maddox, he was soaring down the stairs with the grace of royalty while I sat at the dining table, minding my breakfast. When one of the maids working in the kitchen noticed him pulling the chair, she quickly dropped whatever she had been up to and rushed to set his plate.I rolled my eyes and focused on my breakfast, trying my damn hardest to ignore the heatwave of his gaze. Unlike any other day, all my efforts seemed in vain, considering the role I had played to piss him off by denying him his share of satisfaction. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t feel a smidgen of guilt myself. Maddox had never denied me the pleasure that was so hard to resist when he filled me so completely. In fact, he made sure to give me more than I hoped. He satisfied me beyond imagination. Not once, or twice, but every single time.With a short mental groan, I tried to suppress that tiny little voice in my head. The one time I take some revenge on him and serve him what he be
“Don’t what?”“Don’t start something you’re not gonna finish,” after all, why would he treat me any differently than the way I did last night? I knew he would walk away the way I did. He was here for revenge.“Darling, I would like nothing more than to finish you off,” he whispered seductively, grazing his luscious lips against the length of my neck.I clenched his shirt tightly, imagining his face buried deep between my legs, consuming me like no other. “No. You won’t.” I shook my head, reminding myself to breathe, eyes still firmly shut. “You’re doing this to punish me.”“Do I need to prove you wrong?”“You can’t prove me wrong when I’m right.”“Don’t think I don’t know what you’re doing…” a chuckle rippled out of him, but he did nothing to move away or give me some space. Maddox continued to hold me tight, his warm, large hand too close to my thrumming hole. “You’re practically tempting me to prop you on this damn table and widen you enough to shove my cock deep in your pussy. I be
[ZARA]I had seen Maddox angry. I had seen him throwing a fit.I had seen him dazzle a million-dollar grin just so he could get on my nerves.I had seen him snap my father’s wrist with no hesitation at all.But never had I caught him with tears in his eyes. I never thought he was capable of it. I always thought it was humanly impossible for him to feel anything other than vanity and narcissism. It kind of broke my heart a little when worried tears rolled down his cheeks as he clutched the steering wheel too tight, his knuckles turning pale and stiffening every time his phone buzzed with a notification.When I asked him to take me with him, he only nodded before sucking in a deep breath, pulling himself together, as if hoping for the best.Now, we were in the hospital, and Louis was in the Emergency room. Nathan met us at the reception, looking just as dishevelled and worried sick as Maddox was. I could see Nadine trying not to unleash the tears glimmering in her eyes.It was only yest
“Coffee?” With a steaming cup in my hand, I held it out for him.After Louis was shifted to ICU, Nathan took Nadine for a walk outside. She had been feeling a tad dizzy after so much crying—who wouldn’t?—so I suggested they take a breather. I went with them and checked out the cafe downstairs. While they ordered a meal so he could feed his famished wife, I returned with two cups of coffee.Maddox sat in a leaning posture, his elbows digging into his thighs.At my question, he reluctantly lifted his head and flicked his tired gaze from me to the cup in my hand.He took it. “Thanks.”I sat down next to him. Stayed silent for a while, before it felt suffocating and I couldn’t sigh without knowing. “Are you okay?”My eyes were glued to the white wall in front of us, but I felt his eyes on me, only for a second, though.“Yeah.” That’s all he said.My chest tightened. I tried to breathe through my mouth. I wanted to talk to him, to hear his voice, but at the same time, I didn’t know what to
[ZARA]For the next whole week, all four of us did nothing but take turns looking after Louis. It had become a routine. While Nathan and Nadine stayed and accompanied her in the hospital during the day, Maddox and I stayed the night.Every time I stepped into her ward, my eyes stung with stabbing tears. Like Maddox, I had wanted to hate Louis, too, for the unexpected turn my life had taken. I tried even. But no matter how much I forced myself to or reasoned myself with, I couldn’t do it for the life of me. Maybe she had been aggressively forceful many times and somehow all our conversations ended up with her trying to prompt me to coax her son and make lots and lots of babies, but the truth was, she wasn’t exactly a bad person. Since the day we met after our contract marriage, she had been nothing but caring and protective of me, chiding Maddox for the weight I hadn’t lost, the glow that never vanished, the clothes I never ran short of or not taking me anywhere after the wedding…Well
[MADDOX]“I know I’ve been giving you crap recently, but really, are you sure about this?” Jade asked as we sat in my home office, going through some leads regarding Richard Milton that had recently popped up.It had already been two weeks since they discharged mom from the hospital, and we brought her home. Nathan and Nadine had been constantly chewing my ear off about Zara and why she wasn’t part of the small gathering we had to welcome mom home. Mom had asked about her, too. I told them she had some personal things to take care of. The truth was, I hadn’t seen her since that night when I handed her those papers to put an end to our contract. I still had no answer from her. She just left without a word.Or a goodbye.Was I sure about letting Zara go?Absolutely not.But it was the right thing to do. Even if every cell in my body was kicking my ass to go back to her and shred those papers away, I couldn’t persuade my legs to move. Other than mom and Nathan, I had only allowed two mor
Her hands reached up my chest and tugged at the buttons of my shirt. I tried to stop her, but she was growing too reckless too fast. My head buzzed with irritation and an angry growl to peel this woman off me. The touch that once electrified every single cell in my body now felt sickening and dirty.“Jade!” I grabbed her shoulders and shook her. She wasn’t in her right mind. “What the hell—”The door of my home office swung open and a pair of eyes landed on me. I turned to face the door, all the while holding Jade and keeping her as far from me as possible.The next heartbeat that slammed against my ribs knocked the air right out of my chest.A confused Zara stood at the door with her lips slightly parted. I watched with a great horror of my own when she pursed her lips and pinched her eyebrows, studying where my hands were and the woman connected to them.“Zara!” I wasn’t a fool to not understand what she might perceive of this. The speed with which her expression was turning into on
[ZARA]I play with the button on his shirt and grin. “What if I told you, it wasn’t exactly our first meeting?”He looks puzzled. “What do you mean? Have we met before? When?”“Five months before we met in your office.”“Are you serious?” Sitting straighter, he adjusts me on his lap while I move my arms around his round shoulder. “When? And why don’t I remember anything?”“In the restaurant where I used to work. You know, the one you had me fired from?” I arch an eyebrow, still pissed at what he did.He’s quick to apologize, his warm fingers exploring the expanse of my back. “I think we already established the fact that I was a dick then. Can we move on? Please?”“Alright.” I roll my eyes and laugh when he tickles my sides. “You were there with a few of your employees, and as luck would have it, we were also running low on staff. So, I came up to take your order.”“You did what?” He looks so shocked, it makes me grin wider. “What the hell was I doing?”I shrug. “I don’t know? You were
“With contacts like him, dad found me within an hour. I was in the hospital. Badly beaten and bruised. Yet, the first thing dad did when he saw me in the hospital bed was to throw everyone out of the room and slap me hard. He told me I was lucky to be outside because if we were at home, he would have broken my legs if that’s what it took to stop me from being a brat.”“But…” a small smile curled at the corner of his lips. “Little did he know we weren’t alone in that room. When he tried to hit me again, a notebook smacked the side of his face.”“What?” Did I hear him right? “Who did that?”Maddox looked at me before turning his gaze back to the warm fire. “A little girl. Not over nine. She was so tiny and yet so fierce in front of my dad. She even shouted at him to leave me alone. Dad was furious. Oh, you should have seen his face. He literally turned red. Before dad could react, another man stepped into the room. He was the father of that little girl and later I came to know they were
*ONE MONTH LATER*[ZARA]There’s a knock on the door and the first thing I do is look up at the time.It’s five past midnight. That can only mean two things.One: The person outside is in a grave emergency.Two: Someone is here to rob us, but has the decency to announce his presence so we could prepare for the worst.But when I step out of my room and look through the peephole, breath hitches in my throat for an entirely different reason.Maddox stands outside with a sweeping backdrop of snow.I don’t think twice before unlocking the door and pulling it open. A flurry of chilly nights whips me in the face, shooting a blunt shiver down my spine.“What are you doing here?” There had to be a good reason for him to show up at this godawful hour of the night. “Is Louis, okay?”It’s only been a month since we all learned of Nadine’s brutal death. News that took everyone by surprise and the whole media by storm. Even after a month had passed, we could find people on the streets, in shops and
Ten minutes later, Zachary, Kevin and Zara walk out of the house, too. They are still in some sort of conversation when Zara finally notices me and holds my gaze for a little longer than I expected. I’m the first one to look away and instantly feel like a fucking coward.Every cell—every bone—in my body screams at me to make this right, to bring her back home no matter what it takes. But a huge part of me is as clueless as a newborn baby. It doesn’t know what to say or what to do to convince her to come back into my life—to give me another chance. Do I even deserve a second chance? It’s because of me she had to endure so much that only became her fate because I couldn’t let go. I didn’t know how to.“Are you ready to go?” I hear Kevin ask as he made his way over to where I stand near their car. He looks around. “Where’s Nathan?”“He left.” I fill him in. “Something came up. I hope it’s alright if I tag along.”“Are you kidding me?” For the first time, he doesn’t look like he’s about t
[MADDOX]It’s odd how often I have driven by her house, but never really cared to turn my head and look. But now that I stand in front of it, I know why she fought so hard to take it back.The house is nothing out of a fairy tale. It’s decently constructed, has only one floor and is yellow. Not just any yellow but the one that makes you question why someone would do that to their house. Do they not love it? Is that supposed to be a punishment for the eyes of the beholder? How could a house be so yellow? It’s literally tormenting.But maybe it’s because I have known Zara long enough that I can tell you for sure this is just her way of showing a middle finger to the world. A message in capital letters that she doesn’t care about and can’t be bothered by the opinions of others. She’s gonna be herself no matter what and the rest of the world can simply fuck themselves.If one can look past the yellowness of the house, one would see the details that make this house a home. There’s a picket
“Thanks for coming on such short notice. Mr Gracias. Mr Richmond.” Officer Newman greeted us, gesturing us to take seats.Zachary and I took seats across from him while Nathan and Kevin decided to wait outside.“It’s no problem, officer. How can we help?” I asked.“Well, as we conversed over the phone, we found some bodies. They are, as expected, burnt and impossible to recognize. The face, that is. And because, Mr Gracias, your sister is still missing, we were hoping you will be willing to go through the accessories and clothes we found on the victims. This will help us narrow down our options and decide what the next course of action should be.”“Of course.” Zachary said, and for the first time, I caught the strain in his voice.“Great.” Officer Newman said and retrieved three transparent packets from the desk behind him. Carefully, he laid them all on the table and stood up. “I’ll give you guys a minute.”’Once the officer left us alone in the room, I turned to face Zachary. “Do yo
[MADDOX]“How long are you gonna sulk?” Nathan asked, and the whim to throw him out of the car was exhausting.“I’m NOT sulking.” Without saving him a single glance, I told him as calmly as possible. I looked outside the window instead and searched for a familiar face.Five minutes ago, we pulled up outside the police headquarters. Zachary and his brother, Kevin, were supposed to meet us here. For now, all I could see were cops and irrelevant people moving in and out of the building. No sign of the Gracias family.“And not growing any younger, either.” Nathan deadpanned, and I finally decided to fix him whatever glare.“Did you just make a joke about my age?” That should be hardly any concern to me. Especially when mom did it all the time. But since the moment I woke up this morning, I hadn’t been in the mood to take anyone’s shit. It might have had something to do with the fact Zara ended everything between us yesterday and left for good. Actually, fuck that! My mood was spoiled beca
“It’s not true.” He retorted, but when I gave him a pointed look, he shut his mouth and let me finish.“That what you think, what you say and what you do is best for everyone. That you have the right to decide for everyone because, in your head, no one is more capable than you are. You’re so controlling that you don’t even care how suffocating that could be for someone. In fact, not just me, for anyone at all. You make the rules and expect everyone to follow them without question. You are so deep in your head that you’ve become delusional. No one can reason with you because you don’t listen and neither do you trust. You know of whom you remind me?”There was a beat of silence before he spoke, the crease across his forehead tightening. “I am NOT like Richard.”“No. You aren’t. But you’re no different either. You are just as tyrannical, if not less.”He peered down at his hands and shook his head. “I…I don’t know how that happened.” A look of surprise crossed his face, water glistening
[ZARA]I woke up in a dark room.For a second, I thought I was back in that hellhole.I sat up with a jolt, so fast my head swayed and the entire room spun. A dark figure loomed near the foot of the bed and fear hijacked my mind.I whimpered, feeling something hard against my back, stuck in the middle of a shadow of the man and something that barred me from crawling backwards. Panic prickled the back of my neck, chewing at the little sanity I still had intact. But it was only when the shadow moved and took a step closer, I screamed like hell.“Zara!” Someone called. It came from the dark figure. “Calm down. It’s me.” He said and took another, cautious step in my direction. The shaft of light sneaking from the cracks between the curtains struck his face. My shoulders dropped, and panic melted when it hit me who he was.“Brandon?” It really was him. But…“Shit! I didn’t know you could screech like that.” He said and I could tell he was trying to act all cool while from the inside he was