Hazel POV
“Come on, what are you waiting for?”, Everly asks, and I smile as I look at myself in the mirror before I open the door. I am wearing a red fitted dress with a sweetheart neckline that fits me perfectly, hugging all my curves. It rests just above my knees, and I am wearing high heels and black shoes. I smile as I kind of like how I am looking. My make-up is soft, and I have bright red lipstick.
I open the door, and both the girls smile as they watch me get out of the dressing room. “WOW”, Ashley says right before she whistles. I smile, and I give a couple of spins as they look at me, clapping. “You look stunning,” Everly says, and I smile.
“Thanks”, I say, and they both smile, passing me a glass of champagne. I smile as I take a sip of the glass. Everly raises her glass and smiles.
“A toast to this amazing woman that managed to conquer the heart of the most trustworthy man I have ever met”, sh
Elliot POV “Come on, mate, a bachelor party without a stripper is not the same”, Theo says, and I shake my head laughing. I think the amount of alcohol we already had is playing a big part in his behaviour. “If I want to see a woman strip, I’ll go home and ask my woman to do it. At least I can touch and kiss that one”, Killian says, and I frown, looking at him. Killian is usually more reserved than this. The alcohol is definitely getting to them. I haven’t been drinking a lot; after all, I am still taking painkillers because of that fucker. “I have a better idea”, I say, and they both look at me frowning. I stand up and walk out of the game room, and they follow me. They keep their tumblers. They keep both chatting while following me through the corridor and down the stairs towards the basement. “Oh, fuck, no, mate, that’s not a good idea”, Theo says, stopping. He steps in front of me, and I frown, looking at him. I need to hit someone, and that fucki
Hazel POV “Miss, if you follow me”, the girl says as she offers me her hand. I smile, taking it, and she guides me to the private rooms in the back. I sit on the chair provided, and she looks at me and smiles. Is she not used to having women asking for a lap dance, or is she? , whatever happens, I need to know. “I don’t want you to dance. Can you please sit down?” I ask, and she frowns, crossing her arms in front of her chest. “Look, I am here to dance”, she says, almost biting my head off. I nod, sitting back on the chair, and she starts dancing in front of me. I clear my throat as it is challenging to formulate a logical thought when you have boobs and ass on your face. I blink a couple of times, and I gather the courage. “Can I ask you a question?” I ask her, and she nods her head and smiles, throwing her glossy hair over her shoulder as she leans over me, placing both her hands on the back o
Hazel POV “Okay…”, I whisper. ‘I didn’t know she was the one. She gave me fake documents, she was banned from New York, and obviously, everything that was left of her was burned to the ground. Elliot made sure that even her social media presence died’, She says, and I nod. I can see him doing that. “He really loved her, hun?” I ask, and they both nod. I look at them and then down at my shoes. “Oh no, love, she is in the past. He would never look at her ever again. I am so sorry I didn’t know who she was when she was hired”, she says, and I nod. I wonder if Elliot told them about this. “Come on, we have to go”, Ashley says, and I look at them, a little confused still. “Where are we going?” I ask, and she shrugs. She grabs my hand and guides me out. I can’t see Elliot. We walk towards the limousine that is outside, and Theo is standing guard
Elliot POV “There’s more”, Theo says as he looks at me through the mirror. I frown, and Killian nods. “No”, I say, and they stay quiet. Fuck. “Hazel is with her right now”, Killian says, and I place both my hands, covering my eyes. For fuck sake. Fucking great. My evil bitch of an ex and my fiancé together. What the actual fuck. Theo keeps driving through the traffic in Manhattan, and all I keep thinking is, what the fuck were they thinking to go to a fucking strip club? I know it's only female strippers there, but still, fuck my life. I open my eyes, and I sit up straight. “When did she get back?” I ask, and Killian passes me his phone. I start looking, and I take a deep breath. Fucking great I have been so distracted by Hazel that I have stopped tracking that bitch. I shake my head, pass the phone back to Killian, and grab my own from my pocket. “What the fuck was she thinking?” I shou
Hazel POV “Hazel, you need to wake up”, Ashley says, and I open my eyes. I look at her, and I realise we are still in her living room in the made-up beds. God, how much did I have to drink yesterday? I scratch my head and stretch on the bed as Ashley looks at me with concern plastered all over her face. “Is everything okay?”, I ask as I sit up; she bites her lower lip and then shakes her head. “Have you had any news from Elliot?”, she asks, and when I look around, I can see Theo hugging Everly while she is on her phone and Killian standing in the back of the room with his arms crossed in front of his chest. I shake my head slowly as I move around, trying to find my phone. When I find it, I touch the screen, and it lights up. No notifications. Nothing. “What is going on? Where is Elliot?”, I ask, and both Theo and Killian look down. Fuck. If they don’t know, how am I supposed to know? “How long has he been missing?”, I ask, and Theo looks at hi
Hazel POV “He’s not here”, I say, walking out of the bedroom. “Not here”, Theo says as he walks out of the office. We have looked everywhere here, and he’s not home. The doorman hasn’t seen him either. I shake my head, flopping on the couch, resting my head on the back and closing my eyes. “Where are you, Elliot?”, I whisper to myself. Theo sits next to me, passing me a glass with an amber liquid. “A bit early to be drinking, isn’t it?”, I ask, and he shrugs. “I haven’t been to bed yet, so technically not really”, he says, and I shrug, taking a sip of the content, and I shrug my nose as it burns all the way down my throat towards my stomach. “This is horrible”, I say, and he smiles slightly. His phone starts ringing, and he shifts on the couch, taking it out of his jeans pocket. “Yes
Elliot POVI open my eyes and immediately regret doing so, closing them immediately. The headache strikes, sending a feeling of nausea down to my stomach, and I feel like I’m going to be sick. Shit. Where the fuck am I. I look around, trying to find something familiar, but I can’t find anything. I don’t recognise where I am. I move slowly, and I can smell something sweet, like flowers. But I still don’t know where I am. How much did I have to drink?Memories of what happened come rushing and knock me out to the floor. I am on my knees, hugging my stomach as I empty it. I look at the carpeted floor now has a massive stain with my alcohol-filled sick. Whoever owns this place will need a fucking professional carpet cleaner and a fucking decorator to paint those walls. The pint is washed off, and the painting of the wall are fucking terrible.I m
Hazel POVElliot has been home almost one day and hasn’t woken up yet. He has been having some nightmares, I assume, and he screams and kicks on the bed. His eyes moved rapidly under his eyelids. I haven’t been able to sleep as I keep watching him. The doctor said he was extremely dehydrated, and she put him on fluids via IV and now, I am here, sitting on the bed next to the man I love while he says another woman’s name in his dreams.“Andrea”, he whispers, and I feel my stomach twisting and turning. Theo told me he wasn’t with her while they were together, but who can guarantee that they weren’t together after that when he left Theo and Killian and disappeared on his own?I stand up, put down my book on the bedside table, walk into the adjacent bathroom and get the flannel wet again before walking back to bed and sitting on my knees while I place the flannel on Elliot&rsq
Elliot POV“Thank you, dad”, Jasper says, shaking my head. I nod as I watch him walk over to the girl's wife. I can’t believe my oldest son is married. He’s only nineteen, and he is already married. I tried to keep him out of trouble, but trouble found him. His high school sweetheart. He is a man, and he is extremely responsible; it’s not like he is an inconsequent teenager. I don’t even think he was ever a teenager. He was always serious and very responsible towards his siblings and us.“You’re welcome, son. Have you said goodbye to your mother?”, I ask, and he shakes his head. I know that this will be the hardest thing Hazel has ever gone through, watching her firstborn son leave the country to follow his wife’s dream.“Not yet. Eliana is talking to mom”, he says, and I nod. She is not a bad girl. She was always trouble, though, she was a re
Elliot POV “Where are you?” I ask as soon as Hazel answers the phone. “We’re home; why?” she says, and I can tell she is chewing on something, and I take a deep breath. I am so grateful that none of my kids is involved in this life. They all just want to study and have nothing to do with it, and I am here for it. “I need you all to stay inside, and please, please don’t fight me on this one”, I say, and I can hear Hazel taking a deep breath on the other side. “I have another call”, she says before she puts me on hold and answers the other call. I swear to god, if it's Killian asking for her to go there, I am going to fucking lose it. “Babe, I got to go, Killian called. They were attacked”, she says, and I take a deep breath. “I asked you to sta
Theo POV“I guess that is it”, Killian says, and I nod as I stand up, ready to leave his office. “Theo”, he says, and I look back, and he stands up.“This is going to be dangerous, and it is going to take a long time; take Elliot and Joseph with you”, he says, and I nod. There’s another war brewing, and I don’t like this at all. We had peace for so long that now we are all on high alert.We’re going to a mafia meeting. Killian can’t attend as he has had a target on his back lately. Joseph is growing up to be a great man, he is in training, and Killian is giving him his everything. I walk straight to Elliot’s office, and when I open the door, I can see him teaching Gabriel how to hack into the national bank. Great.Gabriel, my son, hates everything that has to do with physical activity, he hates
Killian POV“Kids, stop running”, I shout as my three kids with Ashley start running through the corridor towards Ashley’s office. Joseph, the oldest one, is now ten, and he is becoming as bubbly as his mother, and I absolutely love it. He says he wants to be just like her when he grows up, and I swear I am so proud of him.“Kate, slow down”, I say, and she ignores me as she runs after Joseph, that is holding her doll hostage. “Give it back”, she shouts at him, and he laughs and holds it high above her head. Kate is short like Ashley, while Joseph, well, he is tall. He is taller than a normal ten-year-old. He is the tallest in his class.“Daddy”, Kate complains as Jo, my youngest one, watches as her older siblings fight over a doll. Jo is a lot like me, quiet, she pays attention to everything, and her eyes scan e
Hazel POV“Come on, and we have to go”, I shout at Elliot, that is coming out of the kitchen like nothing is going on. He looks at me with an eyebrow raised, and I can’t help but laugh. “Come on”, I say, grabbing his hand and pulling him out of the living room towards the door.“I need my shoes, Hazel”, He says, and I roll my eyes. Men… Why are they never prepared? Killian called me in full-on panic mode. The man kills people for a living, and he deals with criminals and terrorists all the time, but his wife goes into labour, and he becomes a fairy that doesn’t know what to do.“Where is the kid?” he asks, and I roll my eyes. Their older baby Joseph is a sweetheart.“He’s with the nanny. They had her on call”, I reply, and he nods, walking into our bedroom to get his shoes. H
Hazel POV “That’s not possible”, I let out, and Elliot rests one hand on my knee. “My mother told me she had an affair with Elliot’s dad, and then she met my dad, and she went to live with him, got pregnant, and Ell’s dad lost it, he tried to kill her”, I let out and Killian nods. “Yes, that’s the official story, but no one told me. I saw them together. I saw your mother telling my father she was pregnant with his child. Elliot’s dad lost his shit when he found out his best friend slept with the woman he loved, but he couldn’t do anything against his father, but he could against his mother. Your mother was already pregnant when she moved in with your stepfather”, Killian says, and I shake my head. I stand up and start pacing around while Elliot watches me. Killian stands and walks to me. “I was pissed at you, I wanted you gone; you were a constant reminder that my father fucked over my mother”, he says, and I understand that. But… what? “You’re…” I st
Hazel POV“How have you been?” Ashley asks as we sit on the couch. I smile, looking at her, I missed her, and I missed Everly.“I am okay, I think. I was shocked when I saw a woman in the kitchen this morning”, I let out, and Ash frowned, looking at me.“A woman? What woman?” she asks, and I realise I didn’t explain myself properly. “Is he fucking serious?” she says, standing up. I grab her arm, and she sits back down while I try to explain to her.“No, not like that, calm down”, I say, and she looks at me confused and takes a deep breath sitting back on the couch.“It’s the new housemaid”, I say, and she nods. I can see the stress leaving her face, and she smiles.“Oh, Michaela? I forgot that she was working
Elliot POV“I am sorry”, Hazel whispers, and I shake my head. She shouldn’t apologise, ever. She has no reason to. I am the one that fucked up, and I am the one that put her in danger, I am the one to blame. I cradle her face between my hands and look into her eyes. Her hazel eyes are shiny from the tears, and they are puffy and red. I feel regret in the pit of my stomach.“Don’t you ever apologise? It was all me, all my fault. I should’ve kept you by my side like you wanted to. I will be the one apologising to you for the rest of our lives”, I let out. The feelings are eating me alive. I have never felt like this before. This is a new feeling, this is new, and I don’t like it.“How about we both stop apologising?” She asks, and I realise if we want to move on, we need to leave the past in the past and keep loving each other. We need to keep making each other happy and fight for our love, fight for us.
Hazel POVI feel Elliot’s hands moving up and down my bare back. I open my eyes to see him staring at me. I blink a couple of times, trying to adjust my eyes to the light that invades our bedroom from the window. I groan as Elliot pulls away, standing up. I frown, watching him, missing his touch already. I support my body on my elbows and watch him walk past me and into the bathroom. I flop back down, smirking at the image of his bare ass. He has a fantastic ass. I can’t get tired of it, and it's covered in marks from my nails. Scratches. I close my eyes, hugging my pillow.“We need to get up”, Elliot says as he walks back into the room, I can hear the water in the bathroom and I close my eyes shaking my head.“No, I’m tired”, I say, but Elliot straddles me, sitting on my ass and leans down, kissing my neck. I feel a shiver