I stare unblinking at him for a moment, captivated by his dark eyes, the serious set to his mouth, the feel of his calloused hand on my cheek. “All right,” I whisper, nodding once. “But in exchange…I need more.” Christian cocks an eyebrow at me. “You can’t have more, Iris. This is it. I’m sorry.
Christian clutches the edge of his sink so hard that his fingers ache. God damn it – that fucking woman. He was so close, so close to losing control a few moments ago when she’d bent his head back like that, brought her mouth so close that he could feel her breath on his lips. A groan slips fr
“You got it, baby,” she replies, laughing. Christian slides into the driver’s seat and starts the car, tossing his now-dark phone into the passenger’s seat. Without another word or a thought as to what’s happening upstairs, he drives out of the garage and into the dark streets. I sink back onto
I fall asleep on the couch later, after I finish placing all my orders and giving Christian’s credit card one hell of a workout. Frankie and Nico pretend not to notice that I’m unwilling to go back to my room, letting me curl up on the couch under the little grey throw-blanket. I don’t talk to them
He stares at me for a further second before a little smirk pulls at the side of his mouth. “No,” he replies, shaking his head. “Not really.” “Sucks for you,” I mutter, falling back against my pillows and turning my back to him, scowling, still a little pissed about everything that happened last ni
I sit up straight, pulling my hand away from Christian and biting my lip, considering it. He turns fully to me, watching my face, sitting quietly and letting me have a moment to think. I just stare at him, losing myself a little in his grey-blue eyes, wondering…what the hell I’m supposed to do.
“Aren’t we supposed to stay one step ahead of things?” I ask, raising an eyebrow. “Leave that to me. But,” Christian says, his eyes returning to the phone in my hand, “there’s a…language app on there. Prepaid, for a year. For…French.” My spine straightens suddenly, my eyes flashing up to his wit
“Hooooly crap,” Christian murmurs, staring around the main room of the penthouse as he slowly closes the door behind him. In the kitchen I press my hands together, thrilled with the changes and hoping, desperately, that he likes it too. “I hate it,” Nico says, standing stubbornly in the middle o
A small smile creeps on Leo’s lips. “Yeah, okay,” he says, relaxing back against our chair. “Our secret.” I grin at my baby, leaning in to give him a kiss on the cheek, because my boy can’t resist a secret.“What’s all this?”I turn to see Christian standing at the open door, peering into the dining
The danger. It’s…it’s far too poignant.My heart breaking, I open a private browsing tab on the web browser and quickly search for Craigslist in both this city and Athens, Greece. As I do my memory goes back to a conversation I had with Frankie, when he told me that this is the best way he knows for
I stand frozen, staring down at the letter as it sits on the little hall desk, my breath coming in fluttery little gasps.The words are very simple.There are vineyards in Greece as well. I’ll take you there.I read it again and again as my heart pounds in my chest, each beat echoing with a mix of h
“You don’t know anything about my life,” I whisper, my voice barely audible, turning my eyes back down to the dishes. “I had no choice.”“You think you’re the only one who suffered?” Lucy whispers. “You think I wanted to be in this position? We were friends once, Iris. We were good to each other. Bu
“Mommyyyy,” Leo says, looking anxiously towards the kitchen door, shifting from foot to floor. “Hurry up! Aunt Bianca says we have to go!”I laugh, glancing down at my little boy, who looks so adorable in the private school uniform he wears to Kindergarten – crisp white shirt, navy blazer, his dark
But…was it? Was it me, missing Chris? Wanting to have yet another piece of him, even if I long denied wanting any ties to my past life?I look down, my heart heavy, not truly understanding what I think or what I feel.“I mean it, Iris,” Chris says, his voice steady and cool. “I’ll be a father to her
My heart sinks as I look Christian in the eyes – because beyond all hope, I had been praying that he hadn’t noticed that Leo is his son. But how could I have been so naïve? Leo looks just like him - dark hair, striking grey-blue eyes. The resemblance is unmistakable. I feel a wave of guilt crashing
“Yes,” he answers, a growl in his voice. “That should suit just fine.”I laugh at the irony in this and shake my head, looking away. “So now you want me to come back, to pretend as if nothing ever happened? You expect me to just accept this, the way things are now?”Christian opens his mouth to resp
Disappointment floods my chest, a sense of disbelief washing over me. “You think I would trust you again after everything? After how you treated me? You expect me to just come back and forget?”His eyes narrow, disappointment etched into his features. “You were faithless. I thought you’d be loyal. I