“Ooookay,” Lucy says, shrugging and giving us both a pretty smile. She heads into the living room to wrap an arm around Tony’s waist, grinning up at him. “Come on, Bambs,” Frankie says, smiling at me and tilting his head towards the door. “You grab some money from the sugar daddy, I’ll grab the ca
“Fine, Frankie,” I say, my voice slow and angry. As the words start to spill from me, I wonder where the hell the hesitant girl from this morning went – the one who was too scared to come out of the bedroom without Lucy teasing me into it. “Even if you’re set on just brushing this under the rug, I a
“Because you’ve been ordered to?” I ask quietly, watching him carefully, needing to know. He raises from his little bow and meets my eyes with a seriousness I’m not sure I’ve seen in him before. “No, Bambi,” he replies. “Not because I’m ordered to.” And then he dips down, and grabs the basket I
“Christian,” I groan, looking again over my shoulder at the second car following us, which is packed with four people to our two. “Why are we going to church!?” “For the tenth time, Iris!” Christian laughs, glancing at me cheerfully. Honestly, if he weren’t so excited about this, I’d be completely
My mouth falls open a little bit. And then my jaw inches lower and lower as the moments pass, as I stare up into Christian’s beautiful face, as my brain just goes completely blank. Because what…what did he just say? “Utoh,” Nico says, coming close and smirking at me. “Who short-circuited the b
“Iris Smith,” Christian says quietly, taking my left hand in his and looking directly into my eyes. “You are, without a doubt, the love of my life. I have been overwhelmed, every day of my life – with you present in it and not – by your beautiful soul, your grace, your strength, and your courage. Yo
The priest takes a deep breath as we arrive at the front of the altar, both of us beaming, our little collection of friends and witnesses coming up behind. “I take it,” the priest says, raising an eyebrow at us. “That things have been sorted?” “Yes, Father,” Christian says happily, putting me ge
I peek under the lid of the huge pot in the kitchen, checking on the boiling lobsters, pleased to see them turning a bright and shiny red. Grinning, I lower the lid and turn towards the oven, wanting to peek at the steaks finishing up in there as well. Because nothing says wedding feast like surf an
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